My Current Favourites - Part 2: Nails

I have already shown you my current favourite make up products and today I'd like to show you what I've been using most when it comes to my nails.

First up is Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Cuticle Pen. I use this every time I change my mani, and brush the oil all over my nails as well as my cuticles. It helps make my cuticles soft and also conditions my nails which are quite fragile and peel easily. Since I started using this product many month ago, my nails have been in a much better state, the peeling has slowed down and my nails have become stronger.

See what other products I've been enjoying using after the jump!

My Current Favourites - Part 1 : Make Up

As it's been a long time since I last blogged frequently, I thought I'd put together a couple of posts about the products I currently use the most. I'm starting off with make up and will also show you some of my nail related favourites.

First up is Chantecaille White Tiger powder which is just possibly the most luxurious face powder you can find. In the picture below it looks a little sad as the gorgeous picture's almost completely disappeared, but you can see a picture of how it used to look here (need to scroll down a little). I love this powder, it's really nice, well, I guess it had better be anyway since it cost £88! It appears to have been discontinued now, which is a shame, but luckily I have a few back ups of it.

While still on the subject of face powder, my favourite brush to apply it with has been the Guerlain Meteorites brush. This particular one is an older, limited edition one, but they're pretty much all the same except for their colour.

See what else I've been loving lately after the jump!

Beauty Must Have: Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti-Crease Eyeshadow Primer

I've been meaning to blog about this product for ages and finally I've got around to it. I mentioned it in my 2012 Favourites post, but I thought it deserves its own review because it's a fantastic product. I used it every day and it never lets me down.

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (TFSI) is an eyeshadows primer that helps keep your eye make up looking vibrant and stay creaseless. It is a light skin coloured cream product that once blended out is practically invisible. I use it under every eyeshadow and it works really well for me. It is very similar to Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP), but I prefer this Too Faced version mainly due to the packaging. Unlike the UDPP genie lamp style hard tube TFSI comes in a soft plastic squeezy tube. I always find that when I think my UDPP has run out, there's actually still tonss of it left in the tube, and once I cut it open and scoop out the contents, it dries out very quickly. I know the UDPP tube has now been redesigned and it also comes in a squeezy tube now, but I still have several genie bottles left from palettes that I now can't be bothered to use.

I have been using my current tube of TFSI for years now (on and off) and the texture of the primer has not changed at all, it hasn't dried out one little bit and amazingly there's still lots left in it. You really only neeed a little bit at a time, so an 11 g tube goes a very long way. I also have it in the Candlelight version which is a slightly shimmery, frosty version that is recommended to use under shimmery eyeshadows, but I usually forget about it and just use the normal version more often than not.

This is an absolutely must have product if you wear eyeshadows and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. An 11 g tube costs £16.50.

See more pictures after the jump!

2012 Favourites - Part 5: Skincare and Haircare

Okay, I know this is possibly the least exciting post of the 2012 Favourites series, but I wanted to do it anyway because now that I'm getting older, I'm finding it increasingly important to have a good skincare routine. Mine isn't really complicated, especially because I'm always so late going to bed, I never have the energy to do a lenghty routine. I do have a good cleanser and make up remover, and also a good serum, night cream and eye cream, with the occasional scrub and mask thrown in, so that's fine. In the mornings I just use a face cream having washed my face in the shower with clean water. I don't have time for more, it's as simple as that.

I did a video about my skincare routine back in April and although some products I'm not using anymore (have run out or have decided to change), it gives you a good idea about which products I enjoyed using in 2012. Check it out here. 

I'll start with cleansing. I usually use Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover (old style, this has now been rreformulated) followed by Simple Kind To Skin Facial Cleansing Wipes. The two together work very well for removing make up and dirt from my skin. I haven't found a cleanser I am that chuffed about, I just can't really get excited about a cleanser, but every one I've used so far does a good enough job. I'm currently using a L'Occitane cleanser with the longest, most complicated name that I refuse to copy. I also really like Lancome Bi-Facil and will probably use it instead of the Boots one because I've heard that the new, reformulated version isn't very good.

See which other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

2012 Favourites - Part 4: Nails

2012 was definitely the year of the nail polish for me. I bought over 550 nail polishes (I know, crazy!) and discovered some amazing brands. (Check out my stash video and pictures here.) Until 2 years ago I'd hardy heard of any nail polish brands that couldn't be bought in Boots or Superdrug (and back then there weren't a lot of glittery, shimmery, duochrome polish around, or at least I didn't notice them). As well as continuing to buy from mainstream brands like China Glaze, OPI, Orly and the likes, I discovered some very unique and interesting brands and nail polishes. My favourite polishes are holos and duochromes, or preferably both together in one product, and I'm also rather partial to glitter.

