FAVOURITES | January 2017

Usually I find January is the longest month known to man however this year it's flown by in a flash of salads. Of course I, alongside the rest of the population are on the 'New Year, New You' regime and my introduction of the 16:8 Intermittent Fasting has seen me drop 14lbs in four weeks which i'm more than happy with especially when I have yet to set foot in a gym. So whilst eating my celery i've been discovering some new (to me) beauty and lifestyle favourites;

MAC Warm Neutrals Palette - £49.50 (Link)
I purchased this in December and i've not touched another eyeshadow palette since, personally this is all the eyeshadows i'll ever need with a mix of wearable matte and shimmer options and the shades i'll wear least I can replace with other MAC single shadows I currently have (Patina is my number 1) MAC recently reduced the price too which makes it a bargain when you calculate the value vs cost. If you're not into warm tones there's also a cooler option available.

NARS Pro Prime Eyeshadow Base - £19.50 (Link)
This goes hand in hand with the MAC Palette because I was lacking a good eyeshadow primer in my life to use with matte shadows as I didn't really own many, I purchased this and there's been some matte shadow rocking and absolutely no creases or fading in my shadows after my makeup has been on 12 hours. Thumbs up!

Illamasqua Hydra Veil Primer 30ml - £32.00 (Link)
The size pictured is a sample I got in a LookFantastic Beauty Box and I thought as an oily skinned gal I would hate it, surprisingly I found the exact opposite to be true. This jelly textured primer smooths out my skin and makes my foundation glide on top giving me a plumped up complexion and with the recent cold weather a real boost of hydration under my makeup without making my skin greasier. I will definitely be purchasing the full size.

Carmex Peach + Mango and Pomegranate 10g - £2.69 (Link)
I will admit I am a little psychotic when it comes to lip balm, if I don't have one with me I can freak out! Thankfully Carmex is affordable and effective so I have one in every single bag I own, my car, my bedside, my desk at work, my bathroom ... you get the gist. My current favourites are the peach + mango which smells delicious and the Pomegranate spf 15 which has the traditional Carmex scent with a bit of a fruit twist. They have ensured i've gone all winter without chapped or sore lips.

Clinique Take The Day Off Balm 125ml - £22.00 (Link)
Now this is a bit of a basic bitch of a cleanser i'll admit but for the price it's exactly what I want to remove my makeup. It's effective at melting my makeup off (including my waterproof mascara) with the smallest amount and does it with a formula without perfume thats gentle on the complexion and doesn't leave any residue. It would be hard to find a similar formula for the reasonable price Clinique offer.

NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Activator 1% 30ml - £60.00 (Link)
I could ramble on about NIOD for hours and I will likely do a brand overview at some point as i've tried quite a few products from their range and they definitely aren't a basic brand but I wanted to mention the CAIS beforehand. This thin blue liquid I've been applying to my face night and day for around a month and I've noticed a vast improvement in the overall quality of my skin. The benefits of this serum are designed to be both short term and long term, by keeping the skin in an ongoing heightened state of repair the serum makes the skin look and act younger by improving textural damage, uneven pigmentation, fine lines and wrinkles, pore size and radiance. I've certainly seen a difference especially since I stopped applying my acid toner before the CAIS and reversing it to applying it 60 seconds after i've applied it. I will continue to repurchase this blue liquid magic.

Biologique Recharge Lotion P50 150ml - £56 (Link)
The Rolls Royce of acid toners I finally purchased in November and although I didn't receive the sting factor I was expecting I've seen a great improvement in the texture and congestion of my complexion and alongside the CAIS my skin hasn't ever looked as good. There's a new brightening version of P50 out next month and I will be definitely purchasing to compare the formulas.

iPad Pro 9.7" + Apple Pencil - Prices start at £549 (Link)
This was my post Christmas splurge having ummed and ahhed over it for months and I'm so glad I bit the bullet because it's a fantastic piece of technology alongside the pencil. If Blogger would come up with a better app I could see myself ditching my macbook for good as it tends to all my computing needs. I have set up a digital bullet journal on it, have been practicing my hand lettering and use it for my general browsing. It's expensive I'll admit but I think this is an iPad I actually might get some value for money from.

Thanks for reading!