A "Glow from within" Primer: Dior Glow Maximizer

Hello everyone, hope you are keeping well and enjoying the Holiday Season. In this blog I will be sharing with you all my holy grail primer that gives you an amazing "glow from within". This is the amazing Dior Glow Maximizer Light Boosting Primer. 

This primer retails at £28.50 and gives the skin an instant boost and glow. It is a pearly based primer with little gold speckles in it, which looks something like this:

I usually use this primer when I go out as it is a bit too much for everyday use. Sometimes, I do tend to mix it in with my foundation which makes the foundation go on very very flawless. Once blended onto the skin, this is what it looks like on its own:

As you can see, it has brightened the skin without making it look oily. I have dry skin, I absolutely love the radiance this primer gives as my skin can sometimes be on the dull side. You can also use this as a highlighter on top of your foundation, and I love that finish this product gives as a liquid highlighter. 

I would say this product is definitely a versatile product, however, if you have oily skin, I would use this in a different way. One of my tips for using this on oily skin would be to use a mattifying primer first, then add this on top only where you would like the light to hit. For instance you could apply this on the tops of your cheek bones to add a nice glow. 

I give this primer a 5/5 rating as it is one of my favourite primers out there and would definitely recommend this product if you are looking for that glowy/dewy Jlo type looking skin. 

Thank you for reading. 

Lots of Love, 

Avi 

xxx

Rosehip Oil Review

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well. Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who reads my blogs, really means a lot.

I'm going to introduce you to an amazing product that I have been using for just a week and have seen absolutely amazing results. So I wanted to share Rosehip Oil with you all. Rosehip Oil is known as an anti-ageing product as it improves elasticity of the skin and provides a lot of radiance to the skin. 

There are lot's of different brands that produce Rosehip Oil, however, if it is 100% Rosehip Oil, it will work the same no matter what brand its from. The one I use is by A'kin, an Australian brand, which you can get it in the UK. I purchased mine here for £18, it is a small bottle and contains 23ml of product in it. It is the same with all brands as you only need a small amount of product to cover the entire face.

I have read a lot of reviews about this product and must say it is not for everyone unfortunately. Some people have said that this product really broke them out and gave them milia, so I would say do your research before purchasing it. Look into what type of skin you have. However, it is a great product for more mature skin as it is a very strong anti-ageing oil as mentioned earlier.

It is for Dry/Normal and Sensitive skin, which I have. I don't think I would put this on oily skin as that could result in clogging the pores.

Working in the beauty industry, I have tried and tested so many products to get rid of my blemish prone skin and have normal skin, and to be honest nothing has worked as great as this. It is a dry oil and you only need 2-3 drops to cover the entire face (3-4 drops suggested on the packaging, however I think that is way too much). 

It has really improved the texture of my skin, feels softer than what it was before and a lot clearer. I must say the first 2 nights of using, this product did break me out, but only a very tiny amount, I have had worse before. But after that, I have witnessed smooth skin and the scaring from previous blemishes seems to have reduced. 

I have been finding different ways of using this product, my favourite way of using this is mixing it with my night moisturizer (Read here on my skincare routine). Being an anti-ageing product, I think it is still a very strong product from my 20-something skin, reason being the itching sensation I get when I wear it on its own, however, works perfectly fine when diluted. I do use this product around my under eye area as well, but I only use a very very small amount.

I find it has also really given my skin that radiant glow I was always looking for. I do tend to use this on my lips as well, which has made my lips a lot rosey looking as well.

Many people use it for different reasons, you can even you this on your hair or scalp if you have dry and itchy scalp, for scaring, for treating acne/blemishes. I have read it is a brilliant product for men as well. 

Here's a before and after of my skin, with makeup on:

In order for your makeup to go on smoothly, you need good skin. You can see in the picture on the left, my skin looks very rough and has a lot of blemishes. This photograph was taken a few weeks ago. Photograph on the right, which was taken on Sunday (16/11/14) shows smoother looking skin. Please note these photos are taken from the same phone frontal camera and none of them have been retouched or edited. They have been taken in natural day light.

Also another reason to why I did not post a photograph without makeup on is because the little blemishes do not pick up well on the camera, where as with makeup on, you can see what the surface of the skin is like. 

Overall, I would give Rosehip Oil a 5/5 rating, however, would say please do your research before purchasing. 

