Hello lovelies, I hope everyone is well and had a lovely long Bank Holiday weekend off work, I was working (boo!) and it was extremely busy so I thought I'd share with you today the products I reached for most last week to mask my fatigue in the office.

When I'm feeling tired the last thing I want to to is spend 30 minutes on my base and strangely enough I find the more foundation I'm wearing the worse my skin looks so I start with Topshop Beauty Airbrush Primer to help shrink the appearance of pores and just smooth everything out and then I apply the seriously impressive Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, this stuff does an amazing job of covering imperfections, evening out skin tone and leaving a healthy dewy glow. For my tired eyes I start with my holy grail eye product Bobbi Brown Corrector to counteract any darkness and then I use a light dabbing of Clarins Instant Concealer I also like to apply a little to my chin, nose and cupids bow as it leaves a gorgeous glow to your skin and brightens my face up. For cheeks I'm loving an old favourite which I dug out from my collection Bourjois Cream Blush 02 Healthy Glow, this colour blends seamlessly and lifts my whole complexion.

When I'm feeling/looking tired I like to keep my eye makeup quite fresh so I start with Lancome Base Paupières Pro to keep my eyeshadow in place and then apply a light sweep of the lightest shade from L'Oreals Color Riche La Palette Nude Beige being sure to apply in the inner corners of my eyes. I then like to apply a thin line of Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner to my lash line and the instantly brightening Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl in the shade nude to my waterline, this instantly makes me look more awake. For lashes I am loving Clinique Lash Building Primer to really add body and volume to my lashes and then finish with a sweep of my favourite mascara Lancome Hypnose. For brows I am loving Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade as it has everything I need to quickly fill in sparse brows and stay put all day. To set everything in place I'm absolutely loving NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder as it sets everything in place but doesn't take away the glow of my base and enhances the glow of my skin.

Phew it seems like a lot of products but we're actually talking about 20 minutes in the morning from looking half dead to healthy! Do you see any of your favourites here or anything you'd want to try?

L'Oreal Paris Infallible Matte Foundation & Primer Review

L'Oreal Paris Infallible Matte Foundation £7.99

I must admit other than my (Bourjois) cc cream I haven't worn a drugstore foundation in about 5 years for no reason other than the more high end ones I have converted to just perform better than the drugstore ones I have tried. When L'Oreal released their Infallible Matte foundation and the blogosphere went ablaze with reviews I said to myself I wasn't going to buy it but when i was in Superdrug picking up some essentials I ended up going against what I had said, chucked it in my basket and asked myself if so many girls could be wrong about this foundation.

So a little background on my skin, it's oily/combination and I have some light acne scarring (although no new breakout's) so you'd think this would be ideal for my skin type as it offers a matte finish which still has some life to it, right? Wrong. This is probably the thickest foundation I have ever used, it sets so quickly that you barely have time to blend it properly and it did not feel like it offered the natural finish it proclaims to. I enjoyed the primer, it has a silicone, gel kinda feel to it which I'm used to after using similar formulas and it did reduce the shine on my skin slightly. I like to apply my foundation with my fingers and then blend with a damp Beauty Blender, the most annoying thing that I found about this foundation was that it just lifted off with the slightest touch of my sponge so a second layer is a no-no and applying concealer under my eyes and trying to blend out just made the whole situation worse. I ended up taking the whole lot off and applying my regular foundation. I picked the shade 'Vanilla' which seemed a good match for me inshore however on it looks so red, I honestly looked like I was holding my breath!

Can't say I'm hugely surprised or disappointed in this foundation, this is the reason I stopped buying drugstore foundations all those years ago, they really are like marmite. Have you tried this foundation, did you find you had similar issues?

L'Oreal Paris Color Riche La Palette Nude Eyeshadow Palette | Beige

L'Oreal Paris Color Riche La Palette Nude Eyeshadow Palete | Beige | £14.99

I have wanted this palette ever since I saw preview posts of it online but frustratingly every time I had gone to purchase it online it had been out of stock, much to my delight I walked into my local Superdrug over the weekend and the L'Oreal stand was stacked with them and I brought this little gem home with me. Although equally as beautiful this palettes predecessor is more rose/pink toned and as I have yellow toned skin it just wouldn't have worked for me, where as this palette has everything I need in one place.

The formula of the eyeshadows is silky and the shades blend incredibly well. I love the fact there is a mixture of matte and shimmer shadows in this palette along with a decent sized mirror and a not so bad quality applicator/brush. The palette itself is sleek and much unlike anything I'm used to from L'Oreal, it definitely has a more high end feel to it.

