Spring Empties

Soap and Glory, Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk - As you can see, I've had this for quite some time, as it's still in the old packaging. I bought 3 bottles of this in one go once, as there was a 3 for 2 offer going on in Boots and I'd heard a (wrong) rumour that this was going to be discontinued. Recently, I've been using it on and off as I've found that the skin around my cheeks has got a bit more sensitive and hasn't been agreeing well with my beloved Peaches and Clean.
Would I repurchase? No.

Miss Dior Eau Fraiche - I'm really sad to see this go. This has been my staple scent since August; I absolutely love it. I'm appalling at trying to describe scents, so I'm just going to suggest that if you want to know more about this, hop on over to your local Dior counter.
Would I repurchase? Yes!

Maybelline Eye Studio Master Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde - I think this is my 4th one of these pencils. It's the perfect colour for my brows, fills them in nicely, stays relatively well and I really like the spoolie at the end. Although there's still a little bit left, when it gets this short I find it difficult to control and at only £2.99, I'm not that bothered about throwing it away.
Would I repurchase? Yes and I already have.

Auchan Eponge Dissolvante Top Chrono - As you can tell, this is a French product. I bought it when I was in France over New Year for around €3? It's basically a nail polish remover product that's an amazing dupe for the all hyped Bourjouis one - I won't bother with a link for it, you all know what it is. I'm sad to see that this has started to dry up, but I definitely got my money's worth.
Would I repurchase? Yes, I will when I'm next in France.

L'Oréal Elvive Fibrology Shampoo - This is a new contender on the haircare front and I have to say, I'm impressed. I definitely felt a difference in the thickness of my hair after just a few uses, so either it's a really good shampoo or it's a great placebo product. For only £3.99, I don't really care which it is! It smells really nice too.
Would I repurchase? Yes, I already have.

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - Well, this was a disappointment. I was bought this by a friend and I was so excited as normally I really love Soap and Glory products. As a scrub it worked really well but I absolutely hated the scent. I found it far too sick and sweetly. I'm glad to see the back of this scrub!
Would I repurchase? Definitely not.

Dirty Works Buttery Salt Scrub - I think this is definitely a good dupe for some of the Soap and Glory scrubs; the smell is completely different, not quite as nice, but the packaging is so similar and the scrub does a really good job at scrubbing and moisturising. I really liked this! It's such a shame I've only ever seen this in large Sainsbury's stores.
Would I repurchase? Maybe.

Gilette Satin Care Shave Gel - This is definitely one of my staple products. Considering the fact that it's a shaving gel, I can't really think of much to say about it! It's relatively moisturising, it prevents razor rash and it smells pretty darn good.
Would I repurchase? Yes and I already have.

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Holy Grail Product || Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm

Are you ready for a rave? Because I'm going to rave - it's all I can do when I even think about this product, let alone talk or write about it. I AM IN LOVE. I have really dry and chapped lips all year round (it's a damn good thing I'm single, because I don't even like touching my lips as they're often that sore!). I've tried countless lip balms, lip jellies, lip treatments; I guess you could say I'm a lip balm whore. Quite often, products work for a few weeks and then my lips just stop reacting to them and I'm sitting there with a greasy film over painful cracked lips.

 On Christmas Eve, I was at my wits end as I'd spent possibly hundreds over the years on different lip balms, never having found anything that worked; so I went to my local Lifestyle Pharmacy and had a lovely chat with one of the pharmacists. She explained to me that many of the ingredients in your standard lip balm (think Nivea, Carmex etc...) are almost addictive for the lips - you find yourself applying it all the time as your lips make you think that you need it, but the more you apply them, the more desensitised your lips become towards them. Basically, your lips get addicted to it and then it stops working. This isn't such a problem for most people, but for those of us with insanely chapped lips it's a real issue. She claimed that all my problems could be solved by going for a 100% natural lip balm - I understood that this would solve the lip addiction problem, but I was dubious as to whether the lip balm she was suggesting (Burt's Bees) would actually do the job to my satisfaction - when you've been through as many different lip balms as I have, you start to become sceptical. However, I decided to buy it for myself as Christmas gift and I can honestly say it was one of the best purchases I've ever made. This stuff works so well! I can't say that it's completely cured my chapped lips; they still get chapped, but this stuff works a dream at de-chapping (?) them, and 5 months on it's still working a dream. I'm almost at the end of the tube, and I use it several times a day, every day, so you really do get your money's worth.

