Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch.

After hearing a lot about this recently in the blogging world, I was desperate to try it! I was in need of a new primer as my Benefit Porefessional has almost ran out (nooo!). So i decided to buy the Clarins Instant smooth Perfecting touch. It's available to buy here but I was lucky enough to get it for half price as my friend works in duty free at the airport :) which is amazing cause I can get half price on loads of products! 

I found this primer very similar to the Porefessional. There are slight differences but essentialy they do the same thing. This one is a light pink colour (whereas porefessional is a nudey brown colour), and it helps to brighten the skin. It makes my pores much less visible which is great, and my makeup sits really nicely on the skin after using this primer. As far as whether I prefer it to Porefessional.. I'm not sure. I like them equally and i did find them very similar. However I did find that this didn't make my skin as matte as Porefessional which is something that put me off a little bit. I'd say it's worth trying if you want a primer that makes your pores less visible. 

Pros:

• Makes pores less visible.
• Brightens skin.
• Comes with a little spatula for application.
• Makes makeup sit better on skin / last longer.

Cons:

• Quite pricey.
• Doesn't mattify the skin.

Beauty wishlist.

These are all the beauty products I'm currently lusting after! Unfortunately i won't be getting any of them any time soon as my bank balance is not looking too healthy at all! desperately need a full time job :( sigh. Anyway.. I can dream until then. So..these are the products I'm currently lusting after. if anyone has any recommendations let me know as I'm always looking to try new stuff! Have you tried any of these products I've mentioned here? (click through links to each product in pink.)

First of all I got a Dermalogica set in my October Glossybox and I love it! It's improved my skin after using for just the last few days so Ive been looking into their products more. I like the look of this Ultra Calming cleanser as I think it would be great for sensitive skin and my skin seems to be so irritated and red lately so I need to use more gentle products!

As well as that I also really like the Anatomicals scrub i got in this months glossybox so I want to try more products from that range too! I like the sound of this 'Stop cracking up' lip balm! (can never have too many lip balms in my opinion.)

As you will probably know from my recent posts i have been loving essie nail polishes recently especially the nude colours and this one looks lovely! It's in the shade 'miss fancy pants', i really like the look of it as it's a bit different from other nudes I've got.. whereas Ive got either pinky nudes or beigey nudes this is more grey!

I've really wanted to try Benefit's sun beam for ages, I've got high beam and I've heard good things about this one, i think it would be nice for autumn / winter to give a subtle glow :).

I've been wanting to try the Keratin smooth range from Tresemme for a while as I've heard a lot of good reviews.. this heat protection spray looks ideal I'm in need of a new heat protector for my hair too! 

Probably one of the most talked about products in the blogging world.. Nars orgasm blush. I'd love to try this as i love the rose gold shade but in reality I wouldn't want to fork out that much for it.. so in the meantime dupes will have to do! the Sleek rose gold blush seems to be the best dupe so I will probably try this first!

and finally.. I absolutely love my L'oreal nude magique BB cream (which i raved about in my previous post!), so I would really like to try this powder from the range. I think the two products would work really well together too! 

Everyday makeup.

I thought I'd share my current everyday makeup routine! I love seeing people's combination of products and their favourite ones to use so I wanted to share mine. I haven't been wearing foundation very much at all lately so I haven't pictured any here. To be honest i only really wear foundation on nights out now, as I don't really feel like I need it. I tend to use the Rimmel fix & perfect primer, and then I will sometimes use the Benefit porefessional over the top.. However I've started using this less frequently as it's running out and it's so expensive so i'm a bit hesitant to replace it even though I love it! I will probably repurchase it at some point though as it's a great product. So then I use my L'oreal nude Magique BB cream. This is one of my favourite products of all time! honestly I recommend it so much, especially if you have oily / combination skin. It makes my skin matte without being too dry, and I find that the coverage is enough that I dont need foundation on a daily basis, although when it's on it kind of appears like bare skin ? it's weird..But i guess it's just what you feel comfortable with and I like how my skin looks when wearing this! But i know some people who have tried it and don't like it, so I think it definitely depends on your skin type and how much coverage you like to have!

Next, concealer..My favourite concealer, which I have been using for almost a year now, is Benefit boi-ing which I have in the lightest shade. I find that the coverage is really good partiocularly under my eyes, it brightens up my skin quite a bit which I love! however lately I've been using Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer which is absolutely AMAZING. i know there's been a lot of hype around it and I can finally see why, it's so good! Seriously anyone who hasn't tried it needs to. Then to set all my makeup I use 17 Miracle matte Pressed Powder, this is the best powder I've found so far, it's relatively new I think? but I've repurchased it once already as I used one up. it's one of my staple products which i use every single day without fail, and it's definitely a must for someone with oily / combination skin! For my everyday blush I have been using one by MUA it was only £1.00 which is an absolute bargain and i have the shade number 4, I picked this as it was the brightest pink colour which is the kind of colour I always go for in a blush.

Finally..eye makeup and eyebrows. Again for my eyebrows I use an MUA eyebrow pencil which was an amazing £1.00 which I have in the shade brunette. I really like this pencil it's just as good as others I've tried which have been a lot more expensive! As for my eyes.. I absolutely swear by MUA's Undressed palette (not pictured above I know but that's because i don't carry it around in my 'everyday' makeup bag..although I do use it most days). Lately i've been wearing quite minimal makeup to be honest so sometimes just mascara on my eyes and nothing else. I've been using Rimmel volume flash Scandal eyes Mascara for the past couple of months as my everyday mascara.. It's not my favourite ever but it does the job! Oh and finally the Bourjois 'chocolate' bronzer I use this most days just to give my skin a little glow, it's one of the best bronzers I've tried as its not too orange or too shimmery but gives a nice subtle glow. So this post turned out to be a little longer than I anticipated so I'm going to stop waffling on now! This is an overview of my current everyday makeup, the makeup I carry around with me and the bare minimum I will use but obviously I have a much bigger collection for when I'm doing my full makeup for nights out etc!

Benefit High Beam.

Everyone seems to rave about Benefit high beam and to be perfectly honest I don't think i'm a huge fan. I bought this mini 2.5ml sample size from ebay here last week so I could have chance to try it out and decide if i like it before buying the full size product. 

The couple of times I have used it, I find that it tends to remove my makeup slightly, and leave patchy white marks. I find that this happens even when I try to dab it really lightly. I've been using it on my cheekbones, forehead and nose, but I've read reviews from people saying they use it under their eyes to disguise dark circles, or on the brow bone as a highlighter, so I may try using it like this and see if I get better results. I'm not ruling it out completely and it may grow on me as I keep using it but at the moment i can't say i'm that excited by it, and I really don't think it's worth the price (£18.50 for the full size bottle).

Has anyone else tried high beam and isn't a huge fan of it? Everyone else I've come across seems to love it!

My daily makeup routine.

I thought I would do a little post with all the makeup I'm currently using and do a little review of each product all in one post! 

Mua makeup academy Matte Foundation: Shade 1 soft sand - I bought this last week as I just needed a cheap foundation to keep me going until I got paid. I usually tend to go for matte foundations as I have combination oily skin. When I first used this, even after moisturising before, I found it really dry and almost like glue when I tried to blend it. The next time i used it i tried mixing it with my Clinique Dramatically different moisturising gel (half and half of each), and I found this works really well with my skin so I've been using them together everyday now. I think the foundation works well as a matte foundation, but without mixing with moisturiser it was too dry for my skin. I think it's definitely worth it for the price though, it only cost me around £2.00 from Superdrug.

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 01 light - I have previously done a review on this concealer so i won't go into too much detail, I will just reiterate the fact I absolutely love it and don't know how i would live without it now! It's definitely the best concealer I've tried and I'd recommend it.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection ultimate wear powder: 1 fair - Again, this was just another cheap product I picked up to keep me going for a while. I usually swear by Max Factor Creme Puff but I thought I'd give this one a try as a slightly cheaper option, I think it was only about £2.49. It seems to prevent my skin from getting too oily / shiny, especially when I use it with the matte foundation. I don't think there's anything special about it as there are a lot of similar powders but i can't complain for the price!

MAC Sheertone blush in Pink Swoon - I have reviewed this product before, so you can check out that post here if you like. I do love the colour of this blush, however I do think it's overpriced and i seem to have to use a lot every time I apply it!

17 Glam rocks eye palette - I love this smoky eye palette by 17, i got it as a free gift when they had an offer on a couple of years ago. I tend to use the cream colour as a base for my eyes and then use one of the darker colours towards the outer corners. 

Excellence Eyebrow pencil in Brown - I've been using this for a few months however I've only just started doing my eyebrows properly so I've ordered an eyebrow kit to make it easier. This pencil works well but it goes blunt really easily so I have to constantly sharpen it. But it comes with a sharpener built into the lid which is quite useful! 

Max Factor Kohl Pencil: 020 Black - I got this as part of a gift set from Max Factor so I'm currently using this, although it will probably run out soon with it being so small. It is one of the best pencil eyeliners I've used, it stays on all day and doesn't smudge easily. So i will consider buying the full size version when this one runs out!

Max Factor Masterpiece Max mascara in Black - This was also part of a gift set so is only small in size. I do like this mascara and it helps to lengthen my lashes however I wouldn't say i'm totally overwhelmed with it; I have tried better mascaras. 

Sally Hansen Diamond 12 hour lip treatment in Solitaire - I bought this lip gloss as I spotted it in a factory outlet type shop for around £1.99 so I decided to try it! It's quite tingly when you apply it although it doesn't claim to be a 'plumping' lip gloss. It's a nice colour as it contains sparkly / shimmery bits within the pink colour, although I tend to wear it over lipstick for a night out.

Anyway, there you go, that's the majority of my daily makeup. I do obviously use different / more makeup when I go out. I tend to use darker makeup for a night out too as I'll usually be wearing fake tan. I plan on doing another post soon about my daily skincare routine :) thanks for reading!

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer

"This industrial-strength concealer camouflages dark circles, shadows and discolouration for a 

seamless, natural-looking finish without creasing or fading. You name it, boi-ing helps hide it! "

I got this Benefit Boi-ing concealer a few weeks back as  I had read a couple of reviews on it and it seemed like a popular choice! I absolutely love it, the texture is amazing! It's a lovely creamy consistency without being too greasy. I find the coverage amazing, I use it everyday without fail now and it's hands down the best concealer I've ever used! I think it does what it claims to, it doesn't tend to crease or look any different even after a full day's wear! and I think it successfully hides dark circles / spots, etc. Not that i really tend to get spots at all.

I've noticed a lot of people are a fan of the Benefit erase paste concealer too, however I was a bit put off by the shape of the tub, it seems like it will be difficult to get the right amount out to use; also the little 'spatula' it comes with puts me off as i'd prefer to use my finger anyways, whereas with the Boi-ing concealer you can just glide your finger across. I will maybe try the erase paste sometime in the future but for now i'm extremely happy with my boi-ing concealer! My mum immediately asked for it for her birthday too after trying mine, so it's clearly a big hit :)

Thanks for reading if you have any questions / comments feel free to leave one!