Lots of Love, 

Avi 

xxx

NEW Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide

Hey everyone. Hope you are all doing well. I have a new post for you where I will be reviewing Laura Mercier's new Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide Foundation. As you all know I am a Make-up Artist at the Laura Mercier counter, so I would like to specify that I am not sponsored to write up this blog post. I am doing this post as I love this foundation and would love to share it with you all. 

This foundation is an oil-free foundation, however, it does have hydrating aspects in it. I do have dry skin, but I find this foundation does not cling onto my dry areas at all. Being oil-free also means it will not oxidize at all. I do find most of my foundations do tend to oxidize during the day and make my skin look orange. I have tried and tested this foundation for a week and must say I love the finish. 

 It comes in 24 different shades to match your perfect skin tone.

In order to match to your perfect skin tone, the foundation comes in 3 most common undertones, cool, neutral and warm, once again catering for all skin tones. It ranges from the lightest shade to the warmest shade. Here is a guide as to which colour has which type of undertone: 

So level 1 would be the lightest in colour and level 6 warmest. 

This is a super lightweight formula, however it is buildable and you can achieve a medium to heavy coverage. The foundation does not have an SPF which means no flashback when taking photographs! However, I would still recommend wearing an SPF during the day in either your daily skin care routine, or your primer. 

The foundation gives a flawless finish to the skin, once again Laura's philosophy is evident in the foundation. It visibly minimizes the appearance of fine lines and pores and is also ideal for acne-prone skin. The foundation is fragrance free, amazing for sensitive skin types. Laura's face products are all mainly dermatology tested, so the chances of having a reaction is very small. 

The other thing I really love about this foundation is that it does not look ashy or grey on the skin. It blends into the skin perfectly making the skin look airbrushed (in a good way). Its not cakey whatsoever, and even though it is a matte finish foundation, it still has that glow factor in it, so it won't make your skin look dull at all.

The shade I use is Suntan and here is a swatch of the foundation on my arm: 

As you can see, the foundation gives a flawless finish. It colour corrects and leaves the skin looking airbrushed. Please note, these pictures have been taken from my phone camera on Auto mode and have not been filtered. 

The way I use this foundation is by applying the Laura Mercier Radiance primer <3 and I usually use my sponge to work this into the skin. 

The Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide retails at £35 in the UK. In order to get try it out and get a 5 day sample, to get a feel of the foundation, visit your local Laura Mercier counter.

Have you tried the Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide? If yes, leave me some comments of what you think about it.

Lots of Love

Avi

xxx

Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer

Hi everyone hope you are all doing well. As some of you may know from my last post, I am currently working for Laura Mercier Cosmetics and absolutely enjoying it there. Because summer is around the corner and we are all looking for lighter makeup, I thought I would write a review on Laura's tinted moisturizer. This tinted moisturizer has won the best of beauty buy awards, and yes, after trying it out, it does deserve and award! 

The tinted moisturizer comes in 15 different shades and 2 forms, a normal tinted moisturizer (grey packaging), which is for normal to dry skin and an oil free tinted moisturizer (brown packaging) which is more for combination to oily skin. I would like to say, this is not a normal tinted moisturizer, this does give a nice coverage, I really don't see the point of using a tinted moisturizer that has no coverage. Laura's tinted moisturizers are very very lightweight, but at the same time do offer coverage, they are also buildable and do not look cakey, offering a complete flawless face.

I have dry skin, however, I do prefer the consistency of the oil free tinted moisturizer, hence why I went for the oil free. Being an oil free tinted moisturizer, it is not completely matte, it does have a slight glow to it. I love the oil free tinted moisturizer because it is hydrating at the same time, so not too drying. The oil free does offer a bit more coverage than the normal tinted moisturizer as well. I usually tend to wear Laura's hydrating primer so that the tinted moisturizer is not too drying on the face. 

Below is a comparison between Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted moisturizer and a tinted moisturizer from another brand: 

As you can see, Laura Mercier's oil free Tinted Moisturizer's consistency is a lot thinner than Benefit You Rebel's consistency. If a tinted moisturizer has thick consistency, you cannot build the product as it will just look cakey. On the right hand side, you can see Laura's tinted moisturizer goes on a lot smoother, where as Benefit's tinted moisturizer is separating, not so great. I do also think that tinted moisturizers from other brands can look way too shiny on the face which is not a good look. 

