Avon True Powerstay 24 Hour Foundation Review

After a lot of hype about the Avon Power Stay 24 Hour Foundation giving a similar finish to well-known high-end foundations, I thought for only £10 I'd give it a go myself. This is the first time I've bought a makeup product from Avon, so I've been very eager to try it out.

First off, lets talk about the shade range they offer. You can choose from 18 different shades, which I think is amazing. I do admit though, it was extremely hard guessing my shade from a book and from pictures of swatches on Google Images. In the end, I decided on the colour 'warm ivory' and luckily it was perfect for me. 

The foundation itself is a manageable consistency - I'd say it's actually the perfect consistency I look for in a foundation, it's not too runny or too thick. I've tested applying this foundation with both a brush and a beauty blender and I would personally say that brushes work best. I find that once the foundation is on the skin, it doesn't take long before it dries. It gets harder to blend out, and for that reason I only do sections of my face at a time. When using a damp beauty blender, I found it absorbed a lot of product and made the foundation go patchy. Personally, I don't think the coverage is great and you'd need to use a lot of product to get yourself a decent coverage. 

By the end of the day, I have creases in my smile lines and fine lines as well as it looking patchy on my nose, chin and cheekbones. It's probably the worst foundation I've ever owned to go that patchy. The only great thing that it does for me during the day is control my oily skin. Usually I have to top up my powder to eliminate shine in my T-zone but with this foundation, my oily skin really didn't show through.

I was actually disappointed with this foundation, I thought it was going to be a bargain hit. If you like your foundation to be a really light coverage or you'll only be wearing it in the evening on holiday for a few hours, definitely go for it. But, it's definitely not 24 hour long wearing and it's not as good coverage as I'd of hoped.

Has anyone else tried this foundation before and have a different review on it? I'm intrigued to see other peoples opinions as I've seen so many great reviews - most 4 stars, prior to purchasing it.

How I've Changed as a Person Over The Last Eight Weeks

A lot has happened within these eight weeks and I have really changed as a person in that time. Lockdown has seriously done things to me, I've had a lot of thinking time I guess.

Firstly, I've learnt to appreciate things more. I will now cherish every single moment I spend with my family and friends. Sometimes you just need to take a step back, look at your life and see what you've got and who's in it. This has made me look at things from a different perspective, my eyes have opened up even more so now.

 Secondly, I've learnt that it's fine to have down days. It's perfectly okay to have down days anyway, but in a time like this even more so. The unknown of everything and not having much freedom can really hit you hard. I've had multiple days where I've just cried because I'm scared of the unknown, I can't go out and get away or spend time by myself.

I've been working on having a more positive mindset. Even though a lot of negative things are going on in my life right now, I've been trying to turn those negatives into positives instead. Better things will come soon. I've also been working on my jealousy. I've felt so nervous to admit this, but I am a jealous person and I feel like a lot of other people struggle with this too. I get jealous so easily - although not in a bad way that turns me into a horrible person. I keep my thoughts to myself and I've been managing to get over certain things that make me jealous as they come. Maybe it's not even jealousy, I think I just want what other people have in life.

I've got rid of negative people that were in my life. Very recently, I decided that I was sick of the amount of shit I have taken over the last few years by letting people walk all over me, I didn't want to be the girl that was talked down to anymore. Just because I come across as this timid, quiet girl, doesn't mean people can walk over me, make decisions for me and put me down. From now on, I'll be standing up for myself more and any negative people in my life will be cut out. Life is too short and I'm not letting negative people that make me miserable ruin it.

I've spent time looking after myself a lot more too. Beforehand, I wouldn't spend a lot of time looking after myself. I'm looking after my hair and skin so much better and I'm now in a routine. Nothing is a rush either and I have no excuse to not be bothered.

Finally, I've become an even stronger believer of 'everything happens for a reason'.

The Only Makeup Brush Cleanser You Need In Your Life

For years I used to swear by my yellow bottle of Johnsons baby shampoo to clean my makeup brushes. However, when I visited the Olympia Beauty show back in September, I was given a little sample packet of STYLPRO makeup cleansing solution. You know me, I love trying out new products. So, as soon as I got home from London, I decided to try it out straight away and I haven't touched my baby shampoo since.

