Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Okay. So. It's been almost 2 whole months since I last wrote a blog post. In all honesty it really doesn't seem that long ago, I really don't know where the time has gone! In truth there wasn't a reason why I stopped writing on my blog, I just lost my 'blogging mojo' and just generally had nothing I felt I wanted to write about. In any case, I finally feel ready to put some effort back into my little piece of the Internet, so here goes!

After getting back from my holiday, I needed a new foundation in a darker shade to match my new found tan, so I went to Boots and picked up the Bourjois Healthy Mix on a complete whim. I have used this foundation before, and really enjoyed using it so I decided to give it another whirl. Since the last time I used it, they have revamped the packaging to give it some lovely red accents, and I am actually a huge fan of the new packaging. It now comes in a glass bottle as opposed to the plastic bottle it used to come in, and I personally feel that the red accents make it look quite classy.

 

 

 

 

"16 hour radiance booster! Instant anti-fatigue result! Give your skin a boost of radiance with Bourjois’ Healthy Mix foundation with a vitamin-rich fruit therapy formula for an even complexion and an instant anti-fatigue result! "

 

 

Bourjois claims that this foundation will make you look 'flawless' for up to 16 hours. I'm not too sure it lives up to this claim, as I do tend to find myself powdering my face after around 7/8 hours, although I do have quite oily skin so this may be down to that. I will agree with the claim that it makes you look flawless though, as it really does make your skin look smooth and evens out any imperfections you may have.

 

The formula of this foundation is quite strange - it's almost gel-like, but because of this it blends into the skin really easily. I tend to apply this with my Real Techniques expert face brush, but it also blends in really well with your fingers if that's how you roll!

 

I have the shade 52 'vanilla', which is slightly darker than I would usually go for due to just returning from holiday, but it is a really good match. I find a lot of Bourjois foundations have quite yellow-y undertone, which can be a pain but fortunately it works for me! There are 8 shades available to choose from, which isn't a great shade range but unfortunately this is quite typical of drugstore foundations!

 

I really like this foundation and would definitely recommend it if you can find a shade match! It's probably most suited to drier skins as it's quite hydrating, but that's not to say it doesn't work for oily skins too!

 

This is £9.99 and available from Boots and Superdrug.



Cream Blush: Bourjois vs. Maybelline

I have only recently discovered my love for blushes in general, and so when I discovered Bourjois were bringing out some cream blushes I knew I had to try them. Whilst I was in Boots purchasing a Bourjois cream blush, these Maybelline ones also caught my eye! From doing some research, I don't actually think these are a new release from Maybelline, but I had never seen them before so decided to pick one up to compare the two!

 

 

 

 

Left: Maybelline, Right: Bourjois

 

The shades I have are Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 07 Plum, and Bourjois Cream Blush in 03 Rose Tender.

 

The packaging of these are quite different. The Maybelline blush is in a rather sturdy glass pot with a colour coded, screw on lid, whereas the Bourjois blush is in a tiny magnetic compact which contains a handy mirror which is really useful for when you're touching up your make up on the go. Although the Bourjois packaging is more travel-friendly, I actually prefer the Maybelline packaging, simply because I find it easier to open!

 

The consistency of the two products was where I found the most difference. I found the Maybelline offering to be much more creamy and easy to apply than the Bourjois one. I usually use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush to apply these, and I find that the Maybelline blush provides more even application and less work to blend into the cheeks. I have also tried applying these both with my fingers, and again the Maybelline one is much more creamy and easy to blend than the Bourjois.

 

The Bourjois is a cream blush which dries to a powder finish, whereas the Maybelline blush tends to leave a dewy, cream finish on the cheeks. This is all down to personal preference, but I prefer the finish of the Maybelline as it looks more like a natural colouring!

 

In terms of pigmentation, I would say that these two were on a par. I had no complaints about either of their colour payoff, and they both lasted with my make up all day, something which is important to me as I hate touching up my make up throughout the day!

