L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique Anti-Fatigue CC Cream

Beauty Balms

Confession: I could never understand the hype surrounding BB Creams. They absolutely burst onto the UK scene last year, with most of the big players funding huge advertising campaigns urging us all to buy these 'miracle' creams. 

I also thought that it was just me that wasn't a fan, working my way through several variations trying to convince myself they were good. Glowing review after glowing review on the blogosphere persuaded me to keep going. 

I tried Garnier, Sleek and even L'Oreal. All of which made my skin look like it wasn't mine. It could have been the lack of shade range, but regardless, BB cream did nothing for me but make my skin dull and strangely unnatural.

So imagine how I felt upon hearing of the next big thing: CC Creams! The cynic in me half expects to see DD Creams, the miraculous breast cream launched just a few months down the line! As yet, my prediction is yet to come true. But anyway, the arrival of the CC Creams initially had me thinking: 'Oh, here we go again!' *roll-eye*

So what exactly is a CC cream?

Well, it stands for Colour Correcting and is more of an evolution of the BB cream. 

I spotted L'Oreal had released 3 types of CC creams: Anti-Dullness, Anti-Redness and Anti-Fatigue. I picked up the latter after swatching it in my local Boots.

 

Tone, Consistency & Application:

Upon swatching, I realised it was a lovely apricot colour with microscopic beads or, as L'Oreal describe it, capsules. Once blended into the skin it transforms into foundation which adapts to my skin tone. Infact, I don't think I could describe this as a foundation, but perhaps a notch down on the thickness scale.

I found this works best for me when applying tiny dots in various areas around the face before using a buffer to work it into the skin. The brush I'm using at the moment is my trusty Illamasqua Highlighter Brush, which is perfect for applying foundation, and gives flawless, air-brushed looking skin. Back to the CC Cream though, and I love how this provides light coverage that adapts to my skin-tone. As many of us Desi girls know, finding the right shade can be troublesome.

After buffing the cream in, the face looking back at me in the mirror appears so much brighter and more awake. And that's before my morning coffee! This is in no small part due to the apricot colour of the cream, which works beautifully with olive skin tones. A word of warning though, ladies with dry skin might want to try before you buy, as this dries to a semi-matte finish . Just for reference, I am a MAC NC37 - NC40 and NARS Sheer Glow - Barcelona.

Formulation, Finish & Longevity:

Although the cream doesn't leave you with an instant glow, it leaves your skin looking more awake and radiant. As the day progresses on, I notice that my skin would gradually begin to glow. Now, my skin type is Oily/Combination so this isn't a great surprise, however I tend to find that with other foundations I need to powder once or twice a day to prevent the oiliness coming to the fore. With this cream I found that I was able to skip the powdering altogether, due to the glow factor.

If you're looking for this to conceal blemishes or under-eye circles, you'll find the light coverage isn't condusive to concealing. Luckily for me, I don't really suffer with dark under-eyes but of course the odd blemish pops up from time to time. For these little nasties, I conceal with my MUFE Full Cover Concealer.

So all in all, this provides you with light coverage, evens your skin tone and leaves a natural looking finish. My skin is relatively clear, so this has worked perfectly for me in achieving that 'Nude' look. I can see this quickly becoming a part of my morning routine for a long time to come (Until EE Cream comes out anyway!), particularly in the summer when I need super light coverage and don't fancy applying anything heavy. 

*cue selfies*

 

 

 

FACE:

L'Oreal Nude Magique Anti-Fatigue CC Cream

CHEEKS:

Topshop Cream Blush in Flush

EYES:

MAC Pressed Pigment in Warming Heart (lid colour and inner corner highlight)

Clinique Brush On Cream Liner in True Black

L'Oreal Lash Architect 4d Mascara

LIPS:

MUA Lipstick in 13 mixed with Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate Moss Lipstick in 107

Final conclusion? 

L'Oreal, I am impressed!

