My top 3 high-end creams for dry skin

Monu Recovery Balm
£17.50 for 50ml
This smells really grown up - definite hints of rose and bergamot. It feels like a light lotion but is as nourishing and moisturising as those heavy, sticky night creams that work well but feel horrible on the skin. If my skin is playing up and I can't quite tell how it's gonna behave overnight I'll use this before bed... whether I'm dry, oily, starting to breakout or just, well, normal, this always works well and wont aggravate any unpleasantness I have going on
Clinique Moisture Surge
£30 for 50ml
This is an odd product because it's an extremely light gel that's easily absorbed so you wouldn't think it'd do a great job when it comes to adding moisture to the skin but it works a treat! The texture is like nothing else I've ever tried; it's ridiculously light and leaves the skin looking matte and feeling smooth. Which makes it great as a day or night cream as makeup can be applied pretty much straight away but it's still hydrating and comforting enough to use as a night cream. Almost good enough to make me say I like Clinique. Almost
L'Occitane Ultra Moisturizing fluid
£22.50 for 50ml
The perfect moisturiser for summer, this has SPF 20, smells heavenly thanks to the shea butter and doesn't take an age to sink into the skin. This is my third or forth bottle so you can imagine how disappointed I was when I called into my local L'Occitane shop the other day and found out that they no longer stock it. Thankfully it's still available online so I'll have to stock up. This is one of the first moisturising face creams I tried that didn't make my skin breakout so I've loved it ever since

Non-pore-emphasising cream blush

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush

So I was doing my makeup on Sunday and really couldn't be arsed with anything time-consuming so stuck with an old reliable foundation, mascara, blush and vaseline on my lips. Fancy? Well not really. But I was only heading to the park with my pooches so going to the effort of applying any makeup at all was pretty impressive by my ridiculously lazy standards

Which got me thinking that if I'm going for a very (pretend) natural look then a cream blush seems more apt than a powder as it tends to look more, well, natural...

The only problem I have with cream and liquid blushes is that they have a propensity to make my pores look massive! I'd say on a scale of 1-10 (1 being pin-prick-sized and 10 being crater-sized) my pores are a perfectly acceptable 3. Unless I'm wearing certain blushes in which case they're a definite 17. Hey it's my scale, they can so be a 17!
This is precisely why it took months of wondering about the Dream Touch blushes before I actually splurged my hard-earned cash on one. It turned out to be a great buy because these are creamy, smooth, pigmented and a breeze to blend. And, you guessed it! The cream seems to float in a nice layer right over my skin so my pores don't look all gross and obvious

There are only 4 shades available which kinda sucks but I've found that the apricot and berry ones suit me just fine, they are buildable if you happen to want a more intense colour but a teensy dab blended with a simple makeup look is so natural you'd swear you weren't wearing blush at all

The best foundation I've ever tried

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H

I was gonna start this post by saying I can't think of a single thing I dislike about this foundation but then I realised I absolutely hate what it says on the bottle. 24h foundation? BALLS!! I'm sure I'm not the only one who is irked by the increasingly OTT claims made by cosmetic companies but this one really takes the proverbial biscuit… Not only can I not think of a single situation that would require 24 hour makeup but, and this is a big but, it doesn't last that long!

But if we put that to the side for a minute the list of positive things I have to say about this is very long indeed

♥ Range of shades is awesome and I even managed to find out for my incredibly pale skin
♥ Bottle is nice and comes with a pump applicator
♥ Texture is smooth, thin and blends easily
♥ Gives good coverage and doesn't cake
♥ Manages to look like glowing skin without being shiny, greasy or sparkly
♥ Extremely light so I don’t end up feeling like I'm wearing a mask
♥ Sets nicely and it’s gives the perfect finish; matte but not so much that it's powdery or make-upy
♥ A little goes a long way so it'll last ages
♥ Hides my pores. There are way to many foundations out there that do a great job of emphasising them
♥ Lasts ages. Not 24 hours of course, but still an impressively long 10 hours or so
♥ Can be applied using a brush, sponge or fingers and always looks great
The only other downside is the price. At £27 is an indulgence but I don't mind cos it actually works. So money well spent I say!
Right, it's heading towards the wee hours on a Saturday night so I have to head out to some awesome party and then... oh no, I'm thinking of someone elses life. I'm going to watch QVC and will be asleep by 1am. But I might have a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit first so don't go saying I don't know how to live it up on the weekend :)

