June Favourites

I would say Summer has finally arrived although looking outside doesn’t really confirm that. Weather woes aside, I have got a mix of beauty favourites that I have been loving all month long. Of course as I was soaking up the sun this month, I have a few favourites that helped prep me for my time in the sun and embrace the summer vibes.

Starting with the makeup bits I have been loving, as you can see that beauty of a palette in the corner; the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit (Now Back in Stock!!), it was actually the addition of the Ambient Lighting Bronzer that I have been obsessed with! With the arrival of Summer, I have been ditching my matte bronzers in exchange for something more shimmery. This one fits the bill perfectly as it definitely packs the glow factor. I never got the most wear out of this shade as it has always been that bit too dark on my skin but right now with a light hand, it adds a gorgeous luminosity and basically makes me feel like a bronze goddess, what is not to love!?

I can never have a monthly favourites without a lip product and this month I have two loves. The first is Mac Flat Out Fabulous, a gorgeous bold fuchsia plum shade that I mentioned in my Summer lip picks post. It is such a unique shade and is super flattering on as well as having a really comfortable yet long wearing finish. The other is The Balm Meet Matte Hughes Liquid Lipstick in Committed. I basically want all the liquid lipsticks at the moment and this one had been on my list for a while. The shade is just everything I had been looking for, a deep pink nude that isn’t too dark. The formula feels super comfortable and is long wearing as well as leaving a nice stain on the lips once it wears down. I definitely need to try more of these!

Other bits and pieces that I have been loving will come as no surprise as I have mentioned all of these products this month on the blog. The first is a nail polish from Essie in the shade Sunshine State of Mind. This shade is a gorgeous vivid orange-y coral shade that is part of the Essie Summer 2016 collection. I wore this for the majority of the month when I was away and it looks pretty damn awesome with a tan!

Lastly, come summer I am all about those fresh and fruity scents and my last two favourites are the perfect examples! The first is the ck2 fragrance which I mentioned more in detail in this post. I love this fresh and woody scent, it will definitely be a long time everyday favourite of mine. Of course as well I have been obsessed with the Body Shop Pinita Colada range. I dedicated a whole post to it here, I have been loving everything that I’ve tried and the coconut-pineapple scent is so dreamy!

What have you been loving this month?

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2015 Beauty Favourites: Base & Cheek Products

It’s that time for a mammoth of a favourites post! With 2015 over and done with, it’s time to look back at some of my top beauty products from the year. If you are a regular reader around these parts then most of the products may not be a big surprise to you! This is actually the first time I have ever done a whole yearly favourites so as I have so many products and didn’t want to bore you all with an essay of a blog post I have split this in to two parts. Today’s post will look into my favourite base/cheek products so foundation, concealer, blush etc. Then on Wednesday I will be rounding up my favourite eye/lip products. So I will stop blabbing on now and get on with my 2015 favourites…

Primer

There is only one primer that has ever really done it for me. That is without a doubt the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. I mentioned this already just last week in my December Favourites but this is holy grail level for me. I tried out a sample of this at either the end of 2014/start of 2015 and in one try I was completely blown away! I was of course also super happy to pick it up during a flight this summer were I got it for a pretty bargain! This primer creates such a velvety soft finish to my skin which lets my foundation slip on top super easily. It makes my makeup last super long like crazy and it still manages to keep my base looking fresh and flawless. Couldn’t recommend it enough!

Foundation/ Base products 

There is three base products that I truly fell for this year. All of which will be no surprise to you! Weirdly enough each one has a completely different finish from one another but it means I’ve got something good to cover all bases. First up, the tinted moisturiser lightweight base. BareMinerals Complexion Rescue stole my heart during the year with its flawless skin in a bottle formula. This is one for a good skin day as it does have a much lighter coverage. Although it basically gives you better skin, it is super glowy and fresh and makes you feel like a VS Angel, pretty much! Check my review for that one here.

For a more fuller coverage, night out option and just overall incredible foundation, Nars Sheer Glow wins hands down! I had been desperate to try this foundation for far too long and finally took the plunge earlier in 2015 and I am ever so glad I did! The shade Mont Blanc is the perfect fit for my skin and coverage is super buildable. It also doesn’t include SPF so is perfect for nights out! Just a perfect foundation in my books, check my full review here.

