May Favourites

And just like that, the end of another month is upon us. How time flies when you're having fun!

I'll get straight down to it with the products that have been putting a smile on my face in the month of May! First up, I've got one skincare item, which is possibly at cult status right about now, Pixi's Glow Tonic, which I finally got my hands on this month, the day they got a delivery in! This stuff is pretty much always sold out, since it's only available from Pixi's Carnaby Street Store. In essence it's an exfoliating toner, and it's dramatically brightened my skin since I've started using it! I'll be posting a full review very soon!

Next up is a hair product I've been loving. After having my hair trimmed and styled at House of Rush at the beginning of the month, I've been taking much more interest in my hair. I've accepted the shortness and am trying to embrace it! My stylist recommended spritzing the roots of my hair with dry shampoo or texturising spray after straightening, to add a little texture and volume. I've tried a few, but particularly I've been loving V05's Give Me Texture Spray. No white powder, just volume, texture and finally style! I've also been loving two brushes, I use the Andrew Barton comb whilst straightening my hair, and the pink coarse bristle brush from Sally's to backcomb and create volume at the root! I think they were about £2.99 each, so bargain!

An article in a copy of Stylist magazine this month has shown me the perfect way to apply contour, meaning my beloved NARS Laguna has had a lot more use! I'm going to do a full post on it tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

At the beginning of the month, I bought the Topshop Sunbeam powder highlighter after being recommended it by a ton of people during #bbloggers. I have to say, this is the highlighter that has made me realise the point of highlighters! I think this must just work well for me, since I've had a fair few highlighters before, but none that have worked for me like this one!

Two nail polishes I've been loving, first up the Seche Vite topcoat which is basically just the god of topcoats! Go buy it now. Right now. Secondly, my second forray into the world of H&M polishes, this glitter polish has been getting a hell of a lot of love!

I've never really got the Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow stick thing, but this month I realised that these are the key to the fuss free smokey eye. Really, it's so easy.

My lips have been feeling a little dry recently, so I've been tag teaming them with Blistex Moisture Max at night and the Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate during the day. Silky soft lips are now mine!

Out of the beauty world, and I just have a few random favourites to mention. I love my statement necklaces and this H&M one has barely had a day off since I bought it, I just love it so much. A visit to Prints in St Christophers Place left me with the perfect pens (it's a stationery nerd thing) and I am literally obsessed with them, and won't let anyone else use them! Lastly, my lovely new iPad mini, which I got at the beginning of April (thank you student finance) is the new love of my life. I've been loving the A Beautiful Mess app for instagram too!

What have been your favourites this month?

How To Look Sort Of Average In Under Ten Minutes.

We all have those days where we wake up late, and have something important going on in the day where we need to look semi-decent. This happens to me far too often, so recently, I've had to perfect the art of looking average, in as little time as possible. 

When it comes to speed, I try to use as few products as possible, so immediately I eliminate primers, contours, highlighters and lipsticks, because it just takes too much time. So this means I start at foundation. My current foundation mix is Revlon's Nearly Naked mixed 50/50 with MAC Studio Sculpt. The Nearly Naked provides the dewy, fresh, natural looking skin, whilst Studio Sculpt bumps up the coverage. When I'm in a rush I just smear this across my face with my fingers, and then quickly buff it out with the Real Techniques buffing brush. If I need an extra coverage on any unwanted visitors then I look no further than the MAC Studio Finish concealer. It's my all time favourite concealer for blemishes, but if I'm in a hurry, I'll use this under my eyes too. I then dust Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder over my face with the RT Powder brush, to set my makeup and give a little extra coverage. 

Then on to brows, I'm currently loving this brow palette from the Along Came Betty range available from Tesco, it's a great dupe for the Benefit Brow-Zings, and it's only about six pounds. I use the little brush that comes with it to fill in the middle part with powder, and then set the whole thing with the pigmented wax that comes with it, before brushing them out with the little spoolie that comes with it to make them look more natural. I really think that doing your brows is one of the easiest ways to make it look like you have made an effort, even though it doesn't take too long.

Onto eyes, my fail-safe speedy look means smearing my MAC Paint Pot in Painterly over the lid, with a smudge of NARS Galapagos (top right in the palette) in the corners, to add a little definition. I finish off the eyes with a swipe of Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl in Nude in my waterline to make me look awake, and YSL Shocking Volume Mascara on the lashes, my favourite mascara ever.

Finally, a wash of Benefit Sugarbomb on the cheeks for a fresh, natural looking flush, and a slick of a tinted lip balm, my current favourite is the Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate.

I've got this whole process down to about six minutes now, so it's perfect for on the go. Soon, I'll be able to do it without a mirror!

I normally finish this off with a spritz of dry shampoo in the hair, and a big scarf.

What are your most reliable products?

P.S. Thank you to my boyfriend's flatmate, Alex Penfold, for divulging from his usual car-based photography, and taking this picture and editing it for me, since I was camera and laptopless. You can go back to your cars now. If you like that sorta thing, you can check out his awesome photography here.