Monthly Favourites June 2016 | Holiday Edition

Whilst I was only on holiday for a week, and for just a week at the that my favourites for this month were all from my recent trip. June as a whole was one of those months were I wish I had a YouTube channel as there was so much I could’ve talked about. Instead additional loves such as OrlyScenic Route or mysecond day hair duo were mentioned in their own reviews.

Speaking of hair duos a new one appears in this favourites line up; Bumble& Bumble Surf Spray and AVEDASun Care Protective Hair Veil. Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray is a much talked about favourite for many and I’m surprised that I’ve not shared this in a favourites post before as I’m pretty sure it’s my second bottle as I like to pick up the Bumble & Bumble Surf SprayTravel Set during Summer months. Admittedly my hair requires less assistance from salt sprays currently due to it already being dryer from the colouring process but I still wanted to have it on hand and would spritz a little in before hitting the pool to add some texture to the unruly, post sleep bedhead. My friend who I was holidaying with was glad I had it to hand as he loves a little salt spray and forgot his – beauty blogger to the rescue.

My hair has always been something of an afterthought where sun protection is concerned but with blonder highlighters I wanted to avoid any sun damage and fears that I’d wake one morning with green hair! I had a little search around and stumbled on the AVEDA Hair Veil and thought that’s something new to try. A simple spray bottle that ‘forms an invisible screen’ which protects hair from sun exposure for up to 16 hours and will minimise colour fading, damage and dryness. I was quite surprised that my hair remained in such good condition which I put down in part to AVEDA’s hair veil, wearing a hat and rediscovering Bumbleand Bumble Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner.  

My routine of a morning was to dampen my hair a little with the AVEDA Veil, brush out my hair and spray some salt spray, pop on my hat and then take up residence on a sun lounger – perfect. The AVEDA Veil is a little expensive than what I would usually pay at £21.50 for 100ml – I even thought I’d discovered a travel size when I picked it up in store and was shocked at how much it cost – but it’s hand luggage friendly and a little goes a long way. I’ll be able to use this spray on my forthcoming tips to Italy next month and Las Vegas later in the year.

Another favourite for my friends and I in Menorca was Vichy Ideal Solei Double Usage After Sun Oil* (what a name!). I had been using during the trip and a couple of days in when my friend commented on his peeling skin I passed him the bottle. By the end of the week everyone was stopping by to use it and as you can see from the usage it’s barely made a dent.

As the name suggests you can use one of two ways; apply directly to dry skin or in the shower to wet skin. I used both ways, for speed the shower worked well and stopped that slightly oily slip you get on hands with any oil products but if I wanted to give my skin something of a sheen and had a little more time and was not worried about any oil on clothing then it was post shower.

I mentioned the oily slip although this is not greasy, nor unpleasant, and only a bother on the hands. On the skin itself, legs, arms and the like it gave a lovely finish and skin drank it up after a day in the sun and felt supple and moisturised. Whilst I was using SPFs and I’m not something of a sun worshipper I had a little ‘burn’ from a morning out on the open seas but I can report that I didn’t peel at all nor experience that tingly tight skin which often occurs on holidays. I’ve packed this away ready for my trip to Italy next month.

It’s over two years since Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara appeared in a favourites post and here it is again, my second tube at that, making it fight for ‘holy grail’ status. Back in 2014 I said that this mascara made me want to ‘throw out all others I own’ and I feel no different now. This is the mascara at which I’ll benchmark all other mascara’s. It was the one I chose to pack for my holiday knowing that my lashes would look long, thick and volumised. I love it.

On our first night on holiday my friend commented how nice my make up looked (yay me!) and from that night on would join me to get ready and rummage through my make up bag to try out what I had. The two products she liked in particular were L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Amber Rush and Mac Extra Dimension Skin Finish in Magnetic Appeal and I agree she made good choices. I jumped on the L’Oreal Infallible hype when it did the blogger rounds and was able to pick up Amber Rush, a US exclusive during one of my trips. It’s had on and off usage and it was only the past couple of months whilst decluttering my make up that I realised how much I loved this make up. My eyelids aren’t my best feature so I need to be careful of heavily glittered lids but the infallible formula is heavily pigmented enough to work for me. I remember wearing to work one day and a colleague walked into find me admiring my eyeshadow as I had forgotten, or at best not fully appreciated how good this looks. Whilst I add some definition to the crease and liner when wearing Amber Rush it works just as well on its own making it a time saving for nights out when you’re in a rush. Amber Rush is a dupe of Mac’s Tan Pigment, and whilst I’ve never used that myself I’d still say buy the high street version. Mac Pigments last forever and they’re not the most travel friendly compared to the L’Oreal pressed pigments. This renewed love means I’m going to have to add a few more of these little beauty’s to my collection.

Magnetic Appeal is a limited edition product from the Magnetic Nude Collection that I picked up on something of a whim after seeing Jaclyn Hill raving about it way back in 2013. It was more ‘I love the look of that’ rather than knowing exactly how or when I would wear it and it has had sporadic use over the years. When it does come into its own is when I’m holidaying and I’m offering a darker skintone that lends itself better to the product. Like Mac Mineralise Skinfinishes this can be used as a highlight, blusher or bronzer depending on your skintone and Magnetic Appeal is certainly on the bronzer side for me. I use this as something of a do it all on my cheeks when on holiday and whilst it initially scared me using a lighter hand and blending it does look fantastic and will really make the skin glow which is just what we’re looking for on holiday.

Finally another unloved MAC product, Girl About Town Amplified lipstick. I’m pretty sure this was one of my first MAC lipstick purchases but I’ve been off bright pinks, this is a ‘bright fuchsia’, and it’s sat in my draw for I don’t know how long. Yes, yes it’s probably well past its use by date. It was Stacey I think I saw wearing this on Snapchat and thought that looks great, I have that and dug it out. I decided to take it on holiday knowing that much of my clothing for the trip would lend itself well to the colour. If you apply heavily this is very pigmented as the finish suggests but there’s a nice sheen to each which makes a change from the matte lipsticks everyone is tending to favour these days. I don’t normally bother with make up ‘round the pool’ but on the odd day where I wanted to liven my face up or perhaps we were heading to lunch I’d press this on to create a more muted stain which worked perfectly.

Well that wasn't quite the 'shorter' post I had intended, top marks if you reached the end!

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