My top picks of Summer 2014 (so far!)

Here we are in the midst of summer, and what a glorious one it is too! I am just back from a wonderful holiday in Disneyland Paris and as I write this, I am in my back garden enjoying every minute of this beautiful weather. 

It has been a great summer for some new make up too. I am particularly fond of the Clarins Colours of Brazil collection but I have tried out loads of new things this summer. Here is a small collection of what I have been wearing the most!

1. Skechers Flex Appeal Memory Foam - Not a make up item I know, but I bought these for going on holiday and I have been wearing them every day since! They are extremely comfortable, with a memory foam insole! It is quite literally like walking on air. I love these!

2. La Roche Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50 - I have been using this quite liberally, and despite the intense mid-30 degree heat in Paris and our beautiful weather here, it has not let me down so I would say this is  definitely one of my top picks for summer!

3. Escada Born in Paradise Perfume - This scent is just summer in a bottle for me! It is so fruity and tropical. I have been spraying this every single day and it has fast become my favourite perfume for summer. My only problem is, it is only available in eau de toilette so the beautiful scent does fade very quickly! :( But this perfume will forever remind me of this summer!

4. Clarins Lip Balm Crayon - These are the best things I have ever put near my lips! This shade is "Sweet Cherry", a beautiful but not too striking colour, which is very suitable for everyday wear. They feel so creamy and smell delicious! I recently tried a Clinique Chubby Stick for the first time and I can honestly say the Clarins Lip Balm Crayons are 100 times better! Please Clarins make these part of your permanent line!!

5. Clarins Colours of Brazil Eyeshadow Palette - I am still very fond of this palette and I wear it a lot! My favourite shades are the two brown shades, and I like to blend out with a little of the orange colour. The blue liner is really something! I never thought I would get much use out of the liner but it turns out I was wrong! I always line my lower lashes with it now, and it looks beautiful and lovely contrast with it and the orange eyeshadow!

6. Lancome City Miracle CC Cream - This is what I have been wearing on my face every day since I got it. It has such beautiful consistency and applies beautifully. It has that lovely elegant Lancome scent too (which I love) and of course has been providing some much required protection to my face with the SPF 50. I wish I had got it in the lighter shade though, as I constantly have to wear fake tan to make sure this matches my skin!

I would love to know what your top picks are for summer! And I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather! :) 

*new* Lancome City Miracle CC Cream SPF 50 - Review

When I first read that Lancome were bringing out this CC Cream, I ordered it straight away. I had been caught in two minds as to what I was going to wear on my face whilst on holiday, so when I realised that Lancome City CC Cream was everything I wanted in one simple little product, I was all over it!

Lancome say: Perfects like a foundation, beautifies like an illuminator, hydrates like skincare, protects with anti-UV filters

City Miracle CC Cream is available in 3 shades - I chose shade 02 Peau de Peche because I plan on wearing this with a bit of fake tan. I must admit that when it arrived it was a little bit darker than I anticipated! Though it blends out really well and is a perfect match for my fake tan.

It's a nice, lightweight texture although it's not runny or "liquidy" in any way. It has the most gorgeous scent - some will love a scented base product, some will hate it. I for one think it is beautiful and so luxurious.
I find that you have to work incredibly quickly with this product as it begins to dry and set so fast. I like to apply it to my face, section by section, or else I can feel it dragging on my skin.
Once it's applied, my skin looks absolutely flawless. It gives me a decent amount of coverage, more than I would have expected from a CC Cream. Of course, what attracted me to this product was the SPF 50, so that I can still wear makeup while having a bit of sun protection thrown in there too, perfect for my holidays.
It does prevent shine on me for a good few hours, but as with all products like this, I still can't escape the pesky shine so I would still need to use a powder or blotting paper during the day.

Definitely a brilliant product in my opinion. I have really been enjoying using it - I love that it looks as beautiful as any foundation I have used yet has that added protection of SPF 50. I think it's perfect if you are on holiday and don't want to take a rake of products with you, or you just have a busy lifestyle and want a fuss free, yet kind to skin product. Admittedly there probably are cheaper versions of this available but with Lancome I always feel like I am getting a little bit of luxury and I love that!

Sun care with La Roche Posay!

So a mini-heatwave is upon us (finally!). The sunnier weather of course means that we need to be super careful with our skin. I am not one for sun bathing but even if you are like me, and just happen to be occasionally out and about in the sun, and take to sitting in the shade, I still think it's important to make sure I have plenty of sun protection on!

