Jane Iredale PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation review

Jane Iredale PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation 

 Sorry, that’s a very long title!    

             

I’d never heard of Jane Iredale before, but it’s a brand of mineral makeup with stores in the US, as well as being available online.  When I was told about the brand’s mineral foundation, I was totally intrigued, as it seemed to promise all the things I was looking for.      

  

The compact boasts multifunctional properties – it‘s a foundation, powder, concealer and sunscreen in one.  This effectively meant that I could do away with the military operation that applying foundation usually involves.           

       

As well as the usual spheel of ‘brightening, light diffusing properties and flawless coverage’, the compact is talc, oil and paraben free, so promised minimal irritation and also a lighter base.  This was music to my ears, as one of my bugbears with foundation is how heavy and clogged it makes my skin feel.       

One real benefit that appealed to me was that most of the shades promised to be universal.  With fewer shades on offer than the likes of Mac or Bobby brown, this seemed to eliminate the issue of picking the wrong colour and ending up grey or orange.      

However, when it came to choosing the right shade for me, I was still a little perplexed.  I browsed the Jane Iredale website and looked at the handy colour selector, a rainbow of different coloured-women with the foundation choices next to them.      

Unfortunately I didn’t quite match up to any of them (no desi girls, Jane?), so I took a bit of an educated guess and went with the shade that seemed to work across a few ethnicities – Golden Glow.                   

Jane Iredale PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation
in Golden Glow 

When I first received the compact, I thought it was so pretty that I didn’t want to use it!  I know this is shallow, but the gold metal case, which includes a mirror, is totally the kind of thing you want to casually take out of your handbag when trying to impress.  You can tell by the look and feel of the compact that this is more of a luxury buy.  The £39.95 price tag also confirms its luxury status.           

When I finally did open the compact, I was initially worried that the colour was too light for my skin.  However, Jane Iredale proved its universal stripes – as the golden shade is actually a great match for me, in fact one of the closest foundation matches I’ve ever had!         

Applying the foundation is simple: following a primer, you just apply a few swirls with a powder brush.  It is also advised that you finish with a face spray as opposed to a finishing powder.  

I’ve worn this foundation a few times now and am always happy with the result.  It makes my skin look brighter, unlike some foundations which can look ashy unless you go a few shades darker than your natural tone.  I still have a little greying around the chin, but this happens on most Asian girls.  Using my Vasanti corrector underneath sorts this out.      

However, I don’t think Jane Iredale’s Pure Pressed Powder acts as a concealer, as it promises.  I still needed to use a concealer afterwards.  Perhaps it would have concealed more if I’d applied more foundation, but I’d rather have a light base and conceal blemishes separately, rather than have a thick mask of makeup. 

Here's what the foundation looks like on:  

        

In short, I’m pretty much in love with Jane Iredale’s Pure Pressed Mineral Base, mainly because it’s a colour match, which for me, is a rare find.  When this runs out, I’ll be purchasing a refill for my coveted compact.  But I’ll still be using concealer, as this foundation doesn’t cover-all, unless I apply makeup with a trowel!             

 

For more information about jane iredale products, visit www.janeiredale.com or for stockists in the UK and Ireland, call 020 8450 7111.                   

     

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Gosh Smokey Eye Palette review

Gosh Smokey Eye Palette in plum  

   

I’m a huge fan of Gosh.  I rate the Gosh Velvet Touch primer and I regularly drool over their vibrant lip glosses and eye colours at the Gosh counter at my local Superdrug.   

 

So when I got the opportunity to be one of the lucky few to try Gosh’s new Smokey Eye Palette before it hit the stores, I jumped at the chance. 

Now, I’m not a huge fan of the full-on dark smokey eye.  Being blessed with large eyes and slightly heavy eyelids means that dark eye makeup can make my eyes look deep set, or at worst, bruised.  

       

However, Gosh has cottoned on to this issue, which is why its eye palette comes in three shades – classic grey, brown and plum.  I opted for the plum, figuring this would be the most flattering tone for me. 

