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BYS Cosmetics: Full Coverage Complexion Range – November 2020

BYS Cosmetics: Full Coverage Complexion Range – November 2020

INTRODUCING; a brand new cruelty free and vegan Full Coverage Complexion range from one of my faves, BYS Cosmetics. This is a new line of varied products featuring a full coverage foundation, a full coverage camouflage concealer, three colour correcting camouflage concealers; a pink one for covering dark spots, a yellow one for brightening under eye area and a green for reducing redness. It also features a full coverage pressed powder with a matte base. Each product is formulated with skincare in mind, and each item contains hyaluronic acid for added hydration and nourishment. I’ve been testing them all out over the past couple of months and I want to dive right in to my thoughts and other information on the range. To start with, you can see the entire range below..


PRODUCT PACKAGING, SHADES, FORMULA’S & SIZES
– full coverage foundation 30ml in shades; ‘Ivory’, ‘Natural Beige’, ‘Medium Beige’ and ‘Sand Beige’. Housed in a clear glass slimline round 30ml tube, with a rose gold lid and pump action. Infused with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera and coconut water for a silky smooth, skin-perfecting matte finish with a full coverage.
– full coverage camouflage concealer 3.5ml in shades; ‘Ivory’, ‘Natural Beige’, ‘Medium Beige’, ‘Sand Beige’, ‘Pink’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘Green’. Housed in a clear glass slim tube with 3.5ml net weight of product, rose gold lid and a soft doe-foot wand applicator attached inside lid. Formula is also infused with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, coconut water and aloe vera. Providing a silky, soft matte but dewy finish that is a flawless full coverage.
– full coverage pressed powder matte base 8g in shades; ‘Ivory’, ‘Light Beige’, ‘Medium Beige’, ‘Natural Beige’ and ‘Sand Beige’. Housed in a round rose gold plastic compact base with a clear click-in closure clip lid, holding 8 gram of pressed powder in the pan and the formula is also infused with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, coconut water and aloe vera. With a smooth, silky, shine-free matte finish that is full coverage.


MY THOUGHTS AND REVIEW; I have been trialing this entire collection over the past few months and I have a lot of in-depth thoughts, so let’s dive in! Let’s start with the full coverage foundation; the bottle is a glass slimline round tube design with a rose gold lid with pump action dispenser. I love a pump action foundation as it makes it so easy to apply to your brush/sponge or fingers. The formula is very thin and creamy, it sits lightweight on the skin and feels like you’re not really wearing anything at all. It instantly has that flawless full coverage and feels hydrating on the skin, it has a matte but semi dewy finish. it’s so full coverage that a little bit goes a long way and if you want to set it, you can easily do that using a translucent powder. I use the shade ‘Ivory’ and it’s a perfect neutral fair tone which I’m stoked about! PRO’S: the finish is SO gorgeous, it’s flawless, literally. It is full coverage, has a beautiful silky matte dewy-ness to it that feels hydrating. It’s lightweight and feels very comfy on. Longevity; it lasts and lasts! I wear mine for up to six hours at each wear and it doesn’t need to be touched up anywhere. It sits so perfect on my skin. Think the same coverage & quality as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Flawless Foundation but without the huge price tag! This full coverage foundation from BYS Cosmetics; retails for just $11.95 AUD and has 30ml of liquid product inside. CONS: the only cons I can recognise is the fact that I have broke out with one pimple sometimes after I wear the foundation, and the other con is I think it needs a shade range expansion and become available in more darker shades to suit different skin tones. With the pimple breaking out, I can’t be sure but I will bet it may be the coconut water in the formula that may congest the pores a tad. Everything else is perfection. In fact I am SO impressed with the foundation, I am already planning to purchase another bottle. I’ll even go on to say it’s my favourite foundation to have come out that I’ve tried in the last year.

