Best Of 2013: Skincare

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2014 is a great year for you all! These are my top skincare picks of 2013. This isn't my whole skincare routine, just products which I find really really work and ones which would be hard for me to replace with something else.  

FREEDERM FAST TRACK (£5.09)

As a teenager I have recently started to get quite bad acne and blemishes on my face. Luckily the majority of it is on my forehead so my fringe covers it. It is the best spot gel I have ever tried and unlike others it doesn't dry the skin out. It really does reduce redness and makes spots look 'less angry'.

WITCH BLEMISH STICK (£2.09)

This product has been a life saver this past year. I keep it in my bag and as soon as a spot or blemish starts to appear I dab a bit of this onto it and it keeps them at bay. I love that this is a totally natural product so it's safe to put on the skin as often as you like. I personally think everyone needs this in their life as it is suitable for all skin types and everyone gets the odd blemish and this stops them coming out at full force. 

L'OREAL MICELLAR SOLUTION (£3.33)

This is my favourite way to remove make up as it is so gentle on the skin and doesn't sting my eyes. It is so effective at removing eye make up and is perfect to use before a cleanser. Basically its water which removes make up, its completely scentless too. It claims to tone skin but I haven't noticed any benefits in this respect. I love the look of the packaging and really cannot fault this. 

DHC DEEP CLEANSING OIL (£4.50)*
Although I normally hate any type of oil in a product I love this. Its an oil cleanser which dissolves make up and cleanses the skin. Even though it's an oil I don't find this leaves any residue or has a negative impact on my combination skin. I find that once I've used it my skin look more awake and bright.

SOAP AND GLORY THE FAB PORE HOT CLOTH CLEANSER (£10)

Sorry I can't find a link to this but don't think it's been discontinued. This is in my opinion on par with the Liz Earle cleanse and polish if not a bit better as it is slightly thicker and more moisturising on the skin. I massage this onto my face for about 2 minutes then leave it for a minute (as it says on the back) and then use a washi cloth to take it off (I will talk about my love for Washi clothes in another post). The scent is lovely and fresh and this is something I really enjoy using every evening. Another great thing is it removes make up and doesn't really sting the eyes - winner!

AMIE MORNING DEW MATTE-FINISH MOISTURISER (£4.95)

This moisturiser is so light and non greasy and as it's designed for oily skin it has a mattifying ingredient so that skin doesn't look more shiny than it did before moisturising. People with oily skin don't always realise how important it is to moisturise even with their skin type but Amie have made a range of products designed to be beneficial to oily skin. Another plus point is that all of the ingredients are natural.

BALANCE ME RADIANCE FACE MASK (£18)*
I have quite dull skin so use this when I want my skin to look a bit more alive. I really love this mask. It goes onto the skin so smoothly and doesn't leave the redness that a lot of face masks cause. This is suitable for all skin types and contains a blend of essential oils so has great skin benefits.

SOAP AND GLORY THE FAB PORE FACIAL PEEL (£10)
This is the ultimate cleansing mask. It has microbeads in it to provide exfoliation when applied as well as having a secret pore shrinking ingredient. I use a grape sized amount once a week and my skin is in a fairly good condition and think this is one of the miracle products I've been using. I've done a full review of the fab pore facial peel here if you want to see my full thoughts about it. 

Let me know what your favourite skincare product of 2013 was!

Megan xx

Best Of 2013: Make Up

The New Year is almost upon us (less than 2 hours away) and as well as reflecting on the past year, I thought now would be a good time to show you my favourite products of the year. I am only going to do 2 posts, make up and skincare, as I don't have many body or hair favourites. I try a lot of products (not good for my bank balance I know) so the items included today are the best of the best in my opinion. 

This post is solely dedicated to make up items which is one of my favourite topics to blog about. There were a lot of contenders but I managed to whittle it down to my absolute favourites. If you would like me to review any of the products let me know.

WITCH ANTI-BLEMISH FACE PRIMER (£6.99)*
I use 2 face primers on a regular basis but if I had to pick a favourite I would have to choose this one purely for the skin benefit I feel it has. I'm not entirely sure if it is working in the long term benefits side of things but when I put it on my acne looks so much less red and foundation sits much better on my face and I also think it lasts longer. As you only need a tiny amount to cover your whole face the bottle lasts forever.

