April Favourites

NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer in Chantilly
When it comes to base products, NARS are my current go-to brand. It mainly comes down to the fact that they really do cater for my exact skintone. I have never found a better foundation match than Siberia & I have never found a better concealer match than Chantilly. I've been a huge fan of their Radiant Creamy Concealer for quite some time now as it works beautifully as a 'no makeup' makeup product. NARS recently came out with their new Soft Matte Complete Concealer & I absolutely love it too. This concealer provides high coverage with a soft-focus blurring effect. It features a special powder complex which helps the concealer to stay in place without settling into fine lines or emphasising skin texture. I think it works a lot better on skin imperfections than it does under the eyes as it can look a little bit dry in that area. I really like to use this concealer on a MAC 242 brush to carve out my eyebrows & for creating a cut crease eye look.

Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Powder in Light
For the longest time I have heard nothing but praise for Kevyn Aucoin's Sculpting Powder in Medium as the ultimate contour product. However I was still never convinced that Medium would be a good shade for me personally. The same goes for those with deeper skintones. Last year they finally expanded the range to include two new shades, Light & Deep. I eagerly purchased the Light version of The Sculpting Powder & was blown away by how natural it looked on my skin. The colour is perfect, it's a cool toned matte brown which truly mimics the appearance of a shadow on the face. A little goes a long way as the powder is quite pigmented but it's also soft & finely milled making it very easy to blend out. I like to apply it with a Morphe M530 brush to carve out my cheekbones & jawline. I also use it with a Charlotte Tilbury Eye Blender Brush to contour my nose. I've never found a contour colour that looks as natural on the nose as this does. If you want a slimmer looking nose it's well worth it for that reason alone!

CosRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser
CosRX are my favourite Korean skincare brand & in my opinion this cleanser is one of their best products. I use this cleanser twice a day, every day with a FOREO Luna Mini 2 & my skin has never been happier. When I started getting into Asian beauty products one thing that often came up was the importance of pH levels. I'm planning on writing a whole post about this subject but basically if a skincare product isn't formulated at the correct pH level, it can have a negative impact on your skin. This cleanser has a pH level of 5.5 which is optimal for cleaning the skin & reducing acne causing bacteria. By lowering the skin's natural pH level, BHA & AHA products will also work better afterwards so it's a win-win situation. The cleanser itself is a lightly foaming clear gel with a tea tree scent. It feels really gentle yet refreshing & doesn't strip my skin of moisture. Another good thing about this cleanser is that it's incredibly inexpensive (I paid £9 for it) & you get tons of product in the tube. I've been using it for an entire year now & only recently had to purchase a new one. It's a brilliant cleanser & a cornerstone of my skincare regimen.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in Kitten Karma
I'm definitely not one to shy away from a bit of glitter. However I'm not really a fan of loose glitters as they can be quite messy & I get a bit paranoid about inadvertently blinding myself! I much prefer to buy products that already have glitter in them as they're infinitely more convenient. For example I love Illamasqua's Broken Gold eye gel & Urban Decay's Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners. I recently saw these Stila Liquid Glitter Eyeshadows all over YouTube & instantly fell in love. I wanted to buy every single one but when I saw that they cost £23 each I almost fell off my chair. It took me forever to choose which one to get but seeing as Kitten is Stila's signature shade I decided to start off with this colour. This eyeshadow has a rose gold base with tiny gold & silver glitter particles. It looks absolutely stunning & has a glamourous high shine finish. The formula is amazing, it feels so light & smooth on the eyes with virtually no fallout. It's also very long lasting & doesn't crease at all. This is the best liquid eyeshadow I have ever used. I know I shouldn't but I really don't think I can resist buying a few more of these!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
I have been using MAC's Clear Brow Gel for well over 10 years now but I fancied trying something new as I would often end up with two tails at the end of my eyebrows no matter how much I tried to gel them down. I'm obsessed with Anastasia brow products & rarely use anything other than their Dipbrow Pomade. Having heard so many amazing things about their Clear Brow Gel I decided to give it a go & promptly destashed the MAC version. This gel really does keep every single eyebrow hair in place without looking crispy or feeling crunchy. It's yet another wonderful brow product from Anastasia Beverly Hills & I won't be using anything else for a long time to come.

