Get Summer Ready Feet: Scholl Dry Skin Instant Recovery Cream

I love the summer so much, but with it comes the need to crank that beauty regime up a notch. When the skirts and dresses come out I seriously have to do something about my pasty milk bottle legs, and open toe shoes are going to look horrendous with dry feet and a month old pedicure (I know I'm not the only one who doesn't repaint their toenails every week over the colder months, don't pretend you do!) Venturing out of the house throughout the winter without a pair of waterproof boots and five layers is practically begging for pneumonia to come and strike you down, and so getting a bit slack on the footcare routine is maybe a bit more forgivable. But come summertime those unloved feet are going to have to make an appearance and so it's probably in our best interest to get them looking their best. I'm extremely paranoid about bearing manky looking feet to the world, and so things like dry cracked heels and chipped toenails are the types of things I pay extra special attention to over the summer; I'm definitely not a 'slip on a pair of flipflops and go' kinda girl. Foot cream isn't going to win any awards for most glamorous beauty product but it's one of those things that just has to be done, so might as well go with a brand that we know is going to work.

Over the last week I've been using Scholl's Dry Skin Instant Recovery Cream* in a bid to get my feet looking summer ready. My previous foot care routine involved occasionally slapping on some of my body moisturiser, but according to Scholl the skin on the feet is twenty times harder than elsewhere on the body (errrgh) and so a specialised intensive product should be used. I noticed immediately that this soaked into my feet much more quickly than regular moisturiser, and made them feel a lot softer even after the first use. I did have one or two rather sexy looking dry patches that this quickly cleared up which is great, and you don't need much of it to make your feet feel nice and moisturised. Scholl states that this will give you an immediate eighty percent increase in hydration which is pretty impressive stuff. There are a couple of things that don't really thrill me about this, the packaging bores me and the product doesn't have a very strong smelling fragrance which I think foot creams can get away with because the skin is less sensitive. The light scent is a huge improvement from the horrible mint smell a lot of footcare products have though I have to say. The cream itself is really effective and works quickly, it might not be very pretty to look at but neither are dry and crusty looking feet.

Scholl footcare products are available from most highstreet shops and supermarkets such as Boots, Superdrug and Asda. The Dry Skin Instant Recovery Cream is priced at a fairly reasonable £5.99.

Have you stepped up your beauty routine for the summer yet? 

*This product was a PR sample sent to me through a campaign on Bzzagent. Opinions are always honest and my own.

Poundland Find: Allura Caviar Nail Art

These little nail beads seemed to be everywhere at one point didn't they? I always thought Ciate's Nail Caviar looked gorgeous in the pictures I'd seen and was quite intrigued by the MUA Nail Constellations too, but for some reason or another I never got around to trying them out. When I spotted this set of twelve nail caviar jars in Poundland I couldn't resist (the Revlon nail varnish was also from there, bargain!) I've been wearing Barry M's textured nail paints a lot since they were released, so thought this would be another nice textured variation I could whack on my nails when the mood struck.

The instructions tell you to pour the beads onto a freshly painted nail over a tray, that way you can pour the excess back into the bottle afterwards. First off- yeah good luck with that. I found it ridiculously fiddly and messy to do, and even though I was as careful as possible those mischevious little beads managed to get everywhere. Ciate's original Nail Caviar is on the pricey side, and after using this I'm glad I went with a cheap option; no matter how careful you are you do end up wasting quite a bit where the beads go all over the place. Application-wise when I first sprinkled the beads onto the nail they looked a bit patchy and sparse so I used a que tip to push everything into place, this worked pretty well and packed them in much more tightly without smudging the base coat. Everything was going fine and dandy, until I then read that you have to leave them to dry for fifteen to twenty minutes. What?! Waiting for five minutes for regular nail varnish to dry is like torture to a fidget like me, and so this clearly wasn't good news. I tried a few different colour combinations over various different base coats on a nail wheel, and I can safely say that this effect looks better when you put the beads over a similar colour. I think the black-on-black looks quite nice and gives the proper 'caviar' effect, but a lot of the other combinations I tried looked messy and tacky when you could see a different colour underneath.

