My most worn products over the last week are a collection of both old favourites almost forgotten about and new discoveries which I'm loving, all of which I really couldn't be without in this heat.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural has seriously left me wondering why on earth I hadn't tried it before. For years and years I had avoided finishing powders as they took me back to those awful matte, pasty pale years of my teens. After struggling more than most years with controlling shine I decided to purchase this powder as it not only controls shine with a semi-matte finish but it also provides another light layer of coverage. When wearing you can barely tell you're wearing it, it doesn't cling to imperfections or to those fuzzy little hairs we ladies have, just a smooth natural finish. Love!

Another MAC favourite at the moment is their Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Soft Ochre. My usual favourite eyeshadow primers aren't keeping shadows on my oily lids, this stuff not only works great as a matte eyeshadow on it's own but also doubles up as a long wearing natural base that doesn't crease or fade. My Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette has made an appearance in my daily routine again, with the shade Stark being my everyday shade, I'm seriously gutted they don't sell this shade on it's own as I will be lost without it!

My Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer has made it's way back into my makeup bag, I'd almost forgotten how good this stuff is! I do suffer with a little creasing under my eyes so I make sure I tissue off any excess product and set with powder to avoid it settling into the creases, the result is much brighter and more rested looking eyes.

I do currently have a Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara open but when I saw Benefit release new shades of their They're Real Mascara I was instantly drawn to the brown shade, I have to say its pretty good. The mascara itself doesn't give me the most volume and lift I've ever had from a mascara but I am enjoying the more natural look of brown lashes apposed to my normal black. I'll post a more in-depth review of this one soon.

Last but my no means least we have my current favourite blusher from Clinique, Melon Pop Cheek Pop. This stuff looks so nice with my current tan, it gives cheeks the loveliest wash of colour but keeping them looking natural and not powdery. I have the coordinating lipstick, Melon Pop and when worn together it really pulls my whole summery look together.

See any of your favourites or anything you've been dying to try?

Most Worn | This Weeks Makeup Bag

After an 8 day week at work last week I was left needing as much help to fake the glow of 8 hours sleep as I could get and although I felt like the walking dead inside these little treasures ensured it didn't show on the outside!

MAC Strobe Cream | RRP £24.50 50ml

This product is my ultimate quick fix for tired skin, it's loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, green tea and iridescent particles to enhance the effects of light on the skin under all lighting conditions. I like to apply a small amount after moisturising and it really leaves my skin with a glow.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Blush | Santa Rose | RRP £3.99

I love it when you discover a fantastic product from an old brand, this blusher is just that. I will admit that in the last couple of years I have got swept up in the media hype of high-end products and have dismissed a lot of the drugstore brand releases, how wrong have I been?! Whilst browsing the aisles of my local Boots this little gem really jumped out at me, it's the perfect combination of peach and pink that goes with everything and leaves cheeks with a healthy flush of colour.

Bobbi Brown Corrector | Porcelain Bisque | RRP £19

This is my wonder product for tired eyes. I'm quite pale so I use the fairest shade Porcelain Bisque, I'm yet to discover another product that rivals the ability of this one to lighten and brighten the eye area. 

Makeup Revolution Radiant Light | Exhale | RRP £5

Out of all of the powder highlighters I own, including some high-end brands like MAC and Urban Decay, this highlighter is my all-time favourite! The formula is so finely milled that your skin is left with the perfect amount of glow and not looking like a disco-ball!

Lancome Hypnose Mascara | RRP £22.50

Since purchasing this mascara I have been completely converted from my usual brand and won't consider anything else! This mascara does an amazing job of separating and lengthening lashes and doesn't dry and flake like some brands.

Clarins Instant Concealer Review

After reading Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup's review on Clarins Instant Concealer I felt compelled to rush out and buy it. With claims of giving instantly refreshed, radiant eye's, with a fluid texture that blends seamlessly and a just a good old multi use product in general I just couldn't wait to give it a try.

