January Favourites 2015

Who would of thought it is already February? I feel like the month of January has just flown by, and before we know it we will be on the doorstep of 2016. Anyway, it is that time of the month where I reflect and talk about all the things I have been loving over the month of January, so lets begin! 

Starting with skincare, the first product I have absolutely loved over January is the Clarins "Daily Energiser Wake-Up Booster." I apply this with a round cotton pad in the morning as soon as I wake up. This just brightens my skin and restores my natural skin tone while also reducing redness. This is just really cooling on the skin and you don't have to wash it off after. Honestly a life saver in my morning skin care routine. If you have really dry/dehydrated skin I recommend this product 100%!

Clains "Daily Energizer Wake Up Booster"

Moving on, the Soap and Glory "Hand Food" hand cream has been a staple in my handbag. I suffer with severely dry skin, in particularly my hands and this just hydrates my hands nicely without leaving a sticky/wet residue. I have never tried a Soap And Glory product before as I never knew where to get it from, now I do, Mecca Maxima. I am always looking for hand creams without too much of a scent and I feel like the scent of this product isn't that strong, but its a nice subtle scent that I can deal with. 

Soap & Glory "Hand Food"

 The final skincare product I have is the Garnier "Micellar Cleansing Water." This product has been constantly ranted and raved about on blogs and YouTube for a very long time now so I thought it was about time I gave it a go, and I must say, its probably one of the best makeup removers and cleansers out there. The one thing that drew me in about this product is the fact you don't have to rinse it off, which can be kind of annoying. It literally gets every last bit of dirt and makeup on your face, even the stuff you thought you got off and couldn't see, it gets off. Very comparable to Bioderma, however much more affordable and readily available. 

Garnier "Micellar Cleansing Water"

Moving onto makeup products, the first one I have has been very well loved for the past few months. This is the Maybelline "Fit Me" concealer in fair, which correct me if I'm wrong is the second lightest shade and almost impossible to find. This concealer is one of the best drug store concealers out there, it provides great coverage without looking "cakey." You do have to be quick to set it with a powder otherwise it can crease depending, but aside from that it is a great under eye brightening concealer that I will continue to purchase until I find something equally as good! 

Maybelline "Fit Me" Concealer (Fair)

This next product was a fairly recent purchase, however I fell in love with it straight away, and I knew I was going to love it because Shaan from XOBeauty raves about this all the time. This is the Chi-Chi "3D Magic Lash" black mascara. For those over seas, you can only get this product in Australia and New Zealand however I do believe they ship WORLDWIDE so check it out. I absolutely love the packaging and applicator of this product, it separates your lashes and ads so much volume and length to your lashes. I also love that the wand is shaped different to most, it really helps to get every single lash and make sure they are well coated! I definitely will be repurchasing this product when it comes to the time!

Chi-Chi "3D Magic Lash"

Another product from the Maybelline "Fit Me" range is their foundation. This is also a fairly recent purchase, however I had been wanting to try it for a fairly long time now! I absolutely love the finish this foundation leaves, its not matte but its not completely dewy, however some days it can be TOO dewy. Aside from that, this foundation is great for those with dry skin (like myself) as it doesn't cling to any dry patches, crack or look cakey. The colour is a perfect match for me and just makes your skin look so flawless! The only thing I don't like about this product is that it doesn't have a pump so you do have to be careful, otherwise you could have those little spillages and waste some product!

Maybelline "Fit Me" foundation (120-Classic Ivory)

A bronzer that I have been absolutely using the crap of this month has been the Maybelline "Dream Sun" bronzer. This bronzer has a really nice glow/shimmer to it while still being a nice, natural warm bronzer. The one thing I love about it is that its great for beginners in makeup and aren't use to bronzer, this would be perfect for you as no matter what brush you use, you can't pick up too much product. I'm not too keen on the "sunscreen" smell this bronzer has but it provides a nice natural glow that I really like. 

