February Favourites

being new to the blogging thing I'm yet to come up with my own original series, and I'm not afraid to piggyback on the ones everyone else does.

to that end, although it's a little bit late now - here's what I've been using this past month.

Kiehl's Rosa Arctica Lightweight Cream

I sat down at the Kiehl's counter in my local John Lewis at the beginning of February to have a skin consultation. to the surprise of nobody, it turns out I have dry skin. sadly I cannot afford them all so I am so at odds about which of the lovely products to buy, but for the time being I am still working my way through the generous free samples I received. one of which is the Rosa Arctica lightweight cream, which calls itself a 'youth regenerating cream with extract from the rare resurrection flower', which apparently can survive for months without water and then revive at only a drop. so presumably extracts of it can bestow the same magical properties to your skin?!

well, whether that's true or not, I love this cream. I use it after my regular moisturiser, and it only takes 2 or 3 tiny dabs to cover my face (hence still working with my little sample pot). I am lucky enough to have relatively clear skin, but the dryness has definitely improved since using this, my face appears brighter, and even though I normally hate lavender, I am quite fond of the light lavender scent of this.

LUSH Sweet Lips and Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

my lips are pretty bad for dry / flakiness in winter, exacerbated by the fact I am rubbish at drinking enough water. this, coupled with my being unwell recently, has meant that for the past few weeks my lips have been r e ally bad. I picked up sweet lips in my local LUSH store a couple of months ago - just as they discontinued it, I believe. I find it a bit fiddly to use and have a tendency to get sugar everywhere, but it does such a good job of buffing my lips and smoothing away any flaky bits, plus it tastes delicious. I have a bunch of lip balms, but the one I've been using the most recently is Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula lip balm. the scent and taste of this are lovely, creamy and sweet, and it makes my lips feel super soft. even better, it cost me only about £2, hurray.

17 BB cream in light.

I've never really got along with foundation, so my discovery of BB creams was like someone switched a light on. I've yet to branch into more high-end ones because to be perfectly honest this has lasted me so far since last July. I bought a replacement around November 'cause it seemed to be running out, but nope I am still on the first tube. I dab a small splodge onto each cheek, my chin, and my forehead, and smooth it in either using my fingers or a foundation brush. I find it smoothes my skin out and just leaves me looking like a nicer version of me.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

after much hinting (ie, walking him through Debenhams and making him pick it up), J got me the Naked palette for christmas this year - YAY. I've been trying to get more into wearing regular daily makeup and find this brilliant for simple day-to-day wear (obviously). when I'm feeling really lazy I just sweep naked over my lid and highlight my browbone and inner corner with virgin. if I've managed to roll out of bed a bit earlier (rare) I use hustle or darkhorse in the crease and a light sweep of smog in the centre of the lid for a subtle daytime smokey eye.

Stila stay all day waterproof liquid eyeliner in carbon black

I am so dead impressed with this eyeliner. the finer than fine nib makes my go-to babydoll flick easy peasy, and as I have quite watery eyes I have found the the cheaper liquid eyeliners in my collection do tend to smudge around the outer corners of my eye, but this genuinely does stay all day without budging - brilliant!

SEVENTEEN Doll'd Up Mascara in Brown/Black

my mascara collection is getting a bit out of hand actually, but this is my most recent addition. I can't confirm its claims of up to 24'hr curl, but it's lasted me around 16 hours or so with no smudging or flaking. the slightly curved brush has shorter bristles on one side which means you can tailor how long you want your curl and makes it easy to get into the corner lashes, and it separates and lengthens my lashes really well for such a cheapie bargain. I have about four 17 mascaras in my collection at the mo, and highly rate them all.


aaaand that's what I have been mostly using on my face in February 2013. :)