Keeping Shine at Bay - Bases for Oily Skin

Back before Christmas, one of you guys requested a post about base products suited well to oily skin. Back in London now and reunited with my stash, I've had a good rummage and pulled out the cream of the crop when it comes to oily skin.

Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation - remember Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse? Think of this as the same thing, but for your more mature self. It's a thick mousse consistency that gives a matte, high coverage finish. The trick with this is to use less than you think you need, a little goes a long way and it's easy to end up looking cakey when you use a brush. I like to take a little of this andwork it into the skin using my fingers, that way the product really warms up and melts into the skin. When I'm done I like to then take a buffing brush just around the edges of my face to blend. Matte finish and it stays fresh looking all day.

MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation - Normally I advise people to steer clear of MAC foundations because they cause breakouts like nobody's business, but this seems to be the exception that proves the rule. As long as you use a good primer underneath, this is fine. It's a thick liquid foundation with medium, buildable coverage, and a fantastic shade range. I find this gives a satin-matte finish, it's not completely matte, but you'd only need a small dusting of powder to make it. I reach for this on oily days because it seems to be oily skin resistant, it just doesn't show shine or budge throughout the day. You can also mix this into other foundations to increase coverage or wear time. 

Max Factor Facefinity - I won't dwell on this too long because I've spoken about it a thousand times, so I'll direct you to my full review here, but  in short, it's a fantastic high coverage foundation with incredible staying power, no matter what your skin type.

MAC Studio Finish concealer - If you're prone to oily skin, look no further than this concealer. It's particularly dry in formula, meaning it stays put well, but it's also incredibly high coverage. This is my go to blemish concealer seven days a week. 

Bourjois Healthy Mix concealer - A drugstore alternative to the MAC one. This is a liquid concealer so it's not as drying as the MAC one, this also means you can use it under the eyes. It's got great coverage and stays intact all day.

Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder - I originally didn't get on with this powder, but my do I love it now. This is definitely my favourite setting powder on the market, it's got a bit of coverage, but it also gets rid of shine without making you look overly matte or powdery.  I like to chuck this in my bag along with my Sephora Twist Up Powder Brush (you can't get it anymore but this is similar) just in case I need a touch up in the areas I'm prone to redness. 

What products are your favourites for oily days?

This Week I Loved...

There are a lot of products that get a lot of loving over the month, but don't make it into my monthly products, normally because I use them for a week or so, and then move onto something else. I try to make sure that my monthly favourites contain only the products I've been loving for the entire month, so they kind of get forgotten. Enter blog left, This Week I Loved, a new Sunday feature that'll be up the first 3 Sundays of the month, to share those forgotten products, that deserve to be mentioned! The last Sunday will be reserved for a monthly lifestyle roundup posts, in place of weekly 'This Week I..." posts! Sound good?

Onto the products!

I bought the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey like a year ago, but I just didn't really think much of it. It went into the stash and wasn't touched for months, but I pulled it out recently and have been keeping it in my handbag. It's the perfect 'my lips but better' colour, and because it's a crayon, it's super easy to apply, even without a mirror. The colour stays put really well too. It's just a muted, sheer rose colour, but I really like it!

The next product is one I begrudge liking. The Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer is ridiculously expensive, so when I got this sample with my Ambient Lighting Powder Palette I had no intention of falling in love with it. Oops. This is by far the best primer I've ever used, it makes your makeup look fresh and perfectly applied even 16 hours after application. I'm about halfway through this now and I'm going to be so upset when it runs out!

With my Naked 3 Palette and my MAC Eyeshadow Quad, I've been wearing lots of rosy and purpley toned eyeshadows, and instead of black eyeliner I've been reaching for the Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Rockstar, which is a little softer when smudged along the lashline, but still offers good definition. 

I've been reaching for the L'Oreal True Match Foundation all week this week, it's a lovely light coverage foundation that is easily buildable, looks great on top of the hourglass primer! This is a perfect colour match for me at the moment!

The last makeup product is the Urban Decay Primer Potion in Greed, which I seem to have fallen in love with. Like the original Primer Potion, it makes your eye makeup stay strong all day. It's a gorgeous gold shimmery colour, which makes my eyeshadow colours really pop, and shimmer too! It looks gorgeous under colours from the Naked 3.

