Background: I have what I would term as mildly severe dark circle bags under my eyes. I get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water... Unfortunately its just genetic; my mum and my grandma both have the same thing. Additionally, the skin under my eyes is quite dry and tends to flake with concealers and foundations. It's all very attractive.
If the eyes are the windows to the soul... I don't have a soul
Here are my bags prior to concealer. I am wearing an eye cream but it really doesn't make a difference to my zombie eyes.
Coverage: Full coverage.
Finish: I'm going to call a dewy finish, it's not matte but I need the creaminess to combat my dry under eyes.
Application: I only dip my finger into the pan and warm between my ring fingers, then pat onto my dark circles to 'melt' it into my skin. It really is very creamy.
Durability: You ABSOLUTELY need to set this with a powder, it's so creamy that it will definitely settle and move around if you don't set it. Just for extra insurance I use Urban Decay De-Slick Setting Spray before, then use a Clinique pressed powder, then use a setting spray again. It usually lasts about 6-7 hours but as I'm a bit of a smiler it does end up settling and becoming patchy.
Colour Range: As you'd expect, Bobbi Brown has a really good range of colours. The shop assistant matched me up and surprisingly I find this is a perfect colour through summer and winter.
Packaging: I really like the packaging, it feels really High End. Unlike many hinged packaged products, it hasn't broken in my handbag. It has a mirror but it is so tiny I've never used it.
Price: £18 for 0.5oz 1.4g; I've had this for nearly a year and used nearly every day so I'd say its very worth the price (I always say that about everything!). You can buy it in a kit with a setting powder but 1. I think there are better powders out there that aren't so fiddly and 2. Should the powder smash, which they often do, you'd have powdery creamy concealer - that's a bit oxymoronic don't you think?
After with Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer
Summary: As you can see in the above photo, it doesn't 100% cover my dark circles. I don't think anything would; they are very determined to be seen. However it's the only concealer that doesn't cause my skin to almost crumble away, it covers really well and lasts FOREVER. I'd say this is a great concealer for older skin types and those with stubborn dark circles.
Background: I have genetic dark under eye bags coupled with dry and sometimes flakey skin in that area. So I've been dealt quite a crappy hand when it comes to the eye area.
My eye bags in all their glory
Overview: Considering the price, this is a painfully average eye cream. It's averagely moisturising and substandardly de-puffing (I am making up words now to describe this average eye cream...). I really expected this to be very similar to the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm but it is just not. I think the Beauty Flash Balm would make a far better eye cream!
Consistency: It's a relatively thin cream, not luxuriously thick like its namesake's Beauty Flash Balm.
Application: It takes quite a while to soak in and when it does it doesn't leave my eyes feeling particularly moisturised. Just to use this up, at night I'm mixing it with 8 hour cream to thicken it. It doesn't 'revive' my eyes in any shape or form.
Packaging: The squeezy tube is kind of annoying, yes you can control the amount you use but I hate that bit when you're running low and you cramp your fingers up just trying to get the last dregs.. The dregs which last at least a week!
Price: £25.20 for 20ml on Feel Unique; I think that is extortionate for such an (I'll say it again) average eye cream!
Summary: I loved the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, that's why I bought this eyecream. However I don't know how they can include the name 'Beauty Flash' in the title as I can't see how the two products are in any way similar. The Boots No7 eyecream is far superior and less than half the price (with a £5 voucher and honestly I never buy that range unless armed to the teeth with a voucher!)
Background: I have genetic dark under eye bags coupled with dry and sometimes flakey skin in that area. So I've been dealt quite a crappy hand when it comes to the eye area.
Overview: For me, this is the BEST under eye cream I've tried. It does nothing in terms of my dark circles but it does de-puff them in the morning times (I generally wake up with eyes not dissimilar to those of a new born hamster) and makes concealer application a piece of cake.
Consistency: Almost gel like, very rich and extremely moisturising
Application: I use the tiniest amount on my ring finger, rub said fingers together to warm it up and gently tap under my eyes. It sinks in fairly quickly, leaves no residue to cause makeup to slide but keeps area really hydrated
Packaging: It's a small glass jar; which I prefer because I can easily scrape out the dregs compared to a squeezy tube
Price: £24 for 15ml; a pot will last me about 5-6 months with daily use. I have never ever paid for this with cash, it lasts the exact amount of time it takes me to save up £24 worth of Boots Advantage Card points. However, I'd definitely fork out the cash as I think its totally worth it
Summary: I use this over top of an SPF 50 as insurance against eye wrinkles. I can't say whether it prevents them or not, I'm not a scientist but I love it as a preventative method of my concealer flaking and drying.
To compare All About Eyes to All About Eyes Rich, I've had a sample of the latter and I don't think it's anywhere near as rich or moisturising as the original PLUS it makes my concealer move around and settle.
Top
Twelve Tips for Combating Acne: How to Get Rid of Spots
*Disclamer* I'm not a dermatologist or an expert, these are merely the tips and tricks I learnt during my fight against spots and acne. These hints may be obvious, or useless! For me, the only thing that helped was a prescribed topical. However, these tips certainly help for healthier skin and a healthier body and may well help you.
Before
After
Drink lots of water!
Don't go overboard, obviously. I used to drink a pink of water every other hour during office hours PLUS tea and coffee and evening drinks. I must have been consuming more than a gallon a day. I pretty much constantly needed a piss.
Eight glasses a day is really vague, not everyone has the same size glasses scientist dummy! I would say 2 litres a day is plenty. Stay away from sugary drinks and alcohol (I should take that advice I'm such a ginner), not just because they dehydrate your skin but also because they're pretty bad for your body as a whole.
