Wednesday 31 July 2013

Skincare Routine: Morning

Hello! I hope you are all having a great week and summer! I am back from my holiday to Ireland which was so much fun. I thought I would write a skincare post for you because I am so happy with this routine and haven't changed it for months now which is very rare for me!

This post is going to be my morning skincare routine! My morning routine is very short so I thought I would do another post on my evening skincare routine and masks/treatments as well if you would like to read one of those! 

My skin is combination as my nose gets very oily throughout the day and the rest of my face is pretty normal. I do get the occasional breakout now and then, however my skin has actually been very good and clear since I have been using all of these products!


I start the morning by cleansing my face using my Emma Hardie Amazing Face Cleansing Balm. I absolutely love this cleanser and I can honestly say it is the best I have ever tried! It is fairly expensive though so if you know of any other cleansing balms that are nice then please let me know! I do love this one though as my skin is left feeling so soft and hydrated. It also removes all of my makeup, including waterproof eye makeup very easily and gently so I don't need a separate makeup remover.


I recently bought the Origins Ginzing Energy Boosting Moisturiser which is amazing! Moisturisers are the one product I have never been happy with. I am constantly trying different moisturisers and I never repurchase the same one twice. I bought this one about 2 months ago now though and it is my favourite as it works so well for my skin! It is oil free and leaves my skin looking hydrated and radiant without being at all greasy.


Finally, the eye cream I use is the Origins Ginzing eye cream. I rediscovered this about a month ago and I have fallen back in love with it! I had a mini one which I took with me on holiday and then when I got home I found my full size and have been using it since. This is a lovely eye cream as it's so refreshing and gentle around the eyes. You may know I was using the Elemental Herbology eye elixir before I went on holiday which I still have and it's lovely, however it's expensive and I just don't think it's worth it!


That is it for my morning skincare routine! The only thing I would like to incorporate into this is a toner, so please leave me a comment if you have any recommendations. Also let me know if you would be interested in an evening routine post :)

I hope you are all having a lovely day! Let me know in the comments below your favourite skincare products!


Monday 8 July 2013

Guest Post: What's In My Summer Makeup Bag

Hello lovely fans of Beauty Becky! I'm Rachael from the blog A Is For Ayla and I'll be guest posting here today, sharing what's in my Summer makeup bag.



Before we start, I should add that my makeup bag is a small Cath Kidston one. It's a thick oil cloth material both inside and out meaning those pesky foundation smears you sometimes get after a while can be wiped away easily to bring the ditsy floral print back to its glory. Inside, the bag comes with a small, round mirror also coated with oil cloth. It's handy for times when you need to do touch-ups but the products you're using don't have mirrors included. Generally, each print comes in 2 sizes of makeup bag. I have the smaller one which costs £10 and is better for a college or handbag. The other is slightly larger and for £12 is the perfect size for travelling.


For face, During the Summer I prefer to keep my makeup as minimal as possible. To make the most of everything that I do wear, I use the Smashbox Oil-free Photo Finish Primer. The oil-free version is relatively new and in my opinion doesn't get enough hype in the blogger community. It's a thin, smoothing primer which sinks in to the skin incredibly quickly and creates a perfect canvas for your makeup. Primer is important for Summer as in hot climate makeup has a tendency to 'slide' off the face or fade more quickly. To achieve good coverage but avoid feeling 'sticky' or 'cakey' in hot or humid weather I use the Bare Minerals Original Foundation. The beauty of mineral makeup is that its very low maintenance and does not require extensive blending or touch ups throughout the day and contains SPF - perfect for protecting your skin out in the sun!

For a little bit of dimension to my face, I use Nars Laguna Bronzer lightly through my cheekbones and around my forehead to enhance my Summer tan. I love dotting a small amount of blush from the Sleek Blush By 3 Palette in 'Lace' on to the upper apples of my cheeks. These blushes are very bright, perfect for Summer. The strong pigmentation means they need a bit of blending work but a bright blush is an easy way of adding colour to your face and can work for almost any skintone. I also love the Revlon Just Kissable Balm Stain in 'Darling' for adding a pop of colour. As a stain, its a fool-proof, low maintenance lip colour that doesn't take a lot of effort. Korres Lip Butter in Quince is the perfect balm to apply underneath as its really light and soft. I'll be honest, as a massive hay fever sufferer, a lot of the time I avoid eye makeup all together. Instead, I just curl my lashes to open up my eyes a bit more and add a bit of feminine flair where otherwise I'd be feeling (and looking) pretty under the weather.