Lastly, a surprise new favourite came my way from the drugstore not too long ago. I don’t usually get on well with drugstore foundations although this seemed to work a dream with my skin. The L’Oreal Infallible 24h-Matte is the foundation in question. I never ever swayed towards matte foundations, with glowy and satin finishes more up my street but this formula is just great, it’s not too matte and has a nice natural look whilst still providing good coverage. At an affordable price, it’s such a great everyday option, check my review here.

Conceal & Correct

Concealer is always something I had been on the hunt for, something that provided good long lasting coverage without caking. The Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer seemed to fit the bill. This is just the perfect concealer for me when covering blemishes, it offers great coverage and is super blendable with a thick consistency. The fact I am now running out makes me feel pretty darn sad! I don’t know how to deal without my Nars concealer! Check my full review here.

At the start of the year, corrector is something I would never have considered. Not just because I wouldn’t have needed it but also because I probably never knew what it was. That was until the Bobbi Brown corrector made its way into my life. I get discoloration under my eyes and I turned to trying the cult BB corrector in a bid to fix up my blue under eyes. This product works wonders on me, the creamy formula is super easy to work with and blends in nicely on the skin without caking or creasing. It offers really great coverage too and hides any noticeable discoloration.

Cheek Products

At the start of the year I never cared so much for bronzer. I never really seen the need for it although that was until I tried The Body Shop Honey Bronzer. This is hands down one of my best makeup discoveries ever. The shade is just so perfect for my fair skin and isn’t too warm at all. As well as giving my skin a bit of warmth, it also adds shape and definition which I just love. It is also a complete bargain!

This year also saw my love for blush grow. I don’t know why I love it so much but I have always been forever looking for more blush to add to my collection. In 2015, I finally tried out the well hyped Hourglass brand. After getting my hands on the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit, I got to try out a couple more blushes and other products in their powder range. The one that I truly fell for though was Mood Exposure, a gorgeous mauve plum shade which looks super natural on the skin. The formula for these are also unbeatable! Check my review of the palette here.

What was your favourite base products from 2015?

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The Best Holiday Beauty Buys

We are well and truly in the swing of all things Christmas now! With the countdown fully on (3 weeks to go!!!) its time to get that party outfit sorted and of course make sure all the Christmas shopping is done. I truly love this time of year when it comes to beauty products as there is so many great deals but also those lust worthy limited edition gift sets that obviously make a great gift but are also a pretty good gift to yourself too! I couldn’t hold myself back this year and picked up a few Christmas beauty products that are a great way of trying products out without the commitment of a full size. There is a million gift guides out there but I thought I would share some of the best beauty holiday sets that would make the perfect gift for a beauty lover or maybe just yourself!

MAC never fail to disappoint at this time of year with their Festive collections. With brush kits, lip-gloss sets and mini palettes there is so much to choose from. Although something I’ve always wanted to try from Mac is their pigments and I am still kicking myself for not picking up the set last year although I made up for it this year. With three pigment sets available from a blue toned set, a purple and a bronze, I went for the more wearable bronze collection that contains 3 pigments and a 1 glitter. Shimmer and sparkle is perfect for this time of year so these pigments are great for the party season. I know loose pigments are a bit intimidating but after trying one of them out I have to say there is nothing to be worried about. I didn’t find them overly messy at all, simply spraying a flat shader brush with face mist, it picks up the product so well without any fall out. I really cannot wait to get these out for Christmas and New Year although any recommendations on using the glitter as it isn’t eye safe? Anyway at £26 its a pretty good deal and a great way to try your hand at pigments!

You can also always count on Benefit to have a fab selection of gift sets at this time of year to suit every budget. I am a huge fan of Benefit and if you haven’t tried a lot of their products then their gift sets are a great way to as they contain some of the Benefit classics that everyone loves. Again I am pretty annoyed at myself for not picking up the blush set from last year but a very similar product was released this year. The Real Cheeky Party set contains 5 of their Box O’ Powders; Dandelion, Rockateur, Sugarbomb, Hoola and Coralista which is one less than last year but also has the addition of a mini Watt’s up highlighter, They’re Real eyeliner and my favourite They’re Real mascara. In terms of the powders, I have only used Hoola before hand so the set is a great way to try out some of their popular blushes as well as their gorgeous highlighter. At £29.50 with a value of over £100 it is a complete steal.

For a budget friendly stocking filler, Too Faced have released a mini version of their Better Than Sex mascara for a more affordable £10. I spoke about my thoughts on this one here but this cute little mini is a great way to try it out if like me you have desperate to see what all the hype is about.

