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?

The Makeup: Bourjois Bronzing Primer | Review

When I first heard about the new Boujois bronzing range, I was so excited to try their new products out and the main product I was drawn to was their bronzing primer. I've always wanted to try the Clarins Instant Self Tanning Primer but I thought I'd give this a go first!

Bourjois Bronzing Primer - £9.99

It mattifies your skin leaving it feeling very smooth and helps to even out your skintone. It's soft velvety texture makes this primer so easy to apply to your face but bare in mind, you really don't need much of this (especially if you have pale skin like me) otherwise your face will look a little orangey, so I can see it lasting me a long time.
The only thing that I'm not too keen on with this product is the "chocolate" scent, but you can't smell it once it's on your face.
It has been compared to Chanel Bronze Universal but this is more of a mousse texture rather than a cream product and I find it's much easier to use as a base. As far as adding colour goes, I'd say it does pretty well at giving my skin that bronzed and healthy glow, but it all depends on what products you put over the top.
It says on the Bourjois website that it contains Cocoa beans and Orange Blossom elixir to help hydrate your skin and add radiance too.
Overall I'm very pleased with this bronzing primer, it comes in at £9.99 which isn't cheap but it's not the most expensive I've seen.


Will you be trying out this primer? What do you think of it?

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)

Monthly Favourites | June

Yes, it's that time of the month again where everyone is sharing their favourite beauty products that they've been using the past month, so here goes... This months favourites include some newbies and a few old friends that have made their way back into my routine.

Essie Nail Polish in Fiji- This shade has been gracing  my nails mainly this month. A milky pink shade that I think looks very sophisticated and I don't have any other shades like this in my collection. It suits pale skin tones (i.e-me) but if you had a tan, it would emphasize the colour a lot more. It does go streaky on the first coat but once you've put 2 coats on, there isn't a streak in sight.  As you know I love the brushes and formula of Essie nail polishes and they have never disappointed me yet.

Dove Nourishing Oil Care Leave-In Conditioner- I'm sure almost everybody will have those days where your hair is so dry or you find it hard to get a bush through, I certainly do (especially after blow-drying my hair). To help get soft and smooth feeling hair, I've been using this Dove leave-in conditioner. First of all the scent of this is just heavenly, I like to spray it mainly on the ends of my hair to make them frizz-free and then go through my hair with a brush afterwards. It can be used on wet or dry hair too, perfect to reduce frizz, tame any flyaways and hydrate your hair.

Juicy Couture, Couture La La- It's described as a sweet blend of Mandarin and white florals on Juicy Couture's website, it's probably more for Spring time but I like to wear this kind of scent any time of year really. The bottle that this comes in is gorgeous, a pink ribbon and diamantés what more could a girl want?

Rimmel Stay Matte Face Powder- Every beauty blogger must have heard about this face powder at some point, Tanya Burr (and many others) swear by it and it's a bargain too. A light dusting of this, concentrating on my t-zone is all I need for shine-free skin - almost - all day.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer- Despite my love for the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, as I came to an end of one of my (many) tubes I decided to try something new. The Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation is one my favourites so I was expecting good things from their concealer. It covers very well leaving no signs of blemishes or under eye circles, it has a slightly thicker consistency when compared to the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer which I think I prefer.

So that concludes my June favourites, what have you been loving recently?

Monthly Favourites | May

Well it's been a busy month, I've had birthdays, holidays and exams to deal with this month so I've been using a lot of multi-tasking products in order to see me through the - long - days. Here's my favourite picks of the past month...

Bourjois Bronzing Primer £9.99
I've been coveting over the Clarins Instant Smooth Self Tanning for long enough, and I was so close to purchasing it until I spotted this in Boots. This primer aims to bronze, smooth and (obviously) prime your skin, which it does brilliantly. It's fantastic to use on a daily basis and it takes no time at all to get a streak-free bronzed complexion.

VO5 Dry Texturising Spray £3.49
Sometimes my hair just feels so limp and lifeless and I feel like I need to add a bit of 'texture' and 'rough-ness' into my hair in order to style it how I want. This product does thee job perfectly and, in my opinion, sits perfectly between a dry shampoo and a hairspray.

Bare Minerals Original Foundation £25
This foundation provides excellent high coverage - perfect for covering any stress-related spots - and I've been reaching for it a lot this month. A light-weight powder that leaves your skin looking makeup free butt also flawless. I seriously don't know what I'd do without this.