 

Overall, I like both of these products. I think they're both good quality, however my favourite has to be the Maybelline Dream Touch Blush, as I find it easier to apply and blend in!

 

The Maybelline blushes are £6.49 and available from here, the Bourjois blushes are £6.99 (usually £7.99!) from here.



Products I've Changed My Mind About

Hello everyone!

I really enjoy reading these types of posts, so I thought I'd do my own. There's only 3 products that are on here because most of the stuff I buy, I look into to decide if I really want/need it. These 3 are all products that I originally liked, and all 3 of them have their own reviews which I will link in this post. However, after using these for a longer period of time, I have changed my mind about them. Just to be clear, I don't think these are bad products generally, they just don't work for me - some of you may love them, and that's fine, after all, I loved them when I first found them!

#1. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

(Original Review here)



I first bought this because of the amount of hype it was getting in the blogging community. If you read my original review, I said that I wouldn't repurchase it due to the shimmer it has in it. However, I have been using this again because it was the only foundation I had to hand when I ran out of the Rimmel Cream Gel one I normally use. Having used it again, I can now see that the shimmer is not as noticeable in natural light as I originally thought it was, and it also helps to make you look more awake. I always liked the formula of this foundation, and that hasn't changed, but I have gotten used to the shimmer in it, and I can now see why so many people rave about this. I would purchase this again. :)

#2. Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

(Original Review here)

I really liked this when I first bought it, and for a while after. I still do really like the concept, but I just feel this one is slightly too overpriced. I had a cheaper version ages and ages ago that I picked up from Home and Bargains for about 99p, which I really liked so I thought I'd try this more expensive one to see if I could see a dramatic difference. In all honesty, the only difference is that it smells nicer when you use it. The Bourjois one has a black sponge so you can't see the product build up in it, but you can tell when you try to remove your nail polish. If you have ever removed glitter polish with it, you will end up with glitter on your nails each time you use it after. Don't get me wrong the cheaper version obviously did this too, but at 99p compared to £4.99, it's a little easier to swallow. Also with this, it claims you don't need to use a cotton pad, but I found that this left a greasy residue all over my fingers, which is probably the oils within it to help look after your nails, but I hate the greasy feeling, and so had to wash my hands after every time I used this, which kind of defeated the point of it in my opinion.

#3. Dove Maximum Protection Deodorant

(Original Review here)

Ah, I'm so gutted this is in here. I LOVED this at first - it stopped sweat, there was no white marks and it kept you smelling fresh all day long. However, after using it for a few weeks, I think my body became immune to it or something (I don't know if this actually happens but I like to think so :P), and it just didn't stop me sweating anymore. This being said, if it works for you, then I am jealous. Yes, it's quite expensive for a deodorant, but it genuinely is good, as long as you're not like me and your body doesn't reject it :P. Obviously, I am no longer using this and I am back with my trusty Mitchum deodorant, which works perfectly fine for me still :)

I hope this was interesting to some people. I wanted to do a post, but I wasn't feeling a product review so I thought I'd do something a little different as I always enjoy reading these posts.

xx

Bourjois 10 Days Nail Enamel #26

Hello everyone,

I have been wanting to try a Bourjois nail polish for ages now, but have always been put off because they are near enough double the price of the Barry M ones I usually go for. However, Superdrug had a 3 for 2 offer on (I don't know if this is still on as I bought these over a week ago) and so I decided to take advantage of this and get 3 Bourjois polishes for the price of 2.

I bought 2 polishes from the "So Lacque Ultra Shine" range, which I think is a relatively old range now, and one from their new "10 Day Nail Enamel" range.

