This is not my usual kind of post, but my desire to use more natural and ethical products is definitely a thing in my life right now, so I wanted to post this anyway.
So, I have been trying out quite a few natural cosmetics. I have gone mostly natural as far as skincare is concerned and for a large part I have replaced make-up products with some more natural versions. I am still buying some regular make-up products. Recently I bought some Sleek eye shadow for example, as I love Sleek palettes. They may not be completely natural, but they are cruelty free and compared to other cosmetics you only use eye shadow on a very small area of skin and often with an eye primer underneath. I have also bought a non-natural concealer, as I am yet to find a good one for my current dark circles, which are due to my daughter not sleeping well at night at the moment. I will keep looking for that great natural concealer. Any tips welcome!
As far as make-up was concerned I especially felt it was important to find a really good natural foundation, as that is something you use over all of your face. Now, I must add that I don’t wear a ton of foundation. I have always gone for foundations on the sheerer side, as I am quite freckly and I just look weird (in my opinion) when they are completely covered up. I never really used foundation on a daily basis and I had a Clinique one that I used when I did.
When I finished that bottle, I decided to try something else, especially as I had started to wear some on a more daily basis. I soon decided a BB cream was the way to go. The first one I bought was the Benecos BB Cream (shade: fair), at a very affordable €10.95. I had a bit of trial and error with this product, but I got it to work in the end and I quite like it.
I wanted to try a different one to compare and I found a lot of good reviews on the 100% Pure BB Cream (shade: luminous), so I decided to treat myself to that one. I say treat as it costs more than the Clinique foundation at €35. A hefty price tag, but I was really keen to try it, so I splurged. I was not so sure when I first got it, as it looks a little orange straight out of the tube, but actually it looks perfect on the skin. I prefer it to the Benecos one, as it gives a fresher result, but I am happy to use both.
I decided to buy the NVEY Eco BB Cream when it was on sale for €15 rather than €33. Straight out of the tube the shade (fair) is closest to my skintone out of the three (which is too many!) creams I have. On my face I have a love-hate relationship with this one. Sometimes it looks great and other days I have trouble blending it into my skin. Maybe it has to do with how well I have moisturised that day. I do not think it performs any better than the Benecos one and not as well as the 100% Pure one.
The Benecos and 100% Pure are both 30ml, whereas the NVEY Eco is 50ml. They all come in plastic tubes, which I am a little unhappy about. Surely there is a more environmentally friendly alternative. For example, I also have the 100% Pure primer, which comes in a glass bottle with a small plastic pump on top. Slightly better I think.
1 point to the NVEY BB Cream for the much bigger amount of product you get. The NVEY and Benecos creams both have a similar non-descript scent, which I can only describe as make-up fluid smell, almost plasticky if I really had to describe it. Maybe you know what I mean, maybe not 🙂 It does not bother me, but I am not the biggest fan. I much prefer the scent of the 100% Pure, which smells fruity in a nice sort of way. It does have a lot of fruit extracts in it, so no surprise really. It does not smell synthetic at all.
All still have relatively long ingredient lists, but surprisingly the 100% Pure list is quite a bit longer than the NVEY ECO and Benecos ones. Both the latter ones have quite a few organically grown ingredients, which is definitely a bonus for me. When I have a bit more time I might actually dig into those big lists and see what they mean for the natural claims of the products.
In practice, I apply them all in the same way. After moisturising and priming, I dab some around my face with a finger and then I use a brush, the Spectrum B01 (flat topped buffer), to blend it into my skin.
I don’t tend to build the coverage, as I only want my foundation to even out my skin and cover the patches of redness. No desire to be cake-face here! I have found that the NVEY and Benecos creams can have a habit to cling to slightly dry patches in a way the I have not noticed with the 100% Pure.
Overall, I find myself using the 100% Pure and Benecos creams the most. I feel the Benecos and NVEY creams are very similar and for that reason I would be more likely to buy another tube of the Benecos cream rather than spend full price (or even half price) on the NVEY one. I will be keeping an eye out for discounts on the 100% Pure BB Cream, as I am reluctant to pay full price again, cheap skate that I am.
I am sure I will try other products in the future as well, for example the 100% Tinted Moisturiser. If you have any tips or recommendations, please let me know.
Thanks!
Kris
Habitually Amused 