Beauty Blog - Beauty Geek UK: 2013

New Skin: First Look at Baby Quasar Plus

I was sooo excited to receive the Baby Quasar Plus*, having spent the last week or so lusting after it online (considering the weather I've had plenty of time to do so), so I'm happy to report that it finally arrived this morning. I say "finally", but it actually only took five days to get here from America which I thought was pretty impressive!

The Baby Quasar Plus (which I'm going to refer to as Baby Q for an easy life) is designed to combat signs of age around the eye area, often referred to as Crows Feet. However, many online users have used it all over the face and reported positive results for skin clarity, pore size and reduction of all signs of ageing, so I'm going to be trying it out with that in mind. To be honest, I did think it was a tool designed specifically for all over the face but the instructions dictate otherwise, so I'll double check that with the manufacturer and update on my next Baby Q post.

The Baby Q arrives in a really well packaged carrier which I'm a big fan of for gadgets, as I hate having them just sitting around waiting to be broken. Inside you get the Baby Q, the adaptor, the instruction manual and the quick start guide. It's very easy to use; you simply plug it in, place it on your face, push the button and off you go. Each treatment cycle lasts for 3 minutes, so technically it should only take 6 minutes a day if you're just treating the eye area.

You have to be careful with your placement as you DO NOT want to be shining this directly into the eyes as the lights are extremely bright. The treatment itself was extremely easy and not half as awkward as I expected it to be. The device is comfortable to hold (I can happily waffle away on the phone whilst still holding it in place) and I ended up doing 7 treatments in total; 1 on each eye, 1 on each cheek, 1 on each jaw line and 1 on the forehead.

There was no real sensation other than a bit of warmth and the skin felt warm afterwards for a couple of minutes. Rather horrifyingly, my crows feet looked much more pronounced after use but this settled down after 10 minutes or so. Other reviewers have mentioned that they noticed a firmer, glowier look to their skin immediately afterwards. I didn't notice that, but one thing I did see was quite a reduction in the depth of my eye bag: you know that line you get from the inner eye that goes all the way out towards the temples, and the skin within this is usually quite puffy? I'm struggling to see any puffiness at all which is great, but could be temporary (and could just be me flattening it with the head of the device!) so we shall see.

So far so good; the device is easy to use, easy to set up, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens and I'll update as I go along. The recommended treatment programme is 5 times a week which I think will be quite easy to integrate into daily life i.e. in front of the telly.

The Baby Quasar Plus is currently on special for £249.99 and comes with a 5 year warranty and a 60 day money back guarantee.

How Not to Conduct Your Business on Twitter

There was mucho furore on Twitter today, as MUA attempted to launch their (apparently) much anticipated code for 50% off all their products. However, as is usually the case with these types of promotions, word got out and before you knew it, all make-up lovers were heading to the site to start their shopping which resulted in a mahoosive site crash.

So, rather than take to Twitter to apologise for any inconvenience caused, loyal fans were tweeted these gems:

"Everyone, please get off our website!"....really? I'm sorry, you want your customers to NOT visit your site? Your site can't handle the surge of traffic and the fault of this lies at the feet of your customers?? I imagined a middle-aged, matron type sitting there Tweeting and getting all flustered that her charges were being awfully naughty.

Obviously I understand and even sympathise with the fact that it was probably quite stressful for the MUA team; I would imagine they wanted to get it sorted as quickly as possible so everything could go back to normal, but barking patronising orders at your Twitter and Facebook followers is not the way to go; at best it's unprofessional and at worst it's just plain rude. Clearly they didn't plan very well for this and I'm sure lots of lessons were learnt, but seriously MUA, apologise for inconveniencing the very people who keep your business afloat, don't shout at them over Twitter!

Ole Henriksen Truth is in the Eyes Eye Peel

Ole Henriksen is one of those brands that I'm fairly certain I would be addicted to if I wasn't on a strict regime for another company, as all his products not only sound amazing, but they're beautifully formulated with some cutting edge ideas, and nothing encompasses these elements more than the Truth is in the Eyes Eye Peel*.

I've always thought that the beauty market was crying out for a product that would effectively yet gently rejuvenate the eye area (Olay made an attempt at this a few years back, but their efforts weren't great), as since it's an area that quickly starts to show signs of wear and tear, surely it would make sense that it would benefit from some very gentle peeling. Ole's Eye Peel fills that gap perfectly and does all these things and more.