Concealer palette - under eyes, blemishes and dark circles

Catrice Allround Concealer palette

Happy Friday all!! Hope you're lucky enough to have the weekend off work :) I'll be working till 4pm tomorrow but people seem to avoid doing their banking on the weekends (very wise if you ask me, I mean it's just not what weekends are designed for!) so it'll probably be a fairly quiet day

I've just started watching season 7 of 24 and it's awesome! I watched The Lost Boys the other day it was really odd seeing Kiefer Sutherland not shoot anyone for a whole 90 minutes.

But yes, back to makeup...

I have to mention a brand that I discovered a few months ago. It's called Catrice and although I hadn't heard of it til recently I've now stumbled across it dozens of times online. Always the way, eh?

This is one of the first products I bought from the range and it was the simple idea that really caught my attention; there are 5 different concealer shades for different products so this works for covering regular old blemishes, dark circles and redness

The first 3 squares are all variations shades of beige which will come in handy when I get a little colour on my face over the summer and need slightly darker toned concealers! These are designed to cover blemishes so work well around my chin and jaw line, which hasn't been blemish free for what seems like decades :( Honestly I don't envy men at all - I hate the thought of not being able to use a little dab of something or other to hide all manner of imperfections!
The next square is pink and has been created to conceal dark circles. I absolutely love pink/salmon tones for my under eye area cos I don't get dark circles often but when I do they are a proper bluish purple colour and the pink really helps hide them

Finally we have the green square which is for concealing redness. As I general rule I hate these concealers. I've always found that they end up all green and weird looking and have no colour corrective ability whatsoever. This one, however, works an absolute treat. The trick is not to apply to much; a nice thin sheer application is enough to hide my red cheeks and any angry looking red spots

What has impressed me most about these concealers is the texture, they are incredibly creamy and manage to cover well without looking all dry and cakey.

Warning! If you're a fan of really high coverage products like Bobbi Brown cream concealer or Estee Lauders Maximum coverage concealer then this is definitely not for you! (sometimes I need the high coverage options) The coverage is translucent and not for fans of opaque products ♥

Crap Glossy Box stuff thats just crap :(

The Harrods Edition Glossy Box

Good evening all, thanks for stopping by :)

I wanted to do a little post of this months Glossy Box cos I wasn't particularly impressed by any of the products I received. It's not that I'm really fussy or anything (except that I am) but I seem to have received a lot of duds over the last few months. I'm 26. Why do they keep sending my anti-ageing stuff?!
Of course I enjoy the surprise element of the whole Glossy Box thing but sometimes I wish I could select the products before they send them. You know, like from a website or something where they keep a list of the available items. Hmmm, that sounds suspiciously like regular old internet shopping. Just ignore me. You can wait til after you've read this of course...

Clarins Extra-Firming Body Cream 30ml
This is my least favourite product, mostly because I really dislike the brand. I can't think of a single Clarins product that's impressed me and this is as meh as the rest of their stuff. It looks, smells and feels ok but I have enough totally average products in my collection so wouldn't dream of paying full price for this

YSL Forever Youth Liberator
I feel I can't really give an accurate opinion on this because I don't have wrinkles yet. I'm happy to use nice hydrating lotions and potions in the hope that they keeps wrinkles at bay but these kinda serums can be waay to stimulating on my spot-prone skin so I find it best to avoid them. Cute packaging, loving the teensy pipette applicator cos it makes me feel all sciency