After using the sample for the first time, I was absolutely amazed, I'd never seen anything like it before. I headed straight to the STYLPRO site and ordered the 500ml bottle of cleansing solution for £20.99. It's a highly effective, deep-cleansing formula which removes oil-based products from your brushes really well. It leaves the brushes conditioned and super soft after every use.

 All you do is simply pour one capful of the cleansing solution to a bowl. It's a very oily solution but they highly advise you to not mix it with water or other cleansers, and not to rinse them with water after cleansing your brushes with the solution. Dip your brush in the bowl and swirl it about as you usually would do, then wipe off the excess solution in circular motions on a paper towel and repeat if you need to. After cleansing your brushes, the colour of the bristles come back instantly, they're super soft and feel almost dry.
My eyeshadow brushes only take one cleanse to get them clean again and my more stubborn foundation and concealer brushes take three or four cleanses each. Even though it's a pricey product, it's a much quicker way than I'm used to. It just makes a boring job super easy.

Two brushes after they've been cleaned and two brushes before being cleaned.

You can use this cleansing solution by itself, like I do. Or, they also sell a bowl that spins when you insert your brush. Even though I had ordered from their website, I didn't actually know they sold this. Liam's younger cousin actually got the set for Christmas just gone and that's when I realised I had that same solution but without the bowl. She showed me how to use it and it just looked insane.
You pour the cleansing solution into the bowl, put on a silicone collar that best fits your brush size and turn the device on, let it spin your brush around in the solution for around 10 seconds, then lift your brush so it's out of the solution but still in the bowl and spin for a further 10 seconds to dry it out. Just like that, the brushes are completely clean, fully dry and fluffy again. It's a lot quicker than just using the standalone solution and doing it yourself. I will definitely be buying this at some point!


Have you tried this brush cleansing solution before? If you haven't, I highly recommend it.

Lounging in Lockdown with Femme Luxe

As you can imagine, I'm forever living in loungewear at the minute, how can I not? With not being able to go anywhere and no reason to get dressed up, I am living for lounging around in my comfies. Femme Luxe Finery got in touch with me and very kindly gifted me a few loungewear pieces which I picked out myself.

The first set I picked is this Cailleigh stone cropped loungewear set*. This set comes in five other colours and I'm not going to lie, I was torn between stone, khaki, and black. The colour of this set actually looks a lot lighter on the Femme Luxe site. In person it's more on the yellowy side but I really don't mind because it still looks amazing and I'd probably say this is my absolute favourite out of the three I've picked. The inside of the hoodie and joggers has a thick, soft lining which is super cosy and comfy. I love that the hoodie is cropped too, you can use the drawstring at the side to keep it loose or bring it in tighter. The cropped look just gives the set that something extra.

The next set that caught my eye was the Zuri black cropped cargo loungewear set*. I was drawn to it because it's different, I'd never seen a set like it before and I just really liked the style of it. The colour choice is slightly more limited with only three other colours to choose from. The style of the layered, cropped hoodie was what attracted me at first and with the zip and the collar, I personally think it's a cool and chic style. Like the first set, it has a drawstring to pull it tighter or keep it loose, you can also tuck the drawstring in or leave it out.

Lastly, is the Blake grey off the shoulder loungewear set*. This set has a really great colour range with six other colours to choose from. I was a little wary when I pulled this out of the packaging because I noticed the material was thinner and tighter than the other two sets. I was worried that my massive thunder thighs wouldn't squeeze into the joggers, honestly I was surprised when I pulled myself into them. Even though the material is thin, they're not see-through at all and as they're more on the fitted side than baggy, they have a really good stretch to them and I actually found them extremely comfy.

All three sets are just perfect and easy for lounging about the house, running errands on your days off, dressing them up or wearing them as a cute, comfy airport outfit. Currently, all of their loungewear collection is on sale, so definitely go and check it out.


*Products marked with (*) have been gifted. As always, my reviews and opinions are completely honest and my own.