It's an eye treatment that you apply before your moisturiser; you apply it to the outer orbital which works on the main areas that show lines, i.e. the crows feet. You need the teeniest, tiniest amount which you tap in and leave to dry, before applying your usual eye cream.

Not the most helpful image, but this should give you an idea of the consistency; this is enough for one eye.

I was using this last night when I realised I hadn't actually reviewed it on here and thought this was something that should be rectified immediately as it's a product I will most definitely repurchase, although I'm limiting using it to only my "facial days" which equates to three to four times a week. You can use it daily and when I purchase the larger size I will definitely move up to daily treatments. It's just brilliant at smoothing the area and I can definitely tell the days where I've used it the night before as it really does make a difference. Tread really carefully during application as you DO NOT want to get this in your eyes, but other than that it's just wonderful; it slotted straight into my skincare routine and will no doubt remain there for quite some time. It's available now from Feel Unique for £39.

New Skin: I don't want normal skin, I want great skin!

It's a few weeks in since my last update and my skin is still acting normally. I'm not completely clear, but I'm down to one teeny tiny spot most days (I'd say all days but I had a day last week where I had two) and these are the type of spots that acne-sufferers dream of; they're barely visible, easy to conceal and disappear within a couple of days. No pain, no bleeding, no infection, no manky scabbing and no month-long heal time...it's all looking very promising!

Therefore, with the new year comes a new skincare focus. Instead of only taking into account my spots and little else, I can now start work on my other skin issues which I've narrowed down to mainly scarring, slightly enlarged pores, skin tone and clarity and, sadly first signs of ageing. Therefore there are a few things I'll be starting work on shortly and I thought I'd give you a heads-up so you can get an idea of firstly, what I hope will work with these skin issues and secondly, what reviews will be appearing soon!

Jan Marini Glycolic Peels*

Now the lovely peeps at Jan Marini have decided it's time for me to start the next phase of my new skin plan and crank it up a notch with some Glycolic acid peels. My mum used to administer these when I was a teenager so I've already tried them (a long, long, long time ago, back in the day when I was a Goth with a secret Spice Girls obsession) and they were fantastic for my skin, so I can't wait to start on these again. Glycolic acid is one of the best things for acne scarring and skin clarity and it's most suitable for people who are no longer suffering from acne (if you are and you want a peel then consider trying either Lactic acid which is great for sensitive skins or Salicylic acid which cuts through the glue-like oiliness that most acne sufferers have on their skin) and as I'm tentatively regarding myself as this, I'm hoping these will reduce my scarring considerably.

Baby Quasar Plus*

Man am I excitedly and anxiously awaiting the arrival of this bad boy as firstly, I do love me a beauty gadget and secondly, I've spent days and days reading reviews and apparently it's really amazing! It's a red-light device that promotes cellular renewal as well as healing which is perfect for me at the moment as these are both things that will benefit my skin type immensely. I'm hoping that it'll speed up my scarring recovery (by stimulating collagen thus forcing my skin to renew at a quicker rate), improve my overall skin tone and also work on my early signs of ageing which are mostly faint lines on my forehead and around my eyes. A lot of users have reported that this gives skin the most unbelievable glow after the first few uses, so I cannot wait to get my mitts on this!

Slendertone Face*

Another beauty gadget! I must confess, I've had this sitting around for absolutely ages but I didn't see much point in using it since my skin was so chock full of infected spots that I figured I probably wouldn't notice any results as whenever I looked at my face, all I saw were spots. This facial exercising tool is mostly aimed at tightening and lifting any sagging. Thankfully I'm a little too young to show any major signs of sagging, but since I have a long and rather angular face, I'll be much more susceptible to sagging so the earlier I start trying to combat it, the better! The other reason I'm keen to introduce this into my regular skin maintenance is due to the fact that I'm hoping the stimulation (the tool sends what I'd describe as little electric shocks which force the muscles to contract) will also stimulate cellular renewal and ensure my skin is repairing as quickly and efficiently as possible. I'll update with a more thorough post on this device when I've played with it a little longer.

So there we have it! Note that I'm avoiding anything too brutal (yes, microdermabrasion, I'm looking at you) as one of the main things the Jan Marini skincare regime has taught me is that my skin doesn't need to be scratched away with nasty manual exfoliators and can instead be aided in exfoliation with chemicals such as Glycolic acid. I really do think that chemical exfoliation is much, much better for all skin types and if you're like me and miss that buffed feeling you get with manual exfoliation then you can get it from a Washi cloth, muslin cloth or flannel. Fingers crossed for me everyone and I'll keep you regularly updated on what's working and what isn't.

