April Favourites 2014

I can’t believe it’s May already, we’re almost halfway through the year! My parents were right when they told me, “the older you get, the quicker the years fly by!”

It’s May and a lot is happening this month and I have a long weekend coming up in June, which I’m excited to tell you all about next week! But for now, I’m going to share my favourites from April, which range from beauty, fashion and general.

So without further ado, let’s get on with the post.

P.S. I have another item to mention aside from the ones pictured above, but a separate picture of this will be featured below.

• Elemis Skin Nourishing Shower Cream.

This is a shower cream I have come to fall in love with VERY quickly after my Mom gave it to me. I know my Mom gives me a lot of beauty products, but it’s usually because she buys something and gets the same product she ordered free, which she will usually donate to myself. This is the same story with this shower cream and I am in love with it! It’s a lovely creamy shower gel that smells very fresh and floral, but it also smells milky and creamy too. Not only does it smell lovely but a little bit goes a long way and after using this my skin is left feeling soft and smooth! I worked a lot of early shifts at work in the last week of April, which meant I didn’t get time in the mornings to apply some moisturiser, however with this shower cream I don’t need to worry about that. Due to the milk proteins in this shower cream it means that it moisturises the skin beautifully whilst I wash with it, as well as after I rinse it off and dry my skin, as well as leaving me smelling beautiful! This is a real treat to use and I’m growing to love Elemis products since Christmas when my Mom gave me lots of lovely Elemis products.

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector Hand Cream (mentioned here and here).

I know this was in my favourites last month, but I just love this hand cream so much that I just HAD to mention it again! I’ve pretty much stopped using my Hand Food hand cream by Soap & Glory, as my daily moisturiser due to just loving this one so much. The smell of Hand Food has started to make me feel sick when I use it, as well as not feeling as if it moisturises enough, so I’ve been using my Hemp hand cream pretty much everyday, even when I’m not at work. This hand cream is for very dry skin, thus it’s a very thick hand cream which is great for my hands when I’m suffering with eczema, as well as when I’m not. I love The Body Shop’s hand creams and I think in the future I’ll be purchasing another one, probably the Absinthe one in the near future! I’ve reviewed this hand cream before, the link is above next to the name of the hand cream itself.

• Jean Paul Gaultier Classique X EDP (mentioned here).

I bought this perfume nearly a year ago after eying it up for a couple of months and finally took the plunge when I fancied treating myself. I’m not halfway through the bottle and throughout April it was pretty much the only perfume I used for work. It’s a lovely feminine and grown up smelling perfume, whilst being sexy all at the same time and whilst I’ve only been wearing it for work, it has really perked me up to wear it, especially during the mornings when I’ve needed a pick me up to keep me awake. As it’s an EDP it lasts longer than an EDT would and this lasts quite a long time, which is good for me during my working hours! I’ll spray it before I start my shift and maybe halfway through my shift if it’s quiet and I get a chance to, but even then I can still smell it slightly at the end of my shift even if I don’t get the chance to top it up! I love this perfume and I really want another one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s scents soon!

• Aloe Vera Face & Body Cream.

I’ve owned this cream since November when my Mom brought it back for me from her holiday to one of the Canaries Island’s. She didn’t intend to give this to me, but when I explained I needed a face cream to use at my boyfriends, she gave me this to try out. As a face cream it did an okay job, but as a body cream it works a lot better! Aloe is good for cooling you down and as the weather has been warm on and off throughout April, I used this when it was really warm outside and it worked a treat at cooling me down! I usually use my Soap & Glory body lotions but when the weather is warmer these lotions tend to make me sweat a little bit more at work than I really wish to, but this cream really does keep me cooler than the Soap & Glory ones would. As well as that, this does make my skin lovely and soft, as well as smelling fresh and lovely! A little bit of this cream goes a long way too and when my Mom goes back to the Canaries Island she visited, I’ll be asking her to pick me up another pot of this, as I can see it going rather quickly during the summer when the days are warmer and I start catching the sun and tanning. Obviously this specific cream isn’t available in the UK, BUT Body Care sell something similar to this for just over £1.00, so go and check that out if you fancy trying out a cream like this.

• Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in Exotic Island (mentioned here).

I popped this lip gloss down on my wish list in March and now I finally have it! At the start of April I picked up this lip gloss and since then I’ve used it nearly every day. This is by far the best drugstore lip gloss I’ve ever used, EVER! The way this applies, the pigmentation, the scent, the colour, everything about this lip gloss is great! I’m currently in the process of writing up a review for this, which will be live on my blog at some point this month (so watch this space!) and I can’t wait for you to all read it. This lip gloss is just beautiful and for £6.99 it’s well worth the money too. The gloss colour is very pigmented and it isn’t sticky which makes it perfect to apply when on the move, so this good for me with my job. As well as that it also feels very moisturising which means I don’t need to faff with popping on any lip balm if I’m in a hurry. The shade of this gloss is Exotic Island and the shade is a pinky purple shade and reminds me of a subtle version of Rebel, which I love as some days I won’t feel up to wearing Rebel so this is a great replacement for it. I won’t talk too much about the lip gloss here as I want to talk loads about it on my review, so keep your eyes peeled for that soon if you wish to know more about it.

• Vaseline Paint The Town Red Lip Tint (review here).

I remember when this lip tint came out around Christmas time, I was so excited for it and used it all the time, but after a while I discontinued using it and it just sat either in my hand bag or on my bed side table, waiting for the day to be used again, which came at the start of April. I started using it again alongside one of my red lip glosses whilst at work, so that I didn’t have to worry about applying said lip gloss whilst being busy at work and due to this I’ve remembered why I love this lip tint so much. It’s easy to apply and leaves a lovely dark pink/light red tint on the lips, as well as leaving my lips feeling moisturised. I don’t like to dunk my finger into pots like this whilst I’m out and about so I literally use this like my EOS lip balm and apply the product straight to my lips. It tastes and smells yummy too, like winter berries! This is a favourite to use at work, as well as if I’m just popping to the shops and not bothered about applying lipstick/lip gloss but fancy a bit of colour. I don’t know if these are still for sale as they were limited edition for winter, but I imagine that shops are still selling them. Check out my review that I’ve linked to above!

• Barry M Limited Edition Birthday Nail Paint for Superdrug (mentioned here).

When I first saw this nail paint reviewed by Brit Nails I KNEW I needed it in my life! It’s one of the most gorgeous glitter nail polishes I have ever laid eyes on and the fact that it takes two coats to achieve it without needing to apply it over a base colour is amazing. As soon as I bought this I applied it to my toes to see the colour pay off and boy was I impressed! After two good coats of this polish it looks beautiful and it does the same when applied to my finger nails too! It’s a beautiful hot pink colour with various chunks of glitter throughout it which range from pink, white and purple shades. I painted this polish on my toe nails when I first bought it at the start of April and at the end of April it’s still lasting well! I think this will be a gorgeous shade for summer and I’ve been wearing it loads during my weekends off of work, as well as any of the days I have off during the week too. This is a limited edition polish so if you wish to have it in your collection, get down to Superdrug ASAP as I don’t know if it’ll be on the shelves too long or not.

• Yankee Candle Sweet Strawberry Candle (mentioned here).

This was one of the two presents my boyfriend bought me for my birthday present this year and finally at the start of April I finally bought myself a large shade to use with this candle. I did start to burn it on my birthday but I noticed it wasn’t burning evenly and for over 3 months I left this candle unburned until I bought myself a shade to use with this to prevent it burning wrong. This is a large Yankee Candle and whilst I don’t use any of my Yankee jar Candles without a shade I knew I didn’t want to use this without especially as it was a present. As soon as I received my shade I haven’t stopped burning Sweet Strawberry! Every other afternoon/night after a long day of work I’ll pop this on until the early or late evening and my room smells so sweet and gorgeous. I love this candle so much and I know in the future I will be buying more large Yankee Candles.

• Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo 3DS (mentioned here).