Laura's Tinted Moisturizers have an spf of 20 and provides protection from harmful rays of the sun. Also, yes I am allergic to SPF, but there are 2 types of SPF, titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. I am allergic to zinc oxide, this tinted moisturizer has titanium dioxide (if you are allergic to spf do a patch test of the 2 ingredients in spf creams to find out which one you are allergic to). The way I apply the tinted moisturizer is by either using my damp beauty blender, or my real techniques buffing brush. Both give an amazing finish to the skin. 

Being a makeup Artist, I would also recommend a balance between the products you use. For example, use a hydrating cream and primer and use an oil free foundation or tinted moisturizer. This will still give your skin a dewy finish but at the same time, your makeup will last all day long. Using too many moisturizing products can clog pores and cause skin issues like break outs and Milia. 

Finally, I would like to say, I have never tried anything like Laura Mercier's tinted moisturizer, it is just amazing. If you haven't tried it as yet, pop into the closest Laura Mercier counter and give it a try. I am sure you will fall in love with it. 

Please note, this blog was written out of my own interest and I am not sponsored to write it. 

Thank you for reading. 

Lots of Love,

Avi 

xxx

My Top 3 Concealers and How I Use Them

Hey everyone, hope you are all doing well. So, I decided to share my top 3 concealers. I have been through so many concealers, never to find the correct one to suit my skin. Finally, I have 3 concealers that I love and use everyday to conceal imperfections. It's all about trial and error in order to find something you love. 

1) MAC Pro-longwear concealer

This is my no.1, go-to concealer, I have never found anything like it. It has a very rich creamy consistency, it is highly pigmented, so a very small amount goes a long way. The concealer name says it all, this stuff stays put and does not budge at all. I usually use this as my under eye concealer, it does not crease at all. Every concealer that I have tried so far has creased, even if I have set it with a setting powder. I have been using this for a few months and it is a life saver. 

I usually pump a small amount at the back of my hand and dab some on my under eyes, my favourite way of blending this is using the sharp end of my beauty blender, which I will be reviewing very soon as well. 

The shade I use is NW30, this concealer costs £15.50 and can be purchased at a normal MAC store. 

2) Benefit's Erase Paste

Benefit's Erase Paste is a pink-undertone corrector. I am actually yellow toned, but this stuff works amazingly for me. It is a super thick consistency and very pigmented. This needs to be blended in very well and you only need a tiny amount. 

I usually use this on any scaring that I have on my face, I use the smallest amount just to cover up and correct my skin. I swear by this product, it is really good. I use erase paste first then use my foundation or tinted moisturiser on top. The shade I use is in deep no.3, but is available in 3 shades, light medium and deep. 

This can be used under the eyes as a corrector, but like I said earlier everything creases under my eyes apart from Pro-longwear.

This concealer costs £20.50. 

3) Benefit's Boi-ing concealer 

Finally, Benefit's industrial strength concealer, boi-ing is my last, but not least favourite concealer. This concealer is so good that when I am not in a mood to wear foundation, I use a buffing brush to pop this all over my face just to perfect the skin. It doesn't feel or look cakey at all, but gives full coverage. 

I usually use this after applying erase paste and my foundation to add a finishing touch. The shade I use is no.3 medium. 

This concealer costs £17.50. 

I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this, let me know what concealers you use and which ones are you favourite. 

Lots of Love

Avi 

xxx

My experience working for Benefit Cosmetics

Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing good. So sorry I haven't been able to do a blog post in a very very long time, I have been super busy. So as some of you know, I worked at Benefit Cosmetics for a few months, starting November time and I left in March to go work for Laura Mercier. Working for Benefit did open up opportunities to work for other bigger branded make-up counters. However, I still wanted to share my experiences so that you get an idea of what it is like. 

I applied for a position for the Windsor store in October and got a phone call for HR to do a mini phone interview. The interview included a few questions about the products, which being a blogger and a blog reader, I knew some of head, however, had never tried the products. She then told me I passed the interview and invited me for an audition in London. 

There were other girls there, 2 girls walked out as the job description which included Traffic stopping. Traffic stopping is going up to random people on the street and asking them to come try makeup. I managed to sit 2 ladies down, the 3rd one I sat down bought everything I showed her. The area managers were really impressed and took me off the shop floor to do a 3rd closing interview. A week later, I got a phone call saying I had the job (Waahay!). 