Quick Post: Models Own Lip Balm

Models Own have recently launched a set of three flavoured lip balms including Watermelon, Peach and Coconut. I have Watermelon* which would've been the last flavour I'd have chosen, but it's actually rather nice!

The lip balm is packed full of flavour without a hint of anything synthetic or plasticky, and the lip balm itself is much thicker than it appears in the pan, resulting in a very rich lip treatment that provides a good dose of moisture with added SPF15.

The packaging itself is slightly rubberised which I think might result in it becoming a Nars style fluff-magnet, but so far it's holding up well and doesn't look too grubby. I'm not a fan of lip balms in pans as I don't like having to stick my finger in them, but if you're not oddly OCD about such things then this is a great choice as it really does deliver on both flavour and treatment, and the compact also contains a mirror making it a very handy bit of kit. All flavours are available now at Models Own priced at £4.

Una Brennan Superfacialist Rose Products: At Home Facial

Anybody who follows me on Twitter will have had to put-up with my somewhat irrational excitement over the news that I'm now allowed to introduce certain products into my skincare routine thanks to the fact that my spots are considerably reduced and I no longer suffer from infected spots. I still have to be very selective about products I introduce and they can only be complimentary treatment type products, so nothing that needs to be used daily.

Therefore, this means I'm allowed to use masks again and I can't tell you just how much I have missed the indulgence of a bit of at home pampering. The Jan Marini products are absolutely wonderful and very effective, but they're also very clinical and don't pander to that pampering element that I love so much in skincare, so to find out that I can use masks again was extremely pleasing and I immediately started working out what masks I would use. Within minutes I had decided the first one I wanted to try was one from Una Brennan as I've been lusting after her products for a while, and coincidentally, a couple of days after I purchased her Rose Intense Moisture Mask, the oil and cleanser from the same range landed on my doorstep, so I took this as a sign that I needed a night of good ol' fashioned, indulgent pampering.

I would say my skin is leaning towards normal at the moment with the occasional breakout. However, it has been showing signs of pretty severe dehydration; no flakiness or dryness, but it just feels a little tight and looks a tad crepey if I play around with it, as you do. The Superfacialist Rose collection is designed to rehydrate skin so I figured it was a perfect starting block for my new skincare freedom.

Miracle Makeover Facial Oil*

The Rose range contains two products for cleansing to allow and encourage double-cleansing which is one of the things I've missed doing as I'm a firm believer in thoroughly cleansed skin. I absolutely love oil cleansers so it was almost impossible to explain just how happy I was to start using an oil cleanser again, albeit only as a pampering treat. This is a beautiful, rich, gentle and clarifying oil with a delicate rose scent that you warm in your hands and work over your face. If you've never oil-cleansed then this is a great product to start with, as it's a really rich oil but it doesn't feel greasy and washes away without leaving a film. I implore you to spend a couple of minutes massaging your skin with this as you'll wonder why you didn't delve into oil cleansing sooner.

Hydrate Cleanser*

This is another rich product that doesn't feel like it's chocked full of pore-clogging grease and instead feels gentle and soothing. I've mentioned many times that I'm not one to get particularly excited about facial washes (although I will say that the Jan Marini one is exceptional; however it contains a pretty strong dose of Glycolic Acid so inevitably it's going to pack a punch) and this one is no exception, but it is a good-quality and well formulated cleanser that will leave skin feeling hydrated, cleansed and clean without that horrid stripped feeling that a lot of wash-off cleansers leave. I used this after the oil and with the Clarisonic to give my skin a really deep clean before applying the mask.

Intense Moisture Mask

I've always been a big fan of moisture masks as regardless of your skin type, every skin needs a moisture boost now and then (especially spot-prone types as we're the ones using all the drying ingredients) so I've amassed quite a collection over the years. This one feels very indulgent and cooling and again doesn't swamp your skin, so you end up feeling like your skin is free to take what it wants from the mask. This is also one you only need to leave on for five minutes and it does seem to perform quickly, as I wouldn't say there was any difference between how much was left on the skin surface after 5 minutes to how much remained after 10 minutes. This is a really good choice for those who have dehydrated rather than dry skin as it left skin feeling very smooth and softened, although I'm not sure if it would be rich enough for dryer skin types.

