The Background

When you don't have a Sephora in your entire country it sort of means that when you do finally get a chance to hit one up it's comparable to how I felt when I was seven and unleashed into the many aisles of Toys R' Us.

So, during a recent trip to France I paid a visit to Paris' Sephora store and picked up something that I've wanted for about a year now; Make Up For Ever's Ultra HD Foundation. I have heard endless good things about this product and have been super excited to try it for myself.

My Experience

This foundation is an oil-free, long-lasting liquid foundation and there's a whopping 40 shades in the range which really helps to create that natural-finish as you're not forced to opt for a shade which can be one or two tones from your natural skin colour. 

As I suffer from quite dry skin I've found the consistency of this foundation perfect along with a setting powder and spray it stays put all day. I use a beauty blender to buff the liquid into my skin and it instantly settled in to create a satin-like finish. The coverage is probably a light to medium and I often use two layers to cover a few blemishes or the more red areas around my nose. 

I haven't suffered any breakouts since using this foundation and my skin is quite sensitive and spot prone so a foundation that doesn't feel like it's clogging up my pores is essential. 

My Recommendations

If you've given this foundtion a go and had a few problems then the one thing I'd suggest is trying it with a different primer as this foundation is primarily water-based. Silicone based primers will cause Ultra HD to break-up and appear patchy so when shopping for a primer check to make sure that's silicone minimal or free to make the most of your Ultra HD.

Comment below if you've tried this foundation and what your thoughts are, I'd love to know! Also, if you have any recommendations for great alternative foundations that you're loving then let me know as I'm always on the look out!

NEW HAIRCARE HAUL

So I've reached that point with my current hair care products where I'll sit pressing down the pump on my Aussie leave-in conditioner bottle for about 20 minutes before accepting that I've 100% run out and definitely need to replace it.

Of course, when I get to Boots they're completely out of the leave-in conditioner that I usually use so I had to stand there in the aisle talking myself - yes, out loud - through the pros and cons of the two conditioners they had instead. As you can see from the picture above, arguing with myself never gets me very far so I resulted in throwing both in my basket along with a couple of other bits.

I'm in love with Aussie's leave in conditioners and although I do really like a hair mask, I appreciate being able to spritz my  hair with moisturising goodness and leaving it in because I'm a very impatient human being. I usually use the Miracle Recharge Moisture conditioner but as I said they were out of it in Boots, leaving me to decide between Take The Heat and Shine before giving up and opting for both.

I haven't given either of these a go yet but if they're anything like their Moisture counterpart then these conditioners will be lightweight, non-sticky leave-in sprays which I feel just give my hair a little more of a silky soft finish after washing. Although I use a heat-defence product alongside the Aussie conditioner, I quite liked that the Take The Heat spray also does this so I can double up on the heat defence!

The Shine leave-in conditioner just sounded really nice, I've always had quite damaged hair until recently thanks to the incredible Olaplex treatment I had recently, post on that coming this week - so it will be nice to put a shine back into my much healthier looking hair.

Another product that I've ran out of recently was my heat-defence spray, usually I use a Toni & Guy product but once again, they were sold out. I'm really not selling my local Boots right now, am I? Although, this did give me a chance to look for something new. I'm a big fan of Lee Stafford products and thought that the Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection Mist sounded like it would do the trick. You can use this product before you blow-dry and also afterwards, on dry hair, before you use straighteners.

I also picked up a large can of the DeHumidifer Liquid Umbrella, also from Lee Stafford. I used to swear by this product when I was at school/college and when I discovered serum I stopped using it, however, I'm gradually running out of Bleach London's Split Fix Serum which I am obsessed with and was going to replace until I saw this! This is a lightweight spray which controls frizz and keeps your hair looking smooth, sleek and silky. I've already given it a go this afternoon and forgot how much I loved it. This product also comes in a smaller, handbag-sized can for frizz-control on the go!

Have you tried any of these products? I'd love to know what you think of them so let me know! 

