Recently, as my skin has become a lot less oily thanks to my current skincare routine, I've been trying to wean myself off powders. Instead, I've been opting for either setting sprays or this product from Benefit, to help my makeup stay in place, whilst remaining natural looking. After trying Benefit's Dr Feelgood Complexion Balm out for a week or two, here are my thoughts.
The Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream is unlike any other. At this time of year, the bitter weather can attack your hands, leaving them extremely dry, cracked and sore. In order to keep this from happening and resolving it, if it does, this product is the first thing that I turn to.
After the huge surge of products combining skin-care and makeup, it's rather difficult to avoid them. Personally, I ignored the BB cream fuss (and now I have the CC creams to contend with), as I already have my tinted moisturisers for a lighter coverage and full foundations for higher coverage. As I'm slightly wary of these creams to stay true to their vast array of claims and with so many to try, I thought I'd test out a foundation that includes skincare, instead. As the time has come to give my Summer makeup must-haves the cold shoulder, I thought it was the perfect chance to put MaxFactor's Ageless Elixir 2-in-1 Foundation to the test.
One thing that stands out from my childhood, beauty-wise, that is, is my mum's Clinique skincare regimen. You know, that three-step routine that was all the rage back in the 90s. I'd always wanted to try Clinique's products for myself and follow in her footsteps as she had lovely skin, although, admittedly, the Clarifying Lotions were somewhat of a minefield. The first version I tried, the Clarifying Lotion 3, was a nightmare with it being far too astringent and harsh. When swept over my skin, it stung and left my skin red, raw and rather unhappy. After that experience, I gave up on them. Recently, though, when buying my mum a few bits from a counter, I was given a small sample set of the Anti-Blemish range, and I loved the clarifying lotion! The Anti-Blemish Solutions version seems far better suited to my skin and has now become a staple within my skincare routine.
I've never really tried any foundations from Clarins. For years, their stunning, limited-edition compacts and summer colour collections have always reeled me in, but I've always managed to bypass their permanent line and turned to other brands for my base. After picking up and falling in love with their wonderful Instant Concealer, I recently headed back to one of their counters to have a browse, leaving with a bottle of their Clarins Everlasting Foundation.
Now, it seems as though this particular serum, the Hydrammax + Active Boost Serum has been ditched by Chanel, in favour of the more recent Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Serum formula. Whether this is the same product, I'm not entirely sure, as I haven't tried the latter. I picked up this particular bottle on my return from Tunisia in the duty free section of the airport. As soon as I clapped eyes on it, I had to stock up. I've searched high and low everywhere else, but to no avail!
Whilst I have an abundant collection of blushes in my stash and can't help but buy more whenever I'm shopping and another stunning shade catches my eye, I have a small selection of about five that I go back to, time and time again. MAC's Mineralize Blush in Warm Soul is definitely up there with some of my all-time favourite cheek colours and it could possibly take my number one spot.
Recently, I'd noticed that my hair was beginning to look a bit lank, lacklustre and felt quite dry, as it is just so long and has suffered years of abuse from heat. Cutting back on using heat to style my hair, washing it as little as possible and using really nourishing hair products was my plan of attack. On my hunt for the best products, I ventured into the unknown realm of Redken. Previously, I had only heard great things about this brand and wondered why I had (stupidly) not dipped my toe into their waters. Along with the All Soft Spray, I also went for the Extreme CAT Protein Reconstructing Treatment.
On a lovely trip to Chester the other day, I initially went into Debenhams to pick up a few bits from MAC. Being the weak individual that I am, I was drawn to the Dior counter, yet again! After umm-ing and ahh-ing for what seemed like hours to my boyfriend - I'd say it was actually about 10 minutes, maximum - I decided to purchase a gorgeous palette of five eyeshadows and another Rouge Dior Nude lipstick, much to my OH's disapproval. Now, to show you my wares.
MAC are probably most famous for their eyeshadows, closely followed by their lipsticks. With such a huge, permanent selection of colours, finishes, textures and different forms of eyeshadow on offer, along with numerous limited edition collections being constantly released, there is always a new shade that I crave.
September seems to have flown by and now October has arrived, bringing the miserable weather with it. To cheer myself up, I thought I'd run through some of the products that I've been loving and have stood out to me this month.
To really get a sense of what I think about a product, I think it's vital to truly test it out and give it a proper once over. So many products come and go with barely any getting finished, being pushed to the side in favour of something new. When products become empty, you know you have fully road tested them and your opinions are certain. Here's what I've finished off recently.
The new range of Rouge Dior Lipsticks are just so gorgeous that I have had to restrain myself a lot when perusing my local Dior counter. So as not to get carried away, I decided to purchase the one I liked most and then possibly pick up another (five?!), depending on just how much I loved it. That may have been a mistake.