Onto the camouflage concealers; the texture of these are that they’re a creamy consistency as well, much like the foundation but a tad bit thicker. PRO’S: it goes on well using the doe-foot wand (which is ultra soft by the way) and a little bit goes a long way, I just apply small dots under my eye area and blend it out easily using my Zoeva concealer buffer brush. I have the shade ‘Ivory’ and it suits my skin tone perfectly! They’re infused with the same gorgeous ingredients of hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, coconut water and vitamin E. CONS: The shades for skin tones in these could be extended as well since they’re currently only available in the same ones as the foundation disregarding the colour correcting ones. That is the only con of the camouflage concealers.

Going onto the last but not least, full coverage matte base pressed powders; I found the coverage of this powder to be a little more medium-to-full coverage rather than instantly full coverage, but I think that’s easy to do with pressed powders. The shade I use is ‘Ivory’ and it suited my skin perfectly, so I was very happy with that. PRO’S: it can easily be built up and layered for a fuller even complexion, the powder is definitely silky soft and feels very lightweight and comfy on. My skin really liked it too, it lasts many hours, much like the liquid full coverage foundation. I really enjoy the soft finish it provides and how it looks, it’s definitely shine-free and creates a lovely smooth matte look. CONS: there isn’t really any downfall at all to this powder, the only thing is the shade range again, it could definitely be extended to further darker shades. Other than the shade range limitation, this entire collection is perfection! Well done to BYS on a lovely base range that is up there with the high end brands and great quality performers, yet even better because they’re available at affordable prices! A definite WIN. So for the ultimate question you may be wondering, would I repurchase these?; For the foundation, the main camouflage concealer in ‘Ivory’ and the pressed powder, the answer is a definite yes!


WORLDWIDE AVAILABILITY
– full coverage complexion range availability;

Australia: can be found at; bys.com.au, Discount Beauty Boutique, Cosmetic Capital, Terry White Chemmart and Kmart.
USA: can be found at; Amazon.com and iHerb.com
UK: can be found at; CosmeticsNow.com and Amazon UK.


WORLDWIDE ITEM PRICING

– full coverage foundation 30ml;
Australia: $11.95 AUD
USA: $8.70 USD
UK: £6.56 GBP

– full coverage camouflage concealers 3.5ml;
Australia: $8.95 AUD
USA: $6.52 USD
UK: £4.91 GBP

– full coverage matte base pressed powder 8g;
Australia: $8.95 AUD
USA: $6.52 USD
UK: £4.91 GBP

Thank you for reading my in depth and thorough review on this lovely hydrating complexion range from BYS Cosmetics. If you’ve tried this range yourself, I’d love to hear what you thought of it also. Comment below and I will reply.


Disclaimer; this full coverage complexion range was sent in to me for consideration with no obligation to post, it is not sponsored or paid for. All views and opinions are solely my own.

Makeup

Ace The Base: October 2018 – Rimmel, Benefit and MAC Cosmetics

Ace The Base: October 2018 – Rimmel, Benefit and MAC Cosmetics

Welcome to another new series on my blog, this new project of mine is called Ace The Base, in this series I will choose and focus on four products each month from the ‘base makeup’ category; primer, foundation, concealer and setting spray/powder. This will give me an opportunity to feature and review four of the top base makeup products for each current month, during this post for the month of October 2018, I’m going to focus on the following brands: Rimmel London, Benefit Cosmetics and MAC Cosmetics!

Ace The Base: October 2018; featuring MAC Cosmetics, Benefit Cosmetics and Rimmel London.

Intro
We’re all looking for the perfect combination for our base when applying makeup, whether it be from an amazing primer applied under our foundation or a terrific setting spray that makes our makeup last all day long. We all have different skin tones, different pores, different skin conditions and some of us prefer matte over dewy, but at the end of the day our goal is the same, to have a great lasting makeup application throughout the day/night. In this post I will be shining the spotlight down on four key base products; talking about the product’s claims/inspiration behind their creation, the formulas, key points on how to use and a run down on my own experiences using them. Following after that will be a star rating on what I thought about each one, whether they lived up to the claim/hype and of course, pricing and availability info for each product in Australia, UK and the USA.

