Back to Blogging // Recent Favourites

Hi everyone! It's been a while. Firstly, sorry for the blogging hiatus - I've been finishing my Psychology degree and have had a non-stop stream of work for the last few months. But I'm back and ready to pick up where we left off. I thought I'd start with a rundown of some of the products I've been loving recently. Ranging from highstreet to high-end, here are my current favourites:

The Tresemme Texture Style Divine Definition Spray (£5.49) has been a welcome addition to my (admittedly lazy) hair routine. I'm the type of girl that likes the messy, tousled look. I tend to avoid even brushing my hair if I can help it and 'styling' normally consists of a scrunch here and a zshush there (real word?). This spray adds some much-needed texture to my fairly straight, thick locks. I tend to brush out any tats, spray in the texturising spray at arms length and then style using my fingers (scrunch/zshush/twist etc). It really helps to achieve that lived-in, 'I woke up like this' look. I tend to pick this up in bulk from Superdrug/Boots with their 3for2 offers (I think both shops are offering this at the minute actually!).

I've really stripped back my skincare routine recently as my skin is fairly sensitive and I feel that using too many products does me no favours. So I tend to just use my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Cleanser and a good quality moisturiser (occasionally throwing a hydrating face mask  into the mix - specifically my trusty Origins Drink-Up Intensive Overnight Mask). My moisturiser of choice since Christmas has been the Clarins HydraQuench Cream (the normal-dry version - £35.00). Packaged in a blue-tinted glass jar (which always adds a bit of luxury to a product), this cream is silky smooth, lightweight and does a great job of making skin feel hydrated and rejuvenated. Like most Clarins products, it also smells amazing. I know that's probably not a key selling point for a moisturiser, but it definitely makes me more likely to buy it, I don't know about you? I always buy Clarins products for special reduced prices at Escentual - link.

(L-R: YSL Rouge Volupté Shine 15, Urban Decay Naked, Chanel Blush Creme Revelation)

It's probably obvious what my favourite lipstick/blush shade is right now. Although these three products appear to be similar colours in the swatches above, they're actually very different. 

The YSL Rouge Volupté Shine lipstick in 15 Corail Intuitive (£25.00) is one of my favourite lipsticks in my collection. I now own two of the YSL lipsticks and they are the most beautifully packaged products I own. Encased in a sleek gold tube, each lipstick shade is clearly shown by a coloured strip emblazoned with the YSL emblem that corresponds to the shade inside. The Rouge Volupté Shine lipsticks are extremely glossy, shiny lip colours with great pigmentation. They are comfortable to wear and feel very hydrating on the lips. My only qualm is that, due to their glossy formula, they don't have much staying power and definitely won't hold up against eating/drinking. Corail Intuitive is a beautiful peachy pink shade which compliments any makeup look. 

The Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Naked (£15.00) is probably my favourite lipstick of all time. A bold statement but this lipstick definitely earned the title. The formula of these lipsticks is different to any others I own - they're very moisturising and have a slight shine but they also have an almost waxy feel that helps them to last longer on the lips. Naked is a rosy pink and is just such a wearable shade. It looks great with both subtle and dramatic eye makeup and for daytime wear or nights out. The packaging is also beautiful; the lipsticks come in a shiny gunmetal grey casing with the standard Urban Decay dark purple lining. I've never finished a lipstick before but this one is on its last legs due to frequent use since Christmas - I will definitely be repurchasing.

I was so excited about the launch of the Blush Creme de Chanel (£28.00) range last year and I knew straight away that the shade Révélation was for me. A warm coral pink, this shade can be applied lightly for a subtle wash of colour or built up for a more intense blush. The cream-to-powder formula applies like a dream with fingers or a stippling brush and I think I will get a lot more wear out of this in the Summer (when I favour cream blush). The sleek black compact decorated with the Chanel emblem is simplistic but stylish and I love pulling this out of my handbag for touch-ups.

I've always maintained that YSL mascaras are the best I've tried, apart from their one downfall  - they dry up far too quickly. Their latest offering, the YSL Babydoll Mascara (£24.50), is my favourite yet. It's blacker than black, lengthens, volumises and curls as well as giving lashes that multiplied, spread-out look. It's also endorsed by Cara Delevigne which definitely makes it more appealing (sucked in by marketing tactics). Like I said, this mascara is brilliant but it does tend to dry up after a couple of months which is the only thing that puts me off repurchasing (though I am now on to my third tube, so obviously not that offputting).

My recent favourite nail polish is the L'Oreal Perfection Color Riche Nails in 851 Nouvelle Vogue. It's a beautiful milky lilac shade and is opaque in two coats. It only comes in a small 5ml bottle so I can see it running out before long but I'll definitely repurchase as I get a lot of wear out of this shade. I can't really comment on lasting power or chip-resistance as I haven't found any nail polish lasts that long on me - I work in a shop so my hands are constantly in use, so I normally see some tip wear after one shift!

Finally, my favourite single eyeshadow right now is Mac Cork (£10.00), which is described on their website as a 'muted golden brown' and is part of the Satin range. Cork is a smooth, matte shade and works really well as an all-over lid colour. I tend to apply this all over using a flat brush and then blend into the crease and out at the outer corners using a fluffy blending brush. It takes less than a minute and really amps up my eye makeup look. This shadow has great pigmentation and staying power and is great for daytime wear or even for evening wear if you wanted a more toned-down look.

