Revlon PhotoReady!

Hey Pretties

You probably need no introduction but anyway, say hello to my latest foundation Revlon PhotoReady.

With flash

 

Now, this is one product that illustrates the power of hype. In fact, Revlon as a whole seem to be very good at hype. I remember the fuss that the cyber beauty community were making about ColorStay when I first considered my mission months ago and now, there is the new Revlon Colorburst Lip Collection and what about the nail colours? Remember, my earlier post on Minted?!

Well, Revlon PhotoReady was also released early this spring and there was a lot of excitment online. The Revlon PhotoReady collection consisted of a translucent finishing powder, a Revlon PhotoReady powder and the product that I’m focusing on the foundation.

Revlon claims that this foundation is for poreless airbrushed skin in any light. The photochromatic pigments bend and reflect light to erase every flaw and give a soft, luminous finish. Sounds like rocket science, doesn’t it? Well, if anything is going to fix my skin . . !

Hmm well, I have the product in Vanilla. Let’s take a look . . .

I agree I have a poreless and soft finish. My skin certainly does not too made up. In fact, these pictures were took on a night out and when I first saw them. I thought ‘Oh dear, I couldn’t have applied my MAC Mineralise Skinfinish properly’ because my face looked very shiny. Not just in the T-zone but all over. However, then I looked at some of the reviews floating around for PhotoReady and one of the critcisms is the amount of shimmer and shine, it radiates. Now like Lisasz09  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcZlvgDKuM when I looked in the mirror, I never noticed this. She only noticed hers in direct sunlight and ironically as it is a PhotoReady foundation, I only noticed it in pictures after the event.

Now for me, this shine is not a big problem. I don’t think it completely ruined the look but I will be looking at some of the hints and tips to rectify the problem a little. For example, if I am going to wear the foundation for a big event then I may buy one of the Revlon powders from the same collection and see if this helps. I also might have a go at combining the PhotoReady foundation with ColorStay as suggested by one of the viewers to Lisa’s video and see how this looks on camera. People also mentioned using any remaining foundation as a highlight instead. I’m not going to worry about this too much. As for me, the problem was not that bad. Maybe because my skin is quite dry anyway. It has also been suggested in the comments below Lisa’s video that as you use the foundation, the shimmer too diminishes. A bit like the water in my ColorStay

It is interesting to note that Laura (Lollipop26) and Lisa both initially seemed disappointed with PhotoReady but both seem to have made ways to work with PhotoReady. It reminds me of the problems I had getting used to ColorStay which I now would buy again.

With flash

 

Without flash

When I was preparing and taking these pictures, I could clearly see glittery, sparkly particles in the swatch.

PhotoReady is different from ColorStay and has other strengths and weaknesses (aside from the infamous shine factor) which I will briefly consider below.

Yay

– Revlon PhotoReady does come with a pump. The foundation itself seems to be of a thinner consistency then ColorStay. Maybe closer to L’Oreal True Match. The pump works well and makes for a cleaner application then ColorStay.

– Despite looking shiny, you can still see product on the skin. PhotoReady appears to have good staying power of at least 4-6 hours.

– PhtoReady has restored my faith in high street foundations. I will probably do a post on the high street one that let them down soon.

– Revlon is often on offer in Superdrug and Boots. PhotoReady as a new product is even more likely to be on offer. I believe I got at least £2 off mine in Superdrug when I purchased.

– My foundation comes has an SPF of 20.

– It feels light and natural on the skin.

– You get 30mls in a bottle and it should go along way. I only need two pumps maximum for natural but through coverage.

Nay

– The shades and their names do not match those in ColorStay. I am Ivory (Buff, if tanned) in CS. I have Vanilla in PhotoReady.

– I still have not found the best way to apply this for me. I think I am inclined to use both a brush to dab on skin and then fingers to work in. The product is easy enough to work, with fingers. I prefer a brush for ColorStay which I find more gloopy. When I do use a brush, PhotoReady does not seem to stain my brush as much as ColorStay!

– The normal selling price of around £12.99 makes it one of the more expensive high street foundations.

– There are different shades of this foundation but unlike CS which you can buy to suit your skintype, PhotoReady has a universal formulation.

My final verdict is that yes, I do, indeed, find this foundation wearable and I will use it up. I’m not sure if I will buy again. We’ll see but I’m not sure why I even brought it this time considering my Rocky Road with CS and how happy I was to find L’Oreal True Match at the bottom of my draw and then how upset I was when I quickly used the dregs up. I have yet to find a foundation to match this one. A back up of that should have been (and now needs to be) my priority. I know that works so why I still drift in to the unknown. . , I can only blame hype!

