Can you believe we're in December already? I don't know about you, but for me this year has flown by! My mum has always said that the older you get the quicker the years go by and now at twenty eight I'm starting to believe it. So, let's not waste any more time and get straight into my November favorites!

I am going to start with two H&M beauties. I got them at mid November and I can't get enough of them. One is the lip gloss (Chic Choc shade), since I got it I pretty much haven't left the house not wearing it. I have never been a massive fan of lip gloss but I just love the colour of this one and what I do, I put a thin tissue over my lips and press some powder to make it matte and it lasts all day!
The next thing I am loving from H&M beauty is this crease blending brush. Honestly, I have brushes that cost over £20 that don't work as good as this one does and this one is less than a fiver! It's so fluffy and it blends eye shadow perfectly. It has become one of my favorite brushes, so much I am going to buy a couple more of the exact same one.

A while ago I posted a first impressions on Revlon Colorstay foundation and I must say I liked it, but I didn't love it. Well, after using it more and more, I am starting to really really like it. I use it mainly when my skin is not looking great as it has huge coverage.

I have had the Ben Nye banana powder for ages now, since before summer probably but for some reason I never really used it much. A few weeks ago I decided to give it another go and I have been using it under my eyes since. It does make them look a lot brighter and younger!

Last but not least, I really can't believe that I never got this earlier! I'm talking about the Milani Luminoso blush. Honestly, this blush is just perfect! It makes your cheeks look glowy and fresh and it has quickly become my favorite blusher of all the ones I own.

What are your November favorites? Make sure you link your blog on the comments section below as I love reading what you guys have been loving recently!

MY NEW FAVORITE BODY SCRUB

As you may know if you read my blog, a week ago I attended a Miss Patisserie event in Cardiff (you can read about it here). As always, when I go to events I like getting some of the things they offer and test them myself so this time I ended up getting a body scrub, a face oil and a perfume. 

I can't tell you much about the face oil just yet as of course it takes more than a week to see any results. As for the perfume, I went for a raspberry and orange and I love it. It's very fresh and perfect for every day. It also comes in a tiny bottle so it's great to have it in your bag.

Now, the winner is definitely the body scrub. I really cannot rave enough about it. I have been telling every body at work and I keep making them touch my skin and they all love it! There was quite a few different smells and I struggled to decide which one I liked the most if I'm being honest because all of them were so dreamy! In the end I went for the 'Coco' one. Their body scrubs are 100% made from natural ingredients and they're produced and designed here in Cardiff. Coco has a tropical smell to it, like coconut mixed with lime and sweets. It really does make you want to eat it. Miss Patisserie describes this product as nourishing and moisturizing sugar body scrubs, perfect for bright and glowing skin. They are packed with antiflammatory jojoba oil and restoring sweet almond oil as well as renewing Vitamin E.  I could not agree any more!

I have used this product three times now and from the very first day I have felt such a different in my skin, it's hard to believe! In winter I always get very dry skin in my hands, forearms and elbows to the point where if I scratch my arm it turns white of how much dry skin there is, well, that hasn't happened since I've been using this body scrub. It removes all the dead skin and hydrates the skin in a way I can't even describe! My skin feels so smooth and it smells so good for over twenty-four hours and the thing that I love the most about this body scrub is that you don't need to moisturize afterwards! 

I wish I could give you all a tiny bit to try it because you'd fall in love with it as much as I have! I will definitely be purchasing different smells (there was a watermelon one that was to die for!). 

You can visit their website at http://www.miss-patisserie.com/ or if you live in Cardiff check out their store at the High Street Arcade!

What is your favorite scrub? What your new favorite skin care product?

FOTD - SMOKEY EYE & BROWN LIPS

This is my most favorite look. I wear it very often and I wear it during the day or for a night out, I think it works very well for any occasion. If you'd like to know how to achieve this look keep on reading!

When I do an eye make up like this, I always start with the eyes as it does get a bit messy working with black eye shadow. In this occasion I used a light orange shade from a palette I got from eBay (here) all over my crease and blended it all the way to the brow bone.
Next I mixed the two shades from the middle row second and third from the left from the same palette and properly defined the crease, repeating the process a couple of times. Then with a flat brush I used the black shade all over the lid and blended the crease again with the same colours I used before to avoid any sharp lines between the black and the browns. I then repeated the progress again as I wanted to black to look very dark. After that I used the brown shade on my lower lash for the smokey look.