The Products & Their Formulas
Let’s start with the beginning of the makeup application process, and that is with the priming. Firstly, I cannot express enough how important skincare is… especially to exfoliate your face gently either the night before or a few hours before you are going to apply your makeup. It’s really the start to a great lasting makeup look. The smoother and moisturised the surface is, the better the application will be. I recommend following through with your daily/nightly skincare routine beforehand, it makes a world of difference.

– Benefit: The POREfessional Pearl Primer; designed to target dullness, brighten the skin, minimise pores, lock in makeup, provide a matte silky finish and a soft radiance. The packaging states its oil-free, matte, a soft pink colour in appearance and is silky. With 90% of women who tested it, saying their complexion looked bright after using it, 91% said it minimised the look of pores, and 96% said it created a soft matte radiance. The Pearl primer comes available in a full size 22.0ml 0.75 Fl Oz. and a mini size 7.5ml 0.25 Fl Oz., it is a soft light pink creamy consistency which you apply using your fingertips, spreading it out and smoothing it over your face. For extra brightness, you can create a second layer of it over your skin.

➜ My Thoughts & Ratings; I picked this up in an online order from Sephora Australia, I got the mini version as a trial tester and figured that if I liked it enough then I could purchase the full size later down the track. I love the texture of this soft primer, it is so light weighted and feels like it literally melts into my skin when I apply it. It instantly blurs my pores and does provide a radiant glow to my face. It sits pretty well under my foundation, it remains smooth and I love the way it looks and feels under my make up. I sadly can’t actually compare this one to the original Benefit POREfessional primer because I simply have not tried the original one, haha yeah I know I must be the only person in the world who hasn’t, haha. All in all, I really like this primer and I love the formula a lot, I can see myself purchasing a back up full size next time, for sure! Rating: I give the primer 4/5 ★★★★☆

– Rimmel London: Lasting Finish 25HR Breathable SPF 20 Medium Coverage Foundation in ‘Light Porcelain‘; designed to provide a medium to full coverage, be long-wearing and blendable, feel light-weighted and remain kind to the skin with it’s light serum formula and breathable skin technology. It comes with a wand doe-foot applicator that has a fluffy 3D cushion tip. It comes in a 30ml 1 Fl Oz. glass bottle with silver lid and red font blazoned across the front. It is a creamy, light consistency liquid formula that can be applied starting with dots in targeted areas with the doe-foot wand, then blended out with your preferred brush or blending sponge.

➜ My Thoughts & Rating; as soon as I opened the lid I loved the doe-foot wand applicator, it’s large, fluffy, so soft and it made plotting down my targeted dots for application a lot easier! I enjoyed the mild scent to the formula, it’s not overly powering like some foundations can be with SPF in them, this is a pleasant scent and gives me serious skincare vibes. While this foundation is a medium-to-full coverage, I found it to apply to an almost instant full coverage on my face and I was very impressed with how it sat on my skin afterwards, and how it blended out with my blending sponge. In terms of shade match; I am using ‘Light Porcelain’ and it has been a pretty perfect match for me! I usually struggle to find matching shades in drug-store foundations but with Rimmel London, I have always matched their ‘Light Porcelain’ offerings. Usually the drug-store foundations in the light shades are really often too pink, or even too orange still.. but this shade in all of Rimmel London’s foundation ranges has been a godsend for my skin! PS. thank you so much Rimmel London, you’re invited to my bbq’s anytime, because that shade in itself needs to be celebrated! Haha. Overall, I really LOVE this foundation, I actually believe it gives higher end brands a run for their money. Let me tell you why.. I slept in it. Yup. I did that. I slept in this foundation by accident, it’s a no no but I fell asleep wearing it.. it was late at night and I was exhausted so basically it didn’t come off until the morning after, but the real eye opener was.. it was still on my face as if I had only worn it for 1hr, honestly… I have never been so impressed by a drug-store foundation, ever! The 25hr claim is true. So, a big kudos to Rimmel London! This one is a HIT! Rating: I definitely give this amazing foundation a 5/5 ★★★★★

– MAC: Pro Longwear Concealer; designed to be a medium-to-full liquid concealer, lightweight, 15hr lasting that is transfer and water proof. To give a comfortable matte finish whilst leaving the skin looking flawless and smooth. Aimed at concealing dark spots, blemishes, dark under eye circles and any flaws. It is fragrance free, dermatologically tested, ophthalmologist tested, non acnegenic and for all skin types. It comes in a size of 9ml 0.30 Fl Oz., in a small glass tube with a pump action dispenser, black font on the front and a black plastic clip-on lid.

