Discovering Trinny London: A Fuss Free Approach To Natural Makeup

This post contains gifted items, which are marked "AD". Read my full disclaimer here.

I imagine that most fashion and beauty lovers of a certain age (my age!) from the UK remember a TV show called What Not To Wear. Back in the early 2000s, my friends and I used to love watching Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine giving their sensible, sometimes scathing but always affectionate advice to members of the public - and the occasional celebrity - who had lost their way with fashion. By the end of each show, the subjects had new hair, new makeup and new wardrobes, as well as a new lease of life. Armed with a heap of knowledge and useful tips from Trinny and Susannah about how best to dress for their body type and lifestyle, they went back out into the world with renewed confidence, and it was always inspiring to watch.

As I remember the show so well, I was immediately curious when I heard about Trinny London - a new makeup brand launched by presenter Trinny Woodall. And naturally, I wasn't going to say no to the opportunity to try out a few of the products!

When the PR package arrived, I was immediately impressed with how beautifully the makeup was presented, as well as intrigued by the whole concept behind the brand. Featuring entirely cream based products, everything from foundation to lipstick comes in a small, stackable pot, meaning that you can mix and match your own perfect combination to create a personalised stack that's compact and lightweight, ideal to carry around with you wherever you go.

Trinny London BFF Cream (AD)

The only product not housed in a stackable pot, but with one provided in case you wish to decant and go, is the BFF Cream. A skin perfector containing SPF 30, this is a really lovely primer with a hint of colour to it, available in 6 shades from Lightest to Dark. I was sent Light. It appears white on first application, but adapts to your skin tone as you blend it in, leaving you with a lovely, healthy glow and skin that feels soft and smooth and without the faintest hint of grease. It also has a delicious, light, fresh scent to it. For those with good skin, it would make a great base on its own, while for those, who prefer a little more coverage, like myself, it's a fabulous primer. I am seriously impressed with this product and can see myself wearing it all summer long.

Trinny London Makeup

In addition to the BFF Cream, the brand also sent me 5 makeup products to try. I was given the Just A Touch Foundation in Zandy (AD), Eye2Eye Eyeshadow in Empress (AD), Flush Blush Blusher in Wiggs (AD), Fresh Flush Lip and Cheek Colour in Mama (AD) and Lip Glow Lip Gloss in Tallis. The quality of all the products is just gorgeous, they blend beautifully and are a pleasure to apply. For the most part, the cream products and stackable pots work very well, and for quickly applying a natural makeup look on the go with your fingertips, they are great. The only product I had any issues with at all was the foundation, but only because it took a fair amount of work to cover my whole face with this particular method of application - once I had finished, the results were impressive.

The Eye2Eye shade Empress looks very dark, though beautiful, in the pot, and I was slightly concerned that it might not suit me, however I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to work with. It blends like a dream, allowing you to apply a subtle wash of colour or build it up to something more dramatic if you prefer. A stunning deep bronze with just the right amount of shimmer, it is my new favourite eye product. I also love the Flush Blush shade Wiggs - a beautiful, feminine pink that brings a gorgeous, natural healthy glow to the cheeks. I'm wearing both in the photo below, along with the Just A Touch Foundation in Zandy and the Lip Glow in Tallis.

The Trinny London Website is well worth a browse. You can choose from pre-made stacks or mix and match the products to create your own, depending on what you want. In my opinion, this method lends itself best to fuss free, natural, everyday makeup looks, and as that pretty much describes the kind of makeup I wear 95% of the time, I think I'm going to be getting a lot of use out of my stack!

Have you heard of Trinny London? What do you think of the stack system, and is it something you would use?

Kate x