July | Current Favourites of the Month

So far this month I haven't been all that adventurous regarding my makeup. Usually in the summer, I like to mix up my routine by swapping foundations for BB creams, lip glosses for lip balms and bronzers for highlighters, but so far I'm still in 'Winter' mode and find myself reaching for the same foundation that I was using waaay back in November. Besides from that, however, I have found a few new little gems that I thought were worthy of a mention - and better still, they are all pretty darn affordable!

Foundation

Aaaaand here it is, the foundation I've been using for months on end. It's Rimmel's 'Lasting Finish 25 hour' foundation in the shade 'True Ivory'. First off, I LOVE THIS STUFF. I've been through bottles and bottles of foundations desperately searching for 'the one' for so long and having no such luck. I find that a lot of foundations tend to look lovely when first applied but begin to leave your skin looking patchy after only a couple of hours, however this one does not. I do have to powder around my nose after a few hours or so but the rest of my face looks exactly the same as it did when I first applied it. It also has SPF 20 which makes it perfect in the summer as it will protect your skin from any harmful UV rays and the coverage is amazing - I'd say it gives a medium coverage at very least and can easily be built up (without looking heavy) if you need to cover any problem areas.

Powder

When it comes to powder, I usually always buy them in the 'translucent' shades so it doesn't alter the colour of my foundation, but recently, with it being Summer and all, I tried out Revlon's 'Nearly Naked' powder in the shade 'Light'. I was pleasantly surprised by the colour of this; I thought it'd be too warm and turn my face orange but it actually seemed to even out my skintone and make my skin look healthier. I was also impressed to find a mirror and a powder puff inside of the compact, something that my trusty Rimmel 'Stay Matte' powder doesn't offer. This is ideal if you're looking for a powder you can take with you if you're on the move, as thanks to its packaging, it's a lot less likely to open itself and crumble to bits in the bottom of your bag!

Lips

I'll be honest here, if it wasn't for my Cherry Chapstick finally running out after 7 years, I probably would have never bothered looking for another lip balm. I'd only bought a Cherry Chapstick in the first place after I'd heard Katy Perry's infamous 'I Kissed a Girl' song on the radio a trillion times... aaah the memories. Anyway, the time had come for me to buy a replacement. I'd seen so many people all over the internet raving about these 'Baby Lips' lip balms that I just had to hop on the bandwagon to see what all the fuss was about. I bought the blue one at random which turns out to be the 'hydrating' one of the range, promising to keep your lips moisturised for 8 hours. I took this to Spain with me as it also has SPF 20 which was perfect for when I was spending hours outside in the sun! I did think it left my lips feeling softer and a lot smoother than other lip balms I've used it the past, and it has a slight lemon-y scent to it which smells lovely and fresh.

Cheeks

I'm pretty sure I've written about this in a blog post before, but I've been using it so much recently I thought it was worthy of another mention. It's the 'Instant Glow' Shimmer Brick by Seventeen; a compact made up of 4 different shades that you swirl together and apply to the tops of your cheekbones for a gorgeous, healthy glow. Mine is in the shade 'Gold Bronze' but there is also a 'Pink Bronze' compact available which I feel you could also use as a blusher. Personally I like that this product isn't too strongly pigmented as it allows you to build up the glow very subtly and what's more, it's just a fraction of the cost of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks!

Eyes

Ok, I'm going to start by saying I freaking love this mascara. I love the packaging, I love the wand, and most importantly, I love the volume it gives to my lashes. The wand has a slight curve to it which allows it to grasp hold of every single eyelash and immediately turns them all long and fluttery - without any of those dreaded big clumps. Oh, and another thing, it's not a disaster to remove either; you can literally wipe it off and it doesn't leave your lashes feeling like they've been coated in

cement!

Fragrance

Last but by no means least, I've really been loving this Chloé perfume this month. I usually go for fresh scents, but this one has notes of rose, lychee and honey and is beautifully light and floral. I haven't come across many perfumes that have good staying power but I have to say, this one does seem to last for hours on end and really is such a classy and sophisticated scent.

What have you been loving so far this month? I'd love to hear any recommendations!

Chloë