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Sunday, 30 December 2012

2012 Favourites

I didn't have any particular December favourites, so I decided to gather my favourites of 2012, hope you enjoy :)

Hand/Nail Care


Soap and Glory Hand Food - You've heard me ramble on about this before. Best hand cream ever.
OPI Nail Envy - Amazing base coat - it strengthens your nails (not that mine needed strengthening, but it still made a difference to my nails).
Sally Hansen Problem Cuticle Remover - Manicures made easy. This is a great product to help get rid of those pesky hangnails and such.
Bath and Body Works Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel - I am a little bit of a germaphobe (touching, OCD...) I travel on the buses a lot, so a hand gel is very important to me. I go through the stuff like crazy (more than any normal person should, I admit). I like the Bath and Body Works ones as they're so cute and small and they smell amazing.
Ever Since Mineral Cuticle Treatment - A lovely cuticle oil, helps moisturise the cuticles and keep them looking purdy.
C.O Bigelow Rose Salve - I use this salve at night times on my cuticles for extra moisturising.

Body/Lip Care


Soap and Glory Heel Genius - A foot cream...it's good, I promise.
Carmex - My trusty tattered carmex tub still going strong, and I am still loving it.
Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm - Best. Lip. Balm. Ever. It is so soft and it smells divine. It glides on the lips like a dream.
Soap and Glory - Righteous Butter - one of the best body moisturisers I have ever used, absolutely love it and oh, the smell...
Korres Lip Butters - I have Wild Rose and Jasmine (which was hiding in one of my bags), these lip butters are wonderful, so moisturising and I love the tint they give to the lips.

Shower Stuff


Soap and Glory Clean On Me - I adore this shower cream, so moisturising, cleansing and smells ah-mazing.
Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean - I really enjoy using this cleansing milk whilst in the shower, it feels really nice on the skin and again just smells so good. As soon as I started using it, I felt my skin felt cleaner and brighter.
Soap and Glory Flake Away - One of the best body scrubs ever. It's not too gritty, and it leaves the skin feeling so moisturised - and guess what? ... It smells so damn good.
Moroccan Oil - This product has changed my life, no it hasn't, but it has made my hair softer and curls bouncier. Review here

Make Up - Face


Dior Skin Nude Foundation - I j'adore Dior this foundation (see what I did there?). The colour is perfect for me, it feels good on the skin, it's a good coverage, leaves the face glowing and blends in very well.
Dior Bronzer - An amazing bronzer, it's matte, which is perfect for contouring. It has been my saviour these past few Winter months - my skin has lacked colour, and this has just brought the colour back in my face.
Sleek Face Form Kit - I love the highlighter in this kit, it's so lovely. I also like the contouring shade for my nose, but I'm not the biggest fan of the blush colour.
Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation - A really lovely foundation, it brings life back into your face and leaves you looking wide awake (even when you're not.) Review here.
Smashbox Blush in Radiance - A really pretty pink blush, it's just a good, plain pink. I love the colour pay off, it's not powdery  and you can definitely build it up...which I'm not sure you'd want to do unless you're going for a Barbie doll look.
Benefit Dallas Blush - A lovely, purpley blush. It's just perfect for those days when you want colour but not an in-your-face colour like the Smashbox one for example.


Make Up - Lips


Yes, the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains made it to my yearly favourites and took the crown for longest name in the world. You knew this was coming. I absolutely love these things. I just can't praise them enough, yes, still. The colours are great, they last such a long time and they are a balm so they moisturise too! A win win if you ask me. These are so easy to apply which is great for when I quickly need to add some colour and moisture back into my lips in Law class when the teacher isn't looking...
Cherish - Crush - Sweetheart - Honey


These are the Mac lipsticks I've been loving this year.
Morange - This is such a bright, perfect orange. It's an Amplified lipstick so it's pretty bright and pigmented.
Sunny Seoul is the colour I have been wearing mostly during the days, it's just a nice, wearable everyday pink. It's a creme sheen finish so it's a bit more moisturising than the others but it also means it doesn't last the longest.
Impassioned - Also an amplified finish, this is just such a gorgeous pink/coral.


Illamasqua Magnetism - Of course this lipstick had to make the favourites, it's such a gorgeous colour! I just wish it lasted a bit longer on the lips though especially considering the price I paid.
L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in Aphrodite Scarlett - This was something I wore a lot during the Summer, it's a very pretty light, sheer colour which was perfect for the warmer months.
Make Up Forever Matte 5 - This is such a nice matte lipstick, the colour is so lovely, a really soft pink.

