Maxfactor Gel Shine Lacquer

I was recently sent these gorgeous Maxfactor Gel Shine Lacquer polishes. They are “high shine and intense colour that lasts, for an instant glamour transformation”.

These polishes claim to give “intense colour pay-out with high shine and up to 7 days wear”.

I am immediately drawn to any polishes that have gel in the title or promises to give the same results as any UV gel polish.

I didn’t test all the colours unfortunately, I didn’t manage to try the brighter colours before I got Shellac on my nails. I had Sheen Merlot on my nails for over a week though so I think I have a good idea of how they work.

 

I chose Sheen Merlot (Burgundy) over Vivid Vermillion (Neon Orange) and Twinkling Pink (Bright Fuchsia) as I am forever drawn to plums and reds.

It does have a very high colour pay out as it didn’t take too much for the nail to be completely covered without seeing any of the nail bed. By the end of the week I only had one or two chips which I was really impressed by.

The only thing I was disappointed by was the fact that I didn’t seem have a very gel like finish. It could have been that colour though because I did swatch the other colours and they did seem a bit thicker on the nails than Sheen Merlot.

I did love the colour I tested and while it didn’t have too much of a gel look it was very pigmented and did last for almost a full week which I was really impressed by. They retail for €10.39 each.

Do you think you’ll buy them?

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah

Maxfactor Skin Luminizer Foundation

I was lucky enough to be sent the new Maxfactor Skin Lminizor Foundation a few weeks ago and I’ve been testing it out like mad since.

This is a medium coverage foundation that has reflective pigments to give the skin a subtle glow. The foundation has been created to give a healthy glow that evens out and perfects skin-tone and imperfections.

The packaging is quite nice, I love how you can see how much product you have left as the bottle is clear and it has a pump which is always nice and handy.

I have oily to combination skin and found that the formula gave a matte to semi-matte finish. I’m not a fan of dewy finishes but I did like this finish as it gave more of a natural glow than my usual oily shine.

I did have some problems with application, I found it very hard to get a good coverage on the skin. I used my Real Techniques and Sigma foundation brushes and neither of them worked out great. I love to buff makeup into my skin to give it a smooth coverage but I found the more I buffed the more the foundation moved. After neither of those brushes working I gave up and decided to use the tools God gave me, I put the foundation on with my fingers and it gave a much better result. I still found that it started to move around my face into patches. It’s as if it dries too quickly which makes it difficult to give a smooth coverage and the look that you’re not wearing any makeup.

I ended up buying a blender sponge, I dampened the sponge and I think the fact that it was going on damp that it didn’t dry as quickly so it made the application that little bit smoother.

I also tried it with different primers and found that Smashbox Photo Finish primer was the best.

I think that this foundation would suit people with oily skin, my cheeks are a lot drier than the rest of my face and it did dry into the skin making it very noticeable.

It does say it perfects skin tone which I did find to be true, I can be very red cheeked at times and it evened out my skin tone perfectly. It claims to be a medium coverage foundation but I found it to be more on the sheer side, I don’t know if I’m just too used to higher coverage foundations but for me it didn’t seem to be a medium coverage.

The colour however did suit my skin tone amazingly, I received mine in Light Ivory, to put that into context I’m NW15 in MAC foundations.

If I’m honest I probably wouldn’t buy this if I saw it in Boots, it’s pretty pricey at €17.00 and I would be raging if I did spend my money on it and it not work with my foundation brushes. I give the Maxfactor Skin Luminizer Foundation a 6/10. 

Have any of you tried it, if so tell me what you think about it.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo