Holy Grail High Street/Drugstore Foundation

It's taken me a while to find a high street foundation that I actually love and would repurchase again and again. I've tried quite a few cheaper foundations over the years, and none have impressed me that much, until I tried the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation.

With no makeup (I have redness and spot scarring)

Wearing only Bourjois Healthy Mix

There's quite a lot of hype around this product, but I put off buying it for a while as it is on the pricer side of high street foundations….it's £9.99, which isn't expensive but considering I'd been using the Rimmel foundations which are £4 cheaper it did seem like a leap.
But I took the plunge and bought it back in the Spring, and I'm so glad I did!

I purchased the Healthy Mix foundation in the lightest shade of Light Vanilla, which actually isn't that pale….that's the only complaint I have about this line, the shade range isn't brilliant.
Light Vanilla is slightly yellow toned, which suits my skin as I have olive undertones, and it's light but not so light that it would work on a very pale skinned girl.
The packaging is great. Pump - check, proper lid - check, non-cheap feeling bottle - check. Winner.
The scent is fruity, but not artificial. Healthy Mix is enriched with fruit therapy formulas; apricot for radiance, melon for hydration and apple to 'protect your youth'.
The coverage is medium, in my opinion. I've seen that most people say it's a light coverage, which it can be if it's sheered down, but on me and the way I apply it (with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush) definitely gives me enough coverage for everyday wear. The finish it gives is natural, but glowing; not matte but not so dewy that you look sweaty either. I find it particularly great at minimising the appearance of pores and boosting complexion. It doesn't feel at all heavy or sticky on the skin either.
The consistency isn't runny like a quite a few lighter foundations, but it's not thick either. It's very easy to work into the skin, and blends seamlessly.
The wear Bourjois claim is up to 16 hours….who even wears their foundation for that long anyway?! 16 hours wear definitely is not the case on my skin - there's sure signs of fading away during the day, but not enough that it bothers me. By the end of the day (without any touch ups) the foundation is still there, it's just not as strong a coverage. Powdering obviously helps with the longevity.
The skin type Healthy Mix foundation would suit is probably anyone! A friend of mine with oily skin uses this and adores it, I have dry, sensitive skin and I adore it also.

I can't really fault it, and I can't see myself straying from it any time soon. It's a must-have for me!  

Well done, Bourjois. 

Best Bargain Eyeshadow Palette

One of the most asked questions I get is 'What's the best highstreet/drugstore eyeshadow?'. It seems most eyeshadows are either not good quality, have a rubbish shade range or are overpriced.
My favourite eyeshadow palettes you can get in high street shops are the Sleek palettes.

The Sleek eyeshadow palettes consist of 12 eyeshadows and are priced at £7.99 - BARGAIN!
My favourite of the selection is Storm (pictured). I use it often as most of the shades are natural and neutral, but there are some more daring shades in there like dark green or pink, and there's so many different looks you can get out of it. There's a mixture of light and dark colours, shimmery and matte. For the price I really don't think you can beat the quality of these shadows, they're so pigmented and you can really built them up to an intense colour. The wear of them isn't as long as high end shadows, that's expected, but they still last all day with a primer, without a primer they would last a good time still but just may crease a little - it's best to try and build them up to avoid this.

TOP ROW SWATCHES

BOTTOM ROW SWATCHES

Other than Storm there are 14 other palettes to choose from, so there'll be something to please everyone. There's some really bright and intense coloured palettes, some naturals palettes, matte palettes and of course palettes with a mixture.
The packaging is very sleek (yep) and doesn't feel too cheap. The lid on my palette has broken because I dropped it, but I think they're quite durable.

Sleek, in my opinion, do the best eyeshadows for such a barginous price. You can buy Sleek eyeshadow palettes on their website anywhere in the world and in Superdrug in the UK.
I've got my eye on the Oh So Special and the Au Naturals palettes next!

Rimmel Glam Eyes HD 5-Colour Eye Shadow in Brixton Brown

It's no secret that I'm a huge Rimmel fan. They're my favourite highstreet makeup brand, their lipsticks are my favourite, as are their foundations.
I was in Boots the other day and I saw this eyeshadow palette, the Glam Eyes HD 5 Colour Eyeshadow palette in Brixton Brown. I hadn't seen it before (it launched early October) and I thought the colours looked right up my street and super Autumnal, so I bought it.

In this 5 shadow palette you got a very dark shimmery grey, a super shimmery champagne colour, a dark brown that looks ever so slightly purply, a soft earthy green that is matte, and in the middle is a gorgeous coppery red with not too much shimmer. Beautiful.

What I love about this palette is you can create a really subtle daytime look with it, but also a super smoky nighttime look, and that red in the middle makes it perfect for this season.

The colours are well pigmented…not amazing, but good for the price, apart from the green which is shockingly badly pigmented, I can't seem to even see it once applied and is quite chalky..but the other 4 are great.

They also surprisingly didn't crease on my eyes! I wore the copper/red all over my lid and the dark grey just on the outer part of my eye for about 6 hours with no primer and they hadn't creased at all. 

L-R Top 2 shades and middle shade

Bottom 2 shades

This palette is £6.99 and there are 3 different ones in the collection.

Purchase here.

What's your favourite shade out of the 5?