February Favourites!

The speed that this year is going by is totally mind boggling! How is it already March?! Anyway this month I have been trying lots of new things and some of them I totally LOVE!! So here goes...

Dior Skin NUDE in shade 010- £32.00

This is such an incredible foundation. It has amazing lasting power, a good selection of colours, and provides light to medium (buildable) coverage. This foundation looks beautiful on the skin, providing a slightly natural glow, making me look like I have had a really good night sleep!! I have worn this pretty much every day since I purchased it (which is a major rarity for me). 

Vitage Age Defence Power Skin repair- £53 

For those of you who have followed me for a while, you will know I am a massive fan of PRIORI and Vitage skin care. These two companies make incredible products that work beautifully together. I have been using their products on and off for the last 2 years and its fair to say I will never stray from them again. This is my 5th tub of this moisturiser and I adore it. This doesn't break me out, doesn't contain any nasties, is a super- antioxidant and is anti ageing! Its a total miracle worker and I adore it! Although it has a big price tag, it is totally worth it. I get mine from Louise Thomas Minns (if your in the Norwich area) who owns the amazing skin lounge U and your skin www.uandyourskin.co.uk. Although she doesn't sell it online, you should pay her website and youtube channel a visit, she is my skin guru!!! 

PRIORI Daily Defence protector spf 30- £17

This is my daily, everyday sunscreen. It is non- greasy and has a gorgeous soft feel to it. It is a broad spectrum sunscreen so it protects against both UVA and UVB rays, which is turn stops sun damage and ageing. I really like this product and it has lasted me ages. It sits beautifully under makeup and has no nasties in it!! YAY.

Dior Rosy Glow- £30.50

Im not going to say too much about this as I did a blog post on it recently!! All I'm going to say is I LOVE it!!! It is such a clever product.

Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow paint in 'Rich Russet'- £4.99

This is my go to eye shadow for my manic work days. It is so easy to blend, lasts all day and looks beautiful. This product really surprised me as usually drugstore eye shadows don't last particularly well on me. However this super offering from Rimmel is giving my beloved Maybelline colour tattoo and run for its money. It must be good!

Chanel Illusion D Ombre in 82 Emerveille- £24

I first came across this eyeshadow when I did the Pixiwoo course last summer. As soon as I tried it I went out an purchased it and love it so much I have now hit pan (or glass as its a glass pot, but you get the idea). This is my go to no makeup, makeup eyeshadow. It is slightly shimmery but not in an overpowering sense. I usually tend to put it all over my eye and blend some bronzer through the crease to create a simple but effective eye look. This lasts really, really well and looks beautiful over the course of the day. I have been on the hunt for a drugstore dupe but as of yet I have had no luck! 

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer- £5.99

I did a blog post all about this beauty! It is an incredible drugstore primer, which I use every single day!! I love it so much I have just re-purchased it (the sign of true love)!!

Sleek Brow Stylist in Light- £5.99

This is a new offering from Sleek, which I picked up on a recent visit to Superdrug. This product is quite waxy, but is really easy to use. It has a slanted tip, which is brilliant for shaping the wider and thinner parts of your brows with the thicker and thinner sides. This also has a spooly on the other end to help create that natural look. 

Illamasqua Freak Eau De Parfum 75ml- £59

I first tried this perfume as a sample when it first came out. I have been desperate to get the full size ever since. So when it went into their sale over Christmas, I jumped at the chance to get it. I ended up paying £25 for this 75ml bottle, which is now back up to £59 (what a bargain). This has quite a dark, floral, night time scent, which lasts really well on my skin. I have had so many compliments on this when I have been wearing it. 