The palette itself is incredibly functional.  Slim and neat, it can fit into any clutch bag, and the four shades also come with an idiot’s guide diagram showing you where exactly to apply each colour.  Pretty foolproof, eh? 

 

One criticism I’d have of the design is that the palette doesn’t have a ‘snap-shut’ function, which means that the lid doesn’t quite close properly.  This made me wonder whether it may come loose in my makeup bag, but it hasn’t so far!  On the plus side, the eyeshadows are well-set so are unlikely to crumble even if it fell open in my bag.                  

The Palette does not include a brush. But to be fair, often many eyeshadow palette’s provide a crappy sponge applicator which isn’t worth using anyway, and I end up using my own brushes.  The lack of brush therefore, isn’t a huge deal-breaker for me.  

See below how the shades swatch: 

Gosh Smokey Eye Palette in plum - swatched!  

One thing you’ll note is that – apart from the darkest colour, the other three shades are pretty light.  In fact the two in the centre pretty much disappear on my skin.  This translates the same onto my eyes, which makes it a much lighter version of the smokey eye, or at least that’s how it looks on my skin.       

To create the above look, I used my Eco Tools shading brush, and Cosmopolitan Blending brush.  My rubbish camera (I promise you I’m buying a new camera soon!) doesn’t seem to do the eye makeup justice.  It actually does look a little more plum-y in person, however the colour is still very subtle and could even pass for a brown shade.  This isn’t a huge criticism as the shade actually kind of works for me, but if you’re looking for a very deep plum colour, this palette won’t provide that. 

My sister also tried this palette to demonstrate how it would look on a lighter skin tone.

You can see that plum tone is more noticeable, but the colour is still incredibly subtle, and more matte than sheen.    

 

So overall, I would say that Gosh’s Smokey Eye Palette is nice for day or office wear, or could be worn in the evening matched up with bright lips.  This look is all about subtlety, so if you’re looking for eye drama, this perhaps isn’t for you.  But if you want a matte smudgy tone instead of a full on smokey eye, it’s worth a look.  

Gosh’s Smokey Eye Palette is available exclusively at Supedrug from April, and costs £7.99.                              

            

     

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Time to de-stress

Credit: immortalhumans.com 

     

OK, so this blog post has nothing to do with makeup, beauty or skincare.  So loyal followers of Desi Girl’s Beauty Blog may be forgiven for thinking that my blog has been hacked (the change in design will probably further this theory). 

However, this is an issue that probably affects most of us women at some point or other, so it’s totally worth a post.  Yes, I’m talking about stress.  

  

While I’m writing this post, I’m in a pleasant state of calm, but just a few days earlier, it was a different story.     

 

I was late for a class, so I drove like a mad woman, rushed to park my car, struggled to reverse close to the kerb, gave the evil eye to a poor woman for walking too slowly past my car while I was waiting to open my door, before bounding up the stairs to my class, only to realise that my class hadn’t even started!

Anyway, I spent the first half-hour of the class feeling guilty about the slow-walking woman and wondering why the hell I was so rushed when people were strolling into the class after me without a care in the world.         

The further irony was that the class in question was an Arabic class, which teaches the virtues of inner peace and patience – so it kind of defeated the purpose being a mad bitch en-route to this place of tranquillity.               

    

Anyway, I decided to assess why I’d been peeved, and it was simple, I was super-busy which in turn made me super-stressed.  I don’t know if there’s a technical term for this, but let’s just – for arguments sake – call it a superwoman complex.  I want to do everything and be all things to all people.          

Right before my class I was frantically tidying whilst also thinking about what to do for lunch.  I pride myself on picking everything up, to the point of burning myself out.

My busy-bee nature also extends to my work.  Working in PR, I’m expected to be on a constant adrenalin rush, and I’m always finding myself in situations to push me over the edge.    

 

I guess covering such a big geographical patch doesn’t help things either - I spent the first few months of my job in a head-spin.  Things have calmed down since, but I’m still multi-tasking myself into a split personality, while sending the odd frenetic tweet between managing journalists, clients, film crews and the odd royal. 

