December Favourites


I am a bit late again with my monthly favourites, but there are many products I have been loving and I wanted to share them with you, so let's get started :)


SKINCARE, BODY AND FRAGRANCE


In the body care department, I have been obsessed with Laura Mercier Creme Brulee and Ambre Vanille Souffle Body Cremes*. I received the small one in a sample set from urban Retreat Boutique and won the big one in their Christmas quest :) Since then, I ordered four more Laura Mercier sets and I am sooo in love with them! The body creams are very moisturising, smell incredible and the sweet scents last on my skin all day. Pricey, but worth every penny! 


My favourite fragrance for the past 3-4 weeks has been the amazing Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille and to be honest - it is now my all time favourite scent and I don't want to wear anything else :) You can read my full review here. It smells incredible and compliments the Laura Mercier Body Cremes beautifully. The main note in this EDP is Vanilla and it makes me smells like a delicious cupcake, without being too strong or too sweet. Perfect!


At night time, I have been using the DHC Olive Body Butter* (£15.50), because it is super nourishing and doesn't smell as strong as the Laura Mercier creams. It contains shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, squalane and argan oil and sinks into the skin pretty quickly, leaving it super soft and hydrated. I also adore the floral design on the packaging. I used up about 50% of it and I might repurchase it in the DHC sale - it is reduced to £12.00 at the moment.

Another DHC favourite this month is their Deep Cleansing Oil* (£21.50). I tried a small sample of it in the past and really liked it, but after trying the full size for a longer period of time, I fell in love! The formula is water-soluble and turns into a milky liquid once you start washing it off your face, so there is absolutely no residue left on your skin. The oil removes all traces of makeup, including waterproof mascara and leaves my face fresh, clean and nourished. It is fantastic and the 200ml bottle is great value for money. I have been using mine every single night for a month and I still have about 70-80% left (see photo above). 


I also have to mention some of the wipes I have been using in December. It was quite a busy month for me, so I ordered some Ole Henriksen Truth To Go Wipes to make my life easier. I tried them in the past and they are incredible, so when I spotted them on offer from feelunique, I ordered 3 packets :) They are amazing and don't leave my skin feeling dry or tight. I always follow with a balm cleanser anyway, but these are great for removing most of my makeup.


More wipes... Yes :) I have been using a selection of Halo Wipes on the go, during the busy Christmas period and their eye makeup remover pads for any makeup mistakes :) I always seem to get mascara on my nose or cheek and these are perfect for this kind of stuff. You can pick them up in Boots, Superdrug or Tesco. The Toilet & Surface Wipes are very handy, if you are not that comfortable with using public toilets - I am always paranoid about this kind of stuff so I always carry some sort of antibacterial wipes in my bag.


MAKEUP & TOOLS

The lip combo I have been wearing the most is Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Nude Delight and Illamasqua Culminate Lipgloss. The lipstick is a nice, peachy nude colour, but the lipgloss is really something special. It was created by the beautiful Milly from Pearls & Poodles for  Illamasqua's #Creators Collection. It is a sheer gloss with flecks of lilac, pink and silver and it creates a gorgeous duo-chrome finish on the lips. I love using it on it's own or layered over lipsticks and it is possibly my favourite lip gloss ever. It is stunning. You can get your mitts on it in the Illamasqua sale, reduced from £14.50 to £7.50.


I discovered some new fabulous brushes in December, including Kiko and Crown Brush. my favourite from Kiko is their 105 Flat Foundation Brush* (£14.90) - perfect, if I want to achieve high coverage with liquid foundations. The quality of this brush is amazing - the bristles and the handle feel very luxurious. I also enjoyed using Kiko's 210 brush* for applying black eyeshadow or gel liner very close to the lashline and the 211 brush* for applying colour onto the lid and for more precise blending. Just like the foundation brush, the quality of the eye brushes is really good. They cost £10.90 each.


To blend my eyeshadows perfectly, I was reaching for the amazing MAC 217 brush. I absolutely love it. It is fluffy enough to softly blend powder shadows, but dense at the same time to give you more control than a regular blending brush. If the £18.00 price tag scares you, make sure to read my MAC 217 dupe post, where I talk about 217's cheaper alternatives :)


For my brows, I have been using two products from Billion Dollar Brows and a Crown Brush SS025 Duo Brush. The Universal Brow Pencil *(£17.00) is perfect for outlining the brows and it is suitable for all skin tones and hair colours - very easy to use, especially when I want to quickly fill in my brows and brush them through with a spoolie. For more dramatic brows, I was adding the BDB Brows Powder* (£18.00) in shade Taupe, with the Crown Brush SS025 angled brush. The powder is cool toned and goes perfectly with the colour of my hair. There are four colour options too choose from to suit your hair colour and skin tone. You can see the final effect I achieved with the pencil and powder on the photo above :) I love it!


My palette of choice was obviously Urban Decay's new release- Naked 3. I am obsessed with it and its pretty rose gold tones. The formula is amazing and all the shades work beautifully together. You can read my full review and see swatches of all shades on my eyes here. I also got my Clarins Oddyssey palette out to use the metallic gold shade during the festive season. It is my go to gold colour and it looks absolutely amazing with brown eyes. 


On my lashes, I wore the YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Luxurious Mascara. I got the sample size in a GWP goodie bag from Harvey Nichols back in April, but I only started using it recently. OMG - it is incredible! It adds volume and length, separates the lashes and stays put all day without flaking. It also hold the curl really well. I am definitely buying the full size. For more dramatic lashes, I have been reaching for Ardell's Demi Wispies. They are easy to apply and look incredible on and add natural looking length and volume. The glue that comes with them is really bad though, so I would recommend trying it with your favourite eyelash glue.


The last standout makeup product for the month of December is the new Benefit Porefessional Agent Zero Shine Powder*. I am very impressed with it and I have been using it to control shine on my t-zone. You can read my full review here.


RANDOM FAVOURITES:

My favourite December candle was the Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie*. I wrote about it in this post. It smells like delicious vanilla cookies and it made Christmas time even more special :)

I have also been obsessed with hot drinks, especially Whittard's Vanilla Chai and Creme Brulee White Hot Chocolate. Both of them taste amazing and I will be ordering more flavours soon.

I have been on the lookout for a nice green tea and the strawberry flavoured one from Clipper is probably the best one I've tired. I only brew it for 30-60 seconds to make sure it is not too strong and it tastes really nice :) Let me know your favourite flavour.


Wow... Another super long favourites post. That's why they take me ages to prepare :)


*products marked with an asterisk are PR samples


  
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