Gift Guide 2014 - Beauty and Grooming

I think that there are few things as lovely a surprise and wonderfully decadent as beauty or grooming products as gifts. Especially when they are things you would never justify buying for yourself. High-end cosmetics and skincare are a nice gift idea for people already obsessed or even those not yet converted. Particularly skincare, taking care of your skin is important for everyone and the sooner you get started, the better. Christmas also means cute gift sets and special edition products.

Here's the stuff I picked out after a lengthy trawl all over the internet.

There's a mixture of types of products here. I didn't want to go down the route of "for him" or "for her", "for dad" or "for mam", etc. I personally think there's something a wee bit...condescending about that? Like, I don't know what your mother would like, if your sister wears makeup or if your brother likes to smell like fancy bath products. Obviously there is some traditional gendering present or insinuated but I didn't want to impose it on others. So, instead, I present things I thought were cool to do with as you please (or don't). The only thing I would say is that when it comes to skincare, men and women do have different needs and would suggest buying the prescribed sets for the indicated genders...even if your male friends are well jealous of your Eve Lom moisturiser.

Makeup suggestions come from a range of brands and price points. The Topshop Smokey Eye Kit has since sold out online but is available in stores at £22.00 and is not only sweet because it comes with an eye palette, mascara and kohl but also is sold in a box which makes it perfect to give as is or easier to wrap. The Nars lip pencils are not only dreamy colours but pretty damn good value at £32.00 for five high end lip products. And, while the Charlotte Tilbury palette may seem pricey at €50.00, it's the ultimate luxury palette in screen siren shades and uber-gorgeous packaging. More wallet-friendly options under twenty quid are the Etude House lipsticks, The Balm face palette and the super-sweet novelty lip glosses from Urban Outfitters in the shape of a mince pie and gingerbread man. Another inexpensive idea is the eye makeup keyring from H&M which makes for a really cool stocking filler and the nail polish cracker set from Urban Outfitters which I'd like as a pleasant change from ones with crappy plastic toys inside. My last pick here is the exceptionally gorgeous brush set from Bobbi Brown which is less affordable, more drool-worthy.

I've chosen two makeup bags/wash bags which really could be unisex - more so in the case of the Herschel wash bag and less so in the case of the ASOS makeup bag. I think both are simple but cute enough to also work for a range of different people and age groups in your life.

The remaining items are all grooming or skincare. The Eve Lom kit is a stunner, packed with awesome skincare, while the Clinique Good Skin for men is less aesthetically pleasing but equally effective. Speaking of stunning, the Baylis and Harding set is a steal with an amazing weekend bag and five products for under forty euro! This a seriously good deal and won't go remiss in anyone's life - whether it be a slightly out-of-touch dad in need of a little chic in his life or a boyfriend looking to make his wardrobe a little more grown up...or a Colette in love with the bag. The L'Occitane Shaving Tradition set is less good value but equally chic and adult - a serious touch of luxury for a dude in your life. More luxury is present in the form of the Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille bath set. It's one of my favourite scents for good reason and this set is pure decadence. Lastly, RJR John Rocha at Debenhams are offering these lovely little manicure sets and making the mundane seem wantable.

So, see anything you want...I mean any good ideas for gifts...heh...heh.

Worth the Hype - Current Makeup Favourites

Being home has meant little overheads and much accumulation. Said accumulation has produced some new makeup favourites and some serious revelations. Makeup is as seasonal as clothes amd  I'll post on my Summer cosmetics routine soon as the weather recently has been so unbelievably warm and face-melty that it's entirely relevant. But, for now, I just wanna talk about new things for Summer that I've been trying and loving. 

(And just so y'all know - anything marked like so * has been sent to me - this is something I'll be more conscious of doing from now on)

Scent.

Chupa Chups Love Trap - Mam randomly picked this up for me as it reminds her of perfumes I wore as a teen. It's quite like Anna Sui perfumes or Touch of Pink by Lacoste. Sweet, floral, girly, light. Really a perfect summer day smell and, surprisingly, a nice slightly more mature version of those higher end scents.

Skin.

Maxfactor Facefinity Primer * - I'd been rotating between using the Porefessional and Aloe Vera as my go-to primers up until now. The Porefessional is lovely to apply but doesn't extend the wear of my makeup overly and the Aloe Vera really suits breakout days and minimal makeup days better. But this is the perfect everyday, longwear primer. It applies smoothly and the formula is quite soothing to the skin. I love that it has a pump to make application ultra-easy and the SPF is always a bonus for me.

Dermalogica Sheer Tint - As a general rule, I only wear BB creams. I just don't want too much coverage or to feel or look as though I'm caked in makeup. I find that even tinted moisturisers look too thickly applied to my eye on my skin. Another general rule for me is that higher end bases are too heavy and I rely entirely on drugstore brands generally. This, however, is a large exception to those rules. The colour match is great and it gives me enough coverage to even out my skin tone without feeling uncomfortable on the skin or covering my freckles.

