Wednesday, August 31, 2016

A TOUCH OF LUXE | CURRENT SKINCARE LOVES



Well, I never. With all this frantic flat-hunting, festival-going, university-sorting and illness-recovering going on, I’ve barely had time to sit down in front of my laptop to write a blog post. Never mind though, I’ve got a lovely few products to ramble on about today. They are, as the title may suggest, my current skincare loves. I’ve always been a complete skincare ho (if such a thing exists). What I mean by that is, I cannot commit to simply one brand to satisfy my needs. I’m very promiscuous when it comes to skincare, and I do love a good mix and match to find which combinations suit my skin the loveliest. I’ve created a lovely little line up of the current best lotions and potions that are seeing off the dreaded post-festival dryness and calming my pre-academic year stress breakouts.

Benefit Cosmetics Remove It Makeup Remover
An old faithful, an old favourite. My beautiful mum picked this up for me for the first time on her way through duty free on her last visit to England. This was way back in August 2015, and this makeup remover has been a firm favourite ever since then. I’d definitely say it works much better as a ‘pre-cleanse’ than as your standard all-in-one micellar water, but I do love the in depth smudgey effect of this cleansing water. You know how sometimes makeup removers can make your skin feel tight and gross? Not this baby. It’s smooth and it smells good, and don’t even get me started on the Alice in Wonderland style bottle. Swoon!

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask
Ever since I started using skincare, The Body Shop was like a haven to me. Their ranges each specialise in a certain area, and I’ve been known to hoard both their seaweed and tea tree range in the hopes that my spots will vanish and my face will cease to be an oil slick. This clay mask is seriously loved by all hose who have tried it, and I will stand strong in allegiance and testify to its skin-clearing powers! 10/10 for sort of being able to ‘feel the burn’ when this mask goes on. But, since I don’t have particularly sensitive skin, the slight burn doesn’t faze me because I just feel like that means it’s really working. My skin genuinely feels mattified for much longer after I use this mask.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser
This is my newest and most loved investment to date. Say hello to a product I’m more than sure you’ve seen plastered across various Instagrams. I’m genuinely in LOVE with this new cleanser, and it’s been a very welcome addition to my collection. My usual skincare routine (up until quite recently) was very oil-stripping, pore-cleansing, deep-acting and a little bit severe sounding, if you ask me. I didn’t realise how important it was to nourish oily skin. Call me crazy, but I failed to put 2 and 2 together for aaaages and wondered why my skin was still misbehaving. Since I got this cleanser, which is packed with natural ingredients and leaves the skin feeling beautifully soft and polished, my skin has started to become so much better. I’d wholeheartedly recommend trying this out f you haven’t already.

Lots of love,
Jasmine x


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Saturday, August 27, 2016

TOP 5 PRODUCTS | NARS COSMETICS



NARS is a brand I would use every single second of every day if I could. I will name my pets after it. I will name their products in place of vows at my wedding. I’ve never come across a brand that I adore so much, and I’ve never discovered one of their products that I didn’t like. As part of a new mini-series, here are my top 5 products from NARS!

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella is literally the red lip of your dreams. Think matte, think a beautiful suede finish, think being able to overdraw your lips without looking hideously suspect. I love this lip pencil, and it lasts for absolutely ages without needing touch ups. Plus I feel like a vampire when I’m wearing it, and who doesn’t wanna be a vampire?

NARS Blush in Deep Throat Yay for NARS’s naughty names! They’re hilariously cringey. Nothing will ever bring a tear to my eye like the time I asked my poor mum to drive me to the shops so I could get a ‘Deep Throat’. Putting our mature hats on, though, this blush is universally flattering, girly, delicate and blossom-y (is that a word?). It’ll make your bank balance want to hang itself, but it’s a price I’m willing to pay.

NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette This is a product I very very rarely use, but not because I don’t like it. Firstly, I’m aware that I’m practically sat on gold dust and I’m afraid to use it because once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Secondly, these shadows are wet and dry, and in all honesty, that scares me to death! What? Who? Wet?!?!? Why? HOW?!

NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder is an essential for every strobe-lover. This is absolutely perfect for setting the crap out of your concealer and highlights, and literally makes the light bounce off your skin. I’ve been after a setting powder like this since I discovered that I’d die without highlighting, and NARS has hit the ball out of the park with this beautiful, fine powder.

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation needs to introduction. Lets face it. It’s widely raved about by almost everyone who has ever come within a mile radius of it. I’m pretty convinced it’s actually infused with the blood of Christ because it’s smooth AF, blends like heaven and makes you look like the most flawless, glowing goddess this earth has ever seen. It’s my holy grail foundation, and is always on my repurchase list, though I do treat it sparingly as it doesn’t grow on trees *money flying away emoji*.

Lots of love,
Jasmine x


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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

FOOL PROOF | BROWS ON FLEEK




Okay. What even IS ‘Brow Game’? I’ve spent the last year wondering if I’ll ever master those square brows. Will I ever be able to use a pomade? What in Jesus’s name is an eyebrow stencil?! For a beauty blogger, I’m surprisingly useless at (what 2016 would suggest) the most important part of a face. But no fear, because Benefit Cosmetics have invented a wonder-product that will aid even the most ham-fisted among us get seriously good looking eyebrows.

Rather annoyingly for me, Benefit recently revamped all of the packaging of their brow products. Gimme Brow now comes in a sparkly silver, diamond inspired tube. Oh well. I sort of like my basic, straight tube because I imagine it is waaaay easier to carry around. Plus, I’m not going to have a cry if it gets dirty in my makeup bag. At £18.50, Gimme Brow definitely makes me resent whipping my bank card out. Why, oh why, does Benefit tempt me so?

The fibre gel basically applies to your brows like mascara and thickens all the hairs of the brow and filling in any gaps. It also sets the hairs in place, but without turning them crispy and solid. It’s so easy to use, and so I think it’s absolutely perfect for beginners/people who don’t like to faff. I’ve recommended this to so many people, and as far as I know, lots of my friends really love it too.

Lots of love,
Jasmine x



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Sunday, August 21, 2016

ZOEVA ROSE GOLDEN VOL 02





Ooooh la la. The last couple of blog posts have been pretty luxe considering I’ve got a similar bank balance to a London street pigeon. What can I say? I deserve treats. I’ve actually had this brush set for a couple of months already, but I wanted to save this blog post until I’d used them for a while and absorbed all of the rosy gold goodness. Here are my current brush favourites in the form of Zoeva’s Rose Gold Vol. 02 set. Appreciate the pastel pink, appreciate the rose gold, appreciate the white bristles……….aaaand we’re moving on!

In the set, which costs £65 from Beauty Bay, you receive eight stunning brushes in the most princessy finish imaginable. Three for your face, and five to slap stuff on your eyes with. Personally, I’m much more of a face brush kinda gal, simply because I lack the talent needed to work out what to do with a million fiddly eye brushes. Hey ho, maybe I’ll get some practise in now I’ve got five new eye brushes though?

Since I fear an essay on each brush would be dull enough to make you want to jump off a cliff, I’ll just tell you which ones are my top favourites. Bear in mind though, that Zoeva’s brushes are second to none in softness, ease of use and prettiness. The ONLY thing I don’t love is the fact that this particular set isn’t vegan. I personally always try to go for the vegan option, and I do have a vegan set from Zoeva, which is honestly fab.

Buffer Brush | This was always going to be my ultimate favourite. The way to my heart is ALWAYS a good buffer brush because my base is the most important aspect of my makeup. Incredibly, this particular brush IS vegan too! You can now buy these separately, and I’d say it was 100% worth a purchase.
Luxe Cheek Finish Brush | Ever seen that TV show where people are in love with inanimate objects? I’m applying to be on it because I’d quite like to marry this brush. It’s my go-to blush brush now, having knocked my all time favourite Real Techniques brush off the top spot *gasp!*
Crease Brush | I’m not even going to act like I know what I’m doing when it comes to my eyes. This is pretty much the only type of brush I’m confident with, plus I KNOW that a deep, blended crease is really flattering on me. Aside from being stunningly beautiful, it’s easy as pie to use and makes me feel like I can use the #MUA hashtag on Instagram.

Let me know what you think about this brush set!

Lots of love,
Jasmine x


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