New Shades of Old Faves

Don't you love it when you find new shades of a product you love? That's happened on two occasions recently. Both of the products above were featured in my 2015 favourites, and I may even like these new shades of them more.

The first is the Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter. I've had Polish, which is a pearlescent cream shade with a pink iridescence, for a while, and it's one of my favourite highlighters. I've wanted the warmer, golden shade, Gleam, for many months, but it's been absent from my local store every time I've gone in there. I was in luck this week, though, and it's more beautiful than I thought. It's not as dark as other swatches look, so it's well suited to my pale complexion, especially once blended out.

The other is Rimmel's The Only One Lipstick. Naughty Nude has been a staple of mine, despite it being more of a pink than a nude. The wear and staying power of this line is great. Then, the other day, I spotted Mauve-Ment, a lighter, nuder version of Naughty Nude. I've been wearing this every day since I bought it, with Rimmel's Exaggerate Lip Liner in Addiction underneath. They're the perfect pair.

Left to right: Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter in Polish, Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter in Gleam, Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Naughty Nude, and Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Mauve-Ment.

If you have either of these, let me know your thoughts. I'd also be interested to hear what products you have multiple shades of because the formulas are just so good.

Top 15 Products of 2015

I didn't give myself a limit to the number of products featured in my 2014 favourites, and ended up having two mammoth posts, so I set about having just 15 this time around. It was quite difficult actually, so I may write another post with the ones which didn't quite make it!

Most of these products are ones which I discovered in 2015. There are three which I've been using for longer, but I absolutely love them, so had to include them. I haven't included my trusty NYX Cream Blush in Natural, The Body Shop's All In One Face Base in 02, Maybelline's Gel Liner in Black, or ELF's Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light, because although I've been through many of each, I talk about them all the time.

The fragrance which I'm choosing as my 2015 favourite is Viktor & Rolf's Bonbon. I haven't had it that long, and I still love all my others just as much, but this one is so different to anything I own. It's rich, warm, and sweet, rather than light, floral, and fruity. The caramel note is really what makes it, and I'll catch whiffs of it throughout the day. One spray on the neck, and one on the wrists, is all I need, and my mum will comment on my perfume when I get home from work. I've avoided smelling Flowerbomb because of the patchouli note, but everyone seems to love it, so I think I'm going to have to track down a tester or sample of that one as well.

I'm grouping the MUA Sweet Sheen Lip Balms together, but thought I'd show you two of the five shades I own; Cherry Bomb and Dusky Rose. They're light, balmy, and last surprisingly well. They're also only £2 a piece!

I've been using the Superdrug Colour Effects Wash In Wash Out Conditioning Colours for years, and have spoken about them an awful lot, but I had to include them in my 2015 favourites because I've been using them more than ever, and have been receiving more compliments on my hair than ever. These bottles (£1.49) add different tones to your hair, depending on which shade you opt for. I tend to use the Mahogany shade the most, which makes my auburn hair deeper and richer. I also like True Chestnut, which is less red. I'll either leave it on for an hour once a week, or put it on in the shower for ten minutes and gradually build it up over the course of a few days.

I discovered Lush's Ultrabland Facial Cleanser in 2014, but it became the only cleanser I use in 2015. When you first start using it, it feels very heavy, and so moisturising that you think it'll clog your pores, but it doesn't. The texture has become the norm for me now, and the simple ingredients are great for my skin. The best thing about Ultrabland is how well it removes your makeup. It just melts it away, and doesn't sting your eyes.

Rimmel's The Only One Lipstick in Naughty Nude wasn't going to be in here, but when I thought about it, it's a lipstick I go to a lot. It's opaque, creamy, and lasts for hours. It kind of dries down to feel like a satin/stain, but it's not drying on the lips at all.

Barry M's Satin Super Slick Lip Paint in Berrylicious isn't one I've had that long, but I really do love it. Again, it's opaque and incredibly creamy, but it lasts well, especially when I dab and work it into my lips. The colour is different to other berry shades I own as well. It's slightly more purple, more muted. It's also only £4.49, which is a bonus.

