Benefit gimme brow.

Whilst on a shopping trip in my local town centre I headed into Boots - surprise, surprise - and stumbled upon the Benefit counter. Of course, whilst I was there, I noticed their new product: gimme brow. After umm-ing and ahh-ing over it for a bit, I took the plunge and purchased it.

 It's described as a brush-on fibre gel that adheres to skin and hairs for fuller-looking brows. Simply, comb the brush through your brows to build up colour and shape them however desired. My eyebrows are quite fair and recently I've been leaving them natural but sometimes I've caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, whilst out and about, and noticed they could benefit from a bit of filling in. I went for the light/medium shade which is perfect for me and I have medium blonde hair. It retails for £17.50 which is a little pricey for what it is but compared to other benefit products it's quite reasonable and I can see this lasting me quite a long time, too.

 Well, I've used this a few times now and, it's fair to say, I absolutely love it. This type of product is so much easier than using a powder to fill in your brows because you simply just comb it through and you're done. So, if you struggle with other brow products or you simply don't have much time in the mornings, then give this a go.

Monthly Favourites | July

Yes, another month is come to an end and it's time for me to show you my favourite beauty bits and bobs, that I've been using over the past few weeks. I will warn you though that this months favourites aren't going to be that exciting, because I'm saving up for a shopping trip so I've been using some old favourites recently.

Revlon Lip Butter in "Cotton Candy" £7.99

I have been wearing this stuff on my lips an awful lot recently, a perfect sheeny pink shade that manages to keep your lips hydrated and looking luscious at the same time. I won't ramble on too much about it, as I'm sure everyone of you will have heard about the Lip Butters before but it's a lovely balmy texture and fuss-free to apply. A delightful bubblegum pink shade with a touch of shimmer, perfect.

Boots Coconut & Almond Intensive Hair mask £1.99

Particularly in the Summer I always need a tad more moisture in the ends of my locks, to avoid the frizzy look. With this being cheap I wasn't expecting a miracle but after a few uses I can tell a difference in the feel of my hair. I apply this to the ends of my hair, leave for a few minutes and rinse out. The next morning your hair will feel super soft.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer £23.50
This is actually one of the very few bronzers I own - surprisingly - and it's been hidden away in my stash for a while, until I decided to give it a go for some contouring and I fell in love, again. It's very pigmented so you don't need too much product on your brush and it's great to contour your face with without looking dirty. I like to apply a small amount using my Real Techniques Contour Brush whilst pulling the 'fishy face' and blend it out to look more natural.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in "Half Baked" £14
Half Baked is a very shimmery golden bronze shade which I've been using on the outer corner of my lids daily this month. I was expecting this to be a pain to apply (because of thee shimmer) but it applies very easily and it has a very smooth texture. The pigmentation is great too, I would definitely getting the Naked 2 palette as all of the shades are fantastic.

Bourjois Bronzing Primer £9.99
I did a full review - here - on this, but I had to include it in my favourites for this month. As all of you in the UK will know, the weather has been very hot this past month so due to this I haven't been wearing a full face of makeup everyday and this primer has come in very handy. I apply this (using my fingers) all over my face, making sure to blend it well and then go ahead and use a BB Cream over the top for a perfect Summer makeup base.


Non-Beauty Favourites

Hay Day (Available from the App Store)
I've been spending so much time on this app - warning it's very addictive! - and it's free too.

Watermelon!
I've been eating Watermelon like crazy at the moment, but at least it's healthy!

Skater Skirts
I never used to be a skirt fan but this Summer I haven't been out of my Skater skirts. I have three in total - note to self: buy more - two from Topshop and one from New Look. They go with EVERYTHING and look so pretty as well.


Phew. That was a long post, what have you been enjoying this last month?

My Everyday Makeup #2

I wanted to do a short post to show you what products I enjoy using on a daily basis, at the moment I'm loving quite natural makeup but one I get bored I'll switch things up a bit. I do change my lipstick colour a lot but I just chose one that's my all-time favourite for this post.

FACE

Dr Jart Water Fuse BB Cream

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer in "Eclat Clair"

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in "Peach Glow"

Bourjois Bronzer in "51"

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter

Bourjois Cream Blush in "Nude Velvet"

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in "Tease" (to fill my eyebrows in)

Benefit "They're Real" Mascara

Mac Eyeshadow in "All That Glitters"

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in "Busted" (to slightly line my eyes)

LIPS

Nivea Lip Butter in "Caramel Cream"

Mac Lipstick in "Creme Cup"

So there's the products that have been on my face recently, I always enjoy having a good nosy through peoples makeup bags and see which products they love to use.

Did you enjoy this post? Tweet me a pic of some products your using at the moment! (My Twitter username- @Amybfashion35)

Benefit All-Star Kits | New In

Benefit really know how to get us excited, they've recently released three new kits that claim to brighten, bronze and keep your makeup tip-top throughout the day. Each little kit contains six sample sized products and they're priced at £26.50 each.

So I hear you ask, what are these kits about? Let's find out...

The Bronze Of All Champions

This nifty little kit aims to give you a bronzed and glowy complexion, without looking orange. It contains the 'Hoola' bronzer and lipgloss duo, 'Watt's Up' cream highlighter, 'They're Real' mascara, 'Thanks a latte' powder eyeshadow and 'Bikini-Tini' crease-less cream eyeshadow. There you have it, everything you need for a sunkissed glow.

Primping With The Stars

This kit is all about keeping it easy and making sure your makeup will last all day long. The contents are; 'Some Kind'a Gorgeous' foundation, 'Girl Meets Pearl' highlighter, Benetint stain, 'Stay Don't Stray' eyeshadow primer, 'They're Real' mascara and the 'Porefessional' face primer. This contains everything you need to look gorgeous on the go. The famous Benetint stain will add a rosy glow to your cheeks and your lips.

