November Favourites 2015

Originally, this post started out as a rather belated birthday beauty haul but as time went on and my love for each gift grew stronger it seemed a little more appropriate to turn this post into my November Favourites instead. So, what was once a very late birthday post has now turned into a perfectly timed monthly favourites. How convenient! My makeup dreams basically came true on my 22nd birthday and it's safe to say that all of my friends and family seem to know that I'm a complete beauty addict now. I'm still overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of my nearest and dearest and I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually still squeal every time I reach for my Chanel (yes - Chanel!) Lipstick and Hourglass Blush.  To be honest, throughout November I really do feel like I've been living in a Beauty Blogger's heaven. 

July Favourites

July was a wonderful month for rediscovering old beauty favourites! I've been doing a lot of digging around in my beauty collection lately and I've realised how many products have been sitting around in my draws, completely unloved. In an attempt to save money and use up some of my makeup I've decided to switch up my everyday makeup routine by adding a new product from my existing beauty stash every singly day and I have to admit it's almost as fun as shopping itself!

March Favourites

March has absolutely flown by and I'm thankful that winter is officially over! I've only just started to get into the spring mood as England begins to heat up over the Easter weekend and I'm currently itching to dig out all of my pastel nail polishes and bright blushes and change up my makeup routine! Throughout March, however, I haven't really been reaching for anything too different but there are one or two things I've fallen in love with or rediscovered and I can't wait to share them with you!

February Favourites

February hasn't been a particularly eventful month for me. With the exception of a wonderful Valentine's Day I've just been plodding away with University work and becoming far too familiar with the library (and library snacks...oops!) Months like this often end up containing a dangerous amount of procrastination and we all know that always leads to online shopping! I've discovered some lovely new products lately that have been making this dull, dreary month a little more bearable.

Skincare & Beauty
After writing my Beauty Wishlist at the end of January, I've vowed to start taking more care of my skin and instead of splurging on make-up this year I want to invest more into skincare. So, after months of lusting over Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate (£36) I finally took the plunge and parted with my money for this curious, 30ml bottle of face oil. And it definitely lives up to the hype! I've been using 3 drops of this every single night throughout February and every morning I wake up with radiant, hydrated and healthy looking skin. It adds a little luxury into my nighttime routine and the soothing smell of lavender is so comforting when I sleep. I also adore the bottle - it may be childish but I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying squeezing the little pipette and feeling like a chemist! The next item I ticked off my wishlist was the Nuxe Rêve de Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm (£9.50). Whenever the cold, wintery weather arrives my lips have always suffered terribly but after using this balm every night for a week my lips had completely healed! I would point out that this is a really thick, intensive balm that I can still feel on my lips in the morning so if you're looking for a balm you can wear underneath lipstick I wouldn't recommend this one!

As for makeup, one product has actually managed to find its way into my everyday makeup routine. I've already written a review on bareMinerals Stroke of Light Eye Brightener* (£22) that you can read here and I can't stress how much I love this product! It adds a brightness under my eyes that instantly gives the illusion that I've had 10 hours sleep when, in reality, I've probably only had 6! Another favourite of mine from bareMinerals is their Retractable Precision Brush* (£19). Is it weird that I love the feel of this brush on my skin so much I could happily sit and stroke it all day? (yeah that's pretty darn weird Becki...) It's one of the softest brushes I've ever used and I love that it's retractable. I've been keeping this in my bag all month to top up my foundation/powder on the go and it applies my makeup beautifully and deposits the powder evenly and lightly on the skin.

You've probably all seen my previous post where I talk about the Essie polishes I managed to pick for £2.49 from Fragrance Direct. Although I've only had them for two weeks I just had to include Eternal Optimist in this post. Described by Essie as a 'spiced tea rose with a dash of cream' I haven't taken this off all week and I can see this becoming my go-to nail polish when I'm in the mood for something neutral and chic.

