My skin was quite nice up until I turned around 18 or 19 & almost out of nowhere I developed severe acne. It was all over my chin, cheeks and nose & at times it was also super painful because my skin got so sensitive. It was such an upsetting time I began not leaving the house unless I absolutely had to because I felt like everyone would stare at me whenever I went out. In reality, they probably weren't but any self confidence I had at that age had completely disappeared. Up until this point I had never really worn a lot of make up so I decided to have a little search on the internet to see if anyone had found a foundation that would cover up acne but also not be too harsh on the skin. In doing this I discovered a wonderful foundation and also the YouTube beauty community. If it weren't for this product I probably never would have found the beauty bloggersphere!
Lily Lolo mineral foundation was the one I discovered and I absolutely fell in love. In recent years they have developed their shade range, but I was mixing shades Porcelain and Blondie to create my perfect match. I loved everything about this foundation, it's super easy to apply, it doesn't feel like you're clogging your pores with unnecessary chemicals and you can really build up the coverage by adding more light layers. I feel like my skin is too dry to use this as a foundation now but I still use mine as a setting powder over my liquid foundation and I love it for that too. Lily Lolo is a fabulous brand and I also love their mineral blushers, the pigmentation of them is amazing!
When my acne began clearing up I was left with a lot of redness and a lot of scarring. At this point I felt like the Lily Lolo wasn't offering me quite as much coverage as I would have liked, so I turned to Revlon ColorStay foundation in the shade Ivory and I absolutely loved it. This was so hyped up in the beauty community at one point and I knew I had to try it. It smells quite like paint and it's super thick but with a bit of work you can really get it to blend in and look flawless. This is too heavy for me to wear now but I went through a good 2 or 3 bottles of this and I adored it!
The next foundation that I really fell in love with is the Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect foundation in the shade 71. My skin, at this point was beginning to get more dry due to the acne medication I was taking and I was really after a much lighter foundation because the warmer weather was approaching and I remember that summer was super hot. The last thing I wanted was to be wearing a heavy foundation and feeling uncomfortable in the heat. 10 Hour Sleep Effect gave me a light to light-medium coverage and most importantly, it didn't look like I was wearing a lot of make up. It gives a very natural look while still evening out the skintone. I still adore this foundation now, although I have the lightest shade it's a little dark for me during the winter months but I always have a bottle of this in my make up collection in time for summer!
The next foundation to hit shops that everyone loved was the Bourjois Healthy Mix and I knew I needed to try it. I think it was starting to get cooler and I wanted something that would give me a little more coverage but still look quite natural. I love Healthy Mix, the lightest shade is an almost perfect colour match for me, it gives a nice medium coverage without looking too much. The only thing I would say is that if you have especially dry skin, you might need a super good moisturiser underneath because I find that this can highlight dry areas a little.
When Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum was released I pretty much ran to Boots to purchase it. This is hands down one of my all time favourite foundations, I would say it's in my top three. This offers a little more hydration than the original Healthy Mix so it doesn't highlight any dry areas on my face. This gives a lovely medium coverage that can be built up or sheered out depending on how you want to wear it and most importantly for me, it looks natural. I have the shade Light Vanilla and although it is a tiny bit too dark for me, it's nothing a bit of blending doesn't fix and I don't think it's hugely noticeable. I just love this, I don't think I can say enough good things about it!
Another all time favourite foundation is MAC Face & Body. Now for me this is a definite summer foundation purely because of the colour, shade C1 is too dark for me in the winter but it's perfect for when the sun decides to come out. This is a water based foundation, it's super runny but I find it so easy to blend and it looks wonderful on the skin. The thing I love the most about this foundation is that once it's on the skin, it's not going anywhere until you remove it at night. I don't think I will ever be without a bottle of this in my make up stash. It's well worth every single penny!
Finally, my last favourite foundation is Studio Sculpt from MAC. Like the Bourjous Healthy Mix Serum foundation this is also gel based so perfect for dry skin. A little goes a really long way with this, I only use about half a pea sized amount to cover my whole face otherwise I find it can look a little cakey. This is one of those foundations that gives you a flawless finish & covers pretty much everything you would need to cover. I tend to wear this the most in the evenings but I have worn it lots in the daytime when I'm really going for that flawless base look. It doesn't feel to heavy on my skin and the colour NC15 is the absolute perfect match for my skin tone. For me, this is well worth every single penny even though it is quite pricey!
What is your all time favourite foundation? I would love to know! Have you tried any of my favourites before? What did you think of them?
xoxo
How did you clear your acne scars? Ugh, I hate mine! :( I've been wanting to try MAC Face & Body foundation for aaages, but I'm quite iffy as MAC product tends to break me out. Darn. Will try the Bourjois Serum! Thanks for this post! <3
ReplyDeleteJust with time and regular exfoliation! It took about 2 and a half years before I began noticing they had faded quite considerably! Really do recommend healthy mix serum, it's lovely! xo
DeleteAh this is such a good post! It's so nice to not hear how bad or amazing it is, but why you liked it as in like what it did for you in relation to your acne. I've tried a few of these, but I'd love to try the Studio Sculpt now! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Studio Sculpt is lovely, I still can't believe how little is needed to give a flawless finish! xo
DeleteI definitely need to try the Lily and Lolo one! xx
ReplyDeleteHighly recommend all of their products! xo
DeleteI use the old bourjois healthy mix but I think I do have the problems with it showing dry areas so maybe I will try the new one, as I love the coverage the old one gives but I need something with a bit more hydration.
