High-end foundations: hits & misses

As my Instagram followers might have noticed by now, I am a massive base/foundation addict, I love my skin to look perfect at all times and believe that if my base looks good then my makeup is all good. It's also the most thing I enjoy when working on clients or myself, I find it amazing how I can sculpt a person's face using makeup, this also comes from my love for drawing faces. With simple tips and tricks you can easily make your face not only look flawless with all problematic areas covered, but you can also make it look so natural and almost-not-there which is a look I've been loving recently (comment below if you'd like me to do a foundation routine post!). 

In the past year I've also learnt that when it comes to foundation it's almost always best to splurge a few extra pounds for the quality of the product, rather than wasting money on a product that won't work. Now obviously everyone's skin is different and so we all look for different things in a foundation so the foundations that I might dislike, you might like and vice versa. My skin is conbination/dry and I like a semi matte finish, I used to love a completely full coverage foundation a few months ago because I had more problematic areas I wanted to cover and I broke out frequently, but alhamdulillah (praise be to God) since coming back from holiday my skin has improved a lot and I now much prefer a light/medium coverage foundation. I also like to make sure there's a perfect yellow-toned shade for me, I usually go for a foundation darker than my face because my hands are slightly darker and because I like to look a little more tanned. 

Foundations I LOVE *worth the money*:

Makeup Forever HD - This is by far my favourite foundation at the moment, it has all of the attributes that I'm currently loving - light/medium(buildable) coverage, non-cakey/very natural looking, yellow-toned and my perfect tan shade (153) and a lovely fast-setting semi-matte finish - not forgetting that it also looks GREAT on camera/flash photography. In my opinion this product is very much worth the price. (I think it costs around £35/£40 pounds - I bought it while in Dubai so I'm not completely sure.) I would recommend this foundation for people with normal/combination skin, after reading some reviews by other bloggers I've learnt that it can be a problem for oily skin-types as it doesn't hold in oil and it makes dry skin appear flakey *DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PURCHASING ANY FOUNDATION* I'm not very oily nor am I very dry so I've not come across any problems. It also wears very well for me and doesn't end up 'separating' which can happen with some products. 

Urban Decay Naked Skin - This is another great medium coverage foundation, it's also semi-matte, natural looking and you don't need much product to cover up. I have the shade 4.0 which is a little too light for me at the moment, but the shade is a great yellow-undertone for us Simpsons. Lasts well and looks great! This retails for £27.

Illamasqua Rich Liquid: This is the perfect liquid extremely full coverage foundation I've yet to come across, it's SO pigmented and if applied correctly can look amazing on the skin. If you have a foundation which you'd like to give a little more coverage to simply mix in a drop of this and you have more coverage. It doesn't last amazingly so I would recommend it for occasions instead of a normal long work day, it sets semi-matte and I think it would suit all skin types. It also has no SPF which make it perfect for photoshoots. This retails for £22.50.

Illamasqua Skin Base - I've been raving about this foundation since the day I discovered it, I have about 6 bottles of this (that's how obsessed I am) in various shades. It's the perfect all-round foundation, great for all skin types, medium/full coverage and looks great in photos ~ I have a full detailed review here. 

Nars Sheer Glow - Another favourite, perfect medium/full(buildable) coverage, looks great and lasts great on skin, semi-matte finish and I would say perfect for all skin-types. The shade I have is Strombolli which is a perfect match and has very strong yellow undertones. Retails for £30.50.

Foundations that are OK:

Chanel Perfection Lumiere - This is a very decent product; looks natural, medium/light coverage, matte finish, sits well on skin and feels very light, shade 06 is a bit too dark for me as it oxidizes as soon as I apply it so I'm debating on whether to swap it for a lighter shade or not. One of the things that disappointed me is that it doesn't last very well so I wouldn't recommend it for very oily skin-types. And it is quite pricey at £36. 

YSL Touche Eclat - If you like very light coverage foundations you might really like this one, it smells amazing and feels and looks amazing on. I have a very light shade (BD40) which I only use on my cheeks (I like to use more than one foundation for different parts of my face for a 3D effect) because I don't need any coverage there and it really brightens my face. Retails for £29.

Mac Studio fix - A decent foundation, good coverage and nice semi-matte finish full review here.

Foundations that I DISLIKE *not worth the money*:

Estee Lauder Double Wear - I know a lot of people love this foundation but I have got to say this is the WORST I've tried in my entire life and I believe it's because of the change of formula recently. It's supposed to have full coverage but for me I would definitely say it is a medium/light, it look INSTANTLY cakey as soon as I apply it and I've tried every possible technique, I tried to like it but honestly it looks so hideous. It does not last on my skin at all, I couldn't find a perfect shade match, all colours ran disgustingly orange/pink, It separates on the skin and flakes around blemishes euughhh sorry but this is just a horrible re-run into my previous experience with Revlon Colorstay which I also cannot stand (I bought 4 bottles of that crap to try and like it but nothing changed). They smell exactly the same and they perform exactly the same. So if you like Colorstay you'll probably like this. Then again if you have oily/very oily skin you might like this too. I bought two bottles of this but had to return them because of the disappointment. Retails for £28.50.