L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique CC Creams are priced at £9.99. Curently stocked in Boots and Superdrug. 

Are you Team BB or Team CC, or none? Ha!

 

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You have read this article CC Cream / Contact Lenses / EOTD / FOTD / Foundation / L'oreal / Lipsticks / Mascara / MUA / NC37 / NC40 / Reviews / Rimmel with the title Foundation. You can bookmark this page URL https://clothingfashion2012.blogspot.com/2013/03/l-paris-nude-magique-anti-fatigue-cc.html. Thanks!

REVIEW: Glam-X Foundation. And a bit of a ramble on mismatched shades!

Hello hello my pineapple chunks!

I don't know about you but I'm an absolute foundation junkie. You might have noticed that i'm asian & I can't tell you enough about how difficult it is to find a foundation that is close to my skin tone. It's SO infuriating! Pfft.

I've tried several foundations including Estee Lauder's Double Wear, NARS Sheer Glow, Revlon Colorstay, Korres Wild Rose, L'Oreal True Match, Bare Minerals and last but not least, MAC's Studiofix Fluid which is the one I always end up going back to.

The problem I have with foundations is that they're either too yellow, too pink, too light or too dark and it seems I'm ALWAYS getting matched to a darker shade by a 'make up artist'. I mean, if I wanted a bronzer I'd bloody ask for one!

I'm a MAC NC37 but according to one MAC 'make up artist' I was an NC44! Which is ridiculous! NC37 is my closest match. Occasionally I can go to NC40 but mostly I feel I'm inbetween those shades. Why don't MAC make an NC38 and NC39?! Huh? Why? Tell meeeeee! :@

Also with MAC I've noticed the colour of the foundation looks a bit flat. There's no depth to it. It's not warm enough. I get it. If you want warm, you need to get an NW but in my opinion the NW range is far too orange for my liking.

MAC need to bring something inbetween an NC and an NW to fill in the gaps in their range. Don't get me wrong I heart MAC, I love the texture, the formula, the longevity and how it makes my skin glow. But the colour range needs to be expanded so that people of my colour can get matched to a shade that actually suits them.

All of this frustration led me to continue my search for a foundation more suited to warm asian skin tones. I ended up stumbling across a site by Miss Bollywood, where they were selling a foundation by Glam X.

Here is what Miss Bollywood had to say about Glam-X:

"GLAM-X by Miss Bollywood is a new range of liquid foundations especially formulated for Indian, Asian and Ethnic Skin tones. The unique complex gives an exceptional flawless finish leaving skin noticeably softer, brighter and more radiant. GLAM-X is ultra smooth, lightweight, contains Vitamin E to nourish, Aloe Vera to moisturise and SPF to protect and is ideal for every day use. Choose from 6 fabulous colours for stunting results with minimum fuss which leave your skin feeling younger, brighter and more radiant!"

I thought: "Perfect!" and ordered some samples to see if any suited my skin colour. Caramel was the closest match, this was the lightest in the range. I really loved the colour and was so excited as it's the closest I've ever found to my actual skin tone, so I bought 2 full-sized bottles for £5 each (on sale, usually £15).

TONE & CONSISTENCY

Comparing Caramel to NC37 you can see that Caramel is definitely warm without being too orangey. It has the right amount of yellow tint to it without making me look like a character from 'The Simpsons'.

The consistency of the product is quite moussey, a bit thinner than Maybelline's 'Dream Matte Mousse', I applied it onto my MAC 109 brush and it just rolled off the bristles! When I applied it with the brush it didn't blend very well, after trying my hardest to blend it I ended up using my fingers which did seem to help. After blending and powdering, my skin looked fairly clear but lacked a bit of radiance.

FORMULATION & LONGEVITY

Whilst the colour is close to perfect, the formulation is not so perfect. It barely lasted a couple of hours without creasing like a bitch (even with primer on!), also it made me super-oily by lunchtime. Now with MAC studio fix i did get slightly oily by lunchtime, but this was like a BP oil spill in comparison. Another negative was that it seemed to smudge everywhere.

