When beauty brand, Pixi recently invited me to one of their events to showcase their new products, I wasn’t expecting anything to cater for my Asian-mix skin tone…

But as with all these swanky events I get invited to, there’s usually pretty canapés and cocktails, plus my previous fashion assistant from my days as Fashion & Beauty Editor on Bliss magazine (R.I.P.) now heads up their PR & Events (*shout out to Holly, drops the mic!) so if anything, it was a chance to catch up with industry friends over some fancy fizz and cute cupcakes.

As for being blown away by their products, I wasn’t expecting anything too ground breaking.

You know that moment in Pretty Woman when Vivian goes back into the snooty store after maxing out Edward’s AMEX elsewhere on Rodeo Drive “Big mistake! HUGE mistake!”

When it comes to admitting that I’m wrong, I’m a Leo, so it’s always going to be tough, ha! However, we’re all grown-ups here, so here goes.

Being of mixed-origin (Mauritian & Filipino) and working closely with the beauty industry across newspapers and magazines for nearly two decades, I’ve seen the  market change a lot since my teenage years. Gone are the days of having to wear chalk-like Rimmel and Cover Girl formulations of ‘beige’ and ‘caramel’ that just made me look ‘ashen-faced’.

While there’s still a way to go (after all this can’t simply be about having a ‘dark’ shade in a range to tick a box) it does mean that women and girls of colour are being represented and not made to feel like they have to settle for something sub standard due to lack of choice or worse, not being catered for at all!

I guess years of being frustrated with trying to find a foundation that actually suits me – that doesn’t cost a small fortune – is probably why!

So when Pixi make-up artist Amanda Bell offered to do my make-up at the event, I was prepared for her to make that all too common mistake when it comes to working with my skin colour – going too dark or too light and having to mix a gazillion shades together to get it right.

She offered to contour my face (LOL!) and by this point I’d had a few cocktails, so I thought, at the very least, it’d be a bloody good giggle!

When I look back at the pictures now, I am still as amazed as I was that evening. It wasn’t all those cocktails that had blurred my vision and complexion, he-he!

I’d gone from oily (I usually go oily by about 11am!) to matte in about 15 minutes as Amanda expertly explained how this contouring technique would subtly sculpt my face while a talc-free powder would set it without it looking ‘cakey’.

“Forget the frightening Kardashian connotations when it comes to contouring,” Amanda reassured me – and she was bang on! I was SO impressed with the results.

I admitted that I’d probably get it hideously wrong and end up looking like a frightening Kardashian at drop-off, so asked her to recommend some must-buys for a busy Mama…

First of all, she recommended good skin care products. Again, she was spot on because, if anything, the older I get (I’m 41 in July) the less I want to experiment with colour cosmetics. I’m more interested in great skincare and prefer to stick to my signature make-up – eye flicks, natural skin coverage and either a red or nude matte lip.

My verdict? It’s incredible. Their cult-status, exfoliating Glow Tonic is a game changer!

No wonder beauty-blogger-guru-massivo, Caroline Hirons is behind the brand with her awesome Double Cleanse hero product.

And as for finding me a fuss-free, lightweight coverage, once again, Amanda knew exactly what would work.

One concealer – BAM! (Amanda recomended an apricot shade for me to reduce dark circles and any acne scarring, as I suffer from hormonal breakouts).

It’s so rare for me to be able to have the luxury of one shade, one bottle. Usually I have to mix at least two to get the right colour and sometimes add moisturiser to get that dewy texture – it can be such an almighty faff!

So you can imagine my utter happy-happy-joy-joy at now having such an effortless make-up routine that fits easily into those manic mornings.

In true Vivian style, just after she’s watched the opera; “I almost peed my pants!”

Thank you Pixi and I’m sorry that I doubted you!

And thank YOU for reading.

As always, scroll down and comment below.

*Pixi by Petra is available in quite a few stockists including M&S, House of Fraser and on asos.com. Their flagship shop is just off Carnaby Street, London.