Product of the Week #11 - The Body Shop Microdermabrasion

I've used this scrub on and off in the past but this is the first time I've purchased it in about a year. It's my product of the week because it's been helping to brighten my skin and clear up breakouts.

The texture of this scrub is unlike any other I've tried. The 'srubby' particles are very small but there are loads of them. It leaves my skin feeling clean, exfoliated and smooth. It smells delicious too.

The Body Shop recommend using this once or twice a week depending on what suits your skin best. I've been using it more than that since my skin is particularly bad but once it improves I'll be going back to using this just twice a week.

This costs £12.00 for 75ml (link)

As you may know, The Body Shop always have offers on so make sure you watch out for those! When I bought this I picked up a second tube and the corresponding face wash as there was a three for two offer on skincare.

Stace xx

Product of the Week #10 - BeneFit They're Real

I LOVE this mascara.

I reviewed it back in November and my love for it has only grown since then. Yes, it's a pain to remove and it can look clumpy at times but I've never used another mascara quite like this. It gives me really long, full looking lashes and it stays put all day (and night!)

I think this might be the only mascara I've ever repurchased. I picked it up earlier this week as my previous tube ran out about a month ago. I've been using other mascaras which I've liked but I haven't found anything I like more than this yet.

If you've not tried it yet, I'd recommend you do if you fancy spending £18.50 on a mascara. I think it's more than worth it!

Stace xx

Product of the Week #9 - NARS Blush in Luster

As you can probably tell from this blog, NARS blushes are always amongst my favourite make up products. I've already featured Gina as a product of the week and this week it's Luster's turn.

The packaging looks pretty rubbish now because I think this is the oldest blush I still own. I bought it before Christmas 2010 and wore it to death for about three months. I was never a big fan of blush until then but this subtle apricot-toned sheeny wonder had me hooked!

Unfortunately for Luster, I've purchased many, many blushes since then and it's been neglected for a long time. I decided to dig it out this week and I've fallen in love all over again. There's something about this shade that just looks so flattering on me. 

I apply it either with a MAC 168 or a MAC 188 brush, depending on the intensity I want. I think darker skinned ladies will struggle to get a lot of colour pay off from this but if you're around the same shade as me (NC30ish) it's a great choice. This also looks lovely on pale skinned girls. 

This costs £20.50 and is available from NARS counters and online. Remember to watch out for ASOS discount codes if you'd like to get it a little cheaper.

I'm so glad I picked this up again and now that I have fewer blushes, Luster will definitely be getting a lot more love from me. I'd never be without this in my collection and there aren't a lot of products I'd say that about!

Did you have a favourite product this week? What was it?

Stace xx

Product of the Week #8 - MAC Melba Blush

This is one of those blushes I passed by for the longest time. I don't know why. It was probably because other colours looked a bit more exciting or something! 

However, this blush is now a firm favourite in my collection. It's survived several blush culls! And I've worn it every day this week.

It has a matte finish which I tend to prefer. 

MAC describe the shade as a 'soft coral-peach' - I'd say that's pretty accurate. 

I love how this blush complements neutral eye looks. It stops my face from looking too dull without being insanely bright or shimmery. 

I usually apply this with my MAC 168 angled blush brush (as you can see from the colour of the bristles!)

Stace xx

A Belated POTW #7 - Body Shop Almond Body Butter

If you follow me on twitter you'll know I've been writing up my dissertation for the last fortnight so I've been neglecting my blog quite a bit. The dreaded document has been handed in and I have a few weeks before my next deadline so I'm going to take a well deserved break.

Twelve hour library days are no fun at all; I was leaving the flat before 8am most days so I didn't have a lot of time for make up. I did wear make up though, one day I didn't bother and the library mirrors are not forgiving at all so it didn't help my mood.

I was having showers each night when I got home and using my Almond Body Butter from The Body Shop. I picked this up back before Christmas when I went a bit mad in the store one day and came home with lots of sale stuff. I can't find this particular scent on the website but it seems to have been in the sales for the past few years so I don't know what's going on there!

Body butters usually cost £12.50 but I don't think I've ever paid full price! There's a two for £15 offer on the website right now and there's usually some sort of offer on in store too.

I'm not a huge fan of almond scents normally but this one is definitely growing on me - it's not too strong. This leaves my skin feeling so smooth and hydrated, that's why it's this week's number one product for me. The formula of this is very thick and firm so it's lasted me a good while. I do go through body butters quite quickly because I'm pretty generous with how much I apply.

I'm actually running low on my body butter stock (I only have one left after this one!) and I'd like to try some new scents - if you have a favourite, let me know what it is!

Stace xx

Product of the Week #6 - MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

This is the only face powder I've ever liked. I haven't used a powder since the summer because I was using Medium Dark (which is now much too dark for me!) but I picked up the shade Medium Plus recently and I've been loving it all over again.

I'm trying to use up my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation which is pretty sheer and not very long lasting so my MSF Natural has been a life saver. It's not the best at controlling oil, I'll admit but if you're looking for a little extra coverage, this product is great. 

My favourite thing about this is the finish it leaves. I can't stand looking powdery! I apply this with my ELF Powder Brush and I can pack it on until my heart's content (well, I do know when to stop!) without it looking cakey or powdery. 

