May Favourites

Due to revision and birthday goings on I haven't actually many favourites this month, apart from red velvet brownies, which I have completely gorged myself on in the past two weeks, I only have three, the first being my new blusher, Dallas, by Benefit which was a birthday present from my class.

It's actually the best blusher I own, and has knocked Coralista and Dandelion (coincidentally both Benefit) off of the top spot and works with Hoola (I promise this wasn't going to be a Benefit post!) in an attempt to make me look more human.

Describing colours, tones and especially scents really isn't my forte, but i'll give it a whirl.
It's a plummy toned blush with shimmer, unlike Hoola, and I think the darker colours within the blush help you look more tanned.
And with all Benefit blushes and bronzers, it smells really good.
Always a bonus to have sweet smelling cheeks!

The second is a beautiful bracelet from my one of my oldest pals, L. She had already got me a humongous bottle of champagne but she also gave me this,

It's a bracelet with skulls threaded onto it and I love it, I think it's based on a Links Of London design a few years ago but I adore it!

Last but certainly not least is my beautiful necklace from my godmother, Jill.

There are three charms, a turquoise heart (a colour that always makes me think of her and one of my favourite colours), a little heart with a pearl and a heart tag which she had sweetly got engraved, on one side was my name, and on the other the date of my 18th birthday, I love it so much and have been wearing it non stop!

April Favourites

My favourites of this month are ecletic to say the least, I guess they're actually more things I've been using or wearing a lot this month.
Not long ago my little sister went to Kenya, and brought us all back presents. Now, my mum used to live in South Africa when she was my age, we've been back several times and it has kind of become a "thing" between my mum, my sister and I that we have beaded key rings on our keys, so on my car keys I have a green rhino, my mum has a beaded SA flag but then we also have ornaments I've got a beaded lizard, mum has a beaded toad, you get the idea, we're a bit odd.
Anyway, my sister brought mum back the toad, and she brought me back some beaded bracelets made by the Masai.

Because its summer and everyone wants to look a little more "fresh faced" I've been using The Body Shop's Radiance Pearls, I use them along my brow bone and a little on top of my cheekbones.

This body butter smells so delicious, if I could send a smell from my computer to yours, I would. I think that most people know how great The Body Shop Body Butters are so I won't drone on about them, but the other fantabulous ones are Satsuma and Mango

I saw this when I was doing a food shop for my mum, I'm a big fan of the Rimmel Sun Shimmers and thought i'd try this one out, I think it's relatively new but it's basically the same as its sisters in that you really need a fake tan mitt to apply it and it works really well!

Loreal's Rouge Caresse lipsticks came out about a year ago and I found this lurking at the bottom of my make up bag, forgotten and unloved, but not anymore because it really is great. It's a combo of a lipstick, gloss and balm, so depending on how you apply it, it can come out really sheer or quite bold, it isn't unlike a Revlon Lip Butter, I have Aphrodite Scarlet (swatched below) but I'd be interested to try the coral or the red!

Are there any new things I should try out that you guys like?

Faking It

I went through a phase where my legs weren't a dissimilar colour to those belonging to Amy Childs. Thankfully that radioactive-glow look is behind me, but I like to think I've gotten better at applying it, and after trying more than a dozen fake tans I like to think I know which highstreet or drugstore fake tans are the better ones.

For a gradual glow: Johnson's Holiday Skin
Yes, it smells funny and everyone knows you've put it on but it goes on smoothly, when put on in moderation, and it comes in 2 tones, light and dark, I probably should be a light but I get dark because I usually want quick results.
I like a lot of gradual tan moisturisers, my favourites are Johnson's Holiday Skin, Garnier Summer Body, Dove Summer Glow and Palmer's Cocoa Butter Natural Bronze. The latter is probably my favourite and I keep meaning to buy it, for some reason I just prefer the smell of it.

Instant tan: Rimmel Sun Shimmer
I am a Rimmel fake tan collecter, it seems, as I have one of each sub-range. I use the basic wash off one if I quickly need a tan for school or something, the waterproof one if there is going to be water involved... Durr, and then I got their most recent "instant tan and gradual glow" a few days ago and it's great! I don't actually mind the sent of these too much, they're so easy to apply with a mitt and seeing as they're just so inexpensive and great I keep getting them, despite not using up its predecessor first! I have only ever used medium matte, but I'm curious to try the one with "shimmer" in for going out.

Proper fake tan: St. Moritz mousse
The St. Tropez rip off, but seriously, it's really good! Straight after you've put it on it shows, you'll definatley need a fake tan mitt, to put it on and you've got to work fast but the results are fab!

Le Visage: Piz Buin Summer Sensation
Probably the priceiest but this smells so nice! As you can tell, I'm a sucker for a good smell, but this works really well on my face and feels nice when you're putting it on too, it hasn't gone wrong on me.. Yet!

February Favourites

1st March is rolling around, I hope you're going to make some Welsh Cakes, I'm not even Welsh and I'm looking forward to them.
This month has gone hellishly quickly and I'm sorry about the lack of blog posts this past week but I've been doing my mock A levels oh, the unbounded joy that they bring.
I haven't got a great deal of favourites this month so I thought I'd throw in a few of my phone photos of what I've been up to.



