My foundation dream team: Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation + Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear

After perhaps a decade and a half of searching I think that I might just have found my foundation dream team: Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation used on top of Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear so I am here to review both of these wonderful products. I have previously written about my frustrations at not being about to find an 'invisible' foundation (here if you missed it) and I think that I have finally found products that are close to invisible on my skin. Hooray!! I will start with some pics of how the products look on my skin before getting into more detailed reviews.

Edit: This ended up being the worlds longest blog post - it rivalled my PhD thesis in length! As I didn't want to scare you away from reading about these great products I have decided to break this up into three different posts so that I can review each product in the depth that I like.

The first photo is of my skin without makeup. It is not too bad, some pigmentation issues on my forehead and a slight pigmentation moustache as well as redness on and around my nose. All I have on my skin is Avon's ANEW Aqua Youth Moisturising Day Lotion SPF15. Just as a little aside, I am finding the Avon Aqua Youth to be a brilliant moisturiser to wear under makeup. It has a really light gel/cream texture that absorbs nearly instantly into my skin leaving it fresh, hydrated and not at all greasy. It is the perfect lightness for wearing under makeup.

After applying my moisturiser and allowing it to full absorb (about the time it takes me to brush my teeth), I then applied two pumps of the Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear, as instructed, to my entire face. The Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear is designed to be used like a primer and once applied it hydrates the skin as well as filling in wrinkles and giving it a luminous glow. You can see in the picture below, that my skin now has a slight bronzed tint to it and it is also looking quite luminous. (If you would like more detail on the ingredients in the Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear and how they work then check out this post).

I then gave the Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear about 2 minutes to fully absorb and dry before applying the Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation. The absolute best thing about the Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation is that you can easily apply it with your fingers. My skills in makeup application are limited and makeup brushes scare me so I loved that I could use my fingers to apply it. The only issue with this is that the foundation comes in a jar and I have quite long nails, at the moment, thanks to my Gelicious manicure so the foundation got caught under my nails.

The foundation applies like a dream. It smooths in effortlessly and doesn't leave any noticeable foundation lines. It is completely weightless when - you literally cannot feel it. It felt as if I had only put moisturiser on. I trialled Nude 220 and it is perfect for my winter skin though may be a tad pale for my summer skin - though I could just set it with a bronzer to bring it to the right tone. My MAC colour is NW20.

I didn't bother applying any concealer and you can see that it has practically covered my pigmentation and it has totally taken the redness out of my nose. So it has really decent coverage considering the lightness of it.

It claims to last 24 hours; however, I didn't take it for that long a test drive. I would have worn it for about 8 hours and in that 8 hours I walked around 5km to pick The Crazy Kid up from daycare, so I worked up a slight sweat, and it still looked fresh at the end of the day so it is definitely long lasting.

This combination of Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation + Alpha-H Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear left my skin looking naturally flawless and luminous without the makeup being cakey or even particularly noticeable on my skin. It is exactly what I have been searching for all these years!

For your info, I set the foundation with my Guerlain Meteorites Pearls and am wearing Arbonne Lip Polish in Posh Chic on my lips.

Want to win some Alpha-H goodies? There are three different Alpha-H prize packs up for grabs, including the Liquid Gold Perfecting Daywear, but get in quick as this giveaway closes on Sunday August 19th. You can enter this giveaway here.

All opinions are my own and I received no remuneration for this post. Both of these products were provided for consideration (the Revlon ColorStay Whipped Creme Foundation was provided as part of BeautyHeaven's trial team).



Avon: so much more than a brand your mum used to sell

My mum used to sell Avon when my sister and I were young. I am sure a lot of you had mothers who did similar. I guess, because this was my introduction to the brand, plus the fact that it's main mode of being sold is via mum entrepreneurs I have never really thought of it as a cutting edge brand. Sure the products were nice enough, but I never thought of them being in the league of the big Department Store brands. Today, my perception of Avon was completely and utterly smashed!

I attended a round table discussion with fellow bloggers and Avon's Head of Skincare Research and Development, Anthony Gonzalez at the Balla restaurant at The Star (formally known as Star City). Anthony discussed some of the research that Avon is conducting and it is absolutely mind blowing. They are currently working on a line tabled to be released in 2015 (though he wouldn't tell us any more about it...can't let the secrets out!). We were shown images of their research facility - the Global Research & Development Facility in Suffern, New York and I think that I might have had a science-gasm. It was exactly the type of lab I would have loved to work in - row after row of pristine white benches, loaded with some seriously high tech equipment.

Anthony started by telling us the back story behind Avon. Avon was founded in 1886 by a gentleman named David McConnell, who was a travelling book salesman. Book sales were slow so he started mixing alcohol with flower petals to create perfumes and essences which he gave his clients as a gift when they purchased his books (perhaps the first gift with purchase!). Soon his clients no longer wanted his books, only the perfumes, so he did away with books and thus Avon was born. From this humble beginning, Avon has gone on to become the third most successful cosmetics house in the world.

Each of Avon's skincare lines has an amazing scientific discovery behind it. Avon's scientists study all research papers that are being released across various fields and then determine whether any of the findings can be applied to cosmetics and skincare. I will go through the science behind each line as I review them; however, I want to share with you the story that resonated with me most - the discovery behind the Anew Genics line.

Around the world there are certain blue zones or blue spots. These are areas where the population that resides within it have much greater life expectancy than in other areas. One such blue spot was discovered in a rural town in Italy. In this town there were over one hundred residents who were of good health and were aged 100 or older. Scientists researched this population and discovered the gene that was responsible for their longevity. This gene released proteins that protected the cells contributing to their longevity. We all have these gene's but they are not necessarily turned on - they need to be exposed to a trigger to be turned on. In this population, the gene's were all turned on and produced the protective protein. Avon scientists read this paper and contacted the scientist involved in the research to determine whether skin cells may also contain this gene. They then obtained skin samples from the population, grew them in a petri dish in their lab (this technique is called cell culture) and were able to identify that skin cells do in fact have this gene. They then had to discover what trigger, or substance, activated (turned on) the gene to make skin cells start producing the protective protein. It turned out that it was an Australian botanical (that I have damn well forgotten the name of). They then bought a plot of land in northern Australia and grew a crop of this botanical. The skincare line was tabled to be released in 2009; however, kangaroos ate the entire crop so they had to replant it and grow it again! I find it hilarious that Avon can do all of this impressive cutting edge research, only for the release of their product to be delayed by a bunch of hungry kangaroos! But this story goes to show just what a global company Avon is - from Italy to America to Australia to create a skincare line.

I know you all would previously have heard of Avon but what were your perceptions of the brand. Were they like mine, before today, or were you aware of just how cutting edge the research they do is? They really are one of the big guns in the field of cosmetic research.

Do you currently use any Avon products? Did your mum also sell Avon when you were young?