Hello again beauties! I'd like to first up apologize for the terrible picture quality that is to come in this post. I have no idea what was wrong with the lighting in my room on the day that I took these pictures but it's made everything look awful (and I'm way too lazy to retake them all).
Anyway, I can't believe it's the end of May already! Earlier today I was happily thinking it was still 2012 until I realised that we're actually halfway through 2013 already! This year's flying by scarily quickly! On to what this post is actually about though, my favourite beauty products of the month and one random favourite at the end!
Seriously, is that not the worst quality photo you've ever seen?
First up is skincare and this is a pretty basic item. I ran out of Simple face wipes this month and to replace them I picked up these Boots Cucumber wipes instead seeing as they were on offer and I'd heard they were actually pretty good. Now, I wouldn't reccommend these for taking eye makeup off with all the time because I find that you do have to work at it for a while before it all comes off and these are a little harsh on the eyes, however I love these for removing my face makeup. I actually prefer them to the Simple ones! They do the job faster, smell nicer and appear to be damper.
Carrying on with skincare, my next favourite is Grease Lightning from Lush. As you can probably tell from the packaging, I've loved this for a long time however it really came in handy this month as I went through an annoying patch of breakouts toward the end. My favourite thing about this treatment is that it manages to reduce the breakouts dramatically in a day but, it doesn't dry my already dry skin out - fab!
I recently did a post about MUA repackaging their nail polishes with a mini review of each of the colours I picked up (you can find that here) and I seem to have been reaching for one of them an awful lot this month! It's Frozen Yoghurt which is a lovely light purple (not light enough to be pastel but almost) and I've been loving putting a glitter top coat over the top. I think it looks really pretty and girly but is a change from the typical pink I'd been reaching for.
Next is a product I never thought I'd see in a monthly favourites from me. This is Airbrush Base foundation from LOOK and I'm not going to go into too much detail about it because I actually have a post scheduled entirely dedicated to it. All I can say is, it's a lightweight and illuminating foundation which is perfect for summer. The only thing I'm not so crazy on is the smell (I'm used to the lovely smell of my Clarins foundation)!
Sorry if you don't like wrist swatches, they make me cringe a bit too!
My next favourite is another product that I've liked for a long time but this month, I've literally been wearing this shadow every single day. It's from Natural Collection and it's called Crushed Walnut. I've probably had this for two or three years and it was one of the first eyeshadows I bought. It's perfect thrown in the crease on a big fluffy brush for a bit of extra definition and colour and you're good to go!
This next product was actually a completely new find and not something I'd rediscovered. I had owned the Rimmel Scandaleyes liner in black for ages and absolutely loved it but found I was preferring the natural waterline look so I picked up this one in Nude. I'd heard great things about it and seeing as I knew the formulation was great I had high hopes and they weren't let down. It opens up the eyes and neutralises redness which I seem to get a lot of, for some reason.
When I got home from visiting my Grandparents in Devon to find a sample of Le Volume De Chanel mascara, I was literally giddy with excitement. I'd heard a lot of good things about this mascara and I desperately wanted to not like it but, I absolutely love it. It holds a curl and makes my lashes look so thick and full. I am not looking forward to this sample running out!
I apologize for that vein, it's creeping me out and it's mine!
Now this next product, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. It's a blush from E.L.F studio line and it's called Peachy Keen. When I first got this blush, I hated it. It had too much gold shimmer in for my liking and wasn't the colour I was expecting. Then I wore it non stop for ages and then I hated it again and then I wore it etc. In May I went through a love phase with this blush and I'm actually still loving it now. It gives such a nice golden glow that I find I don't need a highlighter. When you first dip your brush in, it can seem a bit powdery but it doesn't translate that way on the skin. It glides on beautifully and has great pigmentation!
Onto lips now and this month I've been more into lip products than I was previously. This lip liner is one of those products that I never really reached for but this month has been a go-to. It's another Rimmel product and it's their Exaggerate lip liner in Addiction. It's quite a dark purple/brown toned red and in the winter I totally used to wear this on it's own. However, I've been liking wearing it under a bright lipstick just to darken it up a bit for nights out. Not only does it aid with aesthetics is helps the lipstick wear longer, so I'm happy with it!
Another lip product and this is one that actually made it into my Disappointing Products post (which you can find here). I'm still not a fan of this lipstick on it's own at all, it doesn't compliment my skintone in the slightest however; I like layering this over the top of brighter lipsticks to make them a bit lighter. I've really loved pairing this with bright pinks to make more milky/nude pinks and, for a matte lipstick, I actually find this quite moisturising.
Top to Bottom: Rimmel Apocalips in Stellar, E.L.F Matte Lip Color in Rich Red and Barry M Lipstick in 156
My last beauty favourite isn't a product in particular, it's just bright lips. I've always played it safe when it comes to lips. I don't know whether it's the weather or what, but something is making me go out of my comfort zone and embrace the bright lips. I'm personally a pink lips girl and Barry M 156 (bottom in the picture) is my all time favourite lipstick and has been for ages. In the bullet it looks like a deep purple but on the lips it's actually quite a bright, purple toned pink. I've also managed to venture right out of my comfort zone into red's! I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I would say next up, orange but I'm almost 100% they wouldn't compliment my skintone.
Random Favourite!
At the beginning of this post I said I had a random favourite to add at the end. I'm usually not a huge fan of 'random' favourites at the end of beauty favourites posts and video's but this month I just literally couldn't not include this.
My random favourite this month is The Beatles. I've loved The Beatles for years, they're actually one of my two favourite bands, but I find that I tend to listen to them more in the summer because their music just makes me feel happy and summery.
I was feeling kinda lousy earlier in the month and so I decided to lie in bed and watch A Hard Day's Night (for probably about the 100th time) and it just made me remember how much I love them.
Specifically, my two favourite songs of this month have been I Saw Her Standing There and Here, There and Everywhere. If you've never heard either of those songs I strongly recommend you go listen to them because they're amazing!
So, that's it for my favourites this month! I hope you've had a lovely May and I'll talk to you soon,
Have a fabulous day,
Nikki x
