Monthy Favourites: July 2011

Hello all! It's that time again so let's get started. These are the products I've been using a lot during July.

First up, my newest perfume, Viktor and Rolf's Flowerbomb. It is a lovely perfume, floral, hence the name but with a good amount of sweetness to it but not so that it is cloying. It is a bit powdery and has a hint of fruit. I've got the EDT version, it is quite a strong perfume so you don't need a lot.

Next, MAC Semi Precious Goldstone MSF. I need to get my reviews up for this collection still. I'm a big fan of mineralize skinfinishes from MAC, I have a few different ones and enjoy using them a lot. I love the glow they give and their ability to highlight, blush and contour all in one (if it is a colour which isn't too light) The MSFs in the Semi Precious collection are quite special because they come with a splodge in the middle of a different colour. Goldstone allows you to use the middle to highlight and the outside to contour or use as a bronzer. Or you can mix them together and get a soft warmth to your skin. I love using this mixed on my cheeks and into my temples. It gives me a little bit more colour and makes me look like I've been on holiday.

Sleek's Monaco iDivine palette is next, if you have seen my Sleek look posts you will know that I have been getting good use out of it. It is a really fun, summery palette and has some gorgeous well pigmented shades in it. It has converted me to Sleek and I'm really looking forward to whatever future releases bring.

In the bottom row, the first product is Crazy Colour in Fire Red. I've had my hair coloured red at my hairdressers a while ago and she recommended using this when I washed my hair to prevent fading. For every other hair wash, I mix some of this with my conditioner and leave it on my hair for 10 minutes then wash out well. It boosts the vibrancy of my hair so that it doesn't look faded. Definitely something to try if you have coloured red hair as it tends to fade quite quickly. There are a large range of colours from Crazy Colour, blues, violets, greens etc so whatever colour your hair has been dyed, you colour probably find a suitable shade to use to 'top it up'. No peroxide is needed so it is easy to use.

Next to that are two L'Occitane products, one is a hand cream - this one is the Cherry Blossom one and the other is the Shea Butter lip balm. I always use L'Occitane hand creams, they are my favourite and work so well. The only one I dislike is the honey version because I don't like the smell of honey. They do have different consistencies but they are all lovely and moisturising. The Shea Butter one is the thickest and the Verbena is the most gel like. If you have dry skin or eczema, like me, try these out because I really find they work. The tube pictured is just a 15ml mini size but they do 30ml and larger sizes. I have a 100ml tube of the Shea Butter one for when my hands are horrendous.

The lipbalm is a really good product, the one I have is a trial size, it only has about 1cm of product in it but it is enough to realise how good this is for my lips. I tend to have dry lips but this deals with them so well, I will be repurchasing this when I'm out of it.

The lipstick is MAC Gem of Roses, another product from the Semi Precious collection. This is my perfect 'my lips but better' shade. It has a lustre finish so I find it quite moisturising although they never last very long on lips. It never looks bad when it fades though because it merges in with my natural lip colour anyway. I like this for days when I either can't be bothered to put much on my face or when I have a lot on my eyes.

Lastly is Benefit Benetint. This is a fantastic product for summer, once it is on, it just does not budge. It gives a perfect healthy flush to cheeks and looks so natural. You can use it on lips as well but I'm not really a fan of it on me because I find it quite runny so takes a while to get it looking even and it does fade unevenly from my lips throughout the day as I'm eating. For my cheeks though, I love it.

So there we go, has anyone else tried these products? What do you think of them?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Jennifer x