March Beauty Favourites

I am way behind with my posts for this month trying to balance work and constantly working evening, I try to spend what little spare time I have with my little family...my little one is so chatty and full of personality these days so I try not to miss anything! There are so many things I've been getting good use out of recently so here are my favourite beauty products for the month of March.

The Body Shop Strawberry Body Polish
£5.00(75ml) or £10.00(200ml) from The Body Shop here.
When I'm doing the whole full wack body exfoliating, shaving shebang, I tend to use a seperate body exfoliator and then follow up with a shaving foam or shower gel so I have a good lather to work with. This not only exfoliates but it lathers up as well which is brilliant and saves time using additional products. It smells beautiful of course, it isn't too harsh and leaves my skin feeling really soft.
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel
£9.75(200ml) from Escentual here.
I've been in urgent need of a cleanser suited to current skincare concerns and this always does the trick. It makes my skin feel so lovely and clean, it doesn't irritate my face at all and as it doesn't contain soap I never experience any dryness after using.
L'oreal Skin Perfection 15 Second Miracle Cleansing Oil 
£6.79(150ml) from Feel Unique Here or Boots.
Cleansing oils have slowly become my go to product to remove make-up as I tend to wear quite a thick foundation base and I have found that oil breaks up my make-up the easiest. I had previously just used my DHC Cleansing Oil sample but spotted this in Boots on offer and thought I would give it a whirl. I massage two pumps of this into my skin and it gets rid of everything.
No7. Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion Exfoliator
£11.50(150ml) from Boots here.
Doing a bit of research on the best exfoliators out there, I came across this several times and decided to grab it whilst I had a voucher to use. I haven't really used a face exfoliator for ages now and generally just relied on flannel or my Clarisonic Mia to exfoliate. This product is well worth trying out, it leaves my skin feeling super smooth and I think it has reduced the redness of my acne scarring to some extent
ELF Studio Makeup Mist & Set
£3.95(60ml) from ELF here.
This little beaut had been gathering dust for some reason in my dressing table drawer when I had a lightbulb moment one day and ended up rediscovering just what an amazing little budget buy this is. I have been using quite a thick foundation recently in the form of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation which can sometimes make me look a little cakey. A few spritz' of the ELF setting spray on my face and my make-up magically appears seamlessly blended in with not a trace of the dreaded cake face in sight.

Blink+Go Eyeshadow and Blush Pallette
I've found myself reaching for this soooo much recently, the shades are beautifully soft and the pigmentation is spot on. Unfortunately this palette has been discontinued now, which is such a shame as I particularly love the khaki and brown eyeshadow shades as they create a not too OTT smokey eye for the daytime.
Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Notting Hill Nude
£6.49(150ml) from Feel Unique here or Boots.
This is my fail safe lip colour - swatches and review here - for when I don't feel like being adventurous (that would be most of the time) and it lasts for a pretty decent amount of time. It doesn't hurt that I love the tacky purple packaging although I think the newest formula is in a slightly more modern looking tube. A great budget beauty buy nonetheless for ladies who love lipstick.
Nails Inc. Elizabeth Street  Nail Polish
£11.00(10ml) from Look Fantastic here.
I love a good pink nail manicure and this is one of my favourite baby pink polishes. The formula is awesome, the longevity is good with Seche Vite top coat applied over and it's just such a pretty colour.

French Pharmacy Haulin'

L-R: Avene Cleanance K Cream Gel, La Roche-Posay Effalcar Mat Moisturiser, Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Balm, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel and Avene Thermal Spring Water.

So I may have gone a bit skincare mad recently and with so many amazing deals floating about during the month of March, I was oh so tempted to spend a wad and fill my bathroom cabinet for the year. Luckily, Mother's Day was at the end of the month so it was the perfect excuse for me to convince the other half that I HAD to get all this stuff whilst it was on offer and he eventually gave in and let me fulfil my fancy, french skincare wishes. French pharmacy skincare is renowned for being pretty awesome, effective stuff and from my own point of view, I've been really impressed with the brands I've tried out so far. I decided to grab a few more bits from the La Roche-Posay Effaclar range as I'd already discovered the awesomeness that is Effaclar Duo. I would normally use Duo as my daily moisturiser/make-up base as I have quite oily skin and it does the trick of keeping oiliness to a minimum alongside the other benefits of fighting blemishes etc. This time around, I fancied trying something a bit thicker and more moisturising so opted for the Effaclar Mat which claims to tighten pores, slow sebum production down and in a nutshell, mattify the skin whilst thoroughly moisturising. I also picked up the accompanying cleanser, the Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel as I have been in dire need of a face wash targeted towards my skin concerns. Having heard Lisa Eldridge rave about the Avene range, I obviously had to throw a couple of their beauts into my basket so I went with the Cleanance K Cream Gel which I have started using as a night treatment and the Thermal Spring Water, to refresh and set my make-up. Of course, I had to pick up the widely raved about Nuxe Rêve de Miel Honey Lip Balm, as this has been on my must-have radar for quite a while and I also mentioned this on my most recent beauty wishlist.

I will try and review all of the products mentioned here, once I have used them all consistently for a solid period of time. Everything mentioned here is available from Escentual and all of the products I bought were on promotion with up to a third off selected products, I would definitely advise trying to contain yourself and making the most of these kind's of promo's when they crop up.

What are your favourite French pharmacy goodies?

Mother's Day Alternative Gift Ideas

Just thought I'd share some more gift ideas and even though it does state that this is Mother's Day related, you can use any of these links for other gift buying occasions as they all offer a really diverse range of gifts. I often feel like I am constantly buying my parents the same type of gift year after year and this is where lovely little websites such as Etsy and Not On The High Street come into play. In a nutshell, these websites are all about providing a marketplace for small, creative businesses and essentially making it easy for us, the consumer, to browse through the plethora of wonderful and sometimes weird items...I once saw a pair of gold painted chicken feet, I'm pretty sure that's as quirky as they come. In terms of gifts, there's something for everyone on both websites but I think Not On The High Street slightly edges it for gifts specifically for Mama's Day. I've thrown together a  selection of gifts I found above but I would definitely encourage you to spare a minute and have a browse on either site if your in need of some unique gift inspiration.

I'm sure the majority of you reading will be aware of the types of website that offer daily deals and co-buying, such as Groupon, Wowcher and LivingSocial...if not, do a quick Google search to get you up to scratch. There is a lot of info about these kinds of sites so I'm not gonna bore you with the deets. Again, these sites are great for some alternative gift ideas and there is literally something for everyone. You can find anything from spa days to go-karting sessions and tangible gifts such as jewellery. There's also a really diverse range of sites for example Groupon is your typical daily deals on a variety of things, often at a significantly reduced price whereas Achica which I am also signed up to, offers a more luxurious spectrum of goods. Other good deal websites that I regularly browse are BrandAlley which mainly consists of lots of different branded goods from Yankee Candles to Louis Vuitton Bags. A good one for any parents who want to spoil little one is Zulily, literally full to the brim with cute clothing and toys for kids.

What do you think of these kind of deal websites? Do you have any favourite websites that I haven't spoke about?

Mother's Day Gifts: Under £20

Just thought I would post a few last minute Mother's Day gift ideas, as I've spotted quite a few good things over the past few days. If you like what anything you see, you'll have to be quick though as there are only a few days now until Mother's Day.

Clarins Radiant Skin Gift Set - £20

Includes: Gentle Foaming Cleanser 50ml, HydraQuench Cream 30ml, Tonic Bath & Shower Concentrate 100ml and Moisture Rich Body Lotion 100ml.

I loooove a bit of Clarins, every product I've tried from the brand has been awesome and my mum likes their stuff too. Apparently the kit contains everything you need to achieve radiant and soft skin from head to toe. According to Debenhams website, you also get a free gift thrown in...what's not to love? 

this works Pillow Talk & Stress Less Duo - £22

Includes: Deep Sleep Pillow Spray 75ml and Deep Sleep Stress Less 5ml.

Okay, so I know this just creeps over £20 but the other this works bundle I had planned to include in this post has sadly now sold out. Regardless of that, this a great little present and I've heard so many rave reviews of the pillow spray that is included in this set. A great gift to turn your favourite hardworking lady into a sleeping beauty.

bareMinerals Shine On Pallette - £19.99

Includes: Prime Time Brightening Eyelid Primer 1.5ml, Round The Clock Waterproof Eyeliner in 4pm 0.6g, READY Eyeshadow Duo in Glitterati & Center Stage 3g, READY Blush in The Big Break 3g and  Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in A-Lister 2.25ml.

Aside from your base, this contains pretty much everything you need to do a full make-up and with a value £39 this is a bargain hunter's dream. The glam gold packaging doesn't do any harm either.

L'Occitane Hand Cream Trio Collection - £17.60

Includes: Shea Butter Hand Cream 30ml, Pivoine Flora Hand Cream 30ml and Cherry Blossom Hand Cream 30ml.