Shiseido The Makeup Concealer - I'd been searching for a new concealer for a while. In summer, if I'm wearing makeup at all, I tend to just apply a little BB cream as a concealer instead. Then I fell for Mam's Clarins concealer and what it did for my under-eye area. After coveting that for some time, she handed this to me. I love Shiseido as a brand - the sleek, slightly dodgy packaging and all. This concealer is exactly enough coverage. If I feel I need to wear at least a little makeup to something - a little of this, brows and mascara and I'm ready to go. It's great for both blemishes and under-eye and doesn't crease or flake as it's super-moisturising.

Rimmel Match Perfection Silky Loose Face Powder - All that needs to be said here is that this needs no topping up and looks as though you're wearing no powder at all - it competes easily with much more expensive, finely milled powders.

Eyes.

Clinique High Impact Mascara - For me, I rarely use dramatic, clumpy mascaras. I just want to give my natural lashes a boost but look as though I've barely touched them. This is great for that and it doesn't run all over the place despite watery, hayfever-prone eyes.

Sleek i-Divine Bad Girl Palette - These colours are so great. There's a neutral end for light Summer day looks and the purple, blues and greens are awesome for colourful night looks. The rich lighter green is a dupe for a Chanel shade in a quad they had out for this Summer except better. Yeah, you heard me. Better. It's more pigmented and applies the way you wish the Chanel would. The applicator that comes with it is utter shite, however, so bring a brush along if you plan on using the palette.

Benefit They're Real! Push-up Liner - I was wary of this product. Wary it couldn't be that good. But it's easy to use, dries slow enough to fix if mistakes are made and stays in place enough when dry not to do that annoying transferal to crease of the eyelid thing. Thank God. Note: In extreme heat as the other day, it moves a little but melted less than the rest of my face.

Brows.

Billion Dollar Brows Hint of Tint Gel and Brow Gel * - I'll definitely be writing on raising your brow game soon but for now, note that these guys rock. I use the hint of tint alone for minimal makeup days or to finish more dramatic already filled-in, bushy brow looks and the clear gel for looks somewhere in the middle. Neither do that horrible crispy thing and the mascara-like applicators are great for precision. Much love.

Lips.

Eve Lom Kiss Mix - Very expensive? Yes. Worth it? Totes. At €20, it's about four times the amount of lip balms I normally buy but it works so well and it's so sleek and luxurious looking. And I LOVE how it feels. Handbag staple.

Etude House Etoinette Crystal Shine Lips - The cutest thing ever? Hells YEAH! The nicest nude-pink shade? Definitely. But mostly...SO CUTE. I just look at it sometimes.

So, have you guys tried any of the above? Do you want to?

Skincare Spree Super Fun Day.

Okay, not with the "super fun" but it can be rather relaxing to take a day and pamper your skin. My day to day routine is fairly minimal but every now and then I have a proper go at it. Here's a run down of how I do a pamper day.

I use nose strips from time to time and have done so since I was a teen. Generally, I notice a rather minimal difference afterwards. However, this Greentea Nose Pack from Etude House (one of my recent KollectionK purchases) actually offers real results. No, there aren't any miracles happening here but (and excuse the grossness of this next bit) but blackheads were visible on the strip afterwards and the skin was soft to the touch. As results go for this kind of product, it wasn't a bad one.

At this point I use a Lush Tea Tree Toner Tab. The tab is placed in a bowl of hot water and then you lean over the steam for 15-20 minutes with a towel over the head. I then pat my face dry gently with a towel.

Next I do a general cleanse with my VOYA Cleanse and Mend cleanser. I use about two pumps, put on the back of my hand and then massaged into the face with my fingertips. Then I rinse off the cleanser with some water and pat my face dry with a towel.

Now, I use the water from the Toner Tab earlier as a more conventional toner. This is applied over the face with a cotton pad.

Once the toner has dried I use my VOYA Softly Does It body moisturiser. Again, about two pumps on the back of my hand is enough and then massaged into the face - especially the driest areas such as my nose and jawline. Though this is a body mousturiser, it is organic and gentle and most VOYA products are multi-use, so I double it up on body AND face. 

Then I go in with the VOYA My Little Hero serum on top of this. One pump is enough!

Lastly, as I put on some Buffy in the background and settle on my bed with the lights off, I use Tony Moly's Panda Dream Eye Patch - again from KollectionK.

I also throw on a coat of Dr Bronner's Organic Lip Balm in Peppermint.

So, there you go. That's how my skincare regime looks if I'm being a real girl for once. Day-to-day, it's pretty minimal but with a lot of the same products. I usually just cleanse and moisturise but I use sun cream pretty much every day (need to get stricter on that one) and lip balm. I'm currently in the market for an organic toner, any suggestions? Let me know!

I'll probably cover my shower routine as that includes haircare at some stage but that's all for now folks. xxx