June Favourites

Hello everyone, 

June has been quite a busy month for me, I moved back from Paris and started the next stage of my course as well as planning summer placements. It has been all go for the entirety of the month. This shows itself in my favourites, they all follow a more relaxing trend. When you are rushing around it is more important than ever to take time for yourself. If you don’t you’ll end up burning out and feeling rubbish. I know, I know, the whole “remember to take me time” thing is easier said than done, but I promise you it is worth it! 

A key part of this month for me has been pampering. Once a week I have been making a real effort to have a full on pampering session. This goes from head to toe, I’ll do a mask on my hair, do loads of wonderfully girly treatments for my face and body and paint my toe nails. If anyone would like a pamper routine post then let me know in the comments below :-)

I know it says La Main Verte, but I bought it in Paris :-) 

The Handy Gurugu Lush cream has been my saviour. With what I do I end up washing my hands a million times a day with some harsh products, particularly hibi-scrub. It is great for disinfection, but leaves my skin disgustingly dry and dehydrated. To counteract this, I have been using this cream twice each day. Once when I come in from uni and again as I sit up in bed reading, blogging, working or watching videos. It has the most lovely peppery smell, making me think of summer gardens. It’s very rich and takes a while to soak in, but it is so worth the wait. 

I know I have mentioned this product as a favourite so many times, but I just have to add it in again. The Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil in 02 Raspberry is beautiful, you should all try it. Enough said on that one! 

Spending time with my housemate is also very important. When you both have busy schedules it can be hard to find time to catch up on the day, but it is vital for maintaining a happy house vibe. With this in mind, we have several Netflix programmes we watch together. Our favourite has to be Once Upon A Time. I freakin’ love this show! We have been trying to watch an episode each night and it has been fabulous. I am a little late to the party on this one, but better late than never eh? 

Sorry this has been a bit of a short favourites! Hopefully I will have many beauty related posts for you in the near future. Let me know what you have been loving in June in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

FarFetch Beauty Launch**

Hello everyone, 

Recently I was contacted by Farfetch, an online designer clothes store, asking if I would like to take part in a blogger competition they are hosting. They are publicising the launch of their new online beauty section by inviting certain bloggers to take part. Their website looks really fab and extremely versatile, shipping well-known designer brands such as By Terry, Chloe, Fendi and Kenzo. 

They asked me to create a little wish list of products I would like from their new section and to post a quick glimpse into my own beauty collection and essentials. They ship all over the world and collaborate with over 1000 brands globally, so they are worth taking a look here. 

For my little wish list I chose a couple of brands I know and love and a couple I am unfamiliar with, but would like to try! 

1. Hourglass blush in Diffused Heat
2. R + CO Gemstone Colour Shampoo (I don't colour my hair, but this bottle looks amazing! Often products aimed at coloured hair are very rich, but less harsh on your hair) 
3. Lipstick Queen in Wine Sinner 
4. By Terry Blush Glacé in Frozen Petal
5. Sunday Riley Artemis Hydroactive Face Oil 

Now onto my own beauty products, I'm not going to list them all as that would take forever and a day, but I'll give you a brief overview. You may recognise some products from previous posts and monthly favourites! 

These products are definitely my daily essentials! The lipsticks are the Gwen Stefani for Urban Decay in Ex-Girlfriend for a day to day look and the Charlotte Tilbury in So Marilyn for a pop of colour! 

This photo has a couple of my favourites like the YSL Gypsy Opale face palette and the Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort Oil (phew what a mouthful!)

Obviously I couldn't do a post like this and not show a few of my favourite lippys!

Last, but not least a quick peek at my favourite palettes :-) 

I hope you have enjoyed peeking into my makeup collection and maybe it will inspire you to try some new products! If you see a product that you would like me to write a specific review for, then let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

Chasing Away Chapped Lips

Hello everyone,

Whose life is a constant battle against chapped lips from November to April? Mine certainly is, I am so sensitive to the cold. I always delve deep into the realms of lip care at this time of year. I’m sure you were all getting sick of me commenting on this in various posts, so I thought I’d give it it’s very own post and be done with it. 