My new favourite mascara is Maybelline's Lash Sensational. I'm not great at distinguishing the qualities between mascaras, but I know that this one separates my lashes, somehow makes them look better than other mascaras do, and doesn't flake.

I also discovered Lush's Ro's Argan Body Conditioner before 2015, but I love, love, love it. I found the scent overpowering at first, but now it seems to calm me. The actual product is what does it for me, though. You put it on in the shower, wash it off, and voila. You're left with moisturised skin. No need for butters or lotions in the cold.

Boots were selling Origins Mask Marvel sets, left over from Christmas, in the spring for a great price. I think they were £20 for three 75ml tubes. My favourite out of these is the Drink Up Intensive one. You sleep with it on overnight, and wake up to incredibly moisturised, plump skin. I usually find that once you wash your face, the effects of other moisturisers and masks seem to disappear with it, but this one doesn't. It also smells like apricot, which I love.

The Body Shop's Shade Adjusting Lightening Drops are a game changer. I've been loving them so much. You simply add however many drops to your foundation to make it lighter, which is great if you're pale and find it difficult to find a foundation light enough. It doesn't change the formula of the foundation either.

I became a big fan of Nip & Fab in 2015, especially of the Glycolic Fix range. I love the mask and serum, but decided to include the pads here because of their ease. Wiping one of these over your skin will improve the texture, making it smoother and brighter. You'll see more of an effect if you incorporate them into your daily routine, but I like to give my skin a break after about a week.

I've been loving highlighting in general, and have a few favourites, but the one which tops them all is probably Topshop's Glow Highlighter in Polished. You only need a small amount of the cream formula, and it blends beautifully. If you want something that's warmer than this pearlescent shade, they have a golden shade called Gleam.

Overall, I love my cream blushes more than my powder ones. My NYX, Stila, and Illamasqua ones in particular. But I thought I'd include Max Factor's Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve because, out of the blushes I bought in 2015, it's the one I go to the most. The colour is so natural and easy to wear, and the formula is a dream to use. It's soft, yet not chalky, and blends incredibly well. These blushes were talked about a lot last year, and for good reason.

I found a new brand to dominate my brush collection in 2015, and that brand is Zoeva. They look and feel more expensive than they are, and the ones I own have not disappointed. The two I use the most are the Silk Finish and Brow Line ones. Even after using the Silk Finish brush to apply my foundation after all these months, it's still just as in shape and dense as it was when new. The Brow Line brush is thinner than any other eyebrow brush I've used, so it doesn't pick up as much product, and allows you to have more control. This comes in particularly handy when using pomades.

Have you used any of these products? What were your favourites of 2015?

The Price of My Makeup Routine

I was looking back through old blog posts the other night when I stumbled across the how much is your face worth? tag I wrote four years ago. I couldn't believe that it had been over four years, and was sure I'd done one since then. As it turns out, I've written about my various makeup routines since, but have never calculated the cost of them since 2011. I thought it'd be interesting to see just how different my current routine is, and how much it costs. I can already tell you it's going to be a lot more expensive, because I used a £1.99 blush and lip balm in the old post, and the total was a mere £38.95. My makeup varies day to day, and I don't always use a bronzer and highlighter, but this is what I wore yesterday.

Revlon ColourStay Foundation in 110 Ivory | £12.49

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Natural | £5.50

Bourjois Bronzing Primer | £9.99

Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter in Polished | £9

The Body Shop All in One Face Base in 02 | £14

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light | £3.95

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner in Black | £7.99

Maybelline Sensational Mascara in Black | £7.99

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon | £7.99

Total: £78.90

It's just over double the price of what it was four years ago, but I'm not that surprised! My makeup knowledge and skills have come a long way since then, and I'm now using products and brands I never did in the past. Also, the total is based on the retail prices, but I rarely pay that. I've never paid £14 for The Body Shop All in One Face Base, I recently bought the Revlon Foundation for £9.99, and I remember the Maybelline products being £5.99 each. Then there's discount codes and loyalty points, which I paid for the Bourjois Bronzing Primer with.

