My Favourites: Urban Decay Primer Potion

It's time for another all time favourites post, yey!! Today it's a makeup post, and a product I use pretty much every single day - Urban Decay's Primer Potion in 'Sin'. I'm a firm believer that when it comes to eye products, with the exception of mascara, you can't beat Urban Decay for quality, pigmentation and longevity. And one of the products that ensures this longevity, and a crease free eyeshadow look all day is this primer. I used to buy this solely in the original colour free shade, which I love to, but when new colours were released I switched to sin as I love the finish on it's own and wear it as a shadow too. 

You need the tiniest tiniest amount of product to cover each eye and keep eyeshadow in place, so one of these tubes will probably last you around a year if you use it every day and for £15, that's really not bad. I've pictured the shimmering 'sin' shade here, but the original or 'Eden' shade are perfect for keeping concealer in place to hide those blemishes all day too!

To make this even more of a holy grail product, applying one of these primers before eyeshadows seems to make them even more pigmented, so even if you're not looking to extend the life of your eye makeup this is a winner for making your eyeshadow look impressively high-end. If I had one niggle, and it really is a niggle, is that (as you can see) the words on the packaging do rub off slightly, but really, is this a real problem? 

(Easily two eyes worth applied onto the hand...)

(...And then rubbed in)

As you can see 'Sin' is a nice pinky rose gold colour, but there's also the clear 'Original' on offer, a fleshy toned 'Eden' and golden shimmery 'Greed', so you can pick which suits you, but look out for free sample offers at your local counter as travel-size primer potions are always being given away with purchases. 

This is one of those products that while I'd love to try a different eye primer, I always end up coming back to Urban Decay and getting another one of these, and when I do pluck up the courage to try something new I'm always left dissapointed and going back to my old eye hero. If you was to try one new primer, eye product, or high end splurge this month, make it this, but I warn you, you'll be hooked!

As always I'd love to hear your comments and questions, I reply to them all!

Lot of love,

My favourites: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

So it's almost been two weeks since I started gagaaboutbeauty (time really does fly) and I thought it was about time I shared with you another one of my all-time beauty favourites. Another skincare fix for you this time, and one that certainly is not only my favourite but that of thousands. Apart from a foaming Sanctuary cleanser I used to swear by as a teen which I can't remember the name of and was sadly discontinued, I usually flit between cleansers, always looking for something new and never sticking to one product. Until Cleanse and Polish that it. This year with the craze of the low coverage bases (BB creams I'm looking at you) I decided enough was enough. I don't have terrible skin, but not skin that I thought could handle anything less that a medium-high coverage, and so I set out in search of the best cleanser ever. After not that much googling and reading reviews, it was Ruth Crilly at A Model Reccomends that finally convinced me to try the hype that is Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (be careful if you've never read Ruth's blog, you will want to buy everything she writes about).

I'd never really dabbled in Hot Cloth Cleanser's that much and much preferred the super-clean feeling you get from a more foamy bubbly cleanser. However, this isn't great for the skin, and once I'd used Liz Earle I realised you can get the same super-clean feeling without the tight skin afterwards. You apply this onto dry skin and massage all your makeup off, which feels odd at first but the results are enough to erase any doubts. It also has a really creamy texture and fresh scent which makes it a pleasure to use. After this you hold a hot  cloth (as hot as is comfortable) over your face for a few minutes -I wait until the cloth goes cold- and then gently scrub the cleanser away. The cloths from Liz Earle are super exfoliating and leave my skin looking bright afterwards, no redness here!

I'm often very skeptical towards hypes, but after using this for just a few weeks I really saw the difference - my skin was clearer, brighter and most importantly I've since branched out into lower and lower coverage foundations.This week I even tried out a CC cream! The more I use this, the better my skin seems to be, and while I try a lot of lotions and potions that can be credited also, this is the only constant in my skincare routine and one I truly truly believe has changed my skin. No wonder it has won so many awards!

 I've recommended this to so many friends and took my Mum to the Liz Earle shop this week to invest. I'd say start off with a 50ml starter kit which comes with a cloth as this product does go a long way, and also the pump bottles are so much easier to use as you get the perfect amount. This is the most important thing I can tell you about the sizes- with any Hot Cloth Cleanser purchase from a Liz Earle shop or online you get a small cloth and travel-sized 30ml Cleanser free!! I don't know whether this is guaranteed but I get one every time, so you can get 80ml for the price of 50ml. Also, you can get loyalty cards in the Liz Earle shops which I didn't know until this week!

Hope you liked my post, and let me know your thoughts on Liz Earle products, I'd love to try the toner and moisturiser so it'd be great if anyone had any opinions of that!
Lots of Love,

my favourites: origins drink up intensive mask

I thought a good idea to start my blog was a 'my favourites' series, as I have so much stuff I could review I decided to start with what i consider the best products in my collection.

I picked up this little winner on a much-anticipated trip to London in June and I must say after two months of use I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff! I've tried a lot of moisturisers that feel nice, hydrating on application, but overall are nothing out of the ordinary, but this stuff is not one of those. You apply it 2-3 times a week (I love to use it as often as possible), and has the most gorgeous fruity scent, but not in any way perfumey or alcoholy in the way some products can be. But more importantly this makes my face feel amazing, and this is not something I say about many skincare products. I don't have particularly dry skin, other than occasional flare ups of flakes on my cheeks, but this leaves my skin plumped and dewy in the morning without the grease of some other overnight masks, plus no messy washing which is always a bonus! As you can probably tell I really do love this stuff, I even look forward to the next night I can put it on. At £22 its not the cheapest mask, but also not the most expensive, and I can honestly say that you need only a small amount, similar to a night moisturiser blob I would say, and after using this religiously for two months the bottle still feels pretty much full, I expect it'll last me a long long time. Its a much better deal than all those not-so-great £1 masks we used to buy for sleepovers back in the day if you think about it.

Overall, if you have dry skin, this is a must! If you have flare-ups like me, its a must! And to be honest, even if you don't suffer any dry problems, this is still a lovely non-greasy mask for that once-in-a-while treat!