Wednesday 16 September 2015

Summer 2015 Favourites

As I sit here with a bright red nose and streaming eyes from a cold I could not be more aware that summer is well and truly over. I had a lot of new favourites over the past couple of months, probably because I did far too much shopping, so here is a little look at my most reached for. 

My most used perfume this summer was the Miss Dior Eau De Parfum, I love it's fresh scent and it lasts really well so no need to carry around the heavy bottle all day. Skincare wise I haven't had much of a change around, but the Simple Regeneraton Age Resisting Day Cream was a new discovery last month and it is the perfect non-oily day cream, great if you have a tendency of getting shiny throughout the day.
The Smashbox Contour Kit you can read about in my last review here, but simply it has great shades and is a great palette for travelling. Clinique's Airbrush Concealer has been my go to highlighting concealer, I know strobing is the in thing at the moment but I love a matte complexion and this works really well with the matte highlight from the smashbox palette on top.

Soap & Glory's One Heck of a Blot has replaced their Kick Ass Powder this season. My skin has been a little dry and this is less drying on the skin while still keeping things matte all day. Chanel has probably been my most used brand this summer, I'm still loving the Perfection Lumière Velvet foundation that was in my Spring Favourites, and the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel looks lovely on top of this. If you are not a fan of contour and just prefer to add warmth to the skin, applying this with a beauty sponge works great. My last make up favourite is the Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense lipstick in shade 125 Indecise, the texture, finish and longevity of this formula is just as good as the packaging. I know it is a little costly but I am starting to favour Chanel lipsticks over MACs and that is a pretty bold statement.
My non-beauty faves have to be the Copella's Cloudy Apple Juice, its is so sweat and refreshing, perfect for extra long shopping trips. I have also been loving the mini Protein Top Up bars from Graze, at £4.99 for 12 it's a much cheaper and tastier alternative to going to the shop everyday at work; use code F793C4M9P for your 1st, 5th and 10th box for free

Of course my most favourite thing this summer has to be my new Sony Alpha 5000 camera, its better quality and has lots more settings than my old one but mostly just because it has a view finder. I am planning to do some more look posts in the future without having to take 100 pictures to only use 1, lets just wait for this red nose to disappear first.

I'd love to hear what your most used products have been recently, so comment bellow with your current favourites; my fave thing to do in autumn in stay inside and read so be sure to leave your blog links.

Ciao
  xxx

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Smashbox Contour Kit

Smashbox is not a brand I have tried a lot from, but I can't resist a good cool toned contour, and this palette and brush set has proven to me that smashbox are great at more than just primers. 

This brush I found to be surprisingly good, I can't do without my Lancome Cheek and Contour brush it chisels and blends beautifully, but for such a small brush this still blends just enough to prevent harsh lines whilst still slimming down my football face. 
As you can see the powders have good pigmentation and are shades suitable for pale and warmer skin tones, simply apply more or less depending on how strong the shades show up on you. As I am so pale I use a light hand on the contour and bronzer. The matte highlight should really be called a setting powder though. I actually find it really similar to Soap & Glory's Kick Ass Powder *reviewbut this is less drying on the skin so it's perfect for setting under eye concealer.

The powders are quite dusty and are picked up by brushes as though they are loose powders, so it is very easy to pick up too much product. I find a very light fluffy brush or duo fibre brush to be best when using the bronzer. To be honest I think I have just got used to using cream bronzers, but if you are a fan of powders, and like the tone of Benefit's Hoola then I am sure you will love this too.   
At £35 I think this set is great value for money, I love my Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder which also retails at £35 *review but when you can get two more powders for the same price you can't go wrong. Buy Here

Ciao
  xxx