➜ My Thoughts & Rating; I am instantly impressed with the packaging.. it comes in a perfectly sized tube with a easy to use pump action dispensary, I think it’s so easy to apply to the skin using a blending sponge. The formula is a thin liquid consistency, a very pigmented matte colour and it seems to blend out quite well. It dries and sets quite at a perfect rate, enabling you to get it everywhere you need before it fully sets. I really love the coverage it provides to my skin in an instant of being on there, it really covers up my under eye area well and it has longevity. It never creases on me, it always feels moisturising on my skin and I can rely on it to work with just about any foundation that I use. I’m quite impressed by this concealer. Rating: I give it 4/5 ★★★★☆

– MAC: Prep + Prime Fix Setting Spray; designed to be sprayed on before your makeup application to prepare your skin for the makeup application, or afterwards to help set everything in place. It’s hydrating, refreshing, smells pleasant with a very slight fragrance to it (the original), it’s best used after being shaken up and then sprayed directly over the face making sure to close your eyes beforehand. It can also soothe tired skin, extend makeup length of wear, it is available in three different scents as well; rose, lavender and coconut. It comes in a tall round frosted plastic clear bottle, with a black lid with clip open/shut and pressure pad on the top of the lid to spray it out. The mist is a fine mist and is filled with minerals and vitamins. It’s enriching to skim and is able to be used without makeup at all to simply refreshen skin. Dermatologist tested. It comes available in sizes 100ml or 30ml trial/mini sizes.

➜ My Thoughts & Rating; I enjoy this spray a lot! Not only do I use it over my face before foundation application but I also use it after to help set my makeup. I love how refreshing it feels upon each use, I love how it soothes my skin and hydrates it well. I have normal to dry skin, so during Winter or Autumn when it’s cooler, it’s perfect to rehydrate the skin. I sometimes use it even when I’m not going to be wearing any makeup, just to refresh and rehydrate my skin. I love the slight fragrance it has, and I even picked up the rose version as well, I love rose! I think it’s quite affective with setting makeup and prolonging the wear of it, it seems to hold everything in place really well. Rating: I give it 5/5 ★★★★★

Ace The Base: October 2018; featuring MAC Cosmetics, Benefit Cosmetics and Rimmel London.

Where To Buy & Worldwide Pricing
Australia;
– the Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Pearl Primer is available: 22ml for $55 AUD | 7.5ml for $23 AUD at Sephora Australia, at Myer, at Adore Beauty, at Princess Polly and at Benefit Cosmetics Australia.

– the Rimmel London Breathable 24HR Foundation is available: 30ml for $22.95 AUD at Priceline.

USA;
– the Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Pearl Primer is available: 22ml for $32 USD | 7.5ml for $13 USD at Sephora USA, at Ulta Beauty, at Benefit Cosmetics USA, and at Macys.

UK;
– the Benefit Cosmetics POREfessional Pearl Primer

Would I Repurchase These Products?
It’s a definite YES to all of them. Here’s why: with the MAC Cosmetics Prep + Prime Fix Setting Spray; I loved how much contents you get for the price firstly, its 100ml of product that is a fine mist so it lasts a fairly long time. It’s extremely effective and does what its supposed to.

Beauty

Fenty Beauty Collection by Rihanna – Products Intro, Swatches & Review

Fenty Beauty Collection by Rihanna – Products Intro, Swatches & Review

On Friday the 8th of September 2017, the WHOLE world got to finally see Rihanna’s much talked about makeup line, Fenty Beauty. Released exclusively at Sephora worldwide and at Harvey Nichols in the UK (and ALL at the same time! How’s that for fairness?!). Shelves inside every Sephora flagship store and Harvey Nichols shop were stocked up with the new coveted collection and everywhere you looked inside those stores, was shuffling beauty lovers browsing through all of the new products! One fact in particular about this new collection (which was on everybody’s minds), was the incredible 40 shade selection of the liquid foundation! Say what now? Yep! Riri has ultimately thought of EVERYBODY with this collection, having brought out the extensive 40 unique shades in the medium-to-full coverage offering. You know I HAD to pick up a couple of items to trial out, check out my first haul below..