Do The Bright Thing

A collection of brightening products, ideal for a fresh Spring makeup look. The kit contains; 'That Gal' brightening face primer, 'High Beam' highlighter, 'Dandelion' face powder, 'Bad Gal' waterproof liner and the 'They're Real' mascara. My favourite picks would have to be the 'Dandelion' face powder, to instantly uplift your complexion and the 'They're Real' mascara, to give your lashes mega volume.

These handy kits are great as a little treat to yourself or as a pretty gift for a friend! Which one's your favourite?

The Weekend Post #8: Benefit They're Real in ELLE

I'm a huge lover of Benefit cosmetics but I've never had chance to try out the They're Real mascara. With claims to volumize, curl, lengthen, lift and separate your lashes. What more could a girl ask for?
Well when I saw that this months edition of ELLE had a free sample size of the Benefit They're Real mascara, I snapped it up. You can actually buy this size at Boots for £9.50, and I've stared at it many a time whilst in the queue however, the magazine was only £4 itself, mega-bargain!

 I will do a review of this once I've had time to try it out but I merely wanted to alert you of this (as it's too good to miss!).

Will you be picking up this months ELLE?

March Favourites

So here's a quick post to show you what I've been loving using this month, it's been a while since my last favourites post (November to be precise..whoops!) but I'm back on track with now, thank goodness!

First up is L'Oreal's GlamShine Stain Splash (shade Romy). This has been in my makeup bag ever since I purchased it and I won't blabber on too much about this product because I did a review of this here. It applies smoothly and evenly, leaving a subtle gloss. Unfortunately the gloss doesn't last very long but the staining power in this product is fantastic, so even when the gloss has worn off your lips aren't completely bare. For £7.99 each these certainly won't break the bank and they come in a variety of different shades from lilac pinks to intrepid reds these are most definitely worth the price. Next up is Benefit's Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in R.S.V.P, I love how natural this looks on my eyes, it's shimmery but not OTT and these NEVER CREASE! I use this on its own and as a base for other eye shadows, it's creamy and glides straight on your eyelids with no bother at all and you don't need to tug on your eyelid to blend it in either. R.S.V.P is a dreamy champagne shade which is easy to build up too. You can also use these as eye liners, and there are darker shades available. Oh and I forgot to mention, these are only £7 on the Benefit website at the moment, such a bargain! They are so buttery and a delight to use and I'm so glad to have one of these in my collection.
Rimmel London Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in shade 101, has been my go-to lipstick this month. It's creamy and velvet texture makes them easy to apply and they are astonishingly moisturising, which isn't what you would expect from a drugstore matte lipstick. It's a dusky blue-toned pink and looks quite mauve on my lips and also gives the appearance of whiter teeth.
I'm a huge fan of bright natural eye makeup (especially for Spring), so this Rimmel Scandal Eyes eyeliner is fantastic for brightening up your eyes. I use this on my waterline and as these are water-proof, it lasts all day long. Their divine rich, silky consistency makes these the easiest to utilize.
Bare Minerals aren't really a brand I look at that much, but when I heard about their foundation (ages ago) I knew I would have to try it out for myself. It's high coverage and long lasting, which I would of never expected from a powder. This is actually a mini version of the foundation but you can buy it here for £25, which I believe is a pretty acceptable price, seen as you only need a tiny amount of this to cover any blemishes, scars or un-even skintone you may have.
And last but not least is my Stila Convertible Colour in shade Lilium, as I'm sure most of you beauty addicts out there will know how much these have been raved about previously, but as I was rummaging through my makeup drawers I came across this and decided to give it another go. Lilium is a stunning soft rosy pink shade, great for Spring, I like to use this on my cheeks but do occasionally use it on my lips at the same time if I'm going for a matchy-matchy look. I was impressed with how fuss-free this was to use because I usually end up looking like a clown when I use cream blushers but after a few practices I found a way that's suitable for me.

What have you been loving this month?

Benefit Hervana | Review

Benefit Hervana has been out for quite a while now, and I'm quite surprised I'd never done a review of this beauty before! Benefit, being one of my favourite high-end makeup brands, has never disappointed me when it comes to their blushers/bronzers.

When this was first released I knew I just had to have it, it contains four different shades (from Lightest to Darkest) Lucky Shell, Divine Peach, Heavenly Rose and Berry Delight. You can't actually use the shades separately (well, I guess you could, with difficulty), but when mixed together with a big fluffy brush, they create a perfect natural pink/peach shade with a slight shimmer too.

                                                          a 'good karma' face powder!

Benefit describe this as an 'orchid blossom' blush, which I do agree with. It's perfect for people with paler skin as it's not too bright. Whereas on darker skin it would probably work more like a highlighter. Hervana is pretty matte but does have subtle shimmer running through it, which is perfect if your skin needs brightening up a bit! Like all other Benefit blushes, it's housed in a small cardboard box with a good sized mirror (perfect for on the go) and an angled brush. Personally I don't use the brush that comes with it, I use one of my other fluffy brushes but it's incredibly easy to apply and lasts a good 5 hours before fading. So if I'm going for a natural makeup look I reach for this. It's quite pricey at £23.50 a pop but I don't regret picking this up as it applies effortlessly and is easily built up if you want more colour.

Have you tried any of the Benefit box blushers?

Everyday Makeup #1

Face: Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Light Vanilla, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light 2, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Peach Glow, Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder, Benefit Hervana Blush, 17 Dazzle The Night Highlighter.

Eyes: Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold, Max Factor Eye-Brightening Mascara, Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (Shades used: Foxy, Tease and YDK), Collection Extreme Felt Tip Eyeliner.

What are you using at the moment?