May Favourites 2018

Hi everyone!

This is my first skincare / product post that isn't nail varnish based for a long time and it feels good to be back. The reason I haven't posted any product reviews in such a long time is because I have really been battling with my skin recently so have been quite hesitant to try anything new on my skin until I found a routine that meant it wouldn't flare up.

I don't know whether it is just the winter months cold weather, but I had a similar situation last year where my skin just deteriorated over the Christmas months (probably due to bad diet and alcohol) and just carried on being grim until the Spring time. This year it has taken me a bit longer to pin point the cause and also a remedy. A few products along the way made it much much worse (ahem, Glossier Solution) and so this month I have put together the products that have made my skin feel normal again, and some other little luxuries that have made me feel grand!

First up is the product that I can pretty much hands down say transformed my skin from red spot remnants to *almost* clean and clear. Just a few short weeks ago, my skin was sprouting new spots each day, and leaving behind really red marks that were almost worse than the spots themselves. I read online that Vitamin C is a great ingredient to reduce redness so picked up the first thing I could lay my hands on in my vast "to try" pile of skincare, and I honestly woke up the next day with transformed skin.

This bliss Triple Oxygen Radiant Protection Energizing Serum, £52, lookfantastic.com cleared it up so well that even my boyfriend commented that my skin was "amazing". It is a pearlescent thin formula which absorbs really well and smells of zesty oranges. It is illuminating, and gives your skin a natural glow, and of course that added vitamin C evens out skin tones and dark spots.

It is also worth nothing that my skin dramatically changed after being outside. I know this sounds silly, but actually when I look back I was barely going out on my lunch breaks because it was cold and spent 95% of my time indoors. I went on holiday to the Lake District a few weeks ago, and spent all day outside in the fresh air, my skin felt clearer and cleaner and I do honestly think this combined with the serum helped so much.

As you can see by my virtually empty bottle, I have really loved using the Pixi Rose Tonic, £10, pixibeauty.co.uk which is a huge contrast to how much I used the cult favourite, Glow Tonic. Having had such a bad reaction to their number one selling product, I was a little apprehensive to try more skincare from Pixi, especially a Tonic. I am so glad I did though as I have found this so gentle on my skin and felt it really soothing my skin after cleansing. It reduces redness and adds hydration and calms the skin.

I went to a Pixi event at my local department store Fenwicks Tunbridge Wells a few months ago where their regional make up artist Amanda Bell was doing a demo and walk through of all their products. She clearly had so much passion for the brand and the fact that she is best mates with Caroline Hirons also made me want to drink in everything she was saying.

She also convinced me I had to buy the H20 Skin Tint, £24, pixibeauty.co.uk, which I am so glad I did as I hate using foundation in the warmer months and this gives me enough coverage and confidence to go without. I am the lightest shade 'Cream' but as it is just a tint, it wouldn't matter too much if you were to match yourself wrong online.

Whilst in the Lake District we also experienced some uncharacteristically sunny weather, so once again I went to my 'to try' pile and picked up this Skin Laundry Advanced Protection Daily Moisturiser SPF 35, £24, cultbeauty.co.uk. I am SO glad I did. This has become a staple in my skincare routine now as it is really creamy and luxurious, but the added protection of the SPF makes it great as a daily moisturiser for Summer. It is really light and absorbs really fast making it feel like a moisturiser and not a sun cream.

Skin Laundry is fairly still slightly unknown in the UK as it is a L.A brand, but if you want to find out how you can get a FREE light facial with them then read this post here

Whilst I have been using sun protection, I would be lying if I said I haven't been caught short a couple of times and been a bit burnt in the last few heat waves we have had. Whilst I use this Vitamin E Sleeping Mask, £11, thebodyshop.com a couple of times a week, this works absolute wonders if you have had a little too much sun. It is a really cooling gel consistency and locks in moisture so well. Vitamin E protects the skin and wheatgerm oil intensely hydrates. It smells like baby wipes which may be the one thing I would change about it, but otherwise it does it's job very very well!