Ever since buying my 2DS I have been in love with it and it’s probably one of the many reasons why I have been blogging less than I used to. My boyfriend also loves his 2DS, so I’m glad I’m not on my own with this love. The second game we both bought was Animal Crossing and from previously owning it on both the Game Cube and the Nintendo DS I HAD to get it on the 3DS too, especially for the fact that you’re the mayor of your own town. This is by far the most exciting Animal Crossing game out of them all (in my opinion anyway!) and due to this I haven’t been able to put it down. On Easter Sunday my boyfriend and I sat in my bed all day playing the game until we couldn’t really play it anymore. If you own a 3DS and you’re after a new game, then definitely pick up Animal Crossing: New Leaf, it’s an amazing game and well worth the money as there is never really an end to this game.

• Animal Rella Crew Neck Sweatshirt.

This was a random purchase when I went down to Milton Keynes at the start of April and I’m so glad I bought it! My boyfriend, our friend and I went down to Milton Keynes so that the boys could go snowboarding whilst I looked around the shops and after they were finished we would go around the shops together. I eyed up this sweatshirt whilst I was on my own and after the boys came and joined me I showed this to them to see what they thought of it. They both agreed it looked nice and after trying it on I fell in love with it and bought it straight away, wearing it later on that afternoon, as you can see from the above image. I ended up wearing this sweatshirt the whole weekend, no lie and since then I’ve been wearing this once during the week, as well as every weekend too. This sweatshirt isn’t just comfortable but it works and goes with EVERYTHING! I can wear it around the house, to pop to the shops in, if I’m going out anywhere nice with my boyfriend, etc. I’ve come to fall in love with sweatshirts over the years but thanks to this little baby, I love them more than every now. I just had to mention this sweatshirt, it’s gorgeous and I can see me buying another Animal one in the future.

So those were my favourites from April! There was a mix of all sorts in here, which I thought was a nice change.

What have been your favourite items from April? Please let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a great April.

October Favourites

Wow is it really November? I’m 24 in nearly 2 months time, how did this happen!? I’m getting old readers! Anyhoo I have a HUGE favourites post for you this month, as you can see from the image above. In total there are 11 products I’ll be talking about today, all as amazing as one another, so without further ado (and to save you reading about how quickly the year has gone by), let’s get on with the post!

• Australian Bodycare Tea Tree Oil Skin Wash.

When I was young my Mom would buy Australian Bodycare products for us to use and I loved their skin wash, shampoo, conditioner and especially their face wash, which kept my spots at bay whilst I was a teenager. However the shop we used to buy all these from stopped stocking them and we weren’t able to find them again to buy, until recently. QVC have started to stock these and at amazing prices so my Mom bought us a set to use and she donated the skin wash to me as she remembered how much I loved it when I was younger. This is a huge 500ml bottle and I know it’s going to last me ages! Since using this I’ve noticed that a horrid patch of spots that always lingered on my chest have now vanished and my skin has never felt so soft before without using a moisturiser after showering. As well as that, this stuff smells amazing, just like tea tree and a bonus is it lingers on the skin afterwards too, but only a slight smell, nothing strong. I feel so fresh and clean after using this skin wash and I think it’s going to be something I keep in my shower for a long time and now that QVC are stocking it, as well as other popular websites on the internet, I know I’ll never lose it again from the side of my bath.

• Gillette Satin Care Sensitive Shave Gel with Olay.

I mentioned this in my recent haul post from when I went shopping with my friend Poppy and for probably a year now I haven’t owned a decent shave gel, until now of course. Since swapping from men’s shave foams and shower gels I’ve noticed that the skin on my legs and underarms isn’t as dry as it used to be after shaving and that’s really nice. Plus I’m weird and have a patch on  my left leg that at times can be left really sore and irritated after shaving, but since using this gel I’ve not had that trouble, which is really nice as it used to be so painful at times and sometimes through all that pain, it wasn’t even shaved properly half the time. As well as feeling lovely on the skin it smells nice too, which is always good! You only need a little bit of this gel and it foams up really well and it goes a long way. I got this shave gel half price in Boots and I’m probably going to buy another one (or two) to see me through the rest of 2013, as I really like this shave gel and whilst I’m poor, I don’t really want to pay full price for one, when I can get two for the same price. Smart thinking, huh?

