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Hello everyone and welcome back to my channel.
No, I have not simultaneously combusted. I haven't jumped off the face of the planet.
I haven't gone on some mystery tour to a remote part of the Sahara Desert.
I have been slaving away at my computer writing an assignment for my Masters degree.
And I haven't had time to film. And, quite frankly, I don't think anyone would have wanted to
see me whilst I was doing that assignment. Because I was half depraved, my eyebrows were
sprouting out all over the place, I didn't have time to go and get them threaded. And
And, quite frankly, I looked like a disgrace to the beauty blogger community.
So I did not want to come on here until I'd handed that in. So I handed that in last week,
and I am free from that assignment. I only have a dissertation to do.
I say only. Oh my god, no. 15,000 words that I have to write in 4 months.
That is not a case of the 'only' word.
And I thought I would come back with a favourites video. Because I thought I would be able to
chat you through some products that I have been loving this month.
Even though I have been doing my assignment, I have accumulated some products that I've
been really enjoying this month, and I wanted to share them with you guys.
I also just want to apologise in advance. If you can hear banging or drilling in this video,
it's because my neighbours have recruited some builders in to do an uncanny amount of
building work. And they've been doing it since October now. But every time I sit down to film,
they seem to always be building next door, which is so annoying. So if you can
hear and banging or crashing, I do apologise, but there's nothing I can do about it I'm afraid.
I can't magically make them stop, even though I wish I could.
I thought I would start off with skincare for this favourites video. I know I usually
start off with makeup, but to be honest I have been enjoying quite a few skincare products.
So I thought I would change the order I do things and mix things up a little bit for you.
So I'm gonna start off with the Pixi Caroline Hirons collaboration Double Cleanse. You have
probably seen this all over Youtube if you're really into beauty Youtubing like I am.
You've probably seen lots of Youtubers talk about this. And for good reason, because it is just
the most amazing invention that Pixi has ever come up with, quite frankly.
I just absolutely love it.
So what this essentially is, it's a collaboration between Pixi, a beauty company, and also Caroline
Hirons, who is a skincare beauty blogger Youtuber guru, who is really amazing, and knows her
stuff when it comes to skincare. So she's really great.
And this was the collaboration that they came up with. And it is a cleansing balm, but it
is really quite an ingenious idea, because it's a double cleanse. On one side of this
cleanser you get the cleansing oil, which is made with primrose oil, and it's also got
vitamin E in it as well. And it basically helps to dissolve your makeup. And then on
the other side you've got the cleansing cream, which has got vitamin C, and it's very soothing on the skin.
To start off with you use the cleansing oil to dissolve your makeup, and then you use
the cleansing cream afterwards. So it is a double cleanse. You use the oil first and
then the cream afterwards.
And I've been using this most evenings to take off my makeup. And it's so quick and
easy to use, and the oil really does dissolve the makeup, but the cream is really soothing
and cooling on the skin.
And I've tried lots of cleansing balms. I've tried the Liz Earle one, the Emma Hardie one.
I still like those ones, but I feel like I favour this one more, especially when I'm
taking off my makeup, just because it's really quick and easy to use, and the ingredients
in there are amazing, and it just makes my skin feels so refreshed after I've used it.
And it really does help to dissolve all the makeup. So I just really love it.
I love the idea, I love the concept, and when this runs out I'm gonna have to dash out and
buy another one, because I just really like this. And I've really found that my skin's
got on with this so well. So I'm really, really happy that I decided to splurge out and buy it.
And it turns out it wasn't even a splurge anyway, because I really do like it.
Again another skincare product is from Pixi. Now I just want to say that there a few products
in this video that are Pixi, but I'm not sponsored by them. I just happen to have gone out and
bought quite a few Pixi products. And they have made their way into my favourites video
because I've really been enjoying them. I would never put anything in my videos that
I don't genuinely love and use myself.
And this Pixi Glow Mist is so refreshing on the skin. The idea of this is that you can
use it before you apply your makeup as a priming spray. You can use it after you've applied
your makeup to set it. And you can use it in between, or when you don't have makeup
on to refresh your face and to refresh your skin.
I like this because it feels really soothing on the skin. It's made with argan oil and
propolis. It's got lots of fruit extracts in there as well. I did a blog post on this,
so I'll link it down below with more details on the ingredients that this one has in it.
But I really like this to apply before I've put my makeup on, because I feel that it gives
my skin that fresh, glowy, dewy, really healthy canvas to apply makeup. Foundation sits beautifully
on top of this, especially if you want to give your skin a little bit of a glowy, dewy look,
this is really good for that. And I just love the scent of it as well, it's got a very nice
fruity scent to it. And it just really does work wonders for my skin.
