Max Factor Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation review

I don't think I've ever had a Max Factor base in my life, God knows why, but being a ReallyRee fangirl and reading her review about the new Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation made me feel intrigued straight away.  As soon as I got to a Boots counter and tried it on my hand I was hooked. The All Hours from YSL still works well for me but I'm always up for finding something that is more forgiving to my purse.

Us combination skin girls can never really have it all when it comes to bases. Foundations either cater for dry or more oily skins but once you have both qualities it becomes really tricky.  The Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation apparently works on all areas so understandably I was very curious to try it.

The Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation is a hybrid formula which is very much an in thing in beauty at the moment.  Products that have 2, 3, 4 functions in one, combining make-up with the benefits of skincare products is well suited to our fast-paced modern lives, appeals to our inner lazy girl or maybe the effortless French girl if that's your thing.  With hybrid products, you can prime and blur, cover and nourish, give colour and protect from the sun, colour correct and brighten in one single step – who wouldn't find that irresistible?

I tried it for two weeks on my combination skin with a typical t-zone shine, here are the usual details:

What it is: a hybrid foundation with skin care qualities.

What it claims to do: "Max Factor Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation is a hybrid make up with a smart formula and intelligent ingredients specially designed to adapt to internal and external skin stresses over the day: 24-hour hydration, SPF20 protection and shine control to help protect skin from dryness, shine and sun exposure. The foundation restores tired, stressed-out skin and improves skin condition."

Packaging: nothing out of the ordinary, it is practical and it does look like a high street foundation. Glass bottle with a plastic pump and a see-through lid with gold stripes. 

Who is it for: I can see this working on normal, combination, slightly dry skin, maybe not on a very oily skin.

Finish:  satin, with a slight glow.

How it worked on me: On application, the texture is silky smooth and easy to blend, it is a joy to apply it with fingers but sponge/brush works well too. You can achieve quite high coverage quickly but you can build it up if you need more. I only used a small amount at a time and I could instantly see it brightening my complexion. It wears impressively well during the day but oxidised a little on me over time (as do most foundations) so it might be a good idea to go for a little bit lighter shade than you usually go for. I am not sure how the formula is put together but is nice  and balanced: It's hydrating enough but not too moisturizing. It is oil absorbing but not drying. It has a glow but not the one that turns into an unappealing oil slick. It has coverage but doesn't look heavy. It blurs out imperfections but doesn't obliterate all your features. I am glad to see it lives up to its claim and it really does work on combination skin and it is really comfortable to wear.
  

The SPF 20 is quite useful but for me is a bit too low, I personally would use a higher SPF before my makeup. At the end of the day, I removed it with a heavy balm cleanser just because of the sun protection and it broke down the makeup well and fast.

The  Healthy Skin Harmony Miracle Foundation is available in a decent variety of 18 shades, I just wish there were a bit more yellow undertones.

Value for money: good as with all high-street foundations, you get 30ml for £14.99.

Before and after shots:

The Ordinary Coverage Foundation - is it worth the hype?

My opening post for September was a foundation review (the All Hours from YSL), let me close the month with another from the budget world. There's no denying that launching The Ordinary was a little touch of genius from Deciem. Now they not only offer no-frills, no-nonsense, active ingredient-led skin care for a low price but they have ventured into the world of colour cosmetics with two foundations: the Serum with light coverage, dewy finish and the Coverage with high coverage, satin finish.  This is not a new launch by any means, the reason for my belated review is the insane amount of interest in the foundations. The beauty industry and beauty junkies all over the world collectively went bananas over the launch and created waiting lists with tens of thousands of names.  My shade (1.2N) hasn't been available for months on end, it still isn't actually but I thought it is high time to review it. I was mainly drawn by the sound of the Coverage Foundation so I went with a slightly darker shade, 2N just to see how it works.

The foundations come in 21 shades and in different undertones (P -pink, R-red, Y- yellow, N-neutral and some shades have S-silver or G-gold highlights in them for a more luminous effect). Wayne Goss has done a great video reviewing them and he attached a chart of Mac foundation shades with the corresponding The Ordinary shades. This is a great reference point when you order online but if it's accessible for you can pop into the London store in Covent Garden to find your shade.

Coverage claims to be an affordable foundation with a high-end formulation, this sounds incredibly exciting so let's see how it performs.

Please note that I have normal to combination skin with a typical t-zone oiliness.

The promise: "Coverage Foundations are full-coverage formulations available in a comprehensive shade range across 21 shades. These foundations contain higher pigment levels than our Serum Foundations but still offer a smooth finish that avoids the heavy makeup look that can make skin appear more aged. The texture is that of a lightweight, non-oily cream.The pigments used in these formulations are treated for a rich, highly-saturated effect. These pigments are suspended in our proprietary spreadability system that allows pigments to look natural on the skin, resist collecting within fine lines and stay on for longer. The foundations offer a semi-matte finish and are compatible with most primers and are designed to work exceptionally well with the primers offering from The Ordinary".