Fenty Beauty: A flatlay of my first haul from the Fenty Beauty Collection.

Intro
Rihanna explained it quite simply at the launch… she wanted to create something for the palest person and the darkest person. Keeping in mind that not everybody has yellow or pink undertones, some people have red undertones, etc. Siri also explained that she hoped to be so inclusive that nobody had to say the usual dreaded words ‘Oh, thats a nice colour but it’ll only look nice on such and such, not really me.’ Basically Rihanna has thought of everything, and everyone. I really admire that an artist (mostly musical/singing/acting) can come out with a makeup brand all on her own, and do it SO WELL that it honestly puts some other competing high-end brands much lower in variety and convenience. Because in reality; WE’RE all different colours, tones, undertones, and every one of us would love to look OUR best self! So the variety Rihanna has accommodated for is truly outstanding and a real testament to herself, her dedication and her character. I am so impressed with this collection and how it has been launched, here’s why: everybody around the world got to purchase and try the products at the same time, meaning no country was ahead or behind. I like that a lot because why not? Why shouldn’t everybody get to witness the products and experience it at the same time? I feel that way it’s completely more fun, and also fair for everybody to not have to wait months for a release just because they’re in a certain other country. That is the first thing I really loved and was very impressed by. The second thing I really loved was that Rihanna actually physically went to the Fenty Beauty launch in New York as it happened, and celebrated with everybody. Riri also talked to the media and explained her goals and ideas for the collection, making it very clear that she had thought of everyone. Browse my unboxed haul below…

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In my order was: the Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer – a pore smoothing and diffusing primer that sets a base for longwear foundation application and also states to decrease shine, the Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in shades ‘100’ & ‘120’ – a quick drying, matte liquid foundation that provides a medium-to-full coverage and longwear, the Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick in ‘Starstruck’ – a light, creamy shimmer formula in a magnetised stick for creating a perfectly lit highlight or blush the cheeks, the Full-Bodied Foundation Brush 110, the Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in ‘Metal Moon’ (also available in ‘Trophy Wife’), and the Match Stix Matte Skinstick in ‘Porcelain. I’ll go through the swatches and product reviews shortly from the products I purchased and have tried. For now I’ll talk about my favourite product and why it is my fave, and I’m talking about the Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer! It is fantastic! Not only does it feel extremely light-weighted, but it also absorbs extremely well into the skin. Without an oily feeling too, it also smooths the surface on the skin and smells amazing! In fact, the scent smells like an old fave perfume of mine called ‘Amour’, by Kenzo. A really lovely vanilla-esque, musk scent that gives me reminiscent thoughts of the years I wore the fragrance. Now let’s talk about the products at hand.


Swatches

L - R: Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Primer, Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in '100', Match Stix Matte Skinstick in 'Porcelain' & Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick in 'Starstruck'.

L – R: Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer, Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in ‘100’, Match Stix Matte Skinstick in ‘Porcelain’ & Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick in ‘Starstruck’.

The Products & Formulas
Let’s start with my favourite product, the Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer, it is a true stand-out. This primer formula isn’t your average thick film texture, it is not anything silicone-like at all, it’s actually very thin, light-weighted and creamy instead. It absorbs into the skin like chocolate would melt on your fingers on a warm day. But thats not all, it provides an incredible lit-from-within glow from the skin! It blurs, mattifies and perfects the base of the skin. It does an amazing job of getting the skin ready for the foundation application, I was extremely impressed with the primer and better yet, it smells delicious! Onto the foundation; the Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation is a very comfortable liquid matte foundation that feels light on the skin, smoothing to touch and easily blends out. One thing to mention is that it dries quite quickly, so you have to be very fast at blending it out. It also does dry-down to a slightly darker colour after applying, not necessarily oxidising but definitely dries to a touch darker tone so I advise anyone to pick the shade the next tone down that would otherwise be too light for them, or select your matched shade but also the one lighter incase. The Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter is so finely milled, such a smooth textured creamy powder that melts into your skin and is so shiny! I have loved this! The Match Stix Matte Skinstick is a creamy textured formula, coming in a solid stick and interestingly enough it is very blend-able and covers pretty well.

