Spring Lipsticks

Lately, we're beginning to see the first signs of spring.  Hopefully I'm not jinxing it, but I've been enjoying clear blue skies and leaving my hat and gloves at home.  When it comes to beauty looks, I love spring and summer - I am a sucker for a pastel lip, fresh base and bronzed complexion.  I've already phased out my deep vampy lipsticks and the paler shades have been on their way into my makeup bag.  These are the shades I'll be reaching for the most over the next few weeks.

A Matte Base

Usually, I am a huge fan of a matte base.  I love a touch of highlighter and some shimmery eye shadow, but I am not a girl after the dewy look.  I have spent so long powdering my skin to stop it looking oily that I'm not about to start using foundations and spritzes that add shine.  Lately I feel like I've mastered the matte base and I want to share the beauty bits I've been using.

Benefit Mascara Battle: They're Real vs RollerLash

When I am looking for a new mascara, I find it pretty hard to decide - there are thousands of options on the market, each claiming to do very similar things.  How do I know which ones will make my lashes look long, black and fluttery without ending up comparable to spiders legs? How do I know which ones will flake down my face half way through the day and which will be impossible to remove at the end of the day?  Reading some reviews helped me realise that Benefit know what they're doing when it comes to mascara, but which of their options to I choose?  I received a sample of Rollerlash in a magazine last year, loved it, and kept re-purchasing over and over again.  But until now, I didn't know how it compared to one of the brand's most popular products; They're Real.

Benefit The POREfessional Matte Rescue Primer

As an oily-skinned girl, foundation doesn't last three hours on my skin without the help of a good primer.  When I reached the end of my Illamasqua Matte Veil a few weeks ago, I fancied trying something new as a replacement.  The Benefit POREfessional Matte Rescue primer seemed to be everywhere to looked, and I was reading amazing things about it's power to keep oil at bay, keep makeup in place and prolong wear so I made an order.

Game Changing Beauty

Every now and again, I find a beauty product which completely changes my makeup routine, and I know I'll be repurchasing for a long, long time.  These are the current game-changing products I have in my stash which I just can't get enough of.

Every Day Eye Makeup

Lately every time I have more that two minutes to put my makeup on, I find myself going for the same eye products.  I  am loving a soft brown smokey liner with layers of lashes.

Benefit Gimme Brow vs Urban Decay Brow Tamer

I am a huge fan of Benefit Gimme Brow, but when I started to come to the end of the tube at the same time as Urban Decay released their Brow Tamer I couldn't help trying something new.  Rather than reviewing the Brow Tamer on it's own, I thought I'd compare the two eye brow mascaras side-by-side.

Shopping my Stash for Autumn

I've put off admitting it for as long as I can, but summer is finally here and it's time to embrace autumn.  As much as I love cosy blankets, cute shoe boots and warm scarves, I am a summer girl through and through so I can't help dragging out the peachy pinks and shimmery bronzers as long as possible.  I'm just about ready so switch up my makeup bag to reflect the season, so I've dug through my stash to find my autumn favourites.

Adding Dimension

Thanks to acne-prone/acne scarred skin, I like quite a bit of coverage in my foundation to cover my imperfections.  I feel so much more confident when my blemishes and scars are covered, but it often makes my skin look flat and mask-like, which means there's even less dimension to my face than my natural football head look.  These are the products I use to add a bit of warmth, dimension and shape back into my complexion.

Holiday Makeup

While I'm on holiday, I like to change up my makeup a bit.  I look for multi-purpose products to save on weight and I go for a generally lighter look.  These are the makeup products I couldn't get enough of during my week in Marbella.

Current Beauty Favourites

Over the last few weeks I've found myself reaching for the same beauty bits over and over again - I just can't get enough of them!

Upping my Eyebrow Game

I have finally found an eyebrow routine I'm happy with, and after putting off trying the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade for so long, it turns out this was what I needed all along.

Benefit Roller Lash

Roller Lash is the new super curling and lifting mascara from the beauties at Benefit (£19.50).  It uses a Hook 'n' Roll brush to grab, separate, lift and curl lashes and the curve-setting formula is said to hold a curl for 12 hours.  I have the mini sample from Elle magazine, but does it compare to my beloved YSL Babydoll?

Benefit Gimme Brow

Most of the time my eyebrows drive me mad.  The hairs seem to want to always point downwards, which is definitely not a good look.  Thankfully I discovered clear mascara pretty early on, which seemed to help, but I wanted something to add a bit of colour and definition too.  I tried brown mascara and  a few high-street offerings, but I never found what I was looking for.  I'd read countless good reviews of this tiny product, so I snapped it up using a Feel Unique discount code.  

Benefit Powda Wowza

 Benefit Powda Wowza - £19.50

I have lusted after this product for over a year now - I love Hoola and use if on a daily basis to contour and bronze my face and have really fancied trying a benefit blusher for a while.  Powda Wowza seemed like the perfect way to do so, in a compact box which is perfect for taking away with me.  When I spotted this on a blog sale I pounced, and I'm so happy it's mine!

Powda Wowza is packaged in a typical Benefit cardboard box split into four sections.  One contains a small (pretty useless) brush, one for Hoola, one for Bella Bamba and one for Coralista.  The only downside of the packaging is the lack of a mirror, but that doesn't particularly bother me.

Hoola is the perfect bronzer for my skin tone.  It isn't too warm toned, so doesn't appear orange on my skin, and is matte, making it perfect for contouring.  It blends really easily, and a little goes a long way.

Bella Bamba is a pretty pink shade packed with shimmer.  This does have more shimmer than I'd usually reach for, but it actually leaves a pretty glowy sheen on the cheeks which I really like.  It blends easily, and is really easy to apply.

Coralista is a Benefit blush shade I've wanted to try for quite a while.  It's a gorgeous peachy shade with a hint of gold shimmer running through it.  I really like this shade, its very easy to wear and apply, and looks pretty with a range of makeup looks - my favourite of the three!

I really do love this, it's really easy to pop in my makeup bag when I go to visit my boyfriend in university and have two blushers and a bronzer all in one place.  The only thing is that I've developed a obsession with this sort of palette, I now have my eye on Urban Decay's Flushed palette - so gorgeous! I'd 100% reccommend this!