Favourites of 2011

Well another years has whizzed by and here we are nearing the start of 2012!

I have been blogging on and off for the whole of 2011 (in fact 01/01/12 marks the first anniversary of my blog) and I wanted to do a favourites post detailing my top 10 favourite products of 2011.

1) Urban Decay Naked Palette

Urban Decay Naked Palette £35.00

I have never written a post on the Naked palette - mainly because there's already a million floating around out there in the blogosphere and mine is so well loved it looks pretty disgusting (can we all be in agreement that velvet is a horrendous choice of casing for a make up palette?!) - but as far as I'm concerned this is ultimate make up palette, I love the selection of eyeshadows and use it near enough everyday. The Naked Palette 2 looks gorgeous although given that I already own the original I'm not totally sure whether I will purchase it, in a way I wish I could pick and choose colours from the two and combine them to make my own ultimate Naked palette! 

2) Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder, £6.99

I'm a huge fan of this bronzer which I blogged about here. I am not blessed with beautiful olive skin so any help with bronzing is much appreciated, Bourjois have come up with an inexpensive matte bronzer that is well loved by beauty bloggers far and wide and has become my go to bronzer.

3) Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb

Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Eau de Parfum, £46.50

A gorgeous sweet smelling perfume packaged as a pink grenade, see my review here. This lovely, if not slightly expensive perfume can be worn day or night and leaves you smelling sugary sweet.

4) Naked Bare Faced Cheek Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil

Naked Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil, £4.49

After years of using heavy creams and cleansers to remove my make up this face wash by Naked has become my staple make up remover. I use Bare Faced Cheek every night to cleanse my face and I still can't get over how super soft it leaves my skin feeling, I love the rose scent of this product and am now on my third bottle. This face wash is great at removing all traces of make up including eye make up and given that it is 97% natural is also very gentle on skin.

5) Batiste Dry Shampoo in Brit

Batiste Brit, £2.99

Batiste was always going to feature on this list as I rely on it so heavily in between washes. Brit is my favourite Batiste scent and is exclusive to Superdrug. As with all Batiste products Brit is great at mopping up excess grease and freshening up hair, the scent is gorgeous and I find it smells similar to a Chloe perfume. 

6) Clean & Clear Morning Energy Moisturiser

Clean and Clear Morning Energy Skin Brightening
Moisturiser, £3.99

I'm really surprised this product made it onto the list as I'm really not a fan of Clean and Clear products. This moisturiser surprised me as not only does it smell lovely and fresh but also leaves my skin feeling moisturised and hydrated and makes a perfect base for make up application. I must really like this product as I've repurchased it a couple of times.

7) Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Happy Birthday

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, £16.00

The first of two nail polishes that feature on this list. This is probably my favourite nail polish ever, it's so colourful and sparkly, I absolutely love it even if it is a complete nightmare to remove! Stay tuned for a Happy Birthday nail look coming up.

8) Chanel Nail Colour in Black Pearl

Chanel Black Pearl, £17.50

I lusted after this polish for a long time before I finally took the plunge and bought it. This polish is beautiful, the milky, grey colour with a petrol shimmer looks gorgeous on the nails and feels classic and sophisticated.

9) Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, £4.19

Well done Collection 2000 for bringing out such an amazing quality concealer at a very low price, a definite contender for product of the year. This concealer is fab and gives excellent coverage, I've heard many people compare it to Estee Lauders Double Wear Concealer and for such a low price it really is fantastic, I'm already on my second tube!

10) Tangle Teezer

Tangle Teezer, £10.20

Finally, whilst not particularly exciting I had to include a Tangle Teezer into this list. I use mine everyday without fail as it's the only thing that can un-knot my long hair without pulling half of it out. 

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect, £9.49, Superdrug

This is the first Bourjois foundation I have tried, the 10 hour sleep effect appealed to me as my skin is often super dull when I'd much prefer it to be radiant looking. First off, I hate the packaging of this product, the plastic bottle feels very cheap and the pump of my bottle broke after a couple of uses so I had to decant it into another container. I chose shade 71 Abricote Clair which is the lightest shade available, I'd say it is a teeny tiny bit too orange toned for my skin but nothing a bit of blending can't sort out. 