Fragrance
If you're wondering what's in the mysterious green box in the picture below then it's my current favourite perfume - Happ & Stahns Perfumers Rose Alba Parfum Tear Catcher (£24). If you click on the link you can see how beautiful the bottle is (I feel like I'm in The Great Gatsby when I use this!) and it has the most elegant, floral rose scent. I usually only use this on special occasions as it only contains 9ml but I adore it so much I think I might have to invest in the full size. If you have an Anthropologie close by you have to pop in and smell this - I can't express in words how amazing the scent is!

Beauty Subscription
You might have noticed, if you follow me on Instagram and Twitter, that this month I received my first ever My Little Box. I had every intention to write a blog post about it but as I didn't order it until the first week of February I only received this at the very end of the month. I'm usually fickle with subscription boxes and only decide to order once I've seen what's inside each box but I loved My Little Box so much I've kept my subscription. This month the My Little Frenchie Box had 4 amazing full sized beauty products (including a £23 By Terry eyeliner!) as well two adorable lifestyle products. Birchbox, I think our on and off relationship is officially over! Everything about My Little Box is perfect - even the design and illustrations are incredible! I cannot wait for my March box and if you were thinking of subscribing you can use this code: FIRSTBOX for free shipping so your box will only be £11!

Everything Else...
TV:  True Blood. Did you know I'm obsessed with shows about Vampires? I'm addicted to The Vampire Diaries but as I'm all caught up on the latest season my boyfriend and I decided to buy the entire box set of True Blood. And oh my god it's so, so good!
Music: Besides having T Swift's Style on repeat all month I've been listening to my boyfriend's spotify playlist whilst I've been working! You can check it out here if you'd like!
Food: Salted Pistachios - I can't stop eating them! Even if they do break my nails every single time I try to get one out of the shell!

What have you been loving in February? Let me know in the comments below!

x

January Favourites

Surprisingly, after an unpleasant start to the month - consisting of essay deadlines and exams *shudder* - January actually turned out to be much more enjoyable than I could have ever expected it to be! Along with eating out more times than I care to admit (and completely taking advantage of Yo! Sushi's January Blues offer), I finally bought my first ever iPhone and it hasn't left my side all month - who knew how easy communication could be when you have a functional, working phone?! On the blogging front, I was possibly the luckiest girl ever and I had the opportunity to work with my all-time favourite make-up brand bareMinerals. After spending a few hysterical days in utter disbelief  I actually managed to produce some content that is (hopefully) worth reading and you can check out my posts here and here (one more post is on the way!).

As far as beauty is concerned, I've spent the majority of January hardly straying from my everyday make-up look. I have, however, had a little bit of time to play with some beauty products I received for /picked up over Christmas and I've discovered a couple of things that have found a permanent place in my make-up bag this month!

Beauty Favourites
Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne 30ml - £40: I can't help but feel glamorous when I wear my Jo Malone perfume. I was kindly given this for my birthday in October but I've been wearing it so sparingly as I never want it to run out. The Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne has accompanied me on every dinner date or night out in January. I can't quite put my finger on what I love so much about this scent but I've had to restrain myself from using up the entire bottle this month.

MAC Ruby Woo - £15.50: As a lover of red lipstick how have I only just tried the famous Ruby Woo? My boyfriend actually bought me this for Christmas (a complete surprise - somebody must have really been listening when I natter on about makeup!) and it was my lip colour of choice for New Year's Eve. I love the matte finish and it's the perfect, classic red shade! It is a little bit drying but applying lip balm beforehand easily fixes the problem!

Stila In the Light Palette - £25: Oh my... I don't think I can explain how much I love this. I love it so much I've had dedicate an entire post to it which should be up sometime next week. Everything about this palette is perfect - the formulation, the mixture of shimmer and matte shades and the shade selection (especially Kitten and Night's Sky) couldn't be better. If you don't have this eyeshadow palette then you need to buy it no matter how many neutral palettes you own!

Soap & Glory Supercat - £6: I honestly just can't find a fault in this eyeliner. It doesn't budge all day, the felt tip applicator makes it so easy to achieve a thin or a thick line and the liner is super pigmented and it hasn't lost any colour/dried out at all and I've had this for just over two months now! I love the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner but for less than half the price I don't think anything can beat Supercat (it also has a really cute name and makes me think of cats in cute superhero costumes aww!)

