
I wanted to share with you some of the beauty, style and lifestyle favourites that I’m been loving over the summer months this year. From makeup and skincare to home accessories, i’m sure you’ll discover something new that you want to try.
Emma Hardie Moringa Light Cleansing Gel – £33, Emma Hardie
All skincare lovers are familiar with the cult Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm – this super-effective, beautiful orange-scented balm is a pleasure to use and is a gold-standard balm cleanser for removing makeup, SPF and daily pollutants from your skin at the end of your day. It’s on all skincare addict’s must-have cleanser list, so when the Emma Hardie brand released a spin-off cleansing gel, that has exactly the same delicious scent, I was so excited to try it. This lightweight cleanser is great as a morning cleanse, or as a second cleanse at night. It purifies the skin (via Moringa Seed Peptides), balances oily skin, restores moistures to the skin and protects skin barrier function (via Sea Fennel Extract), nourishes the skin (via Moringa Seed Oil and Sweet Almond Oil), and then Grapeseed Oil’s Omega 6, Vitamin E and essential fatty acids help to soften the skin. A really effective product that leaves your skin feeling lovely and not striped.Lilibeth of New York Brow Shaper – £7.49, MakeUpBox LDN
This little scalpel-like tool is traditionally a brow-shaper, but can equally be used as a dermaplaning tool. After I got dermaplaning in a salon, I’ve never looked back. It’s amazing how much removing those little fluffy bits of vellus hairs on your face can make your skin look better, and make your makeup sit better on your skin. I just do my own dermaplaning (pretty much ‘shaving’ your face) by myself at home now, and this is a bargain little tool to do it with.
Shiseido Synchro Skin Illuminator in Pure Gold• – £33, Cult Beauty
Shiseido are a great Japanese cosmetics and skincare brand. I really rate a lot of their releases. A new one that I’ve discovered is their Synchro Skin Illuminator – a light water-based gel formula that adds a subtle luminosity and glow to your skin. Great for creating that glass skin look I love! You can apply this all over the face before your base, or just dab it over your cheekbones and other high points. Or, if you find a foundation you own too heavy for these warmer months of the year, you can mix some of this in with it on the back of your hand before application. A lovely little product; and I’ve even been reaching for it over my coveted Illamasqua Radiance Veil, a it’s that bit lighter on your skin in the heat.Bioderma Hydrabio H20 Micellar Water• – £7.20, Feel Unique
Everyone needs a handy micellar water in their skincare stash at home. If I have particularly stubborn eye makeup on, i’ll wipe off what I can with a micellar water-soaked cotton pad before going in with a balm cleanser. Bioderma micellar waters are amazing and they really break down waterproof makeup and dirt. This one is particularly hydrating, and it’s lovely even just for a quick freshen up. It’s also a great choice for those with sensitive skin.Alpha H Hyaluronic 8 Serum – £38, Cult Beauty
I always have a Hyaluronic Acid in my skin regime, both morning and night. It’s important that the one that I use has various sized molecules to penetrate the different layers of my skin. This is how you can usually separate cheap ones from more expensive ones, as the more expensive ones usually utilise this technology. However this product actually contains eight different ingredients to revitalise your skin, in addition to that multi-molecular Hyaluronic Acid. There’s also skin smoothing and elasticity-boosting Glycerin, soothing Aloe, and also lumicease, pollushield and cureberry extract to protect the skin from environmental aggressors and pollutants. This serum from Alpha H is worth every penny and it does a great job in plumping, firming and hydrating your skin without feeling sticky.Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation SPF 15 in Alabaster• – £32, Bobbi Brown
Bobbi Brown Face Oil – £46.50, Bobbi Brown
This is a fairly new foundation release from Bobbi Brown, and when I got sent it, I felt that it was just too heavy a coverage for my skin, as I like that glass skin look where you can see all my freckles. However, I then went for a makeup appointment at a Bobbi Brown counter and the makeup artist there recommended that I try mixing in some of the Bobbi Brown Face Oil into it. We tried this out, and I loved the results. I really don’t need much of the foundation; but combined with the oil, it creates a lovely, plump and healthy skin look.Hourglass Unreal High Shine Volumizing Lip Gloss in Canvas• – £28, Space NK
I’ve been enjoying trying more Hourglass products over the last couple of months. A stand-out favourite of mine is their new Unreal High Shine Volumizing Lip Gloss, especially in the shade Canvas. This is a perfect nude for me, and it’s a super high-shine gloss which I love – as it really makes my lips look plumper, and is just generally prettier on my face than a matte or an opaque lipstick. These have really good staying power too, a great curved applicator, and they aren’t at all sticky or unpleasant to wear. Winners!Bluesky LED Starter Kit• – £59.99, Bluesky
There are a lot of gel nails at home starter kits on the market, and I have tried quite a few. All of them have issues and don’t produce the results that I want. It’s always a bit hit and miss with them. This one is great, however, and the lamp that comes with it is the best I’ve seen in an at-home DIY kit. I’ve used this a few times now and each time, I’ve been really happy with my nails and have got a good week out of them before they start to chip and wear or lose their shine. I’m definitely going to purchase some more colours to try out; but the nude and red in this kit are great classics.Carolina Herrera Good Girl – £74, The Perfume Shop
I love this fragrance so much, and usually there’s one ingredient that stands out to me in a scent; but with this one, I couldn’t put my finger on why I love it so much. UNTIL I looked at the notes and saw that it contained Jasmine Sambac – the same key smell in my favourite ever Jo Malone fragrance, Jasmine Sambac & Marigold. Another key note is Tuberose (we all know my obsession with rose fragrances), AND there’s calming Tonka Bean (from my favourite ever Lush scent – Twilight/Sleepy). If ever there was a perfume made for me, this would be it. Good Girl is a really pleasant, sophisticated everyday wear fragrance, and doesn’t the bottle look stunning?! The scent is supposed to reflect fashion designer Carolina Herrera’s view on the duality of modern women – women that are both risk takers and sexy, and that are both elegant and enigmatic. In other words, a woman that is both good and bad at the same time.Vivienne Westwood Hummingbird Bracelet – 55 Euros, Vivienne Westwood
My Mum gave me this as one of the presents for my birthday, and I love it – it’s so cute! It’s a hand-painted hummingbird with the Vivienne Westwood orb symbol in 3D, dangling from its beak. I love the blue and pink pastel colours and think that it’s so pretty. I’ve had it on my wrist constantly this summer.
Norma & Dorothy ‘She Believed She Could So She Did’ Print – £12, Norma & Dorothy
I do love a cute print and a good quote, and this quote has always been one of my favourites – ‘She believed she could, so she did’. I love the floral artwork that Norma & Dorothy have created, and it goes really well with the style of my flat. It comes framed in a sleek black slim frame, so it’s excellent value and would make a lovely gift for a friend.
This post contains press samples, but all opinions are my own.
You can see more of what I’m loving, and what I’m doing, over on my Instagram.