Monthly Favourites | November

I know that there's still a week left to go of November but I'm going to be a busy bee over the next two weeks so this is the only chance I've really got to put this post up and I love doing favourites posts so didn't want to miss it out! Here's what I've really been loving recently:
 

 

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor Conditioning Treatment

I'm quite late to the party with love and appreciation for Aussie products. I've always heard people bang on about them but just never expected that I'd fall for the hype. Well, one day I tried and tested and now I am madly in love. I think the scent of their products is a real winning factor for me - so sweet and bubblegum-y - I really like it. Then there's the absolute bargain price of them and most products can almost always be found for under a fiver and the quality isn't at all compromised with the price as the standard of these is a lot higher than some expensive high end brands I've tried before! The first time that I used this reconstructor mask my hopes weren't all that high, I left it on my mid-lengths and ends for 5-10 minutes while I sat in the bath and then rinsed away. Almost instantly I could feel a difference in my hair and I have quite literally never used a conditioning mask that has impressed me so much and left my hair feeling so amazing. For the next three days I just could not stop touching and stroking my hair - LOVE.
 

Simple Kind To Skin Soothing Facial Toner

There's no frills with this one; Simple really does just live up to its brand name. I needed to get myself an affordable, everyday use toner to sweep over my face morning and night to remove all those last traces of dirt and make up and really freshen up and this bottle does the trick absolutely perfectly! I'm itching to try the rest of Simple's skincare line now after loving this so much. Imagine a really soft and soothing, moisturing water that you wipe over your face to make your skin feel clean and refreshed? Yep! It's fragrance free with no nasty chemicals so doesn't irrate or sting the skin in any way and for just over £2 it is the perfect step for inbetween cleansing and moisturising.

 

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Something else that I'm late to the party of love and obsession for is Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection Concealer - seriously, what was my life like before this?! I cannot believe that for years and years I used pricer alternatives when this gem has been sitting in Superdrug the whole time for less than £5! Since purchasing this every single day that my make-up has been done this has been an essential part of my routine; not just for blemishes at all as I also find it good for under eye circles with my shade being so light, and really good for any areas that need extra coverage. I normally just swipe a few small streaks across my cheeks and around my nose then gently blend before putting on foundation and I really don't ever want to be without this now! It's a thick and creamy high coverage concealer that lasts and lasts all day - 'Lasting Perfection' is a really appropriate name. I'm curious if the matching foundation is of the same high standard ..anyone know?

 

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

Good old Rimmel Wake Me Up! I did a post on this a couple of days ago about how I thought I'd found a replacement for this trusty, amazing foundation until I rediscovered my love for it and realised that it can't be beaten - especially not for the price anyway! The post I wrote on this can be found here (link) and I basically just gush about how much I love this. Really affordable, good quality, high coverage, buildable, luminating and long lasting foundation - Nothing to complain about and this has been my foundation of choice every single day.

 

The Body Shop Tea Tree Primer

Again, something that I've recently dedicated a post to is The Body Shop's Tea Tree Pore Minimiser / Primer and you can find the quick review that I wrote here (link). This is highly comparable to the ever so famous Benefit Pore-Fessional but this is a much more purse friendly option at just £7.50 instead of £23! It's basic and simple what this product aims to do and it acts as a base for your foundation (or you can wear it alone) and it smooths out the surface of your skin, reducing the appearance of pores for a more flawless and perfected finish. It also mattifies your skin and the tea tree ingredients help to keep your complexion as fresh and clear as possible. Love The Pore-Fessional? Try this out as a cheaper alternative!

 

Real Techniques Buffing Brush

Recently giving into the hype, and becoming tired of applying foundation with my fingers, I decided to invest in a decent set of make-up tools in the form of Real Techniques brushes. They didn't break the bank; I got the Core Collection set which cost £22 and contained four brushes but was the only way that I'd be getting my hands on the much-loved Buffing Brush. I use this every day to apply my liquid foundation and just adore the smooth, flawless, even and streak-free finish that this gives in super quick time and the large head can cover quite a big surface area at a time. Applying foundation has never been so easy. 

