My Beauty Favourites of 2015

2015 has led me to discover some amazing products I have grown to love and I wanted to share these treasures with you.

Best Foundation

After using Nars Sheer Glow for the majority of the year, I decided in Autumn to switch it up and try Estee Lauder Double Wear and I'm so glad I did. Double Wear is a lot matter than Sheer Glow, which I find helps keeps my oily skin at bay. The coverage is great, I would say its medium coverage and buildable. I always like a higher coverage foundation as I have acne scars I want to cover up and Double Wear does the job. It's so versatile too! It works well as an everyday foundation with a thin layer, as well as working amazingly to give you that flawless complexion wanted for a more special occasion. However, the only thing I don't like about the foundation is that it doesn't come with a pump. I think this is a common theme with a lot of high end foundations and I am willing to look past it because I love the product so much.

Best Concealer

My favourite concealer of this year, and years before, has to be Collection Lasting Perfection. For under £5 it is incredible! I have never wanted to try a higher end concealer such as Nars Creamy Concealer because Collection's just does the job so well. I've been through so many tubes of the stuff and I will continue to purchase it. I usually go for the lightest colour which is number 1. It has great coverage, can cover any spot or blemish and is also fab under the eyes. If you have never tried it then I highly recommend, that's if you can find it because it is almost always sold out! Obviously a good indicator that everyone loves it. It is a lovely product if you're just starting out with make up too.

Best Powder

Rimmel Stay Matte powder has been my favourite setting powder this year as it just does the job so well without making you look cakey. I buy the transparent colour as it doesn't add any more coverage, just sets your make up in place. For the price, its a win win product!

Best Bronzer

When it comes to bronzers, I find it hard to find the perfect shade. I'm quite pale so a lot of bronzers can look orange on me which really isn't a good look. This year I have found that Benefit Hoola Bronzer has been perfect for me. It's not too orange and works as a great contour shade as it is matte. Speaking of contour, I have found that for a real contoured look, using Bobbi Brown Wheat Eyeshadow on top of Hoola gives me a real chiselled cheekbone. These two products together are a gift sent from the contour gods.

Best Blush and Highlight

I have included these two together as I either where one or the other. My favourite blush has been Nars Deep Throat. Once you get past the inappropriate name, it really is a beautiful blush to suit most skin tones. It's a rose pink with gold glitter which makes your skin look glowy. I love the Nars packaging and the products are lovely and pigmented, I would love to try more of their blushes in the future. My favourite highlighter has been Mac Mineralise Skin Finish in the colour Lightscapade which is described by Mac as a soft candlelight beige. If you prefer a more obvious highlight, this is a great product and it just looks so lovely on the skin.

Best Eyeshadow Palette

I have absolutely been in love with the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette for the whole of this year! It has the most beautiful colours and you can create so many looks with it. My most worn colours are booty call which is a champagne and tease which I would describe as a taupe.

Best Eyeliner

The Stila Stay All Day liquid eyeliner has to be my best eyeliner. It does as it says, it stays all day and never goes grey. The fine felt tip applicator allows you to get the perfect winged eyeliner. The combination of the product and the applicator just make this eyeliner a staple in my make up bag and I honestly wouldn't be without it.

Best Mascara

I have tried quite a few mascaras this year but I must say the one that tops them all is Benefit They're Real. It seems that everyone who tries this mascara loves it, and I can definitely see why. It separates your lashes and makes them look so long, its incredible! If you haven't tried it, you need to get your hands on it!

Best Lipstick

This was such a hard one for me because I love lipsticks so much. However, I have managed to work it down to two as they have been my most worn. They're both Mac lipsticks and they're Velvet Teddy which is a matte finish and Faux which is a satin finish. Both of these lipsticks are nudes, Velvet Teddy being a brown nude, and Faux being a pink nude. These colours just match my pale skin tone so well and I just love the way they look. The formulations of both are creamy and feel comfortable on the lips. I don't think you can go wrong with a Mac lipstick!

So they were my beauty favourites of 2015. 2015 has been such an amazing year but I am determined to make 2016 even better. I plan on travelling more, giving more, working harder and just be happy. I also wouldn't mind making a few more make up discoveries too! I have learnt in 2015 that it's important to do what makes you happy. Life is too short to care about what people think of you. Live your life the way you want to. Anyway, I wish everyone a prosperous 2016!

Skincare Routine

So recently I have been trying to find the perfect skin care routine for my skin. I would describe my skin as being oily and acne prone, however I do get dry patches on the odd occasion. I'm not an expert so I'm not completely sure but this is just what I have noticed.  I've come up with a combination which I'm really loving right now and I wanted to share it with you.

The first product I use in my skincare routine is the No7 Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser for normal to oily skin. I use this product in the evening to cleanse my face and remove my make up. It's not stripping on my skin at all and after using the product my skin feels really clean and refreshed. The cleanser also contains witch hazel which is a great product for keeping your skin clear and preventing acne. The only down side to this product is that you can't use it to remove your eye make up as it can irritate the eye area.

