Ok, so I couldn’t really help it with the title but I’ve finally found the dream team for base products! The Nars all day luminous and soft matte concealer have been my go to this past month and I’m very happy with the two. I’ve been struggling with foundations ever since I got into makeup during the beginning of uni, makeup artists have the tendency to colour match me to red-orange undertone foundations. Partly due to the fact that foundation shades for black women are horrible there seems to be this one size fits all approach by brands to just add 3 darkish shades and call it a day.

I got the shade Tahoe after wrongly colour matching myself to Cadiz *sighs* it was truly a waste of money the first time round that I was a bit hesitant to go back to Nars and had my heart set on the Milani 2in1 which seems to be great for us yellow toned girls. But a random stop with a friend made me want to give Nars another go I wasn’t interested in the sheer glow which I got the first time round (too thick for my liking) so I opted for All day luminous. The foundation is very watery which is great for me or anyone who hates feeling like they have foundation. The coverage of the foundation I would say is medium the reason I don’t agree that it’s full is because I could still see some scarring and hyper pigmentation around my mouth peeping through.

 The lovely lady who matched me also asked me if I wanted to try the matte concealer which newly launched. Now I hate pot concealer for hygiene purposes but this concealer; wow is all I can say I have pretty deep dark under eyes so naturally have to colour correct but the shade caramel which is quite yellow did a good job on its own. As for the consistency it’s not as thick as your typical pot concealers so it’s pretty easy to work with and the coverage is great. Naturally I was worried about creasing but my under eyes are deep with fine lines so its unavoidable, my left eye which is not as sunken seemed to not crease as my right.

I don’t wear foundation every day or for long hours but after about 8-9 hours I could see it was starting to wear off. Probably with a primer and setting powder it would last longer but like I said I don’t wear foundations long enough to test its durability. All in all I’m pretty happy with my purchases and don’t think I’ll be needing a new foundation for a while.

Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask

I’m finally reviewing a mask I’ve been absolutely in love with, the body shop charcoal mask I thought it would be like your standard clay mask but I was left very impressed. The mask itself contains charcoal from the Himalayas and is meant to be an exfoliating mask. I personally refrain from physical exfoliators especially since my skin type has changed over the years to being drier almost eczema like. The mask itself dry’s pretty quick and gives a slight burn which my skin doesn’t mind since I’m not sensitive but for those who are be cautious!

I applied the mask and waited for it to dry and washed it off and my skin instantly felt incredibly smooth and appeared clearer. I don’t however think it did much for brightening the skin but I also follow up with rose hip oil which works a dream with this mask. I also used it straight after a breakout so using this for the past couple of weeks has helped fade them ( which exfoliating does anyway). All in all I’m very impressed with this mask and can’t wait to repurchase it, the mask is £16 for 75ml and is available at the body shop store and online.

The Ordinary Skincare

I'm finally back and this time I'm reviewing The Ordinary Skincare, I've been wanting to try this brand for quite a while ever since I noticed it in the guardian article. Not only is the brand pretty affordable it also carries products that I'm used to seeing higher up in the price bracket. A lot of the products The Ordinary carries consist of acids,retinol and serums which are really good for battling hyper pigmentation.

The two products that I tried were the rosehip oil and the Vitamin C suspension, rosehip oil I'm quite familiar with and have been using for years however the ones I've tried before have always been above £15 so they are quite pricey. I opted for this one because its cheaper and also 100% rosehip oil. Just like the ones I tried before this rosehip oil was very thin which I liked and sunk into the skin pretty quickly. I applied it before I went to bed and added it to my moisturizer in the morning. All in all I was pretty impressed with the price and product and will definitely be repurchasing it. However if you are prone to suffering from flaky/dry skin then I wouldn't recommend it,its way too thin for incredibly dry skin hence why I used it when my skin was normal.

As for the Vitamin C suspension, I wasn't actually sure what the purpose of this product was I think the price got me slightly excited and with the lack of sun in this country I could use all the glow I can get. I tried the Vitamin C for the first time on its own however it has such an awkward consistency it felt like I was rubbing beads into my skin. I then opted to put it in my moisturizer which worked much better however I didn't notice any difference using it other than the slight glow. Which was a disappointment because I had bought it for the hyper pigmentation around my mouth. Either way it didn't bother me because of the price but I am definitely going to try more from The Ordinary I have my eyes on the caffeine solution and a couple of other acid products.



The Ordinary can be found on ASOS and BeautyBay.

The well used and abused dry skin saviour

Every winter I find myself battling with dry skin and like everyone else I splurge out on creams and oils to stop the dry patches on my skin from getting worse. Not only are the patches of skin incredibly dry I also find at times they can become flaky and itchy. A couple of years ago I was watching a YouTube video where the you-tuber named the Welda skin food as her dry skin savior and because it was reasonably priced ( at least a bit better than the £20-£60 oils usually recommended by you tubers) I decided to go to Holland&Barett and buy some, since then I haven't looked back or bought any other item for my dry skin.

The best way to describe the Welda skin food would be a ''thick balm'' for me this is where I think it's nourishing properties lie all though you can use it anytime of the day I would recommend using it in the evenings before bed. The reason for this is unlike other dry skin products you to rub it in and it  sit's on your skin quite a bit before hand so It wouldn't work well under makeup hence why I apply it religiously before bed so I can feel the difference in the morning. After using it for 3 days I noticed the dry patches around my mouth and eyes began to fade but I continued to use it until they were gone.

All in all for my oily/combination skin the product has been a god send if you suffer from extremely dry skin I'm sure you'll love it even more. For me personally this product is not only great for the face but also my elbows and anywhere else I have dry/rough skin.

Welda skin food retails for £6.95 at 30ml and at 75ml £9.95

Winter skincare products

In the last couple of weeks I've felt my skin become bumpy and lack luster mainly because I was using a cheap facial wash that wasn't doing anything for me. I wanted to get my skin back on track so the best thing for me was to buy treatment products these products are the ones that are optional in your skin care routine however I find make the most difference.

The first product I got my hands on was the acid exfoliating pads by Nip+ fab and the second was some Korean sheet masks. I find that with most people cleansers and moisturizers don't make a huge difference however mask and exfoliaters do. In the past I've used all sorts of masks but since its winter Korean sheet masks are the most beneficial for me. These masks literally make your skin glow ( or it could be my lighting ⋅😜) and also give you that intense hydration you need in the colder months. Most sheet masks are saturated in a serum which tends to be excessive and you can rub it pretty much anywhere on your body.

The acid exfoliater however is a new one for me I was used to using physical exfoliaters aka scrubs but I found myself treating my skin like wood that was being polished and it was too intense. I think the Nip+Fab ones are great because they're always on offer at boots or super drug and also you see results instantly and works well in your evening skincare routine. They're also great value there are 60 pads in the tub and you only need to use 1 around 2-3 times a week.