Favourite Bits and Bobs
Morning all, happy September! New month, new start right? I’ve been missing in action for the past two months and I’ve decided to wipe the slate clean and begin again. I was going to do a monthly favourite product, but since I have been using quite a few products that I’ve really enjoyed, I thought you might like to see a few goodies I’ve loved rather than just one. I’ve had quite a few things on my mind and in my life that have kept me away from blogging, but now is the time to change that. Amongst other things I have had a close family wedding, which I thought you might like to see pictures from as there was quite a bit of make up involved so look out for that post as it should be up soon.
First product I have been absolutely loving is this really unique lip balm. This is the Dr. Lipp ‘original nipple balm for lips’, yes you read that right. When I heard of it, imagine an extremely confused face and you’ve just imagined my expression. Nipple balm? I was puzzled but also intrigued and thought I needed to give it ago simply because of the name and origin. It is paraben and odour free, non-sticky, multi -purpose and 100% natural. It sounds great but still I found it difficult to think something that was originally made for nipples could be effective for the lips. It was made originally for nursing mothers, so as you can imagine it is incredibly gentle and safe for even infants. My experience with it has been amazing, no other lip balm I own can compare. When I have rough lips, I don’t even turn to my trusty Lush lip scrub, I simply put this beauty on before bed and wake up with soft lips in the morning. I use it more as a treatment than a apply-every-hour-lip balm, at £11.50 it is on the pricey side for a normal lip balm but super cost effective for a lip treatment. Plus I have a stash of Vaseline, Carmex, Bodyshop lip butters and Blistex to get through but without a doubt this is so much more effective than all of them combined. I know that this has quickly become a must repurchase item for me, and to be fair I really don’t mind. You can pick it up here
The summer heat this year has been on and off (basically like all the years here in the UK!), however this has been my busiest summer ever and I’ve been getting overheated and flustered much more than I thought I would. The Avene Eau Thermale Spring Water has become a saviour of mine, I’ve been through two already and am currently loving my third can just as much as the first. I tend to get blotchy uneven skin tone when I’m hot and though I consider myself lucky due to not being prone to break outs, my uneven blotchy skin sometimes gets to me. I’ve been using this, and of course the immediate affects have been simply to cool me down, refresh and hydrate my skin. However I’ve also noticed after a few weeks of using my skin doesn’t tend to be as blotchy, it’s more even toned even in stifling work conditions! The air condition at work was down for a while, so I’m impressed. I probably won’t use it as much in the winter though. No, scratch that, I will be returning back to London in a few weeks and remembering those stuffy underground tube carriages makes me realise that this little can may have to remain in my handbag for quite some time! You can pick it up here for £6.50
The Arora Pomegranate Passion Shower Nectar. This product is the best in its category that I have ever discovered. Quite a statement, but it literally is the best shower gel I have ever used. When it comes to in shower hydration, moisturising qualities etc I’ve never really bought in to any of that, all I recognise is shower gels that clean well and whether the scents linger. This shower gel leaves the whole bathroom smelling so good, lingers on my skin so I can smell it all day long, well at least a large majority of the day. At the price of £3.99 I am so impressed. Out of everything in this post, this is definitely my favourite. If someone uses it in my home, I can instantly tell because the scent lingers in the bathroom for a while, I honestly love it and tend to get cross as it’s MINE and not for sharing. It lathers well, cleans well and doesn’t leave my skin dry. What more can you ask from a shower gel? I hope they bring out more scents in the range, especially some Christmas scents! The only thing that lets me down is this scent/flavour is so hard to find in Superdrug. They have all the rest except pomegranate and after trying them all this remains my favourite. Online shopping shall have to do. You can get it here
When it comes to beauty, my nails have been taking a bashing over the past two months. I’ve had nail polish on constantly and currently I’m trying to give my nails a rest before I embark on an Orly nail treatment (more on that later!). But I have noticed a pattern emerging in terms of nail polish wear, I’ve been reaching to grab Filthy Gorgeous London nail polishes quite a bit, I love how easily they go on, how they don’t smudge and also they don’t seem to chip either. The consistency is really smooth and I think because of that, I know I can simply paint my nails if I’m in a rush for work and not worry about it getting messy, difficult and time consuming which is always a negative when painting nails. My favourite colour has to be this gorgeous coral toned pink called ‘Rosey Posey’, bright florescent pinks tend to sometimes clash with my skintone however this colour suits me perfectly. It’s a perfect summer bright colour and brightens out any outfit I am wearing, even all black outfits. You can take a look at them here
That is my current favourites, I’ve done lots and lots of beauty shopping recently for both myself and for material for this website (99% for myself, let’s be honest!) and I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you all. I have missed blogging, but sometimes you have to take time out especially when you feel like you want to curl up in a ball and sleep for a very long time! I hope you have all been well though and thank you for reading. If you liked this post please like via bloglovin’ it would really make my day!
Tanzina x
Favourite Products of the Month: May
Hi lovelies, long time huh? I have been missing blogging quite a bit, and hate that life has been interfering with my blogging mojo! Although desperately late, I have decided to share with you my monthly favourites. Please ignore how dirty it is (no, I don’t mean it like that silly, tut!)