 These balms come in around 8 different flavours or scents, but I went for the pomegranate oil as I love pomegranates, the pink colour of the lid attracted to me, and this one claims to be replenishing, which sounded to be exactly what I needed. I cannot recommend these enough and you can now get them in Boots (here) for only £3.69.

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Review || 17 Miracle Matte Skin Primer

I absolutely love 17 - they do affordable, good quality products and most of the time their packaging isn't too bad for a high street brand (I'm turning into quite the packaging snob). I get a really oily t-zone, and I've been searching for ages for a primer that doesn't feel as if it's clogging up my pores, but is still keeping me matte and minimising the appearance of pores. So, when I saw this primer from 17, I got very excited and instantly bought it, without reading any reviews at all - not something I usually do, as I like to be cautious with my money.

The primer itself has the look and consistency of a light moisturiser, which was pleasing as the more siliconey primers (such as Baby Skin by Maybelline) tend to leave my skin feeling greasy and clogged up. 17 claim that it will give you 22 hour shine control - quite a big statement to make, although I'm not sure of many people who would actually keep their make up on for 22 hours. I have to say, I was disappointed. I applied this exactly as advised and saw absolutely no difference in the shine control of my foundation or BB cream. This primer did absolutely nothing.

There's not much else to say, but I almost feel let down by 17 as I love so many of their products and I really hoped I would love this too. You can buy it here for £4.99 but I really wouldn't recommend it.

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Review || Estée Lauder Day Wear Sheer Tint Release

This is possibly one of the weirdest products I've tried. Your eyes do not deceive you; it is actually grey. Estée Lauder describe it as a tinted moisturiser - the tint is released as it makes contact with the skin, meaning that one size (or colour) really does fit all. The tint worked fine for me, it matched my colour really well. I have medium skin that tans really well (without a tan I'm NW20 in MAC foundations).

The coverage in this product really is sheer, it covered absolutely nothing for me. The description given by Estée Lauder would suggest that it should be used on its own, but personally I don't think it gives any coverage at all, so you might as well just buy a moisturiser with a higher SPF - this only has SPF15, which in the Summer months really isn't adequate, especially if you're off on holiday anywhere vaguely exotic.

Perhaps this would be nice under a BB cream or a foundation, but I really didn't like how this felt against my skin. It felt greasy and just generally horrible, so I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anyone but those with dry skin - I have oily combination skin, my t-zone gets ridiculously oily, whilst my cheeks are normal and can get dry in the winter. I found this felt greasy even on my cheeks, and I hadn't even applied that much and I wasn't wearing moisturiser underneath. This might be okay if you have dry skin, but I would recommend you getting a sample from your local Estée Lauder counter, as at £37 you really want to try before you buy.

You can buy this product here, but I wouldn't recommend doing so until you've tried a sample as I don't think this will suit too many skin types.

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Review || Eye Saviours

As a serious hay fever sufferer, my eyes take a beating every Summer. I say Summer, I actually mean March through to September. I don't really need to go through the gory details of how my eyes feel after being bombarded with pollen, but it's not nice. As the icing on the cake of sore eyes, my eyes and the surrounding skin are incredibly sensitive. I've tried countless eye creams only to have that tell tale stinging and watering telling me that my eyes really aren't happy about this product. So, when I came across these two products and I had no adverse reactions, I was over the moon.

Avène Soothing Eye Contour Cream

This fabulous product has the consistency of a usual eye cream, without it being super thick or greasy. Avène claim that "this light emulsion calms skin irritation, tightness and redness". I've got to say, I think they're right. I apply a small amount of this under my eyes and on the brow bone, using my ring finger (as it's the finger that applies the least amount of pressure on this delicate skin) every evening before using my usual moisturiser. By the time I wake up in the morning, my eyes feel as good as new. Also, it's paraben free which is great, as I'm trying to limit the amount of bad things like parabens that I apply to my skin. Although this only comes in a 10ml tube, a little goes a long way and this will last at least 6 months. You can buy it here for £9.50 - a real bargain for such a great product.

