Mandy in Oz

 Welcome back, or if you haven't visited me before, welcome!  Today I'm going to share my first impressions of the L'oreal Paris Infaillible Total Cover Concealer Palette, with some swatches and comparison swatches included, as a (hopefully) helpful guide to shades.  I was sent this product by Social Soup to try out and review, but all opinions are honest and my own ;) I'm intending to do regular swatch posts here on my blog, as I find this really helpful myself, when choosing foundation and concealer shades.  For reference, I have a medium complexion with neutral olive leaning to warm olive undertones, my best foundation matches (so far!) are NC25(winter) - NC30(summer) in MAC, W3 in L'oreal Lumi Magique, W4(summer) in L'oreal True Match, 54 Beige in Bourjois Healthy Mix and 220 Natural Beige in Maybelline Fit Me. In concealers, I wear Nars (both creamy radiant and soft matte) in custard - a perfect match in winter, somewhat brightening, but still fine, in

I'm back, with another first impressions review for a product from The Ordinary - in the hotseat today is the Salicylic Acid 2% solution.  If you're interested in hearing my thoughts on this budget friendly BHA offering from Deciem's no frills brand, please keep reading. The Salicylic Acid 2% solution is a BHA (beta-hydroxy acid);  an exfoliator that works more deeply into the skin than the AHAs, exfoliating the inside of the pores to fight blemishes and improve overall skin clarity.  It can be used specifically as a spot treatment for blemishes, or applied in a more generalised fashion to improve skin clarity over time.  To be honest, when I've used products containing Salicylic acid in the past, it was specifically for blemishes and I found it to be largely ineffective for my skin.  However, I didn't experience irritation with use and have had my acne issues well managed with benzoyl peroxide for some years now, so felt quite comfortable trialling this produ

Welcome back, or if you're new here, hi!  I'm Mandy, and today I'll be continuing my series of reviews on skincare products from The Ordinary, the most budget friendly of the Deciem brands.  If you're interested in hearing my first impressions of the Argireline Solution 10%, please keep reading. This is one of the products that I was really intrigued by, and excited to try.  A product that directly targets dynamic lines?  Yes please!  This is a water based peptide solution, which is specifically aimed at improving the appearance of dynamic facial lines - crows feet, the dreaded '11's', forehead wrinkles, etcetera. Argireline is a proprietary solution of Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (trademarked by Lipotec), which apparently has controlled studies backing up it's claims of efficacy.  I've seen some really mixed reviews on this product, so of course it's time for me to weigh in ;) This product comes packaged in the usual frosted glass bottle, a

Welcome back! Today I'm doing something a little different and  reviewing a product from another of the Deciem brands -  Hylamide.  This product is called Pore Delete;  it's an interesting little number from their 'Finisher Series' range.  If you're interested in finding out more about it, please read on. The Hylamide range is a little pricier than The Ordinary, though still quite budget friendly - this product was AU$24.99 for 30ml of product.  If you're looking to buy it in Australia, I know that it's stocked at Priceline.  The claims of this product are that when used after skincare (also after liquid foundation but before powder products), it gives an immediate blurring effect; minimising pores, shine and fine lines.  It's recommended for oily skin types with prominent pores (two hands way up here!). As you can see, the Hylamide packaging is quite different to The Ordinary.  This product comes in a plastic bottle, with a top that you twist to

Welcome back to my blog, or if this is your first visit, welcome!  Today I'll be continuing my series of reviews on products from Deciem's justifiably popular and budget friendly brand, The Ordinary.  This review is for their Advanced Retinoid 2% (which is now known as Granactive Retinoid 2%), part of the first wave of retinoid treatments that was released by The Ordinary.  There is now a more extensive range of retinoids available and in a later post, I'll be reviewing the Retinol 0.5% in Squalane, which is in my current rotation of products. This product, as with the entire range of retinoids offered by The Ordinary, is used to target the signs of ageing.  It's one of the pricier offerings, though it's a relative term, as it comes in at a very modest AU$17.90 for 30ml of product!  As with all products from this category, this is used in the PM only, and it can increase skin sensitivity to sun exposure, so sunscreen during the day is a must (but isn't it

Welcome back to my blog!  It's been a while since I began trialling a range of products from The Ordinary; since my last post I've collected and trialled quite a lot from this brand, which I'll continue to review.  I thought I might go back now to my initial purchases and finish up my first impressions on these.  Today, I'm going to talk about the Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate 10% - one of the Vitamin C offerings from the brand. This product is the most gentle from the stable of Vitamin C products that The Ordinary offers; it's rated at a 'moderate' potency on the Deciem website, with the other formulations that they offer rated 'high' or 'very high'.  It uses a water-soluble Vitamin C derivative (MAP)  rather than L-ascorbic acid and as such, it's both less irritating and less potent.  It's also purported to have specific skin brightening benefits, more so than the L-ascorbic acid based products.   This is a cream formu