And that's what's inside my Summer makeup bag! I'd love to know what products you're using for the season. If you enjoyed this post there are plenty more like it on my blog, A Is For Ayla! And lastly before I leave, a huge thank you to Becky for letting me post!

Saturday 6 July 2013

Guest Post: Favourite Summer Nail Polishes


Hi everyone! I hope most of you have almost finished their finals – I’m almost done and I’m so looking forward to summer and travelling! Today I’m going to show you my favourite summer nail polishes. I'm such a sucker for Essie nail polishes, but I did my best to select a few others too! Lately I’ve been really into bright and pastel colours, sometimes even neon nail polish. I think bright colours are awesome for warm summer days so that’s why I’ve chosen a few of my brightest shades. 


The first shade is Essie Tart Deco! It’s a soft, yet bright orange that lacquers very nicely. It’s very pretty on hands and feet – I tend to apply this on my toes when I’m wearing sandals. 


The second nail polish is Rimmel’s Salon Pro Ultra Violet! This was one of my best friend’s presents for my birthday and as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with the colour! I have two Rimmel nail polishes featured in this post, but they are both very different – read on if you want to know why, haha. The brush of this nail polish is incredible, I like it even better than the Essie ones and they are already pretty good! It seriously lacquers so nicely and lasts as long as an Essie nail polish – which is about 3-4 days if you’ve applied a top coat – and they are a little cheaper aswell! 


The next shade is OPI Suzi’s Hungary Again! It’s a nail polish from the Centrale Europe 2013 collection. It has a glossy finish and I’ve heard some people say that there’s a little shimmer in it. I haven’t noticed it though, and it’s my sister’s nail polish which means she wears it more often, but she hasn’t noticed anything either. Weird haha! I love the consistency of this nail polish though *tiny rave*. It’s very thin but yet it layers nicely! How awesome does that sound?! I’ve never applied a better nail polish in my entire life. I swear.


Essie Mint Candy Apple is one of the most sold Essie nail polishes! If I had to pick an ultimate summer favourite – it would be this nail polish! To me it’s an ocean blue colour but there is some green in there aswell, though it depends on the lighting. The best thing about this nail polish is that it dries super fast. Some people find it streaky, but I think you definitely need at least two coats to see the colour in its true opacity. I once applied six coats of this nail polish – I think I was a bit bored haha – and seriously, it lasted me an entire week without a single chip…till I decided that I would pull at the nail polish myself. Classic bored study problem during exams.


The last colour is Rimmel’s I <3 Fruities Lemon Drop. Okay and here’s the difference: remember that I told you the Rimmel Salon Pro lasts long and lacquers nicely?! Well this one is HELL. The colour is absolutely gorgeous but it’s such a pain applying and noticing that some nail polish bits have already started to chip after a few hours. Rimmel are you serious?! I really don’t like applying this nail polish, but yes it’s a very pretty shade.


That’s it! These were my summer favourites. Except for the Rimmel Lemon Drop one, all these nail polish lacquer very nicely and look amazing. No streaks!


I hope you’ve enjoyed my post! If you’re curious, I blog at scribblesofvalerie.com. Thank you for reading my post and thanks to Becky for having me on her awesome blog! Have a great day!
X, Valérie

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Guest Post - Top 5 Beauty Buys For Under £5


Hi guys, I’m Michaela. I recently started my own blog, Michaela-Leigh, a few months ago and so I am quite new on the blogger scene. I am so happy that Becky picked me to do a guest post on her brilliant blog, as I have been following her for a while now. Today, I have decided to do a post about my top 5 beauty buys for under a £5. I am a firm believer that some high-street brands are just as good as some higher end products, and drug-stores offer such great value for money. Furthermore, I thought that would share with you some of my favourite products that I am currently loving.



