After hearing so many people absolutely rave about Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish I decided to purchase a bottle to see what all of the fuss was about. Funnily enough my Liz Earle order came on the same day as my Birchbox did and there was a 30ml sample in there, luckily I'm really enjoying using it so that will keep me stocked for a while.

I'm more than happy with my current cleanser but I wanted to see why this product had such a cult status and had won more than 100 awards...now I see. I've been using C&P as a make-up remover/cleanser, I remove the majority of my make-up with make-up remover and then rub one pump of C&P over my face and then polish it off with a hot muslin cloth. The texture is very creamy and leaves skin feeling very moisturised yet squeaky clean.

Now it may just be a coincidence but I broke out quite badly the day after first using C&P, it's all cleared up now and my skin is looking pretty darn good! Like I said I am more than happy with my current cleanser so this is perfect for me for removing the last traces of make-up before having a deep clean.

I love everything about this product. The expensive feeling yet practical packaging, the texture and the scent. Suitable for all skin-types and ages I can see why this product has such a huge fan base. The formula includes ingredients such as cocoa and eucalyptus and has the gorgeous aroma of rosemary. Everything about this product screams luxury and is a real skin treat.

May Premae Donna Box Selection

Making my Premae Donna box selection is something I really look forward to. Not only I am kept stocked up with my favourite regular products but it gives me the opportunity to try new products at a fraction if the retail price. I made my selection at the beginning of the month but I wanted to give it a couples of weeks before giving my opinion on the products...although if you know me and you know Premae you know I'll love everything of theirs I try!

Balance Rescue Cleansing Face Wash rrp £22.50

If you've read any of my posts on my skincare routine and products you'll know that Premae's Balance Rescue face wash is a staple product for me. I use this cleanser morning and night, a gentle yet very thorough foaming cleanser that unclogs pores and removes all traces of make-up and other impurities. This cleanser is ideal for blemish prone skin and gives illuminating results.

Pharma 100 Conditioning Creme rrp £19.50  

Pharma 100 was a completely new product for me this month. I've really been looking forward to trying it and after using it for two weeks I feel I can give it a fair enough review. Although I have oily/combination skin on my face I seem to suffer from the complete opposite on my body. Don't get me wrong I'm not covered in dry, flaky patches but I do suffer from quite dry, tight skin on the tops of my arms and shoulders, or should I say did? This creme has been an absolute dream to use, it's very rich, I apply straight out of the shower and my skin drinks it up and I'm left feeling moisturised well into the day. This award-winning creme is great for eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis sufferers alike, leaving skin nourished and fortified.

Lab Definitive Eye Creme rrp £17.50

I briefly touched on Premae's Lab Definitive Eye Creme in my April's favourite's blog post. I've been using it for around a month now and can confidently say that it's fabulous! This eye creme is nourishing yet light and makes for a great eye make-up base. Enriched with Vitamin C and K it refreshes and comfortably tightens delicate skin around the eye area. Although moisturising it's not at all greasy so it keeps eye make-up in place, keeping eye's looking fresh and bright.

I'm looking forward to my June selection, if you're yet to try Premae's products don't hesitate...you won't be disappointed!

Benefit Fine One One Review

This week to feed my blusher addiction I purchased Fine One One by Benefit. I have been eyeing up this cream blusher for a while as it has a gorgeous coral colour in it and the added benefit of a highlighter.

For some reason I thought the product would be bigger, photo's of it on the website kind of gave me that impression. Anyway the product itself comes in Benefit's usual quirky and standout packaging and the twist stick form makes it really easy to use and great to pop in your handbag for touch-up's.

When blended in the coral orange isn't so prominent, it really just gives you a fresh flush of colour. The only thing I will say is that when swiped straight across the cheeks if you wear a good layer of foundation it can take some of it off. Most days I wear a quite heavy layer of MAC Studio Fix Fluid and when I applied Fine One One for the first time it swiped most of the foundation from my cheeks. I have found a better method is to apply strategically to my fingers first, transfer that onto my cheeks and then blend with my RT Buffing brush.

The colour is quite sheer, its more of a wash of colour, I found I had to apply a couple of layers to get any colour pay-off. I have tried it on my lips, it's quite tricky to get just the shade you want to wear applied so I found it a lot easier to apply with a lip brush.

I must admit I expected a little more from this product. There were a couple of things that really cheapened the product in my opinion, the label wasn't applied properly and the leaflet inside the box was folded over as if the blusher itself had been shoved into the box. Luckily my Birchbox points paid for the majority of the cost of Fine One One so I don't feel too aggrieved that it wasn't as great as I pictured it to be. If it was just a bit bigger and the colour a bit more pigmented it would be perfect!