Name your foundation friend or foe? What about PhotoReady? Any tales or tips?

X

Minted!

Over the last month or so, I have tried hard to cut back on beauty spending. Three months in to Mission Beauty and I have accumulated quite a few products and I’m trying to focus on using them up and more importantly using them properly before I encounter even more.

Hmmm, however on such a mission, there is always going to be the odd purchase or two that just has to be made and lately there seems to be a bit of a Revlon thing going on.

Let’s get my money’s worth and have an ickle look at one of the little Revlonites that I just had to take home with me, eek!

Minted! This is my very first green nail varnish and it wasn’t until I saw various NOTD’s, featuring this Mint green, Mint Candy Apple (Essie) and Barry M’s infamous Mint nail paint, that I realised what my collection was missing.

Minted is true to the colour in the bottle (a mint green maybe a little greener then it looks in my photo) and can appear just as beautiful on your nails but I had to apply it carefully for such good results. The application was not particularly easy. The colour took two or three coats to build and some time to dry and then it still chipped quite easily when I straightened my hair, hours later.

I love the final colour especially on my naturally pale hands but I would say if you are going to wear it with a tan, make sure it is a top notch tan with no tell tale orange (or alternatively white) lines, patches as they just cheapen the nail colour and makes it all look very immature. I had to have two attempts at applying Minted before I got the more sophisticated in vogue look that I was seeking and expecting. This is not a fuss free nail colour. Saying that when it looks good, it really catches the eye and makes all the effort worthwhile.

As I mentioned my spending on Revlon has not stopped there and I hope to have a post up soon about the new foundation, Revlon Photo-Ready.

What do you think of Revlon? What do they do well? Any recommendations for me. To me, they seem to be a brand whose products create frenzies. Surely this is good for them but is it much good for me?! Any Revlon you would like to recommend? How does Minted compare with your favourite nail varnish?

X

Revlon ColorStay Foundation

 

One of the first things I realised, when I started looking into this whole beauty thing a few months ago, is that there is a whole lot of love for Revlon ColorStay Foundation in the cyber beauty community.

 

There is also a lot of preaching about how a good base is fundamental in creating a groomed look. So it seemed worthwhile investing in Revlon ColorStay (apparently near enough a dupe for MAC studio finish)

 

I was impressed by the reviews. I am pale and can find it diffcult to find shades that match me. I brought two shades, Ivory and Buff so I can customise as required. While in Boots, I realised that not only did I get to choose between a relatively large number of different shades but I could also choose the liquid foundation in that shade to match my skin type. I went for dry-normal and it had SPF 15. Sad but true, I was pretty excited by the time I got home.

 

So did this foundation meet my expectations?

Yes and no!

The shades were a good match and the liquid certainly did not seem to irritate my skin. However, there were two things that annoyed me. Yes, I thought I paid a reasonable price for each bottle(£11.99 for 30ml) but there was no pump. Things can get a little messy during application especially when so much cold clear water (or that is what it looks like) seems to come out before the creamy formulation. Even a gentle shake of the bottle seems to make little difference and it doesn’t seem to be a one off because it happens with both of my bottles. It is almost like a pelt of cold water from the shower in the morning, eurgh. However, I do appreciate that this maybe because I have the dry skin version and it could be for hydration. If I could understand it a bit more maybe I wouldn’t find it quite so annoying. Can anybody explain it?

I have heard that the coverage can be built up and become quite heavy but I’m not so sure I agree. It does feel and look thicker when I put a dollop on the back of my hand (after the flush of water!) but once on my face, I can not feel this foundation. Although, I suspect this is good news for my skin, I can not help but feel a little disappointed. If I take the effort to make up, I want it to make a real tangible difference. However, this just seems to soak naturally in to my skin and give me an air of a polish.

I believe the marketing claims that this foundation can last up to 16 hours and does not rub off in everyday living. The latter was certainly true and although I don’t think I’ve tried a whole 16 hours. When I look in the mirror after 6-8 hours, I’m not desperate to reapply as I normally am plus I think my skin does seem more polished in photos where I have adorned it.

In conclusion, there is no question that Revlon ColorStay seems to polish my skin and it lasts. Surely this is what a good base is all about and should I really be expecting more?

What is your take on Revlon Colorstay and foundations generally? Could application technique really make a big difference in the quality of my base?

X