Face of Australia Face Base & Gentle Makeup Remover

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an enormous bag of goodies from Face of Australia, and I've been testing them out and messing about with them since. That is, all except for a big bottle of Auscreen Coconut-scented Sunscreen Spray, which Noodle Arms absconded with for her school sports day and I haven't seen since. I've smelled it wafting past me a few times, though...



Gentle Makeup Remover
There's an episode of Seinfeld where he talks about how everything evens out for him. My life is very similar. Nothing super exciting ever happens, but neither does anything terrible. And when I really need something, it usually turns up. I had been working my way through a number of half-finished makeup removers and had finally reached the last bottle and was thinking about what I would buy next when this baby turned up.

It's a bi-facil product, the kind that has two separate parts and you shake them together. It's hard to see because they're both clear, but the top section is slightly cloudier. There's no scent to speak of, maybe an extremely faint hint of something floral, though I may be imagining that because my clothes always have the remnants of perfumes on them, so there's generally a faint hint of something around me and my house.

As suggested by Tina, the chickie behind FOA's Twitter, I used it as the first step of a double cleanse, following with a cream cleanser. I don't think this is particularly necessary - it did a pretty bang up job of removing my long-wearing foundation - but I always like to double cleanse anyway. I'm whacky that way. One thing I did find was that it made my eyes sting - not at the time, but the next day they felt very sore and stingy. So even though the product is supposed to be suitable for eyes, I wouldn't recommend it for that. Though having said that, it differs for everyone, doesn't it? I've known people who find Dermalogica preCleanse stings their eyes, but I've never had an issue with it.

For those of you who are concerned about these kinds of things (I'm not), it's oil-free and paraben-free. I don't know the exact price, but it's less than $15AUD for 125ml, and available in Priceline. I found it was really effective at doing its job, and I would definitely repurchase.

Face of Australia Face Base
If you've been around my blog for a while you'll already know that I love this stuff. I mention it whenever I have an opportunity, and I'm sure it's been cropping up on my Top 5 list every year. It's always in my "X Favourite Products" and "What I'm Using Now" posts too - in short, I LOVES IT. And again, like Seinfeld, everything evens out for me. This turned up just when I was squeezing the last dregs out of my last tube and wondering when I'd get time to go to Priceline for some more.

Face Base is an oil-free primer that creates a smooth base for foundation. It doesn't have much in the way of bells and whistles - you won't find it filling in your pores like Spackle, as some primers are designed to do. It doesn't really do all that much for wrinkles, though it does seem to diffuse and soften fine lines a wee bit. I tried to get a photo of that effect with my hands, but although it was obvious in real life, it was really hard to get it to show up in a picture.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you may be able to see that the hand on the right doesn't look quite as lined as the one on the left. Or not. But take my word for it - it doesn't.

I don't have a bad word to say about this product - I've been buying it for a few years and though I do test out other primers I always come back to it. I'm probably on my 5th or 6th tube. It costs about $12 for 50ml and lasts for ages. Awesome stuff.