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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What's In My Makeup Bag?

I store all of my makeup collection in some acrylic drawers from Homebase but I keep the stuff I tend to wear on a daily basis inside my makeup bag. I bought this from MAC a few years ago & it's still going strong. It is the signature medium rectangle bag. It's a good size as it can hold a lot of stuff and has a separate pocket to keep my brushes in. I tend to keep far too many things in here as I like to have a little bit of choice when it comes to what I'm gonna use that day. I would clear some of the products out but I just like too many things! Anyway here's a little peak at some of my most used makeup products.

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream / Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation / Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
By Terry Touche Veloutee / Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer / Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector
Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer

I keep a couple of different base products in my bag to use depending on how my skin is behaving & how much time I have to get ready. If I have time I prefer to use the Laura Mercier Silk Creme applied with a Beautyblender. If I'm running late a blob of the Dr Jart BB cream mixed with a tiny dot of the Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer helps to even out my skin and hide some of my blemishes & scarring. The BB cream alone is far too dark & sheer for me so adding the Sensual Skin Enhancer lightens it up & adds a bit more coverage. I use a few different concealers but tend to just go for some of the Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector under my eyes most days.

Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch Primer / Illamasqua Naked Rose Blusher / NARS Deep Throat Blusher / theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer / MAC Omega Eyeshadow / Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

As well as the Laura Mercier Foundation Primer I also keep the Clarins Instant Smooth one in my bag. The Clarins primer is better if I want to hide my pores & smooth over my skin so I use this one more often. I love blushers & have tons in my collection but the ones I've been using most are NARS Deep Throat & Illamasqua Naked Rose. They're both nice peachy pinks that add a much needed burst of colour to my complexion. My go-to highlighter is theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer, I recommend this product for anyone who wants a highly metallic sheen to their skin. It's one of the most pigmented I've tried & really makes my skin glow. I use the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette every day as it's a great selection of neutral colours that are ideal for day or night. If I fancy using a powder to fill in my eyebrows I opt between the shade Naked2 from this palette and MAC's Omega eyeshadow.

Givenchy Noir Couture Mascara* / MAC Clear Brow Set / NUXE Reve De Miel Lip Balm / Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara / Benefit They're Real Mascara / MAC Fling Eye Brow Pencil / Anastasia Granite Tinted Brow Gel / Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara / Beaute Girlina Weightless Lip Creme / L'Oreal Carbon Gloss Superliner / Revlon Strawberry Shortcake Lip Butter / Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion / MAC NC15/NW20 Pencil
LORAC Front Of The Line Pro Eyeliner / SUQQU Eyebrow Liquid Pen

I have four mascaras in here which is probably overkill! At the minute I like to layer the last dregs of my Lancome Doll Eyes mascara with Benefit They're Real mascara and then use the Clinique mascara on my bottom lashes to stop them smudging. I didn't really like They're Real to begin with but it's starting to get better as it dries out a bit. Still clinging on to the Lancome one though! There's some more eye brow products here depending on how I want them to look. I love brushing on some of the Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel when I don't have time to fill them in properly. I have lip products galore but I tend to go for the Beaute Lip Creme or Revlon Lip Butter as I do love a nice pink lip. I use the L'Oreal Superliner to do my regular cat flick but the LORAC one is amazing for really thin lines. I use this to fill in any tiny gaps, neaten the end of the flick & sometimes I draw on bottom lashes with it a la Twiggy. And I can't go a day without using my MAC NC15/NW20 pencil on my lower lash line to brighten up my eyes.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush / Real Techniques Contour Brush x2 / Real Techniques Setting Brush / Sigma Tapered Highlighter Brush / Real Techniques Brow Brush / Laura Mercier Double Ended Eye Brow Brush / MAC 239 Brush / MAC 222 Brush / MAC 219 Brush / MAC 227 Brush / Tweezerman Tweezers / Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

