Valentines FOTD + Sharing The Love

Happy Valentines Day to all of my readers! I'm not really a fan of Valentines Day but I received a lovely Valentines package from the wonderful people at Essence this morning so I thought I'd write a very impromptu post featuring the products as well as some of my current beauty favourites. Also as it is Valentines Day, I'm sharing the blogging love by sharing some of my current favourite blogs (just a few as if I featured all of the blogs that I loved reading, the post would be ridiculously long!).

At the end of December and throughout January, I have been clearing out products, sorting and organising as well as going through all of my foundations one by one to decide whether I want to keep them or not, I've tried at least seven so far and guess how many I've kept...yes, seven. My latest favourite is the Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation (71, apricote claire) which is probably the best colour match I've ever found; it is also perfect for my dry skin so if you are suffering with dryness and patchy foundations this winter then check this beauty out from Bourjois, that is, if you can find it! Combine this foundation or the Lancome Cushion Foundation, Maybelline Better Skin or the Yves Rocher Comfort Foundation with the Essence Fixing Powder and I end up with fantastic looking skin!

Some of my favourite products from Essence are their powders, polishes, liners and mascaras; the new mascara I have in this post is the *Essence Forbidden Volume Mascara which leaves my lashes volumised, black and curled - most of the time when I curl my lashes and apply mascara, the curl holds for about five minutes if I'm lucky but this mascara manages to hold a curl really well! The liner I used today was the *Essence 2 in 1 Eyeliner Pen which has a thin marker style pen on one side and a thicker highlighter pen style pen on the other. It worked really well although after only one use it feels like it's starting to dry out so maybe try the Liquid Ink Liners from Essence instead.

Lastly, for the lips, I used the *Essence Long Lasting Lipstick in 21 Tres Chic which is a beautiful blackberry shade. I love Essence lipsticks as they are so inexpensive, creamy and comfortable to wear and long lasting when you consider the price. I've also been loving my Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita recently!

Now onto my current favourite blogs and bloggers which is always changing as I read blogs almost everyday and everyone seems to be killing it recently which gorgeous photography and fantastic content! Definitely check out these blogs and if you are looking for more then check out #TheGirlGang hashtag on Twitter!

The Lovecats Inc  -  Elevator Musik  -  Being Little  -  Jasmine Talks Makeup  -  Miss Makeup Magpie  -  Really Ree

Who are your favourite bloggers? Have you tried Essence cosmetics?