Alison Raffaele True Concealer

I've been on the look out for a concealer to use on blemishes and I think I might have just found one that is ticking a lot of boxes for me.

The Alison Raffaele range has been on my radar for some time now, but as I've been distracted by other offerings, I kind of forgot about it until some festive browsing on Cult Beauty reminded me.

The line is created by makeup artist Alison Raffaele and is free from mineral oil, talc, gluten, fragrance. The line also includes fruit extracts to give skincare benefits and is suitable for sensitive and acne-prone skin. Sometimes I'm weary of using heavy, emollient type concealers on spots for fear of aggravating the area and I even though I usually don't have much of an issue, it's nice to have a formula without these potential irritants.

I was struggling to decide which shade to get but the descriptions on the Cult Beauty website have celebrity names against them to help so thankfully I picked the correct shade (no.5) which I find is perfect for my skintone (MAC NC40-42).

The packaging is a fairly standard tube with a sponge tip wand applicator, and the concealer itself is a light, creamy consistency that dries to a natural matte finish.

Top - Blended, Bottom - not blended

Top - Blended, Bottom - not blended

Even though the texture is a light cream, it has good pigmentation so it covers well and as the tones in this feel very real to my actual warm skin colouring, it blends very naturally and doesn't feel heavy in any way. The only thing I would say is that if I have a much drier spot, it does settle a tiny bit drier on that area, but generally it hides blemishes well. I also find that this works well on the under eye area to cover shadows rather than brightening.

Ingredients:

I bought this from the Cult Beauty website.

W3LL People Narcissist Supernatural Foundation

W3LL People Narcissist Supernatural Foundation

I am increasingly trying to find more natural base alternatives with the hope of if I keep everything as pure as possible, it might help bring some harmony to my acne-prone skin. I do find this tough because apart from mineral makeup, I haven't come across a good alternative for a cream/liquid foundation from a natural brand.

After seeing this post on London MakeUp Girl, it drew my attention to a promising sounding product by a brand I've not heard of before - W3LL People and their Narcissist Supernatural Foundation. I am quite fond of stick foundations (takes me back to the Maybelline 3 in 1 which was one of my first foundations), although not a great deal of brands produce them. Laura Mercier did an excellent one but unfortunately it's been discontinued.

I recently made a trip to Content Beauty in London so I could test this in person. It's been a while since I've visited the store so I had a good browse in the Aladdin's cave of natural beauty.

W3LL People Narcissist Supernatural Foundation No.5

I bought the No.5 shade which is a perfect match for my NC40/42ish skin as it has a good base of yellow tones and doesn't look orange.

Natural Light

Flash

Natural light. Blended into skin

Flash. Blended into skin

As you can see it blends in very nicely and the foundation is not discernible on my skin looking completely natural.

The texture of this is interesting as it's creamy but not in an emollient way, rather slightly drier cream but not hard and waxy. It's quite deceptive as initially you might think it will look cakey but it doesn't, it's just blends seamlessly into the skin leaving a natural soft finish that is not dewy. This doesn't require any powdering but as I do get shine breakthrough on the t-zone I do use some translucent powder to finish. The coverage of this is buildable from sheer to medium. It evens out the skin tone nicely and offers some coverage of blemishes but I find some of my more deeper coloured marks it doesn't cover completely. It feels comfortable on the skin and I haven't experienced any adverse effects.

I use my fingers or a flat synthetic brush (like my Shu No.10) to apply as anything softer and I can't pick up enough product to get the medium coverage I prefer.

The staying power is very good as it lasts the whole day (I used this on a recent hot day and it held up well), and the colour stays true. I find I don't need to keep doing powder touch-ups as I don't get as oily on the t-zone, today I didn't bother and I was only a little shiny by the end of the day.

It's great to see a natural formula that works as well (if not better) then a more chemical based one as it's been easier for me to find this in skincare, but not so much in makeup. W3LL People has definitely changed this.

Ingredients:

Sunflower oil* infused with green tea,** reishi mushroom,*** and wild harvested bayberry; castor oil, beeswax,**** silica, essential oils, safflower oil, pomegranate extract, tocopherol [+/- titanium dioxide, iron oxides, mica].
*certified organic, stellar; **certified organic, qai; ***certified organic, oregon tilth; ****certified organic, kosher keunen.

This is £28 from Content

Une MakeUp Review: Mineral Foundation, Skin Glow Pencil & Lip-Toned Colour

I like the concept of Une makeup, it is clean and fuss-free as well using more natural ingredients in the products. I bought a few products a while back from Superdrug to try so here are my thoughts.

100% Mineral Foundation

I am a fan of mineral makeup, being acne-prone I feel I don't need to worry if mineral foundations are clogging my pores and making me breakout. They seem to help keep my skin in check so I was interested to see how this fares.

I've got the shade M08, which is quite yellow based and blends well into the skin. I would say this shade for me is just a tiny bit dark if I use it heavily, otherwise it's not a bad shade match (my neck area is slightly lighter then my face).  The coverage is light-medium so it's not good for covering up any blemishes but it does even out the skintone and looks natural. It's finely milled and has no noticeable shimmer/glowy particles as it's more of a natural finish. I usually use my Ecotools retractable kabuki to apply this or my ELF powder brush if I want more coverage. It lasts well throughout the day but I do touch up my t-zone as it gets oily (this happens to me with most foundations). Overall it's a good natural and lightweight foundation but personally I like more coverage so I probably wouldn't repurchase it.

Lip-Toned Colour L05

L05 is a soft warm pink shade that brightens my lips up a little and I would imagine could suit a variety of skintones.
I really like this lipstick, it's quite creamy and the shade is flattering and just adds a good wash of colour that isn't too sheer or too full-on. They are also a bit moisturising so don't dry out my lips either.
Being a bit of a neutral lippie-lover the Lip-Toned Colours are the items that appeal to me most in the range so I would buy more shades.

Swatched along with the Skin Glow pencil:

Skin Glow Pencil in G04

I am not sure what the purpose of this pencil is as the name isn't exactly clear but I've been using this as a concealer as I quite like the precision of a pencil to dot onto small spots.
It's a bit creamy and blends well but it doesn't really last on me and even though smooth, the texture isn't quite creamy or dense enough for serious spot concealment. I think this would be better as a brightening eye pencil to line the lower lash line with. Overall it's not bad but it's not for me.

In general I think it's a bit of a hit and miss with this range but there are definitely some items worth checking out.