NO.7 STAY PERFECT FOUNDATION (£14)
I discovered this foundation in April this year and have used nothing but this ever since. The coverage is medium but is buildable. It contains SPF so is great to use over the winter when people usually forget to use sun protection! I love the heavy glass bottle and sleek black lid as well as the fact it comes with a pump. In case anyone is wondering I have the lightest shade, Calico, however No.7 do the foundation match made service for free so you can find your perfect shade out of the 17 available. 

SOAP AND GLORY KICK ASS CONCEALER (£10)*
This is a bit of a cheat but I only really like 1 of the products out of the three in this little camouflage kit. I love the facial concealer which is step 2, its even beaten my love for the collection lasting perfection concealer which I haven't used for around 3 months as I think this is so much better for concealing blemishes and redness. Its such a creamy concealer which is so easy to blend. The yellow shade of the concealer helps to cancel out redness. I don't really use the white powder unless I'm out and need to reset the concealer as I find others work better as setting powders. I also find the under eye concealer is too thick and dry to blend properly under the eye so don't use that either.

SOAP AND GLORY GLOW ALL OUT (£11)*

This was the first powder highlighter I tried. I didn't have high expectations of this (after hating Benefit's Highbeam) but it is an amazing cheekbone highlight as well as an all over face powder to give a glow to the skin. The shimmer in it is so subtle so you don't get the disco ball effect with this. The powder is also really finely milled which makes it lovely on the skin. I think this would suit basically any skin tone so is an all round amazing product.

LIZ EARLE BLUSH IN CORAL 05 (£16.50)*
I use this blush from Liz Earle 90% of the time. I love how pigmented this blush is however make sure if you use it you use it sparingly. I have used this so much already and the Liz Earle indent on the top still hasn't disappeared. The powder is so fine, its not chalky at all and blends into the skin so beautifully. I will definitely be investing in a few more shades in the New Year as they are the best blushes I have ever tried. 

MAX FACTOR FALSE LASH EFFECT (£10.99)
This is without a doubt the best volumising mascara I have used and trust me I have a lot of mascara's. Two thirds of the brush have long bristles which are great at separating and volumising lashes. The outer third has tiny rubber bristles which mean that the inner eyelashes are coated in mascara too which helps to creates the false lash effect that the mascara claims to give. It also lasts really well throughout the day and doesn't often smudge or transfer to the eyelid. 

SOAP AND GLORY LID STUFF IN WHAT'S NUDE (£10)
I apologise for the amount of Soap and Glory products, they are really amazing. The What's Nude eyeshadow palette contains my favourite eyeshadows. I think it's rare to find a neutral eyeshadow palette that contains mostly matte shadows (3 of the 4 are matte). As much as I love shimmer, on a day to day basis I find matte eyeshadows much more wearable and easy to work with. The eyeshadows are really easy to blend and although there not the most pigmented eyeshadows, I really enjoy wearing them as they last well throughout the day. They also work out at £2.50 per eyeshadow which is a bargain!

MAYBELLINE BABY ME IN CHERRY ME (£2.99)
As I am not a big lipstick wearer I really love this tinted lip balm. The raspberry shade isn't too out there for me but is still a fairly natural shade. As well as giving colour to the lips it also moisturises them. Its a win win situation really!

COLLECTION CREAM PUFF IN ANGEL DELIGHT (£2.99)
Again this is a fairly neutral shade however I really love the matte effect of it. I think this is a really lovely product as although matte, it doesn't make the lips look extremely dry like some matte lip products do. This is in fact actually quite nourishing on the lips.

SIGMA F80 BRUSH ($21)
There is no question that this is the best face brush I own. If I could only have 1 face brush for the rest of my life I would choose this as it can be used for anything. I use it for buffing in foundation which it does seamlessly. I also use it to apply cream blush when I'm wearing it as I feel that this blends it in better than natural haired brushes and other synthetic brushes. 

NANSHY EYE CREASE BRUSH (only available as part of a set)*
This brush has become a staple in my make up routine. Even though I've only had it since the beginning of November (sorry if I'm cheating) but I really love how precise this brush is. I've done a full review of it (here) if you want to read more about it.

SIGMA E25 BRUSH ($12)
This brush does a similar job to the Nanshy crease brush but is much more fluffy so better for blending than applying product. 

JAPONESQUE MINERAL EYESHADOW BRUSH (£10.99)*
This is an amazing brush which I use to apply eyeshadow onto my eyelids. It packs colour on really well as the bristles are fairly short. I also love that the brush is travel sized and has anti bacterial bristles. 

Happy New Year to you all (when it comes). Let me know your favourite products of 2013 in the comments!

Megan xx