August Favourites

 

I swear yesterday was only just New Year's.

Where the hell has the year gone, and more importantly, what the hell have I been doing all year?!

So the end of the month, and the end of Winter (YAY!!) brings with it the 'monthly favourites'. A round-up of the standout's from the month.

  

 1. Sally Hanson 'Mega Shine Top Coat'. Sally Hanson 'Smooth Perfect Color Care' in 06 Air. Jo Malone's Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense. Chloé L`eau De Chloé Eau De Toilette. Sportsgirl's 'Blondie' Torteshelle sunglasses 2. Chloé L`eau De Chloé Eau De Toilette. BioEffect EGF Serum. Jo Malone Cologne (background) 3. Chloé L`eau De Chloé Eau De Toilette 4. Dove Clinical Protection anti-perspirant 5. Me wearing Sally Hanson's 'Smooth Perfect Colour' in 06 Air 6. Same as 1 with Alpha-H Liquid Gold 7. Sally Hanson's Mega Shine topcoat and Smooth & Perfect Color Care in 06 Air 8. As number 6. Yes, I needed the extra's to make the collage an actual 'collage' ;)

Dove Clinical Protection anti-perspirant deodorant-
You know what? We all sweat. Some more than others. Unfortunantely I fall into this category. As much as I protest, I am a sweater and I find that this works for me. I use it as per instructions, before bed (after showering) and then in the morning because I like the way it smells. I always go for the 'original clean' scent. What more can I say? It works for me :)

Jo Malone Velvet Rose & Oud Cologne Intense-
When I first smelt this, it was by accident. Accident being an over-zealous sales girl spraying it on my wrist before I had the chance to say 'no thank-you'.
It was definitely not love at first smell.
However, as the day went on, I kept getting a sniff of a really nice perfume as I walked. Took me an hour or two before I realised it was the perfume on my wrist.

I went back the following day to track down what I was told at the time of 'walk by spitzing' was limited edition. Braced myself for what I knew was going to be an obscene price and walked away. I practiced self restraint... lasted about a week.

Because I couldn't get this scent out of my mind, I bit the bullet and handed over my credit card through gritted teeth and purchased.

The 'Cologne Intense' range is a lot heavier than the usual colognes from Jo Malone.
This one is quite deep and 'mysterious' (you like that? Hehe) that settles down throughout the day to a really gorgeous rich (not sickly) scent. It also has great lasting power. I can still smell it on my skin after a full day of work and public transport commuting.

Perfect scent for the colder months which is why it became such a favourite this past month, though I know I'll probably let this one last in my rotations long into Spring and Summer.

Chloé L`eau De Chloé Eau De Toilette-
The absolute opposite to the Jo Malone Cologne Intense, the Chloé scent is Summer in a  bottle. Absolutely DIVINE. The Chloé Eau de Parfum is amazing. Some (me) might say femininity personified, and this, L'eau De Chloé is it's gorgeous younger sister. 

Originally purchased on a whim and later regretted and therefore relegated to the 'back of the cupboard' * tsk tsk, slap on wrist*
Now, one spritz of this secret weapon and I would forget about how cold it was outside and instantly lift my mood. I may, or may not have even layered it over the Jo Malone... I know. Blasphemous.

Sportsgirl's 'Blondie' Sunglasses-
For whatever reason's I go through phases with this style, this past month I have worn nothing but these bad gals.

What is there not to love about a torteshelle cat eye? I think they're so chic and did I mention super affordable? You can get these gorgeous gals here.

I wear sunnies all the time. I think of it as one of my best anti-aging weapons. Less squinting, less wrinkles. Plus how else will I hide those darn under eye circles and look half polished?

Alpha-H Liquid Gold-
I see this being a repeat offender as this product is well and truly liquid gold in a bottle! 
As mentioned in my previous post (here), this product for me is my Holy Grail.

Acting as a chemical peel, thanks to the active ingredient, glycolic acid, this serum sloughs away whilst you sleep. What a hard worker!

End result is plumper, smoother and radiant skin. I could wax lyrical about this heaven in a bottle all day, night, weeks... you get the picture. 

BioEffect EGF Serum-
I don't know too much about this serum, except the fact that it's new and innovative anti-ageing (yes please!) from Iceland.

Adorebeauty.com were running a promo where you could sample for free (though pay $5.95 shipping). Curiosity got the better of me and I took advantage.
The sample is the teeniest little bottle but it never seems to run out (me likey). The full sized bottle is a whopping $180.00 (here). I have come to terms with myself that yes, once I run out of the never ending teeny tiny bottle, I will purchase full size and I will not feel guilty... much.

Originally I started using 2-3 drops on clean dry face before bed (too expensive to use in the morning as well), have now started rationing it to 1-2 drops.
Luckily, a little goes a long way with this little gem. Skin is moisturised (without feeling greasy) and smooth as a baby's bottom.

Hell, if it's good enough for Martha Stewart, it's good enough for me!

Sally Hanson's Mega Shine Top Coat & Smooth Perfect Color Care in 06 Air-
First things first, typing 'color' rather than 'colour' has killed me a little every time. I'm a stickler for spelling and the fact that I'm writing in US English, rather than UK English is literally gnawing at me ;)

I combined these two well, because you can't have a polish without a top coat right? We always apply top coat? Ahem, I mean I always do. Don't look at me that way, ... I do... sometimes.

