March Favourites

March is almost over and it's gone so quickly. I can't believe we're three months into 2015 already!

It's been a good month though. Not only has the weather began to pick up , but it's meant I can start going out on walks. I love hiking through the countryside. Though the picture in my header was from a walk that didn't turn out so well! We got caught up in the rain, so we ended up having to head back halfway into the walk.

One of the best things in March was Comic Relief. This year, I decided to volunteer by taking calls for donations. I've never worked in a call centre before, but it was oddly fun, and it was great to be doing something for a good cause. Sadly, I didn't take many donations.

Though all this I have enjoyed beautifying myself and watching some many shows. Here are some things I've loved.

Favourite make-up

This month I went to repurchase the Urban Decay De-Slick setting spray, and whilst I was there I decided to try the De-Slick Setting Powder. It's a translucent power but has the added selling point of having white rice, which helps mattify the face. It's a little bit pricey, but I love they way it looks. Especially as I don't find it cakey at all.

I also received the Benefit Roller Last this month in my Birchbox, and it has quickly dropped into my everyday make-up. I wrote about what I thought about it here. I may even like it more than the Real Lash mascara.

Finally, I have also loved the Illamasqua Skin Base Lift. Not only does is it an under eye concealer, but it also has corrector properties. Just wearing this alone brightens my eyes so much.

Favourite skincare

The moisturiser I have been using the most lately is the No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream. I've actually been using it for some time, but it's become my favourite moisturiser. It sinks into my skin easily and leaves it feeling soft without any stickiness. It also has added SPF with is always a bonus!

I am also loving the Soap & Glory Heel Genius Foot Cream. I have started using it again this month to get my feet looking great and feeling soft for when I start wearing sandals again, and it does the job. My feet are feeling so much better!

Favourite Television

I have two favourite television this month. The first is, without a doubt, Parks and Recreation. I've always struggled to get through the first season, but my friend kept telling me to persevere, and I did. I ended up binge watching the entire thing. It is so well written with such amazing characters. Why did I not watch this sooner?!



The second is the Netflix original, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Once again I binged watch the show. It's very quirky and very entertaining and it's acted so well. If you haven't watched it yet, you really should.



Favourite music

I have been on a bit of a Ed Sheeran kick this month, and I really love Thinking Out Loud. It's such a beautiful song. I can't help but sing along to it!



What have you been loving this month?

Wreck This Journal

If you don't know what the Wreck This Journal is, then it is a book with various prompts on each page. It's a chance to find your creativity and well, wreck the pages of the book.

I think my creativity has been a bit stifled lately. I have a normal everyday job in an office which doesn't allow me show my artistic side. I thought something like this would be perfect to work on some mini daily projects that I can fit around my schedule. I actually bought the book over a year a go but it's only recently I've taken its seriously.

I wanted to share some of my initial pages with you. Some of these are actually still work-in-progress,but they are getting there. I think I'm already realising that I like to put colour onto my work!

Have you started the 'Wreck This Journal'?

Current daily make-up

I last wrote about my make-up routine all the way back in July. Back then the weather was much warmer, so my routine had to fit the bill. Since then my routine has changed, not only to fit with the colder climate of winter, but also because I have constantly been finding new and exiting products to use.

After cleansing and moisturising my face, I first use a primer. The primer I am reaching for the most at the moment is Matte Veil from Illamasqua. Sadly, I have pretty oily skin so I need a good primer to mattify my face and keep my make-up on all day. This completely fits the bill.

For foundation, I use L'Oreal's True Match Foundation. My shade is N2. I use the the Real Technique's Expert Face Brush to buff in the foundation. I love the True Match foundation, as I think it makes my skin look great. To cover my dark under eye circles, I use the Illamasqua Skin Base Lift in light 2. This is a corrector and concealer in one, and really brightens the eyes.

Next I brush through my brows using the Benefit Gimme Brow. It is the only thing I have ever used for my brows and I love it! As it's a daily look, I don't like to go heavy on the eyes. I keep it simple by using the Revlon Eye Pencil in Earth Brown to give my eyes a little extra definition. I then use L'Oreal's Volume Million Lashes for my eyelashes.  

For the rest of my face, I just put a little bit of blush on my cheeks. I dab on the Illamasqua Cream Blush in Zygomatic, which just looks very natural.

To set my make-up I use both the Urban Decay De-Slick Powder and the Urban Decay DeSlick Setting Spray to minimise the oil on my face, and stop my make-up from slipping off. I finish off my look with the Pixi lip balm. Not only does it soften my lips, but it also gives a little bit of colour, and brings my look together.

What is your current make-up routine?

Spotlight: Benefit Roller Lash

If you have read my Birchbox post this month, you will know that I was excited about receiving a sample of the new Benefit Roller Lash.

I've had a hit and miss relationship with Benefit mascaras. Their Real Lash is one of my top mascaras. The Bad Girl Lash on the other hand just doesn't do it for me. So the Roller Lash could have gone either way!

What makes the Roller Lash different is the curved wand, which is designed to enable you to curl your lashes without the use of a curler. In Benefit's words, the idea is to 'hook 'n' roll'. It also comes with a really cute packaging design. I love the rose gold colour, and full size has even been made to look like a hair roller. It's so pretty.

I have been wearing this all week to get some full use out of it. To me, it is a great daytime mascara. It doesn't offer as much of a dramatic look as the Real Lash one does, but it's perfect for definition and lengthening. I can be quite picky with mascaras, but I love this one. It ticks all my boxes, and my lashes look great. After a week I'm still loving at how long they look!

It took me a while to be able to roll it over my lashes to get the curl. I still find that I, weirdly, struggle with my right eye, and end up with masacara on my eylid! But it comes off easily enough before it dries. The best bit is that I'm finding I don't have panda eyes at the end of the day, which has been something I struggle with other mascaras!

One thing I would point out is that the Roller Lash doesn't give volume, so if that is important, then this mascara is not for you.

Overall I really love it. the downside of course is the price. I'm not really sure I can justify £19.50 on a mascara. But the mascara is good enough to make me reconsider.

One year on; Birch Box disappointments

I don't like to be negative, but I think it's hard to have gone one year without some disappointing products within the Birchbox. Due to the nature of the box, not everything is going to be amazing. It's always a gamble.

There are products that I have used, and enjoyed but probably wouldn't buy again, but then there are the products that have just disappointed me. Either my face fell when I saw them in the box, or I had so much hope for them, but they just didn't rise up to my expectations. Luckily this is a short list, but I wanted to highlight the products that I just didn't like.

I would like to point out before I get into them, that these are all personal to me. Someone else could find these products perfect!

The biggest disappointment for me were the Drinkwel capules, which are designed to help you recover after a night out partying, I was actually a little annoyed at receiving these on two accounts; 1) I don't drink, so it immediately makes them redundant, and 2) I don't like the idea of taking pills for those types of things. Other people may find them perfect, but they were very, very wrong for me,

One of the other biggest disappointments was the Stila lip glaze. I was actually very excited about receiving it, as I really wanted to try something from Stila. I like the design of tube - you twist the bottom and it brings product onto the brush at the top, even though it did take a while to initially get some product out. The finish though just doesn't cut it. There is no pigment at all to the formula. It gives a gloss, but it mostly just wipes glitter onto the lips. I personally cannot see a time when I will want glittery lips. To top it off, it is very, very sticky. It just didn't work out at all.

The next ones are a very personal disappointment which I'm sure most people don't share. I have said multiple times I do not like red nail polish, and I received two in consecutive boxes - one from the OPI Coca-Cola collection and one from Lollipops. The formula may be great, but they were never ones I was interested in trying out to see how they fared in the first place. Benefit's It's Potent eye cream is another one that falls under this category. I used the eye cream prior to receiving it in the box (here), and it just doesn't work for me, as it's not gentle enough.

I think I may have been more disappointed by the Model Co lip lacquer than I would have been if it wasn't a choose-your-own product that didn't work out. Not only was there not much off a colour pay-off, but it was also too gloopy and sticky, so I couldn't really find any benefits to using it.

Finally, the last thing on this list is another nail polish. This was the Model's Own glitter nail polish (not pictured as I gave it away ) I received back in the July box. The Model's Own nail polishes have redeemed themselves since (with a glitter one!), but this one was disappointing. The pay-off is very minimal with this one, as it is effectively just pink glitter with nothing else to it. I think it may be obvious about now that I am not a fan of glitter!

Have you tried any of these products?