Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 190 True Beige - Review

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 190 True Beige - £8.99 here.

Revlon's Nearly Naked Foundation is something I've read about and watched people talk about for a good while now, so I popped into Boots to pick up one and try it for myself. Having just written my rave review on Estee Lauders Double Wear (post here), I wasn't looking for anything to top it, because frankly at the moment that one ticks all my boxes. I don't tend to go for drugstore foundations, simply because I like a really good base and the ones I've tried haven't really cut it. I wanted to try this one as I know not everyone can afford/want to spend loads of money on high-end foundations and it's something different on the blog! 

This foundation has ten shades, and out of those ten I managed to find a really good match which is '190 True Beige'. I was impressed by the shade range and it's a nice change to see a drugstore foundation with pretty much a shade for everyone. Even one of their darkest looked like it would suit my Mum who is an NC50 in MAC and can never find foundations dark enough in Boots, Superdrug etc. (That's a whole other issue for another day, I will definitely do a post on discrimination of fair and dark skin tones in the make-up industry.) I'm not sure about the lightest shade as certain people are lighter than some brands lightest shade, but just pop into Boots and try some instore.

As for the packaging, it's actually really nice, much nicer than most drugstore foundation bottles. It's a nice, slim glass bottle with a white lid and the design looks very minimal - fitting with the concept of the foundation itself. The foundation has no pump (is this a new trend?!) which means you have to pour the foundation out, so be careful! Not realising that this was a water-based foundation, I decided to use it with my Beauty Blender - big mistake! Because this foundation is water-based, my sponge just soaked up a lot of the product, which is obviously a waste and required me to use more than I normally would have. The sponge does release product when you squish it down against your face, but a brush would be much more ideal! Keep this in mind when you are applying foundation - water-based ones work better with fingers or brushes and silicone or oil based foundations can work with either a damp, sponge, brushes or fingers. Sponge drama aside, I applied one layer and then just went over any other areas of redness that needed a bit extra.

Me wearing just the Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and nothing else.

As you can see the coverage is light, but the foundation itself is actually undetectable in the close-up photo. You can still see my freckles which is nice, and you can't feel it on your skin at all. So if you like your foundation to look like your not wearing any, then you may really love this. I have pretty good, clear skin, and no breakouts at the time that I tried this, so my face looks flawless and natural with this. As you can see, it hasn't tackled my under-eye darkness at all, but I wasn't expecting it to as it such a light coverage. The coverage is almost like a tinted moisturiser, but the consistency is very light and fluid, easily blendable too.

Here I added some MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC42 to my t-zone to set and mattify slightly.

I used my Studio Fix powder to add a touch more coverage in the t-zone, which you could do with any opaque powder. 

Rest of make-up done!

As you can see, the foundation looks really nice on and when the rest of my make-up is done. The beauty of this foundation is that it's perfect for down days when you just want a bit of coverage, a lick of mascara and thats it. If i were to do that with Double Wear, I get so much coverage from it that my face looks all one colour and the planes of my face need to be put back in with blush and bronzer - if that makes sense? Basically, this foundation makes you look like you, just a tad better. So if you have good skin, not many imperfections and just want to even everything out and look naturally flawless - this is for you! If you have more redness, lots of breakouts, pores etc then this won't really do much for your skin. 

Overall, I like it. I wouldn't wear it if I was going out, but on days if I am just popping to the shops or don't need to look made-up, a quick layer of this will do. The SPF 20 is great too if you're going to be outside during the day and want to protect your skin while still wearing a bit of coverage. 

Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation is available in Boots and Superdrug.

Have you tried this foundation?

(If you want to know what other products I used in this post, they are listed at the bottom of my previous one here!)

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronzing Make-Up Base Review

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel Bronze Universel Bronzing Make-Up Base - £31.00 here

Since watching lots of beauty gurus on YouTube and reading lots of beauty blogs, I have heard so much about this product. I've had this for about a year now and I purchased it when it had a lot of hype around it, mainly to see what the fuss was all about!

Originally, when I got the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel, I didn't really get on with it. This is a very tricky product to make work for you and despite the name, I don't think it is a 'Universal' bronzer. This product is a creamy-mousse like bronzer that it supposed to suit all skin types and can be used as a base or a bronzer.

I purchased this in Duty Free when I was flying out to Turkey with my boyfriend last year. Really excited, I gave it a go in the hotel room on the first day and while it looked nice, I was unsure. I think I used my Elf Powder Brush which I absolutely love for foundation (it gives such a flawless finish), but for this bronzer it was just too big and didn't pick up enough product due to it's flat top. I then proceeded to get VERY tanned and tried this bronzer to realise that it was in fact the same colour as my skin! *doh* This bronzer is not universal - LOL. So the Chanel was tucked away in my make-up box and left until my tan faded. When I decided to try it again, I used my Real Techniques Buffing Brush from the core collection, and the rest is history!