Something that has been a little strange for me is my love for plain nails this month, especially sophisticated nude nails! I got these two colours in my Ciate Advent Calender.

'Maybe Baby' is a lovely coffee colour and 'The Naked Truth' a pretty peachy pink which looks great with a tan!

Speaking of tans, I have loved using these products by Tan-Luxe to prepare me for showing a little more skin this summer. This brand suddenly blew up on Instagram a few months ago and I saw a few of my favourite smaller bloggers talking about it and I knew I had to get involved. The Sleep Oil, £34 , Tan-Luxe.com is such a fab product. Like a facial oil, you apply this before bed and wake up with a natural, gorgeous glowy tan that hydrates your skin. It does smell a little buscuit-y, but the results are too good I can't complain. You must make sure wash your hands afterwards or you'll wake up with brown palms!

The other product I bought form them was The Water, £33, Tan-Luxe.com purely because I hadn't of this kind of tanner before. I LOVE using this water though as it is so quick and easy. You spray onto the skin and then use a mitt to diffuse and the end result is a ridiculously natural looking tan which absorbs really fast and with no streaks. I got shade light to medium and find it makes my skin the exact colour it would if I had been out in the sun.

Lastly is hair care, and I have been trying a few new styles and styling methods on my hair recently. I have completely given up my hair straighteners as I want bouncy beach waves that don't go flat. I am also trying to keep my colour healthier as my blonde hair can go quite dull really fast.

I first heard of Josh Wood when I interned at their PR agency, but since those days the brand has had a dramatic rebrand which focusses heavily on hair colour and care and I think it looks so amazing, chic and fresh. I love the way these products look in my bathroom.

Before buying any Josh Wood products, I would HIGHLY recommend going to the website and doing their online hair consultation. I answered a few simple questions and ended up buying the Uplifting Shampoo and Conditioner, £10 each, joshwoodcolour.com as they are for my type of blonde hair and also targeted to hair prone to frizz which is definitely mine. 

The products contain no nasty ingredients, and work better with more water meaning you save money on product. They have UV filters to help fading colour . I love how light they make my feel after washing like it hasn't been overloaded with product. The smell is really subtle and fresh and I also bought the Everything Mask, £15, joshwoodcolour.com to use once a week and really nourish.

So those are my favourite products for May, I hope you enjoyed reading about them, and if you have any suggestions of products you think I'll love in June then do let me know!

Christmas Wish List 2014

It is that time of year again where I share with you my Christmas list for 2015! My '12 Days Of Christmas Beauty Wish List' post I did last year turned out to be really popular so I thought I would do another one. I am also posting it early so I have a chance of getting them before they sell out as I tend to buy it all myself because I'm too impatient to wait!

Advent Calenders

So first on the list, you have to have a great advent calender on the countdown to Christmas. Last year I desperately hoped someone would feel generous enough to buy me the Ciate advent calender, but alas, no one got the hint haha. This year, beauty advent calenders have absolutely gone wild. You can now buy beauty advent calenders by the likes of Jo Malone and Selfridges that cost up to a whopping £300. My unlikely choice, is actually the Tesco beauty advent calender, which is a slightly more realistic £50. Now Tesco isn't the usual go to beauty brand, but this contains products from Korres (my fave!), blogger Tanya Burr's makeup range, perfume samples and many more highstreet brands.

This is a much more highstreet friendly beauty advent calender, and I like the fact that there is something different everyday rather than just one brand. Since I found this, I now can't find it ANYWHERE online, so think it now be out of stock ;(

In that case, if anyone would like to buy me this years Ciate one, I would certainly not say no :)

Wah Nails

On the theme of nails, I can hardly contain my excitement as my favourite brand in nails and nail art, have brought out their own range of polishes! Wah Nails have now launched a selection of polishes, exclusively to Boots. They also have nail art pens, press on nails, manicure tools and little kits.