The formula of this is very liquidy but the runny consistency makes it very easy to apply and blend into the skin. I think this foundation is fantastic for 'pepping up' the skin, it does a great job of evening out skintone and making your skin look more awake and dewy. That being said, this is a radiance-boosting foundation and the glowy effect produced is accompanied by a somewhat oily looking t-zone (despite the foundation being oil free). I find to wear this foundation my combination skin needs a good dusting of powder to prevent my nose looking like an oil slick after a few hours wear.

I'd say this foundation is medium coverage, a concealer is needed for any imperfections, it also lasts pretty well throughout the day apart from making my t zone appear slightly oily. This foundation smells lovely and isn't too badly priced at £9.49 for 30ml. I'm not in love with foundation and feel it's perhaps not brilliant for my skin type but will continue to use it until I run out. I'm really keen to try some of the other Bourjois foundations, especially healthy mix!

Freshly Painted: Bourjois So Laque! in Orange Creation

Bourjois So Laque! Ultra Shine in 42 Orange Creation
£5.99, Boots

Seeing as I'm not dressing up this year - so bummed as I would definitely have gone as a Pan Am air hostess or a Zombie or maybe Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood? Oh the possibilities!!

I love dressing up for Halloween, it's pretty much the only time of year when I am willing to dress up...oh and on a side note 'sexy' outfits are not acceptable, no sexy cat or sexy witch and the Ann Summer's outfits aren't cool either...this is Halloween we're talking about! Anyway, rant over.

Sadly Halloween has been a bit of a wash out this year, no parties and I'm too old for trick or treating so instead I thought I'd paint my nails orange in the spirit of Halloween.

I saw this colour tweeted by Glamour magazine, and seeing as I didn't already own an orange I went out and bought a bottle. I've used the So Laque polishes before and this one wasn't much different, as expected the polish was on the thick and gloopy side which isn't great and makes application a bit tricky. I was slightly disappointed at how un-shiny the polish is, especially as it's advertised as Ultra Shine, I was hoping for a really glossy, orange nail and this just isn't shiny enough for my liking!

The colour is fab and perfect for Halloween although I probably would wear it at other times of the year too. The colour is a bright orange I would describe it as a hot orange, but if you're looking for an orange nail polish I wouldn't necessarily recommend this one. I imagine Rimmel, Barry M and Maxfactor make similar shades and probably with a better formula.

What's in My Holiday Bag? Part 2

When I'm on holiday I rarely wear make up during the day, so make up application is reserved mainly for night time. I hate to take expensive make up products on holiday as I worry about losing them or damaging them in transition, with so many quality drugstore products out there it's easy to build a great holiday make up collection. The products I am taking are (Clockwise from top):

Lypsyl tinted Cherry Blossom Lip Balm 4g £1.49, Boots: A very cheap product, I like the fact it is ever so slightly tinted, smells lovely and contains an SPF 15. To give you all the blurb it also contains Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and helps protect against UVA and UVB rays. On application it feels moisturising on my lips and even tastes nice, however you need to warm the product up slightly in your hand before applying otherwise it is very hard and waxy.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent £3.99, Superdrug: This is my everyday powder which I use to combat shine, you can tell how well loved it is from how little is left in the pan. I don't like to wear powdery products in warm countries as they don't look good on the skin, however I am taking this as I hate the look of a shiny t-zone!

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair £4.19, Boots: My favourite concealer, see my post on it here.

Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Vanilla 30ml £12.99, Boots: My favourite light foundation, which is perfect for summer evenings. I like to mix a touch of this with moisturiser to make a DIY tinted moisturiser.

Benefit Gilded Tangerine Gold Highlighter Pencil £14.00, Benefit: A gorgeous gold creamy highlighter which I like to smudge under my eyes, I love gold eyes on holiday so this pencil is perfect.

Benefit High Beam, Sample Size Free with Glamour Magazine: A great highlighter for cheekbones, brow bones and the cupids bow.

No 7 Gel Liner in Black 4g £10.00, Boots: - This was part of No7 Spring 2011 collection, see my full review here. It's a great multifunctional liner which can be used on the eyelids and on the waterline, best of all it's waterproof so will hopefully stay put in humid conditions!

Bourjois Bronzing Powder Shade 51 16.5g £6.99, Superdrug: The much loved Bourjois Bronzing Powder in the lightest shade, see my review here. I'm hoping this will go someway to making me look tanned on holiday....wishful thinking!

Gosh Jumbo Lip Gloss Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral 2.8g Discontinued:  Sadly this lip gloss has been discontinued which is a shame as it's fab and I wish I'd bought more colours! This colour is a beautiful glossy coral and will be great to wear in the evenings.