A great value gift set containing L'Occitane's best selling shea butter hand cream, alongside two floral fragrance creams, so if you know someone who already loves the original star product of this set, I'm sure they would love a trio of these luxurious quality gems.

Jimmy Choo Eau De Toilette - £20.95
A floral fruity fragrance with woody undertones, dedicated to strong women full of confidence, who are also fun and playful...whatever that implies. I just think the bottle looks lovely and I wouldn't be disappointed seeing this sat amongst the rest of my perfume collection.
balance Me Radiant Skin Collection - £18
Includes: Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm 15ml, Radiance Face Oil 5ml, Moisture-Rich Face Cream 10ml, Radiance Face Mask 15ml and Stellar Face Balm 7ml.
I have always wanted to try something from the balance Me range but I wouldn't really know where to start as they have so many fab looking products. This is a super duper gift for a lady with more mature, dry or sensitive skin as it has everything she would need to treat her skin to a full blown facial. This gift collection alleges to contain "radiance-enhancing, plumping and firming natural skincare" so again perfect for the aforementioned skin types.

Nuxe Mother's Day Set - £20
Includes: Huile Prodigieuse Multi Purpose Oil, Reve de Miel Hand and Nail Cream and Reve de Miel Lip Balm.
I just had to include this last find I came across on my gift hunt. It contains some of Nuxe's most loved products and I'm sure your mama will really appreciate treating herself to some uber nourishing, french pharmacy gems.

The First Birchbox Reveal

I am a big fan of beauty boxes and previously subscribed to Glossybox. Long story short, I fell out of love with my beloved Glossybox, the selection of samples I was being sent just wasn't up to scratch anymore and I cancelled my subscription after around a year of receiving them. Whilst I don't miss my postie delivering those fancy looking pink boxes anymore, I have been longing to subscribe to another beauty box provider as there's so many more companies offering beauty boxes nowadays. I was sooo tempted to try the Latest In Beauty box, literally every product I WANT but I went for the cheaper option in the form of Birchbox, as pretty much every previous box contained goodies that I would of loved to of tried. As I ordered on the last day of February, I only received this a few weeks ago hence why I am only blogging about it now and I also received the Lulu Guinness edition shortly afterwards so I will do a quick post about that little stripy wonder very soon!

Nail Rock Nail Glitter 

So I tried this out at the weekend and I was quite excited to see how this fared, I'm a sucker for some sparkle on my nails. However, now I have tried it out it seemingly feels a bit gimmicky. Don't get me wrong, it does make your nails super glittery and it's not difficult to apply. It can get messy though and you can pretty much get the same effect with a fuss-free, highly concentrated, glitter nail polish. I remember seeing something about it being easy to remove as well...honestly, it's just as annoying as taking off any other glitter nail polish. Overall verdict, nice to try but you might as well buy a good quality glitter nail polish.

Urban Veda Daily Radiance Face Wash

I hadn't ever tried any products from this brand and with me being so desperately in need of a new face wash, I was very happy to see this included in my box. In a nutshell, it smells awesome, lathers up easily and it leaves my skin feeling beautifully clean. I suppose it does what it claims as well to an extent, as my skin does appear slightly more brighter and radiant. I don't know if I would purchase a full size at the moment though as it doesn't really target my specific skin needs but I would consider snapping this up in future if I wanted a refreshing cleanser that I know won't do any harm to my skin.

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner

I was one happy lady when I saw this in my box as I have been wanting to try out a pen eyeliner forever. This would be a great addition to your make-up routine, if your not the most confident at using a liquid eyeliner as it is just so easy to apply. The slight negatives I have experienced is that it does pick up a lot of my eyeshadow and that affects how black it applies which means I have to go over it again. I'm also really worried that it will dry out if I don't use it all the time so it will be interesting to see how it fares over time.

Beauty Protector Protect + Oil

The first time I used this I honestly felt a bit, meh like what the hell did it even do! However now I have finally got to grips with it and realised how much my poor dry, split ends needed a suped up dosage of this stuff, I absolutely loooove it. Without going as far to say that it's changed my life, it has transformed my straight hair routine. As I haven't had a cut for ages and I have naturally curly hair that is blow dried often, the ends of my hair are stupidly dry and basically battered. A small amount of this smoothed through my ends before drying, makes my dry ends virtually disappear and my hair looks so much healthier. Weirdly, my hair also gets greasy really quickly when I've straightened it but this has not made my hair greasy in the slightest and it smells A-mazing.

