November Favourites

I don’t have many this month as I’ve been trying to curb my spending so I’ve been going through my collection and using a bit of everything. I decided this month that I don’t use my cream blushes enough. Actually I hardly ever use them so I decided I was going to use nothing but cream blush for the entire month. I only have four and do you know what? I’ve really been enjoying them! I don’t know why I didn’t use them more before. I have the Topshop Cream Blushes in Neon Rose and Pinch and Maybelline Dream Mouse Blushes in Dolly Pink and Peach Satin. Pinch gets a special mention as I’ve been using it as a blush and on my lips too! 

My Rimmel Moisture Renew lipsticks get a mention too. I’ve been finding lipstick a little hard to wear recently as the cold weather plays havoc with my skin leaving my lips dry and flaky. These live up to their name and really do leave my lips feeling hydrated. 

My new MAC palette is really my new favourite thing. I took out the divider and started depotting random shadows like a mad woman. There were a couple of casualties (my beloved NYX white frost *sob*) but I think I have the hang of it now. There are a load of MAC shadows, some NYX, No7, MUA and a Bourjois shadow in here. I bought magnets off eBay. It’s been so handy to have all these colours together. 

My favourite actual makeup acquisition of the month has definitely been my little MAC Blue Brown pigment from the Smoky Thrill seekers set. It is such a gorgeous colour (reddish brown but reflects teal in some lights). 

Marc Jacobs Lola is a perfume which will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s the perfume I wore on my wedding day! It’s a little heavier than what I would normally wear during the day in the warmer months but now with the seemingly perpetual darkness it feels just right. To me it’s feminine, classic and rich.

What have you been using a lot this month? Let me know in the comments! X

*I bought all of the above things myself*

October Favourites

Happy Halloween everyone! I love October. It’s all snugly jumpers, deep colours and spicy scents. Here’s what I’ve been making dents in throughout the month:

Mememe Boxed Blush in Rouge – a gorgeous reddish pink with subtle gold shimmer. This is the kind of shade that suits me best and I love blushes with a touch of red in them for getting a ‘just in from the cold’ flush. And it’s less than a tenner, score!

Sleek Storm Palette – This is my favourite of all the Sleek palettes. I have a ridiculous amount of eyeshadow and yet I keep coming back to this when I’m rushing to get ready for work. 

Clinique Super balanced Foundation – My skin doesn’t know what’s happening right now. It’s still oily thanks to my two weeks in the sun but the dry patches associated with the colder weather are starting to appear. This foundation works for all areas. This is the lightest shade (Alabaster) and whilst it’s a perfect match for me in the summer it will probably be a touch dark in the winter so I wanted to get as much use out of it while I still can. 

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Golden Olive – less harsh than black, prettier than brown and office friendly. I’ve already made a fair sized dent in this. 

Benefit Browzings – I find this holds my unruly brows in place far better than even my beloved clear mascara so whenever I have time to use this in the morning I do. Also as I recently dyed my hair darker and redder I’ve been doing a stronger brow and loving it.

No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Pink Crush – I actually got this free in one of their gift with purchase sets. I love the formula which is completely none drying and the sheer deep pink shade is a wearable introduction to a slightly berry lip. I’ve been wearing it under...

 Lippie on the bottom, gloss on the top ^

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Frankly Flirty – I think this has been discontinued unfortunately. I got it at an outlet shop ages ago and haven’t seen it anywhere else. It’s a gorgeous berry shade. In the tube it has micro fine silver glitter but it doesn’t really look shimmery on the lips at all. If you see it snap it up! (Or if it’s not discontinued let me know ;-) 

If you’ve done a monthly favourites post please leave a link in the comments. I love reading them x

*I bought all the above products myself*

September Favourites

Just as September lulls us into a false sense of security tempting us with woolly jumpers and snugly boots we are told we are about to have a heat wave. DAMN YOU WEATHER FOLK! Confusing forecasting aside it’s been a funny month for me makeup wise. I think a combination of too much work, too little sleep and the monotony of project ten pan has led to me being stuck in a little makeup rut. I plan on mixing it up a lot more next month. When I have been a good girl and trowled on the slap this is what I’ve been wearing.

Shimmery blush is an unusual pick for me. I normally like my blush and my bronzer matte so that I can add shimmer only where I want it with my highlighter. Unfortunately bronzer and highlighter have been forgotten most days in my rush to get out the door so I’ve been trying to stop my skin looking quite so flat with a little shimmah shimmah.

When I’ve not been wearing the Benefit You Rebel Lite which I’m trying to use up I’ve been using a rather odd combination mixed together in that sample pot. The Revlon Color Stay is too light and a touch too heavy for me at the moment. The Stila Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser is way too dark. Together though? Perfection. It lasts as long as the Color Stay but with a softer finish.

In the absence of time to create elaborate eye looks I’ve been reaching for brighter lipsticks to perk up my face. This one from Ruby & Mille is called Red Sheer and is.... a sheer red. The juicy sheer formula means that it isn’t high maintenance like most reds. It just fades evenly and you can chuck it on and go.

I don’t mean to go on about it but have I mentioned how tired I’ve been lately? Yes? Well I’ll shut up about it in a minute. Tired enough to double up on my concealer, that’s how fricking tired I’ve been. On tinted moisturiser days the Garnier roll on isn’t enough so I pop that on underneath my tinted moisturiser and the MAC Select Moisture on over the top. They seem to sit well together and it’s the makeup equivalent of one coat emulsion on my under eye circles. Except it’s not one coat...

