Things I'm Loving Right Now

Hello everyone! I thought I'd talk about some of the beauty and non-beauty bits and pieces I've been enjoying recently. :)

Beauty favourites

The Body Shop Mango Eau de Toilette
I got this within a gift set of other products in the Mango range from The Body Shop and have liked the whole set, but this has been my favourite. Something about this perfume just perks me up in the morning - it's very sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It's quite a summery scent, but still great for all year round. And it's very affordable at £8.50 for 30ml. Not much else to say except I'd definitely recommend giving this a whiff next time you're in the shop!

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara 
I have this in this pretty 'retro summer' limited edition packaging, which doesn't seem to be available anymore, so I've linked to the original one. This mascara is actually nearing it's 6 month use by date, which is a shame as I've really enjoyed using it! It's not quite as good as Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara (which I reviewed here). But it's still a great product, giving me beautiful length and volume with very little time or effort needed. (Which is good because as you can tell from the name, it does promise giving you volume in one second). It's a little expensive for a drugstore mascara at £9.99, but it's included in offers quite often - there's a '3 for 2 on Bourjois' offer on at Boots at the moment.

Dior Addict Lipstick in Spring Ball Extreme
I got this ages ago, using birthday money after my 21st birthday. I didn't use to wear it very often (don't really know why - I guess when you have high end things you want to treasure them more often or something, but really their expensiveness is all the more reason to get your money's worth and use them!) but lately I reach for this a lot - it's a gorgeous peachy-pink. There's a good swatch (not mine) of it here alongside 'Spring Ball'. You can also see one of those freaky close ups of my lips with it on here:

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat
I won't go on about this too much as I talked about it in my last post, but I've used this for a few weeks now and I'm loving it! I'm not sure at the moment whether it's better than the MAC Prep and Prime Highlighting Pen in Radiant Rose that I used up, but we'll see. ;)

Non-beauty favourites

Chocolate: Golden Eggs 

Holy crap these are good. When I saw Alice Anne from Annie Writes Beauty rave about these on Twitter, I knew I had to try them. I am now officially hooked - you wouldn't have thought chocolate eggs could get any better than Mini Eggs, but I actually prefer these. The only problem is that I pretty much buy a packet every time I go to a shop, ie they may only a pound a bag but I'll probably go broke soon haha.

Wait a second: will we still be able to get these after Easter?! :o

TV: Happy Valley

Image credit: BBC (please don't sue me Beeb)

This programme isn't my usual pick - I don't really go for depressing crime dramas, especially ones with gore. (Don't be fooled by the name, it's an unhappy valley.) The first series was good, but this second series (which ends tonight!) has been even better. It's gripping television and you can just lose yourself for an hour and enjoy it. It's a shame the series is ending so soon, but at the same time I'm really excited to see how they'll tie up all the loose ends. And considering how good it is and how high the viewing figures are, they're surely going to make a third series right? I hope so! Definitely give it a watch if you're looking for a great drama to sink your teeth into.

Cereal: Curiously Cinnamon by Nestlé

I know what you're thinking: 'Really, Sabrina? A cereal?! Are you mad?' but this deserves a mention because it's the best non-chocolatey cereal I've come across. This is the kind of cereal that I just can't help but snack on if I'm really hungry and waiting for my dinner to cook...I have even been known to take some in a sandwich bag to snack on at work. Trust me, this is a really great way to start your day. I also think it's really great value when bought from Asda as it's only £2 for this large box, which will last you a while (or not in my case, because I keep snacking on them).

Book: The Humans by Matt Haig

I haven't read a lot of this yet, but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's by the same author as Reasons to Stay Alive and Matt also follows me on Twitter - hi Matt if you happen to be reading this (which is unlikely but there we go). The start of this book was absolutely hilarious and it's quite unique to anything I've read before. Here's a synopsis:

After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where Professor Andrew Martin is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, he is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst a crazy alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he's a dog.

What could possibly make someone change their mind about the human race...?


What beauty and/or non-beauty things are you loving lately?

Sabrina xx

Five Current High End Favourites

Hi! So in this post I'm going to talk about high end products that I'm loving at the moment. I've done a similar post on my 10 Favourites Under £10 and this post only has five because I don't own all that many high end products.

Everyone likes a bit of luxury and I try to get a lot of use out of expensive products to get my money's worth! I didn't choose a particular MAC lipstick for this post, but they are pretty much firm favourites anyway - I did a post about my collection here.

1. Miss Dior Eau De Parfum

I don't talk about perfume much on my blog but I absolutely love this one, which I bought with my 21st birthday money. It was a close call between this and the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle as both are classy, feminine scents which come in gorgeous packaging that would look great on any dressing table (in Miss Dior's case, with a reflective bow.)