• Yankee Candle Simply Home in Lemon Cream.

I’ve been burning this on and off throughout October, usually during the day as lately I’ve been getting headaches and sore throats from burning scented candles, which really sucks so I need to keep a window open whilst it burns so that the scent isn’t too intense for me. I bought this candle at a market stall in June for just £6.00 and before now in the past I’ve bought various different Yankee Candle tarts and samplers from the same stall too. This candle is amazing and smells just like lemon butter cream, which I LOVE. If you’ve ever smelt Morrisons own brand lemon butter cream, then that is EXACTLY what this smells like. It’s a massive jar too so this will last me ages. It’s a very strong scent and I’ll only leave it burning for a couple of hours whilst I write to try and relax me. I would like to own more Simply Home candles and I have a few in mind I’d like to get, including Cherry and Christmas Treats.

• Lush FUN in Pink.

I’ve owned this since Lush first brought their FUN collection out and recently with Lush announcing their Christmas range for 2013, I’m trying to use up some of my Lush products so that I can fill my Lush container full of yummy new things to try out! Lush have of course brought out a FUN product for Christmas, GOLD and I really want to get my grubby mitts on one! I used Pink in a couple of baths throughout October as a bubble bar and as a wash and FUN really does go a long way! It always leaves my skin feeling soft and beautiful, as well as smelling gorgeous! Pink reminds me of Rock Star Soap and Creamy Candy Bubble Bar, which is why I bought it. I’ve used Rock Star Soap once and whilst I didn’t get an allergic reaction to it, like I do with most of Lush’s soaps, I’m too scared to buy a chunk incase this actually occurs, so I’m glad that Pink exists so that I can have the scent of Rock Star to wash with, but not have to worry about any bad rashes on my skin. Whenever I used this in the bath, the smell lingers in the bathroom for up to two days, which I really quite like and whenever I popped into the bathroom I got a whiff of it. Lush definitely need to create some more FUN colours, purple and orange would be amazing! I need to try more of the FUN products and I think I’ll be doing just that in the New Year.

• Gucci Envy Me EDT.

This is by far one of my favourite perfumes. I bought this bottle back in 2005 when I last went on holiday and sadly I don’t have all that much left. I only use it for very special occasions such as my birthday, other people’s birthdays and late at night if I fancy wearing it. My family has gone on holiday and they were lovely enough to ask if I wanted anything brought back and the first thing I came up with was this perfume! It isn’t expensive to buy online but seeing as I’m really quite poor at the moment, I can’t really buy myself a new bottle. I wore this quite a bit during October though, especially when my boyfriend came round to see me as he hadn’t smelt this before and seeing as I really like it, I thought he might to and he really does, so that’s good! Plus for an EDT this perfume can be quite strong and lasts quite a while and is probably one of the only EDT scents I’ve bought for myself. I can’t wait to get a new bottle of this, it was one of the first perfumes I bought for myself and its been sat in its packaging and finally in my perfume box (yes I have a box!) for nearly 10 years! It’s probably gone bad by now, but it still smells amazing! If you haven’t smelt this, I suggest you do so as its beautiful.

• Decleor Hydra Floral Multi Protection Light Cream.

I didn’t buy this myself, my Mom actually gave it to me when I said I needed to get some new moisturiser to tide me over until I can afford my Clinique Moisturising Gel. I didn’t think I would like this at first as due to my skin type it gets on better with gels than creams, but this is really nice! It’s definitely a cream, but it’s light enough to not sit on my skin for ages like most creams do. I’m not a huge fan of the smell but it doesn’t really linger all that long so it doesn’t bother me. You only need a 1 pence piece amount of this and it really does go a long way and makes my skin feel really soft, almost baby soft! The only flaw with this is it feels slightly greasy on my hands and whilst other creams the feeling may go away, this doesn’t and I need to wash it off of my hands after use every time. That doesn’t take long to do however and it’s worth it for my face feeling and looking as nice as it does after use. This stuff isn’t cheap and as the tube isn’t very big, I wouldn’t personally buy this myself, unless I had the money to splash.

