February Favourites

Well, it's March already! February, thankfully, shot past in the blink of an eye, and I'm so excited for the coming month, as the beginning of Spring is one of my favourite times of year, with all that excitement and promise of new and better things hanging in the air. I do have a few exciting things in the works for the month of March, which I'm sure I will share with you all in due time, and although I'm relieved to have got February out of the way for another year (maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't perpetually single on V-Day), there are a few products that I really enjoyed using. So I thought I'd recap my most loved products of the past month in a February Favourites post.

Lanolips//Lemonaid

I'm constantly battling dry, flaky lips, and in the transition from cold to slightly warmer but still pretty nippy weather, they needed a little extra care and attention than usual. I love Lanolips products for when good ol' Vaseline isn't quite enough. With the lanolin packing a whopping punch of moisture for my overly-parched peckers, this particular product became a permanent fixture in my handbag this month. A thick gloss with a clear, subtle sheen, that has the taste and irresistible smell of Sicilian lemonade, it has left my lips feeling supple and soft all month long.

Eye of Horus//Goddess Mascara

A new discovery for me in February was the brand Eye of Horus, and their beautiful Goddess Mascara. An organic lash enhancer with fantastic separating and lengthening power, packed with vitamins and antioxidants, I've found myself a little obsessed with it this month. In fact, it graced my lashes on pretty much a daily basis. I reviewed it more thoroughly here, if you're curious.

Liz Earle//Skin Repair Moisturiser (Dry/Sensitive)

I love the Liz Earle brand, in fact it featured in my January Favourites too, and this month I've only continued my love affair with her products, this time, with her Skin Repair Moisturiser. It's a much lighter moisturiser than I'm used to, and it's ideal now that the Winter months have almost passed and I no longer need that rich, creamy product to keep my skin plump and lustrous. The thing that I really enjoy about this moisturiser is how little you need and how quickly it melts into the skin. Like most Liz Earle products, it's packed with nourishing ingredients, including avocado oil, echinacea and beta-carotene, which are all essential in keeping skin healthy and beautiful. I only wish it had SPF in it, but I guess you can't have everything, can you?

L'Oreal Paris//True Match Foundation

Again, I reviewed this during the past month here, but I just wanted to reiterate how much I love this foundation. It definitely hasn't ousted my bareMinerals dependency, but I've found myself reaching for this brilliant base on those days when I need a little more coverage, or just when I'm feeling more of a matte vibe. I'm always amazed when I find such a great colour match for my skin too, so I'm sure the novelty of finding an adequate drugstore match will carry me well into March. 

La Roche-Posay//Effeclar Astringent Lotion

I discovered this product relatively late on in February, as you can probably tell from how little I've used, and usually I'd give a product a more thorough test run before including it as a favourite, but I'm so impressed with how quickly it's made a difference to my skin that I had to chuck it into this post. Toners have never been a product that I've been blown away by - they're just the middle man between cleansing and moisturising - but this toner has done an amazing job at making my pores look smaller, something which I'm really quite self-conscious about. It does smell a bit like paint stripper, and the instructions warn against using it around your eye area, but I find it gentle enough on my skin. I've never tried any other La Roche-Posay products before now, so I'm excited to explore the rest of the range. 

Eyeko//Skinny Mini Liquid Eyeliner

After including a L'Oreal liner in my January Favourites post as my new go to liner, it appears I spoke too soon. Eyeko has always been a brand that I've been curious to try, and after receiving it in last months Birchbox, I'm not sure I'll ever look back! It has quite a thin tipped nib and has no give to it whatsoever, making it absolutely amazing for practising my feline flick - a technique I'm determined to conquer. As well as this, it has fantastic pigment, and brilliant lasting power. I'll definitely be investing in the full sized version when my mini runs out. Perfection in eyeliner form. 

So there you have it, my favourite February beauty products! What were your favourite products this month? Have you used any of the products that I've been loving? Let me know!

S.

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Review: Loreal True Match Foundation

A dedicated fan of the bareMinerals Original Foundation, it's been a while since I picked up a new skin base. As I'd heard so many great reviews of the L'Oreal True Match Foundation, and I was a huge fan of the mineral powder equivalent in my heyday, (it was actually my first ever foundation - such fond memories) I thought I'd give it a try. 

The biggest and most frustrating problem for me when looking for a new foundation, is getting a shade light enough for my skin. Lucky for me, I do know from experience that L'Oreal are actually quite good at catering for paler skin tones, and this foundation is no exception. In fact, they've gone a bit 'MAC' in the way that they offer a warm, neutral and cool version of each shade, which I think is fantastic. I usually struggle with the fact that my skin is more on the neutral to warm side, and the majority of lighter foundations are quite pink. Surprisingly, however, the shade that matched me best was Rose Ivory, which is certainly more pink than I'm used to. But hey, if it works, it works!

Through trial and error, I've found that the best way to apply is with fingers. Offering a satin finish bordering on the matte side, I would say that it has a medium coverage and, although I can't speak for oilier skin types, it looks immaculate all day. It does sit in my pores a little upon application, which is a bit irritating, but I think that's more an issue with my primer, and a good thorough blending session does the trick.

One grievance I do have is the pump. I usually like pumps; they're hugely preferential to other drugstore foundations where you just pour the product from the bottle to your hand and hope for the best. However, this particular pump dispenses way too much foundation for me, less than half a pump being sufficient. As a result, I waste quite a lot of product, and I'm developing a bit of a complex - my face can't be that tiny, can it?! Who are these large faced people using a whole pump?

The whopping half-pump

As a sidenote, bloggers like Amelia Liana claim that it's a great dupe for the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation. I can't testify to that as, sadly, the Armani foundation shades were a little 'off' on me (wahh!) so I was never able to try it.  What I can tell you is that the L'Oreal foundation is a beautiful foundation in it's own right. I haven't abandoned my bareMinerals baby, but this is definitely my new go to alternative for those higher coverage days. And an SPF of 17? Well, that's just the icing on the cake really. 

I'm wearing the foundation in my previous Valentine's post, if you're interested in seeing what it looks like on me, although with all the gloomy weather, I've been struggling to get good enough lighting to capture it in all it's satin glory. But there you are, the new foundation that's succeeded where others have failed, and made itself a permanent fixture in my makeup bag. And for £9.99 at Boots, you can't go far wrong.

Are you a fan of L'Oreal foundations? How do you like the True Match foundation? What's your favourite base? Let me know! 

S.

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