What have you been loving this month?! I would truly love to know! Please don't forget to follow!

xx

Dior Rosy Glow

The Dior makeup counter has been really drawing me in recently, with so many beautiful pieces of makeup and equally stunning packaging! I have found it very difficult to resist temptation and recently picked up two products, which I have worn literally every day since!!
This blush is rather on the expensive side at £30.50 for 7.5g and in honesty I kept talking myself out of purchasing it. However I am such a blusher junkie that in the end my heart won the battle. Despite the bright pink appearance, this blush adjusts to the moisture in your skin, thus creating the perfect colour for your skin on your cheeks. This colour is slightly more muted on my 'English rose' type complexion, but gives me a healthy, pink, pinched cheeks sort of a look. In the pan this blush is a bright pink, with blue undertones and this defiantly translates onto my skin.
I totally adore this blush as it doesn't look like I have lots of blusher on, it just looks like I have naturally flushed, healthy cheeks. This lasts all day on my skin and doesn't go blotchy or funny over the course of the day, which in my eyes is the sign of an incredible blusher.
 I have been wearing this over the top of the 'Dior Skin Nude' foundation and have found the combination of these two together to be simply beautiful! These are without a doubt two of my top products of February!

Have you tried any of the Dior products? Which ones are you favourite? Do you like these self adjusting blushers?

Rimmel Primers

I am not usually one for drugstore primers. I just don't seem to find them to be as effective as some of the higher end ones like Laura Mericer, MAC or Hourglass. However Rimmel have totally won me over with two brilliant offerings.

The 'Fix and Perfect PRO' is a lovely primer, which is brilliant for a bad skin day. Sometimes my skin just needs a bit of oomph to it and this brightens it up, whilst still be mattifying, I find it leaves my skin looking beautiful and really helps my makeup to stay on. This claims to be a 5 in 1 makeup by smoothing, resurfacing (not sure of this one), brightening, mattifying and protecting.  I am currently on my 2nd tube of this and at £6.99 for 30ml its a total steal.
The most recent offering from Rimmel is there 'Stay Matte' primer from their 'Mattifying' range. Although the 'Fix and Perfect' Primer is mattifying I would say this product is even more so. My skin can be really oily some days and other days it can be quite dry and lifeless. On days where my skin is really oily or I know my makeup will need to be on a long time, I always opt for the 'Stay Matte' primer. My makeup sits beautifully over the top of this and it helps it last all day. I am yet to try it with their 'Stay Matte Foundation' though! This product retails for £5.99  for 30ml in the UK.

What are your favourite primers? Do you tend to use higher end or drugstore primers?! I would love to know!

xx

Meet Herbie

So today, I am stepping away from the beauty related posts and welcoming you into my world a little bit. Back in 2012,  I made the decision to get a dog. Having grown up with them, I had always desperately wanted one. My ex's mum has two Lhasa Apsos and as soon as I met them, I fell in love. Having always had big dogs such as Golden retrievers, wanting a small dog was a bit of a change. This wasn't a breed I had really come across much, but they are beautiful and are such little characters. They originate from Tibet and were used to warn guards when someone was entering a temple or monastery.  For quite a long time they could only be gifted by the noble men in Tibet as they were seen to be too sacred to be kept as domestic pets. The belief was that once the Lhasa's owner died their soul would enter the Lhasa's body. They were also considered to bring good luck to their owners.

Herbie is now 1 year and 8 months old, he will be 2 in June.  He is a very happy little dog who loves his walks and LOVES to play. Luckily for me, my sisters dog (a 2 year old Westie called Dasher), is quite often over, so they get lots of play time! There is only so much throwing a soft toy toy around 1 person can do.  He adores his walks, and I must admit to loving a muddy (he hates mud), winters walk!! Generally Herbie spends his days sleeping, playing, eating and running about like a loon. He loves to know people are in the house, but quite often prefers to be snuggled up on my bed out of the way. One bonus of Lhasa's is that they are a non shedding breed, which is perfect for me!
Having Herbie was one of the things that helped me get through the last year, he really is my little miracle.

As a puppy, the day I got him. He was 12 weeks old here.

Anyway I just wanted to share my little monster with you! Hopefully this has given you a little insight into my life. Normal beauty posts will resume at the weekend.

Herbies Key facts:

Birthday:26th June 2012

Favourite food: James Wellbeloved kibble, Wainwrights food trays and any treats going. He also loves a good yoghurt pot. 

