Bourjois Délice de Poudre Illuminatrice: Hero product #2

Image courtesy of Elle.fr

Early mornings, late nights and stress-filled deadlines are the bane of my skin. I have what the beauty elite like to call a ‘porcelain’ complexion, but thanks to my night owl habits, most days it looks closer to ghostly white. Without a hint of blusher, I look extremely one dimensional and at worst, I just look plain ill.

Injecting life into translucent skin is a battle; on a blank canvas, too heavy a concentration of colour can look like a 70s glitter explosion and something very sheer doesn’t look dewy but clammy, often giving the impression of a deathly pallor.

Bourjois Délice de Poudre Illuminatrice is my knight in shining armour when it comes to highlighting products. A powder rather than a cream, it doesn’t slide off my stuck-in-a-teenage-time-warp skin and delivers just the right amount of golden pink pearlescent shimmer when dusted along cheek and brow bones. The effect is subtle enough that if I’m feeling particularly drained, an additional sweep across my T-zone (where light would naturally hit) and a smudge dotted in the inner corner of my eyes soon brightens up my whole face. Oh, and did I mention it has a delicious, faint vanilla/white chocolate scent when in the packaging? Heavenly.

Much to my horror, I discovered that this product had been discontinued a few months ago and now unopened packages are becoming like… well, gold dust, with just a few rapidly disappearing powders tucked away on eBay and in online stores. I have tried and been disappointed with alternatives, including Bourjois’s replacement product ‘Touche Illuminatrice’, which in my opinion doesn’t match up and falls more within the sheen-filled blusher range on my fair skin. If you have warmer tones in your cheeks, the news is even worse, as I doubt this new product would even show up on your skin at all.

Whatever your colouring, if you’re looking for a bit of a luminescent lift, my advice would be to snap one (or two, or five) of these up whilst you still can (and send it to me).

Revlon PhotoReady™ Translucent Finisher: Hero product #1

Photo: copyright Revlon

Confession: I have frustratingly oily skin. At nearly 24, I still suffer from an insufferably shiny T-zone and cheeks, and battle every day to prevent myself looking like a walking, talking waxwork. I also have very pale skin*, and so when, despite my diligent cleansing routine, blemishes rear their ugly heads (pun intended) I have no option but to turn to a base, concealer and a light final fixing powder to help disguise the obvious situation.

In the past, I have found some high street ‘translucent’ powders to be far from translucent. Even when applied to sun-screened but otherwise bare skin during the summer months, they endeavoured to immediately take on an orange hue despite having been dusted on sparingly and evenly.

Revlon’s PhotoReady™ Finisher is itself not perfect, but it scores points with me for not following this ‘tango-tinge’ pattern. I have noticed that if it’s applied with a slightly heavy hand over the remnants of my tan, it can appear a little on the white side, however this effect may not even be noticeable once I have fully returned to my usual pallor and for the moment, can easily be remedied with a similarly gentle sweep of bronzer.

Where PhotoReady™ really impresses is with its general tone evening properties. When I first used the powder (with a small kabuki rather than the provided brush, which seems a little too synthetic to hold the product well), I instantly noticed that it diffused any imperfections and refused to cling to (and highlight) any concealed areas as some other powders do. It mattifies well (although with my skin, blotting is still needed around the nose after a number of hours have passed), does not feel heavy, chalky or suffocating and is velvety-fine. Once applied, there is no real scent to the powder and skin doesn’t seem to be clogged or reacting at all in any way either, which is a relief!

I was slightly worried about the ‘light reflecting’ particles that this product inevitably contains, but they are pretty undetectable (you’ll need to examine your face in a x3 magnification mirror to spot them and even then they do not look particularly glittery) and they mean that rather than dulling your complexion or making your face appear ‘dusty’, this powder leaves you feeling like you simply have a better version of your skin staring back at you.

Overall, PhotoReady™ is the best finishing powder I have used to date. If you have a darker skin tone, it may be best to test whether it blends without noticeably lightening on your skin, and I think it is worth using a better quality brush than the one provided as its quality has certainly been compromised due to packaging space. Otherwise, as a high street buy that packs a pore-perfecting punch, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

*outside of the one or two weeks of fading tan following my return from holiday. I am careful in the sun, but have spent time in the US deserts this summer, so picked up a golden tinge.

These are a few of my favourite things...

Over the last few days, I have thought long and hard about how to compose an introductory post for this blog.

I drafted several versions, but whichever approach I took, things began to stall after the first few lines. I didn't feel like sharing my life story (and since this blog is about beauty, it wouldn't really be appropriate), I couldn't think of anything groundbreaking or unique to add to the latest beauty industry debates and I haven't really got any exciting news that I can break with a flourish.

Luckily, whilst rifling through my make up bag this morning, I had I brainwave. Health, beauty and wellness is all about making the most of what you've got; working towards feeling as comfortable, happy and confident with your lot as possible. The hunt for potions or practices that can help maintain this contentment is half the fun, and the lessons learnt along the way whilst tracking down your own 'holy grail' products/routines can often prove to be invaluable.

With this in mind (and because it hopefully says a little bit about me), tomorrow I will begin by posting a few of my current favourite skin and hair care products, complete with a quick breakdown of how and why I fell in love with them.

To be continued...