Life Lately #3

'@adayinbeauty'

1. Going shopping in my biggest sunglasses | 2. A new holder for some of my makeup brushes | 3. A lovely meal cooked by my boyfriend | 4. Big hair, don't care | 5. New palette offering from NARS - Fairy's Kiss | 6. Loving a strong brow | 7. A new Pandora bracelet to add to my jewellery collection | 8. I spend most of my time cuddling Bella | 9. Swapping some beads over to my new Pandora bracelet | 10. I had a little Muji drawer re-vamp | 11. The new Clarins powder is a beaut | 12. Say hello to the CHANEL creme blushes | 13. Kicking my butt into gear to help me loose weight | 14. Still loving these polishes | 15. A sneak peak at an up and coming haul post | 16. Philip Kingsley Elasticizer free with this months InStyle magazine!

Current favourite product: the Bumble & Bumble thickening spray (free with ELLE last month) has been helping to give me full and voluminous hair and it will definitely be purchase, full-sized, when I run out. 

Most lusted after: having done some research I am really coveting the Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders in Dim Light and Luminous Light - they have been added to my birthday list! 

Marc Jacobs Honey Perfume

When it comes to perfumes; Marc Jacobs it where it is at. With an array of feminine scents encased in super cute bottles there is something to meet the needs of every girl. Daisy, Lola and Dot are just a few names that spring to mind when  thinking of perfumes by Marc Jacobs, but today we are talking about the new kid on the block... Honey. 

Let's address the bottle first, shall we? Sister to the well loved Dot perfume, Honey puts a golden spin on things with black strips and pearls, with white polka dots adorning the bottle. For me, this is puts the icing on the cake. It is all good and well having a delicious scent but when you add a charming bottle to the mix - then you have my attention. On to the scent... a definite sweet yet almost crisp scent fills this bottle. With top notes of pear and mandarin, Honey isn't too  honey. To make this perfume a little sweeter notes of orange blossom and honeysuckle have been added, along with base notes of smooth woods, vanilla and a bit more honey to create a warmer scent.

A sweet fruity/floral scent? Check! An adorable bottle? Check! A box that you just can't throw away so it is sat in a draw somewhere? Check! Does Honey sound like your cup of tea?

Rimmel Salon Pro

Nail polishes, probably every beauty bloggers very first love affair. Back in the day Barry M had stole your heart but as time grew you opted for more sophisticated options and OPI become your favourite companion, and now that you are all grown up and out to work you are just searching for something to fit the 'one paint job a week' criteria...

Well let me introduce to you Rimmel Salon Pro. A polish that will stick around for five to seven days: no chipping, no fuss. A super thick brush for easy application and a whole range colours to meet your fancy. Want more? The relatively thick formula of this polish means that you can be ready to go in just minutes (because who likes waiting around?), I always like to add that second just to make things really sparkle. Talking of sparkle, this stuff has a gel like finish meaning your nails will be glossy and shiny even once they have dried. Now I have save the best for last, because if all that other stuff doesn't satisfy you then this will... it's only £4.49!

I know you're probably eyeing up those shades in that picture, they are Cocktail Passion and Peppermint, both favourites of mine. Wondering if they are as good as they sound? Check them out for yourself, you won't be disappointed ;).

Empties #1

I will admit that it is not very often I use up a product, but when I do I just pop in a drawer, wait a couple of months to see what I have accumulated and thus, the 'empties post' is born. Just a warning to you all, my empties post will mostly be filled with skin care and shower products, cool? Let's get on with it...

Origins Zero Oil toner was a great little product that helped in reducing the oily mess that was my skin, but as my skin is becoming slightly more normal, I have switched this up for a balancing toner - also I couldn't really handle the scent that this gave. A product I go through time and time again is Bioderma. Raved about in the beauty community, but it is something that does actually live up to the hype - it removes makeup, particularly eye makeup, with ease. The final skin care product, another that I have gone through many a time, is the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. Again, well loved among beauty bloggers and with good reason. A great all round cleanser for all skin types, I use this after Bioderma to remove the rest of my makeup.

Makeup? Something I very rarely use up but I have two fab products that I have used right until the end. Firstly is Benefit's That Gal primer, now this is only a sample size but it was something I have really loved using over the hotter months to give a healthy glow to my skin. And to go over the primer, I have been using, and have used up, the Laura Mericer Silk Creme foundation. A lovely foundation that gives great coverage with a natural finish - perfection! (See my review here).