2-3 a week I like to use a facial scrub to really give my skin a good clean, getting rid of any dirt lurking deep into my pores. It also helps to remove dead skin cells, making your skin smoother. I love using th St. Ives Apricot Scrub in the Blemish Fighting Formula. First of all, it smells great! It makes my skin feel so smooth and since using this products, I haven't had as many blemishes.

Because I can't use the cleanser to remove my eye make up, I switch between two eye make up removers. The first is the Simple Eye Make Up Remover. It does the job well and is gentle on the eyes. However, I do find that I have to use a lot of the remover to completely remove all my eye make up. When I'm not using the Simple remover, i'll use my Clinique Take The Day Off Make Up Remover. Again, this is really gentle, removes make up well with only a little product. I feel this is the better out of the two but is a lot more expensive.

Once I've removed all my make up, I like to use a toner to balance the oils in my face. I've been using the Simple Facial Toner. A little product goes a long way and it's extremely gentle on my skin. I really do like this toner however, I would love to try a few different ones in the future.

Because I like to do the majority of my skincare in the evening, I tend to only use a few products in the morning. I like to wash my face with warm water, then use the Simple toner to make sure my skin is clean. Once my face is dry, i'll apply my Simple Protecting Moisture Cream with SPF 30. I like to use a moisturiser with an SPF because I suffer with acne scarring and having an SPF in your moisturiser helps prevent the scars from getting darker.

 I will then move onto my eye cream. I know that not everyone feels that using an eye cream is necessary, especially at a younger age. I find that I get a lot of dry skin around my eye area and using an eye cream prevents that. I use the Boots Vitamin E Eye Cream and I haven't suffered with dry skin near my eyes since using it. I also find that if I apply an eye cream before my eye make up, it lasts a lot longer.

So they're all the products I've been using recently to try and keep my skin under control. It's been working well so far but I definitely want to branch out and try new products!

What's in my bag?

Today I'm going to be telling you what I am currently taking along with me in my handbag. My handbag is by Fiorelli but I don't have a clue what style it is! I usually like bigger bags because they can hold a lot more, which in some cases can be bad as I tend to bring a lot of things (including the kitchen sink) that I don't particularly need. All products will be linked, so just click on the product name. If I can't link exact items, I will find something close to the item I have. So this is what's in my bag...

First of all, there is my purse. It is a Cath Kitson look alike purse from Peacocks I think. Inside I just have all my loyalty cards (Boots, Superdrug, Costa Card; for example). I also keep my change, cash and receipts in here too, just the generic things you'd find in a purse. However, I do keep a picture of my Granddad in there, along with a picture of my boyfriend when he was younger, a lucky paper crane and a fortune card.

Next, there's my phone. I have the iPhone 4s, which I must add is on its way out, with a cute paisley patterned case which I bought from Amazon. I don't know about you but I can't go anywhere without my phone.

I always keep some type of chewing gum in my bag because I always have a piece after eating. The one I have in my bag at the moment is the Extra Spearmint, which I have a 60 pieces tub of. You can obviously tell I like my gum! I also have a 46 pieces tub of the Extra White because I've been trying to keep my teeth on the whiter side.

I have my keys for obvious reasons. I have a bright pink key and a bright purple key, along with various keyrings that I have accumulated. I also have a Pandora ribbon on there to make it easy to pick up my keys and also carry them on my wrist. My favourite keyring has got to be my octopus, its so cute!

I never go anywhere without some form of hand sanitizer because you never know what germs you may encounter. I am currently keeping two sanitizers in my bag at the moment. The first is The Body Shop Hand Cleanse Gel in the Satsuma scent. First of all, the smell of these gels are incredible and make you feel really refreshed. Also, I feel they do a great job! The second one I keep is one my uncle gave me (he works for a pharmaceutical company) and its called TrisanAF Hand Sanitizer. Its alcohol free and is one of the best sanitizers out there.

Next, I have my Soap and Glory Hand Food. I'm sure a lot of you have already heard about this, and rightly so because it is a great hand cream and it smells super good. I definitely recommend trying it out, especially if you're new to the hand cream world. Definitely worth the hype!

Along with the Soap and Glory theme, I have a Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in the shade Bashful. It's a great everyday shade and I carry it around in my bag for lipstick emergencies. They're really moisturising and a great all round lip product.

I have my sunglasses from Dorothy Perkins. They're tortoiseshell and have UV protection, which I think is really important, especially during the summer months. They're a hard shape to describe, but the only real sunglasses that suit my tiny head.

Speaking of prescription glasses, I have my current ones in my bag. They're ROXY and I only use them for concentrating and if I feel a bit of a headache coming on. They're quite a basic shape, nothing too exciting.

Lastly I just have a few random bits and pieces which really aren't too interesting. Paracetamol, grips and a couple of bobbles.

That's everything in my bag! I hope you found this somewhat interesting and if you have any requests, please comment them below.