If any of you have pale skin like myself you will know that getting a foundation with a good coverage and a colour match is near on impossible. Back in 2009 when i visited family in Wales i managed to get my hands on a Mac Studio Fix but long since then it ran out, and very few places do it, so I have been searching for alternatives. I'm currently using Clinque 'Even better' foundation, however despite having a woman at the counter apply it - it still fails to match my complexion completely, Don't get me wrong Even better has a brilliant coverage, its long lasting and covers blemishes and under eye bags to some extent and I haven’t had one break out since using it - however I still end up looking fairly orange if I use even slightly too much of this product.
Being on a student budget and wanting to keep a versatile make-up bag is very difficult so when I read some reviews on Boots’ 17 range ‘BB Blemish Balm’ I’ll admit the £6.99 price tag drew me in. It comes in sleek attractive black packaging and has the tell tale 1950’s look that soap and glory and benefit also use in there advertisement and packaging. It comes in a tube and in two colours fair, medium and I purchased the fair colour as I didn’t want to risk an orange tint in it – fortunately both seem to have more of a pink base to them, Boots’ boast “Reveal the magic of flawless skin with this all-in-one foundation plus skincare wonder product.” My first thoughts when applying to my skin was that it was a very runny formula and when I applied to my face using a Mac 190 my thoughts were confirmed, you will definitely need to wear powder with this product to avoid greasy looking skin, The foundation is described to have ‘full coverage’ however I would say this is more of a medium coverage foundation as I still had to touch up under eyes and blemishes with concealer, that being said the foundation matched my skin nicely sat well under powder and gave my face a nice natural glow, I also felt my skin was able to breathe under this foundation, it didn’t cake on. I’m not sure this would survive a night out I will probably keep it as a daily foundation thanks to the versatile packaging meaning it can travel and the cheapness of the product means I wouldn’t be afraid to touch up through the day, I would give this product around a 3/5.
I also brought the 17 ‘Hide away correcting cream’ again these products were available in much lighter shades with pink undertones. It was £3.99 and had the same packaging as the BB Cream. I’ve never actually used a wet concealer before – I’m more of a hard concealer girl myself, but I was really pleased with the results from this products. The easy application makes it easy to do touch ups throughout the day and keep on you. The formula was creamy as advertised and covered up under eye bags very well – blemishes to some extent, teamed with the foundation they blended well together and finishing with powder the duo make a very cheap and nice final coverage. I’d give this product a 4/5 definitely a must for girls with lighter skin on a budget!.
What do you think of highstreet foundations & concealer’s? Which would you recommend? xx
