OILY SKIN SAVIOURS | 3 Make Up Products You Need In Your Make Up Bag

I don't know what your skin likes to do for fun but mine likes to produce excess oil leaving me with enough shine on my T-Zone area to safely guide sailors back to shore. Since I'm a killjoy, I like to find products that will stop my skin's oil-slick impersonations and give me at very least of couple of hours with nice, matte skin. When I find products that work well for me, I hold on tight and use them religiously until my skin rebels and goes back to doing its oily thang. Right now, my skin stays matte throughout most of the day and it's thanks to these three products: 

THE PRIMER | The Body Shop Instablur™

I love, love, love this primer. I've already raved about it in this blog post, and will rave about it forever, and by forever I mean until it breaks me out or I find a better primer, but for now it is my go-to. If you have oily skin, you need this in your life because it not only primes your skin for make up and lengthens the its staying power, it also smooths out your skin, minimising the look of blemishes and large pores. On a lazy day I just smooth this on, fill in my brows and I'm good to go.

THE POWDER | L'Oréal Paris Nude Magic BB Powder

All the benefits of BB cream but with none of the oiliness that tends to accompany them in a nice compact powder that you can apply directly for a light-to-medium coverage or use to set your liquid foundations - in other words, perfect. I didn't realise this is what I had been looking for until I found this. I've written more about it in this post here, but all you really need to know is: mattifying, beautifying, gorgeous velvet finish. (Just make sure to build it up slowly or the only word you'll think when you look in the mirror is cakey, and not the good kind).

THE FIXING SPRAY | KIKO Milano Make Up Fixer 

If I had to describe this in one sentence it would be: a super-affordable make up fixing spray that sets all your hard work into place without irritating your skin. It has become a beauty essential in my make up bag as a finishing touch just to extend the life of the mattifying effect of my products (check out this post for a full review). On an average day at university, my make up is done by 5.30am and I don't get back in until 6pm, and with the make up fixer, I know I don't need to worry about my make up during that time.

Have you tried any of these? Do you have a make up product you cannot live without?

L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique BB Powder in Dark

I have had my eye on this product for awhile now. It would catch my eye as I browsed the beauty aisle but I ignored its call, making up excuses along the lines of 'it'll probably break me out' or 'it'll probably be too light for my skintone'. However, my curiosity eventually broke down and I had to buy it to see if the L'Oreal Paris Nude Magique BB Powder in Dark would live up to its promises. Claiming to offer light coverage, a velvet feel, an 8h non drying mattifying finish whilst leaving shine free, fresh looking skin, it certainly had a lot to live up to. 

As an oily skin girl I was definitely enticed by the possibility of having the BB effect in a powder form as any BB creams I'd tried would either sit on my skin or make me feel oilier than usual. And this product did not disappoint. Instead I've been kicking myself for how long it took me to actually pick it up. I have been wearing this with no foundation or primer - I tried wearing the Laura Mercier primer with this product and actually found that my T-zone became oilier a lot quicker than without it (though perhaps I need to try the oil-free primer in her line).

The BB Powder applies light but it quickly warms up to match my skin tone. I do feel like I have to add a bit of colour back to my face though, and usually slick on The One Stick Blush in Malibu from Make Up Revolution just to bring back some colour to my face. I've been really enjoying the light coverage of this, and as I like the effect of the powder on its own, it feels like I've been allowing my skin to breath. It is buildable, and over the holidays I'll probably use this as a setting powder because this is the first powder I've had that keeps my skin matte and relatively shine-free without breaking me out. If I put this on in the morning, but lunchtime my shiny T-zone is making an appearance but not in the usual 'ick, my face is oily' sort of way. When I'm wearing this, I seem to glow rather than looking like I desperately need to locate some blotting paper asap. 

I don't tend to apply touch up my make up when I'm on the move, but even I can appreciate just how travel-friendly this powder is. The powder section lifts to reveal a mirror and a sponge, perfect for on-the-go application. I've heard you can apply this with a powder or kabuki brush, but so far I've found that the sponge applicator it comes with works well enough. Overall, I think this is a great product, and I would highly recommend if you have oil-prone skin and want the BB effects without the negative side-effects of some creams. 

Have you tried the L'Oreal BB Powder? Do you like BB products or do you prefer foundations?