Simple Kind To Eyes Revitalising Eye Roll-On

I discovered this gem only a few weeks ago, thanks to a friend of mine; I'd had a long hard day of school and I was exhausted and my eyes just felt so tired but I had to stay in school until 10pm for a concert I was performing in with the choir. My friend threw me this from across the changing room and ever since then it's taken pride of place in my handbag. Already it's an essential. With a metal roller ball and an eye gel with cucumber extracts, this is one of the most refreshing things I've ever encountered. After applying on the under eyes, you instantly feel about 100 times more awake and refreshed. This is fast becoming a holy grail product for me. The only gripe I have about this product is that it's formulated with parabens, but I'm prepared to look past this because it's just such a good product and doesn't irritate my eyes at all. If you get really hung up about parabens, the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Eye Roll-On is really similar but formulated without parabens (you can buy it here for £14). This wonder product from Simple is only £5.49 (although it's often on offer in Superdrug) and you can buy it here - I seriously recommend you do so, if you suffer from tired eyes, hay fever or if you simply love to feel refreshed.

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Lipstick Favourites

I really wish I had the opportunity to wear lipsticks more often. Although the make-up rules at my school are quite lax, lipstick is one rule that can't be broken. I only really get the opportunity to wear lipstick at the weekends or during the holidays, but I still have some favourites! Apologies in advance for the rubbish photos, there's been no decent photo light all day, this is the best I could do.

The Nudes

1. Rimmel London Lasting Finish, 058 Drop of Sherry £4.99 This is a really lovely red toned nude. It lasts well throughout the day and when it does wear away, it doesn't leave that irritating lip liner look. At £4.99, it's an absolute bargain and I would definitely recommend this or any of the other colours from the collection! 
2. MUA Lipstick, Shade 11 £1 I cannot rave enough about this lipstick. It's such a perfect nude - a great colour, it's creamy but doesn't feel funny on your lips, it doesn't have a particularly strong taste, it lasts reasonably well and it's only £1! What a bargain! The actual product has a little screw pot of the lipstick on the end as well, to keep you going until you buy a new one if you run out on the bullet.
3. Maybelline Colour Whisper, Coral Ambition Unfortunately, these are only available in the USA, but I have linked to an Ebay stockist (it's quite expensive though). Although I don't own a Revlon Lip Butter, I would compare this to them. At first the colour is quite sheer, so it's easy to wear as a nude, but if you build it up you get this really nice coral colour. It can apply a little patchy though. I think that the Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti would be a close match in colour and formula.
4. Estée Lauder Long Lasting Lipstick, Pink Parfait, £20 This is a really nice pinky nude, although some people wouldn't class it as a nude, as it is definitely pink. All the same, this is a great lipstick, it lasts well, it doesn't leave that lip liner effect and it doesn't have an obnoxious taste. I have this as part of a 4 lipstick palette from Estée Lauder, but you can buy it separately too.
5. Estée Lauder Long Lasting Lipstick, Pinkberry, £20 This is from exactly the same range as the last lipstick, so I don't really need to say anything about it. The colour is a bit less bright, so it's better as a nude.
6. Estée Lauder Pure Colour Crystal Lipstick, Crystal Pink, £20 This is my absolute favourite nude lipstick in the whole world. It lasts slightly less long than the previous two, but the colour is so nice. I know it's cliché, but it really is "your lips but better". I've hit pan in the palette, and I think I will definitely save up to repurchase it in bullet form.

The Brights

There aren't many of these, but they all look 100x better on the lips.

1. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, Crush, £7.99 I wore this lipstick pretty much constantly in the winter. I love it. Revlon's answer to Clinique's Chubby Stick definitely does a good job, however I would say that this isn't for those who want to put their lipstick on in the morning, and not have to touch it up all day. Although this layers on the lips to a beautiful dark berry colour, it doesn't last too well and unfortunately leaves that lip liner effect on the lips. But, the colour is gorgeous, it's so moisturising and creamy on the lips, it doesn't bleed too badly, which is often an issue with such dark colours and it has a really nice peppermint taste. The swatch definitely doesn't do it justice!
2. Rimmel London Lasting Finish, 164 Tantrum, £4.99 This has pretty much exactly the same properties as the nude from this range, but it doesn't last quite as well. All the same, this is a gorgeous bright red at a really good price. I wore this to my Gatsby style prom, and it worked really well.
3. No7 Stay Perfect Lipstick, 5 Classic Rose, £9.75 This is such a pretty bright pink colour, it's great for summer. It lasts quite well and feels nice on the lips.
4. Rimmel London Kate Matte, 107, £5.49 This is possibly one of the most blogged about high-street lipsticks. I really like it, it lasts nicely with a good matte finish, it's not too drying like many mattes are and the colour is just gorgeous. As the colour is quite deep and "in your face", I often apply it with a lip brush and blot it with a tissue, just to take some of the edge off.

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