Studio Secrets Professional

Yesterday I was invited to a departement store in Zurich where the new L'Oréal line Studio Secrets Professional was launched. It is the first professional line from L'Oréal aimed to make the products professionals use available for consumers at an affordable price.

The secret of a professional makeup is without doubt a flawless complexion to begin with. But how can we achieve that airbrushed, glowy look at home on our own? Let's have a look at the new products of the line:

The High Definition Smoothing Foundation comes together with a really soft precision brush, which is very practical. It blends the smooth foundation into the skin, resulting in perfectly even coverage. I like the easy application of this product: once shaked well, you can load the brush with foundation and dab it onto the face and then work in with the brush or your fingers. In my opinion it is better suited for normal and dry skin but for those like me who want a matter overall look, there are some other products to use along.

Contouring is one of the oldest practices in the makeup industry yet one of the most frequently left-out steps in makeup applications. It creates a sense of balance, adding definition to your makeup with color. Contrary to belief, contouring is always done with some shade of brown, as the makeup artist explained to me. There are two different Sculpting Blush duos (above in the left side corner) to make it easier to find coordinated shades to highlight your cheekbones and contour your face.

This is the Anti-Shine Mattifying primer of the line and also one of the products I got myself. It acts like a second skin and feels weightless on your face. You apply it in little dabs onto shiny areas such as your forehead, nose and chin and smooth it towards the outside of the face. Since I have a mixed/oily skin I really look forward to using this product before my foundation.

The Smoothing resurfacing primer has a beautifully pleasant, creamy texture and it felt so velvety when applied to the skin. It's designed to make wrinkles and pores less visible so it also totally won me over.

In the background you can see another product from the line, the Anti-redness primer. I haven't tried this one but it uses the logic to obey the laws of complementary colors: to neutralise a shade simply apply its complementary shade. For example this green tinted primer reduces the appearance of red, giving the skin a more even tone.

I have never been shy to try out unexpected colors but many makeup artists agree that dark blue eyeshadow goes great with my dark brown eyes. Nevertheless I have tried different shades on the back of my hand and was surprised how some colors look totally different than in the pan. So I suggest you try them out too because what might scare you off at first might look totally great on you!

This is me with my makeup artist Yves, who did a great job!

Overall I really had a great time testing the new products and since I'm always curious to find out about new makeup techniques this line has some great products! What about you, do you use a primer/base before your foundation?