In the summer, I have been known to wear my darker MSF Natural over the Origins Vita Zing moisturiser.

This is priced at £20.50 for 10g (link) which I think is pretty reasonable considering how much use I get out of it.

Stace xx

Product of the Week #5 - NARS Gina

I'm having a bit of a love affair with NARS right now, it seems! I've been using this blush all week and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

I like NARS blushes in general and own several different shades. I find them to be nicely pigmented and easy to use on the whole. Some shades do require a lighter hand than others, though. Most people have a love-hate relationship with the packaging but I don't have an issue with it; I just try to keep it as clean looking as possible! They are priced at £20.50(link). They are also available from ASOS which offers free delivery and student discount.

NARS describe Gina as a 'tangerine' shade but to me that makes it sound more garish than it really is. It's more like a bright peach. It's just a touch deeper than one of my other favourite blushes; MAC Peaches. It looks great on my NC25/30 skin tone and I can also see this working well for pale girls and with a tan. If your skin is very dark, this may look a bit ashy and I'd suggest trying Taj Mahal (which I also love)! Gina is a matte blush but it doesn't look or feel chalky at all. I apply this with either my MAC 168 or my Illamasqua Highlighter brush. I get a good 8 hours of wear from this blush and I find that when it does fade, it doesn't look patchy at all. Gina looks great when I use darker colours on my eyes; particularly with dark browns and warmer shades.

What was your favourite product this week?

Stace xx

Product of the Week #4 - NARS Sheer Glow

I picked my NARS Sheer Glow (link) up from a blog sale for a mere 10 Euros a few months back. This is in the shade Santa Fe which is my perfect shade for the dead of winter. I've not had a proper holiday in a very long time so this winter I seem to be paler than ever! I'd say this is around an NC25 or so but I've not bought a MAC foundation in so long that I could be totally off with that assumption.

My skin is okay - I get the odd blemish and have some hyperpigmentation on my chin from past spots. This past week I've been trying out some other base products and they made my skin look even worse. I felt rubbish. That's when I turned to my Sheer Glow and it had me smiling again. I only use a teeny bit and I blend it in with a Real Techniques Stippling brush (link). Within seconds my skin looks great; even in tone and a little glowy. 

I do find I get a little oily in my T zone when I use this foundation so I usually powder that area of my face. Whilst this is not a terribly long wearing foundation, I do find it lasts pretty well on me and it fades without leaving patches or streaks. 

I'll definitely be picking up a darker shade once this one becomes too light for me. 

Stace xx

Product(s) of the Week #3 Macadamia Natural Oil

This week I've been enjoying using these Macadamia Natural Oil products. 

I got this set for around £18 from BeautyBay.com.

I use this deep repair masque twice a week. It makes my hair feel lovely but not greasy, which is a first for me! I usually stay away for deep treatments as they tend to make my roots get oilier than usual.

I use the shampoo every time I wash my hair. It's very runny but you don't need to use a lot. I have long, quite thick hair and I just use a 50p sized amount. I heard someone say they only got four uses from the 100ml bottle! I think they were using far too much.

I use a teeny bit of this healing oil treatment on the days when I've not used the deep repair masque. It smells lovely and it doesn't feel heavy in my hair.

What was your favourite product this week?

Stace xx

Product of the Week #2

My product of the week this week has to be the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter in Fig Jam. I've been wearing this constantly since I got it!

It looks really dark in the tube but it goes on very sheerly. I tend to put quite a lot on and it leaves me with a nice subtle colour. The colour is somewhere between brown and plum which goes really well with the warm brown eye looks I usually go for. 

I've only tried three of these Lip Butters so far but this one is definitely my favourite and I highly recommend it.

Did you have a favourite product this week? What was it?

Stace xx

Happy New Year! (& Product of the Week)

Happy new year everyone! I hope you had a nice time celebrating last night and that 2012 is full of great things for all of us. 

I've not made any specific resolutions because I can never stick to them. I'm going to be crazy busy with uni work between now and May so I'm going to have to force myself to be a bit more organised. 

Some girls were talking about making blog resolutions so I've made a couple of my own...

1) Product of the Week posts - when it comes to the end of a month I feel as though I should post a favourites post but honestly, I can hardly remember what I was loving at the beginning of the month. So I'm going to try and do Product of the Week posts regularly because that's so much easier to manage.

2) Giveaways - I'm going to try and do some giveaways this year. I just figured that it's a nice thing to do. So watch out for those! I have one going on at the moment here.

So...on to my product of the week!

E.L.F. Studio Powder Brush

I used to use this brush for foundation all the time and I've recently rediscovered it. I've been using it to apply my primer and then my foundation. I find that if I use my primer with the brush first, it stops the foundation from sinking into the brush as much. 

I actually have two of these; one for primer/foundation and another for blushes. I find it works really well with blushes which aren't very pigmented. It's also nice to use with cream blushes (with a very, very light hand.)

If you've not heard of this brush you've clearly been living under a rock. It's a bargainous £3.50 from eyeslipsface.co.uk. 

What are you using to apply your foundation right now?

Stace xx