Gosh Jumbo Lip Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral Swatch

Beauty UK Earth Child Palette £3.99, Superdrug: I have previously discussed the Earth Child Palette on my blog, see here for swatches. I am mainly taking this palette for the black eyeshadow however the other range of colours particularly the browns and greens will be lovely to use too. This palette is cheap enough to repurchase if it does get damaged.

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette £4, Superdrug: A very recent purchase, a full review of this palette will be coming soon! I couldn't resist taking this with me as the neutral colours are beautiful and it saves me lugging my Naked Palette half way around the word!

Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara in Black £8.99, Boots: My favourite mascara of all time! See here for more details. This is not the waterproof version so this will only be used during the evenings, I don't want to be sporting panda eyes by the pool.

Collection 2000 Clear Lash and Brow Mascara £2.99, Boots:  I purchased this instead of a black waterproof mascara, I'm hoping it will give my lashes some definition during the day with no worry of smudges and keep my brows groomed at night. I last bought this product 10 years ago so it will be nice to revisit it, plus clear mascara is a very handy thing to have in your make up collection.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of this series :)

Freshly Painted - Bourjois Ultra Shine Nail Enamel in Rose Lounge

Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Enamel in Rose Lounge £5.99

Hello, I am one of those exceptionally sad people who purchased this mainly because it was included in Kate Middleton's wedding day manicure - along with Essie Allure. In my defence I was inspired by Kate's nude polish, and on the day of the wedding (thinking I had a similar colour available) I went to paint my nails only to find that I must have imagined owning a similar shade as I had no standard french manicure colour in my collection. So, on my next Superdrug run I had a 'sod it' moment and decided to purchase the Bourjois shade. Incidentally, I notice Bourjois are now cashing in on this royal connection and both the website and Bourjois stands are advertising Rose Lounge as Kate's nail polish of choice, even more interestingly when I visited Boots today this shade was completely sold out..... maybe it was good idea to get my hands on it early.

The shade is lovely, it's a very classic pale pink/french manicure colour, perfect for giving a put together, polished look, to me this is a staple nail polish colour and a safe option. I can't be certain as I know Bourjois have revamped their So Laque range but I think I owned this shade, or a very similar one, a few years ago. The formula is the same as I remember and whilst the polish gives a lovely shiny finish it is quite gloopy and seems to take an absolute age to dry properly....needless to say there were smudges!!

Bourjois Bronzing Powder

mmm....chocolate!

Swatched (quite heavily) 

'Its subtly iridescent formula enriched with flecks of golds gives a radiant but non shiny glow. Its delicious chocolate perfume and ultra soft texture will make you melt with pleasure!'

Summer sunshine makes me want to break out the bronzer, this Bourjois version has been around for a while so I decided to try it out. I opted for the lighter version (shade 51 - although I think there is a lighter, highlighter powder in the range) as I am as pale as a really pale thing! 

I think the packaging is very sweet, it comes in a cardboard case with the bronzer made to look like squares of chocolate. Seeing as the outer casing is cardboard and the lid is held down by magnets this is perhaps not a product to just chuck in your bag!

Much has been made of the scent of the product, it definitely has a gorgeous smell and to me smells like cocoa butter, mixed with vanilla and the coconutty scent of sun cream (three of my favourite smells!). I only really notice the scent in the pan... I realise it is impossible to smell your own face but the scent is not something I have ever noticed after application.

What I like most about this product is the simplicity of the colour, it is not full of shimmer it's a very straightforward matte bronzer which can be used to contour or bronze....kind of one of those does what it says on the tin type products. The colour  is a lovely bronzed shade which doesn't look too orange or brown on my skin, the powder itself is very fine and light so it is easily buildable. The only downside to the product is the tiny chunks of glitter found in the bronzer, described by Bourjois as 'glints of sunshine'. I am not a fan of glitter as I feel it often cheapens the look of a product, luckily I have only ever noticed the glitter in the pan and this bronzer does not leave my face looking like a big glittery mess. 

This bronzer is priced at £6.99, which although not particularly cheap, is pretty in keeping with Bourjois pricing. I'd say you get a standard amount of product for your money (16.5g) but the colour is pretty pigmented so you only need to use a small bit to achieve a natural effect. Also, I find this colour pretty long lasting, and never bother to reapply throughout the day.