Late to the Party

My skin has been in great shape recently and is looking quite clear but for some reason it's not been looking so good when using foundations with any degree of coverage - it seems to be caking on my nose and sinking into my pores making them look worse (maybe I'm drier than I think at the moment?). But whatever the reason, I'm gravitating towards lighter coverage and have been favouring my Erborian CC Cream as the only base. This week I picked up some Erborian BB Crème Au Ginseng, so have introduced that into the weekly makeup bag as my initial choice of The Ordinary Colours foundation is looking terrible on me this week! This is also the week when I start cycling through my eye shadow palettes again - and my first choice is the Obsession Makeup bespoke palette.    * Primer - A'Pieu - Start-Up Pore Primer - I have several sachet samples of this primer to use up. Although this feels very silicone-heavy, it doesn't seem to clog up my pores. And because of th...

I actually started this project at the beginning of May, where I pulled out six skincare items that I don't use regularly and aim to use them up within the month. I'm allowing myself to de-clutter them if they're really not working for me as I don't believe that you always have to see it out till the bitter end, even if I would prefer to finish rather than throw.   So here's what I chose to use up in May:   * Skin Food - Watermelon Mask I bought this because I just love the fresh smell of watermelon. But what I didn't bank on was just how quickly that gorgeous scent could turn sickly sweet when sitting on your skin for ten minutes! This is a wash-off mask with a thick, gel-like consistency. It's meant for soothing your skin, but to be honest, it didn't really do too much so I had put this mask aside with a preference for others.   * Holika Holika - Honey Acerola Sleeping Pack This is one of the first sleeping packs I bought so without...

  COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence £18.00 for 100ml BUY HERE The COSRX 96 Snail Mucin stands out in the Korean Skincare revolution as one of the most iconic products - so it was for this reason I decided it had to be included in my skincare line-up when I first started the 'journey'.   This is my first bottle, and, as you can see, it's still not empty. In fact, I'm struggling to finish it off as part of a #projectuseitup. It's always a tiny bit disconcerting, after getting your hands on an iconic and well-loved skincare product, to find that you can't quite see what all the fuss is about ...   It's not so much the idea, or even the texture of actual snail mucin on my face - I've not got a problem with any of that (although I am starting to doubt some of the claims of cruelty-free snail mucin harvesting). In fact, it was probably some of the (then) bizarre ingredients in Korean Skincare which partly drew me in - donkey milk, ...

Week 20! This means that I've finally cycled through all of my eye shadow palettes (although I own more than 20, in the early weeks I'd pick a couple of palettes at a time for the weekly make up bag).   * Primer - The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer - Despite not really being a fan of this last week, for some reason I decided to include it again this week. If it doesn't make me feel any better towards it this week, I'll de-clutter it! * BB Cream - The Body Shop - This is either a brave move or a bad decision for me this week. I tend not to reach for this BB Cream as it's got virtually zero coverage (see review HERE ) but inspired by Meghan's natural makeup look at the Royal Wedding (and that's something I never thought I'd refer to as an inspiration!!) I wanted to celebrate my own skin (all well and good in principle, but it is something I'm brave enough to pull off?). However, I think there are much better products to enhance yo...

  VeeBeautyLDN is an indie British brand, run by the absolutely stunning Vee (beautiful woman with a beautiful soul to match!). She started to make her own natural cosmetic products in 2015 after feeling dismayed about products with long and unnecessary ingredient lists.   I started to see her products pop up everywhere on my Instagram feed late last year and then I saw a photo of Vee herself, with these beautiful, lush, natural long lashes that could put the most dramatic false eyelashes to shame, and I thought, 'I want my eyes to look like that!'.   I put in my first order at the beginning of the year and these two products are used daily in my routine.       Eye Lash & Brow Serum £13.95 for 10ml BUY HERE   I'll put my hand up, I didn't actually realise that there were specific products for eyelash and brow care! Moreover, it's not an area that I thought that I needed to pay attention to. But, like I s...

My makeup bag runneth and spilleth over this week as I cram it with single eye shadows in an attempt to use everything I have. This is the penultimate eye shadow palette this week - after next week's I can go back to cycling through them again. Just one newbie added this week - the Maybelline Khol eye liner. I feel like I haven't used a khol liner in years, but after my fruitless search for a single blue eye shadow a couple of weeks ago , I turned my attention to seeing if I could find the right shade of blue in an eyeliner - I did, and here it is!   * Primer (not pictured) The Ordinary High-Adherence Silicone Primer - I used up a sample sachet of E.l.f Mineral Infused Primer last week and really liked it - it's definitely on the 'will repurchase' list when I've finished up some more of the primers in my stash. I reluctantly bring in The Ordinary primer this week - reluctant because how I feel about the brand now that CEO Brandon Truaxe has made it so ...

I've long been a fan of Korean skincare but oddly, despite knowing about this skincare technique for a while, I've only just adopted this method into my morning and evening skincare routine.   I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks but I've been blown away by the difference in my skin - it's been looking and feeling great recently, and not just straight after using this method but day after day after day! (Let's hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that!!)   For me, it's become clear that hydration is the absolute key for good skin - and probably even more so for older skin.   I'm going to put you in the hands of the experts for the best explanation of how to easily incorporate the seven skin method into your daily routine.       So, a recap - * don't use acid or glycolic toners * you don't have to use seven different products * start with 3 skins and work your way up.       These are the toners...

      * Foundation (not pictured) - Still using up some samples and my own D.I.Y cushion foundation. * Under eye concealer (not pictured) - Inglot - can't believe how never-ending this tiny tube is! * Blush - Nars - New Order  - I'm always reminded how fantastic Nars blushers are every time I pull one out for inclusion in the weekly make up bag. New Order is a pale lilac with gold shimmer in the pan, which isn't generally something that I'd consider, but this looks just perfect on my skin. * Highlighter - Sleek - Copperplate Palette - I won this as a review prize last week and have been using it ever since. The bold copper highlighter is 'difficult' to wear as it's so pigmented and striking but the others in the palette are fantastic. However, there is nothing subtle about a Sleek highlighter! * Contour - Sleek Face Contour Kit in Medium - This came in my Look Fantastic Box. After thinking the shade would be too dark, it's actual...

After last month's slightly disappointing offering, I was really hoping that Look Fantastic would kick it up a few notches for the May box. Well? Did they manage it? The Look Fantastic monthly beauty box is £15.00 per month (free P+P) - Subscribe HERE Box Design Score: 4/5 I think the bright orange lid is gorgeous - not so keen on the orange and pink as two colours that work together though! But this is such a happy colour - it feels like the promise of what's to come inside should be good.   Free latest copy of Elle Magazine and the accompanying Look Fantastic booklet.   The reveal! Excitement Score: 3/5   1. Avant - RNA Serum Excitement Score: 4/5 Here's a brand I've never heard of before so am excited to try. At first glance, this appeared to have the longest product name I've ever seen - but then I can see it's a list of the main properties -  Arginine, Malto Dextrin, Trehalose, Ubiquinone, Mannitol, Histidine Hcl, Niaci...