a slightly belated may favourites.

Clockwise from top: Burt's Bees Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion, Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum, Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Contour Brush, Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara, Maybelline Colour Tattoo, and Benefit 'Powder Pop'.

So, these are my current favourite beauty products, and I suppose I ought to expand upon exactly why I've been 'loving' them. Without further ado:

• Burt's Bees Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion: I suppose the first thing I should do is put my hands up and say I didn't technically go out and buy this, as I received it in April's Glossybox (potentially my favourite Glossybox of all time..) but I did pay for the Glossybox, so it's really all the same. Anyway, I really like Burt's Bees as a brand and I actually own rather a few of their products - mostly assorted lip balms, which makes sense given that I'm a lip product fiend - but I'd never tried any of their lotions/creams before. A really great thing about Burt's Bees is that they try to make their products as natural as possible and don't test on animals (which I'm wholly against on cosmetic products, but that's a whole other blog post.) Saying that, I'm quite guilty of never actually checking the ethics/morality of a product before buying it, but it's definitely nice to know that Burt's Bees are such a trustworthy company in that respect. Anyway, this lotion smells amazing, and is a really great consistency - somewhere between a lotion and a cream. It's also not overly sticky once you've put it on, which is one of my absolute pet hates (who wants their clothes literally sticking to them?) To be honest, I'm quite lazy (story of my life) and thus I never used to use a body lotion on a really regular basis (shoot me), but I've recently I've been getting mysterious patches of really dry skin and this has definitely helped that out. I'm not sure about it's '24-hour moisturisation' claims, but who really needs 24 hours of moisturisation anyway? Available here at £5.99 for 70g.
• Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum: Again, I received this in a Glossybox (see above disclaimer) but I think I'm literally falling in love with it. I'd never used a serum before this one, and thus I had no idea what to expect of it. It's incredibly lightweight, which I was really surprised by, and it sinks into skin quickly leaving no residue. You use this before moisturiser and it's supposed to counteract dehydration. I have combination skin (the worst possible kind) and I suffer from some oily areas and then also dry patches. That's a bit of a nightmare when you're trying to find skincare to suit your whole face. I've found that, because this is so light, it hasn't upset the more oily areas of my face but it's made a huge difference to dry areas - in fact, I haven't had any dry patches since starting using it. It also smells amazing, really fresh and natural (I'm truly awful at describing). The main downfall with this however, is the price for the amount you get. It's generally around about £30 for 30ml (ouch), but it definitely does perform well. I'm not sure I'll definitely purchase this when I've used the sample up though - perhaps I'll just enjoy it while it lasts... Available here.
• Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Contour Brush: These brushes have been talked about so much by beauty blogs/beauty gurus and accordingly, I'll try and keep this short and sweet. I love these brushes. They're really good value and just perform really well, plus I've had no fallout of bristles, which is always great. I use this brush to contour my face and also for generally applying my blusher (which explains why the ends are so pink. sorry.) I believe this brush is only available in the 'Core Collection', which contains three other brushes as well, but really they're all fabulous. Definitely worth investing in. Available here at £21.99 for the collection.
• Benefit BADgal Lash Mascara: This is only a sample size (and if you go and buy Glamour magazine right now you can get one too for only £2) but it's really great. I find it both really lengthening and thickening, and it's also not clumpy (worst thing ever). I'm already seriously considering investing in the full size, even though the price is probably a bit more than I'd tend to want to pay for an everyday mascara... Available here for £16.50. OR go and buy the July edition of Glamour Magazine...

An attempt to show you the inside of Maybelline Colour Tattoo, and Benefit 'Powder Pop'.

• Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24HR: The shade I have this in is called 'On and on Bronze' and it's (obviously) a bronze shade. It's quite shimmery, which is nice and it's basically the easiest eye shadow to wear ever. I apply this with a finger and it can literally be swiped over the eye and that's it. Simplest thing ever, which is great for me (I really am lazy). This does last a long time, although no-one should be wearing this for the full 24 hours as it's literally the cardinal sin to wear make-up to bed (pretty sure I'm preaching to the choir on this). These are apparently really comparable to both MAC Paint Pots and Benefit's Creaseless Cream Eye Shadows, but obviously much cheaper. If you're looking for an easy to wear cream eye shadow, this is definitely it. Available here in a selection of shades for £4.99.
• Benefit Powder Pop: I'm not sure whether to can actually still buy this or whether it was limited edition, although you can definitely still get the individual powders separately. This compact contains 'Coralista', 'Dandelion', and 'Dallas' and they're just really lovely powders. Coralista is the perfect coral and it's got a nice amount of golden shimmer in it, making it great for summer. Dandelion is a great pink blush for paler skin, as it's not a really bright shade. It gives a really natural flush. Dallas is a really subtle bronzer, and I've used this a few times to contour my face. Essentially, Benefit appear to have face powders down to a tee, they know what they're doing. They are fairly expensive, but they do last a really long time. They also smell surprisingly great! Available at Benefit separately for £23.50 each. Ouch...

Hopefully, you enjoyed this ridiculously long post. Have you ever tried any of these products? Or any of the brands they're from? xx