there are so many great products on the market, I had to make a video on the ones I’ve been recently trying out and loving! most of them will be easily accessible in your local pharmacies, so bonus points for that!
on Instagram, you all voted on this one to go under the microscope today, and, to be honest, I was rooting for this one to end. I mean, the claims! medium coverage, natural matte finish, long-wearing, hydrating… and a super affordable price? I wanted to put it to the test!
bar my pitiful shade matching, I think you’ll get a thorough first impressions, application and review on this little nugget.
it is available supposedly in 36 shades (at least in the US), in store in Portugal and in most online renowned online shops we only have access to about 10 (shameful!). I found a larger range at Maquibeauty but they only ship I believe to Portugal and Spain. it turned out practically impossible hard to find an online store with more than the 10 shades (Feelunique, for instance, only has a limited shade range), so I’m leaving you the link to the Essence European website (where they mention only 19 shades… wtf?!) where you have a store finder.
do let me know if you know of a bigger online retailer that has the full shade range and can ship around Europe…
long story short, I became affiliate with a Portuguese store, More Than Beauty Store, that sells international brands and my Portuguese viewers asked for a list of my favourites from there.
since these are products that are widely available, I thought I’d do my weekly video on them.
you’ve heard about all of these, so there’s nothing too new here, but all of the products have a special place in my heart and stash ;)
just to reiterate: none of the links on this post are affiliated!
a haul and try-on of the goodies I got from the latest release. this is becoming such a nicely curated collection and I can’t wait for the newness in the Autumn – and maybe some restocking of lip pencils, and the blushes that I had to leave behind this time around…
Lisa Eldridge releases new products just a couple of times a year and has a limited stock, so the best option would be to sign up for the newsletter and follow her channel to know all about the new products in advance. there are still some products for sale at the time of this post, but for instance the blushes are all sold out.
having had lots of rough texture on my skin for many years and many different reasons, I know there is no miracle potion, but I have found several products that can help a bit in several cases.
I’m not addressing conditions like acne, eczema and rosacea, but far milder (and to a point a lot more temporary) texture concerns.
for me, there are two main types of texture: disturbed or irritated skin, and rough or lacklustre skin.
disturbed or irritated skin
This type of skin irritation can have two “levels”:
1. impaired barrier – slightly swollen dry patches with some roughness, redness, maybe peeling, sometimes itchiness, tenderness, skin heat and even some soreness that stays on the skin for a few days. this usually happens when one’s had a close encounter with a product that didn’t agree with one’s skin and the skin’s barrier may have been compromised. could I call it contact dermatitis? I’m not equipped to say that.
2. environmental changes – not as severe, but when your skin goes suddenly quite dry, feels tight, may start having some dry patches and even some light tenderness, usually because of an environmental cause – like being in a room with heavily drying air conditioning for long periods of time.
what has worked for me to soothe a skin freak-out is always to pair down my skincare, remove all actives – go back to cleanse-moisturise-spf – and rely on products that help calm those symptoms down and help my skin recover.
Paula’s Choice Omega+ Complex Serum – leave it to me to forget to mention one of my all-time favourites, all-rounders products both for soothing aggravated skin and to pack a punch in terms of hydration and moisture without feeling heavy. can be used alone or layered. the texture is closer to a lotion or lightweight cream.
When your skin feels a bit rough to the touch, it doesn’t look soft, elastic, may have some dry patches – but no irritation —, and it’s lacking that bouncy glow.
First things first, and I didn’t emphasise this enough on my video: although some occasional exfoliation is something that our skin will eventually need, now and again, a good skincare routine will overall fix most daily needs for your skin to be in tip-top shape. I’m assuming you already have your routine down, your skin is properly balanced, but just needs that little bit of oomph to get it a bit further. Basically, only exfoliate healthy skin and never push it. So, exfoliation.
Know that exfoliation goes hand in hand with proper nourishment of the skin: when you exfoliate, you need to hydrate and moisturise. The products mentioned in the precious list play really well with exfoliators, because they balance it all out.
Always start slow with low concentrations and using the product once a week, and only increase the use if you feel you really need it. If your skin doesn’t like it, it doesn’t like it, don’t push it.
Mild/daily exfoliating toners – I would not advise daily exfoliation if you already incorporate other cell-turnover or potentially skin-sensitising actives in your routine like retinoids and/or LAA. It all comes down to each one’s skin, of course, and these products are formulated to be well-tolerated with daily use.
oooh, I’ve been wanting to do this for so long and a subscriber finally gave me the much needed kick in the butt to get on with it.
I got the tag from TTSandra (a gorgeous and super classy Canadian YouTuber, by the way), and added a couple of questions. if you want to carry on with the tag, feel free to pick it up from here :)
