Pack With Me For My Summer Holiday

I'm off to the south of France tomorrow and I thought I would share with you a few of the essentials that I am starting to pack in my case, from my jazzy sun glasses to the very crucial sun cream!

Beauty wise I like to keep things relaxed and simple to let my skin breathe, I will be packing more makeup to wear in the evenings however in the day time I will always make sure I wear SPF along with lashings of waterproof mascara, brow gel, bronzer, a dewy highlighter like the Marylumaziner (The Balm) and a hydrating lip balm like Carmex.

I may be on holiday but I still want to look after my skin and keep it clear. I decided to pick up this skin energising daily facial scrub from Clean&Clear on my latest trip to Boots which sounds like the perfect face wash which will be easy to use every day. 

I talk about Garnier's Micclear water like it's a bottle of gold so when I saw that they had started selling the stuff in mini travel sized bottles, I had to pick one up to take on holiday!

Sunshine can really dry out the skin so having a good moisturiser is essential- I have decided to take the Garnier moisture match for normal to dry skin which I know works for me and it also comes in a handy small size which is perfect for travelling.

I am never fussy when it comes to haircare but I simply cannot live without my tangle teezer which has saved my hair over the past few years, it's the perfect hair brush to use on wet and dry hair.

I never wash my hair more than twice a week although when I'm on holiday I know that my hair will be more prone to drying out due to the heat and swimming so I've made sure I have some deep conditioning shampoos to give my hair a treat. On the other hand I don't want to constantly be washing my hair so I've also packed a mini travel sized dry shampoo to use when my hair needs an extra boost.

I love to wear accessories in my hair and I really like this daisy hair bobble which I know will look really cute on holiday :)

Exfoliating is great to help a tan fade naturally without going patchy and I am hoping to get a slight sun tan so I have packed my favourite body scrub which is Soap &Glorys The Scrub of your Life.

Venus have recently started selling their new mini snap razors which are perfect for travelling as they come in a small case to make it easy to pack in your toiletries bag. I already own other Venus razors and blades which will fit perfectly onto this snap razor and I think it is a fantastic concept which I am sure will come in handy for many people including myself.

These blue mirrored sunglasses are from Accessories and I think they will look great on holiday- I can't wait to wear them! 

I recently bought this apple juice fragrance from Zara which cost me just under £10 which I think is a fantastic price considering the quality and I absolutely love the smell which I can imagine will be the perfect summer scent.

Are you going on a summer holiday this year? What are your holiday essentials? 

My Perfect Skincare Routine: Ft. LUSH Skincare Review

As much as I love makeup, I absolutely love taking it all off at the end of the day and using great products that leave my skin feeling it's best.

Recently I have got into a perfect evening routine and I have also discovered Lush Cosmetics skincare which is something I have never tried before and I have been very impressed with.

To remove the majority of my makeup I always use the Garnier Micellar cleansing water which never fails to disappoint me and I have yet to find anything that works just as well. I simply sweep a soaked cotton pad with the water and wipe away all my face makeup. This micellar water never stings or irritates my eyes/skin and feels almost like water gliding across the face.

The micellar water is great to remove all types of makeup including eye makeup however I sometimes like to use a seperate eye makeup remover because I find this to be more effective at removing heavy eye makeup and ensuring that even the most sensitive eyes will not suffer. The Body Shop Camomile Eye-Makeup remover is a great option for quick and effective eye makeup removal which works on even sensitive eyes.

I always like to use a second cleanser after the micellar water to ensure that all my makeup is gone and that my skin has been thoroughly cleaned.
I have never tried any products from Lush Cosmetics skincare so I was intrigued to try something and I decided to pick up their Let The Good Times Roll cleanser which is targeted at normal skin types like mine and I was also attracted to it by it's delicious cinnamon, popcorn scent with actual pieces of popcorn in the pot (yum!)
The cleanser is a 'play dough' paste consistency and I was told by a Lush employee to scoop a penny sized amount out of the pot, rub together in my hands with warm water then massage the paste onto my face and rinse off. I found the product to almost gently exfoliate my skin whilst giving it a really good clean- I love the smell and I find it leaves my skin feeling super soft and looking really clear.
I have the 100g pot and I can see it lasting me a long time as I have found you only need to use a small amount each application, plus Lush have a system where you can bring back 5 full sized empty pots or tubs to receive a free face mask... what's not to love?! (applies to all 'Not Virgin' products- look out for the sticker!) 

I never used to use facial toners as I thought they were a waste of money and a pointless step in my routine, however I have recently found that by using the Simple Kind To Skin Soothing facial toner, my skin has felt more balanced and 'normal', with no excess oil or dry patches and is always left feeling refreshed and hydrated.
I still don't think that using a toner is essential, however I do like to use this one to give my skin some extra care and I would recommend trying one out if you want to target a certain insecurity as there are many on the market that are designed for certain needs.

My final step is to use a hydrating moisturiser which I know will deeply hydrate my skin, especially to use in the evenings. I found it difficult to choose which moisturiser to try from Lush as they all sounded like they would do wonders for my skin although I finally decided to pick up the Skindrink facial moisturiser which by the name, sounded like it would be the perfect rich option.
This rich sesame oil cream has a thick consistency therefore I prefer to use it in the evenings as I think it would be too heavy for day time. I'm not too keen on the smell of this product however I do love the benefits that I have been seeing so far such as quick absorption, non greasy feeling and how my skin is left feeling afterwards... amazing!

Have you tried any other products from Lush skincare? Let me know in the comments if you think there is something else I would like! :)

Bargain Beauty: Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Eye-shadow Pallets

Long time no post! It's been a good few weeks since I last updated you but life has been a little crazy and there's been a lot of changes, including me getting a part time job which I'm loving but it also means I have very little time to write as much as I'd like to. Things are starting to settle and I am learning to manage my time better so hopefully I will have many more posts for you to read in the upcoming weeks :)

As I mentioned in my previous beauty favourites post, I have been getting a lot of use out of my Urban Decay Naked Basics pallet and I love it, however £20 for a small eye-shadow pallet is a lot of money considering there are many good cheaper alternatives on the market, including this range of pallets from Collection that I am going to talk about today.

Collection (formerly named Collection 2000) is a budget make-up brand that you can find in Boots and Superdrug and they have recently launched their eyes uncovered nude pallets that I was curious to try out after noticing they looked very similar to Urban Decay's basics range and I wondered how they would compare.

Collection have three pallets to choose from; nude grey, nude bronze and nude (I have them all except the basic nude.) Each pallet has six highly pigmented shades inside and will cost you a friendly £3.99 per pallet.

I have found myself reaching for these pallets over many of my more expensive options and I think that the quality is outstanding-almost identical to the quality of Urban Decay shadows. The colours apply and blend easily and I have found it easy to create many different looks, whether that being an everyday quick wash of colour or an extreme smoky eye (Nude Grey is fantastic for more dramatic looks!)

Nude Bronze 

Nude Grey

The only downside to these pallets is their packaging which has a flimsy cheap feeling, no mirror in the compact and I found that the included eye-shadow brush was useless and cheap.
I would find a mirror and a better eye-shadow brush very appealing even if the price was raised with these added extras. Overall, for the price I don't think you can complain when the actual eye-shadow product quality is outstanding and one of the best I have ever tried from the drugstore/ more affordable brands.

Have you tried these pallets? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!