I remember this tag doing the rounds back in the day, so would love to see updated versions. I'd also be interested to see the total of your routine if you've never calculated it before. Let me know in the comments!

New Favourites

Since my last favourites, I've bought and tried a whole lot of products. I'm fond of most of them, but to keep things short and sweet, I've only picked a handful to write about today.

I'm still not big on body scrubs, preferring to use exfoliating gloves, but one I really like is The Body Shop's Vineyard Peach Body Scrub. I like intense scrubs, and used to think ones with large scrubby bits were better for that, but actually, the finer ones are. I think this is because the bits don't fall off your skin, meaning you can really work them in. This is what the Vineyard Peach one is like, and it's creamy, so leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth. It also smells incredible, but that goes without saying.

I feel like I've spoken about the face masks above a lot recently, so I'm going to just give you the links to my reviews. Click here to read my thoughts on the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask, and click here for the Nip + Fab Glycolic Instant Fix Mask. They do more than other masks I've tried, and for that, I applaud them.

The Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter in Polish (review here) is amazing, and probably the best highlighter I've used. It's iridescent and glowy and beautiful. Plus, the pot is going to last a long, long time.

Another Topshop cheek product I've been loving is the Cheek Jelly in Reign. I'd describe it as a water based cream blush, and it's very natural. Sheer, slightly dewy, blends well; an all around winner.

I've bought so many blushes this year, and have ended up loving them all. One of my favourites is the MUA Whipped Velvet Blush in Ritzy. I love every shade I have (review and swatches here), but I've been leaning towards these natural, flushed colours recently. The Whipped Velvet blushes are like mousses, and are very light in texture. They're only £3, too, so I'd definitely recommend checking them out.

Everyone's been raving about the Max Factor Creme Puff Blushes, and for good reason. They're pigmented, not chalky in the slightest, and subtly illuminate without relying on a huge amount of shimmer. I have Nude Mauve and Gorgeous Berries, but have just featured Nude Mauve here because I've already featured two berry toned blushes.

I've been reaching for the MUA Sweet Sheen Lip Balms more than any other lip product recently. You can read my review here, but they're essentially light, moisturising, tinted lip balms. They're quite pigmented for what they are, actually. The only one I haven't featured here is Coral Reef, and that's because it looks like a hot pink on my lips, which isn't my favourite colour.

The ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light is still my go to eyebrow product, but I've been so impressed with Makeup Revolution's Brow Dual Ultra Arch & Shape in Medium. It's the perfect shade for me, is easy to use, and looks natural. The pen side is my favourite, but the pencil's good, too. It's the £3.50 version of Soap & Glory's Archery, but there's four shades instead of two. I don't know how quickly it's going to dry out, but for the price, I'm not going to be too upset when it does.

Topshop Beauty

Topshop makeup receives a lot of praise, and I'm beginning to see why. I've used a couple of their cream blushes in the past, and while they were okay, the cream to powder formulation wasn't one of my favourites. I prefer dewier cream blushes (like the NYX ones) because they're easier to work with.

I've recently expressed my love for the Glow Cream Highlighter in Polish (£9) , which you can read here. I've since bought a few other products from the range, and have been enjoying using them.

The Cheek Jelly in Reign could be a little bigger so my stippling brush fits in better, but aside from that, it's a winner. It's essentially a water based cream blush, like the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolour Cheek Gelees, but it's only £7. Sheer, yet buildable, easy to blend, and very natural looking. The raspberry red shade helps with this.

The Contour Cream in Sweep (£9) was the main reason for my order. I've been wanting a cream contour product to subtley add some definition to my face for a while, so welcomed this new release. I chose the lightest shade, and was disappointed by its warmth at first, but I think I make it work. It helps that it's incredibly easy to blend. I'm also glad the packaging's black, and not white like the blushes, because it'd get incredibly dirty.

