Back to Basics - Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation

It's been quite a while since I last did a week of foundations, and this one has been a while in the planning, so I thought I'd better get on with it!  This week I'll be reviewing five foundations, weightless ones, full coverage ones, invisible ones, and others ...

I'm starting off with Avon's latest foundation launch, Ideal Flawless, which is described as an "invisible coverage foundation".

Packaging: 

This is a heavyweight glass bottle, with a pump mechanism, not ideal for travel, but it's a handsome enough bottle for the dressing table.

Formula:

  
This is a rather thick liquid formulation, which just a hint of shimmer visible in the bottle (not visible on the skin, thank goodness), which spreads extremely easily over the skin, and feels feather light during wear. It's rather silicone-heavy, so unsuitable for skins who don't tolerate those easily, but it makes your skin feel gorgeously smooth and velvety whilst you're wearing it. Touchably soft, even!

Shade Selection

This is shade: "Creamy Natural".  Please bear in mind that the skin of my hands is considerably paler than that of my face for some reason, so these swatches will look a bit odd.  There's an amazing range of shades in this range, Avon offer 16 shades, from the very palest "Ivory" or "Light Pink" through to "Nutmeg" and  "Earth".  I've tried all 16, and, instead of being the second palest colour in the range - something I normally am, owing to being pale, but not that pale - I'm right in the middle of this shade range. I could probably get away with wearing "Nude" or "Medium Beige" as well, depending on the time of year, and the light I was going to be seen in, to be honest.  It's nice to see a range of shades that caters for both cool and warm tones, too.

Coverage:

Let me intoduce you to Maurice, the Control Mole, you're going to be seeing him a lot this week, so if skin blemishes offend you, I suggest you look away now:

 And here's how Maurice looks after a coat of Ideal Flawless:

Yup, that's some pretty good coverage right there, that is.  I'm impressed.  Maurice, not so much so.

Finish:

Avon Ideal Flawless blends easily onto the skin, leaving it velvety and smooth, and is, as promised, more or less "invisible" on the skin.  It has a satin-matte finish, which isn't at all flat owing the aforementioned "shimmer" in the bottle, and doesn't leave skin too dewy either.  You can finish with powder should you need too - and if you are oily-skinned, I'd recommend it - but it isn't 100% necessary, I very rarely bother with powder, to be honest.

Wear:

Avon don't promise any particular long-wearing capabilities for this foundation, which is just as well, as the lasting time is about average, it'll see you through the average working day, but you will notice fade after around six - eight hours or so.  You'll need another application if you want it to take you from day to night though.

Price:

This is an absolute bargain, costing £12 at full price, but is currently on offer on the Avon Website for just £10 a bottle for 30ml. Online swatches are beyond dreadful though, so do a bit of searching around to find your shade.


Ingredients:

Overall Thoughts.


This is an excellently priced product, with great coverage, average lasting power, and a wonderfully light feel on the skin - highly recommended, even if the online swatches mean that finding your exact shade might be a little problematic.


The Fine Print: PR Sample.  I was not swayed in any way by the mention of Aleesha Dixon in the marketing of this product.  Sorry, Aleesha.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner Pencils

If yesterday's £20 a pencil eyeliners were too rich for your blood, how does four for a tenner grab you?
 
I was idly browsing the Avon website a few weeks ago, and I noticed that they had their gel eyeliners on offer at £2.50 each, so I snapped a couple or four up, in plum, khaki, steel and bronze, and I'm very glad I did.  They're a bargain even at full price of £6 each, and, to my mind, they're just as good as the Armani ones I showed you yesterday. Nicer, possibly, as these have a lovely metallic sheen that is better than the slightly flat shades of the Armani pencils.

Again, these are one pass on clean, dry, unprimed skin.  On checking the pics against the ones I showed yesterday, I have to admit that there is slightly less pigment in the Avon pencils, but at this price, that's to be expected.  But the shades are complex, with just a hint of micro-shimmer, which can be very flattering.

They last, however, just as well as pencils costing a lot more, and they don't run or flake during the day.  They're velvety soft on application though, and simply will not drag on the skin.

A bargain at twice the price.  These shades aren't showing on the Avon website though - but they do now have the black, which they didn't when I was buying, so if you can't afford Armani, then snap these babies up!



The Fine Print: Bought and purchased with the pennies I earn from my day job. I do have a day job, I'm an accountant, but I used to be an Avon Lady.  Have I mentioned that before?  Grateful thanks go to today's mystery swatching hand ...
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Avon Calling? Liz Earle joins up ...

I don't often regurgitate press releases, but there's been a lot of talk on Twitter about this today, let me know your thoughts!

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The Liz Earle Beauty Co. announced today a new partnership with leading global beauty brand, Avon Products Inc.