Original Source Lemon & Tea Tree Shower Gel £2.30
This refreshing blend of zesty lemon and tea tree helps to waken me up in the mornings, and it contains pure and natural essential oils to help keep your skin nourished and supple. Can you believe it that 10 lemons go into one bottle of this!

Bourjois Cream Blush £7.99
As soon as I heard about these on a few blogs and read a couple of reviews, I knew I HAD to have one. I went for the lightest (and most neutral) shade. Nude Velvet (01) will add a touch of colour to your cheeks and I've completely fallen for their cream-to-powder formula.

Have you tried any of these products?

The Makeup: Beauty On A Budget

If you're like me, you end up spending a small fortune on makeup and skincare bits in Boots, (even though you only popped in for one thing) it's crucial to know the best and worst items in the drugstore. So here's a heads up of the products that should be entering your basket next time you pop in for ''lunch'', all under a tenner.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine nail polishes £3.99
Priced at £3.99 these beauties are too good to miss out on. Barry M are releasing shade after shade, after shade and they're all glossy and easy to work with. Blue Grape (pictured) is one of their newest shades, a stunning royal blue.


V05 Give Me Texture spray £3.49
Freshly washed hair can be hard to work with, so sometimes you need a bit of texture and grip in your hair in order to style it. For me, this V05 texture spray works well and is super cheap too.


Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick £7.99
These have been talked about a lot in the ''beauty community'' and I think just about everybody loves them. Available in a variety of shades, from nudes to bolder colours, smooth and incredibly pigmented.


Dove Firming Nourishing lotion £4.99
I'm currently on the countdown to shorts weather, so any product that helps firm the skin is a godsend. This particular one contains white tea extract for an invigorating effect, so apply this daily to keep your limbs firm and ready for the Summer.


L'Oreal CC cream £9.99
These CC creams contain clever little pigment capsules to help reduce red, dull or yellow looking skin. It aims to provide you with lightweight coverage for a fresh and natural makeup look. A much cheaper alternative to the new Clinique CC creams.

The Makeup: Peach Madness

Spring time always has me sporting a fresh peachy/coral makeup look, so I though I'd show you a selection of products that have me head over heels. I don't know what it is about peach... I just can't resist it.

Essie Nail Polish in Tart Deco £7.99
Essie have a huge variety of shades to choose from, so picking a suitable shade can be difficult but this is one of their original members. A good quality polish for a reasonable price and don't get me started on that brush of theirs!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick in Peche Cosy £7.99
No doubt you've all heard/seen these lipsticks before but I had to share this particular shade with you. A light creamy peach shade, that will brighten up any makeup look.

Nars Blush in Gina £21.50
Pricey, but well worth it. Claims to give you a healthy, natural glow to any skin tone and is build-able  depending on how intense you want the colour to be. Gina is a very popular shade and you'll probably find most beauty lovers will have this lurking in their makeup bag somewhere...

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Papaya £3.99
I'm pretty sure everyone and their dog owns at least one of these nail paints. Gel-like nails with a high amount of shine are what everyone's talking about right now. This shade is bright, bold and a stunning shade for the Spring months.

Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya £7.99
Revlon Lip Butters are very popular in the 'beauty world' so when I heard about some new shades, I was very excited! If you'd like to hear all my ramblings about this product then click here. But in a nutshell... this lipstick adds a lovely sheer wash of peachy colour to your lips.


So there's a quick round-up of some coral products that have caught my eye, will you be picking any of these up?

The Weekend Post #7: A Jolly Good Combo!

Dr.Jart Water Fuse BB Cream | Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

Recently, I've been finding myself mixing products together to create a perfect solution for my skin. The culprits are: Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB cream (full review here) and Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. With the weather being a bit better recently- finally -I prefer a lighter base that will keep my skin looking glowy and radiant but still have a bit of coverage to it. There's nothing more I hate than a mask-like foundation (yuck).
 Bourjois have changed the formula of their Healthy Mix, I have the older version but I will be getting the newer version soon. This foundation does wonders for my skin containing apricot (for radiance), melon (for hydration), apple (an antioxidant) and ginger (energy). It glides on my skin leaving me with a fresh even base. My skin feels like it can breathe when I'm wearing this.
 Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB cream is one of my more recent purchases, and it ticks all the right boxes for me. It has a little thicker consistency than the foundation and it keeps the skin moisturised all day. It makes my face look lovely and dewy (without looking greasy). If you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on this then click here.So that's what I've been using as my base for a while and If my skin needs a bit more 'glow' then I add a bit of Benefit High Beam into the mix.

Do you enjoy mixing products together? If so, what are your favourite combos?

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?