I think it's obvious that this isn't going to be the most practical of manicures. The application is fiddly, and it doesn't last for an especially long time on the nails if you have to do any kind of task with your hands. Mine held up well until I did the washing up and made my bed until pieces started pinging off, and so think it's much better suited to nights out and special occasions. A clear top coat would make it last longer, but sadly it dulls the shine of the beads and ruins the effect. If you're very patient and neat you could get a really unique finish with this. If like me you're slap-dash with a short attention span, and painstakingly coating ten nails sounds like a bit of a miserable task- stick with applying it on the trusty old accent nail.

Did you ever try out caviar nail art? What do you think of it?

Highstreet Vs High End Eye Cream: Is The Price Really Justified?

Source (edited)

I reached the ripe old age of twenty five a few weeks back now, and it made me wonder if I needed to step it up a notch with my skincare routine. After many scrutinising looks in the mirror and taking HD pictures of my eyes with my new camera, I've come to the conclusion that I don't have any signs of aging yet- although I'm beginning to accept the inevitable and realise that it will happen eventually. I don't want to look back in five or ten years time and wish I'd have done things differently, and if I turn out to be a wrinkled up old prune regret not investing in some better products. I'm quite happy to squander my money away on makeup because I can put it on my face and it will look pretty today, but often resent spending a fortune on products like eye cream. You can clearly feel the difference in your skin after using a good high end moisturiser, but I've tried both cheap and expensive eye cream and the two pretty much feel the same to me. Spending in excess of £60 (and a lot of brands go way, way above that) is enough to give me wrinkles just at the thought. So in our teens and twenties should we be splashing the cash on an expensive eye cream before the signs of aging have even kicked in? Or are our old faithful products from the highstreet: Olay, Garnier, Loreal etc enough to keep the wrinkles at bay? I've delved into the wonderous World Wide Web and found some information to help decide whether it's worth forking out a small fortune, or if products at less than a third of the price are just as good. 

Eye Cream vs Regular Moisturiser

The first question is do we even need a separate eye cream at all? Won't our facial moisturiser essentially do the same thing? According to one skin expert using any moisturizer for a period of time, even if it is not an eye cream, will significantly improve the appearance of fine lines for most people. However because the skin around our eyes is different to elsewhere on the face, a product designed for the eyes is recommended. I suppose in the same way you wouldn't put a body moisturiser on your face, you wouldn't put a face cream on your eyes; the skin is different and so has different needs. A properly formulated eye cream will be free of fragrances, mild on the eyes and easily absorbed so not to burn or sting the delicate skin. Using a product that's too heavy can cause puffiness and 'milial cysts,' which are like tiny whiteheads around the eyes (eeek).

Ingredients

One of the reasons for the huge differences between high end and highstreet beauty products is the ingredients that are used. In the case of skincare and eye cream, it's active ingredients like Retinol, neuropeptides, hylauronic acid and ceramides that encourage collagen, elastin and new cell growth and help the skin to retain moisture. However, for anyone sensitive to these ingredients this might not necessarily be a good thing. Often cheaper brands will contain these ingredients but at lower levels, which might actually be better for younger or sensitive skin.

Studies on the Effects of Cheap Vs Expensive Eye Creams
The best way to find out whether more expensive eye creams work better, is to look at studies using blind trials. These are done by removing the packaging and label from a selection of products ranging in price, and asking participants to rate how they found them. This way any biases like brand or price expectation are eliminated. Product reviews are great, but these types of biases can skew opinions- for example if a person knows they're using a high end product they might be more inclined to think that it's working. Or on the other hand, be less impressed with the results knowing how much a product costs and the fact that they didn't see drastic and immediate results. Almost every study I could find that involved blind trials of eye cream found the same thing- that the less expensive brands performed the same (or sometimes even better) than products costing up to ten times more. Some of the studies I found were here, here, here and here.

