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. 

Harajuku Lovers Jingle G

Harajuku Lovers Jingle G

This was on my Christmas list after seeing it on so many blogs before Christmas. Jingle G is the Christmas perfume from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers collection. The packaging is very cute and the top of the perfume doubles up as a Christmas decoration which is a nice idea.

The smell is lovely, it's a sweet scent with top notes of white star fruit, tangerine and gardenia, middle and base notes include honeysuckle, orange blossom, jasmine, vanilla and cedarwood. I wouldn't say it smells particularly Christmassy but is a lovely perfume that can be worn at any time of year.

You only get a small amount of product (a mere 10ml) so I can't see this perfume lasting long. Original price before Christmas was around £11, yesterday I saw it on the Superdrug for around the £6 mark, unfortunately it has now disappeared off the website but you might still be able to pick it up in store.

Perfume Ads

During the run up to Christmas adverts are everywhere, even more so than usual. Some people don't even consider it Christmas until they've seen the Coca Cola advert (myself included). My favourite type of advert to watch around Christmas is the perfume adverts, which are arguably some of the most beautiful adverts made and normally follow a romantic story line starring a gorgeous model/actress.

I wanted to compile a list of my favourite perfume adverts from over the years, some of them are shown all year round but many I remember seeing especially around Christmas time when the perfume houses go into marketing over drive.

Chance by Chanel

This advert is wonderfully youthful and colourful, the grainy YouTube video doesn't do it justice at all! This advert makes me want to visit Venice the blue colour of the water is gorgeous and I love the fact it looks really sun drenched. The narrative of this ad is very sweet and the music compliments it perfectly, I find it simple yet beautiful.

Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel featuring Keira Knightly

I'm not a massive Keira Knightly fan but I like this advert for Coco Mademoiselle. I think it's safe to say that Chanel make the best perfume adverts, I really like the way they always tell a story. Can I also just mention how much I love the red dress that features in this advert!

Flora by Gucci

I kind of love this advert even more now I know it was directed by Chris Cunningham whose work I studied at Uni. The lighting and colour palette used is nothing short of beautiful. I think the field of flowers is a simple idea but the effect is something really special and the haunting rendition of Donna Summer's I Feel Love tops it off perfectly.

Miss Dior Cherie by Dior

Sophia Coppola directed this one, probably the prettiest, girly perfume advert around, I can't get enough of the pastel colour palette! I can definitely see similarities with the colours used in this advert and those in Coppola's film Marie Antoinette which was all baby colours and pastel macaroons. The idea of Paris in the springtime gives this ad a very youthful feeling and in my opinion is perfectly suited to the perfume...much better than the current one staring Natalie Portman with the cringey 'J'taime' music!

J'Adore by Dior featuring Charlize Theron, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe

The newest perfume advert featured in this post, it was only released earlier on this year. I always found the J'adore ads pretty boring until this one came along, unlike the others I find this one spine-tingling good. The gold tones are stunning as is the setting in the Palace of Versailles. I think setting it backstage before a fashion show in the (romanticised) hustle and bustle is a fantastic idea and when paired with music by The Gossip makes this advert pretty special. Charlize Theron is just beautiful, that figure is amazing I can't believe how long her legs are! I can't decide if I like the fact they've included Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly I think it's a clever idea and very well executed, it really surprised me when I first saw it. This one is definitely my new favourite perfume ad!

Chanel No 5 featuring Audrey Tautou 

Whilst this isn't my favourite Chanel No 5 advert it is so gorgeous and well shot I think it deserves a mention. The current Chanel No.5 advert stars Audrey Tautou who in my opinion is the perfect Chanel poster girl. Like the other Chanel No.5 adverts I think this one is pretty timeless, yet also has a vintagey feeling of old world glamour. The colours used in this ad remind me a little bit of the Chance advert I mentioned earlier and I like that it is centred around travel.

Chanel No 5 featuring Nicole Kidman

Everyone remembers this one, I think it was and maybe still is the most expensive perfume ad of all time costing millions of dollars. It was directed by Baz Luhrmann and features La Lune by Claude Debussy as the soundtrack and is without question absolutely beautiful.

Chanel No 5 by Chanel

Yes I really am featuring a third Chanel No.5 advert, but this one has to be mentioned because it is my favourite perfume advert of all time and in my opinion is THE Christmas perfume advert. Estella Warren is  gorgeous and I love the Little Red Riding Hood spin. My favourite moment has to be when she opens the huge gold doors to reveal the Eiffel Tower in the snow and I remember stopping whatever I was doing to watch this advert when it came on TV. The music is very distinctive and sounds quite christmassy whilst researching this post I learnt it was actually composed by Danny Elfman, the man responsible for the Simpsons theme amongst others. There were a few different versions of this advert but this one is the most well known, I also like that it is less than a minute long especially as the more recent Chanel No.5 adverts are more like mini films.