I went for shade 01, the fairest, which is a tad more pink toned than I'd like but I can make it work if I'm wearing it under my eyes alone. So, did it give me instantly 'refreshed, radiant eye's'? No. It's very watery (which I was expecting thanks to the heads up from Anna's post) and very sheer so it did little to disguise my dark circles. Ok, but did it 'blend seamlessly'? Not exactly. With it being more pink toned and my foundation being yellow toned I have to take more care with blending and the concealer kinda settles into the creases under my eyes effectively making me look more tired than before! 

With all of the amazing reviews on Clarins website and Anna's post I'm disappointed that this concealer doesn't work for me or fit my needs, at £21 this purchase didn't exactly break the bank but it was a wasted one none the less.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque

Having inherited horrible dark circles one of my make-up bag staples is Bobbi Brown's Corrector rrp £19. I usually use the shade Extra Light Bisque (which is more salmon coloured) but with going lighter on my foundation and concealer thanks to the winter I decided to go slightly lighter (well, Bobbi's lightest!) with my corrector to compliment this. 

If like me you suffer from dark circles and you haven't given thought to investing in a corrector then you seriously should, I'm not joking it will change your life! A corrector is designed to wake up tired eyes and neutralise under-eye darkness. Designed to use under your concealer the formula is long-wearing and doesn't crease, Bobbi's Cream Concealer compliments this corrector perfectly.

Porcelain Bisque is as I mentioned the ranges fairest shade and has a peach tone to it which completely cancels out the shady areas under my eyes and instantly brightens. Although it seems a little pricey because it's extremely good quality and you need very little to get great results, one pot will last me around 10 months, I can deal with £1.90 a month for brighter eye's!

L Without Corrector
R With Corrector

Apologies for the weird picture of my eyes...do you know how hard it is to take a picture of your own eyes?! I've applied the corrector on my left eye, or the right eye as you are looking at it and can't you just tell the difference? You can apply to the whole eye area, including lids but I just use in the corner of my eyes and blend out as my eyeshadow primer cancels out any darkness on my lids.

As I said, one of my staples, do you use a corrector and which brand do you use?

Benefit Fake Up Concealer Review and Swatches - Light

My latest purchase in the quest of covering and hydrating my tired under-eye's is Benefit's Fake up Concealer in the shade Light. My regular concealer is Clinique's All About Eyes Concealer which has always been fine but just lately I've been finding it leaves my eyes a little dry and more tired looking (this concealer doubles up as a great blemish concealer too!) than before so I decided to jump in and purchase Fake Up for it's moisturizing purposes.

So as you might have guessed the moisturizing part of the concealer stick is on the outer with the concealer itself in the centre. Benefit say to apply to the under eye with light strokes and then blend into the eye area but I found it tugged a little at my under eye skin so I like to run the stick over the back of my hand to warm the product up and then apply with my ring finger.

The colour is perfect for me, so much so I can use it on blemishes on my face, as it's so moisturizing it doesn't highlight those dry blemishes at all. I do find that this concealer is a little too moisturizing to wear alone, you would need a dusting of powder to set however I like to use this as a moisturizing base and my Clinique All About Eye's concealer over the top. If you are looking for a moisturizing concealer then this is great, if you are looking for more coverage then not so great. The formula does live up to the hype of not settling into the creases of your eye or giving a cakey finish. 

I'm enjoying using this as a base for my Clinique concealer however using two concealers because they're ok in their own right is not really cost effective and I probably wouldn't repurchase wither. So the quest for the perfect concealer continues... 

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage Concealer - SC2

My quest for the perfect concealer has taken me to Secret Camouflage by Laura Mercier. Anyone that reads my blog will know that I live in the back of beyond, so I rely heavily on online reviews and swatches to make my purchases as the nearest department store that sells high-end products is over 50 miles away! After much deliberation I decided to purchase Secret Camouflage in shade SC2...I couldn't have got it any more right!

