March Favourites 2016

Time for another favourites and I know most people talk about how fast months have gone but March has been so slow for me! I am going to visit my dad in Spain and moving house in April so as you can imagine I currently feel like a kid at christmas and time is dragging. That said I have really enjoyed trying some new products this month and most of these are new discoveries. The first fave I have to mention is the Loreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Dry Shampoo, it my not be the best dry shampoo but if you want your hair to smell beautiful then this is the way to go. Can they please make this a perfume or candle or something because it smells of beachy summers and I'm all up for smelling like that. Skincare wise I have picked up a few new bits recently but the Nip+ Fab Dragons Blood Serum is hands down the best thing I have tried possibly ever. I see instant results with this, my skin definitely feels and looks plumper and younger. I also tried NYX for the first time this month and it has changed my makeup game completely. I am in love with the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in shade Abu Dhabi not only is the shade perfect the formulation is on point; it is so long lasting but not at all drying. I have also been wearing the NYX Tinted Brow Mascara everyday this month, it keeps  things in place without it looking like you have product on your brows which is great if you have longer brows like myself. 

The product I was not sure I would like is the new formulation of the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation. I loved the old formula so much but this really is an improvement. I'll be reviewing it soon but in short, great coverage and same natural finish. My last favourite this month is the By Terry Baume De Rose Nutri-Couleur which I spoke about in my Balm Favourites Post. I love matte lips but my lips get so dry and this has such a beautiful texture and the rose scent is lovely. It's so expensive and not the most long lasting but I just can't keep this off my lips at the moment. So thats all the stuff Iv'e loved this month and I would love to hear your faves, so pop me a comment and post links bellow and I will have a nosey. x

Les Beiges Makeup

I would love to have a really creative makeup for you guys but I pretty much suck at taking pictures of my face, nevertheless I started the year saying I would try to show more makeup and less swatches so here is a little look at the makeup I have been reaching for recently. 

I start off by applying a little Soleil Tan De Chanel to warm up my complexion. I then apply my foundation and I have been using Chanel's Les Beiges Healthy Glow a lot recently, I really like the coverage and finish and it works a lot better with the Les Beiges Powder than other powders I have found. I like to use shade No10 as a base powder and No30 as a bronzer. On my eyes I have fallen back in love with Chanel's Illusion D'ombre in shade Emerveille, it as a beautiful shimmery pink that I think I will be wearing a lot in spring. 

The Loreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara I like to wear without eyeliner, I find it makes my lashes look so long that liner can make it look a little much sometimes, but this is by far my favourite high street mascara. To fill in my brows I next to always use the Soap and Glory Archery Pencil, I find it has great precision and shade Hot Chocolate is a really nice match. And to finish off the look I have been wearing another Chanel product, the Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour in shade Indecise, the shade itself is nothing special but I love the packaging and lipstick should be something you enjoy applying.

Concealer Collection

I've shared my Contour Collection, Balm Favourites, my bundle of Cream Shadows and my Foundation Rotation so I thought it was about time I shared the cover up masters of my makeup stash. I don't wear concealer on a daily basis so when I do wear it I like it to have good coverage and a non crease formula. So far I have never needed any colour correcting or highlighting from my concealers so if it is just a cover up you are after, here are my faves.
Starting with the highest coverage of the bunch The Sensual Skin Enhancer from Kevyn Aucoin, this can camouflage any blemish with the tiniest amount of product and it will not budge once applied. Benefit Boi-ing I have used the longest out of all of these, it is a great one to keep in your bag, its creamy but doesn't crease and it blends really well on top of other product. Estee Lauder's Stay in Place High Cover Concealer I like for under my eyes, it is the least drying of all of these, it has really good coverage and it really does stay put. Also it's nice to have a mirror in the packaging if you are using it for touch ups. Their Stay in Place Flawless Wear I do find to be a little drying but it is perfect if your wearing a tinted moisturiser and just want to amp up the coverage in certain areas. 

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Ultra Lift and Firm I also tend to keep in my bag, it's another one that blends well on top of other product so it is a nice one to touch up with. It has less coverage than the others but also looks the most natural looking on the skin. The Eclat Lumiere Highlighter Face Pen is intended to be a highlight but I personally use this as a touch up for days I am wearing the Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet. I find the formulas compliment each other well and this has that little bit more coverage than the foundation with the same demi-matte finish. There are other concealers I have used in the past and loved but nothing I feel I am missing at the moment. I would like to give a special mention to the Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer though. If you are on a budget it costs just £5.99 and it has really good coverage and longevity. It does crease a little but that also means it does not make your skin feel dry. I may not have one in my current collection but I have been using it on and off since way before I started the blog. 

