This post has been a long time coming - both literally and metaphorically since I've been writing it for about nine years (welllll a few weeks but W/E) - let's talk about beauty. I thought I’d do a post on my current (some old faithful’s and some newbies) fave beauty products out there and what I use on the daily both on and around my bod. From foundation to fragrance and everything in between, I am a sucker for nice packaging and nice smells and whilst I do like a fair few pricey prods, I have also discovered some amazing cheap and cheerful beauty bits to add to my collection too which you need to know about (such as my fave mascara here which is a mere£5.99!!).
So first of all, my most favourite scent ever, it just makes my nose so happy, Le Labo - Rose 31 is literally one of the best things my snout has ever sniffed. I love the brand too. The fact that they freshly hand-blend each scent up when you make a purchase got me straight away; the fact that no two ever really smell exactly the same. Something I’m a bit obsessed with since I hate smelling like anyone else, I think fragrance is a really personal thing and I love it when a smell instantly reminds you of someone or someone associates a certain smell with you. The fact that they personalise every bottle with whatever you choose (when I left my job at Liberty my team got me this bottle with ‘Good Luck Rach’ printed on, super cute). The fact that the bottles are so simple but so aesthetically pleasing with the font written in ‘one of their pretentious typewriters’, before being placed snugly in a brown cardboard box, sealed with an equally pretentiously written label. I am so swayed by packaging, soz about me. Now at £115 for 50ml it’s not the most purse friendly fragrance, but in my opinion it’s worth every penny. Because it’s so concentrated and so strong smelling it last ages too as you literally only need a small spritz. So that’s my love obsession with Le Labo Rose over, I promise to be a bit more (Taylor) Swift with the rest!
Secondly I am pretty obsessed with & Other Stories beauty offerings right now . SO. MANY. GOOD. SMELLS. I am particularly into their candles – with dreamy packaging and scents to match – your windowsill/ mantelpiece will thank you for it. Current faves include Vaningen and Le Coin Lecture. Next up - nail polish: excellent coverage, bottles and brushes, with more perfect pastel hues than you can shake a stick at. And whilst we are biggin’ &OS up I am also a fan of their fragrances – Punk Bouquet is a dream and at only £26 you can chuck in all of the matching scented creams and washes and your purse will STILL be your pal post purchase.
Next up - Chanel beauty - two prods in particular: the Hydra beauty Crème and the Vitalumiere Aqua foundation, a duo I've sworn by for a while now. This moisturiser is hands down the best I've ever used, and I've used a canny few both top end and budget. Its basically a drink for your face. You know that feeling when youre dead hungover and all you want is seven varieties of juicy liquids and then you take a sip of a capri-sun and it's like heaven? Well your face gets that feeling every morning with this bad boy. It's just so hydrating but also really light and it smells delightful. Just an all round excellent moisturiser for all skin types I'd say. I also recently got some of the new Chanel No5 L'Eau scent and it's an absolute beaut.
Lastly, however by no means leastly (suuuure that's in the OED, no?), from the moment I was introduced to Hourglass a while back when I worked at Liberty I knew we were gonna be friends. This palette is possibly one of the best things in my make-up bag - I use it all over my face for blusher, bronzer, highlighter, eye shadow - you name it. All of the colours are so wearable in lots of different ways, which isn't always the case in a palette. You're normally stuck with one 'not really my colour' square but alas this Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette ticks all the boxes. It's a one-stop-shop-wonder worth investing in.
OH, and a few things I can always count on are Elizabeth Arden eight hour cream - for use anywhere and everywhere whenever you need some intense moisturisation, L' Occitane lip balm that comes everywhere with me and Eyeko skinny liquid eyeliner - essentially a felt tip pen for drawing on your cat eyes perfectly.
Hope you enjoyed that whistle stop tour overview! I feel like i've crammed an awful lot into this but I'll be makin' this beauty bloggin' a regular thing so stay tuned my friends!
Rachael
x
.