Hmm... so perhaps this post should have been called 'The Best Chanel Perfume Ads', I have included more adverts than I had originally planned as I found it so hard to pick my favourites! I would love to know what your favourite perfume ads are, leave me a comment below!

Flowerbomb

Viktor&Rolf Eau de Parfum £46.50

'A thousand flowers in a perfume bottle. Full-bodied and opulent, Flowerbomb eau de parfum explodes in a bouquet of sensations with its addictive floral notes which leave, their trail, like a whirlwind that is distinctly couture. Key ingredients include: centifolia rose, India osmanthus, catleya orchid, sambac jasmine.'

This has been hands down my favourite perfume for the past year. It's a popular choice but I can't get enough of the sugary sweet goodness of this fragrance. Flowerbomb has been around for over 5 years and on my first ever sniff I thought it was awful, however my taste in perfume has changed and I've grown to love sweet scents. 

This frangrance is very sweet (think candyfloss!) with floral notes of rose, jasmine and orchid. It is a very feminine perfume with a strong scent which lingers on both skin and clothes for a long time, which I personally like. The bottle is very pretty, I love the fact it's pink and made to look like a grenade (yes, it really is the simple things with me!). 

The only downside to this perfume is the price, it is very expensive at £46.50 for a mere 30ml bottle, but given that it has such a strong scent, you can use it sparingly. 

What's in My Holiday Bag? Part 3

This is the final What's in My Holiday Bag post, this last post is a kind of mish mash of other products I'm taking on holiday which I wanted to share with you, so clockwise from left:

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Shimmering Dry Oil 100ml £16.00: I love this product even if it is a tad expensive. It's a dry oil which helps moisturise your skin without leaving it greasy. It also adds a light bronzed shimmer to your skin without being as extreme as a fake tan product. I'm hoping this will go someway to giving me a bit of colour in the evenings, even if it is just an illusion and I'm back to lily white the next day.

Bow Hairbands £1.99, H&M : I couldn't resist these cute hairbands as I love the bow on them. They'd probably suit an Autumn/winter wardrobe more, but I think they'll look nice during the evenings.

Sunglasses, Prada: These were a present from my boyfriend a couple of years ago. I normally leave them at home when I go on holiday as I'm worried about losing/breaking them and I have plenty of pairs of cheaper Primark sunnies which I love. However this year I've decided to take these with me as I love the butterfly shape of them.

Tangle Teezer £10.20, Boots: Pool, Beach and wind spells disaster for my long hair so taking the tangle teezer is an absolute necessity and should help me tame my mega knotty locks without ripping half my hair out!

Clean and Clear Morning Energy Skin Brightening Moisturiser £3.99, Boots: I have just done a review on this product see here. This smells gorgeous and is a perfect, light moisturiser which leaves my skin looking fresh and clean.

Estee Laudee Sensuous Nude Eau de Parfum £34.00 - £68.00: I recently gave this perfume a full review, see here for details. 

Nail Polishes: Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Fruit Salad £1.79 & No 7 Sultry Sands from the Summer 2011 Collection £7.00, both Boots: I tend to always go for a coral colour on holiday but I thought pairing it with the gold sultry sands would be beautiful too. I aways take nail varnish and remover pads on holiday with me, as the sun and water makes nails prone to chipping.

And finally, the last thing I'm taking is this baby:

Amazon Kindle

My Kindle was a birthday present from my boyfriend. I do some major reading on holiday so it's nice that I can just take the Kindle and not lug loads of books with me, Kindles are also suitable for reading in direct sunlight as they are not backlit and the battery lasts for ages! Now I just need to decide what books to download, all recommendations welcome!

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude Eau de Parfum £34.00 - £68.00

I was lucky enough to receive this perfume as a birthday present from my parents. Sensuous Nude was launched in August and is a new version of the original Sensuous perfume.

This fragrance includes notes of Sicilian Bergamot, Baie Rose, Jasmine Petals, Honey, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber and Coconut Water. The first thing I smelt when testing this perfume was the coconut water and I was pretty much sold straight away....I love coconut! I used to buy a coconut perfume from the Body Shop - until they discontinued it, so when I smelt this coconutty scent I knew I had to have it!

Aside from the smell of coconut, I can definitely sense the honey, vanilla, sandalwood and jasmine notes. This scent reminds me of holidays, yet also has a clean, warm feeling about it. I think it's a perfect everyday perfume, but not necessarily something I would reach for on a special occasion or evening out. The bottle is a pretty dusky pink colour and the pattern kind of reminds me of a shell or pebble - in-keeping with the whole beachy vibe. This perfume looks cute on my dressing table and I love the scent so I am very happy to have it as part of my collection.