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La Mav is an Australian brand that is Choose Cruelty Free certified and all of their products are 100% plant based and vegan. La Mav make certified organic skincare, sunless tanning products and makeup that is infused with “proven bio-actives”. La Mav products do not contain any petrochemicals, synthetics, parabens, sodium benzoate, talc, artificial fragrance or colour, EDTA based chelating agents, polysorbates, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), ammonium lauryl sulphate, sodium laureth sulphate (SLES), ammonium laureth sulphate, polyethylene glycol, ethanolamides or GMOs. There is page dedicated to the ingredients they do use on their website that gives details on why each ingredient is useful. I think this is great and really helpful for those who may not know what the ingredients do. I would prefer that brands give more information than necessary rater than trying to hide what they are putting in their products. La Mav were kind enough to send me their Certified Organic BB Creme and the Anti-aging Mineral Foundation, so I have a review of those for you today. If you ever want to buy anything from the La Mav website, I would really appreciate it if you used my affiliate link as affiliate links help keep this blog running.
The La Mav Certified Organic BB Creme is an award winning product that “combines complexion perfecting properties of the purest natural minerals with the moisturising and nourishing benefits of carefully selected bio-active ingredients”. 73% of the ingredients are certified organic and it has an SPF of 11 (but you should always wear a dedicated SPF product with it). It is described as being a natural finish that is suitable for all skin types, and is long lasting with buildable coverage. La Mav say it is skin plumping and has a colour adapting and correcting formula that helps to hide blemishes whilst also treating them. Some of the key ingredients include Vitamin C, Organic Rosehip Oil, Hyaluronic Acid, Aloe Vera Juice, Sweet Almond Oil. Jojoba Oil, Avocado Oil and Licorice Root extract. La Mav claim that regular use will help prevent premature ageing, which is true, the ingredients are good for that, but it’s better to use anti-ageing skincare rather than relying on your makeup to do that. It will however compliment an anti-ageing skincare routine nicely.
The La Mav BB Creme can be used with a sponge brush or fingers, but I’ve personally found that fingers are best as it helps to warm up the oils in the product which makes it apply better. The product is a thick mousse texture when pumped out of the bottle but it spreads over the skin easily without build up in certain areas (which I have had with similar products). It can accentuate dry areas if just smoothed over the top but I’ve found that tapping the product into dry areas helps to makes it look a lot better. Overall it looks really nice on my dryer skin type and gives a natural finish – between a satin and matte appearance. I typically use primer with any face product but I didn’t need to use on with this as the BB creme minimises my pores by itself. One thin layer of product will give light coverage where redness is still quite evident. It can be layered to make it medium coverage so that redness isn’t as visible but any dark patches like melasma will still need a concealer as they still show through. I’m not sure how well this would perform on oily skin as the product does already contain a lot of oils itself, but it will work well for dry, normal, combo and ageing skin. The biggest let down with this product is the shade range. The La Mav BB Creme only comes in two shades – yes two! There’s a light and a medium shade, so a huge amount of people won’t be able to use this product. The shade I have is light, and it is way too dark for me. I tried many different whitening shade adjusters with it, but nothing mixes well with the mousse formula. I have swatches of the light shade next to some other similar shades. My mum was kind enough to let me borrow her two favourite base products, the Hourglass Cosmetics Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint in Ivory and the Chi Chi Cosmetics Super CC Cream in Light, and I included the Dusty Girls Earth Cream Tinted Moisturiser (which was a flop product for both of us). If any of those shades suit you, then the La Mav BB Creme in light will be the right shade for you.
