disappointing products :(

Now before I get comments like "but you use this product all the time!" or anything like that, this post is called DISAPPOINTING products. I use all of these really often, however they either don't live up to the hype, or just aren't what they used to be, sadly!

The Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk is something we heard a lot about over Christmas. This was many people's "holy grail" skin care product. The scent is just to die for, so sweet and lovely - so definitely not for those of you who don't appreciate sweet, kind of artificial scents - but for me, it didn't do much on the hydrating side. I feel a little greasy afterwards but it quickly soaks in and leaves me soft for around 12 hours, then I want to apply it again, which is not something I imagined to feel after all the rave reviews!

Now this is a product I'm super disappointed in, I don't even know why I bought it. It's the 2000 Calorie Waterproof Mascara by MaxFactor. How could this mascara ever be very volumising when the brush is SO small?! It's tiny. It makes my eyelashes look ridiculous, spidery, gave no volume or length whatsoever. It just look awful. I've started to use this on my bottom lashes just to use it up to be honest!

Benefit's They're Real Mascara  is an award winning, cult product. But of course you all already know that. It's good, I wear it, it's nice and does what it says, but it doesn't blow my mind. For me, it's nothing I can rave too much about, it's lengthens and gives nice volume, but if I apply it onto bare lashes it makes them go all sparse and crappy, so I must use another mascara as a base. This is something I'll definitely use, especially when it comes to travel make up, but I doubt I'll repurchase it, it's blooody expensive!

This has been my every day, go to foundation since I started this blog, so for what, six months? But lately my MaxFactor Face Finity Foundation has been pretttyy bad lately. It's just not blending into my skin anymore. It'll kind of, roll up.. That sounds so gross but seriously, it'll roll up and come off my skin. NICE. None of my brushes are working with it either, nor does it apply well with my fingers, I dunno. The colour has randomly gone quite dark too, eurgh. On the hunt for another nice foundation.

Illamasqua Illuminator in Slay, which has recently been recontinued, is a product I'm really trying to love. I did a review here, and you can tell how desperate I am to like it, but I cannot deal with the dryness anymore. Ten seconds left on your skin, it dries and you will not get rid of that mark. It can drag my make up off and ruin eeeverything. I use this still, I love the colour and effect, when it decides to be nice so!

And finally the POREfessional Primer from Benefit is another cult product, and another I didn't used to get along with, but am finally finding myself liking more. I don't know what I dislike, I'm just not mad over it! It's not exactly drying, but it does dry up a bit, and feel bitty sometimes. I really can't pinpoint what I don't like, I guess it just wasn't worth the hype for me!

So this was a loooong post! Sorry about that, guys!

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY! :) Lots of lovely products for you beautiful people!

ready for spring #4 - Balanced Diet, Skincare Saviours

Skincare is vital, no matter the season, and although we always want luminous, soft, clear skin, we seem to bare more of it during Spring/Summer.

All year round, I find myself reaching for Simple's Replenishing Rich Moisturiser. Whilst most people prefer the lighter version, I find this one is peeerfect. It makes a great base for my makeup, keeps my skin soft, hydrated and is very gentle.

You'll have seen me speak about this product here, and I am still in love with the Clarins Daily Energizer Wake-Up Booster. It's refreshing, hydrating and I really do find it kind of radiating.- I don't know if it's just because it's supposed to be or not though haha!

I received a sample of the Origins Balanced Diet Lotion and I need it! It's fairly pricey, but feels so lovely and luxurious, it also has a lovely scent which wakes you up nicely. Perfect base for makeup as it absorbs quickly but leaves your skin feeling hydrated and soft.
Another Origins product is the GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream. This is the perfect eye cream for S/S as it is super brightening as has a refreshing, zesty scent. It may seem a bit shimmery at first, but this subsides once soaked in.

Now I know I'm not the only one to neglect my body when it's comes to moisturising, I hate that awful, irritating feeling when you're blowing at it trying to get it to dry so you can get into bed without sticking to everything you touch. I was recently converted by the Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Body Milk, but I really want to try out the Body ButterCream, just out of interest!

The Caudalie Beauty Elixir was a tricky one - does it come under Skincare or Makeup, kind of? I thought Skincare seemed much more appropriate. This will be perfect for summer as I often find my makeup looking a bit crappy and cakey after a while in the summer. A couple of spritz of this and it claims to give you a smoother, glowing complexion, instantly refreshing your face without disturbing anything. I've also heard this makes you feel better in yourself too, what do you think?