That was a very long post so if you made it all the way to the end, well done! It feels good to be blogging again and I can't wait to get some more posts up for you all.

What is your favourite product right now?

Holly xo

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Cream Eyeshadow Trio

Powder eyeshadows have taken a backseat in my makeup routine at the minute and have been replaced with their creamier counterparts. Soft, smooth and easy to blend, cream shadows can be used alone for a no-fuss slick of colour, as a base for powder shadows to increase pigmentation and staying power or they can be used together to create a simple cream smokey eye. The latter is the method I chose for this makeup look.

I used my current favourite of the three - Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On & On Bronze all over the lid with my Mac 217, bringing it past the outer corner of the eye slightly, and then gently patted Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Permanent Taupe onto the outer third of the eye, blending it into the crease slightly too using my Mac 226SE which was part of the Special Edition Christmas Brush set last year and is a slightly chunkier blending brush than the 217. The Colour Tattoos are amazing highstreet cream shadows - they're soft and blendable with great colour payoff and a great selection of shades to choose from, though Permanent Taupe has a slightly stiffer texture to On & On Bronze which has the perfect thick creamy texture in my opinion. I then took the more expensive option - Mac Paint Pot in Bare Study and patted it into the inner corner of the eye as a highlight and under the lower lashline using a Models Own Blending Brush. I finished with a few coats of the L'Oreal Telescopic mascara.

Apologies for the poor image quality, iPhones are not the best for taking blog photos!

How do you feel about cream eyeshadows?

Holly xo

Inglot Freedom System: My Personalised Palette

As I'm from up North, and the only two Inglot stores in the country are in London (Grafton and Westfield you lucky buggers!), I'd never managed to get my hands on one of their famous freedom system palettes. That is until my recent trip to Gran Canaria, when my boyfriend and I were walking through the local shopping centre and he pointed to a little makeup shop and said 'Don't you want to look in there?' (he knows me too well) and to my delight I realised it was an Inglot store! I squealed a little bit and immediately went in to start swatching it up. Unfortunately this was the last day of the holiday and I had exactly 0 euros left to spend, but my lovely fella offered to treat me to a palette of my choice!

The freedom systems are essentially build-your-own magnetic palettes which come in various sizes and shapes to accommodate eye shadows, blushes, powders and lip colours. Once you've picked the palette you want to fill - like the 5 pan eyeshadow palette that I chose - you pick up a magnetic board and set about picking up whichever pans you want to add to your palette. I had great fun swatching the colours and snapping them onto my board. When I was done, the sales assistant found the colours I had chosen and popped the brand new pans into my chosen palette.

The Inglot eyeshadows come in 5 different finishes - Matte, Pearl, Double Sparkle (DS), AMC and AMC Shine. In my palette I have three of these finishes, and they are all so incredibly pigmented, I think they may be the best performing eyeshadows I've ever owned. The shadows are all buttery soft with immense colour payoff and for only £4.50 per individual pan, I think they are amazing value for money. Also, the bigger the palette you buy, the better value you get for the individual eyeshadow pans. 

The packaging is sturdy and sleek with a powerful magnetic lid fastening that ensures you won't have to worry about making a mess in your makeup bag but can also be opened easily simply by twisting or sliding the lid. The palettes are also very slim so will be ideal for travelling or carrying around on a day-to-day basis.  One tip though - write down the names of the shades you've chosen BEFORE they are inserted into the palette as it is bloody hard work trying to pry them out afterwards! I have seriously dented my eyeshadows with my nails, tweezers, a pen lid and eventually a broken hair clip (the winning tool) as I tried to remove them so I could write this post, I hope you appreciate it haha ;)

Now onto the colours that I chose for my palette!

As you can see, I'm definitely a lover of nude and bronze coloured eyeshadows. Not only are they so wearable and can create looks for day and night, but they are also supposed to be the most flattering shades to compliment blue eyes (like mine) as they are at the opposite side of the colour wheel. 

397 is a Pearl finish so it is slightly more subtle than the other shades in terms of sparkle and pigmentation. It is a beautiful pinky champagne colour which looks stunning all over the lid or as a highlight on the inner corners or under the browbone. I also think this would work well to highlight other areas of the face such as the cheekbones and cupid's bow. 

12 is a copper shade with a hint of pink and as an AMC Shine finish, it packs a serious punch in terms of colour payoff and shimmer. I love shimmer eyeshadows, especially for a night out so I know this will get a lot of wear out of this. 37 is also a Shine finish in a purple brown shade with plenty of shimmer. This works really well through the crease and in the outer corner of the eye, with 12 as an all-over base colour due to their similar pink/purple tones.

457 is the only Double Sparkle (DS) shade in my palette which supposedly means that it contains a lot more glitter for a very sparlky finish, but I must admit there isn't a huge difference between this and the AMC shine shades in the palette, other than that 457 does have more finely milled glitter particles in it. This shade is a cool-toned taupe/brown.

Finally, the first pan that I picked up and snapped onto my magnetic board was 21, which is a stunning golden bronze AMC Shine number. This mixes so well with all of the other colours in the palette as well as a lot of other neutral eyeshadows I own and is the perfect day-to-night shade. 

Overall, I absolutely love my Inglot palette and would definitely recommend getting your hands on one if there is a store where you live, or if you're brave enough to put together a palette online without swatching, buy at www.inglotuk.com.

Are there any other Inglot products you would recommend? What shades are in your Inglot palette?

Holly xo