Favourite Things #4

I'm trying my absolute best to not make a comment about how quick the past month seems to have gone, but in the past sentence I have done nothing but say just how quick the past month has gone. So... I should probably get onto my favourites...

Beauty Favourites-
There's a lot of products reappearing this month, so it should be quite a quick one today, which is quite handy as I'm currently feeling very hungry and in the need of food!

Neal and Wolf Super Shine Spray- As with my other holy grail hair product, the Neal and Wolf Guard heat protectant, I feel sucked in to buy something everytime I go to my hair salon. Laura, my hairdresser used this on my straight hair, and I've never seen it look so glossy and healthy, as it did with this product. Like all of their products, the scent is incredible, the product sprays in an even mist, and doesn't leave hair feeling greasy or heavy. I'll be reviewing this very soon, as I think I've finally found my favourite shine spray of all time! (Insert cheesy Cheshire cat grin here.)

Miss Dior Eau De Parfum- The most beautiful, feminine, elegant and luxurious scent (and bottle- don't lie to yourself, it makes a difference!) I've ever owned. I was bought this last year, and it's definitely one of my favourites in my collection. Thanks to it having been my birthday, I've reached for this one the most, because it makes me feel absolutely amazing.

Xen-Tan Moroccan Tan- One from the last months favourites post too, I'm still loving this tan, and will definitely be applying it later tonight so I can wake up looking a little less deathly than Edward Scissorhands.

Revlon Lip Butter in Wild Watermelon- As with all Revlon lip butters, it has an amazing, soft and buildable texture, with a lovely natural/glossy finish to it. Wild Watermelon is a gorgeous cherry-red colour, and I like to wear it blotted out to look more like a stain in the summer months when our makeup bags get a summer overhaul.

MAC Quad with Nylon, Naked Lunch, All That Glitters and Mystery- A quad I made for myself, and the colours all go together so beautifully, can look natural or dramatic, and are ideal for day/night. I genuinely couldn't pick a favourite shade from this palette as all four are very, very beautiful!

Dior Iconic Overcurl Mascara- I'm sure you're all sick of hearing me waffle on about this, so I'll link in the original review for anyone who hasn't seen it just yet.

Essie Nail Polish (Ballet Slippers)- My nails have been in great condition recently, so I've been using my first ever, and all-time favourite polish, more than normal. It's so versatile thanks to how buildable/sheer it is, and like all Essie polishes, has that amazing thick, curved brush which makes application a dream.






Origins GinZing Moisturiser- Another one well-raved about by myself, and I've just repurchased (first moisturiser I've ever repurchased-wahoo!) so I'm truly loving it this month. Original review is here.

Avene Thermal Water Spray- And another with it's own review already... I promise this is a coincidence. This seems like my laziest favourites post yet.

Non-Beauty Favourites 

Chupi "My heart is open" Ring- Ignore my pale hands in the picture above, I'm scrubbing all of my fake tan off to start with a clean canvas, so to speak. My Nan and Grandad bought me this ring for my birthday, and I've never took such care of a piece of jewellery in my life. We're currently inseparable...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Complete Collection- Season 4 is my favourite, and I've been getting through episodes of this like a crazy person. And confession time... My crush on Spike is starting again. Cor, I'm so embarrassing...

Vampire Diaries Books- In my impatient state of waiting for the fifth season of TVD I've been reading the novels on my Kindle for iPad. They're actually quite different to the TV show, which is definitely my preferred out of the two, but these are quite a good easy read for the summer-time, and perfect books for reading whilst on the go.

Hope you've enjoyed this post! And remember you don't have long left to enter my giveaway, to win Soap and Glory, Bumble and Bumble, Millie's Lashes and Maybelline Baby Lips goodies!

Perfume for your Hair?! - Dior J'Adore Hair Perfume Review

Listed on Escentual's website as a "Hair mist" it's easy to say that this is one of the most peculiar things I've ever owned - a hair perfume! It's easy to say I'm quite the sucker for things that are different, I love owning things no one else has (such a drama queen, aren't I?!) so when I read about this in a magazine, and with me being a self-confessed Dior addict, I knew I had to get my hands on one.

This is a 30ml bottle and is priced at £26.35 (at time of posting) on Escentual here in the UK. So, in my opinion is quite good value for money, given that Dior perfumes are a lot higher on the price scale...