"Painting your nails is now hassle-free" is what Bourjois claim of the 10 Day Nail Enamel. There are 12 shades available in the range, and each one comes with an angled brush which is supposed to make application easier and also allow you to touch-up your nail polish if you get any chips. Now, even though this is called a "10 Day Nail Enamel", Bourjois don't actually claim that it lasts for 10 days with just one application. What they actually claim is that the polish will last 10 days "with touch-ups". This is where the angled brush comes in. The angled brush supposedly makes it easier to touch up your polish without getting those annoying chip marks that appear when you touch up with a regular nail polish brush.

The polishes also have a "pro-sillicum formula". Now I'm not actually sure what this is but I do know that it is supposed to act as a "protective barrier to protect nails from chipping, and make them up to 2x stronger".

The shade I got was number 26 'GUIMAUVE' (the shade name isn't actually on the bottle - I found it on the Boots website).

Number 26 is a pinky-purple colour which actually is quite unique. I don't own anything else that is similar to this colour which is what drew me to it in the first place.

The packaging is fairly normal for a nail polish - the only difference is that the lid is actually slightly curved which makes it easier to hold in my opinion. The angled brush was actually really awkward to use. It made it difficult to get an even line near the cuticles and I found it gave quite an uneven finish on the overall nail, but this was fixed with another coat. The formula of the polish is good, it's slightly thick but I think this may have something to do with the "pro-sillicum formula".

With flash

Without flash

I really like the colour of this polish, it's quite bright without being too 'in your face'. The images above are 2 coats of the polish.

When dry, this actually has quite an odd feel to it, it was almost rubbery, which I put down to the sillicum in the formula. The day that I applied this, I went to work, and when I had finished, there were no chips to be seen, and no noticeable tip wear, which is unusual as I normally have quite noticeable tipwear from rummaging around in a till all day. I normally change my nail colour quite often but I decided to leave this on and see if it lived up to the "10 days" claims. This wore for about 3 days before I felt I needed to touch it up, and when I did touch it up, the chip marks were almost fully covered, which was impressive. Obviously, they were visible if you got reallly close to them, but even from just a short distance away they looked fine. I carried on touching them up most days after this as I found that they chipped more easily after you had touched them up, and overall I think I had this colour on my nails for about 7 days, which I personally think is really good. I change my nail colour quite often anyway, so I don't find that I need long-lasting nail colour, but if you hate changing your nail colour, these would be perfect for you. The shade range is good as well, there is a wide range of colours so I'm sure everyone would be able to find a shade they would wear.

They also claim that the polish makes nails 2x stronger. I can't comment on this as I used Sally Hansen's Miracle Cure as a base coat which makes my nails stronger anyway.

Bourjois 10 Day Nail Enamel is available for £5.99 from Boots and Superdrug (they're not on the Superdrug website so I can't link them sorry!).

Has anyone tried this?

xx

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Hello everyone,

Today I will be reviewing Bourjois 'Healthy Mix' Foundation. I have been using this foundation since I decided I wasn't the greatest fan of Rimmel's 'Wake Me Up' and was recommended this product by a few friends and also some fellow bloggers. Off I popped to Boots, and returned with this:

I have shade 51 'Light Vanilla'. I am slightly confused about the shade range for this. In Boots, there is only 3 shades available, but on the Bourjois UK website, there's quite a few? So I don't really know how available the majority of the shades are as there was only a choice of 3 in both Boots and Superdrug. If anyone knows anything about this then please let me know!

The foundation comes in a plastic bottle with a pump dispenser. I have had some issues with the pump dispenser in the fact that it won't pump any foundation out and when you press the dispenser the next time foundation will come out everywhere (and all over my bedroom carpet, oops) but I haven't seen anyone else mentioning this so I don't know if I just have a dud one.

This foundation contains something called 'fruit therapy', which is where it uses fruits to create a flawless complexion, hence the name 'Healthy Mix'. It contains apricot (for radiance), melon (for hydration), apple (anti-oxidant) and ginger (for energy). I would say that this foundation is very hydrating and does make your skin glow, but I will go onto that later.

