The Review: Benefit Rockateur Boxed Blush

I put off picking up the Benefit Rockateur blusher for a long time, because, well my god isn't the packaging tacky? It totally put me off. However, a lovely friend picked this up for me as a Christmas gift, and I've fallen in love with it. 

Packaging gripes aside, this is a dusty pink blush with a slight vein of shimmer. The top is coated in a film of full on shimmer, but once you've used it once, that disappears and you're left with a fine shimmer. This blush is the perfect partner to the Naked 3 palette, so if you've got that, you need this.

I love Benefit blushes, the formulations are great, they last really well, and you only need a tiny bit of product, plus they smell amazing!

Have you tried this blush?

What's In My Bag #2

 I did a What's In My Handbag post a few months back, but I got a new handbag for Christmas, and have significantly downsized the contents of it since then, so I thought I'd do another! This bag was a gift from my parents, who knew I was after something smaller. For some reason, the sunlight has made the bag look redder than it is, it's actually more of an oxblood colour in real life. 

Obviously I have the essentials, my phone (iPhone 5, the case is just a purple bumper), I can't fit my big purse in this bag, so I just have any cash inside my Oyster card wallet, another Christmas gift, from Cath Kidston, and slip the 'essential' cards (Debit card, Space NK card, Boots Card, Debenhams Beauty Card... you get the idea) into the zip up pocket inside. I've got my car keys (I drive a Chrysler Ypsilon, in case you were interested), Smints, since I'm not a massive fan of gum, a little compact mirror with shoes on, a Christmas gift from my Grandparents, and Hand Sanitizer, this one is Soap and Glory. 

After all those bits are in there, there's not much room for anything else, but I manage to squeeze in my iPod Nano, and the headphones sit nicely in the front pocket (I'm listening to Bastille, Foxes, Fall Out Boy and a bit of good ol' Justin Timberlake at the moment, FYI). There's two lip products, the Chanel Rouge Coco Shine in Boy, which is my go to lip colour at the moment, and the No 7 BB Lips, which adds a nice sheer berry tint to the lips. Those are the only beauty bits I'm carrying around with me at the moment, unless I know I'm gonna be out all day in which case I tend to chuck in a setting powder too. The only other thing in there is a packet of cold and flu tablets, since I seem to have a constant cold at the moment!

What are your handbag essentials?

December 2013 Favourites

I wasn't gonna do a monthly favourites this month, since I've just had my 2013 Favourites! However, there have been a lot of products this month that I have been absolutely loving, so I thought, why not! 

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate that I have finally found somewhere in my parents' house to take decent photographs? Our house is in a cluster of trees so there's bad lighting everywhere, but they've just had the lounge redecorated, and this little patch of floor gets a good amount of light, enough to cause a pretty rainbow across my products!

Firstly, two makeup brushes that I have fallen head over heels for. Space NK brushes are luxurious and pricey, but I've been using the Contour brush for blush, bronzer, contour, highlight, and even for applying setting powder just to my T-zone. It's super soft and fluffy, and the natural bristles pick up a lot more product that artificial ones! The other brush is the Eco Tools Buffing Concealer brush, from the Fresh and Flawless collection. This is a densely packed, natural fibre flat top kabuki brush, that blends concealer in flawlessly.

I included the NARS Daydream blush from the Guy Bourdin Collection in my Loving Lately post this month, but it really deserved a place in a monthly favourites. A beautiful coral, that sits on the pink side of things. It's the perfect everyday blush shade, and looks lovely paired with my Naked 3 palette! 

Speak of the devil, of course the Naked 3 palette was going to be in there! I've used this pretty much every day since I got it, and I really love it, particularly the darker shades. I did a First Impressions post, and I'll be doing a full post on it very soon.

I never bought the Maybelline Eye Eraser concealer, despite it's rave reviews, since I could never find the Light shade in stock anywhere, and I was a little wary of the sponge. However, I picked this up recently, and I absolutely love it! It's got great coverage and the shade light is a perfect colour match for me. It's slightly radiant so I've been using it under my eyes, but also down the centre of my nose, and anywhere I'm prone to redness.

Two lip products made the cut this month, the Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Velvet has lived in my handbag all month, it's super moisturising and it smells great! I've also been wearing the MAC lipstick in Syrup this month, my boyfriend got it for me at the end of November, it's a great neutral berry tone that goes well with everything.

I had to include as well the little makeup bag that came with my NARS Promiscuous Lip Set, it's a handy little pouch that is absolutely perfect for keeping beauty essentials inside my handbag.

I got the Diptyque Ecorce de Pin candle as an early Christmas present from a rather generous friend, and I'm obsessed with it! It smell just like a Christmas Tree, and the scent throw is incredible, plus, how pretty is the jar! 

And lastly a hair product. Bumble and Bumble Sumotech is a hard wax that I've been scrunching into the ends of my hair. When I curl my hair it defines the curls better, and when it's straight it adds texture. Pricey, but you don't need to use much! 

So those are the bits I've been loving this month, don't forget to check out my 2013 Favourites! What have you been loving this month?

New Year

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all saw out 2013 in style, and that you all have a fabulous 2014, and hopefully you aren't all nursing terrible hangovers today!

For the most part, I don't like to make New Years Resolutions, mostly because I can never stick to them, so I just end up disappointed in myself! However, there are a few things I'd love to achieve this year!

Take more photos, and print them out! I spoke about this in this post, I want to try and take a lot of photos this year, and put them in albums, so I have a proper record of what I get up to!

Get out more! The last few months I've spent a lot of time holed up in my flat working, because it takes me so long to get motivated! I'd like to procrastinate less this year (ha) and use time that would have been spent procrastinating, getting out and exploring, not just in London, but since I have my car at uni now, in the surrounding area too! If anyone has any ideas for places I can go, let me know! 

Keep making healthier choices! I spoke about the changes I've made over the last few months to try and get healthier, and fitter, but it's so easy to slip back into bad habits, something that inevitably happens over the Christmas period! I know how good it feels to be fitter though, so I want to keep it up!

Give Uni my all. I slacked a bit at Uni last term, feeling disheartened by the lack of lectures we had, but this term we are in class a lot more, and I'm looking forward to really sinking into this terms project!

Develop the Blog. I am looking forward to carrying on with my blog, hopefully continuing to blog everyday as I have over the last two months, and I'd like to expand from mostly beauty posts, to adding in a few fashion and lifestyle posts. I've already shown you the DIY project I'm taking on this month, I hope to share more along the way too, DIYs, recipes, and the like. If you have any post requests, be sure to let me know!

But mostly, I just want to have a happy, healthy 2014, surrounded by family and friends, and I'm looking forward to carrying on with my blog! 

Happy New Year to you all! Have you made any New Years Resolutions?

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Disclaimer: This is a PR friendly blog, sometimes I have been offered the products 'for consideration' which means I am not obliged to feature them on my blog, but I will try them out, and if I like them, I'll tell you guys. I will always indicate any of these products with an asterisk. Occasionally, but not very often, I will write a sponsored post, where I have been paid to write the piece. However, whether I have received products for consideration or am writing a sponsored post, all the thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are entirely my own, and not affected by this in any way.


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