A couple hair care products, first up - V05 Miracle Concentrate hair oil. I actually used this up a long time ago, and although I didn't repurchase this it is a great hair oil and it is nice to your bank account. My favourite way to use this was to apply a lot to the bottom half of my hair for about an hour before washing it. You will be left with silky smooth hair in no time! The second? Lee Stafford's Hair Growth Treatment. Again, I didn't repurchase this but purely because I have like 101 other hair treatments to use and it didn't feel as though it done anything special to my hair. Last but not least, Soap & Glory Fake Away scrub. I have mentioned my love for S&G before, here, and this product was no different. A great exfoliator that is not to gritty but gets the job done! I am trying out another S&G scrub at the moment but I would happily repurchase this.

Phew, there was more products than I though there would be *pats self of back*, but now it is time to start stashing those empties all over again - see you in a couple of months!

A Little MAC Haul

Ta dah! As promised, this is the second part to this haul... the MAC part. When I first discovered the world of beauty blogging I went through, what I like to call, the 'MAC Attack': 'where you dream of owning everything from MAC, including all shades of eyeshadow, lipstick, all of the brushes and the limited edition collections'  - A Day in Beauty Dictionary. Thankfully I have now come to my senses and realised that this is not only unrealistic but also unnecessary, so I am now steadily building my collection of products I really want or need in my stash.

My brush collection is something that I have been working on for over a year now as some brush prices are a little steep. So I have a list of the ones that will help to complete my collection, so every now and then I can add to it. One that I have been after since discovering beauty videos on YouTube is the 168, an angled brush which has become the perfect partner for my powder blushes. Another one I have been meaning to pick up is the 139, an eye shadow brush that I use for packing on the colour all over the lid. Since purchasing these, they have been used every single day! Something else I have been working on building is my eye shadow collection - specifically my MAC palette. I am a bit of a noob when it comes to knowing what eye shadows work well together so I heavily rely on other beauty bloggers to show my what I need. From left to right I picked up; Mystery, Satin Taupe, Naked Lunch and Nylon. These were ones that constantly popped up all over the place so I thought it was about time that they were at home with me. These work great together a smokey eye that is not too dramatic and it has been something I have been applying when ever I get the chance!

It is always nice to see your collection growing with items you truly adore, but I still have a few gaps that need plugging so I would love to know your MAC brush and eye shadow recommendations...

The Unused Products

A few weeks back I was having a little reorganising of my makeup collection and came across a handful of unused products. It is not very often that a new product goes unloved in my stash, because I usually use it non-stop from the moment of purchasing it until something new comes along. So I thought I would show you some of these products in a 'shopping the stash' style post.

MAC's Pink Buttercream Pearlmatte Face Powder (aka highlighter) was an impulsive buy after seeing it in my local store. I think the main reason for my not using this product is the fact that the detailing in the pan is just far to beautiful to be messed up - I'm a sucker for anything pretty! One thing you should know about me is that I have a thing for MAC lipsticks, hence why I have two unused ones. On a day to day basis I go for a pink/nude shade like Hue or Creme Cup, so my bolder colours like Daddy's Little Girl (Archie's Girls collection) or the infamous Riri Woo lipstick usually take a back seat. Another MAC product (it's the last one - promise!) is the Day Gleam pressed pigment. A product I had seen on someone else I thought 'I must have it', so I got it. In all honestly it didn't live up to my expectations but I am determined to find a way to make it work. When Revlon released some new Lip Butter shades for summer I went into beauty blogger mode and picked some up asap. Juicy Papaya looked great swatched on the back of my hand, but it was a little to sheer for me when applied to my lips - especially as my lips are quite pigmented. My last unloved product, and the priciest of them all - the Dior Nude Bronzer. Again, a product too pretty to use but the main reason for this just sitting in my dressing table drawer was my love for NARS Laguna.

So in true Shopping the Stash style, over the next few weeks I am going to be switching up my every day makeup (which you can see here) to incorporate some of these unused beauty products. I may even come back to you with a follow up post so you can see how I got on with them. First call of duty? Switching NARS for Dior...

Origins Out of Trouble Mask

Say hello to my new best friend - Origins Out of Trouble mask. I picked this up a while back when my skin was misbehaving, my chin had become blemish central, along with some trouble on my cheeks and forehead. So basically... everywhere.

