A change in the month and my thoughts at least turn to lightness and shedding of outer layers and general brightness, not the least in my base of choice.
Goodness I struggle, like I think most of the population, too oily for a hint of a tint, and too old for powder, I do tend to become a shiney sweaty mess come mid summer. However we are far from high summer in the UK, being just into April, but even so the sun is out and I need something less heavy on the face.
My bases of choice for this time of the year are Chantecaille Just Skin and Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser. What I like about both of these is their sublime texture, they really are both like moisturisers with colour, and not just a hint of colour either, both have a significant amount of pigment to even out tone a little, and make my skin look a bit less tired and a bit more alive, they seem to both be able to impart a bit of bounce and bloom.
I do struggle a bit with the shades, Just Skin's palest shade is "alabaster" which is a somewhat yellower pale and does oxidise on my skin. LM's Tinted Moisturiser cites "porcelain" as its palest shade but has always been somewhat dark and yellow on me, but thankfully they have a pale pinky shade "cameo" which is lovely.
If I had to choose it would be Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser as my favourite, it is about half the price of Chantecaille Just Skin, doesn't oxidise, is light enough in colour and lasts a good 6 hours suprisingly, I do look a bit shiney by then but is it all good. I bought both from Space NK.
There is immense satisfaction in using up a product and then discarding it, whether it is for repurchase or never to darken one's door again is neither here nor there, it is the deepest of pleasures, a real sense of achievement - at least it is to me.
So
Avene Sun Care Very High Protection Cream SPF50 - currently £12 instead of £16 on escentual.com. I bought this because the Eve Lom SPF 50 did not sit happily on my skin, I couldn't get on with Vichy SPF50 either and I was looking for an SPF50 which I could use as a primer before makeup - my spf of choice is Ultrasun Anti-Pigmentation SPF50 Face which comes at a far earlier point in my am rountine.
This works very well for me, it is quite rich, there is a lotion form with blue writing on the orange tube, it has a pump. It has that slight whitening sheen which knocks off the redness in my face and it sits happily under most foundations. A repurchase.
Babylena BioLinement OleoCalcaire - I bought this in City Pharma in Paris last October. It is an olive oil lotion, with nothing much else in it. I have used it to remove makeup when my skin is feeling a bit sensitive which has happened frequently over this winter, but I use it most as my pm moisturiser - it is quite difficult to rub in but I don't care really, I love it, comforting and soothing it is about £8 for 1 litre and I have just repurchased.
Pixi Double Cleanse - this is Caroline Hiron's collaboration with Pixi and is a double compartment of makeup removing balm and cream cleanser, 100mls in total, 50mls of each. I liked this very much. The formulations are fragrance free and have a sophistication about them, the makeup removing balm is thick, but melts into an oil, it is far superior in texture to Clinique's Take The Day Off in my opinion, it does remove makeup with 1 pass. The cream cleanser really is very lovely, it is thick and cooling and marvellous really, it makes my skin feel cushioned and cossetted and I like it very much. I did use them up at exactly the same time, but I was careful, I would much rather one could buy each one separately in 100mls sizes.
The Ordinary Nicinamide 10% + Zinc PCA 1% - This is a little bit of a cheat because I bought this for my son who used about one quarter of it and then I reclaimed it and finished it. I don't know about this product really, I don't know about The Ordinary full stop - I feel a bit as if now that I have started I can't afford to not continue, but more in a lengthier later post. I am not sure if this is a correct serum for me, but I do get red, I do become inflammed on occasions and I like the idea of soothing and calming. It has done me no harm but I am yet to see anything significant. I have repurchased though, just in case.
Pai Lotus & Orange Blossom BioAffinity Tonic - I have used this in the past but bought it recently at the beginning of the winter because my skin was reacting to many different products and I wanted something hydrating which I had used in the past. I like it, it has a brilliantly fine spray and definitely feels hydrating on the skin. I am not sure that I would repurchase, currently I switch between Caudalie Grape Water and Avene Spring Water which seem to manage to be both hydrating and cooling for a cheaper price.
Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer - Hands down this is my most favourite primer, I just wish it came in SPF50. It has been repurchased.
