L'Oreal Lumi Magique

I've had this foundation for a few weeks now but I've been too quick to judge in the past and totally changed my mind about products so I wanted to give this one a good run before revealing my thoughts to you all. I've been hooked on my Garnier BB cream for so long but recently wanted to return to a more traditional base. I've struggled to find one that fits (more reviews to come) and my skin type has changed since the last time I was on the 'foundation market' so i made a few poor choices before I arrived at this one. In the meantime I returned to my beloved Nars Sheer Glow. Nars remains the one and only brand to have perfectly colour matched me and I think that clouds my judgement when I'm reviewing them a touch but I do love it. When I first bought this I was hoping it would replace my HG foundation as I don't fancy dropping £29.00 to replace it when I'm out and although this is a very close second.. it's not quite as good! I don't want to get into that now, I'll likely pit them against each other in a future comparison post but for now I want to talk about the Lumi Magique as it's own animal.

First of all.. I really like it! I'm not going to keep you waiting for my verdict, I think it's great! I've tried some not so hot L'Oreal foundations over the past few months and this has totally redeemed them where I'm concerned. It's a light to medium, buildable coverage and it feels like I'm applying a second skin its so lightweight. It doesn't dry too quickly (like the True Match) and leaves a kind of satin finish. They say you will look 'lit from within'.. well I'm not so sure about that but once I'm all made up it does give me a familiar (*cough* Nars) glow.

I don't know why I do this to myself but here's my before and after...Although it's what I consider to be light to medium it's as full coverage as I would want and completely weightless.

I'm not saying that everything about this product is perfect because it's most certainly not.. it has flaws as everything inevitably does. The staying power is.. not good. The photos I took were less than half an hour after application.. by lunchtime unless you are staying indoors and doing absolutely nothing you will feel it's time for a touch up. I do find that improves when I wear my Clarins Beauty Flash Balm (or I suppose any good primer) but then I'm doubling up and increasing the cost, aren't I?  It's has similar lasting power to a tinted moisturiser worn alone but a lot more coverage. If you're looking to upgrade to your first full foundation this might be a good first step.

*Please ignore my dry lips.. it's still winter here up North!*

I've been mixing this with a little of the Infallible which is far too drying (post to come) on me to be worn alone and it does definitely improve the longevity but you lose a little of the 'glow'. I do really like this and as I'm coming off a serious BB cream binge it's the perfect gateway foundation for me right now. It's a lot like my Sheer Glow but unfortunately the one thing I would change in my Nars counterpart is how long it lasts and even that is better than this so I was disappointed. I would still recommend you give it a go if you like a lighter coverage  because at the end of the day we'll probably never find the absolute perfect foundation, will we? So we have to choose what's most important and I'd rather my makeup wear away early than look dry and cakey all day.

Miss BB

Soap & Glory - Hocus Focus

When you're pregnant everyone expects you to have this natural "glow"...if only it were that easy. I have never searched for so many highlighting products in all my life as these past 9 months. I've tried creams, powders, bronzers and blushers.. nothing seemed to quite scratch that itch. I love the dewy, golden finish some manage to achieve but I could never quite seem to capture it myself... until I discovered this. Soap & Glory's Hocus Focus. Some of you regular readers will already be aware of my love of the new BB craze, anything that claims to blur imperfections without piling on layers of makeup is worth a try, right? 

This stuff is fab. You can use it alone, mixed in with your foundation (or tinted moisturiser) or just to highlight. You can see from the photos below it goes on intense but can be blended out to give that healthy glow you've always dreamed of. A little goes a long way and I think it would flatter most skin tones so next time you're in the market for a highlight, why not give this is a go?

You can buy Hocus Focus from Boots for £13 here

UrbanGlow - The Review

In a return to my "usual scheduled programming" here's a beauty review for you.

I showed some pictures of these when I first got them but I feel I've had them long enough now to give a fair review and they are now available in the UK and US.

They are the new Urban Decay Cream Highlights. Part of the spring launch that saw an end to powder cheek products for UD altogether. they say...

"Emphasize your assets. Urbanglow guides their eyes to the right places, crafts contours where there were none, and creates a dewy, youthful glow."

There are 4 shades available - Brown Sugar, Sin, Wicked and Moonshine. 

You can see those I have to the left, Brown sugar is either for darker skintones or would give you a bronzey highlight and sin is, as you would imagine, a cream version of the ever-popular shadow and primer shade. 

I've heard people compare these to MACs cream colour base but I don't see that at all. The formula to this product does vary shade to shade but as a general rule it sits on the skin to leave a shine/glow, it is more greasy than creamy. You definitely wouldn't put this on as a base to anything you wanted to stay on your face! This would be your final makeup step, I tend to put a little on my cheek and brow bones and it stays put but if you tried it on your eyes it would crease for sure.

Of the two shades I have I prefer the colour of Wicked but favour moonbeam as it's without the glitter and more of a sheen. It has almost an iridescent blue/pink to it in the light.. really beautiful. Wicked is more of a party highlight for me but nice all the same. They're not a must have but a nice to have and they go a long way so are nice for the collector as they'll last a long time. On the whole I really like these and will definitely be picking up the other two shades very soon. 

Have any of you tried these already? What are your thoughts?