The first thing you notice is the distinctive scent of Vix VapoRub. A little strong to begin with, but once you fall in love with the mask (which you will), the scent is no longer an issue. The product itself is white and of a very thick consistency. This means it is easy to go over board when applying it, but a little will go along way. Containing Zinc Oxide and Sulfar, plus some Salicylic Acid this mask will help in absorbing oil while sloughing away at any unwanted debris that is on the skin. Together this helps to banish any spots that may be lurking around and helps in preventing future break outs with continuous use.

I have been applying this mask to my face and neck, using an old foundation brush, every other night. This little gem gets to work in just 10 minuets, it wont go hard like a clay based mask so I always make sure to keep an eye on the time. When the 10 minuets are up, simply remove with a flannel and hot water.

With in a week my skin was noticeably clearer and with in two weeks all blemishes were completely gone and my skin was looking brighter. Best of all though? It has stayed that way. Even now that my skin has all cleared up, I still like to use this mask every other night just to make sure no pesky spots appear. On the website it says that this is best for oily/combination skin, but if you have any blemishes I would definitely recommend picking this up!

Have you tried the Origins Out of Trouble mask?

They See Me Haulin'...

Hi, my name is Emma-Louise and I am a shopaholic. Shopping is what I like to do, therefore it is what I do. Instore. Online. In my dreams. Any where. I thought I should put this out there as a warning to you all that you can expect a fair few hauls on A Day in Beauty. Usually at the beginning of a month, you know after I have spent all my wages with in a few hours... And this month is no different, except I have split it into two.

The first part of this haul, the one you are currently reading contains things that I have had on wish list for a while now. After seeing the press release pictures of Marc Jacobs Honey Perfume, I knew that I wanted it. Obviously I hadn't smelled it yet but the bottle on it's own was enough for it to be added to my perfume wish list (yep, I have separate wish list categories).So after seeing it in Boots and spraying it all over myself, and loving the scent my boyfriend, very kindly, purchased it for me. He is good like that. Something that I had picked up and put down many times before was the REN AHA Concentrate, but as you can see, this time I went for it and I haven't looked back. A full review will be coming your way soon because this stuff is pretty amazing. I also finally gave into the blogger hype and picked up the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer. I have been loving a glowing complexion lately and this primer gives you that and so much more... Being the candle obsessive that I am, I bought a Yankee Candle in Sicilian Lemon. The perfect sweet citrus scent to fill your house in the summer weather.

As I mentioned before there second part to this haul which will be going up next Wednesday, and just a little teaser for you... it's a MAC one.

Soap & Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter

When it comes to bath/shower products Soap & Glory is where the party is at. With their wittily named products, super cute packaging and delicious scents, what is there not to love? Now I do have products of theirs that I will forever repurchase, I'm looking at you Clean On Me, but every now and again it is nice to switch it up and try something new...

That is where Whipped Clean entered my life. First thing that got me hooked? The scent. A distinctively sweet scent of pistachio and vanilla. Pistachio is not normally my kinda scent, but this has got me looking for it everywhere! Second thing that got me hooked? How my skin feels after using it. Being filled with moisture oils and butters, including shea butter and sweet almond oil, skin is left feeling silky smooth and hydrated - no moisturizer needed. But if you want extra smooth limbs - you go for it!

This shower butter  is thick and creamy in texture, a small amount will go a long way. All I do is pop a blob in the palm of my hand, usually while a hair mask is doing it's thing, and then massage it into my skin until it lathers up. Rinse off and you're done - super soft skin in minuets! Also... how cute is the packaging? Pink and cream screams feminine and girly, so it looks great in the bathroom!

Do you love Soap & Glory as much as I do?

My Skin Care Routine

Morning

My morning routine is the simpler of two and follows the basic principle of 'cleanse, tone and moisturise'. The REN Clay Cleanser is the first step and this removes anything that has built up on my skin over night. This is perfect for us oily skinned girls as the clay base helps to neutralize the skin, it is also is like having a mini face mask on and leaves the skin feeling super soft. The Origins United State Balancing Tonic has a similar effect in the way that it helps to even out oily and dry patches on your skin. Next I apply the Indeed Labs Eysillix to hydrate the eye area, followed by the Origins GinZing Moisturizer to give my skin a little boost.

