Lesley on hitting the pan!

Now that i have a foundation, i feel that i have plenty of makeup now and i really don't need anything else really. I've decided on doing a Project Ten Pan for my bank balance... and my sanity! You have all probably heard of this already but for those who don't its basically finishing up ten products by 'hitting the pan' before you buy your next beauty purchase.

Not only am i going to do a P10P for my makeup I'm also going to do a SEPARATE one for hair/body products. That's right folks! My storage box is full to the brim of moisturisers, hairsprays, creams, you name it! It's in there. Also, I've noticed i find that if i don't like a product, instead of just using it up and buying another, i just buy a different brand of the SAME THING and into the box it goes.

I'm going to be a bit tough on myself and apply a couple rules:

1. Samples do not count! I don't have many samples so will not be including it. 
2. Giving away/throwing away items do not count. I have been doing this in preparation of my P10P and I've done quite well, but there is still SO much more to use.
3. Gifts are accepted - whaaaaat? i can't be rude can i? :)

As you can see i have so much crap so it might take a year/s. I have some items that I've nearly finished with such as mascara, tinted moisturiser, lip balm and eyeshadows and I've already got back-ups. I'm going to be very strict on myself, but in the mean time try to fall in love again with forgotten products.

see... a lot of crap haha!

Lesley on earrings

I was tired of not being able to find my jewellery and they were always tangled up. I was looking for a solution to hang them up to save space as i have a really small room. Sophia has a wire vintage photo holder in her room  with lots of loops so i decided to go online and purchase one.

I bought this for £7.50 plus free shipping at base.com, which i thought was a bargain. I started adding my dangly earrings and a couple necklaces and put a photo to see what it would look like. The end results looks like this:

I think it looks so pretty hanging up in my room. I will definitely make use of my earrings now that i can see them clearly.

Sopha's Laura Mercier goodies

Me and Lesley went foundation shopping to the Bentall center. Lesley wanted to try out all the beauty counters to see what they would match her to and hopefully find a good one. Im always on a mission for the perfect foundation so i had to go with her!

First was the Mac counter where Lesley got matched to nw30 studio sculpt (im nw20). I thought it looked slightly too warm on her skin but the coverage was good.

Next up Bobbi Brown. The make up artist was friendly and asked lots of questions about her skin and coverage Lesley wanted. I thought she would reccomend Skin Foundation as she has dry skin but she matched her with Natural Finish long lasting 4.5. The colour was really good but Lesley wasn't sold.

The next counter was awful. Chanel is high end make up so you expect friendly and helpful makeup artists. This girl wasnt friendly and looked down on us. She tested a tiny blob on our chins and that was it? I got matched to Matte Lumiere shade 20 and Lesley is Vita Lumiere i think shade30? No way was i going to buy expensive makeup from her!

We were going back to the Bobbi Brown counter and we remembered Laura Mercier. The Make up Artist was soo lovely! Her name is Naiyana and she's just a gorgeous friendly make up artist. We stayed with her for nearly 2 hours while she throughly cleansed ours faces, told us what would match out skin and how to apply the products. She had no other customers and did our whole face with make up.

Naiyana reccomended the oil free tinted moisturizer in Nude and the mineral pressed powder in Natural Beige to add more coverage and colour. She said i must use a primer as i have oily skin and take powder with me in the day to matte the oil. My face looked really fresh and natural when she had finished the make over so i bought both...oops.

This my attempt the next day with the products. I tried to do exactly as she said, pat on the tinted mosturizer and lightly dust the powder. I think my skin looks like my skin but better which is theeffect i like, i dont like the caked on mask look. BUT im now sitting here 4 hours later and my face is very oily :( it looks nothing like that picture now. Im going to re-apply with a differnt primer to see if that helps.fingers crossed.

Testers!! I love testers lol from left to right :

Warm ivory foundation = She said this would be a good colour for me but way too shiny for a nigh out.

Oil free primer = A must have for my oily skin! Not sure if its good enough yet though

Face Polish = For my blocked pores. I love this. Its so scrubby but the bits are realy fine. I want!

Oil Free tinted Moisturizer = Just so i can test it out, even though i forgot and opened the full size :/


Ill update this post with a verdict in the next few days!

Lesley on my first foundation yaaay!

Today i went shopping with Sophia for my first foundation. I don't own any foundation (just my tinted moisturiser) and i was looking for something that had medium coverage but with a dewy look. Also, i tend to have dry spots around my nose and forehead. I took my sweet little time going from MAC (i discovered I'm a NW30 yay!) to Bobbi Brown, Chanel and last but not least Laura Mercier. In the end we decided on Laura Mericer was the best coverage, and best ingredients, for my face. The makeup beautician was so lovely and we actually spent two hours with her. She did a little makeover on us and really took her time talking and advising us. I think it honestly makes a difference to their sales: the girl on the Chanel counter was just awful and did a blob with one foundation on my chin and told me i was done! Not very helpful to say the least!

 My shade is "Golden Beige" and it is 30g. It comes in a tub instead of a pump or tube and the beautician told me it was best to use fingers with a tiny amount and blot it on the centre of my face and then even it out. Then to use a second layer to build it up. As it is quite thick it is best to use a small amount and layer it on. I really like this because although it gives  coverage, looks natural and doesn't cake my face. It was quite pricey at £41.50 but its meant to last you a year, and i will probably only use it in winter months when i need more coverage. The only negative thing i have to say is it creased under my eye so ill have to put extra setting powder.

My generous amount of samples! Oil free day lotion, Sand oil free tinted moisturiser and oil free primer. 

Samples -

Sand oil free tinted moisturiser - After exfoliating and putting on my moisturiser, i put this on with my hand, concentrating on blotting my t-zone then blending it out. I love the end result it gave me! It is a bit of a warm colour on me compared to the yellow golden tone in Benefit's You Rebel, but my face looks so velvety smooth and i couldn't see any of my red cheeks or dry spots underneath. i looked like a blank canvas which I'm not actually used to as You Rebel doesn't give as much coverage. It quite a thick coverage for a tinted moisturiser so its a nice transition from tinted moisturiser to foundation. Do i dare say it might be better than You Rebel?!?!

 I wore it to work for seven hours, without primer and setting powder and it has rubbed off a bit but still looks OK. Well i don't know what i expected as i always rub or lean my hand on my face during the day, its such a bad habit of mine! Also my face is a little dry on my nose, but i think that is due to my moisturiser, i may need to throw it away soon. After test driving it for a few days I've decided i really like it, although I'm not used to seeing a warm colour on my face, and i need more practicing with blending it in with my fingers. Also less is definitely more, its gone on my wish list!

Oil Free Primer - It doesn't feel anything like the Elf Primer I'm using, its texture is more like a cream and is slightly thicker than the day lotion. Where as the ELF primer feels like a velvety serum. I'm not sure if i would actually buy this product, it doesn't make a difference to how long my makeup stays on. However, i will give it a good test run and try it with other products.

Oil free Day Lotion- This is a lovely light day lotion, i love putting it on before the tinted moisturiser. It doesn't leave my skin shiny and makes me feel like i have a lovely dewy glow rather than a greasy look that other day creams do to me. However, it doesn't leave my nose moisturise all day and i see a few flakes at the end of a long day. I think i would buy this after my other creams run out.