Co-founder Liz Earle, said of the deal “We are very excited to be joining forces with an iconic global beauty brand like Avon. We believe the Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare philosophy and extraordinary brand loyalty we have built in the U.K., when combined with Avon’s presence in more than 100 countries around the world, will create an outstanding opportunity for international expansion for our company.”

The deal, designed to deliver international expansion opportunities for the leading British skincare brand, will see the company remain firmly rooted in its home in Ryde, Isle of Wight. The company will continue to operate as a standalone brand, under the leadership of co-founders, Liz Earle and Kim Buckland.

“Joining forces with Avon is a dream come true for us,” said co-founder Kim Buckland. “Just as Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare has its own ‘Precious Recipe’ which lies at the heart of all we do, Avon has a long established reputation for its high levels of customer service, its great workplace environment, and its contributions to the wellbeing of society.”

Andrea Jung, Avon’s chairman and chief executive officer, said “We are delighted to welcome Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare to Avon and we see this new partnership as a perfect fit for both companies. Liz Earle’s tightly edited range of award-winning, naturally active skincare products is highly complementary to Avon’s anti-aging skin care and broader beauty portfolio. It also represents a long term opportunity to develop a standalone Liz Earle direct selling Representative channel.”

Terms of the arrangement between the two companies remain private and will not be disclosed.
 
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What do you think?

Products I Love

There are so many cosmetic products out there these days, that products don't really need to stand the test of time, there is always the latest "wonder product" to replace things with. For me, the test of whether a product is any good or not is "Will I buy it again?" and, in the vast majority of cases, the answer quite simply is no. Luzzegain suggested I make a list of products I've bought twice, and would happily buy again so here it is:

Kerastase Dermo Calm shampoo - Simply the best anti-dandruff shampoo there has ever been, for us sensitive scalped, dry haired people, plus it's good for coloured hair. Now sadly rumoured to be discontinued, I've recently bought four bottles just in case ...

Diorific 008 Mystic Mauve - The perfect neutral lipstick, if one ignores the quite ridiculously bulky packaging. Goes with smokey eyes or no-makeup makeups, somehow just makes your lips look polished and gives the perfect finishing touch to any face. And it makes your teeth look whiter, which is marvellous.

MAC Prolash - Great mascara with bulking fibres to make your lashes look fab of a nighttime. This was my wonder-product till I discovered Lancome Hypnose, which I find doesn't smudge as much.

Clinique Naturally glossy mascara - perfect for daytime, natural looking mascara.

MAC Strobe Cream - a cream highlighter/moi

sturiser. You can use this on your cheekbones/browbones for a highlighter effect, or use it in place of moisturiser for a slightly sheeny dewy effect. I like to dab a little all over a too matte foundation to make it look more natural. Did you know all MAC face products are vitamin enriched, like this one? I didn't either. And it's literally half the price and twice the size of Benefit's similar products.

Laura Mercier eyeshadow in Twilight - a sort of purply-browny-greyish colour. You can wear this as a light natural colour wash across your lids, it's perfect for bringing out the green tones in hazel or brown eyes, but it also suits blue eyes. Or, you can use it as I do as the basis for the smokey eyes look as detailed earlier. The perfect suits all occasions and colourings eyeshadow.

MAC paint in Untitled - a flesh coloured pigment in an artists paint tube. Can be used anywhere on the face - it comes in a variety of colours and finishes - but this one makes the perfect base for eye makeup, as it evens out the skin tones there, and gives the shadow something to cling to, and makes it last all day, and all night if it has to. Wonderful stuff.

Urban Decay liquid eyeliner - I own about six of these, beautiful colours and simply the best brush yet found for ease of application. Stupid, stupid colour names though.

Rimmel pencil eyeliner - there is no eyeliner pencil on the market to rival these budget beauties. Soft, easy to apply, and relatively long lasting, simply no sense in buying more expensive ones.

Chanel Crystalle - my favourite perfume, I flirt with others, but I always come back to this. A green, floral, herby type scent, that's not at all sweet (my pet hate in perfumes, along with that horrible ingredient in certain perfumes that I haven't identified yet which makes me retch), and apparently it's very sexy. I love it.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream I never leave the house without a tube of this about my person somewhere, I use it as a lip balm, to pat on foundation to get a glow, as an eye gloss (great if you've smudged your liquid eyeliner, and want to make it look like a deliberate action), as a cuticle treatment, on spots, on flaky skin patches such as ankles and elbows, on scratches. It's wonderful, and last for years. Don't buy the lip treatment stick though, it has too much added vitamin e and another ingredient which can actually make your lips flakier. And it doesn't contain petrochemicals, which is one of my pet hates in balm-type products. The original wonder product, and still the best as far as I'm concerned.

Chanel Rouge Noir lipstick and nail varnish Beautiful colours, beautiful packaging. Chanel do reds better than any other make up company, and these are the best reds ever, no question.

Avon Arabian Glow bronzing powder Cheap, cheerful, does exactly what it says on the tin. Nice colour too.