The last thing I want to mention are my new GHD's! Mine broke back in the summer, and I've been using my mums old ones, but these were a Christmas Gift, and I just love them. I can straighten all my hair in under ten minutes with these, and they make my hair look really soft and healthy. I absolutely love them, thanks Mum and Dad!

What products have you been loving this week?

2014 on Bedinthekitchen

2014 is going to bring around big changes here on BedInTheKitchen, which are all going to be kicking off in the next few months, but first I wanted to get your opinion. There's no point in me spending time on the blog if you guys aren't enjoying it, your opinion matters! So if you have a moment, I'd really appreciate it if you could fill in the survey below, it won't take any more than five minutes, and it will mean the world!

To 2014!

Click here to take survey

2013's Disappointing Products

I don't often talk about the products that I don't get on with, there's so many products out there that I love and want to share with you guys, but I think it's important to share what products I didn't get on with so well, so that you can make an informed decision as to whether they will work for you. If the internet was full of only good reviews, we'd all be disappointed a lot more often.

I've gathered up the products that didn't impress me for one reason or another in the last year to show you. It's worth bearing in mind that just because these products didn't work for me, it doesn't mean they are rubbish, or won't work for you. 

So first up, a few base products. Benefit's Porefessional primer is majorly hyped, in the blogosphere and amongst those normal folk with a makeup collection that can fit in one small bag. For me though, it was just missing something. It does smooth out the appearance of the skin, but if anything I find my makeup stays on less time than if I hadn't applied it. I definitely fell for the hype with this one, big mistake! A foundation that I mentioned recently was a real let down, I'm a massive fan of Bourjois foundations, but the Bourjois Happly Light Foundation really missed the mark in a big way. I'm not sure what happened with the shade range of this foundation, but all my other Bourjois foundations are shade 52, this is shade 50, and it's orange. Oompa Loompa Orange. And it oxidises, so it only gets worse. Shade grumbles aside, this also turns my skin into an oil slick. Now don't hate me for saying this, but I really don't understand the hype around the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. It's thick and cakey, it doesn't blend nicely, and it oxidises like nobodies business, drawing attention to the areas you're trying to mask. Nope, don't get it at all. I even bought a second one thinking mine was dodgy, but nope. I really like the Maybelline Fit Me concealer, so I expected to love the Maybelline Fit Me Powder. However, it just didn't really do anything for me, I tried applying it with different brushes, and sponges, but it just doesn't do anything. It doesn't make my makeup last longer, it doesn't get rid of shine, nothing. And for a range that was designed to give everyone a perfect match, all the colours are too yellow or pink for me. 

I bought the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge fairly recently, after rave reviews claiming it gives your skin an 'airbrushed' look when you use it to apply foundation. I just found that using this takes three times as long as using a brush, and didn't look as nice at the end. I'll be sticking with my buffing brush thank you! I was also surprised that I didn't get on with the Soap and Glory Glow All Out highlighting powder, since it seems to be everyones highlighter of choice at the moment. In the pan it looks beautiful, a gorgeous champagne pink shimmery powder, but when I put it on - nothing. It doesn't show up at all on my skin. 

I was absolutely desperate to get my hands on the Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Glam Plum Fullham, it was sold out everywhere, I ordered it from Superdrug and the sent me a childrens lipgloss with a teddy bear on it, and then I finally tracked it down in my local Tesco. But to be honest, it's just not what I thought it would be. In the bullet it's gorgeous, but it's too pink on the lips so it just looks strange. Also, because the formula is so creamy and it doesn't set, you only have to smile and it's all over your forehead. Well, it goes around your mouth, but you get the idea. The Revlon Lash Potion Mascara was another one I was anxious to get my hands on, with everyone in the states raving about it, I bought it as soon as it hit the UK. I don't mind the brush of this, but the formula is awful, it takes so long to make it look like there's even anything on my lashes, and then after a couple of hours my lashes feel heavy and itchy, and I end up trying to pull the mascara off (not a good idea).