ReplyDeletexx
http://fashion-nerdette.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/aztec-inspired-nails.html
I think you'll love healthy mix serum, very similar to healthy mix but with a bit more hydration! It's lovely :) xo
DeleteAs an acne sufferer myself (I have had it since I was 10, I'm now 21!!) I was just wondering what you used to finally get rid of it?
ReplyDeleteYour skin always looks so great!
I had a 6 month course of oxytetracycline, followed by about a year on dianette and I now take Yasmin. It has helped dramatically but I know it's not something that works for everyone. Xo
DeleteAh you're so lucky! I have already tried all three with no real improvement :(
DeleteOh that's such a shame! Have you tried accutane at all? Definitely a last resort but it might help? xo
Deletethis was really useful! Thankyou! xoxo
ReplyDelete<3 xo
DeleteGreat post and so informative, I would love there to be a perfect foundation but my skin changes with the seasons so it's nice to know all the details and what skin they work well on :) xx
ReplyDeleteps. Happy Birthday for yesterday :)
Aww thank you so much, Sadie! xo
DeleteI'm a complete newbie to wanting to use foundation, bit late to the party aged 26!! May have to try the Lily Lolo!
ReplyDeleteJem xXx
Lily Lolo is lovely & quick and super easy to use as well! xo
Deletelovely post!i 've had acne for the past 13 years!i'm 25 now!i've been on roaccutan 4 times and acne always comes back!My last treatment showed some results and now i feel free to go out bare faced!don't get me wrong my skin is still a mess but i can appreciate the fact that's not full of pimples!I'm so going to try mac face&body!
ReplyDeleteAww I'm so happy that you've finally seen some improvements and that you feel much happier! <3
DeleteGreat post, Jennie! I love Bourjois Healthy Mix and the Healthy Mix Serum sounds amazing, I'm definitely going to have to give that a try! xx
ReplyDeleteIt really is lovely! xo
DeleteDefinitely going to check out the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum and Mac studio sculpt, i have such dry skin at the moment! Big thanks for pointing me in the right direction! :)
ReplyDeleteJayde xx
You're welcome lovely! xo
Deleteive just bought studio sculpt because of you! so far enjoying it :)xx
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so happy you like it! xo
DeleteI really liked the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum but unfortunately I was in between shades. My favourite foundation however is definitely MAC face and body - it's absolutely brilliant. x
ReplyDeleteAw that's such a shame - super annoying when that happens! Face & Body is beautiful though! xo
DeleteI use the original healthy mix at the moment and really like it but have found recently that it does tend to highlight dry patches and kind of separates and looks a bit patchy (if that makes any sense haha) so might try the serum version out!
ReplyDeleteIt totally makes sense, I find that happens too sometimes! Never had that problem with the serum version though! xo
Deletewow, 4 of those are my fav too <3
ReplyDeleteI have to try the rest ;)
http://passingfancyy.blogspot.com/
Yay! xo
DeleteI love the Bourjois Healthymix ranges, and like you I adore the serum version so much!
ReplyDeleteBourjois have such great foundations! xo
DeleteI only have the bourjois healthy mix which i bought when i was in france. but i wish i could try some other of their foundations as well as revlon stuff which suddenly dissapeared...WHY? ;)
ReplyDeleteOh no, that's a shame! :(
Deletesuch a great review hun, thanks so much for sharing! i currently use No7 foundation as its super sensitive for my skin which use to have severe acne and now is red and a bit scarred. Id love to try a different foundation with a slightly heavier coverage so now on your review I know more about what to try! :) x
ReplyDeleteAww yay, I hope you find something else that you love too! xo
DeleteThanks for the post hun! I really want to try Bourjois Healthy Mix as I looove Sleep Effect :-) also I love the thought of Face and Body - but the shades are just too dark for me! Gutted as it sounds amazing xxx
ReplyDeleteAhh I know, I wish they did it in slightly paler shades! xo
DeleteI love reading about what foundations people use and like :) so I really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteI think I need to try the Mac Studio Sculpt, I've heard so many amazing things about it!
I do too! Studio sculpt is wonderful, pricey but it lasts for ages! xo
Deletethis has been so useful, I'm looking for a potential new foundation! Think i'm going to try one of the bourjois ones :) x
ReplyDeleteI think you'll definitely find a bourjois foundation that you love, there's something for everyone in the range I think! xo
DeleteI really want to treat me to some face & body! Great picks!
ReplyDeletexx
You totally should! It's lovely :) xo
DeleteI LOVE the revlon! Great picks!!
ReplyDeletexo Jenn
imperfection-isbeauty.com
<3 xo
DeleteI don't think you can beat bourjois when it comes to foundations! :)
ReplyDeleteLucy
http://lucyywrites01.blogspot.com
x
They really are lovely! xo
Delete