May Favourites

So I started this blog with the intention of updating it regularly unfortunately that clearly hasn't happened. Real life got in the way and I just haven't had a chance, however everything seems to have calmed down and I really hope to be able to pay my blog more attention from now on. I've got a good few posts planned and lots of products to rant and rave about (I'm even thinking of doing an outfit post *gulp*). I also want to say thanks for the lovely comments I've been recieving, I really appreciate them. It's really encouraging and I hope to be able to reply to them from now on!

Now on with my May favourites! (I know we're already almost a week into June but better late than ever aye?)

Woah, that's quite a bit of Pink! Also it took me ages to get a decent shot of them all and even now I'm still not entirely happy. This photography's a lot harder than it looks. Apologies if any of the products look a little grubby, I've been using them quite a lot the past month!

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover: Now I shant go on too much, I've pretty much made my point in my previous post. I'm still head over heels for this product though!

Benefit "the Porefessional": Now then I don't quite know which make-up category this would fall under, it's kind of a Primer but it can be used for touching up make-up too? Basically you smear it on your pores and watch them shrink before your very eyes. No, seriously they do! Plus if you're out for the day, glance in the mirror and gasp at your pores you can quickly pop some of this over the top of your makeup and it'll shrink them without damaging your previously applied make-up. It's almost an airbrushing effect it provides.

Nars "Orgasm" Blusher: I can see why this is such an adored product. It's a kind of peachy shade and can be both applied lightly for a hint of colour and packed on for a injection of colour. It has great lasting wear and gives me that lovely flushed look (and being a very pale person it can be very hard to achieve that without looking clowny).

L'oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim: The first thing to notice with this product is the nib. It is ultra slim and perfect for everyday usage when you need to be a little less bold with your liner and a little more precise. The pigmentation of this product is amazing, with one stroke you get a very slick deep black line. It lasts all day and I've had no problem with the pen drying out as of yet.

Revlon Lip Butters in "Cotton Candy" and "Strawberry Shortcake": Both pink shades, SS is brighter pink while CC is a more muted pink. Now there's been a lot of hype about these butters so I'm just gonna throw my opinion in there. I personally am a fan of the formula, I have quite dry lips and I love how hydrating these are on them. They apply quite sheerly (though can be built up) but somehow do provide quite a bit of colour. If I'm wearing quite a heavy eye look these are the perfect solution for what to wear with the lips. I'm sold!

Figs & Rouge Balm: My scent/flavour? is Rambling Rose and I'm going to be completely honest I don't particularly notice a strong smell. Now these came in the April Glossybox I believe so I won't go on too much about it as there's plenty of opinion out there but I like mines. It's provides decent hydration plus can also be used for dry patches on skin so it's a multitasker.

L'Occitane Brightening Hand Care: This product smells amazing! I don't even know how to describe the smell, organic maybe? It's quite a natural smell but it makes my hands feel lush after I've used it. I've also noticed a definate improvement in texture, they're a lot smoother and less dry than before.

And finally...

Tangle Teezer: My hair at the moment is probably the longest it's ever been. It's also quite thick and becoming increasingly difficult to manage, so when I heard about this I knew I had to have it. It doesn't really look like your traditional hairbrush and it doesn't really work as one. I mean you run it through your hair like you would a normal hairbrush but it does something magical and straightens out all tangles without any tangles and before you know it, your hair's all shiny smooth. 

I've included swatches of all the colour make-up products, from the top we have the Super Liner Perfect Slim, Nars "Orgasm", Revlon Lip Butter in "Strawberry Shortcake" then, Revlon Lip Butter in "Cotton Candy".

I hope you enjoyed my favourites and I promise to start blogging more consistently from now on!

Latest In Beauty CEW Awards 2012 Beauty Box

Since Glossybox launched their Beauty Box around a year ago, the idea of signing up for random samples each month has really taken off. Glossybox remains the dominant force pulling out collabarations with the likes of Harrods. Feel Unique and Carmen came and left over the year and Boudoir Prive relaunched itself as JolieBox. In amongst all of these brands, Latest In Beauty came along and offered a refrshing twist on the concept. For just £1.50 you can recieve 3 unique samples chosen by you. There's no subscription service and you're under no obligation to order a box per month. They also do bigger themed boxes every now and then (roughly every month). The main difference with these is that is a one off charge and you can already see the products that will be featured before ordering. I appreciate this as you can make a fair assesment before parting with money rather than recieving a box via a subscription and recieving a bunch of stuff you don't really want.  I also find that you get more samples and they're usually a lot bigger than the ones some boxes fob you off with.

