Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser | Review

You may have heard me rave about this product on both Twitter and Instagram. You see it took me a long time to take the plunge and fork out the £33 for what was effectively a tinted moisturiser. I had tried tinted moisturisers in the past and been left disappointed. They gave minimum coverage and rarely matched my skin tone so I was either left looking washed out or that I had been hit with the orange stick! Having heard such good reviews on this I went back and forth to Space NK umming and ahhing over the counter and then finally thought sod it the only way I am going to know is if I buy it. So I did, casually ignoring the price to my boyfriend, like you do haha. 

And boy, I was not disappointed. If you are a full coverage type of girl then step away now as this is a far cry from double wear. This in my opinion is a medium coverage but as the formulation is lighter than a usual foundation means it has the potential to be built up without looking cakey. I opted for the oil free version. Now do not be misled by oil free versions, they won't stop you getting oily skin but they are a lot better than oil versions which are effectively adding oil to your face. What I did like was the extensive shade range, which tends to be a rarity in tinted moisturisers which usually are only available in light, medium and dark. There are 10 shades available in the range. I opted for nude which is about 1 or 2 shades off from their lightest shade 'porcelain' and I found that this was a perfect match for my skin tone despite being naughty and not getting shade matched in the shop. So I guess you could say I took a bit of a gamble there but it definitely paid off. For £33 you do get a whopping 50ml of product so its not going to run out anytime soon either.

I apply this with either my Real Techniques buffing brush or Sigma F80, both are flat top kabuki style brushes which allow you to really buff it into the skin to create an almost flawless base. After applied by skin feels nourished and slightly dewy. It does look slightly shiny after initial application but I find leaving for a couple of minutes to allow it to firmly sink into the skin and then dusting a light amount of powder down my T zone does the trick. As for staying power I think this will vary from person to person but on me personally I can get through an entire day at work 8am to 4pm without this budging. I did have to fix up some areas half way through the day such as the creases of the nose but literally just blended these in with my fingers and I was good to go. 

This has definitely been my go to holy grail product in recent weeks and was definitely worth the hype in my opinion. Don't you just love it when you find a product that really does meet your expectations!

Laura Mercier oil free tinted moisturiser is available at Space NK for £33. You can click here to view.

Mini Haul | Space NK and Boots

Yesterday afternoon as the heavens opened in the UK my boyfriend and I took a trip to our local shopping centre Bluewater. Along with several thousand other people it seems as the place was heaving, talk about the weather doing good for the local economy. Whilst I had a list the length of my arm and envisaged returning with bags of goodies I only got a few beauty bits. 

First stop was Space NK. I could seriously live in this shop. My only issue is that the shop is small and the sales assistants tend to be on you as soon as you walk through the door. Now I don't have an issue with this but 9 times out of 10 I will be happily browsing and have several assistants check I am OK cue when I need help and there is no one in sight? Is this just me? So I ended up getting the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser. I said I wouldn't. I eyed it up every single time I went in the shop and I managed to resist temptation and then this weekend after yet another swatch in the shop and temptation got the better of me. Hopefully I won't be too disappointed when I try this. I also picked up the REN Invisible pore detox mask. I have a slight obsession with face masks at the moment and love trying different ones usually on a Sunday night. I already own the REN glycolactic renewal mask and after being suitably impressed I decided to pick up this one from the range which was surprisingly a lot cheaper at only £18. The kind lady then threw in a little sample. Although I did have to ask which is usually quite rare in Space NK when you are buying a significant amount of goodies! 

I then popped to Boots, advantage vouchers in hand and spotted the Revlon Kissable Lip Balms. I literally jumped at them. I had seen them on the website but was unaware they were in store yet. Yes, there was a limited amount of colours but I managed to get Honey Douce and Rendezvous which is one I have had my eye on since Louise posted about it. Boots are doing a £2 discount on Revlon so these worked out a fiver each. Not bad going when you look at the price of the Clinique version. I swatched these yesterday and the stain is still visible this morning, albeit faded but it goes to show that when they say a 'stain' they mean a stain, expect a review very shortly. Finally and last but by no means least I picked up a new L'Oreal Telescopic mascara in waterproof. I have finally finished my last one and don't think I could stray to another mascara now as this one ticks all the boxes for me. 

So that's it, not a big haul but the weekend is not over just yet. My boyfriend usually works Sundays but for once he has this weekend off so I am sure we shall be out and  about at some point today. What have you been up to this weekend? Any cheeky purchases?