Verdict

My verdict is that I definitely think it's worth investing in an eye cream, but that high-end isn't always better especially when you're a bit younger. A lot of the ingredients in high end products are designed to help smooth fine lines, and so I think to prevent the signs of aging using a brand from the highstreet to hydrate and protect the skin is easily enough. I suppose it's like anything you buy, sometimes you really do get what you pay for and other times a high price is all about the brand rather than how good it is. And that there are likely to be some inexpensive products out there that work wonders. Personally I think it's much more about finding what works best for you, rather than assuming because you're spending a small fortune it's definitely going to work. There's no doubt that there are super high end products out there with ingredients that will work wonders at smoothing fine lines and preventing wrinkles, but there are also a lot of less expensive options that when applied consistently will protect and hydrate the skin.

How to Apply

Whether you use an expensive or budget eye cream, there's a certain way it should be applied in order to get the best benefits. Firstly it should be applied before moisturiser; regular moisturisers create a barrier on the skin which prevent eye cream from properly absorbing- meaning you will completely lose the benefits of applying it in the first place. Second is amount; the size of a pea is enough to cover the lower lids without over-saturating. There's such thing as 'too much of a good thing', since the lower eyelid skin is thin it can easily become irritated if active ingredients are over applied. Don't pull or tug the eyes and gently rub or pat in product with your ring finger to avoid being overly rough on the delicate skin, which could also contribute to fine lines.

What are your opinions on this? Do you think you get what you pay for with high end brands, or that there are great brands from the highstreet that can often do the same thing?

Touch In Sol Cosmetics: Part Two Lip and Eye Products

This is the second half of my previous blog post, I've been testing out some products from the Korean cosmetics brand Touch In Sol (I use the term 'some' loosely, there was so much stuff here I've been practically slipping in and out of blissful makeup induced comas). This post will be covering the more fun and colourful stuff: lip and eye products!

'Let Me Ask You More' Lip Gloss and 'I'll Get You Lip' Stain*

Lip products are some of my all time favourite makeup items. Even though it's foundation and mascara that I rely on to get myself looking vaguely human in the mornings, it's lip products that I love. I could spend hours swatching them all the way up my arm in highstreet shops and department stores alike, probably much to the annoyance of the staff. Personally I can live without lipglosses (I used to be obsessed with them back when I was at school, and every single day I'd walk out of the door and get my hair stuck to my face- I never seemed to learn) and so these days I much prefer a lipstick or stain. But since I got my mitts on these I've worn them every day since. They're completely non-sticky and smell nice too, they're described as having a 'water gel base which creates a lasting look that is never gummy or gooey.' They don't look really glittery or shimmery on the lips but instead give a glossy wet look effect- I'll be layering these over my more matte lipsticks on dreaded 'dry lip days', because as far as lip glosses go they're quite hydrating. The lip stain is split up into two shades and wears just like a lipstick, how amazing is the brighter colour?!

'Ideal Multi- Visual Colour' Eyeshadow Quad*

This looks like a strange combination in the pan, but you can see once they're swatched the colours do work nicely together. The orange and yellow shades are much more bronze and golden once swatched (which is great because lets face it, I'm sure neon orange and yellow eyeshadow isn't the easiest thing to pull off). Everyone needs a pretty champagne colour like this in their collection, whether it's for all over the lid or to highlight the brow bone and inner corner of the eye. I've been wearing the above look during the daytime for the last few days and I think it's made a nice change from how I usually do my eyes with the Naked 2 palette.

'Dramatic Pencil' Eyeliner*
This little beauty is one amazing eyeliner, it's one of the things that impressed me most from this brand. They're so soft and highly pigmented that they remind me a lot of Urban Decay eyeliners, I found that the staying power even in the waterline was pretty comparable. Before this I don't think I owned a blue eyeliner, it's not a shade I'd have ever gone for myself but I'm so glad to have this now because I really like how it looks on. I know that one of the 'rules' in makeup is that blue eye makeup doesn't look good against blue eyes as it makes them look dull in comparison, but this is more of a smokey grey-blue colour. The fact that they twist up is a huge bonus, especially if like me you HATE sharpening eyeliners. I can always be sure that if I'm running late my pencil liners will be blunt and then keep snapping off in the sharpener, not fun when your eyes are barely open and any kind of thought process is likely to give you an aneurysm.