There is a plethora of lip comfort products out there, some work, some don’t and some just taste so good that they would work if you didn’t lick them off every 5 seconds! Here is my little guide to products that work for me and which are my top rated. 

First off let’s do the balms. I am a sucker for tinted lip balm and I have yet to find one as creamy as the Benefit Benebalm. I like to use the traditional red colour, but they have a whole set ranging from a rosy nude to a deep coral, something for everyone and all that. For me this is a routine buy every autumn. One which my Mam swears by and really got me into is the Clinique range of chubby lipsticks. I am using the colour Whoppin’ Watermelon at the minute, but to be honest I like all of them and buy a different colour every time. They don’t taste amazing, it’s just a standard lipstick flavour, but they do have brilliant colour pay off and feel very soothing on the lips. No matter how much I love the colour, there is a downside, it doesn't last very long and I find myself reapplying multiple times in the day, not ideal! For something more recent, Lush just brought out the gloss The Kiss in their Valentines Day range. I would class this as a balm rather than a gloss as it is quite faint in terms of colour and isn’t really a gloss texture. It feels quite grainy when you first apply it, but the balls soon melt into your lips as they warm up and it does taste amazing! This is one of the ones that gets licked off a lot...

Let's talk Oils and glosses. I chose my three top favourites for this one! I am deeply in love with the Clarins Instant Light Lip Comfort products. I have the oil in 02 Raspberry (mmmm so yummy!) and the Eclat Minute natural lip perfecter in 01. These two are actually my top rated of all the products in this post, they are so soft and moisturising. Even though one is a gloss and one is an oil they feel very similar, but don't be alarmed they do have their differences. The Eclat Minute is more moisturising and the oil gives you instant protection from the elements. A good product to have by your bed is the L'Occitane shea butter lip balm, it has hardly any fragrance or flavour which is ideal to apply just before bed. It is quite sticky and feels very vaseline-like! It does have some serious moisturising effect though. 

Finally, those dreaded dip your fingers and get very sticky type products. Oh my God I used to hate these, all I could think of were the dirty fingers dipping in and out of the pots. Actually, even now I still always wash my hands before I use them, but some products are worth it. I love the Nivea Vanilla and Macadamia balm, it smells so tasty! It's quite a staple product and most people know and love it, but hey it's one of my favs so it's in the post. I adore this red balm by Lou Lesage, the colour I have is called Loved and that is how I feel about this. I love to rock a classic red lip, but I worry about using lipsticks that will dry out my lips. This is the perfect compromise, the colour pay off is lovely to wear by itself or to add over the top of a lipstick to give a little moisture if you really need that deep pop of colour. This product is a win win in my mind! 

I hope this has helped you find inspiration to make your lips feel the love! What is your top pick for lip care? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

January Favourites

Hello everyone, 

It’s the end of another month and I honestly cannot tell you where it has flown away to! People always say that January drags by and is a very blue month, I could not disagree more, this month is always super busy for me. As I have mentioned in a couple of my previous posts January can also be very exciting on the new releases front too. 

This is my first ever monthly favourites post so I was kind of nervous about what to put in it, but then I thought to myself “Hatts you are being ridiculous”. I’m just going to go with the flow and share the things I have been enjoying most over this cold and rainy January. 

Let’s start off with the beauty products. In my previous post I told y’all about the YSL gypsy opale palette so I’m not going to repeat all that, but it has definitely been one of my favourites. Since I started using it I have received so many compliments on my healthy, glowing skin. However, I don’t think those compliments have been aimed at my lips, let’s just say my lips and the harsh winter wind are not good bed fellows. This month I have been all about the lip comfort and have been really loving all things soft and moisture. My top products for lips have been the Clarins instant light lip comfort oil and my trusty Clinique chubby stick in 06 woppin' watermelon. Between the two of them, these products have been saving my lips from being a horrible chapped mess! I want to add a quick big up to my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette too for giving me some added colour and light. For a full review check out my post here. 

