August & September Favourites!

When I first started blogging I used to make favourites posts every month but I haven't done any in what seems like a year so here is my favourite makeup, skincare and haircare products for August and September!

1. NYX Powder Blush, 'Taupe': I bought this blush after months and months of drooling over it and I bought it from 123hairandbeauty. It was around £5 and I have been using it on and off for about three weeks and I love it. It is a rosy brown blush but it great as a contour because it looks quite ashy on the skin which gives the impression of a shadow. I am going to create a post about my favourite products to contour with (for pale skin) soon!

2. Dr Jart+ BB Beauty Balm 'Platinum': I have wanted to try the Dr Jart BB creams for ages as they are supposed to be nothing like the watered down/light coverage western bb creams. I put of getting one of the BB creams as there are quite a few in the range but I ended up buying the Platinum one which is supposed to be for people over 30 so I thought it would be great for my dry skin as the older you get the more your skin is going to be drier. I have used it about six times now and I really like it. It is the first BB cream that I like! Review coming soon. 

3. Illamasqua Blush Brush: I bought this brush a few months ago and it was part of a collection - it was pretty damn expensive, in my opinion at around £28 for one brush but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I bought it from Asos and even though it is stated as a blush brush I use it for contouring as it is the best shape for contouring the face! I have no idea why they say it is a blush brush, it is very dense and perfect for contouring.

4. Mac Eyebrow Pencil 'Lingering': Love, love, love this eyebrow pencil - it is a bit expensive, although being from Mac you wouldn't expect anything else (it seems like their prices go up daily!). I love this pencil, it is so quick and easy to use and it looks so natural - but there are some flaws with this product. I also love the Loreal Brow Artist Pencil too which I took on holiday with me. 

5. Kielhs Ultimate Strength Hand Salve: I received this as part of my Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar last year and I have been using it almost constantly - it is a staple product in my handbag. I took this hand cream with me on holiday to Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Estonia and Finland - it is a great hand cream. I have also been loving the Avene hand cream even more which is a very recently favourite. 

6. KMS Free Shape Blowdry Spray: Myself and my sister have been using this on and off for the past couple of weeks and it has honestly cut down the time it takes to blow dry our hair by about 1/3. It is a great little spray and it makes my hair quicker to dry and smoother too. 

7. Murad Recovery Treatment Gel: I received this as part of a prize that I won from Birch Box/Murad. I picked it because I have a lot of redness in my skin and sensitiveity due to eczema and I have been using this on and off for a couple of weeks and I definitely notice a reduction in the redness of my skin and it makes my skin really smooth too. I need to try it out more but so far so good! 

8. Bumble and Bumble Thickening Creme Contour: I have mentioned this in a post or two already and I just love it. I bought it from lookfantastic as I had an offer code so it came to about £17. It is a cream that has a light/medium hold and you can shape your hair with it, tame frizz and add volume - it smells divine too. 

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August & september Beauty Buys

Here are the products that I have bought during august and september online and instores with most of the items being on sale or offer or as free gifts. Also I bought some new beauty releases which I am excited about (especially from Rimmel) and there will be reviews of most of the items over the next month or so. 

Makeup: I have bought some makeup from Boots recently as they are having a buy one get one half price on a lot of makeup items. I have bought a couple of BB creams over the past two weeks which is unlike me because I have hated every BB cream I have tried but I received a Boots gift card for my birthday and I bought the Revlon BB cream as I read some reviews of it and it sounded great - and I saw a before/after photograph on someones blog showing the coverage and it looked amazing but I am not that blown away by it. The second BB cream I bought is the Dr Jart Platinum BB cream and I have been using it for the past week and...I love it! I bought the new Real Techniques foundation sponge from Feelunique too and I have been using it with the Dr Jart BB cream and they work well together but it is a lot more flexible than the cosmo sponge I have and I don't know if I like it more yet - reviews coming soon.