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September Favourites

Bravura London Glycolic Acid 15% Night Treatment
Bravura London make some of my favourite skincare products. I adore their chemical peels as they are super effective but they can be a bit of a faff to use. If I'm feeling lazy I love finishing off my evening skincare routine with their Glycolic Acid 15% Night Treatment. This night cream combines a super rich moisturiser with a high percentage of glycolic acid. The cream is quite thick so you only need a small amount & have to massage it in really well. I find that it can make my skin sting a bit when first applied, especially if I have any active spots but it doesn't cause irritation or redness. After a couple of minutes it melts into the skin & makes my face feel incredibly soft. It also kills off any blemishes, clears blocked pores & fades scarring. I honestly noticed a difference after just one use as when I woke up my face was glowing. My skin has adjusted to the high acid content & I use it several times a week now. I've tried moisturisers with acids in before but none of them have been quite as effective as this one.

Foreo Luna Mini 2
I used to think that the Clarisonic was pretty awesome. However as I learned more about skincare I realised how bad it truly was for your skin. That whole 'purging' stage is a load of rubbish, the high powered brush just irritates the skin. It seems that many of the other people who used to use Clarisonics have switched to the much gentler Foreo Luna cleansing tools & I'm actually really glad that I bought one. I decided to go for the Luna Mini 2 as I liked the size of it & I figured it had all the features I needed. The Luna range is quite different to the Clarisonic as it doesn't exfoliate the skin. Instead it deeply cleanses the pores using sonic vibrations, much like an electric toothbrush. At first it didn't seem like it did too much. My skin felt softer & better cleansed but otherwise I wasn't sure I had made a good purchase. But a couple of months down the line, I have definitely noticed a difference in the texture & clarity of my skin. I will be doing a full review of the Luna Mini 2 at some point as I do have a lot to say about this product but in short, I think it's a brilliant bit of skin technology.

Jeffree Star Skin Frost in Ice Cold
If there's anyone out there who knows a thing or two about highlighting, it's Jeffree Star. His liquid lipsticks are my absolute fave so when he started teasing his Skin Frosts months & months ago on Snapchat I knew I needed them in my life. I ordered Ice Cold & Peach Goddess and while I adore them both, I tend to reach for Ice Cold a little more often. It's an intensely shimmery white highlighter with a slight hint of gold to it which makes it more wearable than BECCA Pearl. It gives the skin an almost metallic sheen & really pops on pale complexions. Highlighters are definitely my favourite makeup product in general & this one shines like no other.

CosRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence
Last month I mentioned my love for the Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream. It's a great gateway product into the world of snail based skincare. I've had fantastic results from CosRX's products so I decided to try out their Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence & I like this one even better. Essences are kinda like serums but you apply them first to add an extra layer of hydration after your toner. It gives my skin an incredible sense of comfort, making it feel soft & juicy. It also reduces irritation & heals the skin. It spreads out easily so I only need pump for my whole face. Any more than that & my forehead can look too shiny during the day. You can use it once or twice a day depending on your skin's hydration levels so I just use it when I need to. I also really want to try out CosRX's snail moisturiser as I just can't get enough of that slime on my face!

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer in Fair
You have no idea how long I've spent stalking the QVC website for this concealer to come back in stock but it was worth every second. This is probably one of my best purchases this year. Shape Tape is a full coverage concealer & when I say full, I mean full! It works wonders on my dark circles & covers up blemishes beautifully. The concealer blends out effortlessly & stays put all day. It doesn't look cakey or crease whatsoever. I normally have to bake my undereye area or my concealer creases like mad but a light dusting of powder does the job here. I also love how huge the bottle & wand are as it means I don't have to keep dipping it back in the tube. If you order it from QVC UK you can currently only get it with Tarte's Quickie Blending Sponge which bumps up the price quite a bit. The sponge is rubbish but I guess it still works out cheaper than ordering it from overseas. Hopefully they'll start selling it individually soon as I would most definitely repurchase this amazing concealer!