I keep a few essential brushes in here but often dip into my brush pots when I'm getting ready. I typically apply foundation with a Beautyblender (but I keep that in a separate jar) or the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I always keep two of the Contour Brushes in here - one for blending concealer & one for applying blusher. I use the setting brush with some loose powder to set under my eyes and the Sigma brush to apply highlighter. There's two angled brushes in here but they're quite different, the Real Techniques one is better for lining my eyes with black eyeshadow & the Laura Mercier one is my favourite eye brow brush. The bristles are a lot stiffer so it works a lot better. I also keep several eyeshadow brushes in here but I probably use the MAC 219 the most as I like to apply some brown eyeshadow under my eyes with it. Finally I have my tweezers & eyelash curlers, total essentials for me & you can't get better than Tweezerman & Shu Uemura.

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February Favourites

Bumble & Bumble Brilliantine
Bleaching my hair for so many years has pretty much damaged it beyond repair so I'm forever trying out new products to stop it from looking quite so dead. My latest discovery is Bumble & Bumble's Brilliantine. This versatile cream can be used on wet or dry hair. When used on wet hair it leaves your hair looking ever so sleek and shiny. But I normally just use it on my dry hair to add a bit of definition and polish to my hair. It smooths down my frizz and weightlessly gives the perfect amount of hold to my style. Its great for adding some soft texture to your hair too. This is also the only product I've found that can sort out the birds nest on top of Chloe's head without making her fine baby hairs look super greasy.

Alpha-H Absolute Eye Complex
I got this full size tube for free when I repurchased my beloved Liquid Gold and I'm really enjoying using it. Its a very light gel yet somehow it seems to hydrate my undereye area so much better than any cream eye product ever did. I guess its due to the presence of hyaluronic acid in it which, as all other Hydraluron fans will know, is brilliant at locking moisture into your skin. I found that cream products were often too rich for me resulting in unsightly milia. Luckily Absolute Eye Complex also helps to reduce those. Its really cooling so feels especially nice to apply first thing in the morning and it helps to tighten up that whole area which is bound to keep any fine lines & wrinkles at bay. My dark circles seem a teeny bit brighter but theres not really been any noticeable difference in that department. Only time will tell if it can live up to it's claims. I would say that my eyes certainly look less baggy & puffy since I started using it so its doing a great job so far.

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer
This product has always had a lot of hype in the beauty world but it wasn't until Peaches Geldof started singing its praises as her favourite concealer & foundation that I paid any attention to it. Its basically a thick and creamy tiny pot of colour. You can't really use it straight unless cake face is the look you're going for. But I love that you can mix it with so many different products such as BB creams & primers to custom make a foundation that delivers the level of coverage and finish that you desire. You only need a really small dot of this stuff every time you use it so despite its miniature package, it'll last for ages. Expect a full review of this soon but for now lets just say I'm completely loving it!

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse
When I had a mini makeover in Space.NK & purchased the aforementioned Sensual Skin Enhancer, the MUA mixed it with a really lovely By Terry dry oil. Knowing the redonkulous price of By Terry products I asked if there were any other dry oils I could mix it with. She mentioned that the NUXE Huile Prodigieuse was also really good and I happened to have a couple of sample bottles laying around the house. So when I got home I tried it out and they are such a lovely combo. This is currently my favourite thing to mix the Sensual Skin Enhancer with. It sheers out the colour nicely without overloading your face with excess oil and delivers a gorgeously glowing finish. You're left with a flawless base and your skin is getting all the nourishing benefits of this wonder oil.

Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins
This is probably the best night cream I have ever used. I only wish I had purchased it sooner. It really packs a wallop when it comes to hydration! When I apply this my skin immediately feels smoother, softer & plumper. I love how luxurious it feels on my skin and it smells incredible too. Despite being quite a thick cream it manages to sink deeply into your skin so those vitamins can really get to work. The morning after I've applied this product to my skin, my complexion is left looking a whole lot brighter. It helps to even out my skintone and reduce redness as well as leaving my skin feeling perfectly moisturised. Great stuff!

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