The La Mav Anti-Ageing Mineral Foundation is a natural loose mineral powder foundation with an SPF of 15 (always use a dedicated SPF with it though). It comes in an 8g sifter jar with twistable closure for A$44.95. So many brands just have a sifter without the closure which ends up being really messy. The twist closure makes this great for travel. The La Mav mineral foundation contains Vitamin C and organic rosehip oil with titanium dioxide as the SPF. La Mav say it has a radiant finish to reflect light and enhance the skin’s natural glow and can reduce the visible signs of ageing. The powder is finely milled and very smooth but I wouldn’t call it radiant. There are micro sparkles in the product which catch the light but the powder itself is matte. It can be used in a very light sheer layer or built up to a medium coverage. It works well over the La Mav BB Creme but it does mattify the cream down – which may make the cream more usable for oily skinned people. If I were going to wear the powder by itself, without the BB creme underneath, then I would want to use a pore filling primer first as the powder can emphasise my pores. La Mav sell the Vegan Kabuki Brush for $29.95 that pairs well with the powder. It’s not my favourite kabuki brush but if you don’t own one and wanted to pick it up along with the powder, it will easily get the job done. It’s nice and soft, and washes well. Unfortunately, the powder has the same downfall as the BB creme. There are only 4 mineral foundation shades, light, light-medium, medium and dark. Light isn’t anywhere near light enough for me and dark really isn’t dark at all. I’ve got a swatch comparison of the Light La Mav powder next to the Australis Fresh and Flawless Pressed Powder in Light Beige, Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder in Fair and Eco Minerals Perfection Mineral Foundation in Vanilla.
I love La Mav as a brand, their products are great quality and I love their values, but their makeup shade range is terrible. I know small natural brands can’t release the 40 shades that I expect from the big brands out there, but two BB cream shades and 4 powder shades leaves a lot to be desired. The shades they refer to as light, aren’t anywhere near light enough for my skin tone and the powder shade they call dark isn’t very dark at all. I really like the formula of the La Mav Organic BB Creme but the light shade is so dark on me that it is unusable (my mum will get use out of it at least). I really hope the shade range is expanded to include a very fair pink shade, as I would love to try it with the right shade. It smooths out skin texture, leaves a natural skin-like finish and doesn’t feel drying on my skin. The ingredients are well thought out and it will be a good product to pair with an anti-ageing skincare routine. The Anti-ageing Mineral Foundation is finely milled and very smooth to apply. It can be used sheer or built up to a medium coverage, but I like it best when used in combination with the La Mav BB Creme. The powder is matte but it looks slightly more radiant due to the micro sparkles in the formula. I prefer my Eco Minerals Perfection Mineral Foundation as it isn’t as mattifying, so it looks that little bit nicer on my dry skin, but the La Mav Mineral Foundation is still a good mineral foundation. Unfortunately, the light shade is too dark for me to get any use out of. My skin is very very sensitive, and I have facial eczema and rosacea but neither product irritated my skin at all. Every La Mav product I have tried so far has been really well suited to sensitive skin, including the Eye Gel and Cleansing Creme I reviewed. The skincare range from La Mav is more extensive than the makeup range, and it covers all skin types and concerns. I have quite a few La Mav skincare products on my wish list that I would love to review, so hopefully I can do that for you in future. Some of the products on my wish list include Hyaluronan Daily Moisture Crème, Daily Vitamin-C Brightening Serum, Rumex Advanced Lightening Crème, Hyaluronic Acid Hydra-Max Serum, Vit-C Advanced Nightly Repair Nectar, Intense Moisture Nightly Repair Nectar, so if you have tried any of them, please let me know what you think of them. I have a mini skincare kit from La Mav ready for my upcoming long haul flight, but the products are too small to give you full reviews on, I will however be able to tell you if they’re suitable for sensitive skin, if that interest you. If you do ever want to purchase any La Lav products then I would really appreciate it if you used one of my affiliate links, for either the La Mav website, Flora and Fauna website or Nourished Life website. I love supporting brands that are cruelty free, vegan and have sustainability in mind. I have another review coming up soon on another green beauty brand, so stay tuned for that. If you want to keep up with what I’m posting, then you can sign up for email updates to get my blog posts sent to your email inbox or you can find me on social media – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Have you tried or do you want to try the La Mav BB Creme or Mineral Foundation? Are any of their other products on your wish list?
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