January Favourites 2012

Hey Beautiful world!

So I guess it's time to let guys in on what products I couldnt have got through the month of January without.  As you guys probably know already, I have ridiculously dry and sensitive skin, so these products have been a saviour for my skin through the cold winter month of January.  In no particular order these are my favourites...

Carmex Mint - This has been amazing for my lips, day or night and especially when going out.  I prefer the tube version to the pot version just because I'm always having to touch up on the go and I'm very conscious of hygiene when being out in the public so rather than sanitizing my hands before applying it's easier to us the squeezy tube and eliminate the risk of putting germies on your lips (not to mention spreading them to the pot!) I dont know maybe it's the joys of being a nurse that means you're always thinking about hand hygiene!

My Trusty E45 Cream - Wouldn't be without it, I've waffled on enough about this...It's an all over dry skin saviour and I cant be without it!

Revlon Photoready Foundation - I love this foundation, doesn't irritate my sensitive skin.  I've found the perfect colour for my skin and although some people complain about the slight shimmer in the foundation, I hardly notice it on my skin and the coverage I would say is medium to full and definitely buildable.  This foundation really does what it says in the bottle and photographs brilliantly under any kind of lighting (this is a tried and tested fact as I recently wore this foundation to my brother's wedding and for my graduation ceremony and the photographs turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!)

Mac Paintpot in Rubenesque - This is my first and only ever mac paintpot and although I wore it a bit when I first purchased it from sheer excitement it got a bit lost in my (extensive!) makeup collection however I've rediscovered it and now I'm wearing it as a base everyday! It has a multi-tonal finish of gold and pink and is slightly shimmery.  On me it stays put all day and doesnt crease! I love it!

The above picture was taken from the following blogger's page who has done a wonderful review on rubenesque with absolutely gorgeous pictures and swatches so please check out her blog, It's awesome! The Sunday Girl

Look Beauty Blush in Rosy - I reviewed this makeup line a while back and seem to grown in love with it all a little bit more everyday, I love the rosy blush which works very well with rubenesque as it has pretty much the same sort of colouring and multi-tones.  It works for me like a blush and highlight in one which feeds my lazy side very well!!

Elf studio Cream liner -  I know a lot of these are repetitive but what can I say, These are what work for me and when I find something that works I tend to get stuck in a bit of a rut! Hehe but as mentioned previously I love the elf black cream liner, I literally use it everyday and couldnt be without it, In fact if i ever lost it I dont think I would survive the sheer horror of it (ok ok I know I'm being a bit of a drama queen but I think you get the picture of how much I love it!)

 Imperial Leather Foamburst Shower Gel -  Just a little bit random but this is the shower gel i'm loving, It has a shaving foam consistency in that when you first pump it out it looks like a gel but transforms into a huge amount of thick foam which smells gorgeous!  The Hawaiian Spa scent is my favourite!

Lynx for her -  I know this is a bit of a gimmicky product but I'm the kinda girl who would use lynx for men if I liked the smell (well it not as if I'd wear a sign saying I'm wearing men's deodorant with it!) But I firmly believe that scents shouldnt be confined to gender and if it works then why not wear it!  But anywho I love the smell of this, it does what it's supposed to and keeps you fresh and dry *ahem* not much else I can say about a deodorant...

Sleek Pout Polish - I love these pout polishes! It doesnt matter what the colour may be they always seem to just look great! I have quite a collection of these and every handbag I own has a different shade of this in it, my favourite is the nude one called bare minimum but I do take it in turns to wear them all (the only one I dont own is the Limited edition flourescent yellow one because well...when am I ever going to wear that?!?)



Well I think I'll leave it at that for now, I could literally go on for pages and pages about products I love but I'll practice some self control for now! hehe

Thanks for checking in guys!

Ciao for now World!

xoxox

E.L.F. Cosmetics

Howdy Strangers, Thought I'd do a quick review for you all, seeing as i havent blogged in a few days (naughty naughty)

I've tried quite a few things from elf cosmetics (eyes, lips, face) and I have to say I've never been disappointed.  I know they say you get what you pay for but that doesnt apply to elf products because you dont pay much at all but you get a LOT in my opinion.  They have two main price ranges, their normal line in which everything costs £1.50 and their Studio or professional line in which most things cost £3.50.  Great company for makeup newbies and young girls on a budget because their stuff is actually really really good yet doesnt cost much so its great for experimenting with colour and technique without the fear of ruining your £26 Estee Lauder lipstick

Now elf aren't sold in stores so the only way to order is online which means an extra postage and packaging fee but they often have free shipping codes on their facebook fanpage along with great competitions and regular sales.  Check out their facebook fanpage HERE and 'Like' for amazing deals...go on, you know you want to...

My recommendations from elf include:

Elf Natural Radiance Blusher - £1.50.  Great range of colours, great price tag.  They add the perfect amount of colour to the face and can be left quite light and natural or built up for a more night time appropriate look

Elf Studio Cream Eyeliner - £3.50.  Great colours and easy to work with.  I was totally converted from my liquid eyeliner with this so much so I had to have every colour.  Does anybody else have the same problem? Once you've tried something and know it works be it makeup, clothes or shoes...you just have to have every colour? Even if the Teal Cream eyeliner will just never get used and it'll probably sit in your makeup collection for years catching dust, you just have to have it because the black, midnight and brown ones were amazing? I hope it's not just me! hehe.  It comes with a little brush which is good for beginners with little to no tools however I prefer using my elf angled liner brush with this product

Studio Matte Lip colours - £3.50.  Love the natural colour range and the sleek packaging.  They great for on the go and wont break the bank....well nothing from elf will really!  I love the matte lip colour look and feel the glossy wet look lip is a bit outdated right now.  Matte lips look a bit more sophisticated you could say, just my opinion but wet glossy lips was ok for when I was 14 but 10 years on...im ditching the gloss for a more 'grown up' look.  To avoid drying of the lips bung on a bit of vaseline (or your equivelent) 5 minutes before applying

Well these are just a few picks for now, I'm sure it's not the first elf review you've read and i'm dead certain it wont be the last but I'm a new blogger and what do new bloggers do? we review good cheap makeup for other new bloggers! haha

Thanks for checking in and please do 'Follow' and 'Comment' coz it really makes my day!
Any elf recommendations for me to try from any of you lovely people?