This palette was definitely worth the wait and in my opinion worth the hype. Will you be purchasing one?

March Empties

It's been a while since I did an 'empties' post, primarily because I completely forget to stash away those empty vessels and they end up in the bin but this month I have made a conscious effort to put aside those empty products. So I'm going to run through my empties and whether they will be repurchased or already have...

Yves Rocher Cocoa & Pistachio Hand Cream | £1.95 75ml

I always have a couple of tubes/bottles of hand cream on my bedside table as the last part of my bedtime beauty routine involves slathering my hands in moisturiser before bed. This cheap and cheerful hand cream from Yves Rocher smells divine and although I don't have over dry hands unfortunately it does very little for me on the moisturising front so this one won't be a repurchase.

B. Pure Micellar Water | £4.99 150ml

I've tried a fair few micellar water's and none have stood up to this. Not only does it remove all traces of makeup but it also leaves my skin squeaky clean and smooth. I use this as part of a 'double cleanse' at night meaning I will use this prior to my cleanser and together they deliver a super deep cleanse. I have a stockpile of this micellar water, you can often pick it up for half the rrp from Superdrug.

Premae Balance Rescue Facewash  | £30 200ml

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I have a real soft spot for Premae's products. This gel cleanser has done wonders for my skin, with it's completely natural ingredients it provides a deep cleanse whilst leaving my skin soft and nourished. This product is a regular repurchase as it's such a staple in my routine.

Lush Tea Tree Water  | £4.25 100ml

If like me you suffer from troublesome skin occasionally then you will love this toner. Containing only 6 ingredients it effectively balances oily skin and removes the last traces of your clearer whilst helping to fight your spots. I will repurchase this somewhere down the line, I've just started a toner from La Roche Possay so I will see how I get on with that one first.

Batiste Dry Shampoo Cherry | £2.99 200ml

I doubt I'm alone in favouriting Batiste dry shampoo, it's great for giving you one last day in between washes and giving volume to hairstyles. I've already repurchased only this time I have gone for a trio of miniatures I picked up on sale from ASOS.

Loreal Miss Manga Mascara | £8.99

This mascara is one of my favourite drugstore products. It does an amazing job of lengthening and separating lashes with a smudge and clump free formula. I definitely would repurchase this mascara, I have Lancome Hypnose open at the moment (I don't like to have more than one mascara open at any one time) but this would be top of my list for future purchases.

Lush Mask Of Magnaminty | £5.50 125ml

Lush offer a great variety of affordable yet effective skincare products and mask of magnanimity is at the top of my list for face masks. When I'm suffering from a bad break out this mask does wonders for my skin. I go through bouts of buying Lush products, unfortunately I live 30 miles away from my nearest store so I can't just pop in, I do order online when I have a largish order to put through but because they are full of fresh ingredients they only tend to last for 14 days.

Lush Cosmetic Warrior Mask | £6.50 75g

This is my all-time favourite mask for break-out's, it does a quick and super effective job of clearing break-out's and reducing the size of those horrible large spots that just won't budge. The smell takes some getting used to (think garlic mayo!) due to some of the ingredients but when it does an amazing job like it does, I can live with it!

Eyeko Eyeliner | £12

I absolutely love this eyeliner for it's precision but I do find that the formula smudges and as it's a felt tip pen style liner it dries up so quickly! This unfortunately will not be a repurchase, I much prefer a gel liner for the depth of colour.

Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion | £21.50 50ml

The one pictured is a sample size from a Benefit gift set. This oil-free lotion preps skin for moisturising and leaves skin soft and dewy without looking oily and slick. I have gone on to purchase the full size product as my foundation seems to look so much better with this moisturiser worn underneath!

Aromatherapy Associates Inner Strength Bath & Shower Oil | £40 55ml

Again in this photo this is a sample sized product, from Birchbox I think.  I smooth this oil all over my body before getting into the shower and within seconds of the water hitting my skin the bathroom is filled with the uplifting scents of sage and frankincense. I will definitely go on to purchase the full size product.

Vasanti Brighten Up Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator | £26 120ml

This is another Birchbox sample, I'm on a mission to work through that huge draw full of samples I have! Whilst this exfoliator smells lovely and has fine particles to help buff dead skin away I didn't find it abrasive enough for me, I do own cheaper and more effective products. It's not the worst I've tried but its far from the best so for this reason I won't go on to purchase the full size.

Phew this month's empties has certainly been one of skincare, I find it hard to get through makeup as I have so much of it and do a weekly product rotation. Have you spotted any of your favourites here?