Current Beauty Favourites

I've been all about a flawless base and warm lips lately, and my favourites also seem to reflect my efforts to wean myself off of an obsession with neutral blushes, with pink shades filling my blush drawers. I've taken to layering blushes often in an effort to spice things up, and with a new hairstyle comes new (hair) responsibilities so the rare hair-care appearance is in part thanks to that new development. All in all, a pretty stellar line-up of currently loved products!

L'Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray* (Normal Hold)

Never did I expect to have 'hairspray' in a favourites post - no sirree I didn't see that coming! Now that I have a fringe though I need to set it every day with spray and I've tried 3 or 4 so far, and this is easily the best - no residue, holds well enough, brushes out and comes in both full-size and mini which is great.

 

Batiste Tropical Dry Shampoo (Mini)

It's a similar scenario with this - I appreciate a good dry shampoo like most people but using it to plump up my fringe is wonderful and the Tropical scent is my favourite from Batiste.

 

Rimmel Provocalips 'Make Your Move'*

Seen in action here, this long-last lip colour wasn't a colour I thought I'd fall for but it works so well with my pale skin and I've been reaching for it a whole lot since it hit my desk! Sometimes I find the formula a touch too drying but it's only happened twice so far, so perhaps it's a hint to load up on the balm at the beginning of my makeup prep.

 

Bite Beauty Matte Lip Crème 'Gavi' (mini Holiday edition)

It's definitely in the same colour family as 'Make Your Move' so I guess warm lip colours are floating my boat at the moment! The formula of these is actually insane, they feel so comfortable on the lips and look amazing, too.

Lancôme Dreamtone Serum*
My only wish is that this was within my current price range for skincare...*cries* I honestly believe that this changed the texture and tone of my skin and the acne scarring on my left cheek - it's empty now and the heart breaks! See my full review here.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette (in particular, Verve)
Obsession isn't even the word for this shade, and the palette in general to be frank. I've reached for it over all of my other beautiful shadows and am enjoying dipping into shades I've neglected and just generally playing around and getting to know this palette. That is such a #beautyblogger thing to say, isn't it?

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Crème Foundation (150 Buff)
I'm all about the full-coverage base right now - give me (almost) flawless skin all day errday. This bad boy is wonderful, shame it took me so long to dip into the glass jar but I'm making up for lost time now (whilst still indulging in Illamasqua Skin Base in an effort to use it up...)

Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick 'Just-Pinched Pink'*
Love how pigmented this is, and the shade is a neutral pink that totally suits my complexion!

In2It Blush 'Sensation'
I pulled this from my blush drawers to admire the pretty embossing (now almost gone!) but fell in love with the easy colour and the thought of how little time it will take to use up this tiny little pan...I've been dusting a bit of this over the top of the aforementioned Maybelline Blush Stick and they are a great pair!

 

Current blush loves? Dreamtone dupe? Favourite Naked palette shade?

-Emma

 

*Products provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Daily Tray

You know you've read a great blog post when you drop what you are doing (which was cuddling Charlie with a hundred blog tabs open...) to make a move with your makeup stash. Reading Larie's musings and seeing the products she keeps out to use regularly inspired me to steal the idea and create a 'daily tray' for myself - the products I want to make dents in, need to test or want to enjoy for a little while. Every few days I can see this getting a wee shake up, but I think semi-regular posts with the new additions could be beneficial for me and something you would hopefully find interesting.



I've got some of my staples in there like my Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel and my Too Faced Shadow Insurance, but I also threw in items I haven't touch in months like Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and my Laura Mercier foundation primer. I decided that while I wait for my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette to arrive I would give the original version a rest and bring out Naked 2 for a play. I had forgotten how beautiful the shades in this variation are, and am glad that soon I will have the fabulous trifecta.

A new minty shade for my inner corners came into the daily tray from the essence Me & My Ice-Cream collection, as well as the bright coral gloss from the new Beauty Beats collection (amazing glosses by the way!) I'm not loving either of the mascaras but can't bear to throw them away just yet as they aren't the worst I've ever used, so they will be in here for a little while.

An important part of my daily tray? Products I need to use up or want to hit pan on! I've had NYX Peach for so long and as you can see it is on its way out, so I've been wearing it daily with another shade dusted on top to make it interesting but still get rid of the pan. The bit dip in the champagne shade of Dior Fairy Golds is actually really exciting me and I can't wait to see some shiny Dior pan for the first time in my life!

 

Product list:

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

Revlon Nearly Naked foundation

Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer

 

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

E.L.F. Coffee Bean single shadow

essence Always in My Mint single shadow

Dior Fairy Golds palette

Urban Decay Naked 2 palette

Maybelline Mega Plush mascara*
Revlon 3D Volume mascara

essence Hot Chocolate eyeliner

 

NYX Peach

Chanel Accent

 

Revlon Rosy Future lipgloss*

essence I'm A Groupie lipgloss

 

Clinique Dramatically Different + moisturiser*

Lush Lust solid perfume

Avon Bond Girls perfume

 

Colour Theory Bronzer in Sun Kissed (not shown)

 

***********************************************************************

 

Do you keep your main products out on show too?

How often do you dive back into your collection to find a treasure?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

 

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.





The Birthday Face

Hip hip hooray, it was my birthday yesterday! Another year older and hopefully wiser as well. I had a lovely little day out with my family, and thought it important to share my 'birthday face' here to keep a record of the makeup memories. Every year my sister takes me out but keeps our destination a secret (some years it has been bowling, mini golf, fancy lunch, shopping spree etc) and no matter what we do I have an amazing time with her, so it is one of the main reasons I love my birthday so much. This year my niece Ella and nephew Hamish came along as well as Mumma Bovary, which makes the day even better! We went out for a nice lunch and I indulged in a bit of a shopping spree before we stopped off at Dairy Bell for a scoop of ice-cream!

I woke up in the morning to Charlie snuggles and a nice coffee made by Mister Bovary before he left for work, and spent the morning watching YouTube videos and reading Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Pretty perfect morning, right? The night was great as well, all of my family came around for pizza and my beautiful best friend Candice made the trip down from the country to make my day!

Products:

I took my time doing my makeup so it looked a bit spesh for my special day, and layered my foundation to cover any blemishes. I used my Urban Decay Naked 2 to create a daytime smoky eye with Pistol all over the lid, Busted in the outer crease and Foxy to highlight my brown bone. I then went in heavy with my essence Hot Chocolate liner as I wanted a thick line on my top lid, and I absolutely loved the effect.

I used my favourite Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed but topped it with a little bit of Chanel Accent to spice it up a little, and then dusted some Dior Amber Diamond on top of my cheekbones like I do everyday. Lips were finished off with my Kardashian Au Natural Lip Set for a layered glossy nude look.

The Face:

no such thing as too much bling on your birthday!

Mumma Bovary and I out for lunch!

I'll be posting about the gifts I receive for my birthday next, I received such thoughtful gifts but am hoping that mister postman delivers my Naked3 in time for the post, and so that I can enjoy its awesomeness.

Do you have any birthday traditions?
Is it just me, or is the act of buying yourself a birthday gift (or 5...) so much fun?!

Emma x