DECEMBER FAVOURITES.

MY FAVOURITE PRODUCTS FROM THE PAST MONTH. 

Hi and Happy New Year! Again, I've got to start this post by apologising for my absence, it's a very busy time of year and uni work is killing me. But here I am, with my first post of 2017, my December favourites. I'm also thinking about doing another post with my top beauty products of 2016- although I'm worried this will be a bit samey, and most of the products will already be in previous favourite posts. 

I've also got quite a lot coming up in the next few months so I'll endeavour to get a post up every week as usual, even if they're slightly shorter than what I usually write (I'm aware some of my posts are quite long so I might shorten them but make them more frequent?). I'm also quite active on Instagram where I post mini reviews, photos of new products and a lot more makeup products than make it up onto here, so follow me on there if you're interested, username: catrionabathan. Or you can click the social media icons to the right!

• FUDGE: CLEAN BLONDE VIOLET TONING SHAMPOO

So, as I've said before, hair isn't my thing. I am both blessed and cursed with very long very thick hair which I never really wash or style. I (semi) recently went ombré blonde, I've never had my hair so light before, so I didn't know what to expect. One thing I've struggled he most with is having brassy, yellow tones in my hair which just don't look good, and I wasn't really aware of what a toner was, what they do or why I needed one? Thankfully my friends are less useless than I am and suggested I get a purple shampoo. I started with the £3.99 one from Bodycare and was pretty impressed with the results until I saw this on Beauty Bay. I am SO impressed with this product, it's amazing. It removes 100% of all the brassy tones and you only need to leave it on for a few minutes, there's been a few times where I've left mine on for too long and it's started to turn my hair an almost white/silver. It's so strong, smells great and doesn't leave my hair feeling dry. It's also only £10.75 and contains a really large amount of product. I use this once a week (which is all I wash my hair) and also shampoo my hair with a normal shampoo beforehand. Seriously, if you're blonde, you need this! I've also inserted a photo of my hair so you can see what colour mine is. 

[Fudge Clean Blonde Violet Toning Shampoo-£10.75, Beauty Bay UK]

• MARC JACOBS: RE(MARC)ABLE FOUNDATION

So, I have a new Holy Grail foundation (sorry Nars). I'm planning on doing an entire post on this product because I love it so much. I have never used such a full coverage foundation, especially one where you don't need to apply layers and layers to get the desired coverage. Yes, it is the most expensive foundation I own, but I could be using tonnes and tonnes of layers of foundations costing £20/30 or several drops of this one. It's incredible, I love it. The only issue is it's not too available here in the UK, I got mine from Sephora, although you can order it online from John Lewis, but you've got to colour match online (risky, but worth it). 

[Marc Jacobs Re(Marc)able Foundation- £37, www.johnlewis.com UK]

• JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS: DESIGNER BLOOD VELOUR LIQUID LIPSTICK 

Yes, another Jeffree Star Liquid Lip. I've already done a full post about these liquid lipsticks so again, I won't go into too much detail but I love the colour of this so much. I have Unicorn Blood too, and although I do like it I just didn't find it as dark as I wanted it to be. This is very dark and vampy, and the formula is amazing. He's also improved his packaging so they lock in place tighter. This shade is from his Christmas Holiday collection, which is still available and he's now realised the majority of his shades and products on Beauty Bay- for which I am very thankful. 

[Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick- Designer Blood-£16, Beauty Bay UK] 

• MILANI: CONCEAL AND PERFECT 2 IN 1 FOUNDATION AND CONCEALER

This is another foundation I've been really liking. The coverage isn't as full as the Marc Jacobs one, but it's also over 1/3 of the price. The coverage is still fantastic, I'd say it's comparable to the Nars sheer glow and the finish is similar too. Milani is a brand which I'm really getting into, their products are great and affordable. One criticism I've got is the shade selection. I got the shade 02- Natural but I can only wear it when I've got a decent layer of fake tan on. Since buying that shade they've added a few more on the Beauty Bay website including the lightest shade, but as with most drugstore/affordable foundations they don't cater to a large range of skin tones. 

[Milani Conceal And Perfeec 2 In 1 Foundation And Concealer-£11, Beauty Bay UK]

• NUME: SIGNATURE TOURMALINE IONIC HAIR DRYER

I haven't had a new hairdryer in about 7 years and I used to get so frustrated that it took around the same amount of time to dry my hair. My hair always looked frizzy and felt dry after using my old dryer, and it would always overheat and cut it. So long story short I decided to invest in a new one. This hairdryer is the same brand as the curling wand I mentioned in another favourites post. It's fantastic. It dries my hair a lot faster than my old one, it has more heat setting and speed settings. It also smooths my hair as it dries it and it doesn't make it feel dry and damaged. I've been trying to take better care of my hair in general, I finally invested in a heat-protectant and I've been using products such as Moroccan Oil and Coconut Oil on it. I really can tell a difference. I really recommend this hairdryer if your hair is long and thick like mine and drying it is a point of contention, I still hate washing and drying my hair but this has made it slightly more bearable. 

[NuMe Signature Tormaline Ionic Hair Dryer-£94.95, Beauty Bay UK]

What were your favourite products of last month? Is there any products you would recommend? 

thanks for reading, 

CATRIONA 

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