The product itself is cased in a perfume shaped bottle, and comes out in a perfectly fine mist, so your hair doesn't get drenched with product, nor does it distribute unevenly in those dreadful little spits that hair sprays often do. I use about three sprays, for the sides and back of my hair, which tends to last from when applied in a morning, to when I scrape my hair up into my Invisibobble at night-time. But this product isn't only for making your hair smell like heaven, it is enriched with Ylang-Ylang oils, providing shine and nourishment to your locks.

The scent, is the same as the J'Adore perfumes, and is a beautiful floral, and feminine scent, with top notes of Ylang-Ylang, heart notes of Damask Rose, and base notes of Sambac Jasmine.

The packaging of this is completely beautiful, elegant, and looks nothing short of amazing lined up with my Miss Dior, Jo Malone and Diptyque on my dressing table. As with most Dior products, it has the little Christian Dior logo etched into the top of the bottle, a nice little touch don't you think?

On the less glamorous side, I feel like my hair smells amazing after washing anyway, so I wouldn't dream of unnecessarily product, so this does only see use when my hair is already dirty. While I like using quite natural dry shampoos, I find they don't disguise any (cue, upcoming TMI) unpleasant scents, so when the scalp is getting oilier, and the ends drier, this comes in more than handy for freshening up your "I really should have washed it last night" hair...

Overall, I love this product, if it runs out I'll definitely repurchase, as luxurious as it is, it really does perk me up, and make me feel so special when I go out. And much unlike the Velvotan Self Tan for the back applicator I reviewed last week, this is a novelty which works, and I thoroughly recommend to anyone who, like me, feels the urge to squirt their perfume all over their hair, too.

More Crownbrush Love - Duo fiber Face Brushes Review

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, I was lucky enough to win the beautiful duo-fiber face collection of brushes from my faves, Crownbrush UK. As always, they came with immaculate packaging, and super-speedy delivery just a couple days after I had passed my address onto them. I used three of these brushes on my birthday, and everyone commented on how lovely my skin looked, as well as the complete adoration of my flawless face make-up myself. (That sounded completely big-headed, and it was the only way to get my point across, I apologise, but it was totally unintentional!)

The brushes from left to right are; Bronzer C442, Face Powder C406, Liquid Foundation C404, Blush C436.


Despite that this is stated as a bronzer brush, I found this brush worked best at buffing in my foundation. With it being my birthday, and having a little more time to spend on make-up, I applied two shades Laura Mercier's silk creme, to lightly contour, and my foundation was left twice as flawless as it usually would be with a Real Techniques Buffing brush, or my triple-the-price Urban Decay Optical Blurring brush.

I have used this brush for applying both cream blush products, and cream highlighters, and have loved the finish created with both. It is a similar size to the liquid foundation brush, but thanks to the shorter length of the bristles, this brush is a little more dense, and I find moves the product around less, which is ideal for getting a more precise application either on the apples of the cheeks, or the tops of cheekbones, depending on what it's used for. I hadn't realised that I already had the liquid foundation brush, and have already reviewed it in my previous Crownbrush post (here) but I've chosen to use this brush for applying my radiance primers, as I found the application with a brush makes the product work into my skin easier, and I can use less product than I would normally.




This face powder brush probably hasn't seen as much action as the others, as I tend to favor a natural finish to matte. But whilst we had the horribly sticky and warm weather, I applied my powder with this, and applied a little MAC Fix+ afterwards, and I have to say, it left a much nicer finish than without the powder. My makeup stayed put, even after a long country walk and a few wine and sodas.

I'm completely thrilled with these brushes, and once again Crownbrush has knocked every other brush company off my radar thanks to their incredible customer service, speedy delivery and more than perfect professional quality brushes.

If there was an angel and devil sitting on each shoulder, even the angel would be telling you to treat yourself on the Crownbrush site. I promise you won't be disappointed, go, go, go! I currently have a 10% code off for all my followers too, which is FINJA13, and my link in the sidebar will take you straight to their site.

Thanks so much Crownbrush. You have once again, completely revolutionised my make-up routine!!

My MAC Eyeshadow Collection

Hey everyone! So the birthday celebrations are more or less over now, so I thought I'd get to work on a post I've been planning for quite a while now, a very much overdue eyeshadow collection to join my previous lipstick collection. This one is forever growing, but at the moment, this is my MAC x15 eye palette, in all of its beautiful glory.