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August Favourites

Bioré UV Aqua Rich Rose Scented Watery Essence SPF 50+ PA++++
If you still haven't found a cosmetically elegant sunscreen then I implore you to try an Asian sun protection product. Honestly they're well worth the faff of ordering one off eBay. Their refreshing, lightweight & easily absorbed formula will change the way you think about sunscreen. My favourite one is the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Gel but many people prefer their Watery Essence as the texture is slightly more creamy & hydrating. Neither of them are a gel or an essence so the names are quite confusing. They're both just straight up sunscreens. They normally have a citrus smell to them but Biore recently came out with a rose scented version of the Watery Essence. It's such a gorgeous scent & adds an even nicer fragrance to an already fabulous product.

Pixi Hydrating Milky Mist
Surely everyone has heard of Pixi's Glow Tonic by now but their other skincare products often get overlooked. I've become a big fan of their facial mists & their Hydrating Milky Mist is such a beautiful hydrating toner. It features hyaluronic acid & black oat which help to trap moisture & plump up the skin. Despite being such a lightweight liquid, it deeply moisturises the skin & makes any serums or face creams go on even better. I love using this in my skincare routine, the only downside is that I've worked my way through this bottle rather quickly!

Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay
This face mask is absolutely incredible! I'm always up for trying new face masks but since I bought this stuff, I haven't touched anything else. It's just so effective & so affordable. In this pot you get a green powder which is 100% natural calcium bentonite clay. To make it into a face mask you need to mix it with apple cider vinegar. The instructions say that you can use water but bentonite clay has a highly alkaline pH level which can irritate the skin. By mixing it with acidic vinegar the pH is lowered to a more skin-friendly level. I normally do about two tablespoons of clay with two tablespoons of vinegar. When you apply a thick layer of this mask you can actually feel your skin pulsate as all the impurities are dragged out from inside your pores. The feeling is really unique & very satisfying. My skin always looks quite red when I rinse it off but this soon fades & I'm left with a much clearer looking complexion. It's also great for balancing oil production. I would highly recommend this if you're in need of some deep pore cleansing.

CosRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid
I'm currently in the process of switching out some of my skincare products for Asian beauty alternatives. One product that has completely overhauled the texture of my skin is the CosRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid. CosRX are definitely my favourite Korean skincare brand. Their products have been working really well for me & this chemical exfoliant is the crème de la crème. I am very prone to getting closed comedones & this product has really helped to smooth out my skin. My post-blemish scarring has also been greatly reduced. The AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid features apple water which is a natural AHA along with glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid & niacinamide. It has a bit of a weird fishy smell but after using it for a few weeks I became noseblind to it & the odour doesn't bother me at all anymore. I purged a lot when I first started using it even though my skin is accustomed to AHAs but that shows the potency of this liquid. It is such a wonderful product & easily the best AHA chemical exfoliant I have tried.

Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream
Slugs & snails really gross me out so the idea of rubbing snail slime all over my face was slightly terrifying. However the skincare benefits are real & once I worked up the courage to actually try this product out I was amazed by how baby soft it made my skin feel. Snail slime is renowned for it's magical healing properties as it can smooth the skin, fade acne scars & give you a clearer complexion. There are many snail products out there in the Asian beauty world but I would consider the Mizon Snail Recovery Gel Cream to be a great place to start. It's very inexpensive & fairly easy to get ahold of. It doesn't smell or feel weird at all, it's just like a very hydrating gel serum. Depending on your skin type you can use it before, after or instead of your regular moisturiser. Once you get over the idea that you're putting snail slime on your face, you'll never go back.

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