July Favourites

July  has been a good month for me in terms of finding products that I know I will continue to use and will be repurchasing. I usually like something for a week and then find that I just get bored of it or it doesn't have the same effect as it did when I started using it,  but these products are ones that I have continuously used and either love just as much, if not more than when I first started. So lets get straight into it.

You can find all the products above here, I've searched for the cheapest sites  if they are available to buy in more than one store.

Garnier BB Cream

Natural Collection Mascara

Natural Collection Eyeliner - Available in Boots stores at £1.99, cannot find online.

The Vintage Eyelash Curler

Collection 2000 Shine Away Compact Powder

Clinique Pore Refining Solutions Instant Perfector

Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge

Sleek Rose Gold Blush - Or in Superdrug stores

I ordered this from John Lewis, it was on offer for £7.49 so I thought why not. I've seen hundreds of reviews on this product and they are so mixed so I never bothered with it. I've been using Lancome Teint Idole for my bad skin days and Yves Saint Laurent new Touche Eclat foundation on my better skin days but this has now taken over both and I just use this with a bit of my Collection 2000 powder and I love it. It just gives me enough coverage without making me feel like I'm caked in make up. This is the original one but I believe they have recently brought out an oil free version, I have quite oily skin and this one is fine with me although I could see it leaving me a little shiny looking if I skipped the powder so I'll be giving the oil fee version a go once I have finished with this.

I did a post recently on budget mascaras vs the Lancome Doll eyes mascaras and this one featured in it. You can find the post here I have since used this mascara pretty much every day. I adore it. I find it lengthens my lashes so much and with a few coats gives me as much volume as I like for a day time look. Its £1.99 and will definitely be repurchased in the future. I'll also be giving the other mascaras in the Natural Collection a range a go.

I could not tell you how many white eyeliners I have tried, in all brands and price ranges and I have never found one that I am happy with. It either looks really unnatural on my water line or it disappears after an hour or it just wont actually go onto my waterline. This one however ticks all the boxes. Its really creamy so applies easily and does last all day. Again this cost me £1.99 so I'm super happy that I have finally found a white liner that I get on with. I'm also pretty impressed with Boots for getting 2 products into my July favourites.

I actually received these curlers in a swap. I was in Selfridges a couple of weeks ago contemplating buying the Shu Uemera curlers at £20 after some time talking myself into and then out of buying it my husband told me to leave it go home and think and then if I still wanted them to buy them online. For once I actually listened to him and left them. I personally think £20 on a set of eyelash curlers is alot of money but I figured the amount I've spent on cheaper ones that I have hates would add up to alot more than the £20 for the Shu Uemera. Shortly after I spotted someone wanting to swap a pair of these which came in a beauty box so I thought what the hell. I bloody love them. They curl my lashes within about 5 seconds and it lasts all day. I am really happy with these and will not be splashing out on a pair of £20 curlers. I would definitely recommend these to anyone who is thinking about some new curlers.

There isn't alot to say about this product. It is what it is. It does keep my face from becoming shiny throughout the day and I don't need to reapply it. I have this in light and its perfect for my colouring. The packaging is sturdy and quite cute I think. It does have the problem of the wording rubbing off but I find this with alot of my Collection 2000 products. Its not a major issue but I just think it doesn't perhaps look quite as nice with half of the letters rubbed off. I'm perfectly happy with this product also and wont feel the need to go out and purchase any more higher end powders. It does its job and I'm pleased with it and its under a fiver!

I've been after this product for a while and finally decided to splash the cash last month and pick it up. It cost me £19 which is alot for me but I am so impressed with this. I have horrendous huge pores on my cheeks and nose which I think look really unsightly. I have been told that you can't see them but when I'm doing my make up in a morning I can see them and thats the point. I've been trying out so many products that claim to reduce pores but nothing works and I have given up on that now so I was looking for a product to reduce the appearance of them and this is what I came up with. Here is what Clinique say:

Look smooth and virtually flawless with pores that appear more than 50% smaller - instantly. Natural-looking matte finish lasts up to 8 hours. Resists sweat, humidity. In two skin tone shades, or Invisible Bright for subtle brightening. For all skin types.

Finger-dot and blend over pores - alone, over Correcting Serum, or Makeup.

I purchased it in invisible light after chatting to the very lovely sales assistant about which one would be better. I love it, it works, it honestly really really works. I don't know how or why but it does. The pores on my cheeks are nearly invisible and the pores on my nose are dramatically reduced. The good thing is you only need the tiniest amount to do your nose and cheeks so I think this will last me quite some time so £19  to help me feel more confident about my skin I think its money well spent.

Apologies it looks a bit dirty. I used it right before taking the photo. Anyway I purchased this from Superdrug for applying foundation but I found that it wasn't as good as my Real Techniques stippling brush so I was a bit miffed cause I really wanted to love it. However I decided to give it a go with my Collection 2000 powder and I love it, I just dab it in my powder and then onto my face and it looks great. It makes the powder look really natural and not cakey on my face at all which I sometimes find happens on my skin I'm not sure if this is how your supposed to use this product but I don't care. It works for me in this way and I'm so happy I bought it. I've always struggled to apply my powder to make it looks like I'm not wearing powder but this is now a must for me when applying it.