If I had to pick one product to recommend from the above three then I'd say go for the facial oil as it's the sort of product that will easily integrate into any existing skincare routine you may already have in place, and I would imagine would suit most skin types. These three products combined made for beautifully smooth, plump and moisturised skin that felt pampered and taken care of. I have to be strict with myself and not go overboard on new skincare, but I'm really craving the indulgence and simplicity of this routine again, so it's safe to say this mini-facial will be my go-to whenever my skin is feeling in need of a moisture boost.

All products are available now from Boots, and they've got various specials on meaning you can save anything from £2 to £5 depending on the product.

No7 Deco Darling Palette: Swatches, EOTD and Review

Way back in 2012 during Christmas in July, I first laid eyes on the amazing Deco Darling palette* from No7's Creative Director Lisa Eldridge's Deco themed AW12 collection. I swooned like nobody's business until I finally got my hands on it last month.

It's one of those palettes that isn't limited by seasonal trends due to it containing four incredibly wearable shades. In the palette you get a warm, light, bronze-flecked gold, a darker, earthier brown, a shimmery, blue-leaning grey and a matte black. In this EOTD, I've used the lighter bronze all over the lid, the darker brown on the outer "V" and smudged under the eye and finished with a line of the matte black smudged into the upper lashes; all this is finished with a coat of Green People's mascara.

Interestingly, in the pan the lighter bronze shade looks like it leans very yellow, and I thought it'd be my least favourite due to this. But on the eyes it comes to life and is so incredibly flattering on pale skin tones like mine. The darker shade works really well for contouring the eyes whilst blending seamlessly with the lighter gold shade, and the matte black is an absolute staple for me and gets used at least every other day.

I haven't really used the lighter grey shade as I've been so focused on the other three which all match together to create an extremely wearable, daytime smoky eye. What's great about this palette is how pigmented yet blendable they are; you can really build-up a lot of colour, but as the powder is so finely milled, it'll all blend in together making this a perfect palette for people who are a bit crap at blending eyeshadow...so it's perfect for me!

The matte black is the star of the palette as it's just so easy to use as an eyeliner; applied with a firm, angled liner brush, it creates smoky, daytime eyes that look naturally enhanced rather than lined. So if you're a fan of easy to wear and easy to use make-up that looks gentle and soft, then this is a dream palette for you.

I included this rather squinty picture so you could see the almost metallic finish of the shimmer!

As I said, I spent months lusting after this palette so it was great to finally get my hands on it to find that it delivered on all expectations. My post couldn't be timed better as it's currently available for £5 on the Boots site here, so if you like easy, day time shades that can be built-up or dressed down, or even if you're just after a great black powder liner then this will be £5 extremely well spent.

Glossy Box January 2013

Yesterday saw the arrival of my first Glossy Box* for 2013 and it's another goodun'! At first glance, I was a little disappointed to see so much skincare for two reasons; firstly, I like a box that mixes it up and I always prefer getting make-up items to skincare, and secondly, I thought there was a high likeliness that there would be very little for me to play with since I'm so limited on what skincare items I can use due to being on the strict Jan Marini routine. However, if you follow me on Twitter then you'll know that I'm now allowed to use masks from other brands, and this box was surprisingly mask heavy, so it's a total result for me!

This months box focuses on products that help with the new year detox, so it's lots of pampering treatments and treats for the skin. You think this would've been the perfect excuse for GB to dump another body lotion in the box (I swear, I need never buy another body lotion again thanks to beauty boxes, and I don't even use them that often!) but thankfully they've managed to avoid that, and have instead included five products that are all to be used on the face.

As usual, my run through will be listed in order of my personal favourites first:

Sanctuary Spa Active Reverse Thermal Transformation Mask

This'll probably be the only time you'll ever find me happy to have a sachet sample included in a beauty box, but I have been eyeing this treatment for absolutely ages, just waiting to be given the go ahead to start using other products again. Therefore, this arriving within days of me getting the go ahead is absolutely joyful as it'll save me risking the £27.50 that this retails at. It's a two-step facial treatment; the first layer is a peptide treatment and the second is a Rose clay mask that warms the skin. I love rose scented facial treatments (I'm binging quite severely on them at the moment) and I absolutely cannot wait to give this a whirl.

Monu Renu Flash Relax Mask

Another mask! This sounds rather interesting as it's a detoxing treatment that gives skin an instant facelift...apparently. It certainly contains some goodies, such as vitamins C and B5 and Hyaluronic Acid so I can imagine this would make for a rather lovely pre-night out skin perk-up. There appears to be enough for a couple of uses as the sample is a fairly generous 30ml, so I'm definitely looking forward to trying this. Full price, this is £32.