Maybelline "Dream Sun" Bronzer

This next product is something I am very excited to rave about! This is the Australis "Ac-On-Tour Kit." If you are into makeup I can probably tell what you are all thinking it reminds you of. The Anastasia Beverly Hill's Contour Kit. It is literally the exact same thing. If you are like me and don't want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on the higher end version, go for something like this. It has almost the exact same shades, packaging, and do the same job. I have been using this non stop and absolutely love it. The top middle shade is perfect for setting under eye concealer, there is a beautiful highlight shade, and the bottom middle shade is absolutely perfect for contouring as its matte. It also comes with a another setting powder and two other bronzer shades, so it has a lot of diversity. I love this palette and so glad I purchased it this month!

Australis "Ac-On-Tour Kit" (Excuse the grubbiness) 

This next product I THINK, is a Christmas limited edition gift set, don't quote me on that, however it is another thing that I have loved over January. This is the Chi Chi "5 in 1 travel pallet" This product comes with 5 eye-shadow sets that can be "popped out" and placed into a travel container that it comes with. Also it comes with 3 beautiful blushes, a beautiful highlighter, and an amazing matte bronzer, & better yet, all come with their own glosses. I think the concept of this pallet is amazing and highly worth investing in if you can find it and is great for those starting out with makeup. This eye-shadow quad in-particular has been my favourite one out of the whole pallet this month. The highlighter at the bottom is the most beautiful highlighter I own, the eye-shadows are great quality, last ages, and has great matte and shimmery shadows. I personally don't use the gloss that it comes with, however it is a beautiful gloss anyway. 

Chi-Chi "5 in 1 travel pallet"

The Sally Hanson "Hard as Nails" Hardener has also been a recent purchase over this month. I had been looking for something for a while that will strengthen and condition my nails as my nails are horrible from years of tough sports and that nasty habit of biting. I feel like this product has improved the strength and the natural colour of my nails after a few weeks of using it. I apply this either alone or under any other nail polish and so far its been great! 

Sally Handson "Hard as Nails Hardener" 

Book of the month:

My favourite book this month is Zoe Sugg's "Girl Online." This book has been talked about all over YouTube and blogging sites, and I absolutely love it! I am not a reader, I don't read many books that often but this book I was dying to read, as the chapters went on I just wanted to read more and more. Zoella is one of my favourite YouTubers and I love how she has incorporated real life issues like anxiety & panic attacks which I feel like a lot of people, like myself can relate too, and that's what I love most about this book, aside for her incredible imagination and her ability to draw people into reading. I would highly recommend this book and read it AGAIN when I have the chance. Definitely give this book a read when you can! You won't regret it. 

Song of the month: 

Three weeks ago, All Time Low finally released a new song called "Something's Gotta Give" ahead of their brand new album "Future Hearts" set to release on April 7th. All Time Low haven't released a song for quite sometime now which made me even more excited to hear this song! This song has been on repeat for the entire time since being released  as All Time Low are one of my favourite bands of all time, (no pun intended) and I can't wait for their album to be released. Next time I see them will be at Soundwave Brisbane on the 28th of February which I will be sure to write a future blog post on! 

TV show of the month: 

The Vampire Diaries has been a TV series I have only just recently gotten into thanks to one of my best friends. I had been avoiding watching this show for a very long time as I have 20 other TV series to keep up to date with but I thought sod it, and after the first three episodes I was hooked. I am almost finished season 1 so PLEASE don't spoil anything for me! I love the characters and the story lines so far! So far Stefan is my favourite male character and Bonnie is my favourite female! I cannot wait to watch the rest of the seasons!! 

And that is it!! 

That is all my favourites that I can think of over the month of January! This month has absolutely flown by, and with that, this is also my first ever blog post! Hopefully you stuck with me through this incredibly long post, hopefully my writing skills improve over the next few posts and hopefully you enjoy reading them! Don't forget to leave me a comment telling me what your favourite products or things over January have been! I would love to hear them! 

~ ItsEmilee