I often get asked a lot of questions about what make up I use and so I have decided to start a feature on what's inside my make up bag and my favourite beauty products.

The first review I shall be giving will be on my foundation; Estee Lauder Double Wear. Now, don't get me wrong, if you're aware of the stuff you will also know that it carries a hefty price tag (£28.50 a bottle!) yikes.



When I hand across £30 in cash to the lovely assistant and she hands me a mesely £1.50 back, I do want to cry. However, I can assure you, it's so worth it.

I have tried my fair share of foundations over the years; l'oreal, no.7, miss sporty, rimmel and not one of them has offered the coverage that I need, nor do they last as long as they claim to; on a typical 9-5 day they have slid off my face by 10!

I have rather normal skin, although I am prone to mixed problems of breakouts, oily skin and dry patches - As you can imagine, it's nearly impossible to find one foundation that will work with my skin.



On to the main review:

I adore the first use of any foundation, DW especially. I pour a small blob about the size of a ten pence coin onto my hand and begin to dab it onto my face with my fingers - I am aware of the reasons not to do this, however the foundation is somewhat powder based and dries quickly, the heat of your fingers will give you a little bit longer to smooth out any lines that may dry out when using a foundation brush.

I personally start on my cheeks/chin, under my eyes and then smooth out over my nose, next I blend it down on to my neck and last I work on my forehead and blend it over my eyes. Once my face is covered I look for any bits that I have missed or need smoothed out and I fix those.

The foundation is quite thick and so you can tell that you have make up on - something to note if you prefer the more natural look. - Estee Lauder provides a 'light' version of this foundation which may be worth a try for the natural appearance.

It doesn't transfer as much as most foundations do which is fabulous, plus I have put this foundation on early morning, been out all day then gone on a night out to a packed nightclub, and woke up the following morning with a perfect face - this, my darlings, is what sets this foundation apart from the rest.

The main 'complaint' that I have about DW is simply due to the packaging - it's a frosted bottle with no pump, meaning you can't see how much you have left and it's easy to over estimate how much you need, thus resulting in wastage. You can buy pumps and so I think I will be purchasing one soon, it's much needed.

I think it says a lot though that the only negative I have is a result of the packaging.

Apologies for the terrible quality images (and also how awkward they are) -  this is when my face would break out after a week of drinking, a dodgy diet and stress - you can see that I have put foundation on half of my face and look at the difference. Instant colour correction and coverage.



Look at the coverage on my breakout - no redness, no in your face lumps. Depending on how bad my breakout is, you will see lumps and bumps; as it's not too extreme at the minute I tend to get pretty good coverage.



*The lighting in my bedroom here makes this one look extremely edited, but I deliberately left these images untouched apart from cropping.

Extras

For that extra bit of reassurance Estee Lauder offers a powder to put on after the foundation, however the foundation is expensive enough - I opted for Rimmel long lasting powder in Transparent (£3), and it's amazing. Any time I have used powder before it used to clump to breakouts and areas of dry skin, it would look orange and flaky; this one is perfect, it glides on, doesn't clump and feels super smooth on my skin.

I apply this with the biggest blessing in my make up bag, my Barry M powder brush - go buy one, please because it's incredible. It's around £5, which isn't bad considering some brushes cost nearly £30!




So, do I recommend Estee Lauder Double Wear to you? Yes. It's expensive, it's very expensive - but it's amazing.

Have you tried this foundation? Maybe it didn't work for you and you have an alternative. What was your verdict, leave a comment and share your opinion.

Much love,