March Favourites

There is a bit of everything in my favourites this month, makeup, hair, perfume and body care. When picking out my favourites, I'm pretty strict. There are a lot of things I have been consistently using throughout the month, but I have to really love them to include them here.

Diorskin Nude BB Creme

My favourite of all my favourites, I LOVE this BB cream. 

I finally finished my MAC Studio Fix foundation and I can't tell you how nice it has been to switch to this. This actually gives pretty decent coverage, but doesn't feel like you are wearing anything. The finish is very natural and although it provides coverage, your skin still shows through. The other reason I love this BB Cream, is because I can apply it with my fingers. 

Boots £30.00

MooGoo Fresh Cream Deodorant 

When my Mum was going through chemotherapy last year, MooGoo was a natural skincare brand that was recommended to her. She swears by the brand and I also love their moisturiser for blemish prone skin. I have wanted to switch to natural deodorants for a while, my Mum has made the change and she recommended this one to me. 

I was worried a natural deodorant wouldn't be enough and lets be honest, no one wants to smell at their desk! I started using this on weekends first to test it, before using it in the week. I would say this performs well, maybe not something I would want to be wearing on the tube in the Summer months but we will see!

MooGoo £5.90

Living Proof Satin Hair Serum 

Since having some highlights put in my hair, I noticed the ends were slightly dryer. I don't like to put a lot of product in my hair, but my Moroccanoil on its own, just wasn't cutting it. I love Living Proof products in general, so was intrigued to try their Satin hair Serum and as expected, I love it. 

I just put 1 to 2 pumps of this through the ends of my hair when its wet, and it leaves my ends looking and feeling more sleek. 

Space NK £25.00

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Shadow Stick in Golden Pink

I've actually just finished this eyeshadow after wearing it for the whole month of March. This is so easy to apply, literally takes seconds and the colour is super flattering. Think MAC All That Glitters but in cream form.

Bobbi Brown £20.00

Elie Saab Resort Collection Eau de Toilette

I pretty much religiously stick to one perfume which is Bobbi Brown's Almost Bare, but I am prepared to make an exception for this. I am a sucker for fresh, summer scents and this perfume from Elie Saab smells like a holiday in a bottle. With sweet fig, mandarin, cedar and amber, I can already tell this will be my scent of choice for the summer. Plus the bottle is beautiful! 

John Lewis £47.00

Maison Martin Margiela Beach Walk Replica Fragrance

I have blogged about my love for Maison Martin Margiela's Replica fragrances before

After finally using up my bottle of Funfair Evening I was bereft and headed to Selfridges the following weekend to try another scent from the Replica range.

Each fragrance is meant to replicate a familiar scent or moment from a particular time. Beach Walk represents Calvi in 1972 and is described as sun kissed salty skin. I really could not think of a better description than that!

 To me this fragrance instantly evokes memories of holidays and the beach, it is the perfect summer scent.

If you are a fan of Bobbi Brown's Beach or Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess then you definitely should give this a sniff.

Maison Martin Margiela's Replica fragrances are exclusive to Selfridges and priced at £65 each.

February Favourites

I don't often do monthly favourites post, so I dont know why I started with February, as its the hardest month to spell and I am now extremely paranoid about the 'ru'ary bit.

I find I love certain products, then halfway through the month find something else and love it even more. Then I never know what to include! Ahh the trouble of a fickle mind! So here is my highly edited favourites post. I have cut it down to only the products I have used and loved all month long.

Yes to Carrots Hydrating Shower Gel - I know shower gel is not the most exciting of things, so for me to mention one in a favourites post it has to be pretty special. My love for the Yes to brand is no secret and this is easily my favourite product I have tried by them so far. It feels lovely on the skin, doesn't dry my skin out or leave it feeling tight and I love that its made from natural ingredients. This will definitely be a staple for me.

Lush Big Shampoo - I am trying to use more natural, cruelty free products. Animal testing is something that I know a lot of us don't want to think about, but it does upset me to think a lot of the products I use probably have been tested on animals. Hence why I am trying to find and explore more natural brands. Now I am not a Lush fan, the smell of a Lush shop is pretty repulsive to me and I'm not a bath bomb kinda gal! But I had read some great things about this shampoo, so held my nose and in I went. Big Shampoo is a shampoo packed with sea salt. Don't let that put you off, I find it does an amazing job at making my hair feel really light and clean and it has quickly become one of my favourite shampoos. This is my second pot and I have already braved it back into lush and bought two more. If you are like me and suffer from the dreaded 'greezy' hair you should definitely try this. One thing I will say though, the price of this stuff is extortionate, £11.00! I wish I didn't like it so much!  Oh Lush you are yet to win me over.

Urban Decay De Slick Oil-Control Makeup Setting Spray - Not only is my hair prone to the 'greezies', my face is too! I work in an office (dream job I tell you....) and there is nothing worse then going to the bathroom in the afternoon, looking in the mirror and finding your makeup has completely disappeared from the centre of your face (goodness knows where it goes!) Well not anymore! De Slick is amazing, you spray it on your face before you apply your makeup and again when you are finished. My makeup lasts the whole day at work and doesn't go wandering off, brilliant stuff.

Jack Wills English Velvet Perfume - One of my favourite perfumes, I got through this in record timing (I got this bottle for Christmas). I find English Velvet to be a very distinctive but still very feminine scent. I have to confess I have already purchased another bottle of this, I just couldn't wait!

Maybelline Full 'N Soft Waterproof Mascara - Ahh my beloved £3.99 eBay bargain. Since I bought this I have barely touched another mascara. I love that this looks and feels natural-ish ;) on my lashes but still gives me the effect I want. I think I'm addicted, but for £3.99 I don't care!