I have been absolutely loving my Real Technique brushes, which I have found to be an absolute godsend. They are so soft, practical and travel friendly and are fully worthy of being my monthly favourite. I absolutely love the brushes and the case it comes with as I find I can pack all my every day brushes into one case and travel back and forth from London with my brushes falling all over my suitcase.
I have two sets from the Real Technique brush collection, and I find that they are the two perfect sets to get to become fully accustomed to the range. The bristles are synthetic, meaning they wash out easily and retain their shape well and the handles are really sturdy. I reach for these brushes every day. The brushes were another present I received on my birthday from my beautiful friends, Shanaz and Yasmin, who knew I was lusting over these brushes.
The first set I have is the Real Technique Core Collection which consists of four brushes. The brushes are: a detail brush (for concealing/small areas/lips), a pointed foundation brush, a buffing brush and also a contour blush. The pointed foundation brush is the one I use least as I’m not much of a foundation wearer however the other three I am definitely enjoying. I would say my favourite is definitely the contour brush, I absolutely love it and find it to be extremely soft. I use it to contour my cheeks and also apply blush and highlighter, and find myself reaching for it everyday. It is a clear winner in my eyes.
Sorry about the dirty one – but as you can tell, I do use it often
The second set I have is the Real Technique Starter Kit which consists of five brushes. The brushes are: an all over base eyeshadow brush, a crease brush, a small accent brush (for under the lash line), an eyeliner brush and a brow brush. I don’t get much use out of the eyeliner brush to be honest, as I use liquid eyeliner that comes with it’s own applicator. However I am starting to feel the urge to move on to gel eyeliner soon and think that the brush may come to be very useful. My favourite? Ah, that is really difficult to decide. I think it is probably the large base shadow brush, which I use for applying concealor and my Touche Eclat, it truly has changed concealor application for me and made it much easier. Also the brow brush, it’s helped make my brows look much more defined.
My most used brushes
I love how the brush sets aren’t just brush sets but also are accompanied by a good quality brush case. I also love how the brush case is not just a brush case and is also a brush stand! It houses my most used brushes so I can quickly grab them while the rest of my brushes live in their brush pot. That way I don’t need to go rooting for brushes and have them all ready for me in the case. Also, although now I am back for the summer, the case came very handy whilst travelling to and fro from London.
All in all, I am really impressed with the brush range bought to us by Samantha Chapman, and am tempted to pick up a few more brushes from the range. I know that they will last me a long time, especially as they don’t shed unlike some more expensive brushes I’ve picked up in the past. You can grab these from Boots and the sets cost £20.99 each. Sometimes there are 3 for 2 offers, so look out for those!
If you enjoyed reading- please follow on like via bloglovin/hellocotton. Thank you stars xx
Favourite Products of the Month: April
Okay so it’s that time again, monthly favourites! I now realise since half of the month of May is already gone this post is very very late. I am so sorry lovelies, it’s just due to my exams being this month everything has been slightly crazy and disorganised. However here it is better late than never.
As you can already tell, it’s a NARS goodie that has been my favourite this month, and probably for the last five months too. This is the NARS Blusher/Bronzer Duo in Sin and Casino and was gifted to on my birthday by my beautiful friends Shanaz and Yasmin. That and two sets of Real Technique brush kits, how amazing are they?! They do know me well.
Anyway before I get too carried away over how amazing my friends are, I’ll get too the point and let you all know why this has been a firm favourite of mine. As some of you may know I really wanted the NARS Danmari palette but I was unable to get hold of it. So instead my friends chose the next best thing, which is this duo. The bronzer is called Casino, which is perfect for my tanned olive skin tone and Laguna would’ve been way too light for me to contour with. I love the consistency, it’s super creamy and applies really smoothly. I can build the colour up on my cheek and blend it in well, I’m really impressed. It’s a matte bronzer with a slight sheen, I think NARS have placed finely milled shimmer in Casino which creates such a nice glow when applied.
You can see the slight shimmer particle in the top left of Casino
The blush is called Sin, and it’s quite mauve/pinky as opposed to the more purple shade I thought it initially would be. It translate on my skin as quite pinky and it’s a perfect compliment to Casino. I definitely get much more use out of Casino, as I use it as contour regularly, however I like to save Sin for evening wear or special occasions. Both paired together, with a dash of highlighter, they create a really gorgeous glow on my cheek bones and sometimes it can seem a bit too much for day time wear. Maybe because I’m not really used to it? I can’t believe a purple looking blush can look so good on though! Without contour, or with a pure matte contour such as the Sleek ones, Sin does look quite natural. By applying it really lightly, I can create a really nice natural look. However like I said, the texture packaging etc feels so lovely and luxurious so I tend not to use it too much and save it for special occasions (basically every other day because I can’t resist it!).
Oh also, it too has finely milled shimmer in it, a little more than Casino does.
I love the gold sparkles in it, but fortunately it doesn’t appear with sparkly chunks on my face!
All in all, I have been using this duo constantly and it’s always finding it’s way back to my makeup bag. This was my first NARS item and as you all know I am trying to build my NARS and MAC collection so I’m slowly getting there. I would recommend this duo for those with a slightly tanned complexion, especially Casino! But definitely try out Sin if you get the chance, you may be pleasantly surprised.
NARS Sin/Casino duo is £29.00 on their website
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