When things are especially busy, I find myself cancelling after-work activities like the gym or meeting friends because I just want to unwind.  When I do meet friends, I sometimes find myself discussing work.  When I go to yoga, I find myself clock-watching…              

More recently, it seems that being in a high-octane role means I also run out of patience with others when I’m let down.  I recently found myself grumbling with disbelief when a photo I’d requested hit my inbox - the subject was sat in front of a window, therefore nicely blacked out. 

Though now, thinking rationally, I can see that not everyone’s a photographer.  Plus, in the grand scheme of things – it doesn’t really matter.  But at the time I was so annoyed, but it wasn’t just about the photo, it was a crescendo of things stressing me out…                       

              

I’m the good daughter, the loyal friend, the constant learner, the keen cook, the fit-wannabe, the beauty blogger and the career woman.  Trying to be all these things is fine, but trying to be all of these things, all the time, is where my issue lies.      

      

So something’s gotta give…                  

     

Now, if you’re reading this and thinking I’m on some self-help rant (you’re right!) which is of no interest to you, you may want to flick onto my post about the scouse brow – it’s pretty funny. 

However, if you’re reading this and can relate, you might find the following tips useful…    

By the way, I totally robbed some of these tips off another website called Hub pages - http://kathrynvercillo.hubpages.com/hub/10-Ways-to-De-Stress-in-10-Minutes-or-Less. 

I also added some of my own and incorporated suggestions from my good friend Shaheen, who has been there, done that and got the tension headache to prove it.  Most of the tips are no-brainers, but I bet most of us don’t have time to implement them:

   

1)     Make time for yourself.  OK no-brainer.  But take some time away from those you love and listen to music or go for a drive by yourself.  That way, you’ll be better company and more appreciative when you’re among others.   

2)     Do a class… and give it your all.  Like I say, I go to yoga and clock-watch.  This totally defeats the purpose of the class.  So I’m going to try and stop this and immerse myself in the sun salutations and other hippie moves.  

3)     Do nothing.  Like I say I have ants in my pants and always feel the need to be busy or productive.  But it’s important to be happy in your own company and do very little.  While I’m not saying become a complete bum, spending a little time watching crap on TV can’t be a bad thing.    

4)     Take a brisk walk.  I’m not sure who ever said ‘any problem can be solved with a walk’ – but they’re totally on it!  How many of you take a proper lunch break at work?  I don’t, but I will now, complete with a walk to the shops!  Which takes me nicely onto my next point…

5)     Take at least ten minutes of your lunch hour just to eat.  I lunch at my desk and multitask.  I check my emails, tweet, take calls, read articles online - basically I’m rubbish at taking time out.  But my plan is to change this.    

6)     Write.  Even writing this post and admitting I’m a stress head has helped a lot.  So if you’re stressed, get your thoughts down.  (NB. You don’t have to publish them like I just did).  

7)     Unplug.  Technology has made many things easier.  But it’s also meant we’re never away from work, plus we’re becoming hermits.  So turn off your Blackberry or Iphone, step away from your laptop, log off FaceBook and Twitter.  All these things are great, but nothing beats a coffee with a friend in the real world, rather than the virtual one.      

8)     Do one thing at a time.  If you juggle too many balls at once, one’s going to fall.  And often when you’re doing everything, you’re mastering nothing.  So focus on one thing at a time - you’ll do a better job.   

9)     Don’t try and be superwoman.  As much as you try, you can’t be all things to all people.  Sometimes you’ll be late, sometimes you’ll do something wrong at work, sometimes you’ll need help.  It’s ok.  As someone once wisely said when I thought I balls-ed up at work, ‘at least nobody died’.  You should adopt this phrase when you muck up yourself (unless you’re a surgeon, of course).           

I’m going to follow these tips and hopefully be less of a stress head.  If you also have a super-woman complex, I hope this post helps.  If not, you’ll be glad to know my next post will be back to beauty.          

