Benefit The POREfessional

At the grand young age of 27, I have noticed my first wrinkles. And unsurprisingly I'm not impressed.

Alongside these fine lines (damn being such a smiler), I'm also starting to notice my pores are appearing enlarged in my T-zone, particularly on my forehead.

Luckily for me, within days of this grim discovery, the latest issue of Elle dropped through my letter box, with a lovely little treat from Benefit. Their famed The POREfessional, which is currently the UK's number 1 selling primer.

Claiming to 'Quickly minimise the appearance of pores & fine lines' the oil free formula contains vitamin E and can be applied under or even over make-up. 

A relaxed lunch time catch up with my cousin (who is lucky enough to be moving to the Carribean this week!) was the ideal chance to try The POREfessional. 

Following the instructions helpfully supplied on the Benefit website, I applied a pea sized amount of the silky feeling primer from the centre of my face in a patting motion. I focused on my T-zone leaving very little applied to cheeks and hair and jaw line.

Next, I followed with No7 Stay Perfect Foundation and No7 Match Made Concealer mixing in a little of my all time favourite highlighter Benefit Moon Beam.

Unfortunately, Moon Beam has now been discontinued, but Girl Meets Pearl will offer a similar finish. 

For a subtle shimmer and a touch of definition, I sweeped yet another discontinued Benefit beauty, 10, over cheeks, before finishing with California Kissin lip gloss. This blue-tinted lip gloss tastes minty fresh and even makes teeth appear brighter and whiter- but luckily doesn't turn your lips blue!

After a good long catch up, and 12 hours of make-up wear, my complexion was still perfect. A little shine in my t-zone, but as I had not powdered my base, I think that's pretty impressive!

Benefit The POREfessional is £24.50 and available nationwide.

That "No Make-up Selfie" Trend

So you would have literally have had to have been living under a rock for the past fortnight not to of heard of the "No Make-up Selfie" trend. 

What started off as immature girls bitching about how good or bad certain Facebook 'friends' looked without their signature slap, and others accusing fellow tweeters of joining in for the sake of upping their 'favourites', thankfully U-turned, with lots of us embracing our natural state. However flawless (or not so in my case) that state is. 

So where did this trend appear from? Rumour has it, that it can be traced to my hometown of the Wirral- the same area where the beautiful Sophie Jones lived and fought her battle with Cervical Cancer. Sophie passed away at the tender age of 19, earlier this month. Alongside the petition  'Sophie's Choice' , created by her family and friends the to lower the age of cervical screening, this empowering social media trend emerged.

Within days, these 'selfies' took over our news feeds, most accompanied with text donations of £3 to Cancer Research UK. Which is, of course, amazing. I am all for fundraising, but part of me was a little disheartened that people in my local area (including many friends and family) chose to donate to this charity, rather than our local cancer research charity, NWCR. 

If you've read my blogs before, or follow my Twitter and Instagram, you've no doubt heard me harp on about NWCR before. Robyn (my So Coco Rouge partner in cosmetic criminal activity) and I are dedicated members of the Liverpool City Centre fund raising committee, and after both suffering the loss of very close family members, are committed to raising as much as possible. (We also are known for creating pretty disguising tasting but visually amazing/horrifying cakes for their annual Bake Off.)

So, after grabbing the industrial sized cleanser and scrubbing our smokes, red lips and chiseled cheekbones off, we revealed our bare skinned self's to the masses. And are going to do so once more tomorrow- when we hold our very own fundraiser, whilst also persuading each and every client to sign Sophie's Choice and join the fight to end the big C's wave of devastation once and for all.

'How can you get involved' I hear you cry?! Well, book into So Coco Rouge tomorrow by calling 0151 708 7245 and either treat yourself to a deluxe facial (to stay make-up free!) or a makeover (if that one Selfie was enough for you!) all in exchange for a measly £10 donation. With every single penny going straight to NWCR. 

Not lucky enough to be in Liverpool?! Then you can join us in revealing your fresh faced self and texting NWCR22 to 70070 and donating £3.00 to a charity dedicated to local research. 

What else can you do? Head over to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62385 and sign Sophie's Petition. 

Because, together, I really do think that one day we'll beat the big C once and for all.