The picture above shows a few of my recent purchases including the new Color Club holographic polishes that I regret to say I haven't tried yet as well as Topshop glitter polishes and Enchanted Polish duo(multi)chrome polishes.

My favourite newly discovered brands in 2012 were Topshop, Enchanted Polish, Layla and Glitter Gal. Out of the four I'd say Enchanted Polish is my definite favourite, the only thing I don't like is how difficult it is to come by as the polishes are only made in very small quantities and the shades are limited edition. Nevertheless I have managed to get my hands on a few of them and here are some:

These are from the Beatles collection (I Am The Walrus and Magical Mystery Tour) and from the Falloween collection (Witchful Thinking). The new holiday collection came in a new style, fancier, more professional looking bottle:

Green Peace on Earth, Dance Of The Sugar Plum, Bruised Nutcracker, Olive The Other Reindeer

Enchanted Polish nail polishes are absolutely gorgeous, duo- or rather multichrome with scattered holo, straight forward holographic or glittery. I have showed you Across The Universe here if you want to take a peek.

Find out what other nail polishes and nail care products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

2012 Favourites - Part 3: Face

Here's another installment of my favourite products of 2012, this time it's the face products. I will start with the more exciting ones, ie. pretty highlighters. To me one of the most used highlighters of 2012 was Guerlain Cruel Gardenia. It is just so pretty both in the compact and on my skin. Just lovely.You can read my initial review by clicking on the link above.

See what other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

2012 Favourties - Part 2: Eyes

I buy and wear a lot of eyeshadows, eyeliners and mascaras, that is one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. I have very undefined eyes, so I cannot be without eyeliner and mascara, eyeshadows are more of the fun part, I really enjoy playing with colours and have got pretty good at doing quite fancy looks.

I'll start with eyeshadows. One of the brands I mostly raved on about on here in 2012 is L'Oreal, I love their Infallible eyeshadows. Nowadays I tend to gravitate towards high end eyeshadows, but every so often cheaper brands that come out with something amazing and I'm not that much of a snob not to check them out. I did a series of reviews as I bought 20 shades of them, here's the recap post that is linked to all the reviews.

My other favourite eyeshadows that I often compare the L'Oreal Infallibles to were Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill and Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows. You can find several reviews of these on the blog as well, just do a search. I loved the Infallible eyeshadows most for their affordableness and big colour selection (although we don't get quite as many in the UK, but thank God for eBay and US sellers).

Carry on reading after the jump to discover which other products I loved in 2012!

2012 Favourites - Part 1: Lips

As it's now a new year, I thought I'd do a recap of my favourite make up products of 2012. I'll only included products that were either newly released in 2012 or new to me, no point in me repeating myself over and over again (I still love Vaseline and Pleasureflush MSF is still my favourite highlighter, nothing new there).

So I'll start with lip products. The brand that stood out for me in 2012 when I think of new lip products was definitely Revlon. While I still love Guerlain lipsticks very much and wear them often when going out, on days when I'm staying in or not needing a bolder lip colour, I often opt for Revlon's Lip Butters. I acquired 10 of them over the course of the year and they've become my most used lip products.

They are moisturising, very comfortable to wear and some of them are absolutely gorgeous and actually pretty pigmented. On days when I don't need to wear lipstick but want something more colourful then Vaseline, I reach for these, and of course some of them double up as lipstick due to their fantastic pigmentation. Raspberry Pie, Lollipop and Sweet Tart are my absolute favourite shades. I did a full review on these Lip Butters here, so if you need any more details, check it out!

See which other products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

October Favourites Video

I did a little video about the products I've enjoyed using this month, check it out!You can also subscribe to my channel by clicking here!

Scent Of The Month: Guerlain Shalimar Eau de Toilette

I don't normally review fragrances on here mostly because I'm really rubbish at describing scents. I can say things like "it's really nice" and "it's a sweet and/or floral scent", but other than that, I'm no use. But because I really like perfumes, own around 40 different ones and use perfumes every day, I thought I'd start a little series and see how it goes.