Jason Lips Bee Healthier

Rather wonderfully named, don't you think? I'm always happy for a lip balm or lip treatment to feature in a beauty box as I can never have enough; I get through them at an astounding rate (I'll be doing a feature on my favourites soon) and I like to keep as many as possible dotted all over the place so I can replenish my lip moisture levels as often as possible. I'll rarely get excited about a lip balm and tend to find them functional rather than rave-worthy, but I definitely like receiving them...certainly much, MUCH more than body creams! The sample included is full-size and retails at a cheap and cheery £1.99.

Vichy Normaderm 3in1 Cleanser

The main reason this falls so low in my list is due to the fact that I already have it, so obviously I'm not going to get excited about receiving it again, especially as I can't currently use it due to it containing scrubby bits, which is a big no-no in my current skincare routine. It is a fabulous product though, so if you haven't tried it and got it in your Glossy Box this month then I recommend giving it a good go as both a mask and an exfoliator. This was a decent sample size at 50ml and the full sized tube of 125ml retails at £11.

Premae Skincare Balance Rescue Face Tonique

This sounds absolutely beautiful and like something I would love to use, so I'm definitely sulking about the fact that I can't (whilst secretly trying to justify it's use; I'm thinking of incorporating it into a facial) as it's got some lovely sounding ingredients; sandalwood oil, lemongrass and rose water, all of which sound like they'd be a gentle and dreamy tonic to weather-beaten skin. Again, it's low in my list due to the fact that I can't actually use it but it's definitely something I will try my hardest to find a way to use soon! Again, we got a fairly generous 30ml sample, and the full-sized 50ml retails at £27.50.

Glossy Box Sleeper Mask

I really like the fact that we now appear to get monthly added extras from the GB brand itself, as it's a nice finishing touch. This month we got a sleeper mask; I'm a bit weird about them as I love the way they look (and consequently I have several) but I'm too scared to use them as I'm worried that I'll end up tricking my body into believing it's night constantly and become some sort of Sleeping Beauty type without the beautiful dress and instead wearing PJs with holes in them. Tad irrational, maybe, but there you go...

All-in-all, a pretty superb start to the year for Glossy Box! There isn't one product that I think is a cop-out (no body or foot creams anywhere in sight) and I feel like all these products, themed around 'detox', are well selected. Hopefully this means that GB are back on course in delivering beauty boxes that are worthy of excitement and something to start looking forward to again.

NOTD: Chaos Colour

For the past few months my NOTD posts have mainly focused on individual shades, so I thought it was about time I brought back my themed and quaintly named attempts at nail art like I used to do. Have you missed them? Have ya? No? Okay then.

Anyhoo, here is something I've been wanting to try for a while after I saw this post (scroll down before you get confused by the black) as I thought it looked cute, colourful and most importantly, fairly easy. The colours in the above post were mostly pastels, so I thought I'd try some brighter shades.

The shades I used are:

Nails Inc St James's* (bright red)

OPI Get Your Glamour On (coral pink)

Nails Inc Notting Hill Gate* (neon pink)

OPI Need Sunglasses? (yellow)

Nails Inc Holland Park* (neon purple)

Avon Arctic Waters* (bright sea blue)

All these were applied over a base of Nails Inc Floral Street*. I kinda like these, although I'm not sure on the colour choices as the merging of the blue, yellow and red has all gone a bit too primary colours for my liking.

This is very easy to do and it's just a case of applying your base shade (Floral Street needed two coats to stop any streaking), let the base dry for ten minutes or so and then literally just layer each colour one stripe at a time. Once you've worked your way through all the colours, start again, then work out what colours are under-represented (I'm nothing if not an equal opportunities nail painter) and add a bit more of them.

I like the fact that these are the antithesis of winter nails; they're bright, colourful and fun and that's what I'm craving at the moment so in that regard it works well. I have to say, I'm mostly leaning towards loving these but I think the fact that they're so chaotic - something I'm not usually a fan of with nail art - is leaving me a little non-committal. If I try this look again I think I'll allow a bit more of the white to show through and I'll also use thinner strokes as, ironically, the streakier the finish, the better it looks.

So what do you think?

Are they bright and fabulous or garish and unkempt or all of the above?!