Obviously I would absolutely love to own all of these glorious products, but one thing that really pops out to me is the Dreamy Days Nail art Kit. This cute kit has two gorgeous colours, adorable little palm tree and peace sign decalls, and a nail art pen. It also contains 3 sponges so you can perfectly ombre the two colours for a cool sunset look.

To peruse the whole Wah Nails range, take a look here

Origins

Next I move onto skincare, and this Origins moisturiser has quietly popped up on a lot of blogs I've read, and its one I'd like to try. The GinZing range is designed to wake up the skin and add radiance. Perfect for our dryer dull skin in these winter months. This moisturiser contains Coffee Beans, GinZing, lemon, spearmint, and grapefruit. How awakening and zesty does that sound?!

£23.00

The whole range  is designed to be a skin care hangover cure, and whilst having a look on their website, I found this limited edition kit which contains the moisturiser, a lip balm, mascara and de-puffing eye cream, all squeezed into this cute bag!

This is something I may have to rush down and get before they sell out!!

MAC

This is a bit of a cheat wish product, as the Miley Cyrus Viva Glam Lip products don't actually launch till early 2015, but as my birthday is in January I can always plant the seed! No matter if you love her or hate her (I personally love her), Miley Cyrus has stepped up and joined a lot of other split opinion personalities such as Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lady GaGa, to be the face of Viva Glam next year.

Although the lipstick looks red, my research leads me to believe it will actually be hot pink, and there will also be a matching lip gloss in their ultra shiny lipglass formula. Both will hopefully be lick proof as she is renowned for that famous tongue wag. The proceeds from both products will go towards the Viva Glam charity which supports people who are suffering with HIV/Aids.

Living Proof

I have recently been enlightened to the hair care range Jennifer Aniston co founds, Living Proof. Made infamous on Friends by her ever changing hairstyles, and even having people heading to hair dressers asking for 'the Rachael', Jen certainly hasn't missed a trick here creating her own hair care brand, as everyone wants her perfect hair.

The brand consists of 4 ranges. Styling, Full, Restore and No Frizz, the latter being the range my hair desperately needs. The range contains a shampoo and conditioner, an alternative leave in conditioner and then two styling products specifically for de-frizzing.

Frizzing is due to moisture getting into the cuticles in your hair, allowing it to puff up and become unmanageable. This range smooths down the hair so there are no gaps for moisture to get in. I can't leave the house after I've straightened or blow dried my hair. CERTAINLY not if its just been washed, so my hair often looks like a giant frizz ball. I'd love to test this range out, especially in the wetter seasons we are coming into.

Nails Inc

Onto another celebrity inspired product (jesus we really do buy into these people don't we!) and that is fashionista Alexa Chung. Alexa has been the face of Eyeko for her famous cat eye flicks, and now the effortlessy cool 'it girl' is the face of a cool nail brand. Nails Inc have been ahead of their game in the nail world, creating leather textures, and lots of fun top coat ideas. They have also had a brand makeover which looks SO much better and sleeker. Step in Alexa Chung, to finish of the brands cool revamp.

This latest set contains a cute little bag and a nail file with three really wintery colours. A pale pink and pale blue, and a stunning deep navy colour. The real excitment is with the other three polishes though. An uber shiny holographic glitter coat, a gold and silver star infused clear coat, and then a heart embellished clear coat which I have tried on and is so unbelievably cute.

This retails at £45.00 but is worth about £95!!

Sleek Eye and Cheek Palette

Sleek is a brand that I first discovered in a Glossy Box, and recently my wonderful friend Sophie has been telling me that it is a really affordable brand that has some good bits! I went to have a look at the isle in Boots and this eye shadow palette caught my eye. I think because it has that pomegranate colour I'm obsessing over at the moment, but it also has some really pretty colours like, the gold shade, and the deep purple. It can also be used as a cheek palette but I think at a push I would only want to use the dusty pink colour on my face! The best thing about this palette? it is £10.00. TEN POUNDS. This will make a perfect secret Santa present that someone will actually like, or a great stocking filler for someone AKA me.