Overall I think this brand offers some really nice pieces, the high SPF in the base products paired with the very light reflecting/brightening formulas make these perfect for over the summer. On the downside I do think their website is a bit difficult to navigate, and the translation of some of the product descriptions are definitely off. Other than that I've loved everything I've tried and recommend checking them out if you get chance. Touch In Sol products can be purchased from their website here.

Have you tried anything by Touch In Sol?

Touch In Sol Cosmetics: Part One Base and Cheek Products

I hope you can forgive me for the picture heavy post, but I recently invested in a DSLR camera and my life has been one big photoshoot ever since. I can honestly say I never knew I had so many flaws until I saw my face in true HD, but that's an issue for another day! The gorgeous products above are from the Korean cosmetics brand Touch in Sol who specialise in skin brightening makeup for women in the twenty to thirty five age bracket; this isn't a brand I've heard much about or tried before, but if you're a Glossybox subscriber you might have had their 'Feel Like Honey' skin base primer in a previous box. I've felt like a kid at Christmas over the last few days testing out all of this stuff; you can keep your extreme sports, jumping out of planes and white water rafting- having a big box of makeup to play with is what I find exciting. Oh yeahhh, I live life on the edge. Being the control freak that I am I did want everything nicely condensed into one post, but twelve photos and a huge chunk of text later I bit the bullet and split it up- the second half will be lip and eye products.

'Capsule Base', 'Makeup Boomer' and 'Feel Like Honey Moon Skin Base' Primers*

Ahh, I love a good primer I do. What's the point investing in decent foundation if you're not going to prep your skin properly beforehand? The primers are some of the best selling products from Touch In Sol, and after trying them out I can see why. The 'Capsule Base' and 'Makeup Boomer' are both radiance boosting, a dewy skin look isn't my thing personally although I can imagine on the right person these would be holy grail material. They're super illuminating and really brighten up the complexion- if you have dull skin and love glowy makeup these will be right up your street. The 'Feel Like Honey Moon Skin Base' is pick the of the metaphorical litter for me, I expected this to be really sticky and gooey when in fact it's a gel-like consistency that absorbs quickly into the skin. It leaves the skin feeling gorgeously smooth, like a blank canvas in preparation for foundation. I will say that the name of this confuses me greatly, but the product itself is just lovely and was put straight into my 'everyday' makeup selection. High praise indeed, as this only contains products that I absolutely love and swear by.

'Silky Natural' and 'Pure Water Drop' BB Creams*

My experience with BB creams from the UK highstreet has never been a positive one. Their oily texture and orange colour- even in the lightest shades- always gave me the distinct look of a sweaty satsuma, which isn't a look I ever want to go for. But being the creators of BB creams, I hear that Asian brands are said to be notoriously better and so I was more than prepared to give them a go. Straight away I can say I like these better than any other BB creams I've tried, they don't have the orange hue of UK BB creams and they give reasonable coverage without looking greasy. I'm not sure if these are available in different shades but both of these were still too dark for me. I'll more than likely use these as bases to go under my foundation, especially because they contain over SPF 30 so brilliant protection for over the summer.

Perfect Sebum Control Foundation*

A very unglamorous name I'm sure you'll agree, although the product itself is brilliant and has to be my very favourite product from everything I was sent. I love the cute glass bottle, the fact it has a pump (something that likes of Revlon could take note of) and how well it blends into the skin. I've mentioned before that matte face products are always my preference, and although this isn't matte to the point that your face looks completely flat it was matte enough that I felt like I could skip powder after using it. I've tried countless foundations over the last few months and this is probably my favourite, one this runs out I'll definitely buy another. This foundation over the 'Feel Like Honey' primer is just incredible.

Blushes/ Highlighters*
I'm always on the hunt for versatile, multi-use products for my handbag and so the Dynamic Spectrum blush/highlighter was an immediate winner for me. It contains four different shades, including a matte, a satin and two that are more shimmery/glittery so there's plenty of ways it can be worn for both daytime and evening and is essentially four or five products in one. Hot Candy Pink reminds me of Rose Gold by Sleek (one of my favourite highlighting blushes!) and Cute Pink is a pretty, pink toned highlighter that adds some nice luminosity to the cheekbones without any big glitter pieces. The pigmentation of both of these is good, there's a bit of a mini dust cloud when put your brush into the pan but they still feel like nice quality products. Touch In Sol products can be bought from here.