For skincare lovers, Emma Hardie also have the perfect stocking filler, a mini of their classic moringa cleansing balm with a cleansing cloth. I have heard so much about this cleanser and have been wanting to try it out for so long but with a high price tag it hadn’t been scored off the wishlist although this is a great way to try it out especially at a very decent £10! Skincare can be pretty tricky to buy as gifts if you don’t know about how someone else’s skin is although as this is suited to all skin types it will make a perfect gift!

Apologies for mentioning this for the billionth time but I couldn’t miss another opportunity to talk about the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit. A totally gorgeous palette set with six different powders including bronzer, blush and setting powder. It is the perfect palette with everything you need in it making it great for traveling and all the powders are great quality. At £65 the value for money is pretty awful but it looks super gorgeous! Check my full review here.

Lastly, one of my favourite little holiday sets comes from Becca. Their highlighters are super popular and I’ve been longing to try them for so long so the Glow on the Go set is the perfect gift for those trying to get their highlight on ‘fleek’. The set contains a mini of their Skin Perfector Pressed in the shade Opal and their Shimmering Skin Perfector Opal in a spotlight wand. The powder is super pigmented and creamy and the liquid perfector is super dewy on the skin. At £20 it is a fab buy and great to try the Becca range out!

Have you bought any beauty Christmas gift sets this year?

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November Favourites

Since I started doing monthly favourites I don’t think I have ever had as many favourites in the one month. I picked up quite a few new bits and bobs for my beauty drawers over the past couple of months so I’ve been basically been wearing a whole new face this month and I am loving everything I’ve picked up. There is a couple of totally expected favourites that I spoke about in the last couple of weeks and a few others that I have been waiting to share with you all, so without further ado here is my November favourites…

Going to get the most obvious one of out the way first, the most gorgeous palette I’ve ever seen, the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit (check my full review here). Since I got this I have been using it every day and I just adore it. All of the powders are such great quality and beautifully finely milled so don’t look to heavy or overdone. My two favourites from the palette that I have been using the most is Diffused Light, one of the Ambient Lighting Powders which is a gorgeous pale yellow toned powder that I use to set my makeup all over and Mood Exposure, a gorgeous mauve plum blush. Speaking of Mood Exposure, another one of my favourites is a complete dupe for the mauve shade, Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Lavish Mauve is total steal at a fraction of the price. I had been eying this one up for a while and I am so glad I got it as it is so gorgeous and such a bargain!

Another bargain blush I fell head over heels for is the Illamasqua Cream Blush in Zygomatic. After a little trip to my local TK Maxx I found this on one of the shelves at a bargain £4.99! The blush is actually still sold and isn’t discontinued so I definitely got a great deal there! I am not really one for cream blushes but I really like this. It applies beautifully with a stippling blush and has a gorgeous soft natural rosy pink hue that adds a little flush of colour to the cheeks.

After my rave review of the L’Oreal Infallible Matte Foundation how would I not mention it! This is without a doubt the best drugstore foundation I’ve ever used. This is pretty much the only base I’ve been reaching for during the month, it applies beautifully without a cakey or drying feeling despite being a matte finish. It has great coverage and is pretty lightweight too, I couldn’t ask for anything more!

I have heard so many people rave about the Lush Comforter and when I heard about their new shower cream I had to get my hands on it asap. It has the most dreamiest scent of blackberries which feels so warm and cosy. It has lasted me quite a while too despite being the small version of the bottle and whilst I absolutely adore Lush Snow Fairy I am slightly favoring this at the minute!

Lastly, I had a handful of lip product faves this month that I have to mention. Two of which surprisingly were lip glosses! Yep you heard me right, I am typically not a fan of gloss formulas but I may have been swayed by two products this month. The first being from H&M which I spoke about here, Tuscan Blush is a lovely mauve my lips but better shade and the other being from Fleur de Force’s makeup line and is her lip gloss in the shade Starry Starry Night which is a gorgeous deep pink berry shade perfect for this time of year. Both formulas are pretty similar, they are both quite thick in consistency but don’t feel overly sticky with a high pigment finish. They are great alternatives to my usual lipstick choices and I have even ordered another shade from the Fleur de Force line which I cannot wait to give a try!