Frank Body Scrub

This is one of the products I have discovered over Instagram. As I follow a few beauty trends and bloggers, this kept popping up on my news feed so I want to see what all the hype is about! Frank Body Scrub is basically coffee, and exfoliates the whole body and face as well as adding radiance and energy to the skin much like the Origins Ginzing range I was taking about. What a winning combination present that would make!

They have three scrubs mixed with different ingredients to do different things. They have one for moisture, one for skin pigmentation and cellulite, and one for clarifying cleansing, all priced around £12.00. I'd probably go for the original scrub, although it will do all of the above just less intensified as it doesn't have the certain specialised ingredients.

For more information, visit their site here

Zoella Beauty Line

Zoella is one of the most subscribed to Youtubers, and has a massive following on her beauty blog. She's having a book brought out, she (weirdly) featured in the new BandAid30 song, and has appeared on adverts. It would seem odd if she didn't have her own range of products, and recently she did just this! Her predominantly bath and body range is only small, but I will imagine it will grow. It consists of a choice of two cosmetic bags, a candle, fragranced body mist, shower gel and body lotion and finally a fizz bar for the bath. Most reviews I have read have said younger girls have loved it, which I guess is the market it is aimed at, but no one can say no to a pamper night so it's something I'd like to try. It's reasonably priced as well as the whole range is £10 and under! Again, another good secret Santa present.

Revitalash

The next product on my wishlist is this miracle growth eyelash conditioner by Revitalash, that helps your eyelashes grow and become stronger. I'm a really bad eyelash puller, and find myself pulling out quite a few at a time! I don't know why I do it, I just like the feeling of pulling mascara off my lashes but obviously my eye lashes come out with it sometimes. This product was recommend to me by my friend Jade who swears by it. I will let you read her instagram post for yourself to see her experience. (she is also a very talented make up artist so like her Facebook page here)

This product doesn't come cheap, at minimum for a 3 month supply, your looking at $98.00, but to have fantastic long natural lashes, really would be a Christmas miracle.

L'Occitane Almond Range

French brand L'Oocitane specialise in Skincare and Bath and body products. As a huge lover of marzipan, I am a sucker for the smell of Almond, and this range smells so so tasty. I didn't actually know, but Almond is a very toning ingrediant for the skin, so not only does this stuff smell delicious, it also helps firm and tighten skin which is is always a good thing. I am especially drawn to the shower and body oils, just because I love how well oils hydrate my skin. The range also does scrubs, soaps and hand creams.

Bondi Sands Tan

This may seem like an odd item on my wishlist, as in a post only this week I said I'm not a great lover of fake tan, but if you red my post, you will know that if its good enough, then I will cave in and use it! 

Bondi Sands Tan is another Instagram hyped product that I've seen posted everywhere. As I like a mousse, I would opt for the light/medium tanning foam, which costs £14.99. Compared to the other fake tans I've been using, that is actually really cheap, and from what I've read online, it has the same flalwess results without the fake tan smell. An Australian looking tan and coconut scent sounds like something I want to try!

Are there any products on here you'd want to try? 

What is on your Christmas list this year? let me know!

Winter Sun

Now the colder months are officially here, our faded tans are a thing of the past. For me, having a tan can make a huge difference. I go from being a corpse bride, to a normal alive human being. I am not a regular fake tanner, as I rarely go streak free and the smell really bothers me, but when I'm desperate, I will lather up in some bottled sunshine.

I think with fake tan, money does matter, as I have recently discovered. Splashing out on a good fake tan can make a real difference to the 'realness' of your fake tan. I have been using Madame La La tan in light, which retails at £36.00, and is inspired by the rich and famous lifestyles in Malibu. This is quite a new tan on the scene, and is apparently what a lot of celebrities are using. The brand only has two products at the moment. This one, and the normal version which is a darker colour. The tan is in mousse form which is my favourite, as it's lighter and easier to apply. I find I get less streaks when I use a mousse and mitt.