Have you heard of Touch In Sol Cosmetics?

Ebay Nail Art Rhinestone Wheels

A while back now, after a case of serious nail envy perusing the beauty pages of Instagram and Pinterest, I had the bright idea of buying myself a load of nail art stuff and creating some amazing designs of my own. Almost a year later, and the fact that it's all hardly been touched is probably a good indication that it didn't go to plan; I suppose my love for intricate and elaborate nail designs paired with my basic skill level was always going to end in sad, sad disappointment. All I want is to be able to create designs with so much complexity and sparkle that looking directly at them induces temporary blindness, is that so much to ask for? While I might not be competing for nail artist of the year just yet, I've discovered a few simple designs that only take a few minutes to do- good news if you're a nail dunce like me. Even if you're short on time they're a great way to spruce up your accent nail if you want your manicure to be a bit more special!

There's about a million different varieties of these rhinestone nail wheels-as with anything on eBay so you can choose whichever size, shape or colour that your little heart desires. I quite like the ones that have a variety of shapes in one wheel, although the small round rhinestones are probably the most versatile. I will admit that when I first bought these I probably spent more time sticking gems onto random items rather than my nails (phone cases, notebooks, my boyfriends computer mouse- yeah I don't think he was impressed) but they do look pretty on the nails and probably look amazing if you have a bit more of an idea of how to create nice designs. Even if you're a nail art newbie these are definitely worth a go, you can see by my examples above that there are lots of quick and easy patterns that require no skill level whatsover. Along with your base colour all you need is a clear nail varnish and one of these manicure sticks or a toothpick to move the gems around on the nails. Don't try and do it with your finger or you'll only smudge it, throw a tantrum and chuck it all in the back of a drawer for a year (ok, maybe that's just me, but learn from my mistake on this one). If you seal the designs in with a top coat the gems should stay stuck for a couple of days before any begin to ping off.

Most of these wheels only cost a pound or two and you get literally hundreds of gems in each one. The only problem is that coming from Hong Kong they do take a few weeks to arrive, although if you order from ebay regularly this will be no doubt something that you're used to. What are your nail art skills like? Do you ever incorporate rhinestones into your nail art designs?

What's In My Bag: The Downsized Edition

I'm aware that to us beauty bloggers, the concept of 'what's in my bag' posts and videos are as normal as a lie-in on a Sunday, but for anyone stumbling upon this post randomly from the depths of the internet it might seem a bit weird. "Why does that girl have pictures of the contents of her bag on the internet? Why would anyone do such a thing?" Basically there's no good answer to this, other than the fact that we're all nosey parkers and love getting a good look into other people's lives, their bedrooms and into their bags. I'm all into this personally, I love having a nosey into other peoples stuff. If this whole concept seems bizarre to you, be aware that it's a pretty common thing in the world of beauty bloggery (although still a bit weird, I have to admit!)

The Bag

This is by far the cheapest bag I've ever owned, but it's one of my all time favourites. I got it for just £9 from Primark, and when I spotted rows of them all hung up I hurtled towards them like a woman posessed (in my mind it was like two people in love, running towards each other across a flowery meadow). You might have heard me mention my love for satchels before, but this one was like it was designed especially for me. It's the perfect shade of pink, it's the perfect size and it has gorgeous stud detailing. Based on the price I doubt it will last very long though- it's a cruel world but what can you do. Usually I have a huge bag with contents including everything but the kitchen sink, but because the warmer weather is coming up I decided to downsize the stuff I was carrying around; I like that this bag holds a decent amount but I still have to limit what I bring. My inner organiser loves to be prepared for every scenario, but the reality of needing a pair of roll up shoes, a travel toothbrush and a stash of cosmetics that would put a makeup artist's kit to shame just to pop out to the supermarket for an hour is pretty slim. Here are the things that made the cut.