The Packaging:  Paired-down, minimalist bottle typical for The Ordinary and it comes with a pump! Hurrah! The reason why I'm glad about this is that I have to admit I am still hurt by the fact that the Double Wear Water Fresh Foundation from Estee Lauder doesn't come with a pump.

Who is it for? I can see this could work on all other skin types, the key is good preparation

Coverage: medium, buildable

Finish: satin, natural

Longevity: up to 6 hours without touching up, longer with a quick blot and a bit of powder, even longer with a primer underneath.

Fragrance: none

Sun protection: SPF15, not a chemical sunscreen but physical, achieved by using Titanium Dioxide.  No nano-particles are used in creating this sun protection which is quite unique when it comes to foundations. If you are outside the EU you will notice that despite getting the same product you won't see the SPF15 claim just because regulations are very different in other countries.

How it worked: On application (I have found a damp sponge or fingers worked best)it felt smooth, creamy, moisturizing, light-weight, it blended in beautifully.   A little goes a long way so you don't have to dab it on the skin for hours to achive a decent finish. During the day it lasted pretty well, wore off a little within 5 hours but this is not claiming to be Double Wear so it's absolutely fine. I tried wearing it with and without a primer and I can say it lasts much better with a primer. During the day I had to touch up at around the 5-hour mark but a quick blot and a swoosh of powder later it was as good as new and was ready for the next few hours of wear. At the end of the day using a cream cleanser was enough to completely remove it.

Before and after:

Before foundation                                                                  After foundation

Suffice to say, if you prep well, this is a pretty impressive foundation for the price point. I will definitely order the lighter shade for the winter, all I have left to do is find a good SPF day cream to use underneath because let's face it, SPF15 is very little sun protection even during winter time. The Ordinary is planning to introduce individual enhancers to the existing foundation shades so you can customize all shades to your own individual needs. I cannot wait to experiment with them!

The Coverage Foundation is alcohol-free, oil-free, nut-free, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, cruelty-free.

Value for money: Excellent! You get a decent 30ml for £5.90.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Nude Cushion Stick Radiant Makeup review

First things first, I do have to apologise for my absence on Instagram but I had a bit of a 'faux pas' with my beloved HTC. In a not so rare 'doing 10 things at one time' moment I stupidly/accidentally deleted all my pictures and videos from my phone, so I had to leave it in a shop for data recovery. However, instead of lamenting over the surreal feeling of not having my phone with me 24/7, and having lost every image I planned on posting for the next 3-4 days, I luckily saved a pic of the Estee Lauder Nude Cushion Stick Foundation on my computer, so at least I can go ahead with my weekly post here.

Estee Lauder foundations have always been in my top 5 of best foundations, and when they came out with the Double Wear Nude Cushion Stick Radiant Makeup (Gosh, isn't that a mouthful?) I couldn't wait to try it.  They didn't disappoint this time around either.

The packaging itself looks elegant, clean, sophisticated, easy to carry around in handbags. It has a sponge head and the product itself is dispersed through a small hole when twisting the bottom of the container to the sponge ready to be applied. How clever! Little goes a long way, you can add more by twisting just a tiny bit of the foundation to the sponge. Now, you and I would think:  'Hm...a sponge head? But wouldn't that go  incredibly dirty and full of bacteria very quickly?' Not this one! You can unscrew the head and give it a good clean whenever you feel like it! I almost feel I need to give a good hug to the person who came up with the idea!

The texture and finish of the foundation are divine! The oil-free formula glides on like a dream, has a decent medium, buildable coverage and a satin to slightly glowy finish. I'd say this is a great formulation for normal/combination, dry, maybe slightly oily skin types, but probably it is not for you if you are super oily (you can always opt for the classic Double Wear formulation, which is equally great but has longer wear and a matte finish).
 
Key facts about the Cushion Stick: the formulation contains a so-called  SkinSync Complex, which is a  blend of highly emollient lipids and butters (like Brazilian Muru-Muru butter and Linoleic Acid that melt on contact with skin creating a natural look and a comfortable, soft feel), a Quench Complex - Sodium Hyaluronate and naturally derived plant and fruit extracts to help skin attract and hold on to moisture for a long period of time, Glow Enhancing Optics - a luxurious mineral that includes Gold and South Sea Pearl that helps to give the skin an energized, radiant look, and finally a hint of Jasmine and Rose to give the foundation a fresh, clean scent. All this sounds fabulous and I have to say, it feels as delicious and luxurious as it sounds.

I've been testing this for a while and works really well on my combination skin. It seems, it has the durability of the classic Double Wear and stays on steadily during long working days. It is very easy to touch up your makeup with it and I felt I'm less inclined to powder it down during the day than usual, which is great news for me. This is certainly a foundation for the modern woman on the go and I am an absolute convert already!


Double Wear Cushion Stick Radiance Makeup is available in wide range of  20 shades here.