Beautitude Joy Body Oil

It wouldn't be fair of me to review this fully now as I've only used it once but first impressions are that I'm not really too keen on it. It just felt too thick and sticky for my liking, I tend to use the thin consistency dry oil sprays so this was quite a drastic difference in terms of how it felt applying. I will give it a chance though and try it out a few more times before it gets relegated to the unloved, samples stash.

Mother's Day Beauty Gifts: Under £30

As Mother's Day is fast approaching us, I've been having a good gander at the plethora of beauty goodies on offer for those lovely ladies in our lives. It's also my indiscreet way of hinting to the mister, what I would love to receive as a present from my little lady. There are loads of really good deals around at the moment so now is definitely a good time to get ahead of yourself, make your mum smile and avoid a last minute dash to the petrol station, admit it...we've all done it!

Gucci Flora Eau De Toilette 50ml - £29.55
This is universally loved by a few people I know and I think the bottle is so pretty, in terms of the smell...I'd probably describe it as delicately floral, very feminine and fresh. As I've only ever sniffed the eau de parfum version, I'm guessing this will probably be lighter and not as long lasting as it's more concentrated counterpart but still a lovely perfume for the spring/summer season.
Nails Inc Nude Collection - £25

The formula of Nails Inc. polishes are consistently fab for me personally and I'd say this is a great, fail safe gift for someone who loves a good mani. The colours are all beautiful and I think you'd be really pushed to find someone who didn't like a single shade in the collection.
this works Cleanse & Moisturise - £22
A nice little starter kit  for someone who may never have otherwise tried out this works products. I've seen pretty consistently, rave reviews of the range notably by Anna from ViviannaDoesMakeup and she knows her stuff. Also a great budget buy, as the moisturiser included in this set retails at around the £20 mark by itself!

Benefit How To Look The Best At Everything: Flawless Complexion Makeup Kit - Medium - £25.50
Available in light, medium (shown above) and dark.
I'm sure a lot of you have noticed these Benefit sets have been floating around for quite a while but I have only just discovered them...where have I been?! From a personal point of view, I would be so happy to be the recipient of one of these magical little kits as I don't own many benefit products and I'm so eager to try every single product in the kit. The products are luxury miniature sizes so would double up as convenient travel sizes. I'm pretty much in love with the packaging as well and it makes the products seem that bit more awesome. If your not sold on this kit in particular, there are other varieties of the kit such as the Bronze of Champions Kit, guaranteed to please those who appreciate a bit of bronze goddess going on.

Rituals Sakura Gift Set - £27.50
includes: shower foam 200ml, gentle scrub 150ml, scrub, 100g and body cream 70ml.
I discovered Rituals through one of my favourite Glossyboxes a while ago, the products feel so luxurious and this body care set will be a lovely, pampering treat for your mama to indulge in.
Elemis Skin and Body Wonders Gift Set - £21.50
includes: Melting Cleansing Gel 20ml, Maximum Moisture Day Cream 20ml, Maximum Replenish Night Cream 20ml, Tranquil Touch Indulgent Bath Elixir 50ml, Tranquil Touch Creamy Body Wash 50ml.
Another awesome little gift set from Debenhams, jam packed with skin and body saviours. At roundabouts the £20 mark, I think this is great value for a more high end spa brand.

Micellar Water...Save or Splurge?

Micellar water is a cleansing product that is pretty widely available from lots of different brands but I thought I'd compare and review the two that I use, as I have enjoyed using up both and they have made a difference to the way I have always took my make-up off.

I have always been pretty lazy with cleansing, I make to take my make-up off every night but often end up using any sort of wipe, face wipe, baby wipe...whatever wipe I could find. Wipes are not great for your face though as they tend to have chemicals in that irritate your skin and they don't entirely remove excess dirt or grime on the skin. Cleansing with this kind of solution is much more gentle on the skin and it dissolves make up quite easily, just make sure you have a good stash of cotton pads.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Michelle Solution - £9.99
Hugely raved about and rightly so. The pro's? It easily removes all of my make-up, it's mild and it leaves my skin feeling fairly clean. I always try and wash my face afterwards because I never feel fully cleansed unless I've done the full whack. Although, I suspect I may have more luck with the Sebium H2O which is more specifically targeted towards oily skin types.

L'oreal Skin Perfection - £3.32
I also think this is a really effective at cleansing make-up off your skin and it's so cheap in comparison to the other cleansing waters out there. It does an equally as good job removing make-up as the Bioderma, although you may need to wipe your face a few more times to fully remove everything. If your looking for a bargain beauty buy, then you will probably love this.

My preference would still be Bioderma, I just feel a tad more clean after using it but I would repurchase both depending on how the pennies are that month.