Revlon ColourStay Concealer - £6.99: After picking this up on New Year's Eve in a frantic dash around Boots I can't believe how impressive this concealer is. I've written a post on this which is going up on Tuesday but this concealer matches my skin perfectly and covers so well whilst blending seamlessly into the skin!

Non-Beauty Favourites
Fashion: In January it's simply too cold for tights yet revision in the library calls for comfort that denim simply cannot offer. My solution? Meet Topshop's Leigh Jeans, which in all honestly don't feel like jeans at all! I have them in Black and a light Blue colour but I'm itching to get my hands on a Dark Vintage Blue pair.

Music: ♫ Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were  and all of Taylor Swift's 1989!

Random: My iPhone 5s and my cute Cath Kidston case!

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July Favourites 2014

Somehow it's already August, and it really is true that time seems to pass by quicker as you get older! July was a wonderful month, full of travelling, sunbathing and spending time with my favourite people and I'm quite sad to see it end. Hopefully August will be just as exciting and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the sun to keep shining - I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to my summer wardrobe just yet! 

Beauty Favourites

The Body Shop -  Coconut body butter:  For as long as I can remember, the body butters from The Body Shop have always had a place in my bathroom cabinet. My mum has used them for years and the coconut scent was actually the first body butter I ever used! They have a creamy and rich texture and sink into the skin fairly quickly, keeping my skin nourished and soft all day long. They're a beauty favourite of mine all year round but the coconut body butter has stolen my heart this month!  The smell is incredible and it's an instant cure for post-holiday blues. One sniff of coconut and I'm whisked away to a beautiful tropical island! 

theBalm - Nude 'Tude Palette: I'm actually quite surprised by this one, have I finally met a neutral palette that rivals my beloved Naked 2? The texture, pigmentation and color selection in this palette is wonderful and the packaging is so cute! I'll be writing an entire post on this soon.

Victoria's Secret - Pure Seduction Bloom fragrance mist (limited edition): Ah Victoria's Secret, ever since you landed in Leeds my bank balance has suffered immensely (but my underwear draw looks fabulous!) Fragrance mists are perfect for summer, they're light and refreshing and I've been loving Pure Seduction Bloom this month. It has notes of red currant and violet blossom and it's the perfect mix of fruity and floral.

Essie - Meet Me at Sunset: My favourite way to wear my favourite colour of the month!

Garnier - BB Skin Perfector in Light: As temperatures started to rise this month, I needed something lighter for my face. After trying out a sample of this at the end of June, I fell in love and purchased the full size in Boots. The coverage is quite light but easy to build up, although if I have a bad skin day I have to add a touch of bareMinerals to completely cover my imperfections. This BB cream is weightless and it's also oil free so my skin only needed one touch up with matte powder throughout the day! It looks natural, adds a subtle glow and even has SPF 20! 

Non-Beauty Favourites

Staring at Stars - Camisole in Boho Floral Print: I picked up this top in Urban Outfitters and I'm completely in love with the print. It's something that I think will always be in style and it looks effortlessly cool, especially when paired with beachy hair, white shorts and gladiator sandals! The material is light and it has quite a loose fit, yet it's slightly cropped so it doesn't swamp your body. Urban Outfitters also make a matching skirt in this print too! 

Clarks - Oditi Lucky Sandals: Clarks have always made the comfiest shoes and I've literally worn these sandals every day this month! I love the gladiator style and they look great with every outfit. They're currently in the sale (sold out online but you might be able to find them in store) and they come in pink too!

Jack Kerouac On the Road: This book is actually one of my all time favorites but I've been rereading it for my dissertation and I think I might love it even more after a second read! It's based on the life of Kerouac and his friends as they travel across America between 1947-1950, however it's the style of writing that makes this book so incredible. It mimics the world of the Beat generation perfectly and you really have to read it to understand how wonderful this book is! I've actually never watched the film version of On the Road, I don't think a film could ever capture the beauty of Kerouac's writing, but it's definitely on my list of films to watch in August.

♫ Lana Del Rey - Brooklyn Baby

Let me know what your July favourites are in the comments below!