February 2015 Favourites | Makeup, Skincare, Haircare & Body

When I was considering writing a favourites post for this month, I honestly didn’t think that there would be many products worth mentioning. It wasn’t until I sat at my dressing table and was looking through my drawers that I realised that this month was a great beauty month for me – I even got more into hair products! Who would have thought? This month’s favourites is a nice mix of all things makeup, skincare, haircare and bodycare…

Makeup

I had a bit of a rediscovery this month in the form of the Bourjous 123 Perfect CC Cream which I actually have a full post on here. This has been collecting dust in my collection and I forgot how much I love it. Despite it being a CC cream, the coverage is incredible and I love this for days when I’m in a hurry as this blends seamlessly and quickly. I’ve also been loving a glowy cheek this month, and two products that stand out are the Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso and the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Beige. The blush is a gorgeous peachy coral shade (can you tell I’m excited for summer) and surprising the Shimmer Brick is not the most shimmery highlighter I own – it gives a stunning glowy highlight without looking like a disco ball. Love. The final makeup products I want to share today are all to do with eyes. If you read my last post, you’ll know that I recently got the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette and this has been my go-to for eyeshadow recently. It’s great for the more natural everyday looks I want to achieve and also has some smokey and colourful shades to take me through to the night. Finally, the Mac Tan Pigment had to get a mention. If I had a perfect eyeshadow colour, this would be it. It is a highly shimmery, rose gold-esque shade, and it is beautiful. 

Hair
Usually when it comes to hair, I don’t really bother doing much with it. I have naturally straight hair and while I don’t love the flatness of it, it looks good enough for me to get away with its natural texture. A product I used to use all the time was the Charles Worthington Volume and Bounce Body Booster Mousse (post on the whole line here) and since I have recently been craving some more volume in my hair, I pulled this out of my stash and started using it again. I have been using this every time I blow dry my hair and I have fallen back in love with it. It provides a lift at the roots but doesn’t leave my hair feeling gunked up with product which is something that I hate when it comes to mousses. This is some great, and affordable, stuff. I have also got into using the Phillip Kingsley Elasticizer as a hair mask about once a week. This leaves my hair looking so full and healthy, and my hair honestly looks at its best just after I have used this on it. 

Skincare/Body
This month seems to be filled with rediscoveries – I recently repurchased the balance Me Radiance Face Oil (full review here) and it has been doing my skin wonders. For those of you who have oily/blemish-prone skin and are scared of putting oils on the skin, don’t be. This really helps to clear any blemishes I have without drying them out. It nourishes and balances my skin and is overall a great product. For the body, I have been loving the Rituals Fortune Scrub. It is a really effective exfoliator without been too harsh and scratchy on the skin. It has a citrus scent which is very invigorating and fresh in the shower which I love. A rather random favourite this month has been the LaVanilla The Healthy Deodorant in Pure Vanilla. I picked this up while I was in New York as I was looking for a more natural deodorant and I have to say this stuff actually works wonders. It keeps my underarms dry all day and it smells really sweet but isn’t so strong that it competes with your perfume. Speaking of, my favourite scent of the month has definitely been Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium. I received this a christmas present and it is one of the most unique and interesting perfumes I own. It has a combination of vanilla and coffee notes which results in a sweet, rich yet dark and sultry scent.

I feel like favourites posts are meant to be fairly text heavy, so I hope you find these mini reviews useful! I didn’t include any lip products in this post as I always have so many favourites that this may have turned into a dissertation… Let me know your current favourite products below!

RachelElizabeth

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette | Review and Swatches

With the exception of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes this palette has to be one of the most hyped and talked about in the blogging world. It combines many girls two favourite things: chocolate and eyeshadow. How could that not be a bestseller?

The Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette contains 16 eyeshadows, with varying finishes. The first thing that you will notice when you open this palette is the smell. To me it smells like really sweet chocolate, something along the lines of Milka or anything Kinder. The eyeshadows are infused with cocoa powder which not only makes this palette smell delicious but has somewhat of a special quality to it. The tin packaging feels fairly robust and protective, but the closing is only magnetised rather than a click which is slightly unsatisfying. 




When it comes to the eyeshadows themselves, the formula is stunning. Beginning with the left half of the palette, pictured below, there are three matte shades and 5 shimmers. Gilded Ganache is a deep blackened brown with a golden shimmer running throughout. White Chocolate is a creamy beige which is perfect for highlighting. Salted Caramel is a warm mid-toned brown, the perfect warm transition shade for your crease. Marzipan is a champagne shade with a gorgeous metallic finish. Semi-Sweet is another great crease shade – a neutral medium slightly darker brown. Hazelnut is a shimmery bronze which really catches the light. Creme Brulee is a metallic true gold and finally Haute Chocolate is a shimmery cooler taupe-brown. 























The right hand side of the palette has a lot more of the colourful shades. Milk Chocolate is another great transition shade, but it is much more neutral than Salted Caramel. Black Forest Truffle is a deep plum with silver and gold shimmer – I actually found this one to not be as pigmented as some of the other shades. Triple Fudge is the darkest shade in the palette, but it is a deep cool brown which is a softer alternative to black. Strawberry Bon Bon is a matte baby pink shade, which can be really pretty when used as a lid shade. Candied Violet is an indigo shade with pink and silver glitter – this was another shade that ran a little sheerer but it is pretty to layer over a base due to the amount of glitter. Amaretto is a really metallic bronzey-burgandy shade. Cherry Cordial is a matte red-toned brown with tiny (almost unnoticeable) flecks of silver glitter. The final shade in the palette is Champagne Truffle which is the other larger highlight shade – a gorgeous metallic pearl. 
























Overall, I think this palette performs really well. There are a few slightly worse shades, namely Black Forest Truffle and Candied Violet, but they can be built up for higher opacity, or as I mentioned above, they can be intensified by wearing them over an eyeshadow base. I don’t think that the layout is the best that I’ve seen in a palette – the shades that are next to each other aren’t necessarily the best colour combinations in the palette. If it’s overwhelming, then it is useful to look at the palette as having two separate halves, like it was separated in this post as then you have a more neutral side vs. a more colourful side. 

Despite the negative aspects I managed to find, I really do love this palette. For the most part, the shadows are buttery and extremely pigmented. It’s also nice to see a neutral palette that has a few unique shades thrown in – it encourages us neutral lovers to experiment a little and get out of our comfort zones. Have you tried this palette? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

RachelElizabeth