January Favourites

Wow, it feels like I haven't done a favourites post in so long... which is in fact, pretty accurate - my last one was in May last year.  Oops.  So we've plenty to catch up on.

The first honourable mention must be YSL's Mon Paris, which is a classic, romantic, and suitably Parisian smelling fragrance.  Think fruity, floral and sweet but with a deeper chypre base - somewhere between Giorgio Armani's Si and Coco Mademoiselle.  Lovely.

For my birthday in October my housemates (aren't they just the best?!) got me an Instax Mini 8 Camera in Yellow, which I have been loving.  There's nothing quite so satisfying as the clunk when you hit the shutter, the little squeal as your picture emerges, and anxiously watching the image develop over a two minute interval.  You can get them in all sorts of colours and there's plenty of funky cases to boot - like this oh-so-70s divine floral one.

  

I've definitely had to up my haircare game this January.  Whereas I'm usually fairly lazy, having just had another load of bleach inflicted on my ends as well as the colder temperatures, I'm lathering on all the nourishment I can.  I've recently rediscovered Lee Stafford's products, and I have to say, one of the major USPs of his products for me is their amazing smell.  I'm talking sweet, nutty, white-sand tropical island kind of smell.  Just what the doctor ordered in January, no?

I  like to whack a load of this Repair Oil onto my damp ends, and again once my hair has dried, to help seal the ends and give a glossier finish.  Paired with Ojon's Leave-in Glossing Cream, which I again use a generous dollop of on wet, brushed through hair, this combination has just about been saving my hair throughout the month.

And finally, to brighten up my reluctantly wintry looking skin, I've returned to an old favourite by Kiko - their Beam of Light Highlighter in 01 Cream.  Kiko is a brand I so rarely tend to buy from, but I believe I picked this up when I popped into one of their stores in a mall in Spain - as you do.  Anyway, it's just glorious.  Think pearlescent, shimmery, sandy gold colours; again, beaches and tropical islands (anywhere but England!).  This is highly pigmented and gives a gorgeous highlight but can be layered according to desired effect.

I like to dust along cheekbones, brow bones, cupid's bow, you name it.  Just call me shimmerball.

Ruby x

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May Favourites

Good afternoon chickies!  Oh, how I've missed blogging - the past couple of months have been manic for me in terms of uni work.  The beginning of May was a deadline-shaped whirlwind, but the storm has officially raged, and I'm now wedged in the first lazy lull of summer... starting with a few May favourites for you all.

As the weather has been getting a bit warmer my hair has certainly been feeling the pinch.  I'm talking a dead, dry, scarecrow-like pinch.  Having used Argan oil for the past year or so, I thought I would try something new, and I've become a big fan of this Organix Coconut Milk Serum as a way to smooth down my unruly ends and restore a bit of moisture.  If you want your hair to smell like a holiday in Barbados, this is perfect - it's quite a lightweight serum too, so won't leave your hair feeling greasy or sticky.

I've been using Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel for a little while now, too, and although it's quite an investment, I love this scent.  It's a fresh oriental and fruity fragrance that lasts all day.  I have the Eau de Parfum, and found that this smells quite different to the Eau de Toilette, so if anyone is thinking about getting this, make sure you compare the two first and see which you prefer.

 This next one is a little weird, but thought it was worth a mention...

 

This little tool is called a 'Comedone Extractor'.  I won't go into too much detail, for fear of putting you off ever visiting my blog again... but these things are really bloody useful for anyone who suffers from acne or blackhead-prone skin.  I first saw them in Japan and was too intrigued not to try one out.  I got mine off Amazon for a very inexpensive £1.89.  Has anyone else heard of, or used one of these?  I'd love to know what you thought of it!  

 While at home for a week last week I popped into Boots and saw that they now stock NYX cosmetics.  I had to pick up a couple of bits of course, and I'll probably do a full post on what I got, but one of the things I've been loving is this Jumbo Eye Pencil in Lavender - a gorgeous shimmery lilac shade.  It's quite an inexpensive brand, and what especially drew me to this counter was the great range of colours they have, especially in terms of eyeliners, shadows, lipsticks etc.  The other new makeup product I've been loving is the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Eyeliner.  I've done a full review of this product here, but let me tell you in short - it's amazing.

And finally, I thought I'd round it all off with a book I've recently started, called Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.  This is by no means a particularly light read (so far, anyway) but is written so beautifully and experimentally.  For lovers of language, this is a treat.  I hope you're all really well and enjoying the sunshine, and to anyone who still has exams and deadlines - good luck, and keep going!  The end is in sight.

Ruby x

 

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Empties #1 - Products I've used up this month

If I actually manage to use up a product in its entireity, it means I'm on to a winner.  The amount of half-used, once worn, 4-times-sniffed stuff I've pawned off on my sisters, my mum, my housemates (etc.) over the years would probably fill a couple of wheelbarrows; it's quite ridiculous.  However, this month I've actually managed to gather together enough bits and pieces that have sadly reached their end of their life to write a post on it!  

This must've been the third or fourth bottle of No 7's Beautiful Skin cleansing lotion that I've managed to use up.  I'm in love with the stuff!  It usually lasts me around 6-8 months too, so for £9.50 I don't really think you can go wrong with this product.  It's really hydrating and leaves your skin silky-soft, but is equally great for removing makeup.  I tend to use this on my face, and a micellar water or eye-makeup remover for my eyes, brows and lips.  I was forever getting the No7 money off vouchers from Boots, and not really knowing what to spend them on, until I found this product... next time you find yourself staring confusedly at the No7 counters, voucher in hand, pick this up and give it a go!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit of a lip balm addict.  My favourites are definitely the EOS ones - they're so dinky, come in loads of different flavours and are organic, darling.  Word of warning: as much as I love stores like Urban Outfitters and Topshop, don't buy them from there!  They're so much cheaper online (check out this 5 pack for £12.99), instead of being £7 a pop, plus, with Amazon Prime you can get them in a day anyway and order them from your bed - bliss.

