March favourites

I thought it would be a good idea to show some of the products I've been loving this last month especially, springs come along and in Myanmar it's more like summer so I thought it would be a good idea to inject some colour in to my life.

I have been loving this balm stain from Revlon, personally I like to sheer it down by only applying one light coating and then rubbing it in. Due to it being in a balm form I find it really easy to do this! as pen forms don't allow enough movement. This particular colour is a bright orange which you can wear sheerly on a day to day occasion or more opaque for that fancy dinner. I actually quite like how it's not glossy after a while as I find it looks more natural. These crayons are retractable and big money saver if you were looking at the clinique chubby sticks as I find them to be able to build up, thus being more versatile.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in 040 rendevous rendevous

I've been loving sporting a glow and this product has really done it for me! I find most highstreet highlighters to be too light for my skintone otherwise too glittery. With just a sheer sweep of this on my cheekbones and cupids bow I look fresher and healthier. The powder also works great as an eyeshadow and I've been wearing this very sheerly across the lid on a daily basis this last month. If you increase the amount it's great for highlighting the brow bone as well as the tear duct area. In terms of using it as a bronzer, steer really clear, it's far too shimmery to work that way and too like my skintone to work as a bronzer. If you're paler than me perhaps you could use this as a product to give you a glow and could work as a powder form for laguna multiple from NARS Although quite expensive I definitely think it's worth it as the amount of product they give you will last you forever. 

The Balm Betty-Lou manizer

Swatch of Betty-lou Manizer

My next favourite is a Bourjois eyeshadow in Intense Extrait 05 a dark emerald green. This shade has a slight shimmer to it and the eyeshadow claims to stay for 16 hours. If you're someone like me with oily eyelids it's more like 4 hours but it's better to have that option. I'm not mentioning this product as an eyeshadow as I actually find it slightly difficult to work with in terms of blending. But due to the amazing pigmentation (the photo doesn't show it" I love using this as an eyeliner with an anglied brushed. I think it adds a subtle 'pop' to your eye makeup if you're someone who wears a wash of a light neutral, and is definitely a departure from black liner.

Bourjois eyeshadow Intense Extrait 05

eyeshadow Intense Extrait 05

Left, 1 swipe of Bourjois eyeshadow

Lastly, I've noticed a large trend is to have natural lashes. For me the Revlon growlucious mascara is great for whacking on in the mornings before school. I only apply one coat and it's clump free and looks very natural but lengthens my lashes. In fact after using this product I've been receiving a lot of compliments about how long my eyelashes look, as I have straight lashes so they're not very noticeable, yet people question whether I'm wearing any mascara or not! so a big bonus if you're someone who likes the no makeup makeup look. The wand is pretty big but I have quite large eyeballs so I don't find it too difficult, you can definitely layer this mascara to get a more dramatic effect of needed. This mascara doesn't really play on the volume side and I'm not sure about whether if it is actually helping my lashes grow but if it helps why not? I use the non-waterproof and I don't notice any flaking and my lashes are still flexible and not crunchy so as a whole I would definitely repurchase this mascara.

Revlon Growlucious plumping mascara non-waterproof

wand of growlucious mascara

what are your monthly favourite products?

Simple- soothing facial toner

Toner is something we all like to skip out on and honestly it's not always necessary I've always been weary towards toners because a lot of them contain a lot of alcohol which can strip your skin and doesn't have good effects for it. In general alcohol is used in a lot of facial products but sometimes you get a bit too much for your skin to handle! If you have acne prone skin you may want to look at a toners which contain benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid in them. Witch Hazel is a key thing I look for in toners because it can help reduce swelling, soften skin, helps combat eczema (so is great if you have dry skin) as well as prevent acne. Even if you have oily skin I think it's important to put as much moisture in to your skin as possible so that your skin won't need to produce excess oils due to it thinking that your skin is dry.

Going back to the topic of the simple toner, If you haven't read my previous post I've started using the simple kind to skin cleansing lotion and I needed to use a toner to get rid of the residue as well as to make sure that all the gunk was definitely of my face. I had already used a whole bottle before even using the cleansing lotion and I found that it's a lot more moisturising than other toners. After immediately using it I notice my skin looks a lot fresher. This toner definitely works for me because it's not harsh but still gets the dirt of my face including any left over makeup. In terms of a good primer for teens who have slightly combo skin I would recommend this...the price is also difficult to beat! I think I'm going to be repurchasing this one because I think it does the job and would definitely recommend this for people with sensitive skin and maybe slighly combination.

