Battle Of The Long Wear Foundations

 

Thanks to my oily skin type, long wear foundations are an absolute must for me. I’ve tried numerous amounts of different bases over the years, and if they’re not of the long lasting or matifying variety, they tend to melt off by midday. My skin is also acne prone, and I have areas of redness which take quite a bit of concealing, so I also need a base which delivers on the coverage front, too. 

I’m currently using four different foundations which claim to be long lasting/wearing, so I thought it might be helpful to do a comparison post. All of the foundations below are always applied over the same moisturiser (Peter Thomas Roth), and set with my usual Nars loose powder.

 Clarins Everlasting

Clarins claim Everlasting will minimize the appearance of imperfections, provide a perfectly even complexion and offer 15 hours of impeccable, comfortable coverage. It’s aimed at all skin types, contains an SPF 15, and costs £24.00 for a 30ml bottle.

Packaging: A nice, sleek and rather heavy glass bottle with a pump applicator.

Coverage: Medium to full. A small amount covers imperfections and redness nicely and builds well without looking cake-y.

Finish: Matte, but not overly so. It definitely doesn’t give skin that ‘flat’ unnatural look/finish that some mattifying foundations do.

Lasting Power: Definitely not the 15 hours Clarins promise, but still pretty good. I’d say I get a good 5-6 hours wear before I need to blot.

Out of the four different bases, Clarins is the one I’ve used for the longest. I love the coverage it offers, really like how it feels, and I’ve managed to find a pretty decent colour match, too. I do have one small complaint with Everlasting, though. While it normally applies and blends brilliantly, it does like to cling to the occasional dry spots I get, so I suppose that’s worth keeping in mind if you have drier skin.

Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet +

MUFE say Mat Velvet will conceal imperfections, even out skin tone with a non-oily powdery finish, and create a long-lasting, flawless base. It’s oil free, non comedogenic, and water resistant, but doesn’t contain an SPF. It’s available from gurumakeupemporium.com, and costs £28.95 for a 30ml bottle.

Packaging: A plastic, squeezy tube. It’s not particularly pretty, but it’s hygienic and makes dispensing product an easy task.

Coverage: Medium. It covers minor blemishes and redness well, but I need to add a touch of concealer to more difficult to cover areas. MUFE recommend using several layers to cover blemishes, but I find it starts to look a little bit caked on if I apply too much.

Finish: As the name suggests, you get a matte finish with Mat Velvet. Again it’s not a ‘flat’ finish, but it’s definitely not as natural looking at the Clarins Everlasting. The velvety texture takes a little bit of getting used to as well. It feels light-weight and comfortable, but I’m not really a big fan of the powdery feel.

Lasting Power: Not bad. I’d say I get around 4-5 hours wear before I need to blot my oily areas. I do find that Mat Velvet wears slightly unevenly on me though and it does like to cling to dry areas/patches.

Overall, it’s not a bad foundation. I feel it would probably be better suited to those who need less coverage and have fewer blemishes to camouflage, though, as it seems to apply and wears better if only a small amount is applied. 

Estee Lauder Double Wear

Like Clarins, Estee Lauder claim Double Wear will stay in place for a full 15 hours. They also promise DW won’t smudge, change colour or come off on clothes. It’s oil free, non acnegenic, and also contains an SPF 10. It costs £26.50 for a 30ml bottle.

Packaging: A slightly clumsy glass bottle, which doesn’t have a pump.

Coverage: Medium to full. It is buildable, but I find I have to blend quickly to get a completely even finish.

Finish: Semi-matte. This one’s a bit of a strange one. Some days I apply it and it looks absolutely fine, and others, it looks really heavy and mask like.

Lasting powder: Excellent! I really don’t have to worry about blotting and touch ups with Double Wear. I do still have to blot my T-zone, but I really only get a minimal amount of shine. Also, as Estee Lauder promise, I get no smudging, no colour change/oxidation, and my make-up really doesn’t budge all day.

While Double Wear certainly delivers on the wear/long lasting front, I do have issues with other areas, such as the slightly difficult application and finish, which I mentioned above. I’ve also had problems finding a good colour match, too. I’ve purchased quite a few different colours from the shade range now, and all of them seem to be slightly ‘off’, which only adds to the somewhat unnatural finish on me. 