The normal tan has olive undertones whereas the Light one which I have, caters more for cooler skin tones like mine. The tan is described as a DD tan, which stands for Dynamic-Do-All. It claims to hydrate the skin, rid of the fake tan smell, give you an even LA inspired tan, detoxify, and even have anti ageing effects on your skin. As I said earlier, this is inspired by celebrity tans, and has a celebrity favourite ingredient coco water to give the detoxifying properties, as well as a lovely coco-nutty smell. The tan claims to not have a fake tan smell at all, just the coconut scent. It does smell really really nice and sweet, but you can still smell the undertones of biscuits, even if its just slightly, but it only lasts for a few hours after application, after that is is scent free. The Aloe Vera is what gives the skin the hydration, and this in turn, will have anti ageing effects on the skin, as hydrated skin is plumper and fuller! 

This tan gives me a really lovely natural golden colour which suits my fair complexion. So I am a big fan of this! Another high end tan I like is Vita Liberata. It is quite similar to the Madame La La, as it has a mousse consistency and minimal smell. Again, this gives me a natural even tan that isn't to fake looking. The other plus side to high end tan products, is that if you use them a couple of times on one week, your tan will last for 2 to 3 weeks which is always great news!

As I have fair hair and fairly sensitive skin, I don't like to use fake tan on my face as it can break me out or stain my eyebrows and hair line. Instead, I've been using this Garnier Ambre Solaire gradual tan moisturiser for the face. I like a gradual face tanner as you have more control over the colour. I like my face to be slightly lighter than my body, because if I go too dark my makeup are then the wrong shades. When I'm happy with my colour, I just build up my blush/bronzer to match my neck and body.

This again, doesn't have a fake tan smell at all, it is more of a fruity apricot-y smell. As long as you wash your hands after applying, then you have a very subtle glow to your skin that you can build up each day if you need.

What are your go to tan products?

October Glossy Box

Once again I have allowed the dreaded back log of Glossy box reviews to happen! I am finding that I have so many products to try, that I don't fully use a product and then find it hard to review the products as I haven't had much experience of using it! This October Glossy Box for me was fairly average. The theme being a sort of 'gothic' feel as way back then we were getting into Autumn.

Harmony Smoothie Serum

I haven't really used this serum much which is probably not a good sign. I find it doesn't really absorb into my skin very well unlike other serums I have tried so I kind of gave up with it after a while. A short review but my patience with it was just as short!

Katy Perry Killer Queen Fragrance

Once again, we have the awkward moment where I try and attempt to explain a smell. Thankfully the little sample came with a list of the ingredients and also explained the top, middle and base notes so my life was made easier. It is quite a sweet fragrance to start as you can see from the mixed fruit top notes, but it is quite a sensual fragrance too.

MeMeMe Cherub's Blush

This product is very similar to Benefit's benetint product. I want to love this product, but can someone tell me how on earth you use it?? I put it straight on to my cheeks for a bit of blush, and I looked like I had been slapped, as the area was too concentrated and the product is not good at blending, can anyone shed light on the proper way to do it? As for use on the lips, I found it a bit messy and the colour didn't last too long.

Monu Illuminating Primer

I really like the idea of a primer with an SPF, as it is killing two birds with one stone, especially one that will illuminate the skin and add radiance. However this product didn't really absorb into my skin. When I put my foundation over the top it went kind of ball-y and it was not good for blending. I have some other products from Monu though which I am getting on with, so its just unfortunate I do not like this product.

Vita Liberata Instant Tan

I am not a huge lover a fake tan and this product was the reason I have not reviewed this box. I don't really wear tan, so I was waiting for a day I could try it on without the worry of going out looking tangoed. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome of this tan though. The colour was really natural and golden, and added a really nice finish to my skin, even though it was just slightly shimmered (I don't like shimmer but this is really not a noticable shimmer). I would highly recommend this product, and since using it I have gone out and bought the actual tan as I had some Boots vouchers for it, which is quite a big deal for me as I don't wear tan. I will review that product in the not too distant future, but this sachet was the saving grace of the box for me!