The Perfect Nude: L'Oreal Collection Privée

A collection of nude lipsticks tailored to match specific skins and eyes, are you serious? That sounds like the perfect collection in my beauty loving ears. Because finding the perfect nude is about as hard as finding your perfect red. L'Oreal has come out with a special collection of their Color Riche lipsticks, all made to fit their actor/model/superstar spokes-models. 
I knew pretty quickly that the lipsticks from the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Freida Pinto would not suit my light coloring. I would probably be better off with Doutzen Kroes or Julianne Moore, and when I swatched the shades in the store I knew immediately that I needed to get Julianne's shade. 
Slightly peach, it matches with my light skin perfectly, a 'my lips but better' kind of nude. Julianne might have light eyes where mine are brown, but I still feel like I suit peach tones best. I paired it with my favorite Clarins multi blush in the shade Candy, a match made in cosmetics fashion. 
The lipstick is quite moisturizing and goes on smoothly. It has a slight sheen to it, not usually something I take to but it's nothing a little blotting won't fix. It wears for a good few hours but does require a fresh application after you have eaten something. It's a pretty good lipstick, and if it had been more of a satin finish it definitely would've been my perfect nude. But, it comes pretty damn close.
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PS: Don't mind my brows, I'm trying to grow them out

The Review: L'Oreal Eau De Teint & Rimmel Stay Matte

L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation

Every once in a while your makeup routine will shift. Especially with the changing of the seasons. During winter my skin gets dull and grey-ish and I just need all the help I can get in the radiance department. And the quick fix? Is a light infusing radiance boosting foundation. L'Oreal claims they have made such a foundation. They say they have trapped a liquid light technology that infuses skin with a ray of light, illuminating your complexion as if lit-from-within. Big words, huh? But does it live up to those expectations?

The foundation comes in a luxurious glass bottle shaped pretty similar to the L'Oreal True Match foundation. It has a rose gold plastic pump, which works hygienic. It's my favorite type of foundation dispenser just because it's much more clean and it doesn't make a huge mess out of everything.

I got the foundation in the lightest available shade. I go a bit 'ghost-like' during the colder months. There are only about six shades available for this foundation, which I think is crap. There never seems to be a suitable shade for darker skin tones. I thought drugstore brands were supposed to cater to the larger audience, then why only put out six shades?

Anyway shade C2 Rose porcelain would imply that it has a pink undertone, which isn't exactly the case. Distributing it across the back of my hand I was kind of intimidated by the yellow tone, which almost seemed orange.

Never one to judge a book by its cover, I decided to purchase anyway and see how it would work out on my face. I'm pretty iffy about applying foundation testers from drugstores onto my face. 

Below is a picture of my face without any makeup one. As you can see my skin is pretty dull and white with quite a bit of spots and redness poking through. 

I applied the Lumi Magique foundation with my ELF powder brush. The formula is pretty thin and spreads nicely across the skin, making it pretty easy to blend. I was quite surprised that the color actually seemed to match me pretty well. It didn't seem too orange on my skin, and I didn't get any of those horrific mask lines by the side of my face. 

This foundation definitely has medium coverage, but if you were to require more you can definitely build it up to a higher level of coverage. The liquid blends seamlessly into the skin and you are left with a natural complexion that looks healthy and anything but caked on. My skin looked much more alive and healthy, after  applying. I wouldn't say that I looked 'lit-from-within', but we all know how the marketing departments like to exaggerate to persuade us happy consumers.

It also lasted quite a long time. I applied it mid-morning, dashed around town all day running errands and puled a particularly long shift at work and at night removing it I still had a substantial amount come off onto my Bioderma soaked cotton pad. I double cleansed my skin with my trusty Obagi Clenziderm Cream Care Cleanser and called it a night after that.

With foundation.

 (Left other makeup, right sans anything except L'Oreal Lumi Magique in C2 Rose Porcelain)

Overall I am quite pleased with the purchasing of this foundation. I will use it on the days that my skin needs a good boost of radiance and health. 