For general life and joy I have been loving my Sanctuary white lily and damask rose body wash, it is gorgeous and gives such a lovely hint of spring to my skin in the morning. I haven’t had much experience with Sanctuary products and I am excited to try out some of their other fragrances, so stay tuned! Macaroons have been a big feature this month as I have been gobbling them down like they’re going out of fashion. They are one of the many things I miss about no longer living in France, there is nothing like going to your local bakery in the morning to buy some fresh baked macaroons. I have been having to resort to supermarket ones here *sigh*. 

And last, but not least, to keep away the revision blues I have been treating myself to the occasional episode of 90210 on Netflix. I haven’t watched this since it first came out and I still love it just as much now! The Annie, Adrianna, Naomi and Silver drama is the perfect distraction and relaxation after a long revision day. To add a boost of colour to my kitchen I have also been loving fresh flowers, it is almost daffodil season after all! 

What have you been loving this month? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

Limited Edition Goodies

Hello everyone, 

Recently I have been mildly obsessed (massive understatement) with all the new releases this month! I always think January is very exciting for beauty products as so many companies bring out their spring collections and new products for the new year…just in time for the next student loan instalment…not so good for my bank account honestly. 

The product I was most excited by is the YSL Gypsy Opale face palette. Wow oh wow is this palette gorgeous, pretty much as soon as it came out online I had to order one, luckily I had some money from babysitting so could justify the rather expensive £42.50! It came super fast in the post and the packaging is gorgeous. There is a standard gold YSL cardboard box with instructions/warnings etc. Inside is a small, black velvet pouch embossed with the YSL logo, very decadent looking I must say. 

How beautiful is this!?!

The slim gold palette has a marbled pink - fruschia cover and inside the marbled effect is continued. The different colours are laid out in wavy strips with more space being taken up by the blush and highlight, which is fab because they will be used the most! 

There are 4 “colours” - green, purple, pink and cream aimed to cover all the different requirements for “doing your face”. The green is best swept over areas of redness on your face, maybe where you have a bit of blemish or under the cheekbones in areas of rosacia. The purple is used as an anti-dullness colour and you can put it anywhere that you think your skin isn’t looking at it’s best. I like to sweep some under my cheekbones, down the creases beside my nose and across my forehead towards my hairline. The blush is a beautiful glossy colour, similar to the dandelion blush by Benefit. It is a sort of baby pink with a hint of sparkle, perfect for the rapidly approaching spring season. Finally, onto the highlighter, it is a rich toned cream that will suit all skin tones. It has quite a lot of dazzle to it so can be used sparingly to great effect. I find that it really lights up my complexion when swept under my eyes, down the very top of my cheekbones and over my brow bones. 

I have definitely fallen in love with this palette. I have taken to using it after I have put on my foundation and powder. However, the beauty of this palette is that it can be all you need, if you are in a hurry, or are going for a very light makeup look you can swirl all the colours together and dust them over your face for a natural, sunny style! My only niggle is that with the way I apply it, I require several different brushes, the initial application isn’t an on the move operation, but I do love having it in my makeup bag to quickly touch up my complexion over a long day. 

Another product I am excited about this month is less of a new release, but is also limited edition. It is the Clarins instant light lip comfort oil in 02 raspberry. As far as I know the original 01 honey flavour isn’t limited edition, thankfully, this product is a god send for my poor chapped lips. If you are like me and suffer from damaged and sore lips over the winter months then this is definitely for you! At £18 it is very affordable and a small amount goes a long way. I originally went into John Lewis in search of the honey oil, having heard nothing but rave reviews I thought it was a must try, but the raspberry had such a lovely scent I couldn’t resist. It has quite a strong scent, however, once on the lips the flavour is very subtle and I can instantly feel its nourishing powers. I have found myself reaching for it 3 or 4 times each day, the wide doe sponge applicator makes it so easy to apply on the go and isn't harsh on my lips. 

I have always been a lover of Clarins so it came as no surprise that I adore it, but I had never tried YSL before and was blown away by this palette. Sadly their other limited edition products include a luminous green mascara and an eyeshadow palette with more beautiful packaging than product…bit of a let down after the excitement of the gypsy opale! 

Have you guys tried any of these or do you have something better in your makeup arsenal? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo