February Favourites

Hi Beauties, Sorry for the lateness of this favourites post but I just couldn't decide what to feature in it. So here's 5 of my most reached for products in the month of February!

First up a skincare product -

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic - I bought this way back in September (i think) and I have been using it every single day since and I love it. Some people don't use a toner at all and think its a pointless step in their skincare routine. I on the other hand have been using them everyday since doing Beauty Therapy in college. I'm not sure if my skin actually benefits from it, because I haven't stopped using toners at all for the past 5 or 6 years, but I really enjoy using them, they really freshen up the skin and make it feel really clean and clear. I use this after cleansing. I spray it 4 times on a cotton pad and sweep it across my face, to make sure my face is completely clean and make up free. The smell of this toner is absolutely gorgeous and it really wakes my skin up, once I finish this I will definitely be repurchasing it.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Deep Nourishing Intensive Mask - I've been really looking after my hair recently and I think this has really helped. Since using it my hair has been really lovely and smooth. I use this at least once a week and I really like it. I reviewed it here if you would like to take a look.

MAC Girl About Town - This was my first MAC lipstick that I bought back in January. It's a gorgeous bright fuscia pink and I fell in love with it as soon as I laid eyes on it. Whenever I go out I use either this or the Rimmel Apocalips I'm about to talk about.

Rimmel Apocalips Big Bang - As you may know from reading this review I went out and bought 2 Rimmel Apocalips' the day they came out. I thought the bright pink I bought would be my favourite but in actual fact Big Bang is, this bright true red has been my most reached for since purchasing them. I've never owned such a red before, its really lovely and bright. The Apocalips themselves are really good too. They feel like a gloss when applied but dry to a beautiful matte finish. With the amazing pigmentation of a high end lipstick. I'm sure a well be extending my collection of colours very soon.

MUA Blusher Shade 2 -  I've been using MUA's blusher in shade 2 everyday I've wore make up in February. Its a lovely light dusky pink colour with ever so slight shimmer in it. The pigmentation is actually rather good for a product costing just £1, one quick swirl in the pan is enough to give my cheeks a lovely flush of colour. For only £1 I will definitely pick this up again, I have 3 of the 6 shades but this one is the one I use most. (As you may be able to tell the blusher in the very first picture in this post isn't actually shade 2, because the writing on the front of the packaging has completely faded and I wanted you to be able to see what the blushes look like, so I used another one of the colours in my collection so sorry if that causes confusion, also apologies for the messy packaging, I forgot to clean it before photographing)

Hope you enjoyed this most, and maybe have a few ideas of new products you would like to try out. What were your most reached for products in February? Be sure to let me know.

Much Love Gemma xo. 

Boots and Debenhams Haul!

Hi Lovelies. I could actually kick myself right now because I've just realised I missed a product out of the main photo for this post! I honestly want to scream, I've just spent sooooo long taking pictures, put everything away and now as I gather the photos together, I notice pictures I took of my new cleansing water the other day that I totally forgot to include in today's photo taking marathon! 

So with that drama pushed to the back of my mind here's a few things I've bought in the last week.

soap and glory, herbal essences, original source, yves saint laurent, la roche-posay

and No7 cleansing water I forgot to put in the first photo

First of all I'll get the boring essential things out of the way with first. I've been using the Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends shampoo and conditioner for a few months now and I really like them so I picked up some replacements. They were buy one get one free in Boots. As for the Original Source shower gels I have never used these before but  I eventually ran out of my Body Shop Cranberry Joy from January and they were half price in Boots so I got 2. As you all know I adore Raspberries so the Raspberry and Cream one was a must have for me and the Chocolate and Mint one is really fresh and ideal for waking me up in the morning. 

As well as these, I decided to get something less boring and try out the No7 Cleansing Water. I've been wanting to try Bioderma for ages so when I got a voucher for £5 off No7 products I decided to pick this up for just £4. So far I really like it (I've used it about 4 or 5 times) But from reading reviews I've found that this doesn't have a patch on Bioderma so I will still be picking that up at some point to test out! But for now the No7 water will do.

I went into Debenhams intending to pick up the Benefit They're Real Mascara but as I dragged my boyfriend round the makeup stands he spotted the YSL Volume Effect Faux Clis Mascara and thought it looked nicer than the Benefit one, so told me to get that instead, and offered to pay for half of it. We asked at the counter how much it was and the lovely woman told us it was £23.50 for just the mascara but only £23 for this giftset. Which includes, the full sized mascara and a mini eye make up remover and mini eye cream. So I decided to get that. I absolutely love it! The mascara is amazing and so far I am enjoying the other 2 mini's as well. Of course I will get They're Real at one point but I'm really happy I picked this up! And thank you to the brilliant assistant who told me to get the giftset instead of just the mascara.

And finally I ordered these 3 beauties on Friday and they eventually turned up in store for me to pick up this afternoon. Like most other beauty bloggers I have read countless reviews on the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo and have been dying to get my hands on it. But whenever I had money this was sold out and whenever it was in stock I was skint, sods law huh? Eventually I was able to get my hands on it in the latest 3 for 2 deal in Boots and I am so excited to try it out. I've heard loads about Soap and Glory's Scrub Your Nose In It and seeing as I'm trying to get my skin in good condition at the minute I thought it was a great opportunity to try it out. As the cheapest item of the 3 this was my free product. And lastly Soap and Glory's Sugar Crush Body Scrub, everyone talks about it, everyone loves. I fell in love with it and sniff the stuff every time I go into Boots so I decided enough was enough and I bought it. Happy Days!

I'm so pleased with my purchases. What do you think? Have you tried any of these? And what do you think of them?

Hope you enjoyed having a nosey at what I spend my money on :)

Much Love Gemma xo.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Mask

Hello Everyone. I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Hair Mask I've been using recently.

The 'Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Deep Nourishing Intensive Mask' wow what a mouthful!!

 I picked this mask up a few months back and I have been using it at least once a week ever since. It makes my hair really soft and shiny and the day after I use it my hair looks beautiful. I use about a ping pong ball sized blob of the stuff and work it into the ends of my hair working my way up (hardly any touches my roots because I'm to scared of my hair being a horrible greasy mess, if I can help it the only thing that touches my roots is shampoo!) I'll then leave it to work its magic for about 5-10 minutes, and follow with my conditioner. This might sound dramatic but, the first time I used this and then applied my conditioner I thought my hair was falling out as I rinsed, because my hair was so unbelievably soft! It literally felt like I was running my hands through water not my hair!

My hair has been really dry for as long as I can remember, from years of black hair dye and heat abuse. But since putting this into my hair care routine I've noticed such a difference in the condition of my locks. Its a lot softer and shinier than it has been for a long while. And although I can't solely say it's all down to this product (because I have been trying a lot more hair care products and generally looking after it more recently.) I definitely do think it has helped.

The consistency of the mask is just like any other conditioner you would use. Not too thick and not to runny just a nice creamy texture. It smells like coconuts and reminds me of my holiday to Zante last year when I used the 'Hello Hydration' shampoo and conditioner. I picked this up when it was on over for around £2 but I think its usually no more than 4 or 5 pounds.

Overall I am really impressed and if I wasn't on the look out for another mask I would repurchase this in a heart beat.

Much Love Gemma xo.