Firstly, I have always been a hoarder when it comes to Barry M nail varnishes – I have pretty much every colour under the sun! I was so excited when the Hi-Shine polishes came on the market and since using Blogger, I have read multiple rave reviews on this product. I recently bought the colour ‘Blackberry,’ which is a beautiful deep navy shade to go with a dress I recently purchased. Upon my first use of the varnish, I was hooked immediately. The formula is so thick, hence for a dark colour like this one, you only need to apply one coat (which is great if you are in a rush or are impatient with letting your nails dry properly.) The finish is ultra glossy and looks like you have just had a professional manicure. The only downfall to this product is that it tends to stain my nails a little, so I recommend that you always use a top coat before application. I love this colour so much that I definitely want to buy some brighter colours for summer, I have my eye on the shades ‘Guava’ and ‘Mango’ next.




I have always been somebody who likes to experiment with my skin care. Consequently, I have tried pretty much every face wash and face scrub on the market. However, since using this St Ives olive scrub, I never want to go back to any other scrub ever again! The scrub claims to ‘re-energise the skin without greasiness,’ which is perfect for combination skin which can tend to get rather oily. In addition, the exfoliating beads are not too rough or coarse, which means that the product can smooth my face without irritating my skin in anyway. The thing I love most about this scrub is its brilliant moisturising properties. Using this product alongside my Simple moisturiser every morning leaves me with smooth, hydrated skin which provides an excellent base to apply my make-up on to. I definitely recommend this scrub to those with combination skin who love skincare products with a lovely, fresh scent.




I first bought this powder shortly after discovering Tanya Burr’s YouTube videos a few months back. I was surprised that an established make-up artist such as Tanya swears by such a low-end brand of powder rather than an über expensive one, and as a lover of Rimmel anyway, I knew that I had to have it! As mentioned above, I have combination skin and I can never apply make-up without using a powder afterwards to set it in place. That being said, for years I had been using 17’s Pressed Powder, which looking back on it now was not a very good-quality powder at all. However, since switching over to the Stay Matte powder, I am so impressed! This powder banished all of the shine on my face, especially around my T-zone which tends to be my most troublesome area. Also, a light dusting of this product on to my powder brush goes a long way, so I know that I will not be hitting the pan of this product any time soon. For £3.99, I believe that this powder should be a staple in every girl’s make-up bag.




I recently purchased this product on a bit of a whim whilst browsing through the Bourjois stand in my local Boots store. To my delight, there was an offer where if I bought any two nail-related Bourjois products that equalled to £8 or more, I would receive a free Bourjois nail art kit which includes 150 stickers and stencils. Let’s just say, I couldn’t resist! As for the polish remover itself, it’s brilliant. I often find taking my nail varnish off such a chore and I always get through so many cotton wool pads, it feels so wasteful. To use this product, you simply dip each finger into the sponge inside the pot, wait a few seconds and twist your nail, then remove it. The process is so instant and can even remove two or three layers of varnish in a matter of seconds. Pretty impressive, right? The only downfall to this particular product is the smell is quite over-powering, despite the fact the product doesn’t even contain any acetone. On the bottle, it also claims to have a red fruit and vanilla fragrance, which is not the case at all. However, the simplicity of the product is definitely worth the slightly unpleasant smell in my opinion.



Last but not least is this brilliant shimmer from Rimmel. I find that after I apply my foundation, powder and blusher, my face is very two-dimensional and matte. In turn, this can make my complexion look extremely dull – especially during the summer months.  So, when I saw this product and swatched it whilst in Boots, I knew I had to have it! I chose the more bronzed coral colour as opposed to the pink shade they also do, as we are into the summer months now (despite the English rain) and I have a slight tan now. I apply the cream just about where I apply my blusher, just like a highlighter, to make my cheekbones have a nice glow to them. The product is a great consistency and a little goes a long way, but its one negative point is that there are a few too many glitter particles for my liking. Saying this, I do definitely recommend this shimmer for anybody whose skin needs a bit of a pick-me-up.


I hope that you have all enjoyed reading about my top five beauty products for five pounds or less. I would also like to thank Becky again for giving me the opportunity to feature as one of her guest bloggers. I would love to know which products under £5 you all recommend, so feel free to leave a comment below. Also, if any of you have already used one of the products above, I would love to hear you opinions of them too. In addition, if you liked my guest post, I would appreciate it if you would check out my blog too. Thank you!