Some weeks my bloglovin feed is full of my favourite bloggers raving about the same products. To me, its very obvious when PR companies have sent out new products launches to be reviewed because every other blogger will write about that same product in the space of a few weeks. I think this is great because we get a good mix of views and opinions and we can decide for ourselves if its something we would like to spend (or splurge) our heard earned money on.
Sometimes I come across a few products that I think are way to over hyped in the blogosphere/youtubeland and I tell myself 'I won't buy that' or 'I don't need that' or even 'Theres no way thats worth the money'. To often I say these things to myself and find myself purchasing said products and writing my own blog post about them... Just like this one.
I had heard so much hype around the Smashbox Full Exposure Palette, but it never really crossed my mind to buy it, let alone swatch the shadows myself. This mainly comes down to the fact that I already own too many neutral eye palettes and I didn't think this would live up to the ones I already had in my collection. It wasn't until my sister told me to go and have a look at it when I realised how beautiful the eye shadows were. It has the perfect mix of cool and warm toned matte shades, the shimmer shadows were surprisingly pigmented and the formulas were smooth like butter - I even loved the free miniature mascara that came with the palette! I have worn this pretty much every day since I purchased it, the warm toned matte shadows are my go-to and the shimmer shades are perfect for an even look. I had never tried any Smashbox products before I picked up this palette and I am definitely going to try out some more from the brand as this has impressed me so much.
The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders have been raved about non stop over the last few months. This was definitely one of the products I told myself I definitely would not purchase as they are pretty expensive, and I thought to myself is a powder really that good? I didn't give the powders that much thought until I came across (two of my favourites) Alix's & Rhian's youtube videos, where they both mentioned the Ambient Lighting powders. I was so intrigued the next day I went to Sephora and decided to take a look for myself. I flinched at the price tag when I realised that were $45 a pop, but I swatched the powders and I instantly knew I needed one of them. They are so soft in texture and leave a subtle, luminous glow on the skin. I decided to go for the Diffused light powder to brighten and highlight under my eyes and other areas of my face, and now I am a complete hourglass convert. They set my under eye concealer beautifully, it helps prevent creasing and helps brighten any dark areas on my face. I am waiting until I get back to the UK and land myself a job to try out the blushes and lip glosses after hearing rave reviews.
I've recently found out that the brand doesn't test any of their products on animals, which is a huge plus for me as I am trying to move away from brands that do test on animals and find cruelty free alternatives. Even though this product is definitely on the pricey side, its completely worth it.
Another cruelty free (and vegan) purchase, I had heard a lot about the Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil products, it wasn't so much I didn't want to try out the brand, it was mainly the fact they aren't easily accessible in the UK and I didn't want to pay for the shipping and customs on top of the $48 price tag! While I was inline at Sephora (buying the Smashbox palette funnily enough) I saw that they had a miniature version of the full size oil for sale at $16. It was the last one left, so I saw it as fate and decided to purchase it and try it out. Surely enough, on my next visit to Sephora I purchased the full sized, along with a few more Josie Maran products to try out. The Argon oil is a multipurpose oil that you can use on your skin, your hair, on dry cuticles - pretty much everywhere! I like to use this on my face in the morning as my daily moisturiser, as well on the ends of my hair when its wet. The idea of using an oil on my face was a weird concept as I assumed it would make my skin oily, but it quickly absorbs into my skin leaving it moisturised throughout the day and it doesn't effect my makeup application. I don't know how this is going to work on my skin during the summer, but in the winter has been perfect for fixing my awfully dry skin.
This product not only works wonders for my skin, its 100% cruelty free, vegan and free from Parabens, GMOS, Sulfates, Synthetic nasties and all of that horrible stuff. There is a light version of the Argan Oil which I will probably end up using the summer as this may be a little heavy for the hotter months, but so far I have been loving this and it has been a real saviour for my skin after a harsh winter.