• Soap & Glory Puffy Eye Attack Eye Gel.

This was another product mentioned on my recent haul post, as I needed a new eye gel and this was the one I decided to buy. For £12.50 I wondered if I’d bought something that wouldn’t last that long, but you need the tiniest amount and this product goes a long way! I love eye gels as like moisturisers, eye creams sting my eyes and don’t sink in, leaving them feeling heavy and to be honest, yuck! Eye gels soothe my tired and aching eyes with that cooling feeling they leave behind which wakes them up at the same time. This eye gel does just that, it relieved the ache and wakes them up! My eyes aren’t that puffy to be honest, but if they were the slightest bit puffy I’d like to think that this gel will help that out a little. I gave my boyfriend some of this to try and he commented how he really liked it. I love the packaging for this product to. It’s so simple and for a little pot you do get a lot of product, which I know is going to last me quite a while! Definitely worth every penny.

• Vaseline Lip Therapy in Aloe Vera.

This isn’t actually mine, it’s my boyfriend but after forgetting I’d left it in my bag on my way home Sunday night, he told me to keep it and that he would buy another one. Although I have my steroid cream for my eczema it doesn’t seem to be working right now and my knuckles are incredibly sore and red, which makes it at times really quite painful as the skin is splitting open. My Garnier hand cream usually helps, but at the moment it’s making the pain worse due to the skin being split open and as I’m only allowed to use my steroid cream once a day, it’s been quite painful. My boyfriend told me to use his Vaseline, which has been helping a little, as well as soothing the pain and as my best friend also suffers from eczema, she’s suggested Vaseline in the past too. I’ve been applying it as much as possible and the cool feeling from the aloe vera has definitely helped soothe my knuckles, but this being said they’re still incredibly painful.

• MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint & Lip Balm in Broken Hearted.

I wrote a review for this in October which you can read here and this has been something I’ve been using on my late shifts at work, as well as when I’m popped out quickly during the day. It’s really creamy and makes my lips look a lovely light pink, as well as conditioning them too. It glides on easily and quickly and with its precision end, you don’t really need a mirror when applying it either. It smells and tastes amazing too, which to me is always an added bonus with lip products. If you want to know more, go check out my review about it.

• MAC Lipstick in Rebel.

This is my favourite lipstick, as well as my favourite MAC lipstick. I never wear it during the spring and summer months as it’s a dark berry – vampy shade but during the autumn and winter months, it’s all I’ll wear! It’s a satin finish so it’s not quite matte, but it’s not exactly creamy either. I like to blot this when wearing it so it lasts longer. It also smells of vanilla, but it reminds me of fresh doughnuts! I’ve been wearing this out and about when seeing friends and when I’ve been out with my boyfriend too and it’s been nice wearing it again and I’ve forgotten just how much I love wearing it too. You can read my full review for this here, it explains more about the lipstick so make sure to check it out if you would like to know more.

• Vaseline Lip Tint in Paint The Town Red.

Once again, another product I spoke about in my recent haul and since buying it, I haven’t been able to stop using it! I’ve been using it around the house, at my boyfriend, in the car while traveling, at work and everywhere you can think of! This is a limited edition lip tint for autumn and winter and I’m really quite sad about that as it’s truly amazing! It glides onto your lips easily leaving behind a faint pink tint and smells of winter berries, which you can taste slightly when it’s on your lips too. I just love this product and I’ll be making sure to stock up before they’re discontinued! I’ve written a full review of this here so make sure to go and check that out for more information.

So those were my favourites for October, that was a long post, has taken me over an hour to write!

What products did you like using throughout October? Let me know in the comments!

I’m off to start NaNoWriMo, so until next time, take care all!