Lancome X Alber Elbaz Make-Up Collection

Later this year we'll see the arrival of a collaboration between Lanvin's Creative Director, Alber Elbaz, and beauty powerhouse Lancome. This will be the designer's first venture into the world of make-up and all products and shades being featured in the collection are being kept under wraps. However, there is this rather cute teaser video (as illustrated by Elbaz) to whet your appetite:

Are the bright make-up shades featured in this a hint at what's to come? The Lancome X Alber Elbaz collection lands on 15th June 2013.

Green People Volumising Mascara

I think if I really had to pick just one product to take to an island with me, it would be mascara. I'm terribly fickle, and tend to fall in love with a new mascara every other week, however, Green People's Volumising Mascara* is a total winner for me at the moment.

I think it might be due to the way I apply mascara, but I rarely find volumising mascaras which actually volumise my lashes particularly well. Instead, the best I can hope for is some good length and definition. This mascara manages to tick the two aforementioned boxes whilst also adding volume too. It's very easy to work with and apply, doesn't clump or flake and comes off easily when it's time to take my make-up off.

I have absolutely no issues with chemical at all (unfortunately I think that's a bit of a bi-product of having problem skin like mine; you accept that very little is going to do much other than some hardcore chemical action!) so it's safe to say that picking products that contain natural ingredients is not high on my priority list. To put it another way, I won't give up on a product if it's working, regardless of what it contains.

Therefore, for this mascara to make it in to my daily use (any recent face shot posts with full make-up will show me wearing this) even though it's formulated with 98% ingredients from natural origins speaks volumes (boom, boom) about just how great this is. It contains vitamin E and plant oils to nourish and condition lashes which for me is the icing on the cake. A mascara that actually does what it says on the tin and is good for your lashes? Yes please!

Green People Volumising Mascara is available now, priced at £14.35.

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF15 in Natural Beige and Tender Rose

I first mentioned Laura Mercier's Mineral Foundation in my high coverage post here, but I also stated that I wanted to give it a full test drive before writing a full review, and now I think I've used tested it thoroughly enough to share my thoughts.

Laura Mercier is a brand I've developed quite a thing for lately, and the sales really didn't do much to stop my deepening infatuation as you can see in my sales post here! I was sent this foundation in Natural Beige* which I applied straight away, and immediately realised it was the wrong shade for me. However, I was so impressed with its coverage that I decided to order the right shade for me, which turns out to be Tender Rose.

Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation: top Tender Rose, bottom Natural Beige

Natural Beige is still a fairly pale shade but it leans too yellow for me and I'd say it's around a shade and a half to two shades too dark for me as well, whereas Tender Rose is a fraction too pale, but it balances out any redness in my skin and I'll always go for a shade that is too pale rather than too dark as it's easier to correct with blusher and bronzer etc.

Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation: Top Tender Rose, bottom Natural Beige

This is a typical mineral powder in the sense that it needs to be buffed into the skin well to perform at its best and needs to be built-up slowly. It comes in a good, solid container which contains a fairly generous 9.6g of product. Inside the container is a sliding lid that allows you to close in the powder to reduce mess, although I keep forgetting to close it after I've finished!

Left before, right after...just in case you can't tell...

Interestingly, when I first got this and swatched it on my hand I was horrified by how shimmery it was. It's safe to say that if I wasn't sent this then I wouldn't have gone anywhere near it based on a hand swatch alone as it's soooo shimmery in a swatch, but for some reason the shimmer doesn't show up much when the powder is applied to the face. Instead the finish is very dewy, glowy and incredibly flattering.

With the rest of my make-up.

All I have on in the after picture is a touch of Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer under my eyes and this powder, so as you can see it covers acne scars really well. I did have a spot when I took these pictures and it did reduce the redness, but obviously it didn't completely cover the spot itself. This doesn't work well as a setting powder as the few times I've used it over other make-up, I've found it to cake, smear and not settle properly so I think this is something that needs to be used alone, especially if you're prone to oiliness.

Since my skin has started showing signs of improvement I've been enjoying wearing (or getting away with) less make-up as I now don't feel the need to use lots of products for day-to-day make-up. Instead I use under eye concealer and this powder before applying my usual products. This is a brilliant, high-coverage foundation with a beautiful finish that I highly recommend if you want a one-stop product that'll bring your skin to life whilst covering it well.

Laura Mercier Mineral Foundation is available now from Harrods and the usual stockists for £31.

Pages - Menu