Dr Organic Moroccan Argan Oil Hair Treatment Serum

In the May shortlist of You Beauty Discovery was Dr Organic's Moroccan Argan Hair Serum which I eagerly ordered as I am a huge fan of Argan oil for my hair. I style my hair straight most days and as it's naturally quite thick and curly I need as much help as I can get with taming the frizz.

Dr Organic's Moroccan Argan oil did not disappoint. It is a lightweight oil that helps nourish hair and eliminates frizz without weighing it down. I dispensed one pump and worked through hair from mid-lenght to tips on towel dried hair before styling as usual and it left my hair feeling light and glossy.

The oil has an incredibly rich list of ingredients in it including organic Argan oil, Orange Fruit extract, Clove Oil , Lemon Peel oil, Rosewood, Cinnamon leaf oil and the list goes on and on. The oil itself is very fragrant when first applied, I would say the most prominent scents were of the Clove oil and Rosewood, the fragrance dies down a little once hair is dried and styled.

The product itself is housed in an expensive feeling frosted glass bottle with a very clever cap that prevents the pump accidentally going off.

I'm really enjoying using this hair oil at the moment and with only one pump needed for my mid-lenght hair I thick it's going to last a while!

Jodie

xoxo

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Review and Swatches

For a little while now I have been looking for an eyeshadow palette containing a variety of neutral colours all of which I would wear. I have other palettes lying around in which I will just use a couple of the colours and end up throwing the rest of it away. I tend to only use matte neutral shades on my eyes as I'm more of a lipstick kinda gal, for now my search is over...enter Urban Decay's Naked Basics Palette rrp £22.

I know people go nuts over Urban Decay's Naked 1, 2 and 3 but I have never reached for one as they contain shimmery eyeshadows, which just isn't for me, so I had never given thought into purchasing one of their palettes as I thought they were all pretty much the same. In my opinion Naked Basics is the best palette of them all, it contains 6 very versatile shades which every woman needs in her eye make-up arsenal. All but one shade (Venus) are richly pigmented matte shades, not at all chalky or powdery they go on beautifully and the staying power (with a good primer) is fantastic.

Top L to R: Venus, Foxy and Walk Of Shame
Bottom L to R: Naked 2, Faint and Crave

You can't really tell from my photo but Venus has a touch of satin to it so it's the perfect shade for highlighting. This palette is loaded with Urban Decay's full-size shadow pans and every shade features their Pigment Infusion System for colour that holds tightly to pigment and gives the formula it's glide. The shades blend easily and seamlessly together and as they are so richly pigmented a little goes a long way meaning this palette will last you a long time.

I haven't given my other eyeshadow's a look since purchasing this palette, it gives me every colour I need in one place.

Jodie

xoxo

May's Edition Of Birchbox

Rather excitingly Birchbox collaborated with Sophie Bloomfield the Beauty Director from fashion and beauty magazine Harper's Bazaar with their must-have beauty picks for Spring/Summer. When Birchbox announced their collaboration it caused quite a stir on social media with beauty enthusiasts eagerly anticipating May's edition and quite rightly so as this box has some fabulous products in it! Let's take a look into my box and the items I received...

One of the products everyone wanted was Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. This award winning (100 awards to be precise!) cleanser lifts dirt and makeup from the skin's surface with a little help from two of nature's best astringents- eucalyptus oil and rosemary, polishing the product off with their 100% cotton muslin cloth it leaves skin radiant, smoothed and soothed. Gentle yet effective it can even be used to remove eye makeup. Funnily enough I placed an order for this very product earlier in the week and it came the same time as my Birchbox! Whilst I am more than happy with my current cleanser I was intrigued to know why this product has such a cult following...I will pop a post up once I have tried it this evening.

I was hoping that I would have one of the polishes in my box after seeing the spoilers and I was so pleased when I opened the box to find the shade Persimmon by expert salon brand Soigne. This gorgeous coral shade, leaning more on the orange side, will be the perfect Spring/Summer shade for fingers and toes! The packaging of this polish makes it feel a lot more expensive than it is (rrp £11). It comes in a gorgeous Chanel-esque black and white box with the polish being hugged firmly by black foam inside. I only did my nails yesterday evening so won't be trying it out tonight but it's next on my list!

Another great sample-sized product from Benefit this month. I have tried their 'They're Real!' mascara before and it's really good, it gives lashes both length and volume with a natural looking curl. The formula is jet-black and the special brush is definition enchanting, easily layered to take you from your day-to-night look. I find the best application is to wiggle the brush from lash base to tip, giving you volume without clumps.