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Liner in 'Nude' - I have been using this in my waterline to make myself look a bit more bright eyed and bushy tailed! The colour is very flattering, I cannot stand white eyeliner in the waterline, it looks freaky to me but this natural colour really softly brightens your eyes without making you look mega creepy!

MAC Eyebrows in 'Lingering' - I caved, I just cant be without this eyebrow pencil in my life. Slightly dramatic I know, but I have been through about 8 pencils now so maybe not an exaggeration ;) A universally flattering colour and because the pencil is so small it allows you to fill your eyebrows in but keep them looking natural. The downside, it runs out ridiculously quick (hence my self imposed ban) I get through about one of these a month!

MAC Blush in 'Dainty' - Pretty much the only blush I have used all month because a) its a really pretty, pink shimmery colour and b) pretty, pink shimmery blushes go with everything and February has been a lazy month makeup wise!

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Concealer - I have been slapping this on under my eyes ala Kim Kardashian and I am not ashamed to admit that. I have also been putting this on all those essential highlight areas, centre of the nose, brow bone, cheekbone, basically I pretty much colour the centre of my face in with this ;) It really is brightening, and doesn't crease at all. You really don't need to spend the money on a YSL touche eclat these days, as the drugstore options are far better and cheaper!

So there you have it, as I mentioned February has been a bit of a lazy makeup month. What can I say, I'm turning into a right old natural beauty..........*guffaw*

Maison Martin Margiela's Replica Fragrances

I recently did some interning on a magazine beauty desk. When you are in environments like this you need to be a sponge and take in all the tips, tricks and products that are recommended to you because these ladies on the beauty team know their stuff!

I was having a chat with the Beauty Director about perfume and she showed me these three new fragrances by Maison Martin Margiela and I instantly fell in love. I knew I had to get my hands on one!

There are three Replica fragrances: Flower Market, Beach Walk and Funfair Evening

The perfumer behind these perfumes, Jacques Cavallier explains the concept

“Each of the three fragrances is based on a desire to reinvent a scent that everyone knows, giving it something new, unique and very modern. I don’t like the notion of nostalgia. I prefer the idea of rediscovering those scents that have become a part of us all.” - Jacques Cavallier 

The three fragrances are exclusive to Selfridges and I managed to get my paws on Funfair Evening. Aside from the divine smell, I am also completely in love with the packaging of these perfumes, from the box to the bottle.

I love how it looks like an old medicine bottle, the cotton label adds to the nostalgia and just makes the whole perfume feel very personal and special.

Funfair Evening is definitely my favourite of the three, with Beach Walk a close second. Now I'm rubbish at describing scents but Funfair Evening is a gorgeous sweet fragrance, its not obnoxious and I personally find it a very comforting scent. Beach Walk smells exactly like its name. If you are a fan of Bobbi Brown Beach or Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess you need to try this, its ten times better. Last but not least Flower Market is the perfect floral, not overpowering just beautifully romantic.

I honestly can't recommend these enough. If you are into perfume but not your average run of the mill scent you have to try these, they really are something special.

Priced at £60 for 100ml exclusive to Selfridges

Harajuku Lovers G of the Sea Perfume

This is the new summer fragrance from Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku Lovers range. As far as I'm aware Gwen is the only member of the gang who has grown a tail.

I love the under water themed packaging for this. It comes in quite a big box and would make a great gift for someone. I bought mine in Boots for £20 but I just checked on www.boots.com and they currently have a offer on where if you spend £19 or more on Harajuku Lovers fragrances you get a free Gwen doll. The doll is the original Gwen shape but its white and the doll comes with pens to colour it however you like. How cool is that!

Now onto the actual fragrance. I was really, really hoping this was going to be a similar coconuty smell to G from last years Summer Cuties. I have repurchased that perfume over and over and its my favourite ever summer perfume, in fact it could be my favourite all time perfume as I am rather partial to a bit (I mean a lot) of coconut smelling goodness.

Alas there is nothing coconutty about G of the Sea. I don't know if its just my extreme disappointment about the lack of coconut but I am really struggling to describe this. I think this is going to be a grower, its just a disappointment when I loved Summer Cuties so much.

The official description for this scent is "A fresh aquatic sent with a dry down of sun drenched woods"

It definitely smells like a summer perfume and the more I smell it the more it grows on me. I know its ridiculous but the only thing that comes to mind when I smell it is The Sun! Also make sure you spray it on you as it smells different on the skin.

A plus side to this fragrance is that you get 30ml compared to the pitiful 10ml with last years summer cuties.

R.I.P Jack Wills English Velvet Perfume

I told you I've used up a lot of products recently! This is the first perfume that I've used up in a while though.

This is from Jack Wills, best way I can describe Jack Wills is the English version of Abercrombie and Fitch. They call themselves the University Outfitters.

I love the smell of this perfume but I cannot for the lift of me describe it to you! It has a really unique scent, like nothing I've ever smelt before and people always ask me what my perfume is whenever I wear this.

As I knew I would not be able to describe this, I looked this up on the Jack Wills website and here is their description

"With top notes of pink grapefruit and Mediterranean fig, this youthful and carefree fragrance is balanced with orange blossom, rose petals and soft freesia. A sensual mood of sophistication is created by the undertones of creamy amber, Indian sandalwood and Oriental musk"

I can't say enough good things about this perfume! I love the smell, I find it really comforting and it really pains me to part with this :( I 100% recommend this, its also nice to wear a perfume that not everyone and his mother owns! Love Love Love this