Beauty Haul: Boots & House of Fraser

This was supposed to be just a Boots haul, I planned on picking up some cheaper pieces to take to Spain with me next month so I would not be worried about anything breaking, but I was looking around and to be honest not much really caught my eye that I have not already got or have tried in the past, but I thought I would show you the few things I did pick up. I have heard so much about the Collection Eyes Uncovered palettes and I am loving the sepia toned make up trend at the moment; you all know I live for neutral tones, so I picked up the Nude palette to take away with me.

I have also seen a lot of people raving about this Elvive Extraordinary Clay range, it is what I have been after for years; something to dry out my excessively oily roots and nourish my dry ends so I have high hopes for this trio. NYX is a brand I have wanted to try for ages and annoyingly there were three shop assistants filling the eyeshadow section so I didn't get a chance to look but I decided to pick up two lip products. The Soft Matte Lip Cream in Stockholm which I love the shade of but have to get used to the formula. And the Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in Sandstorm which is my new everyday. Again the sepia tone is just beautiful, I was too young in the 90s and missed the brown lip trend but this shade is just beautiful and the formulation and finish is amazing. I have not had this off my lips partly thanks to its longevity. 

I also picked up the Tinted Brow Mascara, I have been growing my brows recently and fancied a faster application for days I don't want to use the Soap and Glory Archery Pencil which I picked up another two of. It's nice to have brow options though, and so far I am loving it. I think I will pick up a darker shade than Brunette next time and see which shade I prefer. 

Of course I had to pop to House of Fraser and pick up my beloved Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara *review because I just cannot be without it. I also picked up an Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer, I have been using this every day recently so I wanted to make sure I had one in for whenever my current one runs out. I also could not resit picking up the new formulation of the YSL Touch Eclat and after a few uses this is seriously nice, I didn't think I would be saying this but it has a much nicer coverage and feel than the older formulation, which was a firm favourite of mine. I plan on reviewing a couple of these products and using them in some makeup look posts so let me know if there is anything you want to see first, and if you have any NXY favourites jot them bellow, I'm really excited to try some more of their products. 

Contour Collection

You may already know I, like the rest of the world, am a little obsessed with contouring. Not the drawing tribal paint on my face kind but the cool toned, blendable, subtle powder kind. And it has become a bit of a mission for me to find all the best powders in that category that suit my skin tone. I realise I only have one face and therefore only really need one powder but clearly I don't pay attention to that reasoning and have built up a pretty hefty collection. Starting with my more recent obsession the Anastasia Beverly Hill Contour Kit £39 I have been absolutely loving the shade Fawn to chisel at my cheekbones. And now I have discovered you can buy refills for the palette for £14 my purse will be happy that my new favourite is the cheapest of the bunch. The Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder in Medium I have probably used more religiously than the other powders in that  it is so compact you can fit it in any size make up bag. The shade is beautiful and well suited to lots of skin tones as it has a more ashy, cool tone to it than most other, there is also a light and dark sculpting powder available in the range though if you find this isn't a perfect match. At £35 it is pretty expensive but it does seam to last longer on my skin than some of the other powders *review.

The Blush Subtle Palettes were the fist contour powders I tried, I love the deeper powder in the 02 Nectar Lace palette which you can probably tell by how little powder I have left. The 01 Rose Flush palette has a much nicer blush and highlight shade that I get more use out of so this is the one I re-purchase these days. The powders are so buttery and blendable I wish they did a stand alone contour compact it is by far my favourite of the bunch but at £29 it just feels too expensive for such a small amount of the contour shade *review. The Smashbox Contour Kit I discovered last summer, the three powders have a more dusty or chalky texture than the other contour powders which came in very handy when my skin was more on the oily side. It retails at £35 and comes with a pretty decent brush, you can read my full review here but overall it is a really lovely palette I just wish the shades where a little cooler to match my winter skin. So thats my collection of contours, I would love to hear your faves, particularly if you have found any good cheaper options. I tend to love drugstore powders but I just can't seam to find any good cool toned contour powders like these ones. 

