Tarte vs Jane Iredale

I've been lusting after Tarte cosmetics for a while but they are difficult to buy in the UK.  In addition, Tarte Cosmetics official website does not ship to the UK (USA, PR and Canada only).  The only option appeared to be QVC. 

QVC don't do samples and had a limited choice of shades (none of the pale shades).  I found a seller on eBay who sold 2ml samples for £3.90.  I ordered the shade Fair Sand.  I feel its a tad too dark and yellow for me.  I planned to order Fair Beige or Ivory come pay day.  

Whilst waiting, I discovered Rose Beauty Store.  This store is online, the office is located in the USA but  supply a UK distributor that uses DHL (so you don't pay import fees).  They charge £1.49 per sample and £2.00 shipping.  One sample would cost £3.49 and two samples would be just £4.98.  Www.rosebeautystore.com is worth checking out. Their prices are reasonable and they have an excellent range of some difficult to get products.  

At the same time as ordering from ebay, I ordered a sample of Jane Iredales Glowtime BB cream in shade Fair BB1 from Skin Maze.  This is an award winning salon in Dorset that you can visit for treatments.  They stock the full Jane Iredale range and offer a sample service. This sample cost £2.50 and free shipping.  The sample arrived with a generous amount of product.  I have used it to do a full face and thought it looked great and felt good on. 

Sample Jane Iredale Glowtime in Fair BB1 purchaser from Skin Maze.  Sample Tarte Foundation in Fair Sand purchaser from eBay but similar can be purchased from Rose Beauty Store for less money.

The BB cream feels more moisturising and smooth.  Tarte felt thicker and drier but not in a nasty way. 

Top is Jane Iredale BB cream and bottom is Tarte Foundation.  The BB cream is lighter and has a pink tone.  Tarte is darker and has a yellow tone.  

The both deliver a good full coverage and blend reasonably well.  When I applied the BB to my face, I used my blender sponge and it looked smoother.  They both seemed to melt into my skin as they warned up.  

TARTE FOUNDATION VERDICT (£36.99 at Roses Beauty Store)

This shade is to yellow for me.  I might order Ivory or Fair Beige to see if they are better matches as I love the fact this is made from clay from the Amazon rain forest that has been untouched by pollution.  Doesn't that sound beautiful?  I do like how the product feels on my skin.  The product has an spf 15.  

JANE IREDALE BB VERDICT (£32.50 at Skin Maze) 

I honestly thought this would be too dark - like nearly everything that claims to be light.  When I first put it on, it was too light.  However, give it a few seconds to adjust and it looks perfect.  It feels so good on my skin - it gives that feeling that your skin will be better for wearing it which is the result of a good BB cream.  

It has an SPF 25 which is great protection for skin that easily burns. Seven of the Jane Iredale products have won the Skin Cancer Foundation seal of approval and this is one of those award winners.  I've had my eye on their "powder me spf dry sunscreen".  If I couldn't find a good foundation with spf I was going to buy the sunscreen as a finishing powder to give me the protection I need.  

It claims it can also be used as a concealer but I'm not yet convinced - i think if I had a bad blemish, I'd still want the reassurance of a strong concealer.  

This BB cream is everything I could wish for.  I'm not sure I can wait until pay day.  This is the winner of everything I've tested and I don't feel the need to test anymore.  

I shall do a post on where to get samples for different brands so you can do your own trials if you wish. Xxx

June Beauty Buys

For June, I ordered a blending sponge and Pixi eye shadow palette (in Emerald Gold) from Beauty Bay.  The Grand total was £15.70.  I ordered Missha BB Cream (in #13 Light Beige) from Yes Style.

My Beauty Bay arrived promptly.  I had to wait for the BB Cream to arrive before I could try out the blender sponge so the first thing I played with was my new eye shadows.

Pixi, Mesmerizing Mineral Pallette in Emerald Gold (£13.20)
Wow!  This was not something I needed in my life until I tried it.  

I love when a product can just be opened and used right away.  The brush is of good quality.  The case is good but I had expects it to be hinged along the long side but it's the narrow side.

The shadows are highly pigmented so you don't need much powder to get the colour to show.  In addition, all the colours work well with each other so you can either use the light colours for a natural look or the dark colours for an evening look, you can go gold tones, brown tones or my favourite, green tones.  You can even wear a colour on its own.

My only disappointment is nothing to do with the product.  I stupidly left the eye shadow on the dining room table and my toddler thought it would be fun to throw it on the floor.  Now, the hinge is broken and the lid doesn't shut properly.

All the other eyes shadow palettes in this range are now on my wish list and want to try more Pixi products.

Beauty Bay, Blender Sponge (£2.50)
Missha B, Signature BB Cream in #13 (£21.90)
I bought these to use together as I heard the BB cream applies better when you use a blender sponger.

The BB cream looks a lot like foundation to me - the same consistency and colour.  On my hand, the colour was so close to my skin tone that I could hardly see it.

I put the cream on the sponge and then bounced it all over my face.  I then added some small drops around my nose and the corner of my eyes and used the pointy end to get in close.  The cream went on really well and covered up my blemishes enough that I did not feel the need to apply concealer too. 

From Beauty Bay, I bought their blender sponge for £2.50 (pink was sadly the only colour left).  I then treated myself to the Pixi Mesmerizing Mineral Palette in Emerald Gold at £13.20 to ensure I got free delivery (free 2 day tracked delivery on spends over £10 otherwise £1.95).  My grand total came to £15.70.

From Yes Style I have ordered Missha B Signature BB Cream #13.  This cost £21.90 with free shipping (7 to 14 days).  I did see I could get it cheaper on eBay but I wasn't sure if it was the real thing.

Maybelline BabySkin Fatigue Blur Primer £7.99

Maybelline BabySkin Instant Pore Eraser Primer £7.99

Maybelline Great Lash WTP - Very Black £4.99 

Boots had a buy 3 for 2 offer, so I also bought my best friend the waterproof mascara which is her favourite.

Both the baby skin products smelled strongly of harsh chemicals which was unpleasant.  

I used the pore minimiser under my BB cream.  It looked like a gel.  It went on easily.  Once applied it created a smooth layer on my skin that was an effective makeup base.  

The fatigue blur is designed to brighten the complexion to give a refreshes awake look.  However, it disappeared under my BB cream making it pretty pointless.  I then tried it as a highlighter over my BB which was more effective but I wasn't that impressed.  

Baby skin wasn't for me and I won't buy either again. 

I gave the mascara to my best friend as I know it is her favourite.  I have tried it myself and it is good.