February Favourites

Welcome to my first monthly favourite post!

I have been buying and experimenting with a few things over the past few weeks which includes products I’m currently using in my revamped skincare routine. However, with skincare products, I do want to give it a longer trialing period because it tends to take longer to see results (unless of course you get an instant reaction where you face swells up all red and puffy, luckily that’s not happened to me yet *touches wood*). Having said that, now and again there are exceptions to the rule which brings me onto the first two favourites of the month, the Aesop Control Gel and the Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil.

These were a Caroline Hirons induced purchase that I found from reading her “Cheat Sheets” and this particular one was on “Sudden Breakouts- What to do and what to do it with”. As you can probably gather from the title, I was suffering from a major breakout and when I say major, I mean MAJOR! You know the kind where it is concentrated in one area where when one finally goes down, another two will come up next to it and it goes on and on for a good couple of weeks (at least).

The Aesop Control Gel comes in a teeny, tiny tube, not very dissimilar to that of a toothpaste. I go straight onto the spot(s) with this and then go in with the Clarins Lotus Face Treatment Oil (this stuff smells so heavenly)- just a few drops onto my fingers and then patted on top and around the affected area. I repeat this step a few times in the evening (over the course of a few hours) and then before I get into bed, I finish off with a moisturiser on top. I noticed an immediate improvement the following morning. A BIG improvement. The spot had gone down considerably and felt a lot less raw and a lot less red. Unfortunately another two appeared but I repeated the process and this time, because I had nipped it in the bud, the spots didn’t stand a chance and practically disappeared almost quicker than they emerged. Wow. I am truly impressed! This combo is officially of holy grail status. All hail to Caroline Hirons. This woman knows her stuff.

The next favourite is actually a product I had mentioned in my blog post “The Search for the Perfect Mascara”. In that post, I couldn’t decide if any of the mascaras featured were better than the one that I had been using religiously for the last few years. I don’t want to say for definate if it’s better than the Maybelline Colossal Volum’ Express Waterproof Mascara,  but I have loved, loved, loved using the Loreal Volume Million Lashes Excess Waterpoof Mascara. It just makes my lashes look all soft and fluttery and it does look like I have tonnes of lashes (I don’t), maybe not a million lashes, but definately a lot, lot more than I naturally have. Clump free, water-resistant and gravity defying curl, what isn’t there to love. I will definately be repurchasing this although I will have to go through the bulk buy of my current mascara first. Damn it.

The next favourite of the past month is my ridiculously cheap purchase of the Illamasqua Cream Blusher in Seduce. I had never really tried cream blusher before, not for any particular reason, but when this bad boy was in the January sales for £7.50 (yes you heard me, £7.50!) plus a discount code of 10% off on top, it was an offer too, too,  good to miss. I picked up two colours, Seduce which is described as a “warm, rose pink” with a “dewy finish” and Dixie, which is more of a “warm coral pink”. I felt the latter was more of a summer colour so I’ve been experimenting with Seduce which I think is more appropriate for this time of year. The colour looks absolutely terrifying in the pan. Like super, duper pink! But a little goes a long, long way so I just literally just dab my middle finger into the pan once and apply it straight to the apples of my cheek, just tapping the product in a circular motion and slightly upwards and outwards along the cheekbone, which in turn sheers down the colour. The end result is a flush of pink like you’ve just come in from the cold outside. So natural and pretty, you can’t actually tell if its makeup or not. I’ve converted now. Cream blushers all the way.

My penultimate favourite comes in the form of a base; the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in the shade B40. This already has a cult status in the blogging and Youtube world and when a product is hyped up so much, it’s only natural that one becomes curious. The first time I tried it was the day I met the talented and super lovely Mary Greenwell in the Chanel store in Covent Garden. I didn’t have the pleasure of getting my makeup done by the living legend but one of the lovely Chanel consultants matched me up and sent me on my way with a couple of samples in hand. However, when I got home to check out the foundation, I felt it was a tad too light on me. Just a smidgen (the sales consultant had matched me up to a B30). After trying the sample on in the morning (and in natural daylight), I was definately right. It was too light. I returned to the store and bought the next shade up a few weeks later. That was the B40 and it’s the perfect match for my skin tone. The foundation is so super light in texture (you have to give it a good shake beforehand) and gives off quite a natural finish, not too matte, not too dewy, just somewhere that fits neatly in between. I don’t like a lot of coverage, just something that evens out my skin tone and provides a good base for the makeup to go on top, so this perfect. I’d even go to say that this is my favourite foundation I have ever worn.

Then last but certainly not least, my final favourite of the month has to go to Tanya Burr’s lipgloss in Aurora. If you haven’t heard of her first collection, a collaboration with Eye Candy, then I can only assume that you have been living under a rock for the past month. Tanya’s collection consists of 12 lipglosses and 10 nail varnishes in an assortment of shades. Of course, I had to buy and try out at least one of each and initially purchased the lipgloss in “First Date” and the nail varnish in “Mischief Managed”. However, after I saw a You Tube video that Tanya posted about her January favourites and saw her wearing the shade “Aurora”, I had to have it. So a quick email to feelunique.com’s customer service, I managed to change the colour that I had ordered before it had been dispatched.

After what felt like a lifetime (approx. two weeks. Ok slight exaggeration), my order arrived and I was so pleased that I had changed the lipgloss to Aurora. It is such beautiful neutral toned pink, very pigmented (no need to wear lipstick underneath) and a non-sticky formulation (no hair in mouth disasters). I love the smell of the lipgloss also, so sugary sweet. The nail varnish, “Mischief Managed” is a vibrant red with an orange undertone and would look really good with a tan. Even without the tan (I’m probably the lightest I have ever been in a long, long time), the colour really stands out. I wasted no time and painted my toes with it. It was fairly fast-drying and the colour lasted not particularly long, but didn’t start chipping right away either. I think Tanya has done a great job and I don’t think it will be too long before we see a lot more product offerings from her. Her range is currently available to buy on feelunique.com, Superdrug online (will be available to buy in stores in a few months), and pomshopltd.com. 

So that’s all for this month. It would be very interesting to know what your favourites are and any product recommendations you have, so please leave a comment below. Ciao for now. x

You may also like...