Mac Studio Sculpt - This is another foundation I couldn't bring myself to love, looks way too obvious on the skin, separates, crap coverage and it just sits on the skin really weirdly and doesn't really set, not as bad as DW though. Costs £24.

Diorskin Nude - this foundation is pretty decent but I was disappointed by a couple of things it didn't do for me - although 031 is the darkest shade it is actually even lighter than my NC25 winter skin so I can't use it all over my face (I currently use it on my upper cheeks sometimes), the coverage is bad and it doesn't last very well. Retails for around £32.

Thanks for reading!

Habiba x

REVIEW: MAC Studio Fix Fluid

Hello readers :)
This is my first product review on my blog and will definitely not be the last! I've got so many products lining up to review, some I've tried some not; I hope you find it useful and insightful. 

Mac Studio Fix Fluid ~

Before I go into my review I just want to say that my skin type is combination, meaning I have oily and dry areas as well as being spot-prone and sensitive. Generally foundations don't really affect my skin in terms of break outs etc, but my skin gets super dry if I use ultra matte foundations. Also, I never apply foundation directly onto my skin, I moisturise and prime (Smashbox Photo Ready) because foundations in general last badly on my skin.

Shade: I bought this in the shade NC25 which is an absolute perfect match to my skin, I was really happy about this because I rarely ever get a foundation to match my skin and resort to mixing two or more foundations together which can be bothersome. The undertone I’d say is yellow/neutral which, again, matches my skin very well. I previously had bought the Studio Sculpt from a Mac counter and was matched to the shade NC30 which was too dark for me and caused me to build up a dislike to the foundation entirely. Shade is very important in a foundation in my opinion, and I’ve noticed that most make up counters match me incorrectly. 4/5

Swatched: NC25

Swatched with flash (spf15 makes it look lighter)

Packaging: I seriously hate the packaging of this foundation with a passion. Not only is it glass which I see as a hazard and incapable of safe travel, but there is no pump. I find myself having to shake this bottle onto the back of my hand continuously for minutes on end for the product to finally pour out (it’s very thick) which is not helpful if you’re in a hurry and want your foundation on quickly. You can go ahead and buy a pump from Mac, I don’t think I will. Also the lid is sort of rubbery which makes it look dirty quickly. Not impressed, I much prefer the packaging of Studio Sculpt. 0/5

Longevity: I was actually quite impressed by the longevity of this, I wore it for around 7 hours and it did look slightly worn off around my chin which is normal for me, but the rest of my face still looked flawless. (I set my foundation with Signature Minerals powders). 4/5

Coverage: Mac claim that this foundation is medium coverage but I must say that this foundation is definitely full coverage unless you thin it out with a moisturiser or mix it with a setting spray (I sometimes mix heavy foundations with Elf Mist & Set to thin them out and also keep them on all day – If I was wearing them for an everyday natural look). It covered up the slight redness on my cheeks, acne scars and large pores. Bear in mind that this foundation looks very apparent on the skin; it looks like you’re wearing makeup so if you like natural looking foundations this is not the best choice. 5/5

Without foundation: redness, large pores  (my face is slightly red because of my facial routine)

With foundation, looks pretty obvious on the skin.

Finish: The finish is semi-matte; not completely matte yet not completely luminous. This makes it easy to use on both dry and oily skin types. Mac also claim that the Studio Fix Fluid “contains specially treated micronized pigments and soft-focus powders for a super-smooth look that helps minimize the appearance of imperfections.” I really like the finish, even though it doesn’t bother me very much as I powder it anyway. 4/5

Application: I tried applying this foundation on two occasions using two different brushes; the Mac 187 (stippling, duo fibre brush) and the Mac 190 (traditional foundation brush). I felt like both gave the exact same outcome and maybe the 190 gave heavier coverage. This foundation can be applied using different techniques which is a definite positive. 5/5

Mac 187, duo fibre stippling brush

QVS foundation brush (from Superdrug for around £5) and Mac 190 traditional foundation brush 

[excuse the dirty brushes!]

Conclusion: Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this foundation, I really abhor the Revlon Colorstay and I figured this will be the same as I’ve heard so many reviewers comparing the two. But I think they both work totally different on my skin. This foundation gave me an incredibly flawless face and I didn’t feel the need to mix it with any other foundation to neutralise the tone or to make it less matte like I sometimes do with other foundations. And surprisingly it lasted very well on my bipolar skin. I really dislike the smell though, it smells like paint (as does Revlon Colorstay) and the packaging is extremely unpractical. All in all, I have sidled this bottle with the rest of the foundations which I will only feel comfortable to use for events and when I need very high and flawless coverage. It’s not my kind of everyday make up as I prefer a less obvious foundation with less coverage. But still a very nice foundation if you’re looking for heavy coverage and have either oily or dry skin (not for very dry skins). J

Thank you for reading <3
Please comment telling me what you think of this review and what you would like to see in the future. 

Habiba xxx