 |
| Cosmetics à la Carte - Skin Veil |
Cosmetics à la Carte Skin Veil is a primer with a "hint of a tint", for use "with fingers or a sponge, alone or under makeup, or as a touch-up over makeup" per the information on the website.
These primers are not clear, but contain a slight tint - the options/shades available are
- Original (slightly pink-toned beige)
- Vanilla (slightly yellow-toned beige)
- Honey (darker tan-toned beige)
I purchased the Vanilla. At £33 for 10g, it's not the cheapest primer I've ever bought, but I was dying to try it, having heard a lot about it.
Personally, I have found that it is a lovely primer. It does has an extremely strong (overpowering) scent, which I categorically don't like (strong smells can trigger migraines for me) but as with all Cosmetics à la Carte products, you can have a bespoke one made up for you minus the fragrance if you prefer (I should point out that it's not an offensive scent, just far too powerful on my face for my personal liking).
Under makeup? It's a very good primer, certainly. If I consider it as "only a primer" I don't think it's the best I've ever used, but it's up there with the best. However it's not just a primer.
Alone? Hmmm, yes it works like this sure - but only if you don't have blemishes, broken veins, redness, hyper-pigmentation... in other words, it's got just about enough of a tint to help even everything out, but it doesn't have sufficient coverage to act as a foundation for these conditions. On the other hand, it is a great alternative to a tinted moisturiser - especially if you use a concealer over this anyhow.
As a touch-up over makeup? Sure - this works reasonably well for touch-ups as it helps blur minor skin issues, however it's not a concealer and has no real coverage as such.
Ingredients include lots of silicones, silica and castor oil, which give the formulation that silky slip you get from silicone-based products. Silicone also helps to create that lovely soft-focus, blurred, "airbrushed" effect, minimising enlarged pores and fine lines, and it provides a flawless base for foundation and everything else that comes after, making your base apply more easily and last longer.
Given that it contains oils, I don't recommend using it on oilier skins - I think dry skin, normal skin and combination skin should be fine however (I have combination, sensitive skin and (aside from the scent) it works perfectly fine on me and certainly helps to keep my foundation in-line and in-place for the day).
Look here for more information on Skin Veil. You can purchase this online, at Cosmetics à la Carte flagship store (London) or at Vedas Beauty in Dun Laoghaire.