Favourite toy: His cuddly lamb or the most noisy squishy duck.

Favourite place: Bed

Dislikes: Mud, water, vets and scary new people. 

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream and CC Eye cream

Bourjois can be quite a hit or miss brand for me, some of their products I love and other are just a bit blah. When I saw their new CC cream range I was unsure whether it would live up to the same standards of their 'Healthy mix' serum foundation. Que...Lisa Eldridge! Well what can I say she was my enabler, for the CC cream at least. The eye cream just seemed to fall into my basket!  These two do however work wonders together. 

I have been using these on and off for a couple of weeks now and its fair to say its love. The website claims that the CC cream itself combines the colour correcting properties of a foundation with the skincare action of a cream. It also has an spf of 15 and claims to have 24 hour hydration. One thing is defiantly true of this CC cream, it evens my skin tone out beautifully. I tend to have some redness in my skin especially around my nose as well as some acne scarring and hyper pigmentation. It creates a really beautiful, natural looking base to apply my makeup too. I do still have to use a concealer with it as it is a very light base, but for those lazy days where I am running errands, it is perfect. Usually I apply a small amount of powder over the top of my more problematic areas, but it still looks natural. I was quite surprised at how well this lasts on my skin. I have worn it to work a few times, which means its typically on around 9 hours and it wears really well. When I first got this I tried lots of ways of applying it. My favourite however is with a MAC 130 as I think it gives a really lovely finish to the skin. 

Did I need another under eye concealer...not really no! However this is a really light, but good covering corrector which doesn't make me feel like I've piled on lots of product to get rid of my dark circles. It is really easily blended and looks beautiful along with the CC cream. The applicator of this concealer is made of silicone and is almost bendy, which I really like because it never feels like its dragging on your under eye area. I usually apply this and then blend it out with  the Real Techniques beauty sponge. You can barely even see its there. 

Have you tried these products? Which Bourjois products are your most loved? I would really love to know!

G xx

Smashbox Full Exposure palette

Having heard so much about Smashbox recently, I have been desperate to get my hands on some of their products. Luckily for me my local Boots store has recently started stocking lots of new high end brands, including...you guessed it. Smashbox!! This palette caught my eye on the display as it has a really good mixture of both matte and shimmer shadows. A lot of 'Neutral' palettes out there seem to contain 1 or 2 mattes surrounded by lots of shimmer. I also love the fact that it contains 2 really good slightly darker, shimmer shades in the form of S6 and S7 (top far right) as well as a matte black. 

The shadows themselves are really creamy and pigmented and they are easily blended to create and endless amount of beautiful looks. My favourite shade is S1 (top, far left), its such a rich, creamy browny, bronze, with flecks of gold running through it.

 This palette also comes with a box full of goodies, including a travel size Full Exposure mascara, a dual ended brush with a fluffy brush and a flat brush aswell as a little booklet demonstrating all the different looks for different eye shapes. I think this is such a brilliant idea!! 

This palette retails for £36 which I think is a brilliant deal (especially if you get your Boots points too)!

Have you tried any Smashbox products? What should I try next, I would love to know! 

Welcome back!

Hello!
Firstly let me apologise for being away for so long. The last year has been a tricky one, with lots of personal problems taking over my life! The last year involved a very bad break up, a move, an operation, a new job, severe anxiety and eventually ending up in the best place I have ever been in my life! Its fair to say its been a tough year and one of self discovery. I am now well and truly a much better version of myself and couldn't be happier! Anyone who knows me knows how much I have missed blogging but I quite simply had lost my mojo.
Anyway a new year, a brand spanking new laptop and a million and one things to write about! I cannot wait!!!!!!
My first new blog post will be up and live on Saturday. I am currently working on updating my blog page and I hope you like its new look.
I hope you have all had a wonderful New Year. If you would like a blog post all about my last year, I'm happy to share it with you but don't want to bore you!

G
xxxxxxx