June Beauty Review

Quite a few products to discuss this month! Had a nice haul from deluxe French brand Darphin - and found a really GREAT blue mascara which you may have overlooked, thinking it's for teenagers.


So first, the Darphin haul. Well, it started off fairly modestly. I always like to take a shimmering body oil on holiday as they enhance a tan and usually smell wonderful. I saw Darphin have a product called Soleil Plaisir which they describe as a "sultry shimmering oil." I discovered on their website they also have a foundation designed to cover pigmentation. Well, say no more! Into the shopping basket it went. And then all I needed to do was buy one other product to qualify for a travel bag full of Darphin deliciousness. So I added their Age-Defying Dermabrasion with exfoliating pearl particles.

It's well worth visiting brands' home pages and seeing what offers they have, because quite often you get more than when you buy from the likes of Feel Unique and Look Fantastic. Just sayin'.

Below is my "before" which I tried to make as realistic as possible:  ie, removing the portrait soft focus effect from the camera.  I'm not wearing anything, not even moisturizer, and you can see the pigmentation on my cheek (plus redness around my nose, sparse eyebrows, slight hint of moustache....)

Scroll down for the After. I took the picture in the same lighting conditions, on the same day, with the same camera settings. I used moisturiser (a sample of Darphin's Hydraskin Light), primer and then Darphin's Melaperfect Hyper Pigmentation anti-dark spots correcting foundation, SPF15, in Beige.

I also removed the redness around my nose with concealer, gussied up my eyebrows a bit (see below) and used a fantastic new blue mascara. I finished off with a little Hourglass Ambient blusher and By Terry lip gloss.

I'm pleased with the result, the pigmentation hasn't completely disappeared but my skin has a glow and the dark spots are definitely less noticeable.  Over the years I've tried everything from very heavy duty concealers which need setting (a faff)  to heavier foundations. The Darphin foundation is not too heavy or matte; it sits lightly on the skin and actually does a far better job than I expected initially.

Moving on to the exfoliator. It's very difficult to tell if most exfoliators are actually doing anything, except when they're noticeably rough and leave your skin red or sore. I wanted a more heavy duty product but not one that would cause damage. The Darphin Age-Defying Dermabrasion with exfoliating pearl particles doesn't feel bitty, and after my holiday it did a good job in brightening and making my skin more even.

The Darphin shimmering oil comes in a dinky 50ml bottle which is fine for my needs - I dislike carrying bigger bottles abroad. It smells divine, like jasmine. The shimmering effect is nicely subtle, not too glittery, but looks wonderful under candlelight and adds a rich bronze to a tan. A winner.

In search of the perfect blue mascara

I always like to take a blue mascara with me on holiday. Coloured mascaras are fun and more flattering than harsh black. It was quite hard to find one this year. I'd heard great things about L'Oreal's Mega Volume Miss Baby Roll mascara and hallejuhah, it comes in blue as well as purple, teal and black. The packaging looks as if it's aimed at teenagers, but don't let that put you off.

It is a fantastic mascara! I knew instantly it was a winner because it wasn't gloopy or bunged up on the brush like so many mascaras are. And it's noticeably blue.  The only pity is that it isn't waterproof. Reader, I liked it so much I've now  bought it in black (ironic of course when I just referred to "harsh black," but they don't seem to do it in brown!).

Latest on Brows 

Now to brows. Mine taper out to nothing, so I draw them in. I tried Revlon's Colorstay Brow Pencil in soft black.. The brush end of it is very good, and the pencil is suitably soft. It compares favourably with the Brow Whiz I normally use from Anastasia.

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This week on Is This Mutton?

Monday: #5Over50: we're challenged to wear 50 shades of monochrome
Wednesday: The beautiful ruby, birthstone for July 
Friday: Can a non-surgical face mask improve your chin and neck?

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