Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Soft Ivory - £34.00

Ah, full coverage foundations... I've never really been a huge fan of them, especially for everyday wear, as I find them too heavy and feel like I'm wearing a mask. But for special occasions or nights out, I do tend to favour a full coverage foundation with impressive longevity and coverage. Enter, Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation.

I managed to grab this at a bargain price in a blog sale, but typically it's not quite the right shade for me. I have the shade Soft Ivory, which is the palest going in this range. Since travelling America last summer, my tan is still lingering around ever so slightly, and I'm not pale as a ghost like I used to be. I could really do with the shade one step down from this one, but topped up with some bronzer, this does the job for now. When I first tried this foundation, I was far from impressed. It was thick and heavy and seemed to accentuate any blemishes and flaws in my skin - pretty much the opposite from what I wanted to achieve, really. I tried blending it with my fingers, a buffing brush, a damp sponge... and I still hated the results.

However, I persevered. I knew that this foundation was hyped by so many people for some reason, and I was determined to find out why. And now I do. Priming my skin with Becca Rejuvenating Primer, and then Clarins Instant Smooth primer provides a lovely smooth base to work with, and really helps this foundation to sit nicely. This time, I took a tiny amount of product - literally the size of a very small pea - and used my fingers to apply. The results were much more satisfactory. No cakey-ness or flakiness in sight, just a smooth and flawless base. The coverage you get from this really is great, I barely need to use any concealer and it lasts an impressive amount of time. The only thing I don't like is how this wears throughout the day. It seems to separate on my skin and it wears really patchily on me. But, for a night out or a special occasion, this is my go-to purely for the high coverage it offers. It's definitely not one for everyday, casual daytime wear for me, anyway.

Monday Wishlist #2

1. YSL Le Teint Touche Éclat foundation RRP £28 - I have a sample of this in shade BR20 and it is the most perfect colour match for me, something which I usually have trouble with when getting a foundation. I thought this might have been overhyped, but I'm loving it so far and dying to get the full size.

2. ASOS Felt Doctors Bag RRP £60 - I'm in desperate need of a new handbag as my current one is too small, and my others are literally falling apart. I love a big handbag, and this looks like it would go with anything.

3. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle RRP £21.50 - I've heard great things about this and considering I don't actually own ANY highlighting products, this is more of a "need" than a "want"... right?

4. MAC Cut a Caper lipstick RRP £14 - It's just typical that this is now sold out just when I've added it to my wishlist! I've never bought a MAC lipstick before but this one really caught my eye. There isn't even a counter near me so this will probably remain on my wishlist forever...

5. REN ClearCalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser RRP £18 - Again, I've heard lots of good things about this cleanser and I'm in the process of weaning myself off of Clinique's 3 Step System so I'd really like to try this. I have super oily skin so the idea of a clay cleanser really appeals to me!

I really had to restrain myself this week and keep my wishlist down to just 5 items. If I had things my way, I'd have a list to the moon and back!

Are there any products which you have been lusting over recently? Have you tried any of these products?

A little haul!

I can't seem to go into town without coming home with new things that I don't really need, but I couldn't resist! So I thought I'd do a little post on the wee haul that I "accidentally" ended up with a few days ago.

1. The Body Shop Vanilla EDT  - I'd been meaning to pick this up for a while now because I love all things that smell sweet and vanilla-y! I was standing in TBS perusing whether or not to buy it, and a sales assistant approached me to let me know that the Vanilla EDT was being discontinued and that the stock on the shelf was all they had left. And it was only £4.50 instead of the £9 RRP! So, naturally, I picked up 2 of these. I haven't heard any more about them being discontinued, has anyone else heard that?

2. Estee Lauder Double Wear - this was my first ever high end make-up purchase when I was around 16 and I'm not sure why I drifted away from it, but I decided it was time to see if I still loved it now as much as I did then. Plus, I had a £5 Beauty Card reward to spend at Debenhams, so it would have been rude not to... For reference, I was shade 1C1 Shell - the palest you can get. The RRP for this foundation is £27.50, but it only cost me £22.50 with my £5 off.

3. Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo - I used to rely on dry shampoo when I worked full-time and I just did not have the time to wash, dry and style my hair every day before starting work at 6 or 7am. I haven't used it in about 2 years, but I couldn't resist the gorgeous packaging when I saw it in Superdrug. And, it was half price so only cost £1.45! I think it usually costs around £2.99.

4. Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait - I actually just recently reviewed the Tutti Frutti shade, which you can find here, and I was moaning about how I really wanted Peach Parfait but it was out of stock everywhere in town. So as soon as I saw this the other day, I had to pick it up! It's a lovely shade and I'm glad I finally found it! Only bad thing is the lip butters were no longer selling at the special £5.99 price, so I paid £7.99 for this.

5. Sleek Peaches and Cream Lipstick - Sleek is slowly becoming one of my favourite make-up brands! I picked up this lipstick in Superdrug and it cost £4.39. It's basically the perfect pink/coral shade for summer. I'll be doing a full review of this soon, as I simply love it.

6. Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat - I'm one of those horribly impatient people who hates nothing more than sitting around waiting for nail polish to dry, so as soon as I saw this I had to try it. I think it cost me £4.99 from Superdrug, can't remember exactly but it was around that. I've already tried this, and I love it. No more sitting around for up to an hour scared to move my hands for fear of smudging my nail polish!

7. Barry M Nail Paint - Every time I visit Superdrug, I end up with more new nail polish! I picked up the shades Mint Green and Teal, and they're such good value at £2.99 per nail polish.

So, that's my wee haul. I'd also like to say that in the space of a week, my nail varnish "collection" has grown from THREE nail polishes to SIXTEEN. At this rate, I'll be drowning in the stuff within a month. Blogging is having a very adverse effect on my shopping willpower...

Have you bought anything nice recently? Are there any products which you just can't resist when you go shopping like my current nail polish obsession?!

PS: I finally ordered myself a new digital camera! So hopefully there'll be no more crappy Blackberry photos in a few days time - yay!