March Birchbox

Birchbox £12.95*

 

Blaq Hydrogel Eye Mask £22

Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumising Mascara £21.50

Glamglow Supermud Clearing Mask Treatment £42

Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray £36

Nuxe Reve de Miel Body Scrub £19.50

 

This month, Birchbox are championing the importance of me time and the art of self-care by curating a box of beauty bits perfect for when you want to relax and de-stress. I think this box is one of my all time favourites from Birchbox, there is such a mix of brilliant brands and products I've wanted to try. After seeing such a hype around the new Benefit mascara, I was so excited to receive a sample version in this month's box. The consistency of this is quite wet, the brush works really well to separate the lashes which makes the lashes look really nice, you do have to be quite careful not to apply too much product as it can get clumpy if there is too much product on the brush. I've used a Glamglow mask before and loved it for clearing my pores so I was really excited to receive this in the box. This is a great weekly mask which draws out impurities and unclogs my pores!

 

I love receiving Oribe products in my Birchbox as the full size items are pretty pricey! This Beach and Shine Spray helps to create tousled and textured hair in very little time, it's super easy to use on dry or wet hair! I always prefer my hair to look slightly textured so this kind of product is always super handy!

 

What do you think of this month's box? 

Mother's Day Gift Ideas

With Mother's Day around the corner I thought I would share some ideas if you are stuck on what to get your Mum this year or just need a helping hand. My gift for my Mum this year is The White Company Seychelles Bath & Body Gift Set, she loves the candle and diffuser in this scent so I thought she would love to have a body lotion and shower gel. The White Company always feels very luxury so anything from there would make the best Mum gift! Perfume is always a good shout for a Mother's Day gift, my favourite perfume is the YSL Black Opium Floral Shock, it's a really strong but feminine scent which works all year round. The bottle is also so beautiful and looks lovely on my dressing table. I recently purchased this pale pink Bucket Bag from Katie Loxton and I am utterly obsessed with it. It's such a good size, easy to carry and comes in a range of really pretty colours. I think this would be perfect if your Mum is as handbag obsessed as I am.

Other Items:
Personalised Cashmere Scarf
Cluse Rose Gold Watch
Pea in a Pod Necklace

 

Hand cream is always a really great gift and comes in handy for anyone. This duo from Yardley is really affordable and comes in a pretty tin, you get two scents, English Rose and English Dahlia. It's also super affordable and currently on sale so if you're looking for a little extra gift, this would be perfect. Another body gift set is this trio and cosmetic bag from Woods of Windsor, this comes with a Shower Gel, Body Scrub and Body Lotion. I love the cosmetic bag which is a lovely gift on it's own! If your Mum is a fan of makeup, eyeshadow palettes are always a makeup gift that you can't go wrong with! The Urban Decay Naked palettes feel really luxurious so are the perfect gift, I have bought my Mum the Naked Basics Palette numerous times because she loves it! 

 

What have you bought your Mum for Mother's Day?

Fenty Pro Filt'r Foundation

Fenty Foundation £26

 

When the Fenty beauty range was originally released, I was fairly unfazed. I've never been one for 'celebrity' makeup releases so wasn't too fussed when I heard Rihanna had created a makeup line, however as I saw the reviews and 'first impression' videos stack up, I was interested. The foundation had gained a lot of positive reviews and whenever I hear the words "full coverage" I immediately take notice and usually end up purchasing said foundation. I chose the shade 120 based on a little bit of research, I'm usually NC15 in Mac so generally I'm one of the fairest shades in foundation. 120 is the third lightest shade and is still a little light for me, it's workable but ideally I should have gone a shade darker. The shade range is a huge selling point for this product, it has 40 shades altogether which start from the palest shades and go up to deeper shades so there is a shade for pretty much every person.

 

The foundation claims to be medium to full coverage with it being buildable. I would definitely agree with this, it covers really well but it's nothing like Estee Lauder Maximum Cover or Kat Von D Lock It in terms of coverage. It doesn't look cakey if you do want a fuller coverage look so it's definitely easy to build up product for more coverage. The finish is described as 'soft matte' which I would agree with, although on me it is pretty matte as I have dry skin. I do have to make sure to moisturise a lot with this and I don't think it would work too well if you have very dry skin as it can cling to dry patches and accentuate them. I think the thing I like most about this is how long lasting it is. It stays on the skin all day without needing to be touched up or re-powdered and it's the foundation I tend to reach for if I know I need something to last all day. As with all my foundations, I apply it with a Beauty Blender. I think if I used a brush it would cause issues with it clinging to dry parts of my skin, the Beauty Blender applies it evenly and creates a flawless finish.