Get Eight Hours Sleep
Body needs its rest. Will also help with stress levels. Stress can often be a contributor to skin problems, if you're well rested you're less likely to sweat the small stuff.
Change your pillows and sheets
At least every fortnight, better still every week. I used to have major grumpines with my partner about his laundry habits. Now I just take clean pillow cases round when I stay over. Pillows can harbour lots of germs so wash them occasionally too
Clean your phones
Where does your mobile go? Pocket, bottom of bag, tables, the floor...? And you press that thing against your face?! It's disgusting when you think about what grime must be on your phone... Just use a wet wipe to give it a clean every now and then. That goes for land lines as well.
Don't touch your face
And if you have to, wash your hands first. Think about where your hands have been, handling money (that's been handled by god knows how many people first), stroking your pet (my dog rolled in fox shit last week but that's a whole nother absolutely traumatising story), opening a public bathroom door...
Now I don't want to go Harold Hughes on you but if you're having problems with your skin, it's probably a bit sensitive so I'd advise treating your skin very delicately.
Also... DON'T pick your skin. That includes squeezing. No matter how tempting it might be, it will almost always look worse afterwards. It will just spread the bacteria and make your skin inflamed. Don't do it. I'm serious.
Eat six a day
Try to make sure they're mainly vegetables; fruit contains a lot of sugar which is bad for your teeth. Spinach is great for iron, tomatoes for antioxidents, broccoli is f*cking delicious... If you want to look great on the outside a good start is to enrich your body from the inside.
Get outdoors
My mum was actually prescribed a UV face lamp for her acne in her 20s. I'm not sure what the science is behind that but vitamin D levels are generally quite low; people spend so much time in doors and wear very high SPFs when they are outside. Vitamin D tablets are a good substitute but I find that being outdoors adds to my well being which in turn can reduce stress.
Keep active Again, keeping healthy inside and out aren't exactly going to go against you when trying to get your skin clear
Cleansing is a separate step from removing makeup I am CONSTANTLY chastising my friends and sister for this. I definitely used to be an offender; I'd use a soap to clean my face and that's it. What I discovered that when I started using a toner following washing my face, there would always be a grimy makeupy dirty residue on the cotton wool pad showing that I wasn't cleaning my face effectively. So, even if you just use something cheap olive oil or baby oil, use a separate makeup remover BEFORE cleansing your face; it's a much more fail safe way of getting all the days grime off your face.
THROW AWAY YOUR MAKEUP WIPES!
THEY HAVE NO PLACE IN YOUR FACIAL ROUTINE (in my humble opinion... I get a bit capslock happy when it comes to skin care). They don't do a good enough job on cleansing your precious skin and they are pften much more abrasive than your hands or a cotton pad and when your skin is sensitive, you don't want to be aggravating it.
Clean your make up brushes
I used to never clean my brushes AND chuck them in my purse/handbag amongst all my other crap. How very naughty of me. Depending on your usage, I'd recommend cleaning your brushes every two weeks, and if you're taking them around in your bag, put them in a clean brush roll or cosmetic bag.
Be patient Something that my dermatologist told me is that skin is on a six week cycle. If you start doing something to treat your skin, you won't see the effects for up to six weeks. If you do anything to your skin, hang in there for the six weeks to find out if its effective or not. This is definitely the case with my skin and Epiduo... It just takes patience and staying positive, you will find the thing to help your skin eventually. In the mean time, deep breaths and keep smiling.
*Other than the photos of myself, the other images are from multiple sources via google
Clinique
Anti Blemish / Acne Solutions Foundation Liquid Makeup Review
I bought this foundation when I started getting acne; I wanted make up that would cover my existing spots without causing new break outs. As you can see from my photo, I repurchased... but in a different colour. I now mix the two together in varying quantities depending on my level of face tannage.
Before - no make up
After - one thin layer of Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation
Coverage: High medium to full coverage.
Finish: Very matte. Almost a powder finish.
Application: Buildable, easy to blend. It's not as fast drying as other full coverage foundations such as Revlon Colourstay so you can take your time a little more with the application.
Durability: This lasts definitely around 8-9 hours. I've never worn it any longer than that but I have a feeling that with a good setting powder/spray it would last 10-12. With lighter foundations (Bourjouis Healthy Mix and BB creams)
they tend to start to slide and become patchy after around 6-7 hours of wear.
Ingredients: This contains 0.5% salicylic acid - the active ingredient which helps combat acne
Colour Range: I am not a big fan of the range, they certainly don't have a colour that matches me exactly hence having to mix two colours. I have it in 001 Fresh Alabaster and 004 Fresh Vanilla
Packaging: The bottle is plastic which I find a little bit disappointing for a HE foundation (usually they are in glass bottles which to me are a little more luxurious), it has a squeezy nozzle which makes it very easy to control the amount you use. As always from Clinque, the box it came in was gorgeous but alas, I never keep them or I'd end up hoarding a heap of useless boxes.
Price: Boots RRP is £22 for 30ml. It's not the cheapest foundation but a little goes a long way so it's likely to last longer.
mixing two shades to match my skin tone
Over all thoughts...
I would definitely recommend this for someone with oily skin... However, if you have skin that is on the dry side or are using a treatment such as Benzyl Peroxide or any other topical treatment that dries the skin out, this foundation may not be great for those areas. When I first started using Epiduo, my skin was dry and red raw, this foundation was flaking away like crazy paving. It was great for my t-zone and cheeks, but on my chin it looked terrible.
Now my skin is back to normal (for me that is still oily T-zone but no spots at the moment), I think this is fantastic coverage, it doesn't break me out at all, application is very easy and buildable. Highly recommended.
