february favourites

For the first time ever I have my act together enough to put together a monthly favourites post. I keep reminding myself that there are so many products that I love but just simply don't get round to talking about, and I've now put myself on the mission to type away about my favourites on a much more regular basis. A girl can only but try hey.

I seem to have finally cracked the perfect dewy yet decent coverage base. I use Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer to start off with, which gives my skin a beautiful glow and really does make my foundation last much longer throughout the day. Next up I conceal my terrible dark circles with Bobbi Brown Corrector and Creamy Concealer, the combination of these two works like nothing else as they are both long-lasting and full coverage. I then apply Illamasqua Skin Base to wherever needs the most coverage and finish off with Chanel Vitalumiere to ensure I'm left with a radiant looking complexion. 

If you can't already tell, I'm wild about the glowing skin look, which is why I've been loving using Mac Strobe Cream on my cheekbones and then setting it in place with the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Pink Quartz. If you want strong highlight game too then seriously check these out. 

No surprises that Maybelline Lash Sensational is my current favourite mascara being that everyone seems to be mentioning it as of late. It gives my lashes such a great curl, along with thickness and a deep black colour that stays around all day. Staying on the lashes theme, I've recently got back into wearing falsies for special events and nights out and have been a big fan of the Huda Beauty versions. They are so well made and are far superior to any that I've tried from less expensive brands, very similar to Mac lashes but with added drama. 

Perhaps my favourite discovery this month has been the Stila Liquid Lipstick in Ricco. I'd never used a liquid lipstick before up until a few weeks ago (madness!) and it's safe to say that I'm now absolutely converted. I adore the deep red shade of this and even more so how it stays put for hours and hours. 

current make-up #15

Long time no see. I think I've finally come to the realisation that I will never be an organised blogger. That being said, I've got loads of exciting posts in the pipeline for around Christmas time and some even more exciting giveaways planned. I attempted to film a tutorial of this make-up look but failed miserably and then dropped my camera on the floor. I think by the next time I give it a go I should be able to come up with something, however bad the outcome. 

For my make-up here, I went for glowy foundation, contoured cheeks, strong brows, flicked liner, taupe shadow and a brownish lip. You could say it's slightly Kylie Jenner-esque, but lets not. I will give her something though, and that is she knows how to pick a good lip shade. I recently invested in Whirl Lip Pencil (£12.50) and Twig Lipstick (£15) in a copycat move and have been in love with both ever since. If you have olive undertones in your skin, I'm more than sure that both will suit you really well. Talking of Mac, I've also been loving their Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set (£15) as of late, and have been using it in light strokes more towards the ends of my brows, after using Anastasia DipBrow Pomade (£15). Get your brows right and the rest of your make-up will fall into place, that's my motto. 

My base make-up is Lancome Teint Miracle (£29.50) mixed with Pixi Glowtion Day Dew (£24), which just gives the most dewy and natural looking skin you could wish for. I also use Clarins Instant Concealer (£21.50) to cover my dark circles which has been my favourite for months and months. 

I've always been absolutely useless at contouring, even after watching a trillion of those mesmerising tutorial videos, I could just never get the hang of it. That was until Clinqiue Sculpting Contour Chubby Stick (£19) came into my life, and honestly now I find it such a breeze. You just draw it on at your cheekbones and then blend with a brush, easy peasy. For my eyes, I used taupe and grey shades of shadow on the outer corner of the eye and underneath the lash line, and went heavy on the Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner (£7.99). All finished off with lashings of Clinique High Impact Waterproof Mascara (£17.50). 

My hair is currently dyed black but as my roots are starting to come through I'm thinking of going back to brown with lighter ends. I usually just go for black as it's fairly easy to maintain and is always a safe bet, plus I find it looks quite striking, but it can tend to look a little too goth. Let me know what you think I should go for!

spring pastel dotted nails

Nail Dotting Tool | Ciaté Sugared Almonds | Models Own Indian Ocean and Apple Pie | Bourjois Fashion gris-gris | Maybelline Surreal

It's been far too long since I attempted any kind of nail art, probably because I've been feeling a bit lazy and just sticking to nude nails for the majority of the time. With Spring in full swing I've been inspired by pastel shades (check the new blog design!) so thought I'd get back into nail dotting too. It's a super easy look to create, just use a nude base colour and then put a splodge of each colour on a piece of paper and grab your dotting tool. I'm never too precise about where I put my dots and generally just have fun with it, it's surprising how quickly you can make them look so cool in no time at all, especially if you use a glitter shade too.

If you're after some more Spring nail inspiration, check a couple of my old posts here and here. 

how to: the pin-up look

I've always found that the pin-up inspired make up look seems to suit me most, I adore the combination of flicked liner with wispy false lashes along with bold eyebrows and bright red lips. This time round I decided to take it one step further and give my hair a 50s style twist too, it was super easy to create and I've come to the conclusion that I must give it a go more often. Do forgive my excessive posing but my inner pin-up girl couldn't resist a bit of pouting.

For my base I used the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation along with Benefit Erase Paste for my under-eye circles. To contour I went for the He-Shi Bronzer which adds a lovely warmth to the skin, along with the Nars Copacabana Illuminator which is my new favourite highlighting product. I used my HD Brows Palette as always and the Maybelline Gel Liner with Mac 48 Lashes all topped off with the Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon in 'Red Island'. 

maybelline dream matte mousse

I'm pretty sure that most people have already tried dream matte mousse. I myself used to use it none stop when I was younger as it was the most fool proof and quickest way of using foundation for me back in those days. I really did used to love it as it would give me the coverage I was after at a decent price and seemed to suit my skin well. However these days I have a real love/hate relationship with it. I think it's great in the summer when I have slightly oily skin that needs mattifying and it literally takes no effort to apply with your fingers, but in the winter I stay well away from it. I do have quite bad dry/pasty skin in the winter and dream matte mousse is no good at all for that. Matte being the key word, generally you want to add a dewy foundation to dry skin and a matte foundation to oily skin. So yes, I would recommend it for people with oily skin, wanting a medium coverage and not wanting to spend a lot of time on their foundation rountine in the morning. It does need reapplying once or twice throughout the day but with it being in a smallish sized pot that's no problem. Just be aware that if you apply too much then it will make you look a bit caked and orange. It's a good thing to have in your draw if you suffer from outbreaks of oily skin or to use for going out at night but it's not the best to wear in the day. So there we go, a very mixed review but it is worth giving a go unless you have dry skin.

Maybelline dream matte mousse costs around £6.99 and you can buy it from superdrug or boots.

Rating: ★★★