Two Foundation Fails

I don’t write about the products that didn't work well for me on my blog much, but when I have done in the past the response always seems to be fairly positive. Today I wanted to write about two hyped foundations that left me feeling underwhelmed, foundation is such a personal thing but, I still wanted to share my thoughts and hopefully help some of you who might have been considering purchasing -

NARS Luminous All Day Weightless Foundation – Described as a weightless foundation that offers full coverage. Coming from someone who absolutely loves most NARS bases (the Radiant Tinted Moisturiser and Sheer Glow are firm favourites) I was left feeling a little underwhelmed with this foundation. If you are a fan of Sheer Glow and have found your perfect shade be weary when approaching this foundation as I found the darker shades definitely didn’t match the shade names in Sheer Glow. I’m normally ‘Syracuse’ in Sheer Glow, but in this foundation I wear the shade ‘Tahoe.’ In terms of coverage I would agree with the product description this does offer full coverage, my pigmentation, scarring and redness was covered well however, I did feel like this foundation made my skin look blotchy and left a tacky layer that I couldn’t wait to wash off at the end of the day. Longevity wasn’t all that great either, I found that my shade oxidised throughout the day became slightly orange. A few weeks after purchasing this I found myself reaching for Sheer Glow and as result this has been left to gather dust at the bottom of my makeup bag. If you like or are a fan of Sheer Glow don’t assume you’ll be as smitten with this foundation – I’d definitely recommend getting a sample if possible before purchasing as it might not meet your expectations.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation – This foundation created quite a buzz last year on its release. Right before we even saw what this foundation had to offer, we were bombarded with huge claims, amazing transformation videos and a lot of press. Now, don’t get me wrong, I can certainly see the appeal, any foundation that claims to cover all imperfections, glide on like a breeze and provide you with perfect skin seems well pardon the pun like magic. But, as we all know magic isn’t real, and similar to the NARS foundation I’ve found myself reaching for this less and less since purchasing. The shade range in this foundation seems a little off, I ended up with shade 10 which is slightly too warm toned for my skin but the shade up was too ashy. The finish was not great on my skin, if anything I felt like this looked a little flat and lacked any sort of radiance. I definitely felt like I was wearing heavy makeup, which I really dislike with any foundation, plus despite that heavy feeling I didn’t find that the coverage was all that great, redness appeared on my nose and pigmentation was still visible after applying a few layers of this foundation. Throughout the day my skin didn’t get oily, but my skin definitely ate up this foundation even with the addition of primer. I just felt a bit meh about this foundation, I expected a full coverage foundation, with amazing longevity but for me this definitely falls short.

Well, that was a negative one, I actually feel pretty deflated after writing this, but at the same time I really wanted to share my thoughts. In total both foundations cost just over £60 so it’s definitely money wasted on my part. I know that a lot of people love both of these foundations but for anyone who's on the fence definitely head to a counter get shade matched and ask for a sample. Better safe than sorry. Maybe now I should do a roundup of my favourite bases to help balance this out and spread some positivity? Let me know if this is something you might be interested in.

What are your favourite foundations?

A Month in Fitness - January

Ah January, let’s not deny we are all a little bit relieved that months over. I always feel like there’s so much pressure put on us at the start of the year to suddenly transform into a fitness guru who munches on kale crisps and workouts 5 times a week. The reality is a whole lot of leftover Christmas chocolate and a quite a few evenings wrapped in a blanket with Netflix…and chill if you are into that kind of thing. How did your goals go? Did you achieve them? If so pat on the back for you, you go Glen coco. If January didn’t quite work out how you expected pick yourself up and start afresh don’t write the year off and wait until the next New Year, start now. Which is exactly what I’m going to do right now. I’ll be honest January didn’t quite work out how I planned due to illness, lack of motivation and pure laziness. None the less today I wanted to share my monthly fitness round up to write about all the things that went well, and the things that didn't - 

Workout – I’ll be honest three workout sessions per week definitely did NOT happen. At the beginning of the month I started out like everyone else pumped up and ready to go. I started the 30 Blogilates ab challenge and Yoga Camp on the Yoga with Adriene channel. Everything was going so well until I got quite ill (long story) and didn’t have the energy to lift a finger let alone workout. As a result I fell behind with Yoga Camp, and only managed up to day 20 of ab challenge. The majority of my workouts throughout January consisted of Yoga and running. For the month of February I’d like to make the most of my gym membership and attend the gym or a class at least three times per week. February is the month where I'd like to focus on strength training. Weights and HIIT are going to be my thing for the month.

Wear- Nike Tank Tops – If you have weeny arms like me and feel a little conscious in those strappy gym tops you’ll love the Nike Tank Tops. The shape is really flattering on my figure and somehow they make my arms seem less weeny and more muscly. The tops cover my shoulder area, but have a key hole design so you can show off a pretty sports bra underneath.

Food – January was the month I received my first Sourced Box and got all motivated with healthy snacking read more about that here – I discovered some great brands from my first box. As I mentioned above, I actually managed to get ill for the majority of January which resulted in me eating very little and in return losing a lot of weight…I completely lost my appetite. When I did get my appetite back towards the end of the month I found myself eating the wrong foods, cookies, take away and lots of bread. February is the month where I want to start eating more (six small meals a day ideally) healthy, wholesome meals are on the menu this month. Baby steps.   

I would love to know what your goals are for February fitness or not fitness related and I’d also love to know how your NY resolutions are going?