April favourites

I know it's probably a bit late to be writing my April favourites now that its the 7th May, but I have been planning this blog post for a couple of days now. I always find it really difficult to limit my favourites to only a few items! So here are those carefully selected for April:

Barry M Textured Nail Paint in shade TNP 5 Princess 333 - I go through phases with Barry M of either loving there products or finding them a bit disappointing. This nail polish though is Barry M at its finest. This is a gorgeous glittered light pink shade and is so easy to apply, especially for a textured polish. It dries evenly, but you do need to use a topcoat to avoid that rough, sandpaper like feeling you get with textured/ glittered varnishes. I really do love this colour though and have worn it a few times for evenings out as it really is like dressing up your nails.

Benefit the POREfessional Agent Zero Shine - As you may have read in earlier posts of mine, my skin is very oily and looks very shiny very quickly, regardless of whether I have put a base on before my make-up or not. But this works wonders combatting the shine! It's a mattifying powder that does really work to give a more matte look to my face. I keep this in my make-up bag and use for touch ups during the day, which means that it having a built in brush is brilliant! It's a translucent powder so can be used for all skin tones and it doesn't cling to dry patches like with some face powders. Being from Benefit it is a bit pricey, but well worth every penny.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum - This was actually a gift from my aunt that got pushed to the back of my perfume collection (I do have a pretty epic perfume collection) and forgotten about until recently. I was wanting to wear a different perfume as I seem to always wear the same 3 or 4 regularly, so I picked this one up and have been wearing it a lot since. It is a beautiful smell and has great longevity so you really don't need a lot to last you all day. I'd say it is a great summer scent and I will definitely continue to wear this a lot.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in shade 240 Striking Spectaculaire - Not only do I love a good bright red lip but I also love a good matte lip, so I definitely struck gold with this lip crayon. It is so easy to apply accurately to the lip and goes on so smoothly and feels so hydrating, not like you would expect from a matte lip product at all. This shade is a gorgeous bright red that I love to wear out in the evenings, although I do have some more neutral shades in these Revlon crayons as they just feel so great on the lip. The fresh minty-ness of it is an added little bonus as well - lovely!

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in shade Busy Signal - I got given this by a friend AGES ago as she didn't think the colour suit her (she is blond with a very fair complexion and this just looked to dark against her pale skintone). Again this was a product that I had just chucked in with my other make-up and not really given a second thought to. I rediscovered it when sorting through my make-up a few weeks ago though and have been wearing it to work a lot since. I prefer to use it as an eyeliner as it isn't too obvious and a perfect shimmery brown shade that compliments my eyes and skintone, but I have also used it as a shadow too recently (after trying the shadow sticks here, before getting them I always thought anything other than powder eyeshadow would feel cakey on my lids) and it gives a great colour without feeling in anyway heavy on the lid.

So those are the products I have been loving in April. It is mainly just make-up products but I haven't found any other products that I have really fallen in love with recently. Are you a fan of any of my recent favourites? Maybe you have these yourselves? All comments are very welcome :)

Battle of the Primers!

Up until recently I have never bothered with using primers as part of my make-up routine, but then I picked up this Rimmel Stay Matte Primer as it was 3 for 2 on Rimmel (and I really didn't need anymore lipstick!). I used it a couple of times on and off and then I received this RMK Primer in one of my monthly subscription beauty boxes. Since getting these though, I have started using a primer every day. So I think its got to that time to start comparing them now!

First up, this primer from RMK. I was a bit slow trying this out when I first received it, thinking it wouldn't be something I was overly bothered by and then was quite disappointed when I poured some out and found it had a really thin consistency. I thought it would not stand a chance against my overly oily skin! But actually I was really impressed with just how well it held my make-up. I noticed a significant difference in the amount of time my make-up held and I looked oil-free. I have fallen in love with this primer and use it a lot.

This Rimmel offering is of a lot thicker consistency which I liked before trying the thinner RMK one. It's quite easy to apply in that you just rub it all over your face and leave it for a minute to really set. Since using the RMK primer though, I've found I don't get on so well with the thicker texture. I just feel it doesn't absorb as nicely in to the skin. It's still quite a good primer and I do notice a slight difference in the longevity of my make-up when I have used it compared to when I haven't used a primer but for me personally it just doesn't hold a candle to the RMK offering.

Therefore, my clear winner is RMK's Primer. It has just won hands down with consistency and how it works on my skin. It really is the better of the two, sorry Rimmel!! But for the price difference you would expect RMK's to dominate Rimmel's, if you are on a budget the Rimmel Primer really is quite good.

Have you tried any of these primers? What primer is your personal favourite? All comments are very much appreciated!

RMK primer is available here for £28 for 30ml
Rimmel Stay Matte Primer is available here for £5.99 for 30ml

My current favourite lips - Rimmel you winner!

I can't get enough of these lipsticks (and crayon) at the moment, they are just such beautiful colours and have really nice textures to them, and that's a big selling point to me. I have silly amounts of lipstick but right now I can't help myself, keep coming right back to these!

Rimmel 125 - To Nude or Not To Nude? - This is a gorgeous shimmery nude! It has a hint of pink to it so it is a slightly fresher looking nude to me than the really beige hues and that extra little shimmer just makes me love it more :) It is incredibly smooth to apply and does not dry your lips out in the slightest, even without applying balm first. I like to wear this one to work as it is more subtle but still very feminine and cute, it also lasts at least 3-4 hours, and that's through the endless amounts of tea I have to drink to survive the morning!

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm - 240 Striking Spectaculaire - I am falling further and further in love with all things matte for your lips. Ok ok, a lot of them can be incredibly drying on your lips and then show up any imperfections ridiculously well, but some of them really aren't and that gorgeous matte look on your lips is definitely worth searching for a good one for! This line by Revlon in particularly is extremely good as the balms are very hyrdrating. This is a lush classic red shade, very bold and bright and the pigment is brilliant, you can see just how vibrant this is from the swatch. Love!

Rimmel 360 - As You Want Victoria - Another gorgeous red, this one is more of a dark pink/raspberry shade and looks really bold on your lips. I love this colour so much, and it is so smooth and moisturising on the lip, so easy to apply. The only downfall I believe this lipstick has is that it is quite prone to bleeding and so you do need to wear a lipliner with it, but I think it is worth it for the colour. It is not quite as durable as the others, but I think this is mainly due to the colour as I find a lot of these glossy reds wear quite quickly.

What are your favourite shades at the moment? Are you also a fan of matte lips?