July Favourites 2014

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I can’t believe it’s August already and I also can’t believe it’s been raining. I started writing this post up on Friday and literally sighed after each time that I looked out the window, how dramatic huh?

This months favourites are pretty summery, which is to be expected after all the lovely weather we’ve been having the past month. Fingers crossed this rain passes so we have some more.

There are quite a lot of new products featured on here that I’ve either only just reviewed or really need to get round to reviewing, sooo if you see anything you would like to see being reviewed, PLEASE let me know in the comments!

This post is going up later than my usual favourites posts, but I’ve just been so busy and such that I sadly didn’t get time to post this until today. Oh well, better late than never!

Image taken from thebodyshop.co.uk

  • The Body Shop Banana Shampoo.

The reason this is a picture taken from The Body Shop’s website and not an actual photo of said product is because I don’t actually own this shampoo… But my boyfriend does. I bought him this just before we went to Bristol in June as part of his anniversary present and to this day he has loved it. Whenever I stay at his house I use this shampoo and it really does leave my hair feeling soft and smooth, as well as looking healthy. The most appealing thing to me about this shampoo is the smell! It smells like real bananas, which makes me happy, as (random fact!) I’m actually allergic to bananas and due to this I often have to avoid banana things that contain actual bananas, just incase they cause me to flare up. However I gladly discovered in Bristol that this shampoo doesn’t set off any allergic reactions, so since then I’ve used this on and off. I do intend to buy my own bottle of this soon, when however, I don’t know! This is for all hair types and I really do recommend it, especially if you love the smell of banana as much as I do!

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  • The Body Shop Body Sorbet in Strawberry.

When I heard about this coming out well before June, I KNEW I needed it in my life! As much as I love having soft skin, like pretty much most women out there I loathe moisturising. It can take ages (well 10 minutes for myself) and never wants to sink in as quickly as well all hope. I have found moisturisers that DO sink in, as well as the patience to apply them, but during the recent hot summer days it just feels too hot and clammy to wear any moisturiser. However, The Body Shop have brought out their Body Sorbet’s just in time! These cooling moisturisers help keep your skin soft and smooth, as well as cool feeling and smelling gorgeous. They come in 5 scents and the one I picked up was Strawberry, my favourite Body Shop scent. You can read my full review for this here, but I have  loved using this throughout July and I know I’ll continue to enjoy it throughout the rest of the year, not just during summer.

  • Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy EDP.

This is the only celebrity fragrance I currently own and is by far one of my favourite fragrances to wear. It smells gorgeous and lasts all day and for an 100ml bottle it costs just £19.99, bargain eh? But anyhoo, as to why I like this in the first place… When the weather is really warm I often reach for stronger perfumes and this is probably one of the first ones I will reach for, for many reasons. Not only is it a strong perfume but it also smells of blueberries, which is a really nice for the summertime, I think anyway. I’m near the end of my massive 100ml bottle, so I am going to be buying a new bottle really soon as I can’t really live without it. I love wearing this for work as well as over the weekend as it’s just a lovely perfume to use to keep you smelling beautiful all day long.

  • The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet.

I heard about this coming out over the pond in America because it had even hit shelves over here in the UK the same time as the Body Sorbet and I have to say how much I love this stuff! I was hesitant to purchasing it, even after testing it out in store (and admittedly falling in love with it) I didn’t feel it was worth the price tag of £12. However I walked around town for a while after trying it and decided that it was actually something I needed in my life, even for £12. The sorbet is both cooling and very hydrating for the skin, as well as that it’s also meant to leave your skin with a matte finish too, which is pretty much what my skin needs, as it’s combination. I already know I’ll be re-purchasing this moisturiser, and will be writing a review up of it very soon! My skin has improved so much since using it.

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  • Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm.