I've loved using this Mac Prep+Prime 'Skin Enhancer' as a primer for what feels like forever!  It must've lasted me around 9 months or so, which I think is pretty great considering I wear makeup most days.  A little also goes a long way with this product, and I find the slight pink tint in this product really helps balance out any yellowy undertones in my skin and gives me a nice luminous base to apply my foundation onto.

I've found this Rimmel London Double Duty base coat to be a great, affordable nail product which does exactly what it says on the bottle.  It's got a very light pink tint, and dries with a rock hard, high shine finish.  Between colours I like to keep my nails topped up with this to help keep them strong... it's the perfect budget base coat, hence, I've used it all!

The Lancome Hydra Zen Nuit night cream is a product it's taken me quite a while to use up, as I don't tend to get particularly dry skin and prefer day creams to night anyway.  However, I really can't fault the hydrating power of this little pot.  It's a slightly heavier, but very silky cream, which sinks straight into your skin.  Whenever I use this I wake up feeling fresh as a daisy.  

Equally, I've loved using Clinique's Moisture Surge eye gel on mornings when I'm not feeling so fresh.   Not gonna lie, I think this shit is expensive and I don't actually remember purchasing it which probably means I got it as a free gift with something - I don't think I ever would've spent £35 on an eye gel, even in the days where I didn't have food to buy and bills to pay.  But, in spite of this, if you're going to splash out on an eye gel, this one is the bomb.  It visibly brightens your eyes, and is so refreshing, especially on hangover mornings.  This little baby has been the keystone of my morning routine for the past year or so, and I will miss it, dearly.

Thanks for reading, as always!  If you likey, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' via the link below.

Ruby x

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January Favourites

Yet again, this post was supposed to go up yesterday.  Yet again, I'm in bed, eyes propped open with metaphorical matchsticks (also known as the bitter dregs of 14 cups of tea).  Having left all my revision as late as feasibly possible for an exam I have on Friday, today has been a little, err, labour intensive, to say the least.  Which is why I'm so glad I can now talk about my January Favourites, as opposed to imperialism and realism and naturalism and all the other literary isms that have been buzzing around in my brain all day.  

 First up, I feel like I should mention a little something that is very exciting and that is that on Saturday I'll be flying to Tokyo to spend just under two weeks there with Chiara, my housemate.  Her dad lives there so we'll stay with him and spend a few days exploring Tokyo first then travel for a week on the bullet train!  Much excitement.  So my first favourite of January has to be the Lonely Planet guides.  My parents, who I consider to be fairly well seasoned travellers, swear by these guides, and got me this one for christmas.  For anyone considering travelling, I cannot recommend them enough.  They give recommendations of accommodation, attractions, restaurants, bars, transport.  It's got something for everyone's budget and mine even includes a map - genius.  

I love a sale as much as the next girl, and I do have to admit that this year I really feel like I missed out (I haven't set foot in Topshop since last year, no joke).  However I did manage to make it to Boots on my way back to uni, and managed to snap up a few tasty bargains there from the leftover christmas stock.  One being this mini tube of Crabtree and Evelyn handcream.  It's the perfect handbag size, ultra moisturising and smells like a Spanish lemon grove.  And Hypnose Drama by Lancome had to be included, again.  It's just a bloody fabulous mascara.  Look at those bristles!

 Another thing I managed to get my mitts on from Boots was this fantastically cute and quirky makeup bag.  Because I am a strong believer that everyone needs a rabbit-mannequin-wearing-all-sorts-of-funky-human-clothes print makeup bag in their life.  This, if I remember correctly, was half price down to £7.  It's a great size for all my daily makeup, long enough for brushes too, and has a wipe-clean coated exterior.  

While I was in Ireland over Christmas I visited Penneys, which is (believe it or not!) the original Irish version of Primark.  I learnt some riveting stuff in Ireland, really.  Sometimes Primark really does have some gems, namely these Invisibobble dupes.  For only €1.50 I got about 12 of these which is so much ridiculously cheaper than the real Invisibobbles, especially when you buy them from Topshop.  I am a slave to Invisibobbles - I hate to say it, because it sounds incredibly trivial but they really revolutionized my life.  Okay, it's trivial.  But if you haven't tried these, you must!  They don't pull your hair at all unlike elasticated hair bands, which sometimes used to make me feel like I'd had some kind of face lift, and better still, they leave your hair almost completely kink-free!  For thick and fine hair types alike, for €1.50 (I expect they'd be around the £1 mark in the UK) you really can't go wrong and these do almost exactly the same job as the original Invisibobbles.

The final few things I've been loving this February have been Mac's Fix+ Finishing Spray, of which you can read my full review here (disclaimer: contains glittery eyeshadow), Estee Lauder's Double Wear Light foundation (full review to follow), and this faux fur handbag bag pom pom which I got from eBay.  This was only £3.95 plus 99p shipping, arrived super fast, and is actually of reasonable quality considering I paid under a fiver for it in total.  I love these as a great way to jazz up a black bag - and I have aLOT of black bags.  

 

For those of you who also have deadlines and exams around this time, all I can send is my sympathy - as I keep telling myself, it will be over, soon.  And there's a bottle of wine waiting for me at the end.

Ruby x

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