Evening

My evening routine is a little more complex, but still not too over the top. First thing's first is to remove my make up which I do by firstly using Bioderma to remove the bulk of my make up - three cottons pads in total, one for each eye and one for all over my face. I then use my beloved Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish to remove any remaining make up. I'm a double cleanser so I follow this with the REN No.1 Purity Cleansing Balm, which leaves my skin feeling super cleans and smooth. As well as a double cleanser, I am a double toner. So the next step is to use the Clarins Brightening Exfoliating Toner to balance my skin's pH level and give a brightening effect, followed by the Origins United State Balancing Tonic. As with my morning routine, I use the Indeed Labs Eysillix as my eye cream. This is a reasonably thick cream that really nourishes the eye area. The final step is to moisturize for which I use the Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins Oil Free moisturizer.

Treatments

Treatments are my favourite steps to my skin care routine. They always give your skin that extra little something, don't they? First up is an exfoliating scrub and probably the best one out there: Origins Never A Dull Moment Face Polisher. There is something about the way that this gentle removes dead skin cells while still nourishing the skin that always has me coming back for more. Origins Clear Improvement mask is one that we all know well... a charcoal based mask that gives pores a good old clean.I use this once to twice a week, depending of how bad my skin is. Origins Out of Trouble mask is new to my stash, but it is a life saver. I use this every other day to keep blemishes at bay and it is a great fixer of troublesome skin. Origins Drink Up-Intensive over night mask is one that I use on Sunday and Wednesday nights to keep my skin nourished and hydrated throughout the week. Last but not least is the REN Glycolatic Radiance Renewal mask. A gloopy textured product that promotes skin cell turnover to create a brighter complexion. This is more of a long term solution than a quick fix and I use this on a Sunday night to prep for the week ahead.

Phew... I think that covers everything! I will admit that skin care is becoming a bit of an obsession of mine, so I would love to see your routine or any products that you cannot live with out!

Life Lately #2

'@adayinbeauty'

1. Me, ready for a day at work | 2. My only sale items - heeled trainers and nude wedges | 3. Wishing some one else would wash my brushes (my boyfriend refuses) | 4. Enjoying the scenery in the garden | 5. Willow at 1 month and now at 3 months old | 6. Baking a whole lotta cookies for my boyfriends birthday | 7. Curly hair, don't care... | 8. Finding pretty clothes hangers | 9. My MAC eye shadows | 10. Marc Jacobs Honey perfume | 11. Crushed Oreo butter cream | 12. My boyfriend's homemade 21st birthday cake - delicious! | 13. Benefit Rockateur blush | 14. Finding an used Estee Lauder Double Wear | 15. Willow drinking a mug of tea, cheeky! | 16. September ELLE comes with a great freebie!

Current favourite product: the Laura Mercier Radiance Primer has been ticking all the right boxes lately - giving me a glowy complexion whilst keeping makeup in place in this hot weather. 

Must read post: a girl crush of mine, Miranda Kerr, dishes info on her healthy lifestyle and skincare line over on Into The Gloss . Now only if I could have her looks, career and life? Swoon...

Most lusted after: NARS Fairy's Kiss palette is one of their offerings this autumn. A palette for creating a soft or dramatic smokey eye with purple hues, it is the stuff dreams are made. It is a good job it is on it's way to me then! 

July 2013 Favourites

July has been hot month, it has actually represented what summer should be like which is a rarity for the UK. So this month has been all about having a glowing complexion, giving my hair and skin a treat and having that perfect summer scent.

The Origins Out of Trouble mask is a newbie to my collection but it has been sorting my skin out over a couple weeks of break outs. Having used this every other day my skin was left looking clear and blemish free! Benefit's "That Gal" primer (a magazine freebie from months ago) has been giving my skin a healthy glow and helping me to fake a radiant complexion - radiance primers may be my new thing. Another new addition is a creme blush. Never have I owned a creme blush but this one from Bourjois has been hitting all the right spots this month by giving me a subtle flush to my cheeks. Humidity and my hair do not go well together. So in order to prevent dry, brittle ends I have been using the REDKEN Extreme Strength Builder hair mask once a week. If you want super soft locks, I would definitely give this a go! Finally that perfect summer scent I was talking about... Vera Wang Lovestruck Floral. Sweet and floral with a hint of musk, making it perfect for those summer days and nights.

What have you been loving this month?