 

Models Own Nails: Naked Shimmer & Bluebelle

Lots of love for Models Own at the moment! These two are complete opposite ends of the spectrum with regards to nail varnish colour; one being a subtle and neutral nude, with the other being a bright and bold glitter shade, but both are utterly gorgeous. Just this morning I took off Bluebelle (took forever - bloody glitter polishes!) for a change to the more muted and toned down shade of Naked Shimmer - a creamy pinky grey - and I really love both of them and can see me coming back to them again and again.

 

I'm off to Liverpool this afternoon to see Michael McIntyre's live show at the Echo Arena as I got tickets for that and a hotel too for my boyfriend's birthday present so I'm really, really excited as we've been counting down the days to this since August. Expect a haul post soon after too because I already know that I won't be resisting the shops in Liverpool One!

 

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

♥

Quick Reviews: Witch BB Cream & Tea Tree Primer

Hello lovelies, today I'm just going to do two quick little reviews on a skincare duo that I have discovered recently and have loved so much that I've been turning to this pair for my base every single day without fail. Both products, Witch BB Cream and The Body Shop Tea Tree Primer, are targetted at, and are suitable for, blemished skin and I won't deny that I'm regularly prone to a spot or two on my face so I've found this pair very well suited to me.

Witch Anti-Blemish BB Cream - RRP £6.99 for 50ml.

 

Here is what Witch have to say about their product:

Witch's Beauty Balm is ideal for blemish prone skin. It evens out skin tone, smoothes and hydrates whilst providing an immediate visible improvement in the appearance of your skin. SPF 15 protects the skin whilst the natural witch hazel helps keep it clear, leaving you looking flawless, radiant and natural.

 

If you think this sounds a little something like a wonder product - something that moisturises, provides coverage and works as a spot treatment all for less than £7 a bottle - then you are correct! I've never been much of a fan of the BB cream hype due to one reason alone and that was because none of them seemed to provide enough coverage for me. I liked the idea of them being good for the skin with multiple benefits in addition to hiding imperfections but none of them were right for me, until this little beauty came on the market! I didn't purchase this myself, and I'm not sure if I would have done, but I won it in a giveaway and now I'm sure that it'll be a long-term love and I'll definitely be repurchasing this when I run out. Just because it's from the Witch Anti-Blemish range does not by any means mean that you can only use this if you're prone to a couple of spots; this is suitable for all skin types and is fragrance and oil free.

 

Surprisingly, this BB cream provides incredibly high coverage, and trust me on this one because I wouldn't be using it if it didn't! I have badly scarred skin and always opt for the highest coverage available and this has replaced my daily foundation with ease. I love the feel of this as it feels like you are applying a moisturiser and it is incredibly light on the skin - feels like you're wearing nothing at all. It gives a flawless finish and lasts all day; I didn't touch up for 10 whole hours the first time I wore this and it still looked great when I got home. That's impressive. It claims to be fragrance free but I can detect a hint of good old Witch Hazel when I use this which is quite a medicinal scent but I like that because it reminds me of the spot treating properities in it, and since using this I haven't had the trouble of even one little spot.

 

 

The Body Shop Tea Tree Pore Minimiser - RRP £7.50 for 30ml.

 

What The Body Shop have to say about their product:

Our new Tea Tree Pore Minimiser makes pores look smaller. Infused with Community Fair Trade organic tea tree oil, it smoothes, primes and mattifies, and leaves skin feeling fresh and pure.

 

- Minimises the appearance of pores

- Matifies for a shine-free finish

- Leaves skin feeling fresh and pure

- Ideal base for make-up

 

Like witch hazel, tea tree is reknowned for it's healing and spot treatment properties, so using a product that is infused with a beneficial ingredient like this is going to do nothing but good things for your skin. I've often shyed away from primers, especially silicone based ones, as I fear they'll clog up my pores and break me out but this one is actually a skin purifier! Don't ask me how the science behind it all can make that work, but that's the claim The Body Shop offers and I'm feeling the benefits of using this product.
 



As far as primers go, this one is pretty reasonably priced - especially considering how often The Body Shop run promotional discounts and deals, for example, I got this free as for part of a 3 for 2 offer. If you compare it to another good quality primer, such as Benefit's The Pore-Fessional which costs £22.50 for 22ml, then this is far better value for money and I would compare the quality of this one to be quite similar to Benefit's too. As much praise as I have for the Witch BB Cream, it does have a tendancy to settle into pores if worn alone and this tea tree primer works much like The Pore-Fessional does by creating a kind of 'barrier' over pores to give a smoother and much more flawless finish. This also increases the wear time of the BB cream and prevents an oily shine creeping in half way through the day.