As for the face, I used my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation for the airbrush finish and the Revlon Colorstay concealer under my eyes and t-zone to brighten up my face.
Instead of contouring, I used Balm Desert by The Balm for my cheeks for a more natural finish.

For the lips, I used MAC Stone which I think it's a great shade for this time of the year.

What do you think of this look?

DIOR CHRISTMAS COLLECTION EVENT

In my teens I always saw Dior as more of a grown up brand. There's no doubt that it is a lot more sophisticated, elegant and classy that many of other brands. It was almost inaccessible and quite expensive for a seven teen year old just getting into the whole make up 'thing'. But guess what? I am now a more sophisticated, elegant and classy twenty eight year old grown up. Or at least I like to think so. It's no lie that I got mega excited when I got invited to the State of Gold DIOR Christmas collection blogger event in Debhenams Cardiff and I could not refuse the invitation.

Apart from the J'adore perfume, I've never had a Dior product before so it was great to see not only the Christmas collection but everything else they have in store.

At the event, Anthony (in store make up artist) showed us how to create a winter/festive look with a gold and copper tones using the Blazing Gold eye shadow palette which, by the way, I love!

What struck me most was that he also used the Diorskin Airflash spray foundation. Some of us got to try it after the demonstration and I can honestly say it looks flawless. You can use on top of your regular foundation for an airbrushed finished or you can use it as a foundation by itself. The bottle is £33 but unlike most foundations this one is 70ml.

When having a look around I found these Addict Fluid eye shadows and I couldn't resist swatching them. They are absolutely gorgeous and so long lasting that even five hours after the event finished they were still intact on my wrist. I especially love the copper tone on the top right corner, I think it would look great on the eye lid with a black smokey eye. I will definitely be adding them to my letter to Santa. 

We also got an amazing goodie bag *who doesn't love a goodie bag*. There's some perfume testers (great to have them in your bag) and the cutest little samples!

Dior Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum. A lash primer that creates a smooth, even mascara base while promoting long-term lash growth, strength and vitality.

Dior Addict Lip Maximizer. Give your lips an instant volume and shine with this lip plumper.

Rouge Dior 999 Red Lipstick, A luxurious, full-coverage lip colour. 

I can't thank enough the staff at the Dior counter as they were both very nice and helpful. I bought something from their Christmas collection and it's limited edition so I will be writing another post about my purchase. Stay tuned because it is beautiful! Also, if you haven't checked out the Dior counter at your local Debhenams lately do it, because this collection is amazing!

OCTOBER FAVORITES

Can you believe we're in November already? I don't know for you, but for me this year has flown by. It feels like last Christmas was only a week ago! So with October now left behind I'm going to talk about the products I have been loving for the past month.

I'll start with the Cerruti 1881 perfume. My mother in law brought me this from one of her trips to Germany and I literally haven't used any other perfume at all since then. I'm rubbish at explaining smells so I'm just going to say that smells super floral and fresh, which is exactly what I like in a perfume.

Since I ran out of my MAC settling powder I've been looking for a cheaper alternative to it and I've found it with Kick Ass Soap 'n' Glory's Instant Retouch Pressed Powder. It's totally translucent and it doesn't stick to my dry patches as some others do.

As I've mentioned before, I hate doing my eyebrows, especially on normal days as I don't like to over do them too much just to go to work so since I found the Maybelline Brow Satin Smoothing Duo my mornings have been a lot easier. It has a brow pencil and a filling powder and the result is very subtle and natural.

I've also been loving the BrushEgg. I don't know if you've heard about it yet but it's a so much cheaper alternative to a Sigma (or other expensive) cleaning brush glove. It really does work wonders and it makes the process of cleaning your brushes a lot easier. I will write a post about cleaning brushes with the Brush Egg very soon. You can get them for as little as £2 on eBay.

And last but not least, the lipstick that has quickly escalated to my top 1, the Maybelline New York Color Sensational Divine Wine Matte Lipstick. I am honestly super surprised with this one as I only picked it up because it looked like a nice color. I have never, ever had a lipstick that lasted so long on my lips. I put it on first thing in the morning and by the time I get back home at night it's still intact. I am not lying. I will definitely be buying a lot more of this lipsticks. The packaging is very sleek too!



So here are the products I've been loving for the past month! Do you have any of these? What are your October favorites?