August Favourites

You may or may not have noticed a brand new widget on my sidebar, I've added a little slideshow so that you guys can see my monthly favourites all month round!

This month I have a varied collection of favourites ranging from beauty to music. A lot of the makeup I've been loving this month is the same as last month, so instead I thought I'd make this a bit more random. 

This month I've been testing out the new foundation from YSL, the Fusion Ink foundation. I wasn't expecting to love this satin finish foundation as much as I do. Not only does it blend like a dream but it gives you a flawless finish and lasts all day! This has quickly become my favourite foundation for my oilier summer skin. 

Next I have a few skincare items that have been keeping my skin in top condition. The first is the Origins Gin Zing Eye Cream, something that I have an on-and-off again relationship with. I've been feeling very tired lately and this little guy has been helping me wake up my baggy eyes in the morning. It makes my eyes feel fresh and takes away that heavy under eye feeling. Then we have the Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment. My face really hated me this month and I had a lot of breakouts. Applying this at night helped take the redness away from angry spots and with constant use, it helped erase all traces of horrible blemishes. 

Another skincare product I've been loving is a small jar of the Lavender Face and Body Moisturiser from Primer Spa Shop. I got this in my goodie bag from the Manchester Bloggers Meet, I was a little worried about the inclusion of lavender as my skin has had reactions to it in the past. However I need not have worried, it is actually amazing at making my skin look plumped and healthy and I've had no reactions what so ever.  

A bit of a strange favourite to include but it needed to be in here, the Sure Compressed Deodorant. We've had a fairly warm summer so I've been on the hunt to find a deodorant to keep me dry as well as smelling fresh. The Sure Linen Dry has really helped keep me dry all day, especially when I've been running around in work. 

Finally, my two random favourites. The Troye Sivan EP TRYXE, an awesome electro pop album with some genuinely amazing tracks on to chill you out and the Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm. Like I say in my video, this is not a fairy tale book for children, there's a lot of violence and there's a few bits that are laugh out loud ridiculous. 

What products have you been loving during August? Any music, books or beauty products you want to recommend? 

Origins GinZing Eye Cream

The Origins GinZing eye cream is widely renowned in the blogging community; tales of its brightening and de-puffing properties have been hyped up throughout the land. I myself have never really seen the need for eye creams, I know that they are there to make sure us ladies don't get the dreaded crows feet as we age, but to be honest I've never really been that fearful of 'looking old'. I did however get a little tube of this in my Origins gift set, so thought I may as well see what all the fuss is about. 

Origins claim that the GinZing eye cream:

"Helps to reduce the look of dark circles. Unsightly bags and puffiness seem less visible. And Origins proprietary complex of Caffeine from Coffee bean, Panax Ginseng, Magnolia Extract and natural optic brighteners rapidly wakes up, refreshes and restores radiance to tired eyes." 

For me, there are just far too many scientific words in that description, but what I can gather is it's just telling us that it makes you look more awake. I don't have an issue with dark circles or puffiness for the most part, but sometimes when I've had a heavy night it shows. After using this I do find that any darkness has reduced a smidge and my puffiness does go down noticeably, giving me more of an awake look. 

The product feels quite rich, but when applied to the eye area it's very refreshing and light weight, not to mention it smells amazingly fresh and has a hint of orange. Also, a little really does go a long way with this, even though the product feels quite thick at first, it does melt into the skin and spread fairly easily.  

The version of the GinZing that came in the gift set came in a tube instead of the usual orange tub. I honestly prefer it, using the tube makes it super easy to get the right amount of product, so no major wastage. I also noticed that the product is a nude shade instead of your usual moisturiser white, I don't know if there is a slight bit of tint in this, but if there is it isn't that noticeable. 

I'm not sure if I would purchase this again, in conjunction with my normal face moisturiser, it seems like a very unnecessary pricey extra. It is definitely a luxury product so maybe I will treat myself, my tube is probably going to last me a while so we shall see.  

RRP: £23.00