Anyway onto the product claims - Bourjois claim that this foundation gives you a "flawless complexion for up to 16 hours". This I wouldn't agree with. Using this foundation by itself (no primer and no setting powder) lasts around 6 hours I would say. With a primer and a powder I do usually get through the day without touch-ups, but alone the foundation is not enough. I have normal/dry skin and it doesn't last that long on me so I don't know how long it would last on oily skin.

The consistency is quite runny, but I think this is partly to do with the fact it is marketed as a 'hydrating' foundation. As I mentioned before, I have quite normal skin with a few dry patches, and this just glides over the dry patches, whereas some foundations will cling to them, making them more obvious. This is what I really like about this product. I had read numerous reviews on this on many blogs and all of them said it would be good for dry skin, which is why I purchased it in the first place. Also, it actually smells lovely. You can smell the fruit scent in it, which masks the traditional 'make-up' scent. I am aware this may not be to everyones taste but personally I like it and think it smells much nicer than the traditional foundations.

The overall effect of 'healthy mix' is lovely. It does make your skin glow and it feels very light on the skin. The coverage is quite light so if you have any blemishes you will probably need a dab of concealer just to cover them up, though this to me is not a major issue.

Overall I really like the 'Healthy Mix Foundation'. I would definately recommend it to someone with normal to dry skin like myself, though maybe not for someone with oily skin. I will definately be repurchasing this as it is probably the best drugstore foundation I have tried. The lovely smell is a definate plus as well!

This is available for £9.99 from Boots and Superdrug.

Also in the Healthy Mix range are a concealer and another foundation with is called the 'Healthy Mix Serum' which is apparently a gel-like foundation and I have heard this is also very good but I haven't tried it personally and can't comment on it.

Has anyone else tried this? What did you think?

xx 

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

(Totally didn't realise until after that I'd taken a picture of the French side!! Sorry).



Hello everyone!

Most of you will have heard of this - there has been a lot of blog posts floating around about this and as I paint my nails quite often and hate the removal stage, I thought I'd try it out. I actually had a similar thing which I picked up in a Home & Bargains but the sponge was white and obviously, it got dirty very quickly!

This is Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover. It is essentially a sponge with a hole cut out placed inside a container. It claims to remove nail polish in 1 second, without the need for cotton wool, and claims to have a scent of "Red Fruit and Vanilla". Now, I sniffed it when I opened the tub and it smells very strongly, exactly like normal nail polish remover. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed UNTIL I removed my nail polish, and my fingers smelt amazing afterwards! As soon as you take your finger out of the tub, you smell this amazing scent which lingers on your skin for quite a while after too. Obviously this is not going to be everybody's cup of tea but I like it.

Also, it's worth mentioning that the formula is acetone free and paraben free, meaning it's safe to use on natural nails as well as gel nails and acrylic nails, and doesn't contain paraben which can be harmful to you. Always a good thing :)

This is my finger before removal (obviously). Excuse the poorly painted finger, I painted it simply to test this out, I'm actually sporting naked nails this week to give them a break from polish :P.

This is the after I had twisted my finger round in the pot. When I simply put my finger into the spomge and took it out again, the polish was still there. However, I put my finger back in and twisted it round and removed and this is what I ended up with. There are still some traces of nail polish around my cuticles but this was removed with one more twist.

I found that this actually left a greasy residue on my fingers after I had used it :S I don't know if anyone else has experienced this? So I had to use some cotton wool to remove this, hence the claim of "removal without the need for cotton wool" was inaccurate for me. Also, if I am being 100% honest, it doesn't take 1 second to remove all of the polish. Granted, it doesn't take ages, but I dislike it when brands make claims that are not true.

Overall, I did quite like this. It is a fuss-free method of removal and the only thing I didn't like was the greasiness I mentioned, which is not a massive issue. I probably would repurchase it as I think it is a fair price, considering you are in effect paying for polish remover, and however many cotton wool pads you would normally use. The concept is actually really good, but like I have mentioned, not unheard of.