Armani Lasting Silk UV

 

Armani promise 14-hour satin matte coverage without the coverage feel. Lasting Silk is aimed at normal to oily skin types, provides medium coverage, and has an SPF 20. It costs £34.00 for a 30ml bottle.

Packaging: A simple, sleek glass bottle with a pump applicator.

Coverage: Medium, but this is the most build-able out of the four.

Finish: Semi matte. Lasting Silk applies and blends beautifully. It feels really light-weight, and blends effortlessly.

Lasting Power: Roughly the same as Mat Velvet. Around 4-5 hours wear before shine starts to peek through and I’m reaching for my pressed powder. Unlike MUFE, though, Lasting Silk wears really well, and looks as good as new with a quick touch-up.

Lasting Silk is the most recent buy out of the four, and I’m really impressed so far with how well this applies and also how natural it looks. It doesn’t emphasize pores or dry patches and it feels light-weight and comfortable. Lasting power isn’t great, but the finish and feel certainly make up for the average staying power for me.

Estee Lauder Ecru, Lasting Silk 4, Everlasting 105 & MUFE 20

So, which one do I like best out of the four? I feel like each base has something slightly different to offer. Double Wear is definitely the most long-lasting of the bunch, and might be worth checking out if you’re after a foundation which really won’t budge. MUFE might be a nice option for those who need less coverage than me, and want a really matte finish. Lasting Silk is definitely the winner in the finish and feel department, and the most natural looking, too. And Everlasting offers excellent, natural looking coverage, which stays put.

If you're still with me after that little lot, I'd love to know if you've tried any of these and what your thoughts are.  And I'd also love to know what your favourite long wear foundations are.

Leighton Denny Swatches: The Neutrals & Vamps

Well, just the one Vampy shade, actually. I don't own many neutrals or dark/vampy shades from the Leighton Denny range, because I already had quite a few in my collection before I discovered the brand. I love the colours I do own, though, and wore the two darker shades a lot over the Winter months. I also reach for the two lighter colours, Supermodel and Little Minx on a regular basis, too. They're both great, 'go with everything' shades.

I wont ramble on too much about the formula and how well these wear, as I already did that in my last post, which you can see here. I'll just say that all of these, like the purples, apply brilliantly and last well, too. 

Leighton Denny: Supermodel, Little Minx, Steel Appeal & Vamp

L-R Leighton Denny Supermodel, Little Minx, Steel Appeal & Vamp

Supermodel: One of Leighton Denny's best selling shades. An elegant creamy, mink/milk chocolate colour which applies perfectly.

Little Minx: A pretty, metallic bronze/beige shade. This one applies well, but requires three coats for completely opaque colour.

Steel Appeal: A dark grey, shot through with tiny silver shimmer. Again, this one applies nicely, but I find it needs three, thin coats for a completely opaque colour.

Vamp: A deep, dark, glossy red, which is very similar to Chanel's Rouge Noir.

L-R Leighton Denny Supermodel, Little Minx, Steel Appeal & Vamp

All shades are available from the official Leighton Denny site: leightondenny.com, helenmarks.co.uk and lookfantastic, where worldwide postage is free! The bottles are £11.00 each and contain 12mls of product.

Chantecaille Lip Chic: Bourbon Rose

Chantecaille make-up is a fairly new discovery for me. I purchased my first item from the range last year, and fell in love with the beautiful, silky smooth formula and excellent finish of the brand’s cheek shade in Ecstasy. I’ve added a few different Chante products to my collection since then, including two of the brands Lip Chic’s, which are both fabulous.

Lip Chic’s are described as revolutionary hybrids, which combine the high shine and plumping effects of a gloss with the rich, even coverage of a lipstick

I find the formula of Lip Chic’s to be both excellent and quite unique. The texture is soft, smooth and easy to apply, and they feel comfortable and lightweight on lips. They have an almost balm-like texture, which feels comfy and hydrating and lasting power is also pretty good, considering the formula/finish is a glossy one. 

