August Favourites

As I only made a few new purchases last month, there are only five products that have made it into my August Favourites, but each one is amazing and some are definite contenders for holy grail status.

My favourite base of the month, and possibly of all time (ooh!) is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Radiance Reveal Foundation. I've raved about this foundation here and here and the more I use it, the more I fall in love with it. It gives me the most natural-looking, smooth complexion and a beautiful lit-from-within glow without looking shiny. This is perfect for daily use or for nights out as it can built up for higher coverage. Basically, if you want your skin to look healthy and flawless, you need to try this. I've also tried the Healthy Mix Serum from the same range, which is more of a gel consistency, but the foundation just completely blows it out of the water. This is definitely the best highstreet foundation I've ever tried.

On my cheeks, I've been loving the Illamasqua Androgen Cream Pigment, which is a multi-use cream colour that can be applied to cheeks, lips and even eyelids (though maybe not this particular shade). Androgen is a beautiful peachy pink shade, and as it's a pigment the colour pay off is amazing - a small amount of this on a stippling brush creates a beautiful flush of colour and can be built up for a more intense look. Considering I struggled with applying cream blushes in the beginning, I'm now their number one fan and they are dominating my makup drawer.

My favourite lipstick of the month has been Mac Ravishing, a peachy coral with a creamy formula packed with shine. This is a beautiful lipstick that looks great with pretty much any makeup look. The lasting power isn't amazing, as with most of the cremesheen formulas from Mac, but I'm never one to complain about pulling that sleek black bullet out of my handbag to reapply!

In terms of skincare, I've been loving using the Origins Ginzing Energy-Boosting Moisturizer as my day cream. This moisturizer contains panax ginzing and coffee beans to really wake up the complexion and works really well with the Healthy Mix Foundation to make skin look revitalised and luminous. My favourite thing about this cream, though, is the gorgeous orange scent which is one of my favourite ever smells. 

Now my final favourite product of the month only made the cut in the last few days of August. For the last three weeks, I've been having a nasty breakout on my chin (mm, sexy I know). No matter how long I waited, it just wouldn't clear up, until I started using the La Roche Posay Serozinc morning and night and my breakout cleared up considerably within a couple of days! This is a zinc sulphate solution spray-on toner which cleanses and soothes the skin, helping to prevent and heal breakouts. This has made a massive difference to my skin after only a few days and I think this toner will be a staple in my routine for months to come.

What was your favourite product in August?

Holly xo

Illamasqua Sale Buys

Illamasqua is a brand I've always admired on my favourite blogs but had never tried out myself. Their unique collections and beautiful, sleek packaging had always appealed to me but as I had never seen an Illamasqua counter where I live (though I have a sneaky suspicion that Fenwicks Newcastle might have one), I didn't really know what I would buy as I prefer to have a good swatch and test products before I buy them. 

A couple of weeks ago, however, thanks to Gemma's post (Miss Makeup Magpie), I realised that there was a huge sale taking place on the Illamasqua website. After a quick browse of the remaining sale items (I was a little late to the party on this one I think), I had three products in my basket and couldn't wait to try them out.

First up, I bought the Medium Pencil in Fidelity which is a deep chocolate brown shade. Since I decided to swap black kohl for brown eyeliner a few months ago, my black pencil has only seen the light of day twice. For day-to-day eye defining, brown is just a lot more subtle and flattering paired with blonde hair and pale skin, whilst still making the eyes stand out as well as its black counterpart. When swatched, this Illamasqua pencil is creamy and smooth and can be applied in a thin line, or built up to create a more intense line, but I have to say when I applied this to the eye it didn't translate quite so well. The colour applied a lot lighter and not as smoothly as some of the other eyeliners I've used. It took a fair bit of building up to create the effect I was going for and even then it didn't look quite as intense as my usual eye look. I will try it a few more times though, maybe it just needs to be worn in ha. I only paid £5 for this eyeliner and it normally retails for £13.00, so I don't feel too disappointed.

I also bought a Pure Pigment, which is essentially a loose powder eyeshadow, normally packed with shimmer or glitter. Into The Gloss wrote a great post last week on pigments and how to apply them, you can read that here. Now at first, I was drawn to the Beguile pigment, which is a white shimmer with finely milled silver glitter running through it, but then I thought 'no Holly, that is too safe and you have too many shimmery white/champagne/silver highlighting shadows', and instead I picked Alluvium, which is a gorgeous navy shade with gold glitter. My picking this shade is down to Bobbi Brown's Navy & Nude collection, which I just think is such a stunning combination for Autumn and Winter. As I don't have any deep navy shades in my collection, I thought this would be the perfect addition - and it was only £5.00, down from £16.50! I used Alluvium to create a navy smokey eye with black winged liner and a nude lip last night, and I loved the way it turned out. I totally forgot to take a photo though, bad blogger! 

Finally, and the easiest pick from the website for me was the Cream Pigment in Androgen. This is a multi-use cream colour which can be applied to cheeks, eyes and lips. I had seen Androgen reviewed a few times and it was added to my mental wishlist immediately. When it arrived, I absolutely fell in love with it before I even used it. It is the most beautiful peachy pink hue, which is my all-time favourite shade for lips and cheeks. I tried it out last night and it really is love. It creates the most beautiful and natural looking flush, but can be built up to achieve a more intense colour if you prefer. This was reduced from £17.50 to £7.50 which just made the purchase that much sweeter. 

My first experience with Illamasqua was overall a very positive one so I can't wait to try more of their products and increase my collection, particularly their powder and cream blushes and the eyeshadow quads. I think it's brilliant that a high-end brand like Illamasqua do such amazing sales, giving everyone a chance to try their products at a less eye-watering price. They also offer free UK delivery on all orders, which is an excellent way to seal the deal.

L-R: Fidelity, Androgen, Alluvium Dry, Alluvium Wet

What is your favourite Illamasqua product? Did you pick up any bargains in the sale?

Holly xo