Balm Favourites

Lip balm may not be the most exciting of make up products but when you have super dry lips its one of the nicest to apply. For some reason I have dry lips all year round so I personally don't mind spending a little extra on my lip balms so that they actually stay on my lips and look as nice as a lipstick or gloss. I've tried countless lip balms by Nivea and Carmex and gone through a thousand Vaseline tins but they last a few minutes feel too slippy and only relieve the dryness for a while. These three balms on the other hand make my lips feel great for the rest of the day. So if you fancy a matte lip in the evening then these are great day time options. 
The balm I have been using the longest is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Intensive Lip Repair Balm. It has a sticky texture but it makes it last for a good couple of hours on your lips. Im not massively keen on pots but this is the most effective of the balms for keeping your lips nourished and it makes your lips look lovely and glossy. The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Sheer Tints have also been a firm favourite of mine for the past year or so. I use shade Honey so it looks like a lipstick but keeps my lips soft. It has SPF15 and retails for £20 like the repair balm. The By Terry Baume De Rose Nutri-Couleur is the most expensive of the three at £35.50 and to be honest it is not as long lasting but the texture of this is so buttery and the smell of rose is beautiful. I have shade Toffee Cream but if you prefer a clear balm you can purchase the larger Baume De Rose for £39 which also has SPF15. It would be nice to find a cheaper alternative to these three, so suggestions please, but for now these have my lips feeling smooth and ready for matte lipstick at all times. 

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

I have been using this off and on for a few months now, my skincare seams to revolve around whatever I find easy and quick to do at the time and for the past few weeks this has been my everyday morning cleanse. I have to be honest I don't bother with the muslin cloth or flannel anymore. Because I do a full oil cleanse in the evening, I just like how fresh and clean this makes my skin feel in the morning. I don't need this to take the day off so a splash of water and no dirty cloth has just made this a more useable option to me. Because in the past I went from foaming cleansers to oil cleanser I did find this a little weird to work with to begin with. This does not lather at all and it doesn't slip around like oil cleansers, nor is it thick like a balm, its more like a face soap. I don't  find this leaving my skin feeling tight and in need of a good drink like I have found with other non oil based cleansers. It may not take off water proof mascara as well as an oil but this just breaks down any product or excess oil on your face. The best I can compare this is how your face feels after using a micellar water only more clean feeling and less drying. I'm not going to lie I do miss a good lather from a foaming cleanser, but you know how it is, you start reading Caroline Hirons blog and you instantly remove all the foam and face wipes from your cupboard. 
I have to add this is a really good make up remover if you enjoy using a hot cloth and spending time removing your make. So if you are using this as your first cleanse, and wanting it to remove the unbudgeable waterproof mascara then the Hot Cloth Set is just £15.50. And if like me you want to use this like a face soap for a speedy wash in the morning then you can buy the 100ml bottle for £14  online here. 

Cream Shadow Collection

My love for cream shadows has taken me a while to develop, as a lover of all things matte my shadow palette collection is pretty extensive but over the past year I have built up a cream collection I am really happy with. If you are a regular reader you will know by now I do tend to steer towards high end but I must add a special mention to the Maxfactor Excess Shimmer cream shadows *review. I used to have a few of these and they are really good but when I culled my makeup when moving house they just didn't make the cut over my palettes. As you can see most of my shadows are fairly neutral but all offer a different finish. My only real colour shade is the Chanel Illusion D'ombre in shade Illusoire which is a beautiful deep shimmer purple that looks amazing as a smudged liner. The By Terry Ombre Backstars in shades Mysty Rock and Frozen Quartz are both very neutral pinks when worn alone, but together these make for quite a statement smokey eye that can be applied in seconds. 

As I more regularly wear the gold browns though I thought I would swatch my favourites, and my most worn of the bunch is the Ombre Backstar in shade Bronze Moon, this is a really easy all over wash of colour which gives a nice bit of definition meaning I don't have to wear eyeliner. I love applying the Diorshow Fusion Mono in Meteore on top of this for a really intense gold shimmer, but it also looks lovely worn alone with a really thin cat flick liner. The Chanel Illusion D'ombre in shade Emerveille is the most delicate pink shimmer I could find and I am sure I will be wearing this a tone in spring. The Bobbi Brown Longer Cream Shadow Sticks are actually my least favourite formulation in that they just do not sit as effortlessly on the lid. The do not really set and so I find I have to re smudge it throughout the day to prevent it from creasing. I do however love shade Beige Gold as an inner corner highlight and it seams to stay put if you pat this in with your finger rather than applying product straight on to your eye. 

Just to give you an idea of playtime and longevity, here are the shadows smudged once over with my finger after about a minute. You can see that the Ombre Blackstars stay put the most with the strongest pigment but there is still plenty of time for you to have a play with the cream and get the look you are after. The rest of the shadows are still there but they do take a lot longer to set and even then they are still not as long-lasting as the By Terry. I think the best way to buy the cream shadows is to have an idea of the shade and intensity you want and just go and swatch all the different brands. They all have variations of the same colours, but where if I wanted a deep brown I would go for By Terry over Dior, and if I wanted an amazing high shine glitter you can't beat Dior, so it just depends on what your preference of finish is.