January Favourites

This is a new thing for me, but I've decided to start talking about products that I've enjoyed using during each month. I realised the other day that I don't really talk about things once I've done an initial review so this should hopefully get me out of that bad habit!

Late December/January has been pretty good for new releases. I've really enjoyed playing around with the Revlon Colorburst Lacquer balms which came out this month. These have been great to slap on in the morning and I don't find myself having to reapply them too often throughout the day which is perfect! They might leave my lips a bit dry, but a bit of lip balm before bed helps with that. Watch out for more in-depth reviews of these coming soon!

Also among my new release faves is the Pretty Edgy palette from MUA's Luxe range. I absolutely love this palette. I've been pretty much using it every day. The colours are fantastic and I really enjoy the break from the usual neutral shades. If you're interested, you can see my full review and swatches here.



I don't really know how I'd have coped this month without these handy concealers from my 'How to Look the Best at Everything' kit from Benefit. I've had a few stress-related breakouts which have been hidden really well by mixing these concealers. I'd love to be able to get my hands on the full-size versions when these run out, but I'll have to see how my finances are doing!

Finally, I've been enjoying having a few pampering sessions with my Soap and Glory goodies from the Yule Monty set! My current favourites are the Butter Yourself body lotion, the Sugar Crush shower gel, the Peaches and Clean face wash and Heel Genius foot cream. The foot cream has definitely come in handy for nabbing a few cheeky foot rubs from the husband! 

What products have been your favourites this month?



How to Look the Best at Everything Set

So this post is going to be a bit photo heavy, but I'm so excited about this set! Having not tried Benefit's make up before, this Christmas has been a complete bonanza! First off, how gorgeous is the packaging? The outer box is designed to look like a book, and it particularly reminds me of victorian manuals and guides. Clearly I was always going to love this.

 

 

 

 

I requested the set in the lightest shade available, as I'm pretty pale skinned. The set comes with a miniature Porefessional balm, a sample bottle of the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation in Cheers to Me Champagne, two Boi-ing concealers, and the Me Vain? Champagne powder. There's also a handy Tips and Tricks book attached to the lid of the set.

 

 

I'm going to take you through applying the set as laid out in the Tips and Tricks book, beware, there's a scary make up free picture coming up!

Cue screams of horror.

So, I started with no make up, and a clean face. The first step is to apply the Porefessional Pro balm. This feels and looks like peanut butter, which was a little bit worrying! But it smoothes onto the skin really nicely.

With the Porefessional Pro balm applied.

Already there's a slight blurring effect. It smoothed my skin pretty well. The next step is the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation. I applied this with a brush, as thats what I'm most comfortable with, but I'm sure using your fingertips is just as effective. I got this absolutely everywhere when I first used the pump though, go steady with it! I was quite nervous about applying this as I thought that it might be a bit too dark. Looking at the selection of foundations, I'd have probably gone for one of the ivory shades.

I was pretty pleasantly surprised though. It applied really nicely and blended well with the brush. I should really have moisturised first though, as it did cling to some dry patches of skin on my face.

With foundation.

The next step is the Boi-ing concealer. The Tips and Tricks book recommends blending these two shades together to create a custom concealer. I blended them on the back of my hand and then dabbed them under my eyes.

I'm not really sure if I applied enough, but I still felt that my under eye circles were quite visible.

After applying Boi-ing concealer.

The final step is the Me Vain? powder. I dusted this over my face with the brush provided, and I definitely think that this is the perfect finishing touch.

Below is the final look! Overall I'm pretty chuffed with this set. It's a great introduction to Benefit's make up, and enables you to use sample sizes of the more expensive products to get a feel for what you like and don't like. I think that the set provides a pretty decent coverage, but I did find it to be quite a bit heavier than the daily foundation that I'm used to. I would probably be more likely to use this set for a night out.

You can purchase the How to Look the Best at Everything set in Light here for £25.50.