Monthly Favourites | July

The past month has been completely hectic for me as my dad was here visiting from Australia and I've spent the past four weeks travelling all over the UK to spend time with him. That's meant living out of suitcases for a good few weeks and sticking to the same products week in week out (due to the fact I was lazy and couldn't be bothered switching things up in my makeup and wash bags between trips). That also means I don't have a massive amount of favourites this month - I feel like I haven't had much chance to try new products but there are a few gems I've discovered as well as some regular favourites...

As you can see from the selection above, I haven't been trying out many new skin or hair care products recently but I have been trying a couple of new beauty products and rekindling my love for some old favourites. Two new products I've been loving are the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette which my lovely boyfriend bought for me for my birthday and the Revlon Photoready foundation which I bought on a recent trip to Boots. The eyeshadow palette has been my go-to for a good few weeks now as its just perfect for creating a natural eye look. I love that it has a mixture of matte and shimmery shades and I've been using it for both day and evening looks so its very versatile. Its also really cool that each row represents a different look (day, classic and fashion) and although I prefer to mix and match, this is a really nice idea, especially if you're new to makeup. I'll be reviewing this in full soon with swatches so keep your eyes peeled!

Revlon foundations have always been on my 'must try' list so when I was recently sent a Boots voucher, I immediately headed for the Revlon counter. I originally wanted to get the Colorstay foundation as its a blogger favourite but unfortunately they didn't have my shade. However, I was clearly meant to get the Photoready version instead as I've been really enjoying using it - its quite lightweight but has good coverage and makes my skin look really radiant. Again, keep your eyes peeled for a full review.

A few products I've owned for a while now but am still loving are the Benefit Watt's Up highlighter, the Urban Decay 24 hour eye liner in the shade 'Zero', Tanya Burr's lipgloss in 'Picnic in the Park' and a super old favourite Revlon lip butter in the shade 'Lollipop'. The Benefit highlighter is one of my more recent discoveries but I've been using it almost every day for the past couple of months to add dewy glow to my skin - you can read my full review here which explains why I love it so much! The Urban Decay eyeliner has been my go-to liner for the past couple of weeks after losing my MAC Smolder pencil and I'm impressed by it - I wouldn't say it beats MAC to the top spot but its definitely a close second and I haven't felt the need to rush out and repurchase my Smolder pencil just yet. My favourite lip combo over the past month would have to be my favourite Revlon lip butter 'Lollipop' which I'd consider one of my all time favourite lip products due to the beautiful berry pink shade and creamy formula paired with Tanya Burr's lipgloss in 'Picnic in the Park'. I love that Tanya's lip glosses aren't at all sticky and this soft pink shade is really flattering and can be worn over other lip products or on its own.

Although I haven't been delving into any new skin or hair care products recently, one thing I have switched up is my fragrance. My dad bought me the L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Eau de toilette from duty free on his way here and I'm absolutely in love with it. I love anything cherry scented so this perfume is my perfect scent - its sweet without being sickly, fresh and very feminine. I also love the sleek glass bottle! As well as the fragrance I've also been loving the matching cherry blossom shower gel and hand cream - using all three products together ensures the cherry fragrance sticks around even longer!

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what you've been loving lately in the comments below!

Lots of love,

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Monthly Favourites // July

Can you bloomin believe its August already? I know its the old beauty blogger cliche to say 'where on earth did this past month go' at the start of every monthly favourites post but seriously, where did it go? I feel like this summer has absolutely flown by and it'll be Christmas again before we know it, eep! The weather has been fabulous too hasn't it? Every time I step outside I feel as though I'm stepping off a an aeroplane in some exotic country (I wish!) which is so unusual for the UK. I can't remember the last time we had a proper summer like this!

July was a pretty busy month for me as I celebrated my 23rd birthday, went to T in the Park and to Clitheroe for a wedding. Its safe to say I haven't stopped most weekends so its been nice to well and truly chill this weekend and have some time to get my blog on. I'm hoping to get a few posts wrote today for the week ahead so I'm not so stressed trying to juggle my full-time job and blog posts during the week. Fingers crossed! Anyway, before I start rambling, I want to share some products I've been loving for the past month. There isn't many as I've been sticking to the same products most days but there is a couple of products in there that I've not mentioned before and a couple of old favourites too!

Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayons | Peach on the Beach & Fuchsia Libra

Since the release of Clinique's 'Chubby Sticks' it seems every high street brand has jumped on the bandwagon and created their own version on the infamous lip crayon. The latest offering comes from Bourjois and their Colour Boost lip crayons. Bourjois have been on a roll with their product releases recently so I couldn't wait to get my mitts on them and I wasn't disappointed. I've reviewed them in full here so I won't ramble about them too much but if you like easy to use lip products that provide a wash of colour and a glossy finish, you'll love these lip crayons. I've got three of the four shades available and the two I've been reaching for daily are 'Peach on the Beach' (how amazing is this name?) and 'Fuchsia Libre'. They're perfect for throwing in my handbag and slicking on when I'm in a hurry.

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning*

Ooh, I do love a bit of fake tan. I don't wear it every day but when I'm going on a night out, I like to make sure I'm tanned as it makes me feel more confident, especially if I'm getting my pins out in a dress or skirt. However, one thing I always struggle with is tanning my face. I have no idea why but regular fake tan always tends to go patchy and makes me look dirty instead of sun-kissed. Not a good look! With this being said, for quite some time, I've avoided putting any tan on my face and stuck with bronzer instead. Well, until now that is. I was recently sent the Clarins Liquid bronze self tanning to try out which is specifically designed for the face, neck and décolletage and its absolutely amazing at providing my face with a natural looking tan. Its a white lotion that's applied to the skin like a regular moisturiser and it sinks in within minutes. I tend to apply it just before bed and when I wake up in the morning my skin has a nice olive tone to it and looks much more radiant and glowing. I'm going to review this product in full soon along with a couple of other Clarins products so do keep your eyes peeled for that.

Toni & Guy Sea Salt Spray

This product has been my most used hair product of the summer and I absolutely love it for giving my hair texture and an effortless 'tousled' effect. If you've never used a sea salt spray before, the purpose behind them is to give your hair texture, hold and beach waves. It can be sprayed onto wet hair or dry hair and my favourite way to use it is when my hair has just been blasted with the hairdryer and is still slightly damp on the ends. I spray it all over the mid to end lengths, scrunch my hair between my fingers and leave it to dry naturally. Once its dried I'm left with pretty natural waves that required no effort at all. This was my go-to hairstyle on   my holiday to Marbella in June as the last thing I want to do when I'm in a hot country is use heat on my hair. I'm sure I'll be taking a bottle of this to Portugal too!

Next Summer Heat Perfume

Although its not the most obvious place to buy perfume, when I was younger I used to always buy various fragrances from Next. I think I got into them after smelling one my mum used and absolutely loving it. I remember my favourite was called 'Paradise' and although it only cost about £5 for a small bottle, it was my most worn perfume ever as a teenager. Anyway, before I start getting all nostalgic on you, let me tell you about the most recent Next perfume I've tried, 'Summer Heat'. I received it last month as part of my birthday present from my Nanna and I've been wearing it almost daily since. I'm rubbish at describing scents but its very fruity, sweet and fresh and reminds me of being on an exotic beach somewhere. I love the little pink and orange bottle too - it looks pretty on my dressing table and is great for throwing in my handbag or travelling. Next time you're in next (no pun intended haha!), make sure you give it a whiff! 

MAC Impassioned Lipstick

MAC Impassioned is one of the first lipsticks I ever bought from the brand and its one I used to wear religiously when I first bought it. I wore it so much in fact that I got a bit sick of wearing it and it eventually got forgotten about amongst my stash of other lipsticks. However, I saw it amongst my lipstick collection recently and remembered how much I used to love it so I thought I'd give it another go. Well, its safe to say my love for it is well and truly back. I wore it on a recent night out and its the perfect bright fuchsia pink shade for the Summer. I absolutely love the Amplified Creme formula of this lipstick too (its my favourite MAC formula) as its unbelieveably creamy and pigmented without being drying on the lips. Its long-lasting too which is another bonus and generally a very beautiful lipstick. I reviewed it in full here if you want to see how it looks on.

 
Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara

When it comes to mascara, I'm never faithful to one and usually have a selection of them on the go at once. I'm not sure why, I guess I'm just always on the hunt for something better and with the amount of new mascaras released, its hard to not be tempted. However, one mascara I've repurchased again and again is the Grow Luscious mascara from Revlon. I discovered it when I was out in Australia last year and it really helped to get my eyelashes back in good condition after a disastrous experience with eyelashes extensions. I won't say too much more about it as I've reviewed it in full here but I'd really recommend trying it if you like full and thick lashes.

What have you been loving this month? Have you tried any of these products?

Lots of Love,

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