Origins VitaZing Moisturiser

When it comes to my daily make-up routine, I tend to opt for a full coverage base, as I have blemish-prone skin, with uneven skin tone. I am currently using Estee Lauder DoubleWear, which is a Holy Grail product for many a beauty blogger. However, on my recent trip to Italy, I thought that a full face of make-up was slightly OTT for everyday wear, but still felt that my skin needed a bit of a helping hand. Step forward, Origins VitaZing .

I am generally not a massive fan of tinted moisturisers, as I never feel that they give enough coverage for me. However, VitaZing has definitely secured a place on my ‘go-to’ list of products. When you apply this product to your skin, it looks like a normal moisturiser, but as you blend it, you can see the tint appear, to match your skin tone. I have absolutely no idea about how it does it, but frankly I don’t care! With this my skin felt soft and looked even and radiant. It also contains a SPF of 15, which ticks another box on the ‘multi-tasking product’ checklist. If I have any particular blemishes or extra dark circles under my eyes then I use a little bit of concealer in those areas.

I can confirm that this product is also fantastic for those ‘morning after the night before’ moments when you might be looking less than radiant!  A friend recently asked me if I could recommend a product to give her skin a boost before she embarks on the daily school run, and this was the first product that I thought of.

I bought mine as part of a 'Brightening' gift set in the Summer, but you can purchase it by itself for £27. However, at the moment Origins have some fantastic gift sets, which bring together some of their best-selling products, e.g. the 'Morning to Midnight' skincare set, which contains the following products: High-Potency Night-A-Mins™ Mineral-Enriched Cream (50ml); Drink Up™ Intensive Mask (50ml); VitaZing™ SPF15 (50ml) and GinZing™ Eye Cream (15ml), all for £39 (3 extra products for an extra £12!).

Guest Post: The "No Makeup Makeup" Look

I was really pleased when I discovered that the lovely Emily a.k.a 'Shopgirl' over at Sugar and Spice was a Cardiff-based blogger. While I love a great style blog wherever it is based, it's nice to see someone local blogging, and I like it when they reference local events and place. So without further ado, here is Emily's great post on achieving the much sought after "no makeup makeup" look:

When the boy commented recently that there was not much difference between my made up face and my no make-up face, I took it as a complement and to mean that I had nailed the "no make-up" make-up look.

For work, I don’t like to go too over the top with my make-up. I like to look professional and together but not as if I am about to hit the town.

Boots No 7’s new Lash Adapt mascara is the perfect starting point for this look as it allows you to add more coats to your lashes if you are planning to go straight from the office to the bar but one coat is enough for the "no make-up" make-up look we are trying to achieve here.

I like a good base for my make-up but nothing too heavy – mainly because I hate the way it feels when anyone cakes the foundation on me. So I start by liberally applying Olay’s Radiant Glow moisturiser. I leave it to absorb into my face while I dry my hair and then I apply a little Instant Radiance Concealer under my eyes and Tinted Moisturiser over the rest of my face. It creates a lovely even tone with just enough of a dewy glow.

I find that cream blusher blends easily, giving a natural flush.

For my eyes, I line with a brown liner – keeping black for night-time. I’ve just tried out Boots No 7’s Autumn Collection double ended liner which has an ivory pencil at one end to highlight the inside corner of the eye too and naturally open it up a little.

For my day-time look, I swear by No 7’s Stay Perfect eye shadow in Mink . It goes with everything and if you plan to go from the office to the bar you can use it as a base for blending other coloured shadows into.

Finally, I like to finish off with a little lick of lipstick. The best natural colour I have found – which also looks great when balancing out a heavy smoky eye at night-time – is the Moisture Drench lipstick in Rumour .

And yes, before you ask, I am a massive No 7 fan. I stray occasionally but am always brought back – mainly because of the £5 vouchers Boots are always offering – and the quality of the product!

What is your day time make-up look?

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Lou Lou says: Thank you Emily. I love a beauty bargain and will definitely be trying out some of these products. Purely in the name of blog research of course!