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. 

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Tan

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Tan 39 £4.50, Boots

I really do love the Barry M Dazzle Dust pots they come in a range of beautiful colours, are highly pigmented and for such a teeny tiny pot you get loads of product.

In general I tend to shy away from loose powders as I find them 'faffier' to apply compared to a regular packed eyeshadow - or maybe I'm just lazy? An open pot of loose powder has to be handled carefully, I learnt this the hard way when I dropped this very pot of powder all over my bed! Application of a Dazzle Dust can be a slightly messy affair as loose powder tends to create a tonne of fall out, this can be overcome with careful brush application and a tissue under the eye to pick up any excess shadow. 

The colours in the Barry M loose eyeshadow range are beautiful and come in a huge spectrum of bright, vivid and metallic colours, with such an affordable price tag I really should own a lot more than I do. I chose Tan as I'd previously heard it was a good dupe off Mac's All That Glitters (love a good drugstore dupe!) and the natural golden/bronze colour really appealed to me as neutral eyes are my favourite.

The colour itself is a warm, shimmery tan which I think would suit any eye colour and complexion but works particularly well on blue and green eyes. The shadow is very shimmery, I've included a swatch without flash and with flash so you can see how it catches the light. I think this shade is perfect for everyday wear due to its neutral tone.

Without flash

With flash

I was disappointed to find the product creased on my eyes....a lot more than I expected. I imagine this can be overcome by using a bit of Urban Decay Primer Potion, or any other decent eye primer before application. I also find that you have to be careful when using a make up brush to apply this product as the bristles pick up a lot of product, the trick is to blend well and apply with a light hand as the powder is very pigmented. 

Buying this product has reintroduced me into the world of loose eyeshadow and I'm definitely keen to go back and buy a few more colours. For such a cheap price and fantastic colour pay off the Dazzle Dusts are pretty nifty products and last ages, I'm yet to finish a pot.

Can I also just say Happy 5th November! Hope you're all enjoying some spectacular fireworks! x

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 :)

February

I can't quite believe January has come and gone already, it's going to be Spring before we know it. Already I am noticing that the mornings are slightly lighter, and the evenings are growing a smidgen longer.....now we just need some decent sunshine.

I wanted to do a post to reflect on my January goals and establish my new goals for the month of February. Find my January post here.

January progress:

♡ Perfect the art of natural makeup. I would like to take a more natural approach to my makeup this month rather than always reaching for the black eyeliner.

Throughout January, I definitely perfected the natural make up look...the Urban Decay Naked palette became my new best friend. 

My January make up generally consisted of:
Eyes: Mac's Brule or Urban Decay's Sin on the lid, with UD Naked or Smog blended under the eye.
Cheeks: I either wore nothing or went for Accessorize's Pretty Pink blusher or Mac's Highlight powder in Chez Chez Lame from the Cham-Pale collection.
Lips: Just lip balm.

I really love the natural look, it's soft, pretty and completely work appropriate, this tends to be my go to, everyday makeup look.

♡ Look into the possibility of running my town’s half marathon....something I’ve always wanted to do but never got round to doing.

I looked into it, and even though the deadline for applications isn't for a while, they have already filled all the places.....boo! This will have to go back on the shelf 'til next year.

♡ Finish reading Eat, Pray, Love. I am really enjoying the book, but the latest issue of Marie Claire/Grazia keeps enticing me away.

I finished this relatively easily, and even made my way through Michael McIntyre's Life and Laughing: My Story, a very funny read.

♡ Try not to spend so much time on the computer (perhaps a little crazy given that I have just started a blog). The internet sucks away such large sections of my time without me even realising, my aim for January is to use the internet constructively rather than spending hours faffing around.

hmmm.....

Moving swiftly onto February, here are my goals:

♡ Read at least two books this month.

♡ Do some baking - can't believe we're into February and I am still yet to bake anything this year.

♡ Go make up free as much as possible.

♡ Buy a decent pair of jeans - I have been putting this off for so long - dress shopping and jean shopping are two of my most dreaded tasks!