Pros

- Nice radiant finish, leaves your skin looking healthy and natural

- Medium coverage without mask effect

- Lasts a decent time

Cons

- Costs €17,28 for 30ml. Pricey for a drugstore foundation

- Limited shade range

L'Oreal Lumi Magique foundation is available in drugstores and perfumeries  all across the world right now. My bottle was purchased was at Douglas for €15,55 because I get 10% off with my Douglas member card. 

L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil Review

L’Oreal has come out with a new hair care product, their Elvive Extraordinary Oil. Hair oils are super happening right now, so of course one of the leading drugstore brands could not stay behind. According to the brand this product is a ‘miracle hair perfector’, and it should make your hair healthy and beautiful. L’Oreal has made two different types of extraordinary oil for regular hair and for colored hair with added UV protection. I tried and tested the regular kind and my opinion is below.

The oil contains six different oils that can benefit your hair in a lot of ways. A few of the options are

As a high intensity mask before you wash your hair

As a heat protectant before blow-drying or heat-styling your hair

As a serum to combat frizz

To add extra shine and softness to your hair

The bottle is glass, which makes it feel and look pretty luxurious. It contains 100 ml of product for €10,16. That’s some pretty good value considering you use about two pumps every time on average. I’ve been using this product for a little less than a month and it has only gone down a little bit.

Looking at the list of ingredients we can immediately conclude that it isn’t 100% pure oil. It’s mostly silicone. Silicones provide a kind of film around your hair which makes it feel soft and look shiny, this can provide a buildup of product which can be removed with a clarifying (sulphate rich) shampoo. I don’t particularly like using silicones on my hair, because I use Dr. Organic organic shampoos, which contains no sulphates, silicones, parabens, etc..

But for the sake of the review I kept using the product, mostly because I wanted to see if it would improve the look of  my ombre hair. Besides sillicones the oil also has numerous caring ingredients, like:

Chamomile extract

Coconut oil

Lotus extract

Flax seed extract

Gardenia extract

Dog rose extract

Soy bean oil

What catches my eye in this list of ingredients is that most of the nurturing, caring ingredients in this product are extracts. Again, not pure oils. That kind of goes against what L’Oreal is claiming, doesn’t it?

But how does the product actually feel? It feels really smooth on my hair, probably the silicones. It also adds a nice shine, but be careful not to use too much, because it can make your hair look a bit greasy. I don’t use it too often on dry hair. I’m currently using it as my heat protectant, just rubbing about two pumps of it on towel dry hair before blow-drying my locks.

If you really want a high-intensity deep nurturing care for your hair I would go for something that’s more pure. So, less silicones, less extracts. Just oil. As a serum or heat protectant this product works really well. The L’Oreal Elvive Extraoridinary oil is available in drugstores all across the world. It retails for €10,16 in the Netherlands. 

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse

I never thought I would fall for this product the way I have. You probably know I am a lover of bold statement lips. So a product marketed as soft balm which provides subtle, sensual color shouldn't be something that floats my boat, right? Boy, was I wrong. 

This summer I want to make my makeup look less done. If that makes sense. I want a more natural, fresh faced appearance when I am out and about in the hot summer air. Not that that is anywhere near happening here in this terrible country. But a girl can dream, right? Anyway, I caved and bought the Rouge Caresse lipstick/balm from L'Oreal. I got the color 07 Cheeky Magenta. 

It's a lovely formula, melts onto your lips and leave them covered in a nice subtle color that looks natural enough to look fresh and done enough to look like you just came out of fervent kissing session with your partner. The formula is super soft and moisturizing and it leaves your lips feeling lovely. 

swatched lightly // swatched heavily

The rouge caresse line comes in twelve luminous shades that each provide a nice pop of color to the lips, while being super lightweight and moisturizing. This really is a fantastic product. The only downside, I wish it lasted a little longer. It doesn't linger quite long on the lips. 

Image shows the twelve shades available in the Rouge Caresse line of lipsticks