Photo Diary - A Countryside Walk

I recently went a for a walk on a lovely sunny day and decided to share some of the pictures I took! I love taking photos for fun and playing around with different effects, I hope you like them. 

February Favourites

I actually don't have many products to talk about for this months favourites as I feel like I've been using the same old stuff all month!

 February has gone by so quickly and I literally can't wait for spring to arrive. 

My two favourite skin care products recently have been The Body Shop Seaweed Night Treatment and also the Vitamin E Night Cream. It might sound a bit OTT to use two night creams but I find this combination is perfect for my combination skin. I put the Seaweed Night Treatment on my T Zone and the Vitamin E Cream every where else on my face. My skin feels incredible by the morning and is so smooth and soft. 

I have been obsessing over The Balm's Voyage 2 Palette ever since I got it last month. It has everything you need in one place, which is perfect for when I'm in a rush! 

Again I have been loving Make Up Geek's eye shadows through out last month. My two favorites have been in the shade Bitten and Sea Mist, as seen above. 

My fiancé's sister got married last month and I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids. 

I wore the Milani Liquid Lipstick in the shade Adore and painted my nails using this beautiful nude Ted Baker nail polish.  These nudes were perfect for the wedding so of course they had to make my February favourites! 

Last but definitely not least, my favourite blog in February was From Roses. I absolutely adore her style of writing, her photographs are so beautiful and I love her minimalistic theme. 10/10 would recommend! 

Homeware Haul

I've really started to get into homeware and changing around the colour theme in my bedroom. As you will be able to tell from the pictures below, I've been loving adding green details and finding unique, rustic items. 

The black wooden tray is from H&M Home and the photo frame is from Debenhams. 

I got this letter rack from Debenhams, but as you can see it fits my eye shadow palettes perfectly and has two drawers for storage. I love how unique it is and different from the standard acrylic storage.

I got this little cactus from a local garden centre and this plate is from H&M Home.

The green wire basket is again from H&M Home, the 'You Go Glen Coco' print is from Coconut Lane (use the code 'charwbeauty20' for 20% off the entire site) and the 'Eat Sleep Blog Repeat' print is from Lily Rose Co.

I found this copper wire basket in Tkmaxx and I am OBSESSED with it. It's perfect for storing beauty products.

You Go Glen Coco' print is from Coconut Lane (use the code 'charwbeauty20' for 20% off the entire site).

The 'Eat Sleep Blog Repeat' print is from Lily Rose Co.

Benefit POREfessional matte rescue - First Impressions

Benefit very kindly sent me this product and I thought I would share with you guys my first impressions on it!

I have combination skin and if you read my blog you will probably know that I like my face make up to be completely matte. I personally don't like a shiny/dewy look regardless of what time of year it is etc.

 I have been using the POREfessional face primer for a long time and it's probably my favourite primer ever. So obviously when Benefit sent me this I was so excited to try it out! 

I first applied my make up at 11.30AM. After washing my face I applied the POREfessional matte rescue all over my face, focusing especially on my T zone. I loved the gel formula and found that a little went a long way! It instantly mattified my skin and also looked noticeably smoother. 

I then primed my face using the POREfessional. I noticed that my pores had been significantly reduced/blurred and my skin looked very smooth. 

For foundation I used the Rimmel Match Perfection. Now I deliberately used a foundation that was A) my least favourite and B) wasn't mattifying. I was interested to see whether using the matte rescue would work with this foundation. I used a damn Real Techniques sponge, Collection concealer and the Rimmel powder. 

Straight away I noticed that it hadn't caked and that my pores were nearly invisible. Also my face was completely matte even before I set it all with powder.

So far so good!! 

It is now 2:45PM and my face is still completely matte even around my T zone. My pores are still hiding away nicely! 

4:05PM: There is a slight hint of shine around my nose but it is barely noticeable. Usually by now my skin would look quite shiny and blurgh.

5:40PM: My T zone is starting to look slightly shiny  now, but again it's nothing that bothers me too much. This foundation usually looks like crap on me at this time, so I am very impressed! 

8:00PM: Make up is coming off now. My T zone is looking more shiny as I thought it would, but it's definitely made this foundation more wearable for me!

To conclude, if you have combination or oily skin then I would definitely recommend this product. Use it with the POREfessional primer and a mattifying foundation and it's a dream. 

Kiko Single Eye Shadows

Infinity single eye shadows 

Left to right: 404, 225 and 244

Standard single eye shadows 

Left to right: 138, 102 and 137 

I am personally a massive single eye shadow fan, especially when the quality is good yet inexpensive! 

I remember a while back someone commented on one of my pictures saying that the KIKO infinity single eye shadows (that can be put into a custom made palette) were better than the standard ones. 

I originally bought the standard ones in the shade 138, 102 and 137 back in November and absolutely loved them. I went back to the KIKO shop in Romford last week and saw that the Infinity single eye shadows were half price... so of course I bought some! I was intrigued to see whether these were more pigmented and blend-able than the standard ones.

Personally I feel that there's nothing in it. The Infinity packaging is a lot less bulky and easier to store, but apart from that the pigmentation and blend-ability is pretty much the same. I also love how KIKO have such a wide range of shades available . There is very little fall out with their eye shadows and they apply beautifully. I would definitely recommend, especially if you're obsessed with eye shadow like me!