 

It goes to show that wearing make-up isn't all bad for your skin, using a primer and a foundation alternative like these two can give you the same results as your ordinary make-up will do but these will do more good than harm to your skin and wearing them will benefit your complexion!

 So, these two 'quick reviews' haven't been so 'quick' after all..

But I hope they've helped you with some insight into these two brilliant blemish targetting products.

♥



Getting Sucked In By '3 for 2' Offers!

Aaah I am such a bad shopper! I am one of those super gullible people who walks into a shop and only wants and needs just one item, but spots a big shiny '3 for 2' sign and suddenly has to make a 30 minute decision on which three products I neeeed to have. Hannah, just pick up the one you wanted a walk away! They're not doing you any favours, they're not saving you money, they're making you spend more than you originally intended to. 

The two shops that yesterday I fell victim to this '3 for 2' trap in were Boots and The Body Shop. I went into Boots looking for Soap & Glory's 'Scrub Your Nose In It' because I'd heard good things about it and was in need of a new exfoliater for my face. The packaging of Soap & Glory is to die for and this scrub claims to 'help refine large pores and prevent blemishes, leaving skin looking brighter and more radiant'. Sounds fab and I can't wait to use it. So I could have just walked to the till with this in my hand, spent £7.50 and then walked out of the shop. But noooo, I had to spot a miniature 'Hand Food' infront of me, and the part of me that melts whenever I see anything mini thought 'you need that mini Hand Food in your life'. However, the '3 for 2' sign pointed out that miniatures and sachets were not included in this deal. So what did I do? ..Picked up the full size bottle of Hand Food! Logic? No. Then I needed a 3rd item to complete the deal but there was quite limited stock in this branch of Boots and I'm pretty stocked up for body lotions and washes at the moment so it was a difficult decision choosing this 3rd product. In the end I chose a second bottle of Hand Food, which doesn't make sense because I only wanted the Hand Food in the first place because the miniature tube was cute!

So, I walked away with 2 'Hand Foods' and 1 'Scrub Your Nose In It' for £12.50, instead of just one 'Scrub Your Nose In It' for £7.50. Not the end of the world of course, but a little bit unnecessary.

Unfortunately, I was a sucker for the very same trap just 5 minutes later when I walked a few doors down to The Body Shop. I wasn't going to fall for it again but the I was the only customer in so got the sales assistant's full attention and she was extremely persuasive. I'm forever falling for the 'Oh I use this and it's really great' line that they always seem to use. The one thing that I was after was the 'Tea Tree Pore Minimiser' (£7.50 for 30ml) as my teeny sample of Benefit's The Pore-fessional is coming to an end and the price tag is a bit too high for me to be purchasing the full size and I have heard that this Tea Tree Pore Minimiser is quite a similar product, and it's also targeted for blemished skin which is a bonus for me and my pesky spots. This was it, this was all that I wanted, I was SO close to walking away and paying, but then the lovely sales assistant starting asking me about my skin type and suggesting all these products that would suit me and my oily skin - damn her for making them sound so amazing! She tipped me over edge into buying the Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream (£9.00 for 50ml) which has actually caught my eye a few times in the past, but she told me all about how it's great at keeping her oil at bay underneath foundation so I went for it. And then here I am again, standing with 2 products in my hands knowing that I can have a 3rd one for free and the decision is always so hard! I was swaying between the Vitamin C Skin Reviver (£13.00 for 30ml) or the Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion (£8.00 for 30ml) and as my skin is especially blemished at the moment I opted for the Tea Tree product.

Ah, how did this happen to me! This would have totalled £24.50 but I saved £7.50 because of the '3 for 2' offer (isn't it funny that the one thing I wanted was actually the one I got free), and I also have a 'Love Your Body' Card which saved me 10% too, so in total I saved £9.20 (not bad) and the total came to £15.30. (She also threw a 1ml sample of Tea Tree Oil and a voucher for £10 off my next purchase when I spend more than £25). So, I ended up paying double what I intended to but I got quite a good bargain and some lovely new products that I can't wait to try, fingers crossed that they work and make a difference to my skin!

Tell me I'm not the only one who gets needlessly sucked in like this?!

♥