Stay Time from Seventeen

Stay Time Foundation - Stay Time Primer 

I have had this foundation and primer gathering dust in my drawers for a few months now. I just never got along with them. I thought I would revisit them however to see if my opinion changed when I have them a proper test. 

The primer (shown above on the right) promises to work as a glue and keep your makeup in place all day. It comes out in a a thick tinted gel and quickly absorbs any shine on the skin, however it promises to be light which it is anything but; tt really does feel like glue.  I then applied the foundation in Porcelain over the top. It is quite a thick foundation, offering full coverage. The lightest shade even almost matches my skin tone, just slightly too yellow but workable if you blend into the jawline. On paper it sounds perfect, I love full coverage foundation. 

Except this is incredibly hard to blend, it sticks to any dry patches even when my skin has been well moisturised. As you can see it looks very chalky on my skin and has an odd tacky finish. I seem to be alone as on the Boots there are quite a lot of rave reviews. I've tried to foundation with different primers and it still has a horrible heavy feeling when applied. I am used to wearing full coverage foundations such as Estee Lauder's Double Wear and they never leave me wanting to quickly remove all my makeup. The primer does have quite negative reviews on the Boots website, many commenting they have also found it too sticky.  I'm sorry Seventeen, this is a no from me.

Hello my name is Zoë and these are my microdermals

Micro dermal piercings divide people. My mum does not understand why I would have them. My boyfriend just wants to touch them. Random people in shops feel they can comment on them. But I love them. I have a few tattoos and piercings, I have to stick to discreet ones due to my chosen career path. I have been forever pinning beautiful photos of dermal piercings on Pinterest. Collar bones, wrists, face.. I decided upon my chest, easily hidden under my work tunic and a top when visiting relatives who are not greatly impressed by piercings. 

I visited the lovely Lucy in Huddersfield she marked up the placement and made sure she and I were both happy. Then a needle is inserted into the skin at an angle, the jewellery is then inserted afterwards. The worst part for me was the pressure when the jewellery was inserted. They were mostly pain free afterwards, I bruise pretty easily so I had some lovely yellow markings for a week but after that they have been healing well. 

Over Christmas one swelled up and started to ooze, but a few salt soaks later and they were back to normal. I constantly am scared of catching them on my hair and clothing though have only done this a few times. It is best not to baby them and hopefully they will last a good while yet! 

Of course I had to show of my wonderful necklace from Black Heart Creatives while featuring photos of my neck. Their new collection is "Live Fast Die Yum" featuring amazing donut and burger necklaces, all of which look good enough to eat. <3

the POREfessional: agent zero shine

 

I always set my my foundation with a powder, I tend to get a shiny t zone by lunch time so will often re powder if I have time. I am constantly losing fave brushes due to this and it can't be hygienic to leave them lying around in my bag. In steps Agent Zero Shine from Benefit, part of the POREfessional range.

 I bought this as I couldn't get hold of my usual face powder (MAC) due to terrible service and a New Years rush. Asked for a few suggestions on twitter and popped to Benefit in House of Fraser in Bristol. A lovely lady talked me through the different powders, as lover of the POREfessional primer I was drawn to this. A lovely translucent powder that compeltly eradicates shine and even minimises pores. No worry about a shade match as it's universal.

You tip a small amount of powder into the lid and use the brush which is stored in the bottom to buff into your skin. Leaves my skin shine free and sets my foundation for the day. It is however not drunk proof, woke up the next morning (afternoon, whatever) and I had forgotten to shut the top properly so there was powder all in the lid. Didn't lose too much so not a problem but you really have to ensure you turn the top properly to prevent any powder loss!

 A bit of a gimmicky product and doesn't replace a good old pressed powder but it does leave a lovely finish and doesn't make you look or feel cakey. I don't think I will repurchase as it is a bit steep at £23.50, but not sure it will run out any time soon as I tend to use it just on nights out.

Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil

Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil - Vitamin E Intense Cream - Vitamin E Daily Moisture Cream

This little pink pot is amazing. No other way to explain it. Massively favoured by the wonderful Caroline Hirons and I can see why. The Vitamin E Overnight Serum-In-Oil promises to "replenish and recharge skin with moisture overnight" and gets to work while you have your 8 hour beauty sleep. (8 hours? I wish). With a high concentration of wheat germ oil and traditionally produced soya oil it has a lot of claims to live up to. The Body Shop is a firm favourite of mine for all things beauty, their showers gels are some of the only ones that don't irritate my skin and at the same time smell awesome. They often run sales or offers and at the minute they have a £25 off £50 spend until 28th February as I posted here.

 My skin has been very dry recently, even with a good smoothing primer my foundation has clung to dry spots especially on my forehead. It was starting to resemble sand paper, for someone who has suffered from oily skin for most of my teenage years this was a shock. From the very first use this made my skin feel amazing. It instantly sunk into my skin and I woke up with beautiful smooth skin. After one use. Imagine how lovely and glowing my skin will be after using this every night. The Body Shop website recommends pairing this with a night cream, I have been using the Vitamin E Intense Cream for a while. I still use my trusted Effaclar Duo + on my cheeks.

I have full on combination skin, dry patches and oily patches. Neither have suffered at the hands of this little oil. Perfectly packaged with a glass pipette which helps dispense the perfect amount. I am addicted and have already bought my sister one as part of her birthday present! Seriously, just go buy this. Even at full price it is worth every penny.

Even Muffin enjoys it

The Body Shop - £25 off £50

The Body Shop often run discounts online and in their stores, in fact I never actually buy anything from them full price as I know just around the corner there will be a 40% discount code that lands in my inbox. I also have a Love Your Body Card which costs £5 but you get 10% discount for the year and gift for your birthday as well as gifts throughout the year. Well worth it in my opinion, you can use your discount online just cannot collect stamps.

At the minute The Body Shop are running £10 of a £25 spend and £25 off a £50 spend, available online with the code Catwalk or in store by just showing this voucher on your phone.

I have had a rough couple of weeks so decided a treat was in order, so popped to the store in town as I was too impatient to wait for delivery and picked up some bits. Came to £20 in all thanks to my Love Your Body Discount and the £25 off. Can't complain at that!

Hair Chalk in Falling for Blue

These are only available in store, I haven't actually used this yet but reviews around the internet are positive just ensure you set it with hairspray. Looking forward to having a play now I've dyed my hair back dark

Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil

I like to use an oil cleanser especially when my skin is suffering with the cold. This quickly removes all my makeup, smells wonderful and leaves no residue. I still follow with a second cleanse but that's just me and my endless quest for perfect skin. Have to ensure all that make up and product is removed!

Warming Mineral Mask

My favourite mask from Sanctuary at last ran out last week, this is very similar apart from no charcoal. It contains kaolin clay which my skin loves, it draws out any impurities and the warming sensation leaves my face feeling wonderfully clean. 

Honey Bronzing Powder in Light Matte

All my bronzer powders have started to look dirty on my skin thanks to my skin getting even paler from seeing no sunlight for months. This is a perfect no shimmer bronzer, the lightest shade is perfect to add a little bit of shape to my round cheeks. It is also really buildable so would be able to use in summer when i sometimes become a NW15 instead of a NW13 ;) And just look at the lovely packaging!

Vitamin E Serum in Oil

I'll leave this short and sweet as I've also written up a little review of this beauty for later in the week. My skin instantly felt softer the next morning after applying this. Caroline Hirons raves about it. Go buy it.

Yes, this doesn't fit into my beauty challenge, but after the last 3 weeks I've had I deserve a little treat. And it was quite a thrift treat!

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