Phone/Headphones/Charger

When I have my phone in my bag it has it's own little compartment. This stops me from throwing it in at leisure, to later be confronted with that 'omg I've lost my phone, omg I've lost my phone' feeling (worst feeling in the world right there) while I look for it. The case I have on at the moment is this pretty diamante one from ebay in white. I have a phone charger in here because we all know how crap iphone batteries are; I bought this especially to live in my bag and it comes with me everywhere. Even though everyone and his dog has an iphone these days and it's easy to borrow someone else's charger if I'm at a friends, there's been too many times when there's been four of us rotating our almost flat phones on one charger. This way it saves us from scrapping over one charger, because let's be serious- if a flat battery causes us to ever be without our phones even for five minutes the world will surely implode, or something equally as dramatic.

Mini Speaker

This is the world's cutest speaker I love it, it's called the X Mini 2 or something along those lines. I've had this in my bag for the last couple of weeks because the weather has been nice; I'm the organised friend in the group who'll whip out my phone and speaker to put some music if we're ever out having a picnic, or even just sunbathing in someone's back garden.

Umbrella

No matter what time of year it is here in England an umbrella is a must have. This umbrella is really pretty, but it does have a tendency to turn inside out at the smallest gust of wind which is extremely annoying. Still though, I'd rather have a cute, rubbish umbrella than a boring decent one although maybe that's not something I should admit.

Keys

The pink key is for my front door, I've had people ask me in the past if it's just a keyring. I had it cut at Timpsons, there are loads of different designs to pick from. The key chains are from Las Vegas and Hawaii from my holiday in 2011, and the strap has a clip on it which I clip onto the zip section on the inside of my bag. It's long enough that I can open the door while it's still clipped on so the keys never have to leave my bag. You'll never catch me running around like a headless chicken because I can't find my keys!

Purse

I usually like to treat myself to a more expensive purse because they last for longer, and I don't want to be pulling a battered thing out of my bag. But when I bought my satchel from Primark I wanted a new purse to go in it, and spotted this one for a fiver. I think it's actually quite nice and feels like good quality even though it was really cheap. Just the regular stuff in here, my cards, ID and change nothing too exciting. I wish I could report that it was stuffed full of fifty pound notes, but sadly that's not the case.

Hair Stuff/ Makeup Bag

A couple of bobbles and clips are definitely a handbag essential. If my hair starts looking straggly towards the end of the day, or my hair extensions have gone frizzy in the rain I can shove it in a quick  messy bun or a plait to keep myself looking vaguely respectable. This makeup bag is one area that I've really had to cut down since I bought a smaller bag, this used to be practically a survival kit. Although really I suppose there is still quite a lot in here, I'll share the exact products I keep in here in another post. Otherwise this blog post will be competing with 'War and Peace' for longest and most boring piece of writing in the world.

Freshening Up Stuff

This consists of minty breath spray (love this stuff, so much better than headachy chewing gum or mints that leave sugar all over your teeth), tissues, body spray and antibacterial hand gel. I used to go all out with face wipes, dry shampoo, travel toothbrush/toothpaste. And as much as I deserved a gold star for organisation, I rarely ever needed them when I was out and so all they were doing were contributing to weighing down my bag. Everything I bring now fits inside the makeup bag which is good because other than a few inside pockets the bag is just one big compartment.

Back when I first started writing this blog (almost a year ago now, eeek!) I wrote an post on the 'Ten Things Every Handbag Should Contain.' You might have seen it linked in my sidebar, to this day it's still one of my most viewed posts! Is your handbag organised, or are you happy to throw everything in and hope for the best?

You can also follow me on: Twitter  |  Google+  |  Bloglovin'  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest

A side note, I'm not sure if I have any regular readers (I often feel like a bit of a loner here in beauty blogging land!) but if you do read and enjoy my blog you have the option to vote for me in the Cosmo blog awards here. I'd never usually enter anything like this, but decided to put my positive pants on and give it a go! Massive thanks and virtual hugs if you take the time to vote.

April Favourites

I've found so many great products this month it really was difficult to whittle them down, I could have quite easily written a dissertation about the lovely things that have been decorating my face and moisturising my hair and skin recently. You know those magical times when loads of amazing products seem to find you all at once? Here are the things that I've used and loved throughout the month of April.

