One of my favourite brand discoveries of 2017 was Note Cosmetics. And over the last few months or so, I’ve been testing out a bunch of their products, but realised that while I’ve spoken about them lots online, I haven’t blogged about them, so behold the Note cosmetics foundation uber post! Now for the purpose of this blog post, I’ll say at the start in case you miss it, that my skin type is as follows. I’ve normal cheeks, an oily t-zone and I’m 41. So keep that in mind when you’re considering picking any of these up. Let’s get stuck in shall we!
Note Cosmetics BB Cream – €11.95
Starting with my one true love and the one that made my 2017 favourites, we have the Note BB Cream. I use shade 1 and while it’s way too dark for me, I still love it and wear it all the time, once I blend it down the neck or have fake tan on. The finish this leaves on my skin is incredible. I look properly luminous and flawless #NoFilter and it wears really well too. Every time I wear this on Instagram or in a video, I always get lots of questions asking what it is and it’s this. For a BB cream, it gives a really decent level of coverage. We’re talking starting at medium and builds up to as full as you’d like. My skin always looks so smooth and even when I’m rocking this and the fact that it has skincare built in is just icing on the cake. It lasts a good 4-5 hours on me before I need to powder my oily bits and then I’m good to go again.
Note Cosmetics Mineral Foundation €12.95
Now, if truth be told, if I had a shade that matched me, this would be my favourite of all the bases in this here blog post. But alas, shade 1 is mahogo. So Note, if you bring out lighter shades, I will 100% buy all of them because it’s a stunning base. You’ll see in the before and after photos below just how dark it is, but you’ll also see what an absolutely flawless finish it gives me. It makes me look radiant, it looks like my skin (if it was 3 shades darker), and again this is packed full of skincare and dries matte but doesn’t look flat. We’re talking satin sheen and that healthy looking glow. I’m not a big fan of loose powder mineral makeup, but this mineral foundation has got my heart all a flutter so rest assured, I’ll be making it a mission to self tan more this year just so I can wear it.
Note Mattifying Extreme Wear Foundation– €13.95
As someone with oily skin, I love finding mattifying foundations that keep me shine free, that don’t enhance any dry patches and don’t look cakey. Hello Note Mattifying Extreme Wear Foundation. This formula is fierce thick, so I don’t even need a full pump to do my face because a little goes a long way. Again, I’m wearing shade 1 in it and you can see that it’s slightly dark on me, but I’ve been wearing this a load over the winter. I’ve tested this out with and without powdering and both ways it performs beautifully, keeping my shiny noggin grand and matte.
Note Cosmetics Detox & Protect Foundation – €13.95
Now I’m not sure how a foundation can detox the aul mush, but protecting? I can get on board with that. This base is said to act as a shield against free radicals and environmental factors, so maybe it’s one I’ll wear more often when I’m going to be based in town during the week. Shade 1 is in the hot seat again and it’s a close enough match to me. But it’s just a tad ashy on my skin and while it doesn’t dry out my skin or anything, it just doesn’t give my face that oomph that the others seem to. I think I just love the other ones more than this, so it’s not getting much of a look in.
Note Cosmetics Luminous Moisturising Foundation– €9.95
The one I’ve been wearing the least is the Note Luminous Moisturising Foundation, mainly because the other ones just work better on my skin type. I will say though that the shade range is great and I’m wearing the lightest one in the photos, which I thought looked a bit too light initially. What I’ve found with this foundation though is that it oxidises on me slightly, so it’s one I have to blend down the neck, no matter how perfectly it matches my complexion at the start of the day! It also doesn’t sit as flawlessly on my skin as the other bases and if I’d tried this without trying the mineral foundation or BB cream, I’d probably be more impressed than I am. But on my oily t-zone, it doesn’t quite mesh as perfectly as the others do. I’m just being picky! If you’ve got oily bits on your face, you’re definitely going to need to powder this. I powder every day anyway and by lunch time my nose starts to shine, so either layer on a mattifying primer, or keep your powder handy. Those with dry skins will like this though I think. It gives a lighter and slightly patchier level of coverage than the other four bases and while so many people love this and rave about it, on my skin it just didn’t perform as well as the others.
And thus concludes my massive rambling blog post on the Note Cosmetics foundations! I hope you found it helpful and didn’t mind looking at my face all up close and personal! The main gripe that pretty much everyone has with the foundations is the shade range. Most of the ones I’ve tried are very dark and are yellow toned, but I do love a yellow toned base as it counteracts my redness. But it’s worth noting. Har har. Did you see what I did there?!
