I got a taste for BB creams again thanks to the Dead Sea Spa Magik sample I received in a Look Fantastic box this summer.

I loved the make up free feeling it gave me, and how much quicker it was to do my make up on a morning. I wasn’t too happy with the colour though and set out to find a new one with a colour.

I went straight to Urban Decay as I knew they had a new-ish CC cream/tinted moisturiser and that their foundation colour 1.0 fitted me perfectly. I had a major disappointment when I tried their lightest shade – waaaay too dark. Even the sales girl had to admit she couldn’t use it on her skin it was so dark.

After scouting around various blogs and reviews, Laura Mercier seemed to be coming through as a common suggestion. I’ve only ever used her body products (and loved them) so figured I’d give her make up a shot too.

I went to my local John Lewis to have a try of it and the sales assistant recommended I got the oil free version due to my bouts of oiliness and acne. I gave it a swatch and while initially it looked off, it blended in very nicely.  The assistant offered to put some on my face but as I was on lunch hour and already had make up on, I couldn’t take her up on the offer. She did however give me a separate pot of the moisturiser to use first, so if the colour wasn’t 100% correct I could return it easily. Fantastic idea, more companies should do that! It’s a very generous pot too – I’ll probably be able to use this to take with me on my next holiday (especially as it has a good SPF).

I’ve had this a couple of weeks now and been using in on days when my skin is looking okay. There’s still a few blemishes, but not at full breakout. I’m really liking it. The consistency is probably a little thicker than other tinted moisturisers I’ve used but it doesn’t make it any trickier to apply (I use my fingers). This slightly thicker texture is probably the reason it gives good coverage. The assistant told me it was buildable and you can use a sponge or brush to work it into the skin a bit better but I really don’t think it needs it. If I feel like I need to do that, I may as well just use foundation.

I’ve been wearing it during full on days at work and at the end of the day I haven’t felt concerned that it hasn’t held up well. There’s a few areas (around the nose and the chin) where it tends to start settling into the pores but I get that with my long wearing foundation too. It doesn’t wear off like other tinted moisturisers I’ve used in the past which is a massive plus for me.

The only slight concern I had with long wear was my forehead in particular did start to get oily, which I haven’t had happen with a base for ages. I was partly surprised by this as it’s an oil free product but also not because I do still use a light moisturiser underneath this (I can’t help it, it’s habit). It’s not a huge amount of oil and it’s definitely nothing that’s going to make me stop using this.

Overall I’m really happy with this. It’s not cheap, at £34 and in fact it’s more expensive than my actual foundation. However, even after a good few uses I’m still actually using the sample I was given in store so I’ve got a feeling the full size tube is going to last me ages. This is the first LM make up product I’ve ever used but I’m definitely going to be exploring more in future.

Em x