Chantecaille Lip Chic: Bourbon Rose

Bourbon Rose is a natural, cool, rose pink. A kind of ‘my lips but better’ shade on my fairly pigmented lips. It contains some very delicate gold shimmer, which is more visible in the tube than it is when the colour’s on. I find it to be a really flattering shade, and imagine the soft, sheer colour would suit a variety of different skin tones.

Bourbon Rose applied with a light hand

Chantecaille Lip Chic: Bourbon Rose

At £29.00 for a 2g tube of product, Lip Chics certainly aren’t cheap, but everything from the fuss-free packaging design to the amazingly comfortable texture and range of beautifully sheer, natural looking shades make them worth it for me. I find myself reaching for Bourbon Rose on a regular basis, and I will definitely be re-purchasing when my current tube runs out.

Ingredients (Click to enlarge)

 Available from Spack NK (£29.00) . More swatches of Bourbon Rose here: London Makeup Girl, and an excellent review of Zinnia and texture/formula description of Lip Chic here: Everyday Beauty.

Chanel Giveaway!

To celebrate Raspberry Rouge being a year old and to apologise for being away for quite a large chunk of that year, I thought I'd have a little giveaway. Chanel seemed to be a popular choice last time, so I thought I'd offer something along the same lines. As with last time, I thought it would also be a good idea to let the winner pick their own choice of colour. So, here's what you can win....

A Chanel Nail Colour in the shade of your choice!

If you'd like to enter, please make sure you're following via Google friend Connect, and please leave a comment below telling me which shade you'd choose if you win (you can view the colour choices here). And don't forget to leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

You can gain an extra entry by posting about the giveaway on your blog, or by tweeting about it. (Please let me know if you do either).

The giveaway is international, so everyone's welcome to enter and the winner will be chosen a month from now on the 23rd of April using random.org.

A big thank you to all of you who take the time to read my ramblings, and thank you for sticking around when I was gone.

Good luck!!

Chanel Nail Colour: 533 April

Almost every time Chanel release a new collection of nail colours, I spend a good couple of weeks lusting over pretty swatches of the shades and reading reviews, before usually deciding that I don’t actually need any of them. This is normally fine, but more recently, I’ve found myself regretting my decision not to buy, and really kick myself when I end up paying more than I should for hard to find and limited edition shades, which are no longer available. As soon as I laid eyes on the Chanel Spring collection though, I immediately decided that two of the three shades would be mine.

Chanel Nail Colours: April & June

April is a richly pigmented, creamy berry/wine shade, which applies beautifully. It goes on smoothly and evenly, with absolutely no streaking, and dries to a gorgeously glossy finish.

Chanel April (2 coats)

I was almost sure that I had nothing like April in my collection before I ordered, but realised after swatching it that Leighton Denny’s Rampant Rose is really quite similar. Rampant Rose has a touch more red in it than April, and is a tad darker, but the two shades are very much alike.

Chanel April & Leighton Denny rampant Rose

Left: Chanel April & Right: Leighton Denny Rampant Rose

I had planned to swatch June in the same post as April, but unfortunately, the pretty apricot shade really doesn’t work with my pasty, winter skin tone, so I’ll be stashing this one away until the weather warms up.

Chanel April & June

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with both of my purchases. June was the shade which appealed to me the most out of the two, but April is definitely the winner for me.

Did you pick up any of the shades from the Chanel Spring collection?

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation

I’ve lost count of the amount of reviews I’ve read on Lasting Silk over the past year or so, most of which have raved about how good it is. So, naturally I’ve been desperate to give it a go. The thing is, Armani make-up isn’t available here in Bristol, and I was apprehensive about spending thirty-something pounds on a foundation that I was unable to test beforehand. After a lot of debating and spending far too much time looking at swatches, I finally decided to take the plunge and ordered a bottle online. 

Armani Lasting Silk UV Foundation. Shade: 4

Out of the shades on offer, 4 looked to be the best match for my NC15/20-ish skin tone, and luckily, it is pretty much spot on colour wise.