Some other makeup bits I have bought are from Revlon - a couple of weeks ago Boots were having a 2 for £10 on revlon so I picked up the new Revlon lash potion grow luscious waterproof mascara and I do like it but it is a bit clumpy. I also bought the Revlon colourstay topcoat as I have heard so many good things about it and so far I definitely prefer it over Seche Vite. Another couple of polishes I have been recently include the new Kate Moss for Rimmel polish in the shade 'acid house' which is a gorgeous metallic dark green and also the Bourjois 1 second polish in the shade '15 grenadine tonic' which is a sheer red which is nice on its own or layered on top of over polishes. Another red polish I have acquired is the Nails Inc polish which is limited edition polish which is free when you buy the colgate luminous toothpaste - in Boots now.

The last two makeup items I bought are new releases - the Seventeen Phwoarr Paint heavy duty under eye concealer in the shade 'fair'. Firstly I like the packaging and the shade is ok for me but it is quite heavy and caky on my dry skin. The final makeup item is from Rimmel and I am so pleased with it - it is the Rimmel lasting finish colour rush balm in the shade 'drive me nude' - I love the shade, it is smooth and hydrating and it lasts so well - I am definitely getting some more of these!

Now quickly moving on to haircare, I bought the Bumble and Bumble thickening creme contour from Lookfantastic as I had a code so I got it for around £17 and I love this product for defining my layers, smoothing the hair and adding volume/body - it smells amazing too. I also bought the raved about shampoo and conditioner from Loreal - the Loreal everriche nourish and flowing duo which I haven't used yet but I am excited to. I found a great bargain on feelunique - they were selling mini sets of Redken products at just under £5 so I had to get one and I bought the Extreme one which contains the shampoo, conditioner and the anti snap treatment that I have been wanting to try for a while. Now hair tools, if you read my current week in photographs post you will know that my sister has moved to uni so I needed to buy some new straighteners as she took the ones we share - I bought the Nicky Clarke Mayfair straighten and curl tool which I love so far and it is currently reduced, I bought mine from amazing for around £20. I won a John Frieda hairdryer from their Facebook competition (their competitions are fantastic!) and I love the hairdryer - it makes my hair incredibly smooth, soft, sleek and it dries my thick hair really quickly.

Last but not least, body products. I went on to the Bliss UK site, just looking and I saw an amazing offer which sadly isn't available anymore - if you bought anything you could select five free travel sizes - amazing! I bought a sale product (a hand care duo) and I picked five free samples (some of which are 53g, so big samples).  Oh and I bought the Indeed Labs sampler set (sale, £8.66, Boots online) and I have been using the Hydraluron sample for about a week and I like it but I don't think it is amazing. Reviews coming soon!

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Week in photographs #36/37

The past two weeks has consisted of: shopping, meeting up with family, cafes/restaurants, writing reviews, looking at bunnies, making homemade soup, coffee, lusting over new autumn/winter candles, my sister moving to university and being ill. 

I have bought a good amount of beauty products over the past couple of weeks, especially new releases from Loreal, Rimmel, Revlon and some bargain buys from Bliss, Redken and freebie Nails Inc polishes from Colgate. Also Primark bargains. Oh and I entered a John Frieda competition on facebook and I won a hairdryer! I have been testing out new buys, such as the Murad redness treatment, Dr Jart BB cream (regenerating version), the Revlon lash potion grow luscious waterproof mascara and the real techniques sponge - reviews coming soon!

Also I have a horrible cold, aching and ill - yey! So I have been under a fluffy primark blanket with gingerbread lattes and I have been making vegetable soup a couple of times this week. Soap, candles, blankets and Modern Family have been almost constant this week. But myself, my sister and my aunties did go out for lunch this week and we went to a garden centre too which means I was awwwwing over the adorable bunnies - I wanted to take them all home! We also went out for dinner at Karims yesterday as my sister is going off to university tomorrow. 

That was my past couple of weeks, I hope everyone had a great week and stay tuned for my upcoming blog posts such as: hauls, A/W inspiration, candle buys, wish lists, new beauty releases, reviews and a couple of exciting competitions! x

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