 

  I like the packaging of this product, I think the frosted bottle is really nice and feels quite luxury. I'm not a massive fan of the white plastic lid but that's only a small gripe and not something that bothers me too much. The foundation retails for £26 which I think is quite reasonable for a higher end foundation and it's fairly mid-range in terms of price. Overall, I think this is definitely one to try out if your skin isn't too dry and you like foundations that offer slightly more coverage. I've been really impressed with the finish and how nice it makes my skin look, it gives me flawless looking skin while still feeling really light and not heavy in the slightest.

 

Have you tried any Fenty products?

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation

Lancôme Teint Idole Foundation £30

I had heard so much about this foundation before I bought it and it doesn't take much to convince me to buy a full coverage foundation. Choosing the right shade was fairly easy, I think the shade range is really great as there are 40 shades to choose from which range for the fairest skin to the darkest which is great compared to a lot of other brands out there. As with all my foundations, my favourite way of applying it is with a Beauty Blender as this distributes the product evenly on the skin and blends in seamlessly. The coverage is definitely medium to full, it is buildable without looking cakey or heavy on the skin and it covers every blemish I need it to. Using a Beauty Blender probably makes it slightly lighter coverage than brushes but I prefer how quick and easy the Beauty Blender is. The foundation claims to last 24 hours, while I don't think it lasts this long (after accidentally testing it by falling asleep in my makeup), it is still one of the best foundations I've tried in terms of not needing to be touched up throughout the day.

I have slightly dry and dehydrated skin that tends to get a little oily throughout the day around the nose area so it can be difficult to find a foundation that works on my combination skin. I find this gives more of a matte finish rather than a radiant look but it doesn't dry out my skin or cling to any dry patches either. Throughout the day, most foundations separate on my skin or start to move around, this foundation stays in place without me needing to add more product or powder my skin.

I really like the packaging, it comes in a slightly frosted glass bottle that feels high end with a pump dispenser so it's handy for distributing the right amount of product. My only slight gripe about the product is the smell, it's not overly offensive but it has a bit of an "old lady" scent to it which isn't particularly nice. This doesn't bother me too much as once it is blended into the skin, the scent disappears but if you are sensitive to scents, it may bother you.

This has become my staple, daily full coverage foundation. It's one I can rely on to stay on my skin all day, looking flawless without having to worry about it separating or needing to be touched up. It retails for £32 which makes it a high end product, however it's one I would recommend investing in.

Favourite Products of 2017

This year I have discovered some new products that have become firm favourites along with continuing to love some of the staple products in my collection. I decided to try out the Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation after falling out of love with most of my foundations because I found they weren't working for me anymore. This foundation is full coverage and covers everything while still looking natural on the skin, while I don't think it lasts 24 hours like it claims, it is still really long lasting. I tend to apply it with a Beauty Blender which helps to make it look natural and apply evenly. The Becca Pressed Highlighter in Pearl has been a staple in my collection for quite a while, it adds a beautiful glow to the skin while still looking natural and not too over the top. These also last such a long time, I'm still yet to hit pan on this one! The shade Pearl is the lightest shade and works on my super pale skin but I also really want to try Moonstone.

 

I've been wearing liquid eyeliner a lot recently and my absolute favourite for both simple liner and winged liner is the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner, it has a really precise point so it makes it really quick and easy to get perfect eyeliner. I sometimes have issues with eyeliner smudging and flaking but I've never had any issues with this product, it lasts all day. My top product of 2017 is the Stila Liquid Glitter Eyeshadow, I originally bought the shade Kitten Karma and I am obsessed with it. I have received so many compliments when I wear this product, it's so pigmented and it stays put all day. I have since bought the shade Diamond Dust too. These are perfect for creating beautiful makeup looks without having to deal with glitter glue and the fallout you get from normal glitter, once these dry on the skin, they stay put. The final makeup favourite of 2017 are the Eylure X Fleur De Force lashes. I have tried Petit Fleur (my favourites), Fully Fleur and Fleur Loves and they're all really natural lashes. I like how Petit Fleur and Fleur Loves are 3/4 lashes so they're not as long as normal strip lashes which makes them look even more natural. They look natural enough to wear everyday without your makeup looking way too over the top or anyone knowing you're wearing falsies.

 

I have two skincare favourites for 2017, one is a new product and the other is an old trusted favourite. The Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser is a product I had heard a lot about, so when Glossier launched in the UK, I quickly purchased this. After using this, I noticed such an improvement in my skin, it calmed down and my spots pretty much all disappeared, my skin has genuinely never looked better. I've been loving using this for the past few months and will definitely repurchase when I run out. Whenever my skin is feeling in need of TLC, I use the Eve Lom Rescue Mask which works really well to calm my skin and dry out any blemishes I do have. I use this weekly or whenever I'm having issues with spots or blackheads and I love what it does to my skin.

 

What were your favourite products of 2017?

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