So I've been loving this. And I think I'm gonna have to try out some of the other mists,
because I've really got on with this one. So I'm intrigued to try out the other ones that Pixi do.
The final skincare product I have to show you is again from Pixi, and it is the Pixi
H2O Skindrink. Now this is very intriguing, because what this is, it's a moisturiser but
it's in a gel form.
So this will be really good for anyone who doesn't like really heavy weight moisturisers on their
skin. Or maybe you've got very oily skin, and you don't want anything that's going to
sit there and really kind of sit in the pores. You want something that's gonna feel very
lightweight and that's gonna help your makeup to stay in place.
I really like this because this one's got green tea in it. It's also got aloe vera.
So it's very soothing. It's great for redness or irritation. It's really lightweight.
It sinks into the skin very quickly as well, so you don't have to wait too long afterwards
to put your makeup on, and foundation just sits really nice on top of it.
I've actually got it on today, and I just love the fresh finish look it gives to my skin.
And it just really helps my skin to feel a little bit more replenished and soothed.
And because I get irritated skin, this really helps with that. So I've been really liking this,
and I do really like the formula of it.
When I first bought it, I was like "Am I gonna like this?" Because I tend to find I like
more heavy duty moisturisers. But I actually do really like the fact that it's gel, because
it means that it's a lot more lighter, and it's not really dense on the skin, it doesn't
clog your pores. So I'm really happy with this. And I think I'm really gonna get on
with this in the summer as well, because it's light and it won't weigh down my skin too much.
Now on to makeup. I have a few new makeup products that I've accumulated this month
I want to mention.
The first being a highlighter. I think we all know that somewhere in my makeup videos,
whether it be a haul or a favourites, I will mention a new highlighter. Because I am obsessed
with highlighters, and it's becoming a bit unhealthy, and I really, really, really need
to slow down on my highlighter obsession.
However, I couldn't, quite clearly, because I went into Kiko the other day when I was
in Bromley after work. And I had seen that they had brought out a new tropical range,
and it really looked intriguing. So I went in there and had a little look round,
and this took my fancy.
And it is the Kiko Dewy Stick. Now what this is, it is a highlighter, and it's just a really
nice natural looking highlighter. If you can see that, it just gives your skin a very dewy,
fresh finish. It doesn't have any glitter pigments in it, so it's very natural looking.
So if you're that kind of person who goes for a more fresh-faced, dewy, no makeup,
makeup look with your highlighters, I think you'll like this, because it's just very natural.
This month I also discovered a new powder that I've really been liking. And it is the
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Powder, and it's in the shade 1, which is the lightest colour.
Now I was a bit dubious about this at first, because I was like "Do I really need a powder?
Do I really need to spend money on a new powder?" But I just couldn't help myself, because Charlotte
Tilbury recently became available on Feel Unique, and I was like "Ohhh.... mmmm".
I got myself this powder, and I really, really do actually like it. Because it's a very finely
milled powder, it's got a really nice texture to it. Even though it does say it's light,
it does apply quite translucent, so it doesn't have a lot of pigment to it. And it just really
helps to set your makeup in place, it doesn't make your makeup look cakey at all.
It just gives your skin a really nice airbrushed finish.
However it does still let your natural skin complexion come through, so it doesn't completely
mattify everything. You still have a little bit of luminosity, and a natural healthy look
to your skin. So it just helps to perfect your skin and set your makeup, without making
it look really cakey and like it's been packed on to your skin, and without making your skin
appear to have fine lines.
The next favourite I have is a new liquid lipstick. Now, I have been looking at the
Kat Von D liquid lipsticks for ages, and I've seen loads of people put pictures of them
on their Instagram. And I really wanted to try one, because the packaging just looks
so gorgeous, and all the colours looked amazing.
And I finally caved in and I bought one earlier. I think it was in early April or late March
I bought one. And I got the shade Double Dare, which is a really beautiful English rose brown tone pink.
It's got a really nice texture to it as well. When you apply it on your lips, it doesn't
feel like it's gonna literally make your lips crack into a thousand pieces where It's so
drying and tight, like some of the other liquid lipsticks that I have make my lips feel.
This one just has a really comfortable texture to it.
It lasts for a very long time, it's got amazing pigmentation to it, and the longevity and
the staying power is really good. And I just love the colour, because it's just this amazing,
beautiful, really nice brown toned, very English rose, pinky colour. And I think for my skin tone,
being a pale person, also having red hair, I like more brown tone reds and pinks.
Because I think they look a little bit more natural, and a little bit more complimentary
to my skin tone.
And I love it. I really like the colour and the pigmentation. I just love everything about it.
This is definitely a formula I've found in liquid lipstick that I really get on with.
So I think I'm definitely gonna have to look at investing in a few more of these lipsticks,
because I really like the formula, and I just love the way they feel on the lips.