I've bought plenty of goodies for my 100 ffollower giveaway so watch this space!

my current skincare routine, looking for your expert help!

Hi guys!
Today is my only day off this week and as I have a job interview tomorrow, I've been taking after my skin as I've really neglected it lately and this cold weather has really taken it's toll. Sadly, I use baby wipes to take my make up off, which many off you say is the biggest no, but it's just so much more efficient, I've never used a cleanser to remove my make up as I just can't understand how it works! I do use cleanser with cotton wool pads after I've used the wipes though, any better?

For affordable, semi-decent skincare, I don't think you can go wrong with these products, they last a fair amount of time, and do pretty much exactly what they say.
The Pore Minimising cleanser I'm pretty unsure of, I can't really see that they're working, I don't find it makes a difference in my routine, afterwards it feels a bit sticky, but I love the moisturiser! I've applied it plenty of times today to get some much needed moisture into my skin and this is beautiful. There's no particular scent to it, but it makes such a difference. I love wearing it under my make up, it creates such a smooth, soft base that my foundation (after primer) applies so well without clinging to any dry patches.

I did a review of the Soap and Glory T-Zone wipes here. I use these before applying make up to try and keep oil and large pores at bay, but read more there.

Very occasionally, like, once a week, I use a gel cleanser that I find is very strong and stripping, but I use it occasionally as I do feel it makes a difference to my skin, it removes any unwanted oils and it's "natural", but I might do a post on that soon. It's definitely aimed more to people with oily skin, rather than oily/combination as it recommends. If I do use this, I moisturise a lottttt afterwards.

I'm looking for new products, not too expensive, but I find my complexion to be slightly uneven sometimes, I have red patches on my cheeks and I just want nicer skin haha! I'm also looking for a mask, I'm not too sure what, I'm a mask virgin, I'm always scared I'll have a reaction if I change skincare.. weird haha.
But please, give me your suggestions, favourites, anything. I'd love to hear them and try them out soon!


Take care everyone, not long till Christmas!

my current make up and beauty faves!

Rimmel Match Perfection Fix and Perfect Pro Primer

Soap and Glory Clear Hear Deep Pore Purifying T-Zone Cleansing Wipes

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Barry M Pink Silver Glitter Nail Paint

Primer: 

This looks and applies much like a moisturizer. It's white, fairly think but when rubbing it in it feels so, so silky and smooth, it feels gorgeous. It claims to 'smooth, resurface, brighten, mattify (is that even a word?) and protect'. It's definitely hyping itself up, because I definitely do not receive those results, however it creates a brilliant base for my foundation, it smooths and makes my foundation last longer. Although this is down as one of my favourites, I think I would buy MUA's as a cheaper alternative and I think it does a pretty similar job. 

Cleansing Wipes:

These wipes are the first Soap and Glory products I've ever used and now I want to buy more and more! You can really feel these wipes getting to work with a deep tingling feeling and strong tea-tree smell. I only get an oily nose, but occasionally I'll get a bit of an oily forehead and chin. I wiped it over with these once and it instantly dried out my skin, so please, only get these if you're really oily! They claim to pore-shrink. I can't say there's been a massive improvement of the look of my pores, but I guess if there's less oil, they're doing something good! At £4.50 for 25 wipes I do think this is a pretty good product. 

Concealer: 

If you keep up with my blog, you'll notice I had this on my wishlist (which you can find here). When Boots had a massive advantage card event on, I decided it wouldn't hurt to buy this as it doesn't exactly break the bank! I use this under my eyes and I suffer from dark circles and the coverage is amazing. I use a brush to blend it in in the corners of my eyes as well as underneath and it instantly brightens me up and eliminates any blemishes. I cannot recommend this enough.

Nail Varnish:

As everyone is aware, there's a huge glitter varnish hype, ranging from large disco glitter bits to small, shimmery, festive glitter. I'm not sure I really like it, it doesn't really suit me so much, sadly. If I'm being honest, light shades don't exactly suit me either. But I've had this in my box for a while and got it out today and realised just how pretty it is and I had to apply it. To my surprise it actually looked good. There's not exactly a colour too it, it's just a clear varnish filled with lots and lots of fine pieces of glitter. It's gorgeous to brighten up a dark outfit.

Do you have any current favourites? I'd love to hear, I'm always on the look out! 

Comment below with your opinions and links.

Take care!