So recently, I’ve done quite a few Q&A’s over on my Instagram page. I’m doing this because I love love love helping you all out. I love talking to you all and generally just offering my advice out to you. For me, giving advice is an amazing thing to do. It makes me so happy and I’ve always received a huge gratification from doing it. Giving advice to you all provides me with the same warmth a gorgeous brew or margarita pizza gives you. I will add to this blog post as more questions get asked.
What’s the best summer foundation you would recommend?
MAC Face and Body or Armani Luminous Silk. MAC Face and Body isn’t good for anyone with acne. It’s got a very very light coverage but is incredible in summer and during holidays when the weather is extremely hot. Armani is suuuuuper expensive. When I first started buying it, it was £30. It’s now £42! They keep putting the price up. It’s beyond me why people still buy this foundation. Yes, it’s insanely good for summer skin. It’s got a light-medium coverage and its very glowy. But the price tag just turns me off.
What do you recommend for acne prone skin?
For acne prone skin I recommend NON-PERFUMED EVERYTHING!!!! Please avoid perfumed makeup brands. I find the worst for this is Chanel. Their skin products are heavily perfumed. You can actually smell them when they’re sat on your face. Someone once asked me what perfume I had on. I said none… just Chanel foundation lol. You find as well many skin care products are riddled with perfumes. You can tell those apart from the ones that are natural formulas and ingredients. Sounds silly, but close your eyes and smell the product. If it has any strong scent to it, then pleaser avoid. It’s harsh for acne prone skin.
I also recommend avoiding oil-based skin care. Majority of bad acne cases are due to the over production of an oil called ‘sebum’ in the sebaceous glands. Feeding these glands additional oil isn’t great. For makeup, I found Armani Luminous Silk and Urban Decay Naked Foundation didn’t make me break out. They didn’t necessarily help, but they didn’t make my skin red and irritated or nice spotty. Plus UD Naked Foundation is only £28. Lasts forever too. It’s very trial and error if you have acne prone skin. My biggest advice though is to avoid perfumed products.
Everything seems to crease really badly under my eyes. Any tips on how to stop this?
My best advice is to apply your concealer under the eye at the BOTTOM of your eye bag. Everyone hates their bags underneath their eyes. Well you need to use the line of the bag as a guide to apply your concealer. So, where you see the bag, apply the concealer there and blend it upwards instead of applying it right underneath the eye/close to the waterline. You don’t want to be adding product directly beneath your eye where the creases are. You just want to blend the concealer into this area. I use NARS Matte Concealer or MAC Pro Longwear Concealer. NARS started to crease a bit. MAC PL doesn’t crease at all. I use this in NC35. Set it with Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder or Laura Mercier Translucent. Any will be okay.
How to stop makeup sweating off in the heat?
I will always stand by Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder when it comes to heat. This may not be what other makeup artists do, but quite frankly I really don’t care because it 1000000000% works for me. I coat my entire face in the powder. I avoid areas that have already got powdered products there (such as bronzers and highlighters) but I powder my entire face. It works. Trust me. Coz I sweat like a b*tch.
Best Primer for oily skin?
The Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer. Without a DOUBT. When my skin was really oily this was my go-to primer. 0 perfume, 0 oil.
Did you use any treatments to clear your skin up?
Earlier this year, I finished my third course of roaccutane which is a rather harsh drug for severe acne. You can read more about this in my blog post ‘Roaccutane: the raw truth’. That drug is the only reason I have clear skin now. In regards to skin care products – no. I was too scared to put anything on my skin. I simply washed my face with a flannel and water every night.
Best matte foundation or heavy coverage foundation?
Esteé Lauder Double Wear or Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation. Double Wear is extremely thick and very drying. It can turn slightly ‘grey’ if you’re too vigorous with blending your bronzer – especially if you leave it to dry on your face and then try to apply other liquid products and powder products. It isn’t great at blending but covers everything beautifully. I loved this foundation for a long time.
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation is thick and amazing coverage. I used this the third time I got bad acne (August 2017). It covered everything well. Both foundations are matte too.
What foundation is best for dry skin but also has medium/full coverage?
For me, the NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation has always been great. Too oily for me now that my skin has returned to its natural state. But if you don’t have much oil in your face, this foundation will be great. It’s super glowy and keeps your skin very hydrated. All Day Luminous and Sheer Glow are equally amazing too. But this is my favourite.
What shades are you in the NARS and Charlotte Tilbury Foundations?
In NARS I am Santa Fe without fake tan and Barcelona with fake tan. Charlotte Tilbury I only wear when I have zero fake tan on. I bought it to be the precise colour of my skin. So, I have shade 4 which is very very light.
What foundation is best for oily skin?
Hmmmmm. This is quite hard for me at the moment because right now I don’t wear any makeup because I’m trying to keep my skin as clear as possible. My skin is very oily so I feel you! If I was you, I’d avoid all NARS foundations. They’re quite oily. Go for Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation or Esteé Lauder Double Wear for heavy coverage and Double Wear Light for fair coverage. Urban Decay Naked Foundation is good too.
What skincare products do you use? I need some recommendations!
At the moment, my skin care consists of three products. The same products that are all used and explained in this blog post here. Please read it to understand all my skin care routine.
Now, I have added onto this routine. I make sure I am strict with my skin care routine every morning and night. But now, I use amazonian clay masks two days a week and lactic acid on my skin at night from The Ordinary. I won’t wear makeup at all and then I cut out dairy too. I don’t drink cows milk anymore. I replaced it with Soya. All my cheese and butter, yoghurts, ice cream and biscuits are diary free now too. This has made a huge difference.
There we have it! Thank you so much for reading. I really hope this blog post helps you out as much as it has helped me.
Lots of love,
Olivia xxx
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