July Favourites!

I don't have that many favourites this month as I've generally not stuck to using anything consistently and have swapped and changed products quite a lot.

Garnier Pure
An old favourite, I always find myself reaching for this in the warmer months as it deep cleanses and refreshes my skin.

MAC Strobe Cream
Nice light texture, easily absorbed and adds a subtle radiant sheen to the skin.
I find it works well as a brightening primer too.

Lush Sweet Lips Lip Scrub
My lips have been so dry this past week and this as really helped get rid of any rough, dry skin and help my lipstick go on smoother.
Tastes nice too so that a bonus!

YSL Volupte Sheer Candy
I love these, nice sheer juicy looking shades, feel nice and light, not sticky and smell so good.
I do find you have to reapply them quite a lot and they aren't as moisturising as I would like them to be but I love them all the same.

Fan Di Fendy
One of the nicest perfume launches of the year!
It's a nice, light, fruity floral with a slightly powdery dry down, I'm not going to say to much about it in this post though as full review is coming soon.

What were you're July Favourites?

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation Review

Skin Base is the latest foundation by Illamasqua and is inspired by the Beauty Balm/Blemish Balm creams that are so popular on the Asian market.
BB Creams are a multi-purpose product that combines your moisturiser, primer, foundation, concealer and SPF all in one, sort of like a supercharged tinted moisturiser.

I was matched up to shade 03 which is a little too yellow but shade 04 is slightly too dark, I can make either one work but for the price of it I would have liked a perfect match, I also find it highlights any dry, flaky areas and can clump if your skin isn't well moisturised.
I loved it the first couple of days I used it but it's almost as if my skin got used to it and started to dry out from it and it also felt quite heavy on my skin.

I don't know what I was expecting but I feel Skin Base is no different to any other medium coverage, dewy  finish foundation on the market, it's okay but I wouldn't choose it over my other foundations.

Have you tried Skin Base and what did you think? What are your favourite BB Creams?

Essie Spring 2011 French Affair Collection - Swatch & Review

I'm very late with this collection but I love the colours so much I felt the urge to blog about them, it's took me a while to work my way trough all the shades anyways.
I have a love/hate relationship with Essie, love the shade selection but the application can be tricky, the brush isn't quite thick or flat enough to allow for a streak free finish, particularly with the more pastel or lighter shades.

French Affair
Very pretty cool toned pink, almost lavender in undertone,  this is similar to OPI's Mod About You but better as it's not so light and applies easier. I got so many compliment while wearing this shade and for me one of the must have of the collection.

Day Light 

Artificial Light 

Nice Is Nice
A soft pastel lavender with a pink undertone, compared to Essie Lilacism it's a lot warmer toned and more flattering on my skin tone.
Nice but not very unique, I have quite a few similar shades.

Day Light 

Artificial Light

Coat Azure

A muted cornflour blue shade with silver microshimmer, not a colour I've seen elsewere.
I like it and I'm normally not a fan of blue nails, the consistency of this one was quite thick so I managed to make do with two coats.

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Topless and Barefoot
My favourite of the whole collection, I love it! I've searched high and low for the perfect nude polish and this is it, I still want to try Ciate Sugared Almonds though.
It's a flesh toned nude but with a peach undertone that stops it looking flat, and one of the few nudes that does not give me the "corpse hands" look.
It is a little streaky so it's best with 3 coats and a little patience.

Day Light

Artificial Light

Sand Tropez
The other nude in the collection, a light grey toned nude almost in the taupe territory but not quite.
I can imagine this would look best on someone with a cool toned skin toned, on me it just doesn't look quite right.

Day Light

Artificial Light

Kisses & Bisses
(not pictured)

Tried it and didn't like it so I never got it, kinda boring on it's own but I guess it would look okay layered on top of other shades.
Think slightly cloudy cream base with a duochrome pink/gold pearl finish.

Did you get anything from the Essie French Affair collection? What are you're favourite summer nail polishes?

GlossyBox July 2011!!

This months GlossyBox is AMAZING! I think last month a lot of people were disappointed with the selection of products especially the inclusion of the mini can of Batiste, I personally didn't mind but I would have preferred is they had have included a make-up item.

This month they have not only included a make-up item but 4 of the items are full size, considering the box cost £10 that is pretty generous of them, I do feel they tried really hard to please the people that were unhappy last month and yet some people are still complaining about receiving stuff they would never use.

The whole point of GlossyBox is to introduce it's subscribers to new products you would probably not try otherwise so you're not always going to get product you would choose you're self, that's the whole point of it, also it is a sample service so while getting full size items is nice we shouldn't always be expecting it.

I'm very pleased with the items I got and can see myself using up most of them.

Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil £19.95

Nice and moisturising and not too greasy, smells amazing too, like lemons.

Ultrasun Face SPF 30 sample size, full size retails at £19

Nice and light in texture and dries matte so it make a great base for your foundation.

Generous sized sample and because you only use a little each time it should last a while.

LP Skin Therapy Lip Rescue Gel £20

A sort of lip plumper and balm in one, really moisturising and kinda tingly at first but I find it too sticky to be worn at any other time other than bed time.

Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Involve £15.50

I've got quite a few of these and while I do love them they require a bit of effort to look great, they are best used wet as the pigment is stronger and they stick to the skin better.

