Five Favourites for June

Things have been a bit quiet on the old blog front lately, mainly because I’ve finally started writing (seriously)for my novel. 

Yep, every English Lit graduate has at least one novel in them,and I feel its my duty to contribute to the cliché and produce one too! It’s actually something I’ve had the idea for a long time, but I’ve never seemed to have the self-discipline to actually churn it out. 

Well, now I’ve decided that I need to dedicate some time to it and actually make it happen, before it becomes one of those permanent regrets. In the course of spending a fair bit of time on it, I’ve really not been writing any blog posts,  but I’ve realised that I miss my blog and it’s light-heartedness, so here I am. Onto the Five Favourites!

1)     Models Own Hed Kandi ‘Ibiza’polish- for a long while, I’ve basically shunned glitter. It reminded me too much of being 14, when I thought it was cool to cover every available surface with the stuff. Remember those roll-on scented body glitter gels? I used to worship those. Since then, I’ve sort of been in glitter rehab. And at 27 (just turned), I was sort of worried I was a bit over the hill for it. But I’ve had a change of heart and it’s all because of this brilliant polish. I love the mix of colours for a start- bronze, gold, pink, blue and green. So it’s not just your bog-standard silver. The glitter particles are also different sizes which gives it a really nice appearance. A couple of coats give a really nice 'encrusted' effect as well, really flashy. Models Own has been my favourite range for nail polish for a while now, and they’re quite innovate with shades and collaborations with other brands, and this polish does not disappoint.

2)     NSpa Hot Cloth Polish- I’ve recently discovered the NSpa range and have slowly but surely been trying all their different products, but this one really is a standout. The whole range is really nice, and very affordable- ranging from just £2.50 up to about £6-£7 pounds, produced by the peeps at Nirvana Spa for Asda, of all places. I stumbled across them when I ran out of eye cream all of a sudden and had to replace it. Not only are all the products I’ve tried great quality but the packaging is lovely too and looks really premium. I’m a complete sucker for packaging, it makes or breaks a product for me. The Hot Cloth Polish is pretty much a rip-off of Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish- which I’ve always wanted to try- so you get the bottle of cleanser and a muslin washcloth in the packet. You spread the cream on dry skin, then buff it off with the damp cloth. Pretty simple, but it leaves such a gorgeous glowing finish, I’ve found it quite addictive. The ingredients include Ginseng, Vitamin E, Cocoa Butter, Sweet Almond Oil and essential Oil of Neroli. Pretty luxurious for a supermarket buy! The cream is fairly thick and very moisturising  but it leaves your skin soft and not at all greasy. I also love their Deep Hydrating Facial Oil and their Vitamin Toning Spray,  but this cleanser is the total star buy. I’m going to keep trying their items as my skincare products run out, and I really feel like I’ve stumbled across a great little secret!

3)     Revlon Lip Butter- there has been a lot of online buzz on the blogs about these, but for some reason I wasn’t really interested. But then on my latest foray to Boots I pretty much gotc ollared by a promotions girl who was determined to sell me and my friend Claire some! But once I tried it, I have to say I really rated it. I love how hydrating it is, and the colour lasts quite a few hours, which seems rare fors omething with such a buttery, balm-like consistency. I picked up the shade ‘Strawberry Shortcake’, which I’m quite keen on because its pretty similar to my all-time favourite lipstick, Mac’s ‘Lovelorn’, a cool-toned mid-pink. After seeing some online posts, I’m now quite keen to pick up the shade ‘Macaroon’ as well, which I didn’t see in the shop. Perfect for summer and holidays!

4)     Mac Casual Colour  Lip & Cheek Colour Pots ‘ Keep it Loose’-I am always a complete sucker for multi-tasking products, and I’m no stranger to using my lipstick for a burst of cheek colour either, so this product basically is perfect for me. As usual with Mac products you get a dense pigment with a fairly heavyweight texture, but once blended in these look absolutely gorgeous, dewy and fresh. I've been using my RealTechniques stippling brush to apply and the two combined give an ultra-flawless finish. There’s no shimmer or sparkle to the formulas, so they appear really natural. I am absolutely loving the shade ‘Keep it Loose’, which is a lovely peachy colour that suits my golden skin to a t, but there are several other, pinker shades to choose from as well.

5)     Demeter Baby Powder Cologne-You used to see Demeter fragrances knocking around in House of Fraser and they specialised in very niche, single note fragrances that ranged from the sweet to the slightly disturbed- Cucumber, New Car, Candy Floss. Just lately, I’ve been enjoying very sweet fragrances and especially the smell of Johnson’s Baby products, which I use a lot of- I put baby oil in my baths because it makes your skin so soft (it’s also good for removing really stubborn eye make-up), I use the talcum powder when I wax, and I also use the lotion as hand cream. I thought it would be great if there was a perfume that captured this scent and it turns out there actually is! I had to order this from the Galaxy Perfumes website in the USA and it was a nightmare delivery. It took over a month to arrive! But as for the perfume itself, I’m pretty pleased. It smells exactly like baby powder, sweet, clean and fresh. You get a huge bottle as well, and although it is billed as a cologne I have found it fairly long lasting. I find the scent really comforting and clean, although I guess it is a bit weird to want to smell like a newborn! Perhaps I’m regressing!