CURRENT FAVOURITES | NOVEMBER 2014

So this is becoming a thing... Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are. Well I say that, but the odds of me liking enough products to do this every single month may still never happen. But we shall see. Anyway, November has been a nice, chilled, easy-going kind of month, which is nice before the chaos that December will surely bring. And I've just been completely side-tracked by a huge chunk of onion in my Cup-A-Soup, thanks Bachelor's... Anyway, these are the products that I've been loving for the past month, you know the drill. Let's go!

Garnier Pure Active Intensive Spot Purifying Toner & 3 in 1 Wash/Scrub/Mask (thing) | Link, Link.
HOLY GRAIL DUO RIGHT HERE OH MY GOD. Hold the questions - let me explain. The 3 in 1 is THE BEST oil absorbing, pore cleaning product I have EVER used. I kind of do all of the steps at once as I apply it to my wet face as the Wash instructions indicate, massage my skin with it like a Scrub, and then I add some more and leave it on for a bit for it to work it's magic. I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO DO THIS IN THE SHOWER. Because if anyone can be arsed to hold their face over hot water to steam it or whatever, I am not that person. So I let the steam of my probably too hot shower open my pores. Once I've wasted the Mask off and hopped out of the shower I really enjoy marvelling at how soft my skin is. And then for the real magic. I swipe a cotton pad loaded with the toner around and all over my face, and all the nasties that are clogging up my pores LITERALLY slide out as I wipe my face and stare back at me on the cotton pad. WHAT?!?! Trust me when I say I've tried so many lotions potions and pore strips to unclog my pores but NOTHING has worked as well as these two. The only this is that the toner can tingle a little which is mildly uncomfortable but definitely not painful, just like oh okay could you stop? But then another great things is that they both contain 3% salicylic acid. Can I get a hell yeah?  They're an oily girl's dream, honestly. Let it be said, however, that I don't use these every day as this weather is making the skin on my nose peel and I'm super paranoid about anything drying my skin out more. Which is so bizarre I can't even tell you because I've been oily/combo all of my life.

NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator in Gleam & Primark Stippling Brush | Link
Speaking of Holy Grail duos... Okay, maybe not HG but definitely very good. The Nyx Liquid Illuminator is a beautiful, rose-gold but slightly more gold that rose, liquid highlighter. It's a cream product which is marvellous for cold months as the harsh temperatures can dry skin out and powder highlighters can, you guessed it, highlight dryer patches. Also, I've been avoiding blush for this exact reason and I find that a highlighter can make me look put together while I deal with whatever my dry-cheek situation is. I actually got mine from Next because they stock Nyx now, so I was able to swatch it in-store, which is pretty neat. My favourite way to apply the highlighter, yup you got it again, is to stipple it on with this bargainous brush from Primark. I don't really think it's a stippling brush, though, it's more like a flat-top kabuki, but I don't own one so I don't know how accurate that description is. It's what I imagine a flat-top kabui is link. Better? It was only £1 or £1.50 or something, so there's that too.

Barry M Eyeshadow in Dark Brown | Link
I also think it's weird that I'm so in love with a single eyeshadow, don't worry. But I've been looking for a perfect, neutral matte dark brown that I can use in my crease for an everyday vibe or even to layer up a smokey eye or whatever, but for the love of God the only decent thing I could find was from Mac and let's be honest I'm not about paying £13 for a single eyeshadow. And then I stumbled on this beauty in superdrug and it's basically everything. It's pigmented, it blends well, it applies smoothly. I didn't even know Barry M did single eyeshadows, but I'm glad to have been put in my place. I tried to swatch it for you, but in every single photo is looked black and I hate posting things that I'm not happy with, so I left it out. But for the price it's a great shadow and if you have the chance, swatch a couple of Barry M's single eyeshadows in Boots/Superdrug and see if they tickle your fancy.

Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me | Link

I've had this for an embarrassingly long time and I finally got round to opening in it. Though I will excuse myself by saying that I do own a lot of lip balm and I try to finish one before I lose it/open another one. But anyway, I can't believe I've been sleeping on these Baby Lips lip balms. They really are moisturising, well this one is anyway. Cherry Me is slightly tinted which is marvellous as it's a lip balm and colour all wrapped into one and I don't need a mirror to apply it. Fab.

DIY Whipped Shea Butter & Coconut Oil

Since I cut all my hair off in March - it still feels strange to say that - I've been obsessed with using good products to really look after my hair. So after scrolling through blog post after blog post and watching video after video, I decided to buy some Shea butter. I added coconut oil and a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil and I whipped it all together with an electric hand mixer until it form soft peaks and then I popped into an old Lush container. I store it in the fridge to keep it solid because coconut, while pretty firm at room temperature, melts like butter if you've got the heating on. I use it mostly on my hair, wet or dry, as well as on my skin sometimes because Shea butter is marvellous for dry skin. A little goes a long way as well because I've been using this batch for about a month and I've not even used a quarter of the tub.

This post was a lot longer than I planned. Oops, haha. If you're still with me then you are an Angel and I'll make sure Santa has put you on his Nice list. Because I'm obviously besties with Santa Clause, anywaaay.
Don't for get to check out my Real Techniques Giveaway and you can follow me on any of my social media accounts, which are all listed below, if you link what you see!
Thanks for reading, xo.

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