So I'm really impressed with that. Well done Kat Von D.
So finally for beauty this month in my April favourites, I have a new Too Faced palette.
Now this is the Too faced Peanut Butter And Jelly Palette, which I have been toying about
buying for ages. I saw it over on the Too Faced website, and they finally had free international
shipping one day, I think it was a couple of months ago. And I decided to finally buy it.
I caved in and I bought it. And I'm really glad I did, because the colours are just amazing.
This is the palette. In this palette you've got 9 shades. And you've got a lot of golden
brown tone, coppery gold shades in this. It's really autumnal, probably really nice for fall,
and actually quite autumn appropriate. But I wear these sorts of colours all year round,
because of my complexion.
But you've also got a couple of purple tones in here. So you've got this really bright
iridescent purple. which kind of reminds me of Barney The Dinosaur when I used to watch it,
it's a really lovely colour. And actually when you apply it, and you blend it out,
it can look a little bit more translucent. It's not as intense if you don't want it to be.
And you've also got this lovely shimmery gold, plummy tone purple colour, which is absolutely
amazing on the outer corner of the eyes, combined with some of the brown and gold colours.
And I just really like this palette. I love the formula of the shadows, I love the way
that they blend. I like the fact that you've got some mattes and also some shimmers,
I think you get a good balance of both. And it smells like chocolate.
It does say Peanut Butter And Jelly, but I do want to assure you, because I've seen Too Faced
do make a lot of their palettes with certain ingredients, this doesn't have any peanuts in it,
for any of you who are allergic, as it says on the back. So it's absolutely peanut free, so it's fine.
And I just wanna also add, look at the packaging. It's just so cute.
It's like a little slice of toast. It's just so cute, I love it!
Whenever anyone at work has asked me what I've been wearing on my eyes, and it's been
like gold, coppery, brown tone colours, 9 times out of 10 it will have been this.
So this is the palette that I have been really favouring this month, and I'm just so happy
that I bought it.
And finally for this favourites video, I wanted to mention some books. I haven't really been
watching too much TV as of late, because of my Masters. I've been more reading young adult
books, and also I've been reading a lot of fantasy and fairy tale themed books, because
of my dissertation. Which is essentially a rewrite of classic fairy tales with diversity,
and it's being told through social media.
So it's quite an interesting project for me. And as a result of that, I've been trying
to find books that have elements of fairy tales to them, and seeing how other writers
have their own spin-off on it, and how they have their own personal take on it.
And the first series that I've really been enjoying reading is the Waterfire Saga, and
it's by Jennifer Donnelly. Now I really like Jennifer Donnelly as a writer, I love her
use of description and her character development. I think she's a really talented writer.
And this is a fantasy series, it's all set under the sea. So it's all got like mermaids,
and it kind of takes on that theme of Atlantis and magic and sorcery. And what I like about this series
as well is that, although it's under the sea, it kind of feels like it's very grounded in real life.
Because what she's done is that she's taken all the different mermaids that come into
the story from different parts of the world, and she's incorporated different cultures.
So you've got elements of Asian culture, Italian culture, Romania, America, Brazil, all different
parts of the world. Which I really, really enjoyed, because I feel like it makes you
have a connection with our world as well as it being a fantasy genre. So I've really being
enjoying that series. I'm currently on book 2, and I'm really hooked.
And then the second series that I've been enjoying this month is the Lunar Chronicles
by Marissa Meyer. So this series is set in the future, so it's a futuristic dystopian
kind of series. So if you like anything like The Hunger Games, and you like anything set
in the future, I think you will like this series.
Because it incorporates elements of classic fairy tales, so Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood,
Snow White and Rapunzel. But all the characters that they relate to are set in
the future. And it incorporates sci-fi and elements of fantasy as well.
I'm on book 2 at the moment, which is called Scarlet, and I'm really, really getting my
teeth into that, and I'm really enjoying that. So any of you who like fairy tales or anything
with that fantasy/sci-fi element would really like this series.
That I think pretty much concludes it to be honest. Because I haven't been watching much
TV or anything, and I've just been really mainly reading books to be honest.
So that concludes it for my April favourites this month. I really hope you enjoyed it.
Like I said, I'm really sorry that I've been away for such a long time. I am going to make
a conscious effort to try and film videos every week like I did. Obviously I can't make
any guarantees, and I wouldn't want to at this stage, because I have got a dissertation
to write still, 15,000 words. So I have got to dedicate a lot of time to that.
But I will try my absolute best for you.
But I'm so glad to be back, and I hope you guys are all well. Do comment down below and
let me know how you guys are getting on. Because I do really love to hear about you,
and I wanna know how life's treating you as well.
Thank you all for watching this video today. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe if
you're new. And I will see you guys in my next one. Bye!
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