My amazing boyfriend brought me back a chocolate ski from Austria



I roasted a chicken (apologies poor blackberry quality)

Eating breakfast like a king: porridge made with coconut milk with honey and chopped banana

My boyfriend has a real knack at knowing exactly what I like, especially when it comes to jewellery, which, from what I've heard is pretty rare.
He surprised me on Valentine's day with these beauties from Helen Odor and I've worn them nearly every day since.

I recently rediscovered this little Estee Lauder blush and bronzer quad, my favourites are the bottom left, Pink Kiss, because it's so fun and the bronzer, Bronze Goddess, which doesn't look like much but is nearly beating Benefit's Hoola for the make up bag spot.

Top: Nude Rose 11, Rosewood 13 Bottom: Pink Kiss 02, Bronze Goddess 01

Nude Rose, Rosewood, Pink Kiss, Bronze Goddess

I popped into Primark (one of the extensive range of shops that Ipswich has to offer... Not!) and I saw this blouse

 

The pattern isn't unlike the Willow pattern we have on our plates and bowls etc, which I personally think is really pretty and at £12 I couldn't find a reason not to buy it.

Now, in the shop this had rhinestones on the collar, I don't like rhinestones so I pulled them off, if you're doing the same, be careful, but it should be fine.

Finally, this MUA palette has been lying unopened in my make up drawer and I've really liked it. It's called the "Undressed" palette and it's a bit of a no brainer that it's a wanna be Naked palette!

 The colours are great but you need a primer to make them last all day.

 

My favourites are 2nd on the top row, for all over eyelid, 3rd on the top row for my brows and 4th on the bottom row for my crease and eyeliner.

Shade 2

Make up Bag

My make-up bag is pretty minimal, seeing as I'm at school/college/sixth form, whatever you want to call it, I don't really make an effort, so it's just BB cream and concealer for me on a weekday.

I do realise I am slightly contradicting myself, I relatively recently reviewed Laura Mercier's tinted moisturiser and while I think that it is great, I want something lighter for school and work, meet Garnier's BB cream.




I really like this, the thickness of it makes it feel like you're just putting on a moisturiser but with added coverage, I find that I don't really want to overload my skin to much on a regular basis and so this is perfect, I got a shade medium and I'm normally quite pale but I thought this would give me that "healthy glow" and I've had compliments on my skin since using this.

For my concealer I am a big fan of Maybelline's coverstick (similar) in Ivory for any redness or other blemishes and then I use the blogger famous Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in 2. I have been through numerous tubes of these and I find them to be so great on pesky under eye circles.




















Blusher wise I only have eyes for Coralista by Benefit, it looks great with a tan and instantly brightens.
Benefit's Hoola is my bronzer of choice and I find it to be really natural looking as it has no shimmer, it basically is a really dark powder and the benefit with these Benefit (sorry... accidental!) boxed blushes/bronzers is that they seem to last for forever, so you get your money's worth.

 


I occasionally use eyeliner and I have found the best to be Colorstay eyeliner by Revlon in Brown as it doesn't come off until you want it off.
I also like to "brighten" my eyes using two eyeliners I found while on holiday in Italy by a brand called KIKO, they were so inexpensive and just as I was running out, they opened up a shop in Westfield Stratford, luckily they have now got an online store for the UK, the blue eyeliner is here, shade 809 and I like to put this on the outer corners of my lower lash line. The pearly white eyeliner is this, which I put along my inner lower lash line.

The eyeshadow is by Natural Collection and is in the colour Barley, I couldn't find it online, but they should have it in a local Boots. The gold is really flattering on my green/blue eyes and looks great with a tan and black liquid eyeliner.

 

 After curling my eyelashes I use Estee Lauder's mascara which lengthens and stays put until I want to take it off, which is perfect!

For my lips I just use Benefit's Benetint Lipbalm which I reviewed here in my January Favourites.

A Couple of January Favourites

I am not the biggest fan of spicy food, this could be down to my mother thinking she had roasted a sweet pepper, me wolfing it down and realising that it was not a sweet pepper at all, it was, in fact, a yellow chilli and I wrongly drank so much water that I felt ill.

These, on the other hand are delicious, they are peanuts that have been coated in something with nori or other and then rolled in wasabi powder and they are incredibly morish, hence why the packet is only half full as I had already tucked in.
 

I got mine from the local food hall, but these are the closest that Amazon have.
 

Next up is my favourite lipbalm from Benefit which is half price in their sale!

The balm is sheer so it's great for those who, like me, aren't bold enough to wear a full red lip, and when you know its SPF 15, moisturising and smells of roses, you can't really go wrong, especially for the sale price of £7.

 The fact that both products are by Benefit is completely accidental but "That Gal" is great, again, and I think this is the same with most Benefit products, it smells delish, like raspberries.

It's marketed as an illuminating primer, but I also like to put it on my cheek and brow bones for extra "light"

 

This could be seen as an odd favourite, but this is about both the brand and the jumper.

Beyond Retro is a company who sell vintage clothes and accessories, now I'm a huge fan of thick, warm jumpers, and I get them from these guys. Nearly all of their jumpers are 100% wool and for the quality, they are so inexpensive (mine was £25).

After buying my boyfriend a cream cable knit jumper from them for Christmas, and when it arrived it provoked a great deal of jealousy on my part, I thought I had better get my own.

 

 

 

Apologies for the less than flattering picture, but I wanted to show how it fitted and self-timer really wasn't working out for me!