COLLECTION AT BOOTS BEAUTY HAUL

Before we head off to Center Parcs for the week, I popped into Boots today to stock up on some essentials and some not-so-essential-but-still-really-lush beauty bits!

Ever since I gave the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer a go I've never used anything else to cover up my problem areas and under-eye area. I find nothing else conceals as well as this and I always opt for the lightest shade, 01 Fair, to give my under-eye area a lift and make it appear brighter. This concealer is also perfect for covering up those nasty zits that tend to spring up out of nowhere although I tend to find it can require a little pat from a finger-tip to really melt it into the skin for a natural finish.

Along with the concealer, I picked up another favourite of mine; Collection Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Powder. This product teamed with the concealer really do make the perfect power couple. After I've used the concealer I whack some of this over the top - I use a powder brush and forgo the use of the pad/sponge that comes with this powder because I have a weird thing about bacteria/germs lingering on those things - and it sets everything perfectly!

While I was in Boots I also couldn't resist picking up a few coral/red/pinkish lipsticks. I've been after some lippys with more orange tones so I grabbed these three beauts - it's just a big coincidence that all of these products are from Collection but it makes for a consistent post fo' sho!

The lovely lipsticks are in the shades 16 Paper Rose, 17 Colour Pop and 2 Pretty In Peach and they're all quite similar with only very slight differences but I'm very excited to give them a go nonetheless! They were also on offer in Boots for only £2.50 each so I couldn't resist, I'm a bit of a lipstick hoarder - there's just something about lipsticks that are so aesthetically pleasing to me I don't know why I'm a weirdo - so I'm definitely thinking of getting a few more shades in this range if they stay at this price!

There are so many fantastic offers on at Boots at the moment and all of the Christmas boxsets and offers are in store already so if you live near a store then I'd recommend popping in for a gander.

Let me know if you've tried any of these products or if you're thinking of giving them a go yourself, I'd love to know!

Boots 'Drugstore' Haul

As soon as payday comes around, so does an obligatory Boots haul. Mainly to replenish those necessary empties but also to take a good old look around and see what's new!

I already own a couple of the brushes in this Real Techniques Foundation/Base Core Collection, £21.99 set but I thought it would be nice to a) have duplicates for the brushes I already have, in case one set needs cleaning super urgently I can switch them out, and b) use a couple of brushes that I've never tried before, like the smaller detailing brush and the contouring brush.

These Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Facial Wipes, £2.65 have been on my shopping list for a long time and they were on offer today in Boots so it seemed like the perfect time. I have skin which is super-sensitive to harsh facial wipes and I usually always go for a wipe that includes cucumber as it's such a soothing ingredient. These wipes include not only cucumber but also aloe vera; the dream team!

This trio of beauty products includes one that I love, the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, £4.19 and also a couple of new buys. I have very dry skin so I've always been wary of powders as I don't want to invite any cakey-ness onto my face where it's not welcome, this Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, £1.99 looked super-lightweight and I'm excited to give it a try.

I also really liked the look of Maybelline's Dream Bronze BB cream, £6.99. As the weather gets warmer, I like to wear less and less in the form of foundation so this bronzed BB cream fitted the bill perfectly. It also contains SPF 25 which is a huge bonus, I'll let you know how I get on with this BB during the week.



The new nude lipstick collection from Kate Moss for Rimmel, £5.49 have been all over the blogosphere lately so when I spied them in Boots today I just couldn't resist choosing a shade to take home. I opted for shade 45 which is a beautiful brown-based nude with a hint of pink (so don't worry, it won't look like you've got foundation on your lips). I'll be reviewing this product in full very soon so keep an eye out for that post.



Finally, I picked up this John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Agent Touch-Up Creme, £4.00. I've been using Bleach London's Split Fix Serum to control my flyaways and to smooth out my ends for a long time now but as they were out of that in the store today I took the opportunity to look for something new to try out. I found this product and it looked like it would do the trick.



Full reviews for these products will be on the way once I've given them go so make sure you're following me on Bloglovin or Twitter for all of the updates.