Current Favourites

I've been neglecting my blog a bit the last couple of weeks! 

First I had a week off from work and the sun decided to come out so I spent a few days in the garden sunbathing, I had a day out shopping and eating Yo! Sushi and Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Birmingham, then I upped my gym regime as we've only got four weeks till our holiday to Turkey so I've been pretty busy!

I ran 13km this morning, burning over 1000(!) calories in the process so now I'm back in my pj's resting myself for tomorrow's interval cycling session. 

I thought I'd do a quick post of my current favourite items in my makeup bag while I'm snuggled down and cosy!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Medium Plus and Avon Blush in Heavenly Nude

I've heard so many great things about the MAC Skinfinish so while I was in Birmingham I visited the MAC store and picked one up. The SA recommended me Medium Plus which I thought would be a tad dark but it's actually perfect! I only use a tiny bit over my foundation but it makes my skin look lovely; it's quite expensive but I'm glad I splashed out as I love it!

I won this Avon blush in BeautyH2T's giveaway and I've found myself reaching for it every morning. If you have a heavy hand (like me) then this blush is perfect! It gives a lovely subtle rosy glow to my cheeks and the colour lasts all day. If this was still on the Avon website/in the book I would definitely repurchase.

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette

After searching many Superdrug stores and waiting for it to become available online I finally got my hands on this during Superdrug's free delivery promotion. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be but I love it!

I've mainly been using the left side of the palette for my everyday work makeup and so far all the shadows have been soft, easy to apply and well pigmented. I plan on taking this on holiday in place of my Naked Palette as I'm terrible when it comes to losing/damaging things in transit and £4 is nothing if I need to replace it!

Avon All Over Face Brush and Sigma Flat Top Kabuki Brush

I currently own two of these Avon brushes as they are just perfect! I use one for my powder and one for my blusher. They are the softest brushes I have had the pleasure of using and they just do not shed! They are £6 each on the Avon website but their sleek black appearance makes them look a lot more expensive. It picks up a good amount of powder and the size of the head means a really good all over coverage.

I won the Sigma brush in Miss Lori Loves giveaway and I couldn't have been happier! I had been lusting over this brush for ages and kept almost buying it so when I found that I had won it I was so pleased! It definitely lives up to all the positive hype it gets. I usually use a heavy, full coverage foundation and when applied with my fingers it looks nice, but after applying with this brush - my skin honestly looked airbrushed, the difference was just amazing. The bristles and soft and dense and so far I have experienced no shedding. I will not be going back to regular foundation brushes after using this one!

Do you use any of these products?

What are your current favourites?

Superdrug MUA Lipstick - My Perfect Pink

I never thought my perfect lipstick would be cheaper than Heat magazine!

Superdrug MUA Lipstick 3.8g in Shade 12

£1.00

I bought this sooo long ago and just sort of forgot about it! But yesterday morning I was rooting around my make-up while I was putting my 'work face' on and I found this!

I've never been great at wearing lipstick, I always prefer a gloss or plain old Vaseline. I do tend to wear quite a bit of make-up to work these days but I always keep my eyes quite neutral so I decided to try this lippy out - and I love it!

The cute pink colour is so wearable for everyday; it's not so bright that I get self conscious, but it's just the right amount to be noticed and if you look closely there are tiny little flecks of sparkle that make it lovely and shimmery.

I find it goes well with my Bourjois blush in Rose D'or - they are quite a similar shade.

I applied this at 8:30am yesterday morning and it lasted up until lunch, around 1.30pm before I felt the need to reapply. It's very easy to apply and not drying at all.

I think I could wear this day and night and I can see it fast becoming part of my daily make-up routine.

The only bad thing I can say is that the actual lipstick is a little wobbly inside the tube but as long as you're careful with it, this shouldn't be a problem!

Next time I'm near a Superdrug I think it's only fair that I try out some of their other colours - there are 13 shades in total - £13 for 13 lipsticks - can't get much better than that!

4 and a half out of 5 monkeys easy!

Thanks Superdrug!

P.S.

My giveaway ends on Monday - stop by and enter if you haven't already!

A Bit Of A Haul

So today I actually feel a little bit better - I managed to get out of bed, wash and dry my hair and venture to the shops for an hour. After two days of being in bed it felt so nice to have a long hot shower, and have nice, clean hair! I still look a little puffy so I had to apply some makeup, but it really was the bare minimum, just so I wasn't so self conscious. I decided to go to Boots to buy some bits to cheer me up. A lot of the stuff I bought was on the strenght of reviews, either from other blogs or the Boots website, and a lot of it was on 3 for 2 offer. I was so stupid though, I bought a few bits from No7 and it wasn't until I got out of the shop I realised I had a £5 off voucher, oh well! I also went to Savers and Superdrug just to stretch out the trip.

