Favourites: January 2015

As promised, I'm starting off the year as I mean to go on and am sharing with you today the bits I've been loving this month!  I haven't done a favourites post since...I think it was July 2013.  I don't tend to buy myself bits too often, so I've always worried that I'd just have the same favourites month in month out, but with my mission to clear through my ridiculous stash of bits, I think I should have something different to share with you every month!

Starting with my ultimate favourite for this month - The Body Shop's Almond Body Butter.  I've had this in my stock for a while now, but had been working my way through other body moisturisers.  I can't even begin to say how much I love this body butter - it's super moisturising, but this one smells incredible.  Even though it's just almond, I feel like it smells a smidge like a cherry bakewell because it's also a bit sweet!  But because of all that...I'm absolutely gutted that this seems to have been discontinued.  I can't see it online, and when I asked The Body Shop they told me to check outlet stores and the sale in April - please let me know if you spot it!

The lip balm that I've loved this month is LUSH's Lip Service.  I got it for Christmas from Liam's parents and spoke about it in my LUSH Christmas Haul - I've never tried a lip balm from LUSH before but I really like it!  It smells a bit orangey, but it's not a tangy citrus scent...more of a sweet orange scent.  It's really helped my lips this month - they were seriously dry when I was poorly with the flu!  Revlon's Matte Balm in Sultry has been my lip shade of choice this month.  I have already spoken about it here, so I won't bang on about it again, but it's definitely one that's worth checking out if you're into the whole 90's lip look.

I have a review of this coming up soon, but don't wait for it - you need the Jouer Long Wear Creme Mousse Eyeshadow in your life.  I have the shade Dusk and I hardly wear anything else.  I bought the Maybelline Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze this month to see what the fuss was on that - it's got nothing on Jouer.  I've already got my eye on the rest of the shades, particularly Galaxy and Twilight!

This month, I also picked up my first Illamasqua Cream Pigment in the shade Delirium.  It was in the sale already, but I got an extra 15% off with my birthday discount code!  It's been my contour of choice since I bought it, and I can't see myself switching to anything else anytime soon - it's really long lasting, and creates a beautiful natural shadow on the face because of the grey undertones.  I've been applying it with the Eco Tools Complexion Blending Brush as it's perfect for contouring.  It's paddle shaped which makes it ideal for slipping under the cheekbones, and because the bristles aren't super dense you can easily blend upwards!

What have been your favourites this month?

Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter Duo

What a good week I'm having.  You might have seen on Twitter I've been holiday stressing, and moaning a lot about shoes, but despite all of that I've had a very lucky week - I won some bits from the new Bourjois Summer release!  I'm so happy, because I actually go on holiday on Saturday (argh!!) and I now have some nice little Summer treats to pack away in my make up bag.

The first thing I tried from the new collection was the much talked about Bronzing Powder & Highlighter duo!  It comes packaged in the same style packaging as the original Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer, which is a small, but sturdy, cardboard book with a secret magnetic seal to keep the powder protected.

Inside is a matte bronzer, and a shimmering ivory highlight with hints of pink and gold, which reminds me of a bolder version of the Java Rice Powder.  They've kept the classic chocolate block shapes, and of course, the scent is just amazing.  Sniffing the product was actually the first thing I did, because I love Bourjois scents!  This one smells sickly sweet, like chocolate, but doesn't linger once it has been applied.

  

The matte bronzer is really warm, so I think it'll work best with a tan.  I'm averagely pale at the moment, so I've had to apply with a light hand so that I don't go overboard, and just a hint of colour and contour is there.  I've found it to be really natural though without a tan, and because it's matte, it does a great job at making your skin look naturally sunkissed, but can't wait to see what it will look like when I have a bit of a glow going on.

The highlight shade is also really nice.  I think I'll get lots of use from this regardless of a tan, because it's really flattering.  It is quite shimmery, but it blends out really nicely for a nice radiant glow which compliments  and contrasts against the matte bronzer, so you can get some real shape to your face with some contouring!

I applied the bronzer to the hollows of my cheeks, a little around my temples and hair line, a little on my jaw lines and also a touch down the sides of my nose.  I then applied the highlight down the centre of my nose, and on the tops of my cheekbones.  Wear time is actually really good, and has lasted me throughout a long, hot day at work!  I'll have to report back how it wears on holiday!

I'll be popping up reviews of the rest of the products throughout the weekend and next week!  Stay tuned!

What will you be picking up from the Bourjois Summer collection?