So this month's fragrance is one of my favourite fragrances Shalimar by Guerlain. It's a strong, sweet scent and I think it's a great choice for this time of year. It's not in your face, but is quite strong and long lasting. Because I'm rubbish at describing scents, I've decided to copy Guerlain's official description of the scent:

"Soft oriental Voluptuous, sensual, spellbinding Tonic top notes of fresh flowers and bergamot are calmly intrepid. Like the savvy disorder of rumpled silk sheets, powdery notes of iris, jasmine and rose suggest or promise sensual embraces. The creamy softness of addictive vanilla, the penetrating charm of iris, the balmy roundness of opoponax and the gourmand warmth of Tonka bean orchestrate an intimate symphony of scent for languorous interludes."

I couldn't find the Eau de Toilette on the Debenhams website, but the Eau de Parfum costs £42 for 30 ml and £79 for 90 ml.

Let me know how you like the idea of this post (possible series) in the comments!

See another picture after the jump! 

Summer Favourites Video

It was the first day back at school after 6 (long) weeks of summer holiday, so I decided to do a little video showing you what products I enjoyed using this summer.

NYX Matte Blotting Paper

I don't normally do favourites posts because I tend to use different things all the time, however there are certain products that I always go back to simply because I haven't found anything better. NYX MatteBlotting Paper is one of them. I just love this stuff, it's so simple, but works so well.

My skin is a lot drier now that I'm older (also think Lancome Genifique has helped with controlling the oil, it's bloody brilliant that stuff!), but I still get the oily T-zone depending on which foundation I use, what I do and how hot I get during the day, so around 3 pm I need to mattify my face a little. And that is what these little sheets do, just one sheet is enough to absorb the oil from my face, then I add some finishing powder and job done, I'm good for another 5 hours (by which time I usually don't care what my face looks like anyway).

You get 50 sheets in a pack, the sheets are around the size of a credit card and very very thin. I don't know how much they normally cost in the US, I buy mine from eBay for a couple of quid each and I tend to bulk buy since the shipping costs on something this light tend not to be high.

Do you use blotting paper? Which ones are your favourites? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

2011's Favourite Products: Part 4 - Skincare

This is the last part of my favourites post for this year, and this one contains skincare. As I'm getting older and wearing more make up than a few years ago, I'm trying to take care of my skin better. I used to go to bed without taking off my mascara and used not to own any make up remover just a few years ago (I know, shock horror!), and I also didn't use any face creams at all. Of course that was a while ago and now my bathroom cabinet is full of skincare products. So let's see which ones I really liked this year. By the way I have reviewed most of these products before, so I will link them to the more detailed reviews.

First off, make up remover. My go to make up remover used to be Estee Lauder's Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, but I have discovered an even better one which is Clinique Take The Day Off Make Up Remover and I can happily say this is my new favourite. The Estee Lauder one doesn't remove waterproof mascara and neither does this, but it removes regular make up much more quickly. I use Lancome Bi-Facil for waterproof mascara that I only wear very occasionally, so for my everyday needs this is perfect.

Keep reading to find out which other skincare products I loved this year!

My favourite eyeliner pencils

I have a lot of eyeliners. I love them. In fact, I can't be seen without one. Eyeliner and mascara are my two absolute essentials, because my eyes have no definition without them. My eyelashes are short, thin and sort of mousy colour, so without mascara and eyeliner they just don't look right. Also, eyeliners are lots of fun. As much as I like black eyeliners, there are so many gorgeous colours out there, I can always find one to match my mood and my eye make up.

My eyeliner pencils

As you can see, I have quite a collection of eyeliners. My absolute favourite ones are Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencils, they are just so smooth, but they don't smudge, stay on all day and come in every colour of the rainbow (except for red actually). I also like Mac Pearlglide Intense eyeliners and when it comes to cheaper brands, Gosh and L'Oreal are my other favourites. So it wasn't too easy to pick my absolute favourites for this post, but actually despite owning this many eyeliners I tend to reach for a very few of them most often, so I went for those.

See which eyeliners I choose after the jump!

My favourite high street (drugstore) make up / beauty products

As you know, I love high end make up, my favourite brands include Guerlain and Dior, and you can't get much more luxurious products than from these two brands. However, I also like products that work well no matter how much they cost or what brand they are. I am a make up snob, but not enough to pass on good bargains! :)

I thought I'd show you what my favourite high street (drugstore) beauty products are and if you like, please tell me in the comments which ones you like / work for you. 

Find out more about my favourite bargain buys after the jump!