What's worth to invest in #1: High End Makeup

I have to say the majority of my makeup in my collection was purchased from the British High Street ，oh how I miss strutting down marylebone high street！(click here where I did my B or B guide to starter makeup kit).  Every now and then I would splurge on the likes of Dior or Chanel for a little beauty treat to myself.  If you compare high end makeup to their sisters or cousins of the equivalent, i.e. handbags or fashion items, high end make up becomes a lot more affordable to the masses.  They are not all necessarily better or result in greater results than their high street counterparts, but some of these products are worth your money invested in.  In today's post (part 1 of a 2 part series) I want to recommend a few high end makeup pieces that I have tried and tested, which in my opinion have been worth my money spent on them.

The Base Work

When it comes to foundation, it is the first layer of makeup products (that is, if you don't have the habit of wearing a primer) that is applied to your face; therefore I think it is worth investing into a good quality one to ensure that it gives a close to flawless (nothing is perfect) finish to your face.

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua (£32) and Veil Fluid Makeup by Hourglass (£50) are my favourite high end foundations.  Why?  Both formulae are extremely light weight and give the most transparent and near flawless finish to the face.  Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua is a little more watery than the Veil Fluid Makeup by Hourglass in terms of consistency, so it's best to use fingers to apply and blend it into the skin.  I prefer using a Beauty Blender  (you can click here to read my review on beauty blender) to apply my Veil Fluid Makeup by Hourglass - a perfect combo.  You can get away with using fingers but the finish is not as seamless as it is if you use a beauty blender.  Both foundations give a light to medium coverage as you build it up in areas you want more cover up and stay put really well (I have dry skin).

Veil Fluid Makeup by Hourglass is right at the top end of a foundation not only because of its excellent formula but also the skincare benefits that it provides: anti-ageing.  One of the other things that worth mentioning is that once applied, Veil Fluid Makeup foundation seems to settle 'transparent' on your skin.  It gives coverage but without the whole 'made up' finish - it really is quite amazing in my opinion.  The pump dispenser is more favoured by me as I can often control how much product I want each time, whereas the Chanel one, you have to shake the bottle well before squeezing out the foundation out which is sometimes harder to control the amount you end up with.

I think both foundations are totally worth getting (otherwise I wouldn't feature in here), it depends on your budget really as the price points vary.  Definitely give it a proper try in shops and see which one you prefer.

Further perfection: concealers

Hourglass has once again made it to my recommended list, their Hidden Corrective Concealer (£23) is one of the best stick-form concealer I tried.  Its creamy but not cakey or heavy formula made concealing an easy job.  It comes in 5 shades which gets a vote for me because I often find drugstore concealers either a tad too light or too dark for me.

It conceals both under eye areas and blemishes.  Once applied on the face, because of its creamy texture, it blends with your skin so easily, effectively and efficiently.  It doesn't take much time to blend well, so if you are a lady who doesn't have much time, this concealer might be your choice!  One of the down side is that it doesn't brighten up the under eye areas but for me, I don't really need that on a daily basis so it works perfect.  It also claims to improve the appearance of dark spots, blemishes and fine lines, and the added Vitamin E acts as a protection to your skin from environmental elements.  The concealing ability is good but it doesn't stay put as well as other drugstore brand concealers, you might find yourself needing to top up during the day.  However the size of the stick is compact and small, so it definitely doesn't take up much space at all in your handbag.

Diorskin Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer  (£21) gets a vote for me, as much as the Hidden Corrective Concealer by hourglass.  Why?  Its slightly more 'liquidy' formula makes my skin feels hydrated whilst it does its job by concealing both the under eye areas and on blemishes.  This concealer  gives a slight better brightening effect under the eyes but it doesn't 'highlight' your spots if you use it that way.  The dover applicator means that you can dab it on the areas you want to conceal before you blend it away.  Similar to the hourglass concealer, it doesn't set on lines as the day goes by, nor does it drying either.  Diorskin concealer stays put a bit better than the one by hourglass.  Both are of a compact size in a small tube, so great for carrying around with you for top up during the day.

I hope that I have given you some detailed analysis of each product which makes navigating around beauty halls and choosing which product to get a little easier.  If you have other recommendations, please do let me know!

In 2nd part of this What's worth to invest in: High End Makeup series, I will focus on blushers, lipsticks, eyes and nails.  So, stay tuned!