Ciao for now World

xoxox

Currently Adored...

Hello Again World!

I seem to be back in the swing of blogging so here's another quick (or so I thought) one for ya.  Now I figured, it's too late to do a November favourites and a bit early to do a favourites of 2011 so this is just my in betweeny blog about things I use on a day to day basis and things I'm currently adoring.

These are the things I've been loving a lot recently and use pretty much on a daily basis...

These two products are favourites for my skin. I have dry sensitive skin which in the winter is a nightmare! The best moisturiser for my skin is the E45, it's cheap and cheerful and does the job far better than some more expensive moisturisers I've tried.  This tub is 125g and has lasted me for about 6 months and costs no more than £5. The origins vitazing is what I took with me on holiday recently and found, although it is much pricier than the E45 cream it is equally as amazing.  At first it comes out as a grey cream but quickly changes to a light tint that matches the skin once applied.  It has an SPF of 15 which is good for protecting the skin and works wonders for the days you just dont want to wear foundation.



This is basicly what I use on my face everyday when I'm going out or for work.  I use the Revlon Photo ready foundation in the shade 003 Shell.  Love this foundation, it photographs amazingly well as the name suggests and workes fine on my dry sensitive skin.  It does have very very fine glitter particles in it which is hardly noticeable but may bother some people.  This foundation claims to offer 'complete coverage' which it does very well and also has an SPF of 20 which is an added bonus.  This retails at around the £10 mark for 30mls which is reasonable I guess.  Now I use this pretty much everyday and find that 30mls last me about 4-5 months...not bad I'd say!

In the summer when I need to powder over the top of my foundation I use the Revlon photo ready powder in the shade 010 Fair/light. I have however stopped using this in the cold winter months just because I dont need to powder over dry skin and if I do it just accentuates my flaky-ness :(

To conceal I use the Collection 2000 lasting perfection 16 Hour Wear concealer in the shade 2 Light.  This is great for under the eyes and covering redness or breakouts, very affordable and the little tube lasts quite long.  I've had mine for about 6 weeks now and still going strong.  I dont however think it does what it says on the tin as far as lasting 16 hrs is concerned but it handles my 8 hr work days pretty well.

For my eyes I've been using either the Urban Decay Naked Pallette.  Has great day appropriate colours, shadows are great quality and has the double ended black and brown eyeliner in the kit so perfect I'd say.  I've recently seen reviews on the new Naked 2 pallette that's been released....uh-oh!!

When I'm not using the Urban Decay shadows I'm using my Rimmel London eyeshadow quad in 019 Sun Safari. Now I dont really tend to buy Rimmel London products but I picked this up in the pound shop for a quid! now correct me if I'm wrong but £1 for four Rimmel eyeshadows is a bit of a bargain!! Love the colours, great for everyday wear, onlly problem is I'm not sure if you can still find this in the Rimmel London range so once it's finished, it's gone :(

My favourite mascara of all time ever has to be the L'oreal Volume Million Lashes, I've tried the original black when it was first released and it was love at first site.  I'm now using the extra-black one and am still in love!  Costs between £8-£12 depending on where you get it from and whether there's an offer on but totally worth it for me.  Each tube lasts me about 4 months and I do use generously pretty much everyday!

As for eyeliner I used to love my Collection 2000 liquid eyeliner and wouldnt really venture out to try anything else liner wise but since I've tried the elf cream eyeliners I havent even looked at my collection 2000 one!  Costs £3.50 from the elf studio range which is pennies for what you're getting! works wonderfully and lasts all day, I have three of them so far but am considering getting the others just because I can't get enough.  The only down side to this liner is that my black one seemed to dry out after about a month or so whereas my midnight blue and brown ones are still going strong.  I have found that if I warm up a little bit of the black one on the back of my hand it works perfectly

A few other things I've been loving recently...

My all time favourite blush right now has to be the Accessorize merged blusher in 4 - Diva.  I think I got this over a year ago for about £6, have used it pretty much everyday for about 6 months and havent even dented it, I think this will literally last me forever!

The Ultimate lip treatment ever to exist in my opinion has to be the Kiehl's Balm #1 in Mango.  this comes in different flavours, I just happen to have the Mango one.  Bit pricey for a lip balm at £9.50 but totally worth it.  Has an SPF for an added bonus and literally feels like butter on the lips.  And when I say this is the best I've tried....I would know as I have tried and tested every lip product ever to exist because I think I have a bit of an addiction to all thing's lip related...*hangs head in shame*

And finally for my currently adored is a product for the hair...

I decided I would buy into the Argan Oil hype by trying something Argany without actually buying the pricer morrocan oil.  I found this VO5 miracle concentrate elixir with argan oil in Superdrug and decided to give it a try.  It cost about £4.50 for a 50ml bottle which at first I thought was a bit pricey for a tiny bottle but no...this stuff is never ending.  All you need is 3-4 drops for the ends of your hair as an intensive leave-in treatment and you're good to go.  Leaves the hair looking healthy and shiny and smells lovely too!  I've been using this for about 2 months now and the bottle literally looks brand new!

Well, I do believe that is more than enough talking from me for now, until next time...

Ciao for now World!

xoxo