Make Up - Eyes and Brush


Maybelline Great Lash Blackest Black Mascara - A mascara I used a lot this year, it's pretty cheap and it worked really well with my lashes! To be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from this, but I'm glad I picked it up as it really lengthens my lashes and definitely makes them look thicker.
L'Oreal Super Liner - This is such an easy product to use to line your eyes and create a flick. I definitely found it easy to use and I'm useless at eye liner.
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Highlighter - I was so excited when I got this but honestly, I hated it at first, turns out, I was using it when it wasn't best for me to use it. I now know to use this when I have minimum under-eye baggage going on, because then it works wonders. A lovely product, and lovely packaging.
Rimmel Scandal Eyes Pencil - You know I love this. Best eye pencil ever. Soft, very pigmented, lasts forever and easy to use.
Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil - I don't have huge problems with my eyebrows (only when I become chewbaca and need a trip to my beauticians ASAP) so this does me well. You get a brush with it too, which is great, especially for carrying around in your bag.
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - A great concealer for only £4.19, it beats my Make Up Forever Full Coverage which cost me around $30 I believe. This concealer covers whatever you need it to cover and lasts a long time.
Real Techniques Buffing Brush - I love this brush, it's so soft and great to blend in whatever foundation I am using.

Accessories


I got my Michael Kors Quilted Hamilton along with a purse and a watch for my 18th birthday from my mum and I absolutely love it. I wanted a Michael Kors bag for so long and when I saw this one, I knew it was the one I wanted. I think it looks classy and gorgeous and pulls any outfit together. I tend to only use it when I take a trip to Central London though as I feel like that's where it deserves to be used!



Topshop studded clutch - I love studs and I love clutches, so why not combine the both? This clutch has done me well since I have bought it, it's real leather, so it's going to last a decent amount of time, and it's just so gorgeous. It's really big too, I used it when I went to a premiere and I stuffed it to the brim and it still looked awesome.



ASOS Skull bracelet, Michael Kors Watch, Topshop Peace Earrings, Peace Bracelet from eBay, Topshop Studded/Spiked Bracelet.


I hope you enjoyed my rather long post! And more importantly, I hope you had a lovely 2012. Personally, I can't wait for 2013, I need a fresh new start, so I am hoping 2013 will offer that. I hope everyone has a beautiful new year filled with lots of happiness and peace.

-Kiran xo

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Short Trip Essentials

Oh dear, it's been a week since my last post - but it's not my fault! It was Diwali (an Indian holiday) on Tuesday so my mum and I went up to Yorkshire to celebrate and spend time with my grandparents. Unfortunately there was no Internet there and I was unable to blog or do anything really. But I thought I'd just show you what beauty bits I took with me. I tend to over pack - for everything, even my everyday handbag is super heavy - but everything in there is super necessary, I swear!


A few candles my mum and I lit at midnight in our flat (we spread them out around the flat and it looked super pretty)


Okay so here are the products, and yes I over packed (as usual) - I only went away for a few days and I left the house once.



First up we have lip products - I love lip products, they are my favourite. As I said, I only went out once so I didn't make much use of all the products here but I got a good use out of the Korres Lip Butter which I had got the morning I had left for Yorkshire so of course I was excited to use it. It is so buttery and it lasts for ages on my lips, leaving them so smooth and soft, I definitely recommend this product to anyone as it's just a wonderful lip balm, you can't go wrong. I used the Blistex every night, of course. I wore the Sunny Seoul when I went to Town and unfortunately neglected the other products.


I like this mascara, it lengthens my barely-there-eye lashes and really darkens them, I don't know if I will repurchase this as I am one to try out ALL the mascaras, but is good and it's super cheap. The elf Makeup Remover Pen is a wonderful product, I actually love it so much - it gets rid of all the mascara that ends up on my eyelids instead of my lashes, whoops, it's just so easy to use and it's great for when I'm in a rush. YSL's Touche Eclat is one of my favourite products ever, yup, it's one that's worth the hype - it really does brighten my under eyes and face, a bit pricey but hey, it's YSL!


I'm a blush girl so I had to bring at least two of my blushes, the first one is a lovely peachy blush from Body Shop (I couldn't find a link to it so I'm not sure if they're discontinued?) and of course I had to take my Smashbox blush in Radiance, it's just such a pretty pink. The brush I use is from Topshop, I've had it for a while - it's not great, but I was in desperate need of a blush brush, saw this and just bought it. I haven't bought a  new one since I got this because it's still in tact and doing the job, but there are much better brushes out there.



To moisturise after a shower I just threw in one of my Bath and Body Works creams, they're easier to carry than tubs so they're convenient to travel with. I like the B&BW's creams, they're really moisturising but they are heavily scented which can sometimes be overwhelming. Of course, I couldn't leave the house without Soap and Glory's Hand Food - my favourite hand cream ever!


For perfumes, I took my ultimate favourite perfume which is Red Jeans by Versace - it is my signature scent. I also took one of my Thierry Mugler perfumes, the lucky one was Angel which is a beautiful, musky scent as all Thierry Mugler perfumes are, but this one is more wearable for the day time.

Well, that was a bit of a long post - I didn't even mention my hair care stuff and skin care products! Well, anyway, I do think it is time for me to stop rambling on, thank you for reading! I hope you all had a lovely week and have a lovely weekend!

-Kiran xo
© Kiran Hayre
Maira Gall