 Lasting Silk Foundation: 4. Swatched on the left & blended on the right

 Lasting Silk is a water based foundation and texture wise, it’s quite runny. The first time I swatched it on my hand, I was unconvinced about the medium coverage claims, but it does deliver the promised coverage level and is easily buildable, too. It applies beautifully, blends in seamlessly, and dries to a matte finish. Not a flat, unnatural looking matte finish, but a matte finish which still looks natural. It conceals blemishes and redness well, and doesn’t emphasize pores or dry patches. Lasting Silk also feels incredibly light weight, has a satiny type feel to it, and also has a spf 20.

Sounds pretty good so far, doesn’t it? Good, natural looking coverage, great colour match, which doesn’t oxidize, and incredible texture wise, too. Unfortunately though, Lasting Silk did let me down in one area. It’s not a major grumble, but it did let me down slightly on the lasting power front. Armani promise 14 hours wear, which I know is a bit of an exaggeration, but I’d say I get more like 4-5 before I need to blot. Now, I’ve yet to find a foundation which holds up all day on my oily skin without me needing to blot, but I guess I was expecting slightly longer wear from a foundation which claims to be inspired by extreme backstage conditions. As I said though, it’s not a major gripe and the coverage, finish and feel more than make up for the average staying power for me.

All in all, Lasting Silk is an excellent foundation, and consistency and finish wise, it’s absolutely perfect. It’s not the best foundation I’ve tried for keeping the oilies at bay, but it’s a winner in all other departments. 

Available from Giorgio Armani, where it costs £34.00 for a 30ml bottle

Have you tried Lasting Silk? Do you have a favourite long wear foundation?

Leighton Denny Swatches: The Purples

Last year I nabbed myself not one, not two, but three, lovely Leighton Denny nail colours as part of a magazine freebie deal. Before then, I’d not actually tried anything from the range, but I quickly fell in love with the brilliant formula and fabulous range of shades on offer, and since last year, I’ve added quite a few colours to my collection.

There’s something about Leighton Denny’s sleek and simple packaging design which really appeals to me, and I find a lot of the shades on offer to be quite unique. The formula and brush design are both excellent and make precise application an easy task, and I find the gorgeously glossy shades really wear well, too.

Leighton Denny: No Comment, Stormy Weather, Rebel & Crushed Grape

I frequently check blogs and forums for photos/colour swatches of shades before I buy them, but I sometimes find it difficult to locate Leighton Denny pictures or posts, so I thought it might be a good idea to have a bit of a swatchathon, and go through some of the colours I currently have in my stash. I thought I’d kick it off with a shade I seem to be slightly obsessed with at the moment, purple.

L-R: Whatever, Crushed Grape, Stormy Weather, Rebel & No Comment

Whatever: A shimmer free, creamy mauve shade, which is slightly streaky after the first coat, but the pretty colour evens out well with a second.

Crushed Grape: is a soft, creamy burgundy and applies perfectly.

Stormy Weather: A beautiful purple shot through with tiny, delicate silver shimmer. 

Rebel: A really rich, dramatic purple shot through with tiny micro shimmers. Looks quite sheer after the first coat, but is rich and opaque with a second.

No Comment: A really deep iridescent plummy shade shot through with tiny red sparkles. Again, application is slightly uneven with a first coat, but the colour evens out nicely with a second.

L-R: Whatever, Crushed Grape, Stormy Weather, Rebel & No Comment

I'd planned to swatch these on my own nails, and did manage to do three before my cuticles gave up on me, so I opted for a nail wheel instead. I can't get enough of these at the moment. Sitting down and painting a wheel of plastic nails is so relaxing! 

All shades are available from the official Leighton Denny site: Leightondenny.com, helenmarks.co.uk and also from lookfantastic, where postage is free. They're £11.00 for 12mls of product.

Have you tried Leighton Denny nail colours? Do you have any favourite shades?
Or any other favourite purples from other brands?

Sorry For Disappearing

Just a little post to say, I'm sorry for disappearing for the last few months. I initially intended to take a short break from blogging, but a hectic couple of months and a painfully slow internet connection sort of put paid to that. I also intended to write a post to explain where I'd gone, but kept putting it off because I'd planned to start writing again, and to be honest, time just kind of flew. I really have missed both blogging and reading everyone's posts, though, and will be writing again, and catching up on some of the posts I've missed now I have a decent internet connection.

I hope everyone's doing OK, and a big thank you to everyone who left messages asking where I'd got to.