Seche Vite Topcoat is one everyone loves, hell, I love the finish of it, but I won't ever buy it again, seeing as it's £9, and once you're halfway through the bottle it goes gloopy and then solid and you can't use it. It's a shame because it's a lovely topcoat. I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't get on with Barry M Nail Polishes. Peach Melba and Blue Moon need 6 coats before they are even slightly opaque, and the Gelly Hi-Shine formula is so gloopy and runny and takes over two hours to dry. I don't have the time!

I am a massive Lush fan, but Ultrabland is the only product that's ever disappointed me. I still use this to take off heavy eye makeup, because it's a great makeup remover, but it leaves an oily residue on my skin, even after double cleansing, and it breaks me out. 

And lastly, I've mentioned the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Conditioner before, I loved the hair mask from the same range, but this really didn't work for me. It's so runny that even after being in my hair for fifteen minutes, it did nothing. 

So there we go! Have you used any of these products and liked them? What products disappointed you this year?

Top Lipsticks of 2013

When trying to pick my 2013 Makeup Favourites, one of the hardest categories for me to come to a decision on was lipsticks. I could easily say that MAC was the stand out brand for me, with Urban Decay's revamped Revolution Lipsticks coming in a close second, but there were other loves, and narrowing it down to a single shade, well, that was impossible. So I figured, why not show you the cream of the crop? The lipsticks I loved this year. And I managed to narrow it down to seven.

MAC Syrup: The latest addition to the makeup ranks this year, but a close contender for top favourite. It's probably the one that's been worn most, even though I only got it a few months before the end of the year. It's a lustre finish, so it's on the sheer side of proceedings, which I like. In the bullet it doesn't look like anything special, but this shade just really works for me. It's a purpley toned light plum colour, but because it's sheer it just imparts a hint of colour. It's a blogger cliché, but this colour really is like a better version of my lips already, it just gives them a little something extra. I can wear this lipstick with any makeup look, I wear it on it's own, or with a pinky gloss on top, and I just love it.

MAC Lustering: The colour I was borderline obsessed with this summer. I have lots of paler pink lipsticks, and a lot of bold pink lipsticks, but what I wanted was something that sat in the middle of things, more subtle and everyday than a bold pink, but that still packed a little punch. I love this pink, it brightens up my face and makes me look healthier when I wear it. I love as well that because it's a Lustre finish, I can wear it sheer or really build it up for a brighter, evening look.

MAC Plumful: I've been wearing this one the longest, since the beginning of last year. It's almost identical to Syrup, but a little darker and not sheer. This is my go to pick to wear with a smokey eye in the evening.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Turn On: My oh my just look at the pigmentation of this lipstick, one swatch and it's bolder and brighter than the MAC ones by miles. I am totally obsessed with the formula of these, they're creamy but not glossy, incredibly long lasting but not matte, and incredibly pigmented. This shade is really similar to Lustering, but the finish means it looks completely different. A very polished look that you don't have to worry about all day after you've applied it. 

Urban Decay Revolution in Fiend: All the same things can be said about the pigmentation of this one. I should also mention I love the packaging of these, they look so sleek and gorgeous. I've just noticed that this colour is remarkably similar to Syrup in the bullet, but applied they look so different because of the differences in finish and pigmentation. This is a really easy colour to wear, I chuck this on when I don't know what lipstick to wear.

Rimmel Moisture Renew in Let's Get Naked: This is the anomaly of the bunch in terms of colour. I have to admit I didn't think I would like this at all when I first got it, but I tried it anyway and I'm so glad I did. I think this has to be the lipstick I get complimented on the most. It's a peachy nude shade that's just warm enough to prevent your face from looking washed out, but still looks fairly nude on. It looks scary swatched but beautiful on, it's nowhere near that orange looking! It's got a nice creamy formula and great staying power. You can find a picture of me wearing it here.

Kiko Kiss Balm 06 Blackberry: I guess this is technically cheating since really it's a lipbalm, but it has to be mentioned. It's dutifully served six months in my handbag, being whipped out on dry lip occasions, I need a bit of colour occasions and for after burger touch ups. It's a gorgeous sheer pink, super hydrating and creamy. A handbag must.

So those are my top lip picks of 2013! What were your favourites? Have you tried any of these?