     

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Primers – Tried and tested

   

Since I started writing Desi Girl’s Beauty Blog, I’ve been exposed to a plethora of beauty products, some good and some not so good.  So this puts me in good stead to share my opinion on what’s worth your money.             

        

Anyway, one product I’ve tried my fair share of is primers.  There are so many out there, so it’s difficult to know what to use.  On top of this, I was initially unsure about what exactly a primer does – as any descriptions I read just sounded like marketing BS.     

    

So if you’re looking for a new primer, or never used one and are intrigued as to how a primer will help you, look no further, as I’ve reviewed some primers I’ve tried and tested, and detailed what they’re best for.      

 

But before I launch into my lowdown, I’ve detailed some marketing BS for those who are still in the dark about primers…    

What does a primer do?              

 

I’ve browsed many beauty websites to get a definitive answer, and they all pretty much seem to say this:           

Primers work much like a moisturiser.  They create a barrier between the foundation and skin.  They also create a smooth canvas for your skin by minimising the appearance of fine lines and pores.     

For makeup novices, you’re probably thinking that a primer is some minor miracle.  Well let me tell you, that’s not always the case, and often a high price tag does not reflect the quality of a primer. 

  

How do you distinguish a good primer from a crappy one?      

             

The primer acid test is pretty simple – smooth some primer onto the back of your hand.  How does it feel?  A good primer should make your skin feel soft and velvety.  Unlike a moisturiser, it shouldn’t absorb straight into your skin, it should produce a smooth layer on top.  It shouldn’t feel dry or tight.           

  

Below are some of the primers I’ve tried, and what they work best for:           

Primers for mineral foundation:        

    

BellaPierre's Mineral Foundation Primer  

- BellaPierre Mineral Foundation Primer - £45, www.bellapierre.co.uk             

If a luxury mineral primer is what you’re looking for, this is it.  Bellapierre’s primer is thick and luxurious and only needs a minimal application. 
  

I’ve used it with BellaPierre’s Mineral foundation.  Due to its heavier texture, I would say that this primer is perhaps better on dry skin, rather than oily, as oily skin may feel congested and end up looking shiny.  My sister – who has dry skin – has recently tried and fallen in love with the BellaPierre primer.                    

However a bugbear for me is the price.  I think many people will struggle to justify spending more on a primer than they would on a foundation!   

     

    

Sheer Cover Base Perfector 

- Sheer Cover’s Base Perfector – Comes with the Sheer Cover kit, which starts at £29.99 www.sheercover.co.uk.  (If you don’t want the set, this can be bought individually on various websites)                

For oily or combination girls, a better primer for mineral foundation is Sheer Cover’s Base Perfector.  It’s a lot lighter than Bellapierre’s primer, so won’t make your skin feel heavy.  It still has the same smoothing effect, though it is not as thick in consistency.  Conversely, if you’ve got dry skin, you might find that this primer saps your skin. 

Gosh Velvet Touch Primer    

Primer on a budget:       

- Gosh Velvet Touch Primer – £12.99, Superdrug   

Don’t be fooled by the price, Gosh’s Velvet Primer is as luxe and smoothing as the best of them!  Its fine, velvety finish leaves a smooth canvass for liquid, cream or powder foundation to glide across.  


This is a great low budget primer which does what you’d expect - minimises pores and fine lines.  It’s like the BellaPierre primer, but not as thick. And like the Bellapierre primer, it’s more suited to dry skin rather than oily.     

 

Primer for problem skin:  

Witch Anti-Blemish
skin clearing primer

- Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer - £6.99, available at Boots, Tesco and Superdrug   

That’s right, Witch have brought out a cosmetic range to solve that age old vicious circle: makeup causes spots, which need to be covered with makeup, resulting in more spots!  Witch’s Anti-Blemish primer has added witch hazel, which helps fight spots, whilst providing a protective layer between skin and makeup.  I’m currently using this primer while my skin passes through its angry teenage phase. 