The colours in this palette, with the finishes from left to right are:

Vanilla (Velvet)

Brule (Satin)

Quarry (Matte)

Omega (Matte)

Cork (Satin)

Woodwinked (Veluxe Pearl)

Patina (Frost)

Satin Taupe (Frost)

Charcoal Brown (Matte)

Embark (Matte)

Sumptuous Olive (Veluxe Pearl)

Club (Satin)

Cranberry (Frost)

Sketch (Velvet)

Carbon (Matte)

All the swatches in this post have been done using a blending brush, to create a more realistic view on what the colours will look like when applied.

MAC shadows are easy to blend, last well, especially when used with a primer, and some are more pigmented than others, but overall, their shadows are pretty damn incredible, and the colour selection is perfect for beginners and professionals.


The "mattes"- (Left to right, Vanilla, Brule, Quarry, Omega, Cork, Charcoal Brown, Embark, Carbon)

Both Vanilla and Brule were very hard to photograph, because they are so pale, and don't show up a lot on your lids anyway, but both are ideal as base colours, or very subtle highlight colours, depending on your skin tone.

Quarry is an ideal crease colour, a lot cooler in tone than most, so looks very natural, making it ideal for a "pin-up" 50's inspired eye look. Cork is also amazing for this, but it's a lot warmer, so I tend to use it if I'm a little more tan, or if my makeup look is a lot more bronzed and Victoria's Secret-esque. I also like to use Cork all over the lid, and under the eye if I decide to go for a bohemian/grunge Cara-esque look.

Embark and Carbon tend to be used as liner, as powder colours are a lot more subtle than liquid and gel liners for certain occasions. Embark is a lot more subtle than Carbon, which is a true black. The red undertones in Embark are truly beautiful, and make this one of my favourite shades in this palette.

Both Omega and Charcoal Brown are brow colours for myself, depending on how intense my makeup look is, and because I dye my brows, Omega is good for the days where it has faded, a mixture of both in between, and Charcoal Brown for when they are darker. (Girl problems, ey?)

The "shimmers"- Left to right (Woodwinked, Patina, Satin Taupe, Sumptuous Olive, Club, Cranberry, Sketch)

Woodwinked is a beautiful colour to be used alone, as when blended out, it seems to come across as two colours, starting as a deep bronze/gold shade, and leaving a very warm red/brown on the blended edges. Quite similar to Sumptuous Olive and Club, which when blended also have the effect of two shades. Club is completely multi-tonal, it appears brown in these pictures, but has tones of green running through it, similar to Sumptuous Olive, making them a perfect combination.

Sketch is quite similar to the darkest shade in my Estee Lauder Raisins palette (review: here) a deep plum, which is very flattering on pale blue/green eyes like my own. Cranberry is similar in finish, but more of a deep red, than deep purple, it's very obvious to see why this is such a favourite, it is beautiful, and so different to the usual eyeshadows on the market.

Patina and Satin Taupe are also beautiful shades, with Patina being what I would call a very subtle bronze, and much more appropriate for daytime wear for anyone nervous about having too heavy of eye makeup in the day. Satin Taupe is quite similar to Woodwinked I'd say, but as the name suggests, it has tones of Taupe running through it (too obvious?!)

I'd say my favourite finish would be a toss up between matte and frost. I like mattes as they are so easy to wear on a day to day basis, and blend well, however frost is almost like a shimmery version of matte, without having huge shimmer particles that make you look like Edward Cullen, it's a subtle way of doing shimmer, and making your lids look more glossy, rather than sparkly.

My favourite combinations, are; 

-Brule across the whole lid, Quarry in the crease, with cat-eye liner flick for the perfect 50's inspired look.

-Patina across the lid, Embark used as liner, and blended a little. Embark is a brilliant alternative to black liner, and the red tones are so flattering on pale blue/green eyes like my own.

-Sumptuous Olive and Cork through the crease, with a little Carbon dabbed as close the lash-line as possible to thicken the lashes.

I feel as if I've waffled on for what feels like a lifetime now, if you want to see any looks, or anything reviewed in depth, please let me know! I'm going to post about my two MAC quads next week, I think.