Pricing
Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer – $32 USD | $46 AUD | £24 GBP
Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation – $34 USD | $50 AUD | £26 GBP
Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter – $34 USD | $50 AUD | £26 GBP
Match Stix Matte Skinstick – $25 USD | $37 AUD | £21 GBP
Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick – $25 USD | $37 AUD | £21 GBP
Full-Bodied Foundation Brush 110 – $34 USD | $47 AUD | £26 GBP

Where To Buy
Exclusively available at Sephora, and at Harvey Nichols in the UK. For Australia; the collection can be found at Sephora Australia and of course for my American readers, you can find the Fenty Beauty collection at Sephora US. For my British readers from the UK, the collection can be found directly at Harvey Nichols. The previous links will take you all straight to the collection.

Availability
Everything from the collection is permanent and is available at all Sephora stores worldwide and at Harvey Nichols stores in the UK. If by chance one item or certain items sell out, do not fear as the products will be consistently restocked. Nobody should ever have to miss out! If you follow those links provided above under ‘Where To Buy’, they will take you straight directly to the Fenty Beauty collection.

Other Products Available
So far I’ve only talked about the products that I had bought & trialled myself, but there is still a lot of other items available in the collection that I haven’t yet tested. Going onto other items worth a mention, there is the Cheek Hugging Highlight Brush 120 which is a specially designed brush to hug the curve of our cheeks, brow bones, cupid’s bow, the bridge of our noses and even our collarbones to create the most precise killa glow! Then there is the Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer which is a shea-butter infused formula to provide high explosive shine whilst giving the look of fuller, smoother lips. It comes in a universal rose-nude shade that Rihanna hand-picked, its meant to compliment everybody and has a delicious vanilla-peach scent. Next is the Precision Makeup Sponge 100 – a 3-sided latex-free sponge, the slanted edge to allow controlled stippling, the mini-moon edge for perfected coverage & flawless blending, and the rounded edge for all-over buffing. The Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter Duo that features two shimmers, one subtle (for everyday wear) and one supercharged (for a night-time high-shine glow), this can be used anywhere you desire to be LIT. The last products worth mentioning is the Invisimatte Blotting Paper – a portable blotting paper roll used for quick touch-ups and is refillable, the case it comes in also has a mirror. The very last products to mention is the Portable Contour & Concealer Brush, the Portable Highlighter Brush and the Portable Touch-Up Brush, all three portable brushes come in a very compact plastic, retractable and magnetised honeycomb-shaped handle. They’re the perfect size for on-the-go, in-your-handbag type scenarios. I feel like the magnetic ability will stop anyone from losing their brushes in the bottom of their handbag or makeup bag.

Fenty Beauty: Pro Filt'r Instant Retouch Primer and Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation in '100'

Repurchase?
110% YES! It is seriously that great! The whole collection is amazing but my most favourite product is definitely the Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer! Hands down, its one of the best formulated primers that I’ve ever tried. I’m a huge fan of the Primer The Original by my beloved Australis Cosmetics but I can easily add the Fenty Beauty primer to my go-to list as well. Onto the other products, in terms of repurchasing, I would reorder the highlighters, the brush and the concealer. And whilst I like the foundation as it is light-weight, smoothing, and has a nice build able coverage, I think once it dries down the slightly darker oxidised tone is a bit of a let down. Overall, the foundation is good, but does oxidise a tad. This is just my own taste, I prefer Urban Decay’s All Nighter or MAC’s Studio Fix, or of course Estee Lauder’s Double Wear. But the rest of the products, I would definitely repurchase!

Have you tried any products from the Fenty Beauty line? What did you like?

Where to next?