*All product mentioned bought by me*

August Go To Products

This is kind of a favourites post (my first actually)only not really. These are the products that have taken a beating in the last month. Not necessarily my favourites but the ones that I’ve been reaching for over everything else. This was kinda tough as I’m still doing my project ‘use everything you’ve got at least once’ so I’ve been wearing totally different looks every day. Nonetheless I’ve found a few products have been plucked from the drawers by default when I wasn’t sure what else to wear.

Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara in waterproof: I love this and will be doing a full review soon. I’ve been picking this up as it is actually the only waterproof mascara I currently own. With the remnants of my hay fever lingering and a pretty stressful month causing a few mini breakdowns the waterproof er... ness has been invaluable.

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in By Candlelight: glowy but never glittery, this is just more suited to day time than many of my other highlighters so it gets used more!

No7 Blush in Honey: It’s a neutral dirty peach that when used lightly looks incredibly natural on me. I tap the flat side of a blush brush on it then bounce it off my cheeks for a barely there flush. Love it!

MAC Eyeshadow in Blanc Type: It doesn’t matter what eye look I’m wearing I use this every day. It’s a matte cream shade that despite being well pigmented does not show up on my pale skin. I use it daily to blend out the edges of my eyeshadow and to correct mistakes. I have a really small lid space so it’s easy for me to over apply shadow making this little eraser invaluable.

UDPP in Sin: I’m a shimmer kind of girl when it comes to shadows. An eye primer that adds more shimmer? Yes please!

MAC Lipstick in Viva Glam Cyndi: I need a backup of this and I can’t wait for the matching lip glass to come out either. It’s my favourite wearable red. I wear this every weekend with a really simple eye and winged liner. In fact this and UDPP Sin with winged liner is about as quick and easy as makeup gets.

Collection 2000 Concealer: I have way too many concealers and they need using up sooner rather than. This is first on my list. It’s actually pretty effective though it doesn’t cover quite as well as I would like. If you try and layer it it does gets cakey but a thin layer will last you all day. The tube seems never ending though... I thought it would be done my now but it just keeps on going! I wish the packaging was see through so I knew how much was left.

Would you like to see more of these kinds of posts? What have you been reaching for throughout August? Let me know in the Comments! Xx

*Everything up there was bought by me with actual money apart from the UDPP Sin which was bought with Boots points*

August Favourite

I’m never any good at favourites posts simply because I like to try and use different products every day so that nothing goes unloved. Add to that my current project ten pan and it’s looking positively dull. Nevertheless there are a couple of things that I have really enjoyed this month.

Sleek Oh So Special palette. Let’s be honest, we are suffering a little bit of Sleek overload at the moment. The endless parade of new palettes can be a bit overwhelming. And yet despite all of the other new palettes that have come out recently this is the one I keep reaching for.

Botanic Soothing Eye Makeup Remover. I bid a fond farewell to my last bottle of Lancôme Bi Facil knowing it will be a long time until I can afford to purchase it again. So I reverted back to the Botanics version and realised that really there isn’t any difference between the two. They both work equally well for me, neither irritate my eyes or dry out the skin underneath them. And the Botanics version is a couple of quid. Winner!

Clinique Lip gloss in 09 Currant. This was free in a magazine a while ago. Now you won’t get any colour from this but what you do get is a super thick slightly tacky lip balm. Tick and sticky might not sound nice but it means it lasts for ages on the lips. I’ve been chucking this on when my normal lipbalms haven’t been cutting it.

 

The Body Shop Sea Weed Pore Perfector.  I’m convinced that this is what has reduced my breakouts to a bare minimum lately. It’s amazing and I love it.

Rapidlash Lash Enhancing Serum. I have bambi lashes now. Just sayin’.

Are you doing a favourites post this month? If so link me to it in the comments!

*Everything was bought by me*

May Lovelies

I find favourites posts quite hard to do as I try and use different products every day. This month though I’ve been all about the quick and easy slap. This is evidenced by my first favourite; and angled brush (this particular one is from Celia Birtwell). Instead of using my usual gel liner which is a faff and means you have to wash your brush every day I’ve been lining my eyes using whatever eyeshadow I fancy. It’s a much softer look and super quick to do. 

The Illamasqua Sirens palette has had a fair few uses too this month. The brown/ yellow gold shade are neutral enough for work but I line the bottom lash line with the bright blue and the top with the dark teal to make it a little more fun.

If I had time to sit for 5 minutes I’d be grateful, let alone fake tan. So I’m back to using my pale foundations now and my trusty Revlon Color Stay has been the foundation of choice. It lasts the work day (with blotting/ powdering) and the high coverage is definitely needed at the moment! 

The ELF Gotta Glow blush (highlighter) was a recent purchase and one that needs a proper review. I’ll just say here that I love it. 

Laugh all you want but the Katy Perry Purrr Perfume looks adorabubble and smells lovely. I’m not one for celebrity fragrances as I generally find them too sickly sweet but this is a little deeper and fruitier. Definitely worth a sniff!

What have you been loving this last month? Please feel free to leave a link to your favourites posts in the comments! xx