I chose to buy some La Roche Posay sun care products, as I have read many a blogger's rave reviews on them. I will always choose the highest SPF possible, so in this case I got the Anthelios XL 50+, face cream and sun cream spray.

I will start with the face cream. It is quite a thick cream. It blends into the skin easily but I do feel like it leaves a greasy layer on the face. I wanted to use this face cream under my make up, but it hasn't been sitting very well over it, so for me it loses points for that. If you are not intending to wear make up then you cannot go wrong with this cream.
(Actually I got a sample of the Clarins SPF 50 face cream, which is a much lighter cream and does not feel greasy, and make up sits perfectly over it. Perhaps I should have got the full size of that.)
I will still use this La Roche Posay face cream of course, because I want plenty of protection on my face. It's just a matter of trial and error to see what makeup suits it best. So far, my Clarins tinted moisturiser has been working well with it, so I think I will have to stick with that and stay away from foundations!

The Anthelios 50+ spray is amazing! The texture is so much lighter, and non-greasy. It is the least stickiest sun cream I have ever used. I believe that this one is also much kinder on fake tans, which is great news for me! I absolutely love the slimline bottle and handy spray, which is going to be perfect when I head off on my holidays.

What sun creams have you been using lately? Any recommendations?

Holiday prep!

I am not the only one who starts packing for a holiday freakishly early, am I? Well over the last few weeks I have been picking up little bits and bobs. I still have a few more things to get - and still have to decide what make up I will be taking! But I think I definitely have the skincare/make up removal sorted.

I got the La Roche Posay Anthelios XL - I really like the slimline spray bottle. And I got the tube for my face. Both are SPF 50, I wouldn't use anything less to be honest.
I'm bringing a little Clarins Hydraquench moisturiser and cleansing water, and Lancome Bi-Facil eye make up remover which were all got as a gift with purchase. These are so handy to have for travelling! I'm bringing makeup wipes as well, just incase.
I've got my little toothpaste, and shampoo and conditioner. I thought the antibacterial hand wipes and stain remover wipes would be handy enough to have (plus they were only 60p in Tesco…)

So, that is one side of my soap bag filled! The other side is for make up, brushes, cotton pads, etc.

Incase you are wondering, i am heading off to Disneyland Paris in July! I really cannot wait. It seems strange that is only a few weeks away now at this stage. It's hard to know what sort of stuff to bring with me, obviously it's not a glamorous poolside holiday so who knows if I will even bother putting makeup on in the mornings!

MAC Prep & Prime Face Protect Protection SPF 50

Recently I got kind of freaked out about my skin and sun exposure. Now, I do not particularly like to be in the sun but many people do not actually realise the amount of sun damage to your skin from just going about your day-to-day life. A quick search led me to this product with a massive SPF 50. How could you go wrong with that?

This product cost me £22.00 from Debenhams. It seems quite expensive but it will last me a good few months. I did not really know what to expect from this product, I don't think it is as much of a primer as it is for protection only, but that doesn't matter to me. You could use your own primer over this.

It's a squeeze tube so I was careful not to squirt out too much. I love the packaging, it was hard to photograph but it's black with green glitter! (Reminds me of "Wicked").  Anyway, pumped out you can see it just looks like a regular moisturising product. But I felt it was more oily than a regular moisturiser. Still, I applied it onto my face and it absorbed pretty much instantly. There is no greasy feel and it is completely invisible.

This is an oil absorbing primer (I can't really comment as I do not have oily skin though) and my make up lasts pretty much all day with this. If you like more silicone-y primers then you can use one after using this, as the instructions suggest to use more Prep & Prime products in addition to this. I would like to know how this product alone holds my makeup in hotter weather.

This is a hard product to review as I bought it purely for the SPF 50. I wouldn't tell you all to rush out and buy it, it's great - but it is the highest SPF I have ever came across, and now even if I am not going to wear makeup, I would stick a bit of this on in the morning. I am becoming oh so vigilant now with regard to sun protection! Don't want wrinkles!

EDIT - Well after the recent heatwave in Ireland I can now confirm that this product is simply incredible! Not only did it preserve my makeup throughout the day (and the heat), it was great knowing you had that extra protection on your face too. I have now made a pact that I will never be without this product, especially during summer months!