I do love a good bath oil, although I tend to shower more I do have a lovely little collection in the bathroom for when I do decide to take time out and indulge. I have tried Aromatherapy Associates Morning Bath & Shower Oil before, containing grapefruit, rosemary and juniper it's a great energy booster for use in the morning or after travelling. There's enough for one bath in the sample, I will add this to my collection to indulge in soon.

Last but not least in my box was Beauty Protectors shampoo and conditioner. I rarely stray from my usual shampoo and conditioner but I do have a little box of samples which are great to pack if I'm going away for the night. Beauty Protector's range is designed to revive heat styled hair, guard against further damage and hep heal any that's already been done. The formula contains honey pearl powder which is rich in conchiolin which acts like the hair protein Keratin.





Overall I think this was a fabulous box full of a good variation of great quality products. I have only been with Birchbox for 3 months and I haven't been disappointed yet.

Jodie

xoxo

May's Edition Of You Beauty Box

This month You Beauty collaborated with CEW (Cosmetic Executive Woman) UK to produce a shortlist of award winning products in a You Beauty Discovery CEW Beauty Awards box. Unfortunately for some this proved to be a very popular shortlist of products and a few of the most wanted products were sold out before 7am on 1st May (the day you can make your selection). I anticipated it being a very popular box and stayed up until midnight to make my selection...sad I know! So lets take a look at the items I picked and the little extra's in my You Beauty box...

The main reason and the one product I stayed up until midnight for was the Fake Bake 60 Minute Tan. I already own this stuff and I think it's fab! It's a really easy liquid tanner with a 'show-where-it-goes' formula that gives a golden tan after 60 minutes, or you can leave for up to 3 hours for a deeper tan to develop. What I really love about Fake Bake's 60 Minute Tan is it absorbs quickly and doesn't leave you feeling all sticky and gross afterwards, I can use this on my face and not break out which is an added bonus! I received the full 236ml bottle retailing at £24.95 along with tanning mitt...the box had paid for itself twice over with this product alone!

              I picked the Percy & Reed Eau My Goodness Shine Spray as I have for some reason a real think for shine spray's. With it's ever cute packaging unique to Percy & Reed products it looks great on my dressing table but the 50ml bottle is small enough to fit in my handing. Whilst the spray did have a divine rose scent and delivered the promised shot of shine I probably wouldn't purchase the full product for £22, at the rate I get through hair products it would turn out to be too expensive.

               

The extra samples that I received in my box this month were Charles Worthington's Moisture

Seal Leave In Hair Conditioner and Caudalie Divine Legs. I'm not sure if there 

is actually enough in the sachet to do a leg but there was enough to give me a feel for

the product. Divine Legs is a quick-drying, long-lasting tinted lotion designed to give a natural finish

with no yucky orange toned streaking. When searching for Charles Worthington's

 

leave-in conditioner everywhere seemed to be out of stock so I'm guessing it's discontinued,

either that or everyone's snapping it up! Also in my box was a single serving of Lizi's Granola which I haven't tried yet but it looks lush!

I think this month's box was excellent value for money and a great selection of products...so much so I did sub for another box choosing Fake Bake 60 Minute Tan again and Dr Organic Moroccan Argan Oil (separate post to follow on that). I would say You Beauty Discovery is one of the best value for money beauty boxes out there, sure that element of surprise isn't there with what you get through the door but that's what I like! The shortlists are 9 times out of 10 good comprised of a good selection and great value products...for £6.95 including p&p what more do you want?

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

Eyeko Brow Gel Review

Today I rather excitedly received in the post Eyeko Brow Gel £18 rrp. Over the last few months brows have become my 'thing' and after filling them in I love to use a brow gel to set them and really give them a defined finish.

After one use I can confidently say that I love Eyeko's Brow Gel! It's a tinted eyebrow gel which they say will suite all shades from blonde to brunette however the gel is a dark brown shade with, I don't know if you can pick it out from the photo's, flecks of gold in, I would say more suited for medium to dark brown shades. The 'nano-brush' is small and really aids precision application without clumps or an overload of product on brows.

This eyebrow gel is said to be infused with Keratin and Gingko Bilabo combined with natural proteins and multivitamins to condition, thicken and visibly improve the appearance of brows. Whatever it has in it I definitely prefer it over my current brow gel (Maybelline Brow Drama). It goes on so smoothly, coating each individual hair leaving them plumper yet natural looking. This is definitley a makeup bag staple for me now I have discovered it.

Have you tried Eyeko Brow Gel? What's part of your eyebrow arsenal?

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