I'm not good at describing smells so I'll let Dior field this one. The notes are: Top Notes: Mandarin Orange, Middle Notes: Turkish Rose, Bulgarian Rose, Base Notes: Patchouli, Amber. I've tried a sample of the 'Blooming Bouquet' version as well which is lovely, and as the name suggests a bit more floral.

There's currently a '1000 points when you buy 2 or more selected Dior, 1 to be mascara or foundation' offer on at Boots, so that's £10 worth of points when you buy two Dior products!

2. Benefit Lollitint

My boyfriend kindly got me this for Christmas and I've really enjoyed using it ever since. I've tried mini versions of the other Benefit tints (Posietint and Benetint) and I really liked the pink one, Posietint and got a lot of use out of it. I didn't fancy splashing £24.50 on the full size Posietint though when I could just get the MeMeMe Poppy Tint dupe of it, which is available in Superdrug although I can't find it online. I'm not aware of any less expensive dupes for this 'candy-orchid' shade but it would be great if anyone knows of one?

However, you do get two uses for one with this gorgeous stain. It takes a little while to get the hang of applying it to the cheeks - Sharon the Makeup Artist did a really helpful tutorial here of how to apply cheek stains with a brush, since Benefit's own advice about applying it is a bit dodgy! It seems to last longer on the cheeks but I still like applying it either on its own or with another lip product; Mac's Pink Popcorn Lipstick and this stain are a combination I've been loving. It's quite a cool toned purpleish-pink so I think it's very pretty on pale skin in particular, but it would still probably suit a variety of skintones. The packaging is also adorable. I would love to own the mango/coral shade 'Cha Cha Tint' as well. I just wish these tints weren't so overpriced!

Here's a picture of me wearing Lollitint on my lips combined with Pink Popcorn lipstick on top, as well as on my cheeks, although it's not showing up in this photo! I'm also wearing the MAC Prep and Prime Highlighter which I'm going to talk about next...

3. MAC Prep and Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose

I've actually owned this for quite a while now and I use it a lot. It seems to be lasting a long time (I'm getting my money's worth!) so I wonder when it will run out. This is basically a YSL Touche Eclat copy, which in my shade is a pale pink that works really well at adding radiance. As you can see it has a built in brush applicator and you simply click the product in, which has always worked well for me.

I typically use it around the eye area, so on my brow bone, over my concealer and sometimes on my eyelids to brighten them up and provide a base for my eyeshadow. It is very creamy and blends well. It's the best Touche Eclat dupe I've tried and I'm definitely going to repurchase it when it runs out, and hold on to the empty product so that I can do 'Back 2 MAC', returning 6 empties for one free lipstick!

4. MAC Patina and Satin Taupe Eyeshadows

Patina (left) and Satin Taupe (right)

I don't own many Mac eyeshadows but I find myself reaching for my pro palette quad more often than the famous Urban Decay Naked Palette, which I like but find a bit too warm toned for my skintone. I'm mentioning these two together as one favourite because they go so well together. As you can see I've used Patina more, but I do love both. Patina on me is a very wearable gold-ish brown which is amazing either on its own or paired with Satin Taupe, which is a slightly plummy taupe. They are neutral but still interesting shades - check out how Satin Taupe catches the light in the picture below!

Left: Patina, Right: Satin Taupe

If you've never tried Mac eyeshadows before these are the two that I would recommend as they are not only beautiful and versatile everyday neutrals but very easy to work with (Patina is slighly less pigmented compared to Satin Taupe, but still good.) I think the hint of plum in Satin Taupe would make it particularly stunning on green eyes while the gold tinge of Patina really brings out my blue eyes. Speaking of gold, I am very tempted to buy Amber Lights, a coppery bronze, as I've heard it's lovely on blue eyes. I'm slightly unsure about it though as it may be too warm-toned for my skin! If you own that one I would love to know what your thoughts are on it?

5. NARS Gaiety Blush

This is a gorgeous, cheerful, blue-toned bubblegum pink blush which looks a bit intimidatingly bright in the pan but is actually very wearable. It looks great on my fair skin and also seems to last a long time on my oily skin. It is great quality as you would expect from Nars, with just the right amount of pigmentation to give you a very flattering healthy glow without being overpowering.

Swatched and Blended 

That's it! If you fancy treating yourself, then I'd really recommend these.

I think I'm going to go on a makeup spending ban throughout June as I have more than enough makeup already and don't need any more, so I'm sorry but there won't be any new makeup bits to share for a while! I will probably review lots of products nevertheless though :)

What high end products have you been enjoying lately?

Sabrina xx