Simple- cleansing lotion

These past few years I've been trying out some skin care from simple, a UK brand which is quickly becoming quite popular. Simple has a few different categories of skin types that it caters for but the 3 sold in Malaysia are the age defying, kind to skin and oily, I gravitate more towards the kind to skin because my skin is more sensitive then oily. So because my skin is really sensitive and I was breaking out (pimples ewww) quite a lot a few months ago so I had this strong feeling that it was due to constantly changing cleansers and a few of them being quite harsh for my skin. I've slowly been graduating towards simple products because they're really cheap but also claim to have none of those chemical nasties. I was looking at their website and saw that their purifying cleansing lotion was getting a lot of buzz so I decided to check it out.



How I use it:

1. get a cotton pad
2. squeeze around a pea size amount on to cotton pad
3. dot around face
4. then just wipe face with a cotton pad
5. use toner on cotton pad to get rid of residue

honestly I was quite sceptical because you don't use water and I've never used a lotion for my face. I think this one is really good because it really does take of the dirt, I've tried a clean and clear one before  and it was so strong (alcoholic) that I was so scared of using it even though it got rid of the gunk. Especially near the eye area that one was never going to even reach that section! this one feels really light and because it has no perfume and stuff I think it's fine, I've tried it and my eyesight is fine and it doesn't sting or anything.

As a whole I think it's great but I always use a toner after just to be sure the gunk is all off. This is really great if you're camping or something and don't want to use wipes or if you want to clean your face before makeup but don't want to wash your face all over again (which can be bad for your skin). It's really easy to use but I would recommend this more for people with dry skin because if your not careful and don't use toner you can look oily.

soap and glory it's about prime, eye primer

Eye primers can literally save your life if you have oily lids and need something to make your eyeshadow last longer. A lot of people say they use things such as a 'base' to make the colours stand out more and last longer. If you're some one who has dry skin usually you don't need an eye primer for longevity but you may use it to intensify colour. If you're someone like me who has super oily eyelids and you notice that there is no longer any eyeshadow left on your eyelid, you need an eye primer or a good base. A base can be a cream shadow or another eyeshadow but these don't always work for those of us with oily lids because the cream can move around (unless you get specific ones) and shadows just don't stay put. Eye primers work in the same way as face primers, they absorb/stop oil and make your, in this case, eyeshadow last longer. Now that that's said I'm not going to give a list of good or bad eye primers because I haven't tried enough but I will recommend a few really well known ones at the end.

Soap and glory is a British brand who have been raved about in the youtube beauty community quite a lot, mainly due to their hand cream and body scrub. Their makeup line is fairly new and I believe it's only sold in the UK but you can get the rest of the soap and glory line in sephora's in asia. The primer is called: IT'S ABOUT PRIME.

That to me is a really cute name because it links to the time and how primer... never mind. There are 2 shades of this primer, one dark grey and one light cream.

The product comes with a doe foot applicator which isn't the best because it's had to get everything out, I wish it was a squeezy tube instead but unlike the old UD primer potion the bottle isn't a weird shape so hopefully it won't be too difficult to get to all the product.

Now on my skin tone it is pale but when you've done the eyes the white looks natural enough as a brow highlight so I can skip that sometimes!

 I have the shade bright light which is the whiter shade. I find that I don't have to use a brow highlight as it works well on my skintone! The white also cover any veins on my lids which is a definite bonus. If you want a clear everyday primer though this isn't for you.

Left, no primer. Right, with primer

 In terms of improving the intensity of colour this primer works, this photo doesn't really show it but it works.

Lastly, this primer makes your eyeshadow last all day. Yesterday I was out in the boiling heat of Myanmar (it was hotter than 35 degrees Celsius!) and I had to sing on stage with really hot lights and my eyeshadow lasted the whole time. So if you're anywhere colder that that you're set.



Other primers which are highly praised-
high end:
Urban Decay primer potion
Too faced shadow insurance

lower end:
Wet n Wild fergie primer
NYX eyeshadow primer


you can also use certain cream shadows like:

• maybelline colour tatoos
• benefit creasless cream shadows
• topshop cream eyeshadows
• make up forever aqua eyes cream shadows
• MAC paint pots
• mememe cream eyeshadow