I did a post on this also when I managed to find it in a Superdrug a few weeks ago. You can find the post and swatches here I love this blush and have been using it most days. I love the gold in it and I find it blends nicely and I can build up the colour without looking like a clown like I sometimes do, I'm quite heavy handed when it comes to Blush. I think its a fab product, love the colour and the packaging looks nice too. I'll be picking up some more of the Sleek blushes, I currently have my eye on Flamingo and Pomegranate 

So I hope you enjoyed my July favourites. I already have a couple in mind for my August favourites so we will see if I am still enjoying using them by the end of the month!

Lots of Love

CF x x x

POP Cosmetics and NYX Milk Swatches & Review

Hi all,

I recently purchased some bits from POP cosmetics from ASOS. It came as a set of four items for £14.It contained a face primer, nail polish, lip stain and eyeliner.

The reason I purchased was for the primer as I needed a new one and I had read some quite good reviews on this product.

The shade was gentle glow and as you can see above it contains 27ml of product. I couldn't find it in many places in the UK on its own but I found it here for £19.03 so this set from ASOS was a bargain.

I am in love with this primer. It gives my skin such a gorgeous glow, I wouldn't necessarily consider it to be a primer but more of a radiance enhancing cream. However I do feel comfortable enough to wear this on its own without a foundation and it does seem to mattify my quite oily skin. 

I was quite happy the set contained a lip stain as I have been eyeing up these in various brands but never really wanted to spend £8 on something that wouldn't work for me. I love lipsticks but can never be bothered to wear them as I never have time to keep checking my mirror to make sure it hasn't made its way onto my teeth or started to fade so these lipstains seemed like a fab idea for me although I was concerned that they may make my already quite dry lips even drier.

 The colour in the set was petal pout. I put it on and was pleasantly surprised. It went on really easily, was very pigmented and the colour lasted a while. The only negative I have was that it did seem to be quite sticky for a while and did take some time to dry. I will definitely be trying some more lip tints as they really brightened up my look and didn't have the upkeep that would be needed with a lipstick or gloss. This is priced at £9.00 alone on the ASOS website, you can find them here

The eyeliner is very highly pigmented although I do find that its not the longest lasting eyeliner I have ever tried and its quite difficult to get a super fine line as the tip isn't that fine, if you like a thicker line this would be perfect but not if you want something that is going to last all day. This is out of stock with ASOS at the moment but is priced at £10 normally. linky

This is the thinest line I could achieve with the liner.

Finally the nail polish, I wasn't expecting much from this polish to be honest, but I have to say its fantastic! It goes on so well the colour is great and my nails were covered in 1 coat. I've had it on for 2 days with no top coat and it stills looks like I've just put it on. Not a chip in sight and thats after a session in the gym. This is priced at £6.50 on the ASOS website and is in the shade pinkest

 (apologies for the awful picture, I also have some gold glitter polish on there as you can see, my current nail polish remover is awful and if anyone knows a good way of getting glitter polish off please let me know)

All in all I would definitely recommend this set, you can find it here on ASOS I opted for the free delivery and it arrived within 2 days.

I have to say I'm truly impressed with POP, I've seen a couple of items before but never really bothered to try them but I will definitely keeping an eye for more products from them. 

You can also buy POP cosmetics directly from their website here

Do you have any items from POP cosmetics? I'd love to know what you have and what you think of them.

Next up we have the milk jumbo pencil from NYX. I have seen so many blog posts, reviews and youtube videos on this product and have been dying to get my hands on it for a while so I took the plunge and ordered it. You can purchase them from the NYX website. They are priced at £4.50 but the shipping is also £4.50 which is quite expensive if you are only wanting one or two items. Shipping is free if you spend over £50.00.

Now onto the review

Now the name of the product slightly gives it away, it really is a jumbo eye pencil. Alot of people have raved about using this as a base for eyeshadow. I tried to do this put I found that it creased terribly, it just didn't work for me at all until I tried it as a brow highlighter and in my tear duct, it looks so good. It really brightens up my eye area and its the only thing I have found for me that personally works to to make me eyes look bigger. The fact that it doesn't work as a base really doesn't bother me even though thats what I purchased it for. I'm so happy with the way it makes my eyes look, I also used it on my water line and it lasted me all day. I don't think I will be purchasing any more of the colours as they don't work on my eyelids so I think this is the only colour that would be of any use to me. I will however be purchasing more NYX items as I think they are really good value and good quality.

Hope you enjoyed my reviews. If you have any comments or if you can give me any tips on getting the jumbo pencil to work on my lids I would be very interested to hear them.

Hope you all had a fab weekend.

Lots of Love

CF x x x