Like I said, the Elf brush didn't work because it was so big and it had a completely flat top, the Real Techniques one is smaller, and has a slightly round top, perfect for swirling and buffing product onto it and buffing it into the skin to get a dewy bronzed contour.

As the name also suggests, you can use this as a base before you apply your foundation to give you a bit more of a bronzed look, or simply add some colour to your face. Depending on your skin tone, you can be lighter or heavier handed when using it this way, and the finish on me is subtle but really nice. 

Me wearing the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel as a bronzer to contour my cheekbones, but not as a base.

In my opinion, the third photo represents the bronzer the most accurate - very glowy and with quite orange undertones as opposed to red undertones which I usually look for in a bronzer. As you can see, on me the colour looks so natural, and although the shade of this bronzer is slightly on the orange side, it fares well on my skintone. I think if you are very fair, you would have to be so careful when applying this and be sure to use a light hand as it could look like you have been tangoed - not a good look!

Being mixed race, I do have quite dark facial hair around the perimeter of my face and I have to be careful when applying make-up as it can sometimes interfere with the hair. This bronzer blends like a dream and doesn't accentuate my hair which keeps it looking natural. 

Swatched on my hand in natural lighting (no flash)

The bronzer itself is semi-matte but it has a lovely glow to it that looks really lovely in person (the pictures don't do it justice). It also has very very subtle shimmers and sparkles in it, that don't transfer onto the skin but help light to reflect off of your skin to make you look luminous and healthy.

Does this bronzer have any bad points? Yes. I always get fluff and hairs in this bronzer as it is a cream product and I use it with a brush. After a good few uses it starts to look like it's growing lifeforms *yuck* so I always try and keep it clean by scraping the top layer away or pulling out any fluff with tweezers. The formula is just sticky so it is inevitable that fluff and hairs will get stuck which doesn't bother me too much. Also, like I said before, if your skin colour is the same as this bronzer then it will do nothing. If you are very fair skinned, it may look very orange on you if you apply it to heavily, so be careful. 

Apart from those points, I love this bronzer and have been using it loads recently with my buffing brush , which is the best brush I've found to use it with as it buffs the product so that it looks natural. The product itself, although quite pricey is very versatile as you can use it as a base, for cheekbones, temples, arms, legs....anywhere really. The consistency is slightly sticky so it really stays on your skin all day, it's very blendable which means it looks natural and never cakey or dry. 

I really recommend the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel, and you can pick it up at any Chanel counter!

Have you tried this bronzer?

P.S If you wanted to know, heres the rest of the make-up I'm wearing in this post:

Laura Mercier Oil-Free Primer

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 190 True Beige

Mac Pro Longwear Concealer in NW25

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronze Universel

MAC Eyebrows Pencil in Lingering

Estee Lauder Double Wear Liquid Eyeliner in Black (Upper lashline)

Sleek Eyeshadow in Noir from the iDivine 'Au Naturel' palette (Upper lashline)

MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy (Lower lashline) 

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara in Extreme Black

Jouer Tinted Lip Conditioner in Cosmo

London Fashion Week A/W13 - Make-up Trend: Deep Berry Lip

Me wearing Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain
 in Crush and Avon  Ultra Colour Rich Lipstick in Plum Seduction

So the other day when getting ready to see the girls, I was trying to pick a lip colour and thought I'd try out the lipstick I got from Avon but hadn't tried yet. It looks so dark in the tube, and I was in the mood for looking a bit vampy! I love this look and I've seen it being rocked by many models at London Fashion Week. It's such a great Autumn trend, so edgy and dark. Some are more red, others more purple, some are glossy and some are matte, mine was in between - just with a sheen not a shine. I teamed my lip with a khaki smokey eye, but I also love it when this look is played down with minimal eye make-up - it really makes the lip colour pop more. If you can get away with this shade on your skin tone then I would definitely invest! It's so unusual and I got quite a few compliments on it!

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Here are some snaps from LFW of models from different designers sporting a deep berry-coloured lip...

Gucci

Bottega Veneta

Rochas

Gucci

Photos from vogue.co.uk/beauty

Salasai Heartlands

Salasai Heartlands

Salasai Heartlands

Salasai Heartlands
Make-up artist: Amber D for M.A.C Cosmetics

Photos from www.thread.co.nz

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Get the look!

I created my berry lip by using these two products: Avon 
 Ultra Colour Rich Lipstick in Plum Seduction and Revlon
Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in Crush 

Top: Revlon
Bottom: Avon

As you can see, the Revlon is much more purple and the Avon is much more red. Use the Revlon lip stain to outline your lips and get a smooth, neat line. This will make your lips look neat and defined, it's hard to create a neat looking lip with a dark colour as it stands out more. The lip pencil applicator helps to map out your shape so make your lips look flawless. Then fill in your lips with the Avon lipstick, blot, then apply more for a longer lasting effect! If you want a really glossy lip, add some of MAC's Clear Lip Glass and if you want a matte lip, blot and add some of MAC's Matte.

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Will you be sporting a berry lip this Autumn? :-)