I was also totally hyped to see the arrival of NYX to the UK this month. I pretty much couldn’t deal with all the praise from the US gals about how good the matte lip creams were so I was pretty darn happy to see they are much more available in the UK now! I picked up two lip creams but the one I’ve been wearing all month long is Stockholm, a gorgeous pink nude shade that is so perfect for everyday wear. Finally, my last lip fave comes from Bobbi Brown in the form of their Art Stick in the shade Bright Raspberry. I had been eyeing this up for so long and with some House of Fraser rewards points to use I had to make the purchase. It’s kinda like the lipstick version of the Fleur de Force lipgloss, a gorgeous fuchsia plum-y shade which adds a twist on the usual deep pink with a bit of purple tones in the mix. A gorgeous shade with a fab formula, I need more!

What did you love during the month of November?

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The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette

Can we all just take a moment of appreciation for how damn beautiful this is! I don’t quite think I’ve seen something so gorgeous! *heart-eyed emojis everywhere* Since I seen the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette for the first time back in July as a little teaser of what was to come from the festive season I just knew this had to mine. After falling in love with one of the Hourglass blushes I just needed a little more Hourglass in my life and what’s a better way to try them out than this palette!? Set with three powders, two blushes and a bronzer, it is the perfect all in one palette that would be perfect for traveling and on the go. Encased in the usual gold hourglass mirrored compact with a very handy large mirror, it certainly looks the part sitting on my dressing table. So at an eye-watering £65 is it worth the buzz?

The top row includes three of the Ambient Lighting Powders; Dim Light, Iridescent Light and Diffused Light. Dim Light is the darkest of the three and is a peach-beige shade that is said to blur imperfections and highlight the complexion. Personally this shade is a little too dark as an all over setting powder on my complexion and instead works best to slightly warm up my skin. Iridescent Light is the exclusive shade to the palette and is a light pearly pink shimmery powder. This works as a gorgeous highlight shade for on the cheekbones although it does have specks of glitter running through it so probably isn’t for everyone. The last powder in the top row is the the one I’ve been waiting to try for so long and the classic blogger favourite; Diffused Light. This shade is a soft pale yellow powder that works at concealing redness. This shade is the perfect match with my skin as an all over setting powder, whilst it looks shimmery in the pan it doesn’t translate on to the skin and adds a fresh glow.

The bottom row includes the three colour powders for adding a little warmth and shade to the face. It includes two blushes; Mood Exposure and Luminous Flush. Mood Exposure is a light plum mauve shade which is the perfect natural blush tone and one I’ve had on my wish list for a while. It works perfectly with my pale complexion and adds a natural warmth to the cheeks. Luminous Flush is much brighter in comparison and is described as a ‘champagne rose’ shade. This adds a lovely flush of colour to the cheeks and a shade I think will look gorgeous during the Summer months with tanned skin. Having already used the Hourglass blush formula before I knew what to expect and wasn’t left disappointed. They are without a doubt one of the most gorgeous blushes I have ever used, the formula is super lightweight and lifts the skin by giving it a hint of colour and a soft radiant glow. The blushes have a shimmery finish but don’t appear overly shimmery or glittery on the skin at all. Last but not least, the Luminous Bronze Light also makes an appearance which is a soft shimmery bronze shade. I was never particularly interested in trying the bronzer formula but I was quite looking forward to giving it a try in this palette. The light shade works nicely with my skin and doesn’t appear muddy or orange toned. When it comes to bronzer I am more into matte formulas rather than shimmery so this one was never going to be a favourite although it adds a gorgeous warmth to the skin. Again this is one I think I will reserve for the warmer months when I want that tanned bronzed up look.

Whilst the palette offers a gorgeous collection of powders, the price tag and value for money isn’t so great. At £65 is doesn’t come cheap at all but is particularly poor when weighing up the overall worth of this palette. I am not going to go into all the maths here but what I will say is that at £65 for 1.4g of product compared to the usual Ambient Lighting Blushes which are priced at £28 for 4.2g of product, it really is poor value for money. The pan sizes are quite small as you would expect with the product weighting although I haven’t had too much trouble with fitting my brushes in the pans. If you do own quite a few Hourglass products especially the other palettes then I am aware some of the powders in this palette also make an appearance in others which means I probably wouldn’t suggest splashing the cash on this one. As beautiful as it is, you are much better getting a full sized blush or powder for a cheaper price. Although if you haven’t dabbled too much in Hourglass then it makes a great way to try out a few of their popular powder products. Also I am sure it will make a great Christmas gift! So it may not be great value but I do admit I light up with happiness every time I bring this palette out to play!

Are you a fan of Hourglass?

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