Macadamia Control Spray

I'm not usually a fan of hairspray in my natural hair just because I find it makes it sticky and feels heavy, but I do really like this one by Macadamia. I've been teasing the crown of my hair (something I never liked doing in the past in case I ended up with a Russell Brand inspired birds nest) but I've found that as long as it's not too overdone can give a good bit of volume and a nice 'poofed up' look- yes that's the technical term for you right there. This spray holds everything in place well and doesn't feel heavy or sticky, I've tried it when curling my hair extensions with velcro rollers and it holds well in those too even though they're heavy and thick. I can't wait to try more Macadamia products, being the intense conditioner addict that I am I have my beady eye on their Deep Repair Masque.

V05 Miracle Mist

This is the leave in conditioner I've been using this month- huge thumbs up for this one. I'd go as far as to say it's the nicest spray in conditioner I've ever used, which is a proud title to hold because I've tried my fair share of these types of products. I spray this into damp hair after washing, and once it's dried it leaves my hair feeling soft and conditioned without looking like I've been sliding around in an oil slick. I rarely repurchase the same leave in conditioner where I'm always looking to try other things, but once this runs out I'm pretty sure I'll get it again. 

Rimmel Apocalips in Luna and Nude Eclipse

We all know by now that these are described as liquid lipsticks, in agreement with most other bloggers I think that this description is stretching the truth a tad. They might have the opacity of a lipstick but really they're just opaque glosses, they have very little staying power and need reapplying a ridiculous amount of times throughout the day. I can't help but to still like them a lot though, yeah they're overpriced without a doubt but the cool packaging and unique applicator redeems them a bit in my opinion. And coming from me who usually can't stand lip glosses that has to be a compliment, the clincher for me is that they're not sticky and unlike most glosses they're not full of shimmer. I love a daily dose of glitter as much as the next person, but I don't think the diamond sparkle lipgloss effect is a route I always want to take.

Loreal Anti Redness Primer

Red cheeks are something I complain about on a daily basis, if there's someone around who I think is even mildly paying attention they'll probably get the speech about how rosy cheeks are the bane of my life. So when I spotted this primer that promised to combat redness, you can bet I was all over that. Rather than piling layers of foundation on over the spring and summer I thought this seemed like a more sensible option. It's quite effective, although it's not something you can wear without putting foundation over the top (hello scary green tinged zombie face!) Once you have your foundation over you do revert back to normal colouring, but with a bit less redness which is good. This isn't a miracle product but it does correct the colour slightly, and because I wear primer every day anyway it's not like I'm having to add an extra step into my routine.

Real Techniques Core Collection

I got a Boots voucher for my birthday so decided to pick up this brush set, they have to be one of the best things I've bought in ages! I use the RT expert face brush and stippling brush every day so didn't think I needed this set but I was wrong. Buffing brush, how did I ever live without you? Although it was only the contour and buffing brushes I was after I've got some great use from all of them, I use the pointed foundation brush for applying concealer under the eyes, and the detailer brush either for lips or putting highlight right in the inner corner of the eye.

Revlon Colourstay Foundation

I was dying to try this for ages, but when I first put it on I wasn't all that impressed. I put it aside feeling disappointed, nothing worse than realising a product does nothing for you is there? But after I got the Real Techniques Buffing Brush and saw how nicely it put on my Rimmel Stay Matte foundation I thought I'd try it again- I can't believe the difference it made! I've come to the conclusion (puts on lab coat and picks up clipboard) that the RT expert face brush works better with cream foundation and the buffing brush works better with liquids. Most people seem to think Revlon Colourstay foundation is super heavy on the skin but I don't think so, especially applied this way.

Barry M Peach Melba

Give me a second to swoon here, Peach Melba is by far my new favourite Nail Paint by Barry M. The colour is a creamy peach, so soft and pretty it's fair to say that I'm obsessed. I have quite a lot of Nail Paints, so I'm kind of surprised this is the first time I've tried this popular shade. But it's just amazing, and has quickly become my very favourite.

How was your April? Have you found any holy grail beauty products this month?

You can also follow me on: Twitter  |  Google+  |  Bloglovin'  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest