Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Bamboo Beige Review

I was in the market for a new high end foundation; one for those special occasions and one that I can always count on to make my skin look amazing. As I do before buying any new product (high end or drugstore for that matter) I took to Google and began searching for the best high end foundations that fit my ideal criteria of having high coverage that is not matte. I narrowed it down to two popular choices - NARS Sheer Glow and Laura Mercier Silk Creme. I went with the latter for the reason that the Laura Mercier offering has a much higher coverage. Sold!

After getting colour matched I happily walked out of Space NK desperate to go home and try it. I picked up the shade "Bamboo Beige" which is described as a warm golden beige for light to medium skin tones and it matches perfectly. For reference, I typically wear Mac NC25 or Esteé Lauder Double Wear in Desert Beige. I looked online and saw that it is the fourth darkest shade. For a high end foundation they only offer ten shades which isn't that impressive.

I have been trialing this foundation over the past two weeks and I really am mixed about what I think of it. The coverage is great - near enough full coverage that literally creates a flawless canvas - and you only need a little to cover the entire face. As it is a cream formula, hence the name, it does make the texture extremely thick and, in a way, uncomfortable. I would say that is it slightly heavier that Double Wear by Esteé Lauder (...and that is saying something!) Fuller coverage foundations have more pigments than lower coverage foundations so I can understand the reason why it feels heavier on the skin. So let's dismiss the thickness of the foundation and move onto finish.

One of the USP's that encouraged me to choose this foundation over the Sheer Glow offering was for the luminous finish it apparently gives. And it is really pretty and for a high coverage foundation it is impressive how much light it gives to the complexion. Unfortunately, it clings to dry skin like crazy. Like I said before, I research into new products and read the foundation suits people with combination to oily skin. I have combination skin and, despite moisturising and using Hydraluron before application, I still found this foundation so drying on areas where I suffer from blemishes. Around the blemishes it was extremely drying - almost flakey! - and just did not look pretty. I was a little confused as full coverage foundations are *primarily* targeted towards those who want to cover up imperfections and, in my experience, the extreme thick texture of this foundation, highlighted any dry areas on the face, thus making any blemishes more obvious.

Thankfully, the product did not break me out which tends to happen when I switch up my foundations. I do think this is one of those products I will completely adore in a few months and one that needs a little more persevering and trial and error. Perhaps due to the weather I am not a fan and in the summer it may be a joy to use. I'll probably do a follow up post in a few months! Currently I am browsing the Space NK website, hovering over the "add to basket" on the NARS Sheer Glow...

PS. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and successfully braved the Boxing Day sales if you did go. Have a great new year!

Beauty Reward Cards

With under a fortnight to go, I'm sure the majority of us have already started our Christmas shopping. Shopping this time of year is always exciting - buying for others is so much fun but it can also be terribly expensive especially if there are many people you need to buy for. For the females in my life I tend to buy either clothes (if I know them well enough to know their sizes and their style of course) or beauty/skincare related gifts! My favourite places to shop for this criteria are Boots and Space NK as they have such a vast selection on offer. Saving money can be so easy with rewards cards. When you buy a product you get points which add up to real money which you can spend on anything you want. Here are my favourite programmes to join...

N.dulge: This is the rewards scheme for Space NK for which every £1 you spent in store or online gives you one point. When you reach 100 points (aka spending £100) you receive a £5 incentive that you can spend on anything you want. The more points you earn, the better the programme becomes and you have the opportunity to join the luxe programme if you spend enough within the first twelve months. It's 100% free, and so worth it - especially with the amazing gift sets they offer this time of month, you'll be racking up the points in no time.

Boots advantage card: I believe this is my most used rewards card. For every £1 you spend, you collect 4 points. Then the points turn into real money that you can use in store and online. So for example, if you have 1000 points, that means you have £10 to spend on whatever you wish. You'll be surprised how quickly the points add up. Boots normally have special discounts around this time of year to collect even more points, so definitely sign up!

NUS Extra: Not for everyone, but if you're a student in the UK, you should definately concider siging up to this programme. It costs £10 so sign up and you need proof of being a student (obvs), but then you get so many insane discounts on so many brands it's unreal. You can get discounts for up to 30% in stores such as Urban Outfitters, Topshop, River Island, Superdrug, Office, Zara as well as restaurants and many other places. It lasts for one year before you renew, and you end up saving hundreds of pounds. It is seriously worth it if you are a student, especially in university.

So, they are my favourites and I highly recommend you sign up. They're (mostly) free anyway!