I didn't purchase this concealer with the intention of using on my dark circles, I bought it solely for imperfections on my face. Secret Camouflage's unique two shade system was designed to match all skin tones, one to match the skins depth of colour and the other to match the skins undertone. I wear MAC's Studio Fix Fluid in shade NC15 and I find the perfect mixture of Secret Camouflage is two parts of the lighter side and one part the more peach one. 

The texture is quite hard and waxy, I scrape a little of each and mix on the back of my hand, allowing the concealer to soften as it warms. This concealer is very highly pigmented so you only need very little to cover any imperfections. Even in this hot weather the concealer has lasted a good 8 hours without the need to reapply. Be more cautious if you have dry skin, the concealer can cling a little to dry patches, a good moisturising will be needed before use.

All-in-all I really can't find any fault with Laura Mercier's Secret Camouflage, the pans are of a very generous size which means it will last for ages and I really like the practical packaging with the mirror on the inside. Being able to customise your shade is a huge benefit at this time of the year when we're all tanning and changing up our bases. Huge thumbs up from me!

Jodie

xoxo

YSL Touche Éclat Complexion Highlighter Review and Swatches

On Friday I bought my first ever Touche Éclat! I know this highlighter has achieved a cult status in the the beauty world for delivering beautiful, complexion enhancing results. After much deliberation I, because there are quite a few shades, I decided to purchase shade 2.

This shade will be more on the highlighting side when I am a bit more tanned, at the moment this shade nearly matches my complexion so I'm not reaping the highlighting benefits however it does serve as a great concealer. I have noticed that my dark circles are less noticeable thanks to its light reflecting formula and it's hydrating so it doesn't dry delicate skin around the eye or sit in creases.

I can see why this highlighter has achieved it's well earned title in the beauty world and why millions of women have fallen in love with it.  I love the pen style packaging, don't be over hasty with clicking the pen or you can find it will dispense way too much product at once.  Overall a fabulous highlighter/concealer and at no more in price than my regular concealer I'm wondering why it's taken me so long to purchase one!

Jodie

xoxo

Day 1 of my #100HappyDays

Now I'm in no way materialistic (ok, maybe a touch when it comes to beauty products!) but it's the little things in life that make me happy, like sleepily coming round with a cuppa in the morning and hearing the postie dropping some lovely things through my letter box.

Day 1 of my #100HappyDays began with the postie delivering my new YSL Touché Éclat Highlighter...of which I could greatly use at the moment (I'm blessed with hereditary dark-circles). I will post up some swatches in a separate post, but we all know this cult-classic is a make-up bag must-have!

Have a great, happy day!

Jodie

xoxo

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer

Another MAC plunge I've taken this week is the Pro Longwear concealer (NC15). At the moment I am currently using Studio Fix Fluid foundation (NC15) and the Studio concealer (NC15). Whilst the foundation is almost perfect the Studio concealer, in my opinion, is rubbish! The colour is nearly a perfect match but it is a cream concealer and I find it sits in the creases of my eyes and is a bit of work to blend. So, I thought I would give the Pro Longwear concealer a go after reading so many glowing reviews.

Now, if you read my blog you would know that I live around 50 miles aways from the nearest MAC counter, I rely solely on other blogs and google images to match my colours up. I did have a chat with a MAC artist online for the colour match on this concealer and I will say it is a pretty good match.

(L) Studio NC15 (R) Pro Longwear NC15

As you can see the Studio concealer on the left appears to be more warm toned than the Pro Longwear, ironic really as all NC shades are supposed to be cool toned, but when it comes to concealers under my eyes I like something with a bit more warmth.

I really wish I could say that I love the Pro Longwear concealer, maybe we just need a bit more bonding time together. The concealer comes in a glass bottle so be weary of it rattling around in your make-up bag, it also comes with a pump which dispenses way too much of the product each time you use it, very wasteful and hard to control. The formula is fluid, which is not unpleasant but I do find I need to layer it up a little. As for the claims that it lasts for up to 15 hours...not for me it doesn't! It makes my eyes look a bit dry and crepey, I look more tired with the concealer on! 

For now I can't say I'm a fan, but maybe we will learn to love each other...

Jodie

xoxo