Review: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer

The reason that I picked this up (from Wilkinsons) was because my one true love Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat is coming to the end of it's life *sob* *sob*. Touche Eclat is a wonder product and one that I will always want in my life, so a new one is quite firmly at the top of my birthday list, as £25.00 on one small product for myself isn't a luxury that I can justify for right now. (Times are hard, I'm a student who hasn't managed to find a new job yet so is scraping the barrel of my saved up summer wages just to pay this months gas bills!) . This drugstore highlighting concealer has been dubbed as a dupe for the holy grail Touche Eclat a couple of times on other blogs so I had quite high hopes for this little brush pen to do me proud. It cost me £6.98 from Wilkinsons but prices may vary across other stores.

I like the packaging; it's simple and compact but not too cheap looking and I like the brush applicator too. To dispense more product you twist the bottom end of the pen and you can easily control how much product comes out with each click. I use this underneath foundation and brush a small amount underneath my eye area and around my nose plus any other general areas on my face that need highlighting. I then blend it in properly using just my finger. It blends very easily, is not cakey and is medium-high coverage.

This only problem I have with this product is that I picked it up in the lightest shade available (01 Ivory) and it is still slightly darker than my skin tone... making it not much of a highlighter. I have almost not noticed any hint of light reflection in this product like the Touche Eclat boasts; this concealer is very matte. Because of this it actually works well as a general concealer and hides blemishes effectively too because of it's good coverage. I would continue to use this as an under-eye and a general concealer as it does the job brilliantly of covering up any dark circles or marks and is a good price for the product. With regards to it being a dupe to the Touche Eclat I would say that they are slightly comparable but as expected the YSL product is of a much higher standard and has greater highlighting qualities. This has by no means replaced Touche Eclat for me, but for somebody looking for a budget buy for something slightly similar then I would recommend this Maybelline Highlighting Concealer.

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Maybelline Dream Fresh 8-in-1 BB Cream | Review

Following, or 'liking', all sorts of random pages on Facebook does have its advantages. Most of the time my news feed is clogged up with spammy posts about things I couldn't care less about, but a few weeks back the Maybelline page caught my eye with giving away free samples of their new BB cream. All you had to do was follow a link to their website, enter in your details and they would send you out 3x1ml of their samples.

I don't use very much product when using BB cream or tinted moisturiser because they tend to be for the days I'm opting for super light coverage and a fresh face, so I can probably get 3 applications from 1 sachet, so they sent me enough for 9, maybe 10 uses of the BB cream - absoluuutely free. I think this is a very decent amount for a free sample and definitely gives you enough of a chance to decide whether or not you like the product and want to buy the full size. The only down side being that all of the samples were sent in the shade 'light', perfect for me as I have fair skin.. but maybe not so perfect for others. 

Garnier also gave away 3x1ml of their BB cream not so long ago too, and probably still are if you visit their website, but they actually also gave the option of choosing the shade that you wish to receive. I liked the Garnier BB cream ('Miracle Skin Perfector') sample so much that I actually went out and bought the full size of it (£9.99 for 50ml at Boots), so giving away these free samples does work! 

However, I wasn't so impressed with Maybelline's attempt (sorry Maybelline, I still love you though) and definitely will not be purchasing the full size bottle, nor using up my 2nd or 3rd sample sachets.

This BB cream makes 8 claims:

Creates a natural glow

Compliments skin tone

SPF30 UV Protection

Hydrates all day

Blurs imperfections

Oil-free, non-greasy

Looks visibly smooth.

Feels fresh

The main thing that I feel it is missing is any sort of coverage, which many other BB creams on the market do offer, even if it is just light coverage. This only claims to 'blur imperfections', and although I'm not sure how this little cream intended to blur my skin, all I know is that it didn't do a very good job of it. I wouldn't even really compare this a 'tinted moisturiser' because there's not much of a 'tint' to it when applied on the face, and I didn't feel much added moisture to my face either, so it really is just.. a cream? A sun protectant cream at best. The texture was very runny and applied a little streaky I feel, even though I tried applying with a) my fingers, b) a regular foundation brush, and c) a stippling brush, I struggled to achieve any sort of smooth finish with it, and even after applying powder on top of this it still looked a little oily after only an hour or so wear time - but maybe that's just my extra oily skin!

For some people this may suit their needs perfectly, this just definitely was not a BB cream I will be leaping out of my seat to put back on my face. I will stick to my Garnier one in future! 

Do you 'get' the BB cream hype? Have you tried either the Garnier or Maybelline ones?

What's your favourite BB cream?

xxx.