No7 Total Renewal Micro-Dermabrasion Exfoliator 75ml

£11.00

I never really been happy with my skin, and after 3 days with a cold it's been left looking particularly dull and lifeless. I've been for quite a few micro-dermabrasions in my time, and while they are lovely, £55 a go is a bit much for me at the moment. So on the strength of 28 out of 32 5 star reviews on the Boots site, I bought this. It is supposed to even out skin tone and leave skin softer and more refined. I'll do a proper review of it after I've used it for a couple of weeks.

No7 Beautifully Balanced Purifying Toner for Oily to Combination Skin 200ml

£8.00

I haven't used a good toner for ages. They always made my skin look more oily and I wasn't a fan of them. However, I've read in a lot of blogs that No7 is very gentle on the skin so I though I would give this a go. I try and use product at night only so I don't get build up during the day. This bottle is huge, and I was suprised it was only £8. Hopefully it will work!

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick

£8.00

This was my third product in the No7 3 for 2 offer. I already own about 3 different concealers, but to be honest, none of them are giving enough coverage. I wouldn't usually spend so much on a concealer, but, after Fee from Makeup Savvy made it her best concealer of 2010, I though I would give it a go. Just from applying a swatch to my arm I can see the lovely creamy texture that my other concealers don't have. My main problem is my under eye area - other concealers seem to hightlight dark circles so I'm hoping this will cover them up. The tube looks so nice aswell.

Max Factor Lasting Lip Tint

£5.99

I'm not much of a lipstick person - I wore a bright red when I dyed my hair dark brown, but that didn't last long! And in the summer I might wear a nice pink colour, but I ususally focus on my eyes. I saw this Max Factor Lip Pen advertised on the back of a magazine, and I was intrigued! After trying all the colours, I decided to purchase No3 Pink Princess. It's quite a bit darker than it looks on the Boots website, but still light enough for me. It really is like colouring on your lips with a felt tip pen, but because the tip is small it gives a bit more prescision. Once applies the colour is lovely - more of a tint/stain than a full on lipstick; I will definately be using more of this product.

Ecotools Bamboo Deluxe Concealer Brush

£4.99

Seeing as I bought a lovely new concealer, I thought I would buy a lovely fresh concealer brush to go with it. I chose this brush by Ecotools; mainly because of the price; but now that I've opened it, I'm very pleased with the quality! The brush head is super soft, and I love the wooden handle, compared to a lot of brushes I own with plastic handles.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Blackhead Scrub

£3.99

I'm not going to talk too much about this! My skin needs pepping up after the holiday season and this works!

17 Candy Collection Nail Polish

£2.99

Sherbet Lemon, Pink Lemonade, Clear

I bought these to start looking forward to Spring! I'm so ready for some warm weather now and I think candy coloured nails are the way to go. My old Barry M clear nail polish is getting a bit old now and these were on 3 for 2 offer so I picked up a new one.

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mouse Medium
£2.99

This was reviewd by Selina of Flying Saucer so I thought I'd give it a go! I have been using Dove Summer Glow Moisturiser, but this has to be applied every day and it gets a bit sticky and time consuming. This is basically a rip off of St Tropez, but seeing as I'm not a fake tan expert, I thought I'd start with this and see how I go. You can't really see from the photo but there is a small brown stain under the foam, so I guess it works fast as I only put it on for a few seconds to take the photo! I will probably save this for the weekend as it has to develop over a couple of hours. Once I have used it properly I will do a review.

Make Up Academy Lipstick Shade 12

£1.00

Thats right. One Pound! Ok, I admit I'm a bit of a latecomer to MUA, but the display my local Superdrug has always looked so manky I never bothered to look. But today when I went in it looked all shiny and new so I had a good old peruse and picked this lipstick. I'm not going to spend a fortune as I don't really wear it. This shade is quite nice, it's very sheer and pink, more like a bit of a lip gloss, but definatley something I can wear day to day. It doesn't seem to be too drying either but I have yet to leave it on for a long period of time.

Make Up Academy Nail Polish Shade 18

£1.00

I also picked this because of the cute pastel colour, to match my other nail polish purchases.

Their nail polish selection was quite massive, so if this turns out to be any good I'll be going back to get more!

Phew! This post is massive, congrats if you've read it all! My next post will be a lot shorter, promise!