The Slanted Eyeshadow Brush and Gel Liner Brush were £4 each. The Slanted Eyeshadow Brush is perfect for when I fill my eyebrows in with powder. It's not the thinnest I've used, so isn't that precise, but it's fine for the look I want. The Gel Liner Brush, on the other hand, won't be replacing my usual one. It's too thick for the line I want to create. It'll come in handy for smudging eyeshadow along my lower lash line, though.

What are your thoughts on the Topshop Beauty line?

Topshop Glow Cream Highlighter in Polish

Topshop makeup gets a lot of praise, but I've only ever tried their blushes. Being a fan of cream highlighters and seeing everyone rave about the Glow Cream Highlighter in Polish (£9), I decided to give it a go.

Polish is an iridescent cream shade, which can look slightly pink or golden in different lights. It's these warmer shades which steer it away from being frosty. The formulation is light, almost like a mousse, making it a dream to blend. Although it's light in consistency, it's still very pigmented, so you only need the tiniest amount; I can see this pot lasting ages! The shimmer is incredibly fine and almost has a metallic/glowy finish, rather than a glittery one. I think that's the main reason why I'm a fan of this. It also appears to last throughout the day, and I haven't experienced it disturbing my foundation.

I like the simplicity of the packaging, but am still not a fan of the white because it gets grubbier than other products. Aside from that, though, I really do like this highlighter. I also like that it's now available to purchase from Feel Unique, as well as other products from the range.

What are your thoughts on Topshop's makeup line?

New In

This next haul post is coming to you from Boots (and one item from Topshop). Working there has definitely encouraged my beauty spending habits!

I prefer cream highlighters to powder ones, and had heard a lot about the Topshop Glow Highlighter in Polish (£9). I'm impressed so far, and will probably be reviewing it soon. I also had my eye on one of their powder blushes, but I have enough already. I'm also not a fan of the packaging because it gets so grubby.

The Max Factor products are actually my first purchases from the brand. I'm running out of my Witch primer and wanted to try something new, so thought I'd give the Face Finity All Day Primer (£10.99) a go. I was sent the Skin Luminizer Foundation (£11.99) a few months ago, but it was in the wrong shade and I wasn't really into wearing foundation back then. I've heard good things since, and was in the spending mood yesterday, so popped it in my basket. I'm hoping it's light enough for me! Max Factor is currently on 3 for 2, so I also picked up the Colour Elixir Lip Gloss in Enchanting Coral (£7.99). I'd had my eye on this for a while - it's a beautiful, pinky coral shade with no shimmer (for once!), and has a good colour pay off.

Wearing foundation has opened up a whole new area of makeup for me to try, which is exciting. After doing lots of research on many brands and foundations, I decided to try the L'Oreal True Match Foundation (£9.99). I was going to go for the Revlon Colourstay one, but it looked too dark for me, so maybe I'll try that in the summer. Now, I thought it'd be best to go for the shade N1 Ivory, but my store only had C1 Rose Ivory. I thought it'd be too cool toned for my skin, but then I compared it to other foundations in the store, including my current No7 one, and it didn't look any different, in terms of tone. I'll let you know how I get on with it! L'Oreal is currently 2 for £14, and as tempting as that was, there wasn't anything else I wanted.

I love Maybelline mascaras, and the new Lash Sensational (introductory price £5.99, normal price £7.99) looked like a combination of the Rocket and Falsies, so I had to try it. I then bought another Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Intense Black (currently £5.99, normally £7.99) because my current one is starting to dry up. I love this eyeliner, and I actually use the brush that comes with it!

When I showed my family what I bought (does anyone else do that?), my dad said I didn't need any more makeup. Sometimes, I feel like he doesn't know me at all...

What I Got For Christmas

For Christmas this year, we knew most of the presents we were getting from one another in my family. It wasn't as 'exciting', but we all received things we really wanted this way. I decided to choose things I wouldn't normally buy myself. For example, I couldn't justify buying the Topshop Dressing Gown (so soft!), Lush's Ro's Argan Body Conditioner (love, but expensive) or Lindt Lindor Maxi Ball for myself, so asked my parents for them. They also bought me Lush's Montalbano and Braziliant Shampoo Bars, Accessorize Koala Slippers, and a tin of sweets (mostly for the tin to store my baking bits in!).