The box that I ordered above was based on the CEW Beauty Awards 2012 (full list of winners here) and provided samples of winners or finalists. As soon as I saw this box I knew I had to have it and I think you'll understand why once I go through the products! Altogether this box cost me £11.90 (£8.95 + £2.95 P&P) and it's valued at over £50 so I can't complain about that. Now on with the products:

(Products from L-R)

Elemis Pro-Collagen Body Cream (Finalist in "Best New Bath and Body Product")

To be honest this is the product that I was least fussed about. I'm not huge on body creams and being only 18 I'm not sure I'm ready for pro-collagen stuff yet! However I will give it a shot, it was a decently sized sample I recieved at 50ml and checking Feel Unique, they are selling 200ml for £49 so I've already made back my money.

L'Occitane Brightening Hand Care (Finalist in "Best New Hand, Foot and Nail Care Product")

Another anti-aging product however this time in Hand Cream product. I won't be complaining about this however as my hands have been feeling quite dry recently so a hand cream is definately welcomed. Again this was another decent sized sample at 15ml, I couldn't find an RRP for this but on average L-Occitane products tend to range from mid to high end prices so once again I'm getting my monies worth. I'm really excited to try this out!

Mont Blanc Legend Eau de Toilette (Finalist in "Best New Men's Fragrance")

This is a 1.2ml sample of Aftershave. It struck me as a slightly odd addition to the box but hey I sprayed it and it does smell quite lush.

Elie Saab Le Parfum (Finalist in "Best New Woman's Scent")

Another wee 1ml sample of Perfume, this time for girls. It's hard to review perfume so I'll just say it's quite a floral scent, not really to my liking but I can appreciate why it would be liked.

Percy & Reed No-fuss Dry Conditioner (Finalist in "Best New Haircare/Styling Product)

This 50ml sample has a typical salon smell to it (which I personally love). I'm also really looking forward to trying this one out as my hair's getting really long now and could do with as much conditioning as it can get.

Nails Inc Porchestor Square Nail Polish (Nails Inc was a Finalist in "Best British Brand")

A full sized nail polish! Yippee! I cannot wait to paint my nails with this colour. It's a sort of mushroom shade and doesn't appear to have any shimmer to it so it definately looks wearable for the daytime plus I can spruce it up if I need to be sophisticated for nighttime. 

Benefit The POREfessional (Finalist in "Best New Makeup")

Now I already know what the primer is like as my Mum bought it not too long ago and I have used it a couple of times (not always with her permission) and I am so glad to have my own! It's only 7.5ml but with this primer a little goes a long way. It creates a very smooth base and it really does reduce the size of pores and gives that nice airbrushing effect before applying foundation. So pleased with this!

Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare Cleanse & Polish (Winner of "Most Revolutionary Beauty Product in the Past 20 Years)

As I follow a number of Beauty Bloggers I know that this is the Holy Grail of skincare and I am so stoked to recieve it! It's a decent sized sample at 30ml plus it comes with the muslin cloth and a set of instructions. I simply cannot say how excited I am to use this for the first time though I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to fit it in with my skincare routine as of yet... 

And as an extra: I literally only just noticed that the Liz Earle also came with a mysterious envelope so I had to have a quick look and inside were 3 sachets (I think that's how you spell it!) of the Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint! Each sachet (sp?) is a different shade so that you can colour match yourself however I am under no illusion that I will be shade no 1 for Fair Skin Tones. What a lovely surprise though!

I hope to do a second post on this box in about a week once I've had a chance to try the products out and do some reviews on them. Sorry for the long post but really wanted to squeal about how awesome this box is. Sadly they're sold out now but I believe that there is still a reservation list so it might be worth checking that out. Also keep an eye on the website here and their Twitter feed here for the announcements for their future themed boxes because honestly I can't rave about how great they are!