Despite all it's drawbacks, the fact that the foundation is very close to my skin tone it makes those drawbacks much less noticeable and much more bearable if you don't mind going to the toilet every 3 hours to blend it and powder your face.

See, I'm wearing it here. It looks alright. But man, it was hard work with all the blending and 'toilet breaks'.

WOULD I REPURCHASE?

To conclude, would I buy it again? Probably not. If you asked me a few weeks ago when I first bought it I'd have signed up for a lifetime subscription, but since using this I've heard that Bobbi Brown do shades more suited to Asian skin-tones.

And Bobbi Brown's formulations are are far superior to Glam-X, though with a bit of time who knows, Glam-X could improve the formulations.

Next in line to my foundation throne is Bobbi Brown. Come on Bobbi, I need you!

Any foundation horror stories? Been matched to the completely wrong shade my a 'make up artist'? Share the hate!

 

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You have read this article Foundation / Glam-X / MAC / MAC NC37 / Rant / Reviews with the title Foundation. You can bookmark this page URL https://clothingfashion2012.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-glam-x-foundation-and-bit-of.html. Thanks!

How to make NARS Sheer Glow foundation 'work' for combination skin.

'ey up me ducks! :)

Not sure if you remember me saying but the sheer glow foundation tended to make me look oily by lunch time, but I've now found a way to stop that from happening without looking totally matte.

First I apply L'oreal's Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer on moisturised skin (Clean & clear's oil free lotion for the record), then I stipple on the foundation, I wait a few minutes & then dust on MAC's Prep & Prime powder (£16.50). I kinda work it into the skin with a soft fluffy brush. I'm telling you this stuff ROCKS! It doesn't leave my skin looking flat out matte like traditional powders, my skin looks glowy and it stays like that ALL DAY without looking oily in the slightest. Plus, it also helps my foundation from fading away.

Ahhhh soo happy!

You have read this article Foundation / MAC Powder / NARS Sheer Glow Stromboli with the title Foundation. You can bookmark this page URL https://clothingfashion2012.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-make-nars-sheer-glow-foundation.html. Thanks!

NARS - Pleasures of Paris Palette & Sheer Glow Foundation

I picked up both of these products from Selfridges a while ago. I must say that I am throughly pleased with both of them even though they were VERY expensive.

I look quite light in this picture but trust me, I don't look like that in real life. I'm guessing it's probably down to the cameras flash reflecting off the glow I have. :) (Please excuse my messy, unruly eyebrows)

Aaaanyway.....

I picked up the Sheer Glow foundation in Stromboli which can be compared to MAC Nc35-40, but this has a lot more yellow in it. The consistency of this foundation is quite runny so it's easy to blend, I usually apply with my GOSH stipler brush. It just literally melts into the skin. The coverage is excellent! It covers all my acne scars. This foundation is formulated for dry or normal skin types but I think it's suitable for most skin types as I'm combination. I love the finish to this, my skin looks luminous and gives a natural finish. It lasts pretty much all day! The only downsides to it is by lunch time I need to blot my skin with mattifying papers as my skin starts looking oily which is okay compared to MAC's studiofix (Made me look oily-er :P) & this stuff isn't exactly cheap. I would repurchase this though as this is now my HG foundation!

As you can see from the picture above, I've used a few shades from the Pleasures of Paris palette. LOVE! I've used Nepal all over the lid, Abyssnia on the inner corners and Cordura on the crease and outer corners.














Also...

I have my eye on the NARS Belle De Jour and Striptease. Have any of you used it and what did you think of it?

You have read this article Foundation / NARS Eyeshadows / NARS Sheer Glow Stromboli with the title Foundation. You can bookmark this page URL https://clothingfashion2012.blogspot.com/2009/11/nars-pleasures-of-paris-palette-sheer.html. Thanks!