   

Best-all-round primer:       

 

- New Cid I-Prime - £24, QVC, Feelunique.com       

This is one of my favourite primers.  It’s not too light and not too heavy, and doesn’t leave you feeling greasy.  It’s the perfect primer for combination-skinned girls like me.  One squirt of the primer smoothes skin like a dream, making it the perfect go-to primer for a flawless canvass.  Once my skin is less angry, I’ll be back using the New Cid I-Prime again.             

     

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Trilogy vital moisturising cream- gets skin through the winter

Trilogy Face Care Vital Moisturising Cream

At the end of last year, I reported how I’d changed up my skincare routine in accordance with the weather.       

I’d moved along from using Avene’s Eau De Thermale oil-free, minimal lotion – which was great for the summer when my sebaceous glands were going crazy - to something more nourishing.  My winter moisturiser of choice was Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream.        

Before I go into my thoughts, I thought I’d tell you a bit more about the cream.   

 

The cream contains organic rosehip oil (which contains Omega 3 and 6), evening primrose and orange flower.  Trilogy also includes antioxidants from jojoba, carrot and grapefruit.      

The cream itself comes in a glass jar with a plastic pump mechanism to dispense.  This is great as there’s no waste.  The pump only dispenses the smallest slither of cream, and a little really does go a long way.  I only need a few slithers for my face and my neck:  

With Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream, a little goes a long way  

At this rate, the cream will easily last for six months, which is ideal, as I’ll probably change to something lighter for the summer.                  

From a practicality point of view, being in a hard-to-squeeze bottle rather than a tub means that it’s pretty safe in little hands.  I’ve had many a cream and Vaseline used up by younger relatives who couldn’t resist dunking their entire hands in!  At least this cream is child-proof!         

    

Having used it now for over a month, I’m pleased to report that it’s done my skin wonders.

Unlike many heavier creams such as Astral and Nivea, which leave my skin feeling greasy, Trilogy’s cream packs a moisture punch while still feeling relatively light. It’s absorbs quickly, but doesn’t leave a tight feeling, like Vaseline’s Moisturising Cream. 

 

For me - having combination skin - it’s the ideal winter cream.  I imagine it has a great effect on dry skin too.  However if you have oily skin, you might prefer something a little lighter. 

 

I noticed that my skin was happily softer after initial use.  Over the weeks, I think it has helped balance my skin’s oils by providing moisture without drowning.  My skin has become noticeably smoother and clearer, and while this cream can’t take all the credit (there’s a lot to be said for time as a healer of skin, as well as a less crappy diet) I think Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream has certainly played it’s part.                 

      

Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream RRP £24.50 (60g jar or 50ml pump)trilogyproducts.co.uk, Boots.com, House of Fraser, John Lewis.      

     

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Avocado face mask – brilliantly moisturising

My last post (Avocado and egg hair mask – a messy business) was slightly disparaging towards the messy - but ultimately softening - results of applying avocado and egg to your hair.      

    

Well, I’m happy to report that applying avocado to your face delivers great results for dry, winter worn skin.                   

 

It started like this, I cut an avocado in half and scooped out the goodness to put in a salad (are you seeing a theme here? I’m totally on the avocado diet right now, can’t stomach it alone, but its great mixed with onions, tomato and olive oil).                      

Anyway, I was left with the outer skin, which still had some avocado in it – you know, that funny amount that is not worth scooping out, but a shame to waste.    

I remembered that while looking up avocado hair recipes, I’d read that your face could get a real moisture boost by simply massaging avocado into your skin. This is because avocado is apparently rich in natural oils, which can soften the skin.

 

So I rubbed the avocado leftovers onto my face.  I left this on for 10 minutes - during which I looked a total state with darkened avocado on my face - and rinsed away. 

I was left with instantly softened skin.  Now I don’t suffer particularly badly with dry skin, but like most, my skin needs a little more love over winter.  I imagine it would work wonders for those who are more prone to dry, chapped skin.          

The best thing about this mask is its simplicity – you’re just using the bits of the avocado you’d throw away anyway!  I would totally recommend this as a cheap, hassle free route to softer skin.                        

     

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