I have one or two*cough* nail stand worth *cough* nail polishes and so I have my usual Sunday night routine of giving myself a manicure, ready for the next working week.
It's fair to say I try and mix things up a bit with changing colours every week.

These two however, have graced my fingertips for the majority of August.
The perfect baby blue doesn't exactly scream winter, but hey, whatever gets a girl through the gruelling winter months right?

I adore the brush (thick and flat) on the Smooth and Perfect colour polish. Makes a cinch of applying, and although I find this one is more of a three coat babe (I prefer an opaque finish), it certainly doesn't need the mega shine, but whoa, once you've seen the mega shine in action, you could easily mistake it for a shellac manicure. Its that glossy.

They're my August favourites. Perhaps a little too much ramble, but these things excite me.

xx

Worth the hype?

We've all been there. Bought one or two *cough* several beauty products due to the mahusive hype on blogs and youtube. Sometimes it pays off, other times, it just puts a dent into your bank balance.

Here I breakdown five beauty products that I hastily purchased on the recommendations of many, and I say MANY a youtubers/bloggers out there and let you know my take on them.

Now I'm no beauty expert by any means, my make-up application will quickly tell you that, but I know what works for my skin, my lifestyle, etc, etc... only took me 29 darn years! Sheesh.

So without further ado.... drum roll please...

1. Bioderma Crealine H2O Solution Micellaire

Hands down probably one of the most talked about products, if not, the most talked about product on the interwebs.
Sucked in line and sinker I went all the way to Paris to get this bad boy.. OK, perhaps not the only reason, but man, it was way up there!

When I first saw the neon green pharmacy cross in the streets of Paris, nothing else mattered, angels sang, the sun shone on me and I happily made my euphoric way into skincare heaven. I did as all self respecting girls would do and purchased not one, but two (that's a whole 1 litre) of these gorgeous bottles and handed over my euros with utter glee.

The solution is gentle enough for those with sensitive skin and removes quite a large sum of makeup in the first couple of sweeps. But... let's just take those rose coloured glasses off,... it does not take off all of my eye make-up, namely mascara quite as easily.

This means I've now relegated it to being what I now use to take off most of my make-up before my actual deep cleanse and as my toner post cleanse. I would advise not to spend the money.
It's bloody hard to get your hands on it anyway outside of France (well in an inexpensive way). Which perfectly segways into my next 'much hyped' about product....

2. Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

Hallelujah! OK, so let's just say I like this product... a lot.

It's creamy, gorgeous texture sucked me in, then it's heavenly scent made me love it. Hello hint's of Eucalyptus, can I hear a whoop, whoop?!

I had never used a hot cloth cleanser before and I felt a little awkward at first rubbing this thick texture over dry, yes, dry skin. But like anything, practice makes perfect and I now use this in the shower. I use on my face before wetting. I also find the steam really helps when using the muslin cloth to really get in there and get the job done, well in my mind anyway, and really that's all that matters right? ;)

All in all, definitely worth the hype, and then some.

3. Alpha-H Liquid Gold

HOLY GRAIL ALERT! HOLY GRAIL ALERT! HOLY-FRIGGEN-GRAIL ALERT!

Did that get your attention?

If you haven't already, quickly go out and purchase this product. I cannot stress enough how much I adore/love/praise this product.

Everything everyone has said when raving about this product is absolutely true. A chemical exfoliate (Glycolic Acid) that works through the night (product is applied before bed) to give you radiant, literally radiant, plumper skin that just looks amazing in the morning.

OK, so I may have thought I'd wake up and look like Miranda Kerr the morning after using this, and although I didn't (damn!) I was more than happy, nay, ecstatic with the results.

Get it, get it now!

4. Caudalie Eau De Beaute

I've got to be honest, I purchased this solely based on Lisa Eldridge's long flight skincare routine video. I got the small travel sized bottle to try it out before committing to the 100ml full sized bottle and was quite confronted with the fragrance.

It was a lot stronger than I had ever imagined. Although not offensive, it is quite strong but luckily the scent quickly dissipates.

I don't know what's in this little bottle but man is my skin not only refreshed but it is smoother than a baby's bottom once it dries. Hot Damn Amazeballs! I know what you're all thinking, and yes, I'm all class ;)

I've been umming and ahrring on whether or not to purchase the full size, and as of writing this, I'm swaying to yes, but not 100% convinced. Having said that, I do think it lives up to the hype. But do I need it??... hrmmm...

5. Collection's (formerly 'Collection 2000') Lasting Perfection Ultimate Wear Concealer

First of all- What a mouth full!

Second... Ermergerd! Ermegerd!

I have very dark under eye circle's, emphasis on the very. I thank my dad's side of the family for that.. *through gritted teeth* ... Gracias familia.

So to say I've struggled to find a concealer that actually works for me is an understatement. In the quest of finding my HG product, I have spent hard earned cash on a couple that have in fact highlighted my under eye circles by darkening them (thanks girl at MAC counter) and one that just made my under eye area look ashy.

This little cheapie, purely on price not on performance is an absolute gem.

I have come to the conclusion that I also need a corrector (Bobbi Brown, I'm coming after you,... as soon as I get paid) but I can live with that, and to be honest, this concealer does a pretty darn good job on it's own. Hands down worth the hype.

So that rounds off my ramble. If you stuck with me through it all, well Thank-You!

Hope you enjoyed and found it somewhat useful.

xx