So I started off during Christmas and it was busy as hell! So not much traffic stopping at that time. I did enjoy it when I first started as I had never worked for a makeup counter. However, in January, it was super quiet and we always had to be out traffic stopping. Not complaining about traffic stopping, it said it in the job description, and I didn't mind because I wanted to put my foot in the industry and wanted to start off somewhere. 

I slowly started to realize that the company is not about having any Makeup experience, it didn't matter if you are a makeup artist or not. It was all about sales, getting people in doing makeup the Benefit way and selling. It started to get very competitive on which staff member got the sale, I found that I was literally grabbing customers and nagging them to buy in order to sell. Not my thing! I look at it from a customer point of view, if I was a customer who walked into the shop I wouldn't want a staff member to jump right on top of me. But it was just what was expected. 

It was the same thing everyday, and was starting to get a little depressed working there, not going to go into detail why, but there were a few things I started to notice. I would come home and feel unhappy, I didn't feel like going into work the next day because it wasn't fun anymore. Just pushing sales everyday wasn't my thing, so I decided to move on and an amazing opportunity came up to work as a freelancer for Laura Mercier and handed my notice at Benefit.  

Overall, if you are a great sales person and have great selling techniques, want to put your foot in the industry, then this is the perfect job for you. It also depends on individuals, I know some people who absolutely love working for the company. I read lots of negative blogs about ex benefit staff members before I joined, but I still decided to go ahead to work for the company because I wanted to get a feel for it myself. You only know what it is like working for a certain company until you experience it yourself. 

I am very happy at Laura Mercier now and look forward to going into work everyday as the atmosphere is very good and staff members are very very friendly. Yes, it is about sales as well, but there is a good balance between selling and make-up artistry, and the company organizes lots of fun events.  

Thanks for reading.

Lots of Love

Avi 

xxx

My Favourite Lipsticks

Hi everyone! Hope your all doing well. So I thought I'd share some of my favourite lip colours with you all. Some of these colours are my everyday wear lipsticks and just love them! All of them are M.A.C lipsticks apart from one which is my all time favourite, Rouge Dior, so lets get started!

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the poor swatches, as my camera just refused to pick up the colour of the neutral shades. I had to retake the swatch pictures quite a few times. I am going to show you my favourite neutral shades. All Mac lipsticks featuring in this post cost £15 each. 

This particular colour is Shangai Spice, it is a cremesheen finish. It is a lovely nude coral which has a very sheer finish. Perfect for the days you wear a heavy eye with a sheer lipstick. 

I love this shade, one of Mac's universal shades, Angel. It is a frost lipstick, I wasn't really a fan of this when i bought it as it is a pale pink. But I got used to it, I usually mix this with Mac's limited edition lipstick called Tangerine dream, a super orange shade. I did a post on it which can be seen here. However, I do wear this on its own too. 

This lipstick featured in one of Vivianna Does Makeup posts for an everyday lipstick. One of my first Mac lipsticks was this one called Patisserie, a gorgeous pinky nude. This is one of my most worn lip colours from all the lipsticks featuring in this post. I tend to wear it when I feel like going for a no-makeup makeup look. I would recommend this shade if you wear hardly any makeup. 

Last but not least, I have my Rouge Dior in 651 Rose Tourbillon (£25). This lipstick smell amazing. This lipstick has a creamy finish to it and lasts a very long time on the lips, so I would say definitely worth the price. It is a lovely pink, actually comes out a little darker than the swatch in the picture. I love the packaging, it just screams high-end and love the Dior writing on the lipstick. Usually wear this during special occasions, it's not my everyday lipstick. 

Moving onto darker shades, I usually use these on my clients, they are my all time favourite shades from my kit.

I love Russian Red for brides, however, there are different shades of red that suit different skin colours. However, this colour in particular is a primary red, which can suit everybody. It has a Matte finish, however, is not as drying as Mac's Ruby Woo is. It is alot darker than Ruby Woo too. 

This is Rebel and has a Satin finish. I am in love with this colour for the winter period. I have worn this once and love how well it lasts on the lips. The colour is more of a plumy purple opposed to Mac's Cyber which is a true Aubergine purple. Rebel also suits a variety of skin shades, and I would say this is another universal shade. 

Finally, I have Girl About Town, my much loved bright fuchsia pink. This is an Amplified lipstick, very creamy. Girl about town falls under the 'bluey' tones, however, I would say this colour suits lighter, warmer or dark undertones. A definite must have shade. 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this post. 

Lots of Love

Avi 

xxx