Burberry Lip Mist in Copper
If I saw this at a beauty counter I wouldn't even bother swatching it as it looks like a horrible, unflattering brick-orange shade. Now that I've tried it I'd still avoid it. The shade isn't nearly as offensive as it looks in the tube but it's still too brown toned for my skin. The texture feels nice but I'd never wear this

Narciso Rodriguez For Her
This smells like old woman to me. I know scent is really individual but this is one of those heavy, cloying, floral smells that reminds me of sitting next to old ladies on public transport. I don't have anything against old ladies you understand, I'd just prefer not to wear the same perfume as them

Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily Moisture bath and shower gel
The second ingredient listed is sodium laureth sulfate. I think we're all doing our best to try to avoid these kind of cheap foaming agents because it means we aren't left feeling all dry and tight after a shower. With a price tag of £18 for 300ml I'll definitely be sticking to The Body Shop or L'Occitane for my shower gels. Oh and this doesn't even smell very nice, which is one of my non-negotiable requirements for washy scrubby shower goodies

Did you fare any better with your Glossy Box? Or are any of the products things you already love? ♥

My top 3 drugstore creams for dry skin

Hello all :) Hope you're having a nice week so far and have been able to make the most of this awesome Spring weather. I left the house the other day without an umbrella or a coat. It seems Winter is finally behind us. Hurrah!!

Unfortunately it's still cold enough to keep my skin feeling all crinkly and dry so I've been sticking to ridiculously rich lotions and potions to keep it as moist and soft as possible

Every year I end up buying and trying loads of new products but I have a few firm favourites that I always resort to when I just need something quick and reliable and these are my top 3 from the drugstore. My skin is prone to breakouts so I'm always after something rich and moisturising that wont block my pores or over-stimulate my skin and these little beauties never fail... Nivea Soft moisturising cream for face, body and hands
£6.02 for 300ml
Leaves my skin feeling like silk from the minute this is applied
If you could smell softness it would smell like this
Eucerin replenishing face cream 5% UREA
£10.79 for 50ml
Until I discovered this cream a few years back I always assumed that moisturing meant thick and sticky. This is feather light and never fails to get rid of even the most stubborn dry patches within a day or two
Vitamin E moisturising day cream from Superdrug
£2.99 for 100ml
SPF 15
Lovely texture that is easily absorbed so I don't have to spend ages waiting for this to soak in before applying makeup
Smells like summer in a jar

My favourite February goodies

Even though I haven’t gone a single week without buying some nice new makeup or skin care products recently (Totally cutting back. Seriously. I mean I only have one face!) I’ve fallen in love with some old favourites all over again so my list of Feb favourites doesn’t include a single new purchase

I’ve been pretty lazy with my makeup over the last month or so and I think I wore everything pictured below about 90% of the time. They’re fantastically reliable goodies that require little effort and are subtle enough to be worn with pretty much every outfit. And when I’ve only had 3 hours sleep I generally want makeup that I can essentially throw at my face, rub around a bit and bam!… that’s me set for the day! :)
Products pcitured :

Estee Lauder Idealist even skin illuminator
Bourjois Noir & Blanc eye pencil
Accessorize lip gloss in Magical
Accessorize lip gloss in Starlet
Mally Face Defender blush in Pink Perfection
Lancome Color Fever lipstick shade 308
Estee Lauder Double Wear Light foundation in Intensity 2.0

Best magazine freebies in March

Good evening all! Hope you had a totally stupendous weekend. Mine was fairly busy so it’s gonna be nice to spend the next couple of hours lying in the bath eating Haagen Dazs and reading a magazine or two. Talking of which… I picked up Marie Claire and Glamour and the awesome freebies that came with them will go a long way towards making me feel less guilty for spending so much on said magazines. I mean with such brilliant products they’re practically paying me to read them :) With Marie Claire - Neals Yard Rehydrating Rose Daily Moisture for normal skin
With Glamour - Percy & Reed Totally TLC Hydrating Hair Mask

I love how they've both given hydrating products; I think most of us are feeling the effects of the central heating and freezing cold weather on our hair and skin so these are perfect for this time of year! ♥