I can’t remember when these came out, but I remember reading about them being released and I was so damn excited! There are four of them to choose from and when I went shopping with my friend Poppy back in June in Milton Keynes, we popped into Boots and my advantage points were burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to treat myself to this lip balm and I’m really glad I did! It was a tough choice between Benebalm, Lollibalm and Chachabalm, but I love my reds so this one won! This lip balm is super hydrating and lasts for ages. It’s been a staple for long close shifts at work, where I’m usually too busy to get a chance to keep reapplying lip products. It’s nice worn alone or underneath/over a red lipstick. I’ve teamed it with my Lush Santa Baby Lip Tint (review here) quite a lot throughout June and it’s worked really well! I’ll definitely be reviewing this soon, as well as buying the other balms in future.

  • MAC Goddess of the Sea Lipstick.

As many will know, this lipstick is from the Alluring Aquatic collection and one I snapped up pretty much before it was due to be taken off the shelves forever. I was going to buy this lipstick in Bristol after swatching it the first day I was there, but by Monday it was taken off of the shelves and I was told it was no longer available to buy. Fast forward a week or two later and I had it in my possession! I picked it up from the MAC counter in Birmingham’s Selfridges and the woman who sold it me was so lovely! Anyhoo… This shade is gorgeous! A dark violet-purple and due to it being a cremesheen it is perfect to wear during the summertime, as it feels comfortable and the colour just works perfectly! I’ve been wearing this loads during my time off work, as well as in work. I’ve had many compliments on it and upon telling customers it was by MAC they just sighed and said, “I can’t afford MAC!” oh dear. xD But anyhoo… This WILL be reviewed in the future, probably one of the days this month. I can’t wait to review it quite frankly as this has fast turned into one of my favourite MAC lipsticks and I wish I had picked up two of these now so that I had a spare for the future.

  • Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me.

As my previous reviews of Baby Lips show (Mint Fresh review and Pink Punch review), I’ve owned these lip balms before and whilst I loved them at first, I slowly grew for forget their existence and for a while they just sat in the bottom of my handbag gathering handbag dust. However everyone has always ranted and raved about Cherry Me the most, including my closest friends. SO I decided to pick it up for myself to see what was so great about it, and I really do love this lip balm. It reminds me so much of Nivea’s Lip Balm in Cherry, which I used to own and use every moment of the day when I was at school. I remember it well and the scent just reminds me of that time. I pretty much just have this lip balm for work to apply to my dark and red lipsticks, it works beautifully over Rebel, for example. I can see this being my go to lip balm for winter time mind as it tastes gorgeous, smells gorgeous too and is lovely to wear and quick to apply! Another product I’ll be reviewing soon!

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  • Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

This is an eye balm I have gone back to time and time again and this is it. It’s always been gentle on the skin around my eyes, as well as doing what it actually should. Other eye balms don’t compete against this one, price tag included on that! I’m just glad to have this back in my beauty regime as it’s just something I can’t really live without. In this warm and humid weather it can make my eyes feel very dry and tired, but this eye balm leaves them feeling cool and awakened, which is definitely what I need for early starts at work! A roller ball eye gel would work wonders too, but I never find these work as well as they should. I definitely recommend this one though if you’re after something cheap and cheerful, which will actually do what it says on the tin.

  • Ciate Nail Polish in Pillow Fight.

This was a freebie in Marie Claire magazine back in June and I picked up two of these magazines for the nail polishes. I wrote about the first Ciate set I picked up, but I managed to get myself another set, which included Pillow Fight. Pillow Fight is a gorgeous purpley grey nail polish and something different, that I knew I needed to have in my collection for autumn and winter. This being said I have been wearing it a lot over the course of June and it has worked beautifully with some glitter nail polish too! I would definitely and probably will in the future buy the full size version of this, as it’s just too gorgeous not to keep in my collection.

  • The Body Shop Hand Cleanse Gel in Strawberry.

I love scented hand sanitizers and whilst I love my Pocketbac’s, they’re too pricey to keep using 24/7, so I opt for The Body Shop’s versions instead. I’ve pretty much tried all of them bar a couple and my most recently used one is Strawberry, which has fast become one of my favourites. I keep these in my handbag to use whilst on the go, as well as for work and I always get lovely compliments about how gorgeous they smell, mainly from my manager who can always smell when I’ve used it! They usually have their hand sanitizers on 3 for 2, so I always pick some up whenever I pop into The Body Shop!

So those are my favourites for July! What products did you enjoy using last month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a great weekend!

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