Ciate Paint Pots in Speed Dial £9

Not used this yet but it looks like a nice vibrant summer color.

Have you subscribed to GlossyBox yet? What did you get and what did you think of this month box?

Illamasqua Rare - Swatch & Review

The most amazing yellow polish ever!! I love the idea of yellow nails but the reality is usually it looks bad on me and makes my hands look sickly.

Rare is a neon highlighter yellow that look much more vibrant in real life than on camera, it almost hurts your eyes to look at it, I had a real hard time trying to get accurate pictures of it as the light seem to just want to bounce of it. 

Application can be tricky, it dries incredibly fast so it can apply streaky I find 3 thin coats better than 2 thicker coats as the results are more even and you need to use a top coat as it dries matte.

Day Light

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Illamasqua Collide - Swatch & Review

Collide is the perfect summer color, a neon pink cream with a satin finish.

It paints like a dream, I have 3 thin coats on here (and a top coat) but I could have got away with 2 and it wears amazingly well, it lasted 5 days with minimal chipping.

The best bright pink I've ever tried.

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Essie Van D'Go - Swatch & Review

I've wanted Essie's Van D'Go for ages and for one reason or another I kept forgetting to actually buy it, now that it's finally in my possession I'm not that keen on it.

It is a gorgeous shade, a light, creamy, milky peach but it's a streaky little bugger! I ended up having to use 4 coats so in turn it took forever to dry, I woke up to bed sheet marks on some of my nails and that does not make me happy! 

I've come to realise that while Essie makes lovely colors they have consistency issues, some are great and you can get away with two coats and some are an absolute pain in the arse to paint with and require loads of effort to look right.

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MAC Semi Precious Haul

Semi Precious is the latest collection by MAC and one I wasn't all that intrested in, I knew I wanted one of the items and I ended up with 3.

I also got a cute little mini tube of strobe cream from the Sized To Go collection.

Semi Precious Rose Quartz 

Mineralize Skinfinish

This is the item I knew I would get, it's a soft rosy pink with a swirly centre of minty green, icy pink and copper.

It's a lot softer in pigmentation than I expected it too so I really have to layer it for it to show up on my (NC20) skin but it's very pretty and it just brightens the complexion.

A lot of people have compered it to Stereo Rose but they are nothing alike, Petticoat is actually closer but still too different to be called a dupe.

L-R Centre, Outer, Swirled 

Semi Precious Pearl

Mineralize Skinfinish

A soft champagne base surrounding a swirly centre of bronze, plum and white. 

Didn't think I would like this one as much as I do as I have tons of highlighters but this is actually gorgeous when swirled together, it's the most perfect peachy glow and I prefer it to Semi Precious Rose Quartz.

L-R Center, Outer, Swirled

Pressed Amber 

Mineralize Blush

This isn't a color I normally wear but I picked it up to use as a soft bronzer and contour color, turns out that when used very sparingly it makes a lovely warm blush too. I love the texture too it's so fine and silky. 

L-R Strobe Cream, Pressed Amber

L-R Petticoat, Semi Precious Rose Quartz, Stereo Rose

Stereo Rose is far to orange toned to be comparable to Rose Quartz, Petticoat is similar but a smidge warmer and darker.

What did you get from the new Semi Precious collection? 

June Favourites!

Better late than never? I never get my monthly favourites written up in time partly because it comes round so fast and partly because I really struggled to find products that I really liked this month.

My New Hair

Not really a product but I got my hair cut and colored it's now 100% better than the disaster the previous hair stylist gave me.
I wish I could have got my highlight too but my hair was a patchwork of previous colors so I was advised to wait and get my base color nice and even first.

Batiste Dry Shampoo

An all year round essential but especially useful in the summer. I don't like washing my hair everyday and this keeps my hair looking clean and gives me volume.
I also like the new XXL Volume version but you have to use it sparingly otherwise you end up with sticky, birds nest hair.

Soap & Glory The Breakfast Scrub

I managed to use up a whole tub of this in a month! I don't love it quite as much as the Flake Away scrub but it did the job of exfoliating my legs and leaving them nice and smooth.
Smells lovely too, like bananas and maple syrup.

YSL Teint Resist

I've realised no matter how many foundations I purchase this one is as close to perfection as I'm ever gonna get.
Lovely even coverage with a natural finish, it lasts a full day on me and doesn't rub off, just wish there was a shade that was a tad more yellow based than peach.

Chanel Broze Universal

I've not worn bronzer every day this month but when I have it's been this one. I like it cause it looks very natural but I do find I have to blend it very carefully otherwise it goes patchy.

Essie Fill The Gap Basecoat

Not marketed as a strengthening treatment but since using this my nails have stopped flaking and I've been able to grow them to a decent length.

Vera Wang Lovestruck Perfume

I only have samples at the moment but I absolutely love it. The bottle is beautiful and the main reason I want it but the scent itself is great too. Sweet but light at the same time and very typical of a Vera Wang fragrance.

What your favourites for the month of June?

OPI Tickle My Francey - Swatch & Review

I'm really loving nude nails at the moment and this one is probably my current favourite! It a creamy, taupe toned nude but it as an undertone of pink which stops it looking grey and flat.

It's a great nude for light skin tones as it's not too light so that it makes your nails disappear and your hands look dead.

Day Light 

Artificial Light