From my sister, I received the Clintons Heart Print Diary (great quality pages), Paperchase List Book and Pen (love the print), battenberg shaped tin with recipe notes (we used to eat these on the way home from school - makes me feel sick just thinking about it now!), Next Apricot Blossom LED Candles, Next Apricot Blossom Reed Diffuser (had the smaller one previously and loved it), a pretty Next glass for milkshakes, and some sweet treats.

I just wanted to show you the things I chose, instead of everything I received. I had to include the Debenhams Fox Slippers my friend got me, though, because they're so cute!

I hope you had a good Christmas!

Outfit of the Day - Dorothy Perkins and Topshop sale items

Sequin daisy jumper - Dorothy Perkins

Blue knitted cardigan - Topshop

Dark blue skinny jeans - New Look

Navy plimsolls - New Look

I like pairing this jumper with bright blue cardigans. Daisies remind me of blue skies, bright green grass and happy times :) The jumper was £12 down from £23. I ordered it in sizes 8 and 12, so I could see which one fitted me better and then return the other. They're definitely on the large side, so I kept the 8. The Topshop cardigan was £10 down from £40 (£9 with student discount). I'm not a huge fan of Topshop. I think a lot of their items are ugly and overpriced. I like this cardigan, though, and it was cheaper than similar cardigans I've seen in H&M, and even Primark (Primark knitwear seems to have increased in price). 

Time to get back to my assignment! I hope you're enjoying your Sunday.

Oops! I did it again...

Yes, I did just quote a Britney song. It popped into my head and I just couldn't shake it! At least it's more interesting than 'recent purchases'...

As the title suggests, I did it again. 'It' being spending money. Hehe.

Primark:

Winter socks (pack of two) £2.50, knee high owl socks £2

Oh how I love Primark socks...

Long sleeved pj top £5

Pj bottoms £5 and £3

New Look:

Suede desert boots £23.99 (£29.99 before student discount)

White string vest £2.49, teal vest £3.99

'Shell pink' loose boxy t-shirt £7.99

I attempted to take a photo of me wearing this, but the photos didn't do it justice! The back has a sheer panel (which you can see near the tag).

Republic:

Soul Cal deluxe hoodie £24 (£30 before student discount)

John Lewis:

Remington Pearl straighteners £39.95

I have wanted these for agessss! I wanted them even more after buying the curling wand from this range, which is amazing. The original price of these is £80-90. Boots currently have them on offer for £56 and I was going to buy them from there, but thankfully I saw them on the John Lewis site for a lot less!

Here is a rubbish webcam photo of my hair this morning, after using the straighteners:

Topshop:

Cream blush in High Five £5.40 (£6 before student discount)

I'm not a fan of Topshop. I think many of their items are ugly and overpriced. However, I've wanted one of their blushes for ages. High Five hasn't been talked about much because Head Over Heels has been receiving most of the attention. So far, I really like it. It's very pigmented, so I have to use a light hand when applying! One thing I don't like about this product is the white packaging. It's already filthy!

ASOS:

Barry M Nail Paints in Pink Flamingo and Berry Ice Cream £1.80 each in the sale

I've previously owned Pink Flamingo, but I made the mistake of letting my sister borrow it. She used it so much that I was left with half a bottle of gloopy polish. I've wanted to try Berry Ice Cream for a while, so this was the perfect time to do so.

eBay:

My Blue Nose Friends- Thomas the Hippo and Twiggy the Giraffe.

I've wanted these for ages, but they're no longer sold in stores and are rare to find. The ones you do find are going for stupid prices on eBay. Thankfully, I didn't pay too much over the retail price for these.

I've also ordered some other bits and bobs from eBay, but they're coming from Hong Kong and won't be here just yet!

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