This is available for £4.99 from Boots and Superdrug (though I can't find it on their website to link). However, it's sold out in quite a lot of places now - my Boots didn't have any and I grabbed the last one from Superdrug so availability may be an issue while everyone wants to try this.

Have any of you tried this? What did you think?

xx



UPDATE - After using this for a couple of weeks I should probably update this post with a few things.
1) I wouldn't recommend this for the removal of glitter nail polishes, especially chunky glitters (e.g. model's own Ibiza Mix) because after removing them, you WILL get your fingers covered in glitter everytime you use the product again. The glitter comes off easily if you just rinse your hands afterwards, but it's still quite annoying. Looking back this seems quite obvious tbh, but just thought I'd put that out there.
2) If you have any small cuts etc on your fingers, you may find that this does make them sting. Again an obvious point but what I do is use this for the removal of my polish, but any fingers that may have a cut on them, I use a cotton bud dipped into regular nail polish remover.

Hope this helps  :) x

April Favourites

Since it is in fact the 1st May, and I have seen so many people do these monthly favourites on their blogs, I decided to share with you what I have been loving this month.

#1. Barry M Nail Paint in 324 Silvery Lilac

I keep meaning to do a review of this and have never done one! I really love this colour, it's quite sheer and needs about 3 coats to be opaque but I love it. It's like a duochrome and although it's called Silvery Lilac, I actually think it flashes from lilac to green!

RRP £2.99 from Boots, Superdrug and www.barrym.com.

#2. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

This stuff is AMAZING (and no it's not an exaggeration). It's perfect for me because I have dry patches on my skin and this is hydrating and just glides over them. I will do a full review on this at some point because I feel I must share this with you!

RRP £9.99 from Boots & Superdrug.

#3&4. Garnier Simply Essentials

I use the cleansing lotion and the soothing toner as part of my daily skincare routine and I absolutely love them. If you want to know more, I mentioned these in my "Current Faves" here.

RRP £2.98 each from Boots, Superdrug and major supermarkets.

#5. Vaseline Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter

Not really much to say about this as it is exactly the same as original Vaseline! However, what I really love about this is the smell. It smells like cocoa butter (obviously) and reminds me of a summer holiday. On top of smelling gorgeous, this does it's job well and soothes dry chapped lips and dry skin.

RRP £1.99 from Boots, Superdrug and major supermarkets.

#6. Sally Hansen Miracle Cure

I love this. My nails were awful before I discovered this and now they are amazingly strong and no longer flaky. If you would like to know more, please read my review here.

RRP £9.99 from Boots, Superdrug and major supermarkets.

xx

FOTD #1

I've been debating whether or not to do this for a few days now. Even though I love make-up and beauty, I am not the most confident person in the world, and I certainly don't photograph well! However, you'll just have to excuse the poor picture and my poor skin cause I'm having a slight 'mare at the min with my skin, I'm just at the end of a bad breakout (eek!).

This is pretty much my everyday look, nothing too special or interesting. I don't wear anything on my lips as I hate lipstick (shock horror!) and don't particularly like lip gloss. Occassionally I will have to resort to lip balm but that is rare.

(By the way, my pictures aren't very good because I'm having to rely on my iPhone, my camera broke!)

Base:

17 Photo Flawless Skin Primer

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory

MUA Pressed Powder in Shade 1

17 Instant Glow Shimmer Pearls

Eyes:

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero

Bourjois Volume Clubbing Mascara in Absolute Black

I've just realised how boring my make-up is haha! I tend not to bother with eye shadow or lipstick/lipgloss so it doesn't actually take me that long to do this. Maybe I should start being more creative! Anyone know where would be a good place to start?

All of my make-up is high street brands tbh, though I am saving up for some more high-end brands at the min, might take me a while though as I keep getting distracted by the 3 for 2 in Boots!

xx