Worth the hype.

Hello, from a dull grey Milton Keynes. Apologies for my absence the weather has actually been pretty damn good (ish) so I have been spending my days at the pub with fam/friends/boyf. I have also been avoiding the shops not only to save money but because, and please don't judge me for this, I HATE SALES. They're messy and stressful and grown women resort to behaving like animals over a 8 pound dress and I.cannot.take.it. Anyway back to the point, because I haven't been shopping as much it got me thinking about products I already have and that I am forever repurchasing. For regular readers of my blog you will know that my real weakness in life is clothes. However I do absolutely obsess over skincare/make up etc but I always think cosmetics are so expensive that I can't just buy them on a whim. I very much sit and do my research on blogs and youtube before taking the plunge. As a result I often try products that get extremely hyped up on blogs/Youtube so I thought I'd let you know which I think are really worth it and will be a staple in my make-up/ skincare/ tanning routine for years to come. 

1. First off I have the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish - Hot cloth cleanser. "Original" I hear you say, well yes I am another Liz Earle sheep and judge away but it the best cleanser known to man. Ever. End of. You know the drill you put a pump on your hand and massage onto dry skin (you can use it on eyes, I tend not too as my eye make up destroys the muslin clothes). Then you rinse the muslin clothes in hot water and polish off the cleanser. Thus cleansing and gently exfoliating simultaneously. Simples. I have combination skin and it works like a dream for me.

2. Next up I have Bioderma Crealine H20. Quite simpley Bioderma shits on all other make up removers/cleaners. The king of the make up remover if you will. Slight issue is it's french so you have to buy it off ebay or travel to France to get it and even I draw the line at leaving the country for a make up remover that costs 10 Euros. However luckily my best friend studies French at Uni so is always popping over for trips so brings me back a tub or two. It removes every last scrap of make up and calms my skin down like nothing else. I introduced it to her and she has also seen the Bioderma light, she's much more acne prone than me and has said this stuff has literally changed her skin for the better.

3. Next is St Tropez Bronzing Mouse. Smells awful but looks amazing. I apply 2 coats and it goes a lovely golden colour that honestly just looks really natural with no streaks or patching. However the smell in my opinion is rank, when first applied it smells like really stong fake tan that they've tried to mask with the smell of a leather car interior (trust me sounds wierd but so true). I apply it at night and then shower it off the next morning and I kid you not the smell lingers for the next day and my boyfriend hates it. But if its a choice between him and the tan...he'll go. I JOKE. Or am I? I don't even know anymore haha. But anyway the look is unbeatable, I have tried every fake tan on the market and this for me cannot be beaten and the smell goes away after a day anyway.

4. The body scrub/exfoliator to end all body scrub/exfoliators: Soap and Glory Flake Away. A must for fake tan obsessives. If any of you are like me and are just essentially massively lazy the horror of scaly skin will not be new territory for you. Because sometimes lets be honest I cannot be arsed to exfoliate I just want to be brown. Hense I turn into a scaley mess. This is far from ideal. Enter Soap and Glory Flake Away and suddenly I'm scale free and smooth as a babies bum! *Tip* For severe cases of fake-tan-educed-scales this product combined with Exfoliating gloves will sort you right out.

5. This leads on nicely to Soap and Glory body moisturiser; The Righteous Butter. It smells beaut (not unlike Miss Dior Cherie perfume), lasts forever and is just generally brilliant. It helps prevent/rectify the afore mentioned scaly skin situation and masks the smell of St Tropez. Fake tan smelling, scaly skin ... I know what your thinking, my boyf is one lucky man. I really don't think he new what he was letting himself in for... poor Dan.

6. Make up wise I didn't want to go into too much detail because all my hyped cosmetics are featured in my Everyday Maquillage post. However I feel purely for the sheer number of times I have repurchased these items they needed to feature. They are MAC eyeshadows in Satin Taupe and Tempting. They are my ultimate eyeshadows that I will always always own. What I love so much is they look amazing on their own or with a black in the crease, et voila you have created the perfect smokey eye whther you want a taupe or a dark gold. My love for Tempting stems from Laura from Buy Now, Blog Later way back when she was Lollipop26 and she showed a Youtube video where she simply put Tempting all over the lid with MAC Carbon in the crease and blended it out. Since then this has been my go-to smokey eye. Satin Taupe is just so beautiful on its own in the day or again with a black in the crease. My mum also loves it as it has the perfect amount of shimmer as she often finds too much glitter is ageing but totally matte eyeshadows a tad boring.

7. My next product worth the hype is Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. Now this Clarins claims Beauty Flash Balms 'Brightens and Tightens' and I have always been highly sceptical. This is the ultimate 'are the effects just in my head or does this product actually work' product. I won't lie my Mum has been banging on about it for years and years so when she got a free sample she gave it to me to try. I kid you not this stuff is bloody good. I have rather dull skin this gives my skin a radiance it simply doesn't have naturally. It smells lovely, makes my foundation application smoother and appear dewey and youthful and is just an all wound winner.

8. My penultimate product is YSL Touche Eclat. As with the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm I wasn't autimatically convinced as I thought the hype surrounding it was just hot air. However I bought it for my mum for her birthday as she's always wanted to try it. So I thought I'd test it out just to try... que me stealing it forever. It is often misused as a concealer, this is not the case, it is in fact a highlighter/ eye brightener. It's creaming and moisturising and when applied correctly around the eye area your skin does truly appear brighter and you just look more awake!

9. And finally everybody's favourite the Yankee candle. I had to feature these as between my mum and I we must have practically the whole collection. What I love so much about Yankee candles is that the smells are not sickeningly sweet that leave you with a headache or feeling nauseous. They are still strong smelling and last for ages and are just the best candles ever! 

None of the products featured are groundbreaking and I most certainly won't be winning any awards for originality. But all these items have been purchased a million times before and will continue to be repurchased as I simply cannot live without them!


Kathryn x