Benefit Big Easy Review

Benefit Big Easy Multi Balancing Complexion Perfector link

Love them or hate them one thing you can't argue with Benefit about their amazing marketing campaigns and savvy at ensuring bloggers are armed with any new releases ready to tempt us before the products hit the shelves. Obviously talk at the moment is about their new 'Criminally Easy' Gel Eye liner (which I've yet to try) but today I'm returning to a launch a few months back which caught my attention, Benefits Big Easy.

I'm a fan of lighter basis a you know so Benefit's foray into this arena was of interest to me. Luckily when I was in America back in April one of the point perks at Sephora was the Big Easy in a small 3ml size which I was able (due to excessive spending) to pick up on three occasions. 

I actual dabbled in wearing this base whilst away and enjoyed it but on my return I found that it didn't provide the coverage I would like. A few months later and with heat to rival Hawaii I thought I'd give it another go and the love affair is reunited.

So I'm sure you already know that this is a liquid to powder finish, oil-free formula and matte finish which makes it perfect for the current heat we're experiencing and the SPF35 helps. I popped this on one Sunday when I was heading to my parents for a run around in the garden with my niece and nephew (who else remembers What's the time Mr Wolf?) and I have to say where many basis would have an added sheen to them Benefit's Big Easy remained matte and it's oil control claims received a tick from me and of course this means that hours late the product is still in place.

If I was to be critical the coverage is very sheer and less so than my favourite Erborian BB Cream which I've reviewed here but that makes it perfect for weekends when I'm looking for not so much a no make up look, but one that is more natural with a bit of help.

Obviously being a Sunday and brush cleaning day I slapped this on with my fingers (as I do with Erborian on lazy days) which worked well and I imagine with a brush and some more effort I could give myself an even better finish.

I would say Benefit Big Easy is the perfect light base for any oily skinned girls heading off on their holidays who want freedom from a heavy coverage but still require a little something to get them through the day.

Have you tried the Benefit Big Easy or even tempted?

The French invade Epping

One of the reasons I have been absent from my blog of late is due to spending a lot of time with friends and family, the great news is there are some great lifestyle posts ahead the bad news is that some of those days out take up blogging time and of course may leave a lingering hangover the morning after.

One such activity was when the Tour De France came to Epping my hometown. I may not have any interest in cycling itself but when there's an excuse for a Monday off of work and to see the local high street filled with people how could I not participate?

The weeks leading up to the Tour De France hitting our often quiet town meant signs were appearing, complaints about road closures were voiced and bunting was hung. Ben and I enjoyed a drive through the high street Sunday evening watching workers piling barriers along the streets in preparation for the next day. The cyclists were not due to hit Epping until around 2/3 but early morning with the sun shining Facebook status were filled with pictures of streets quickly filling up with local residents reading to watch a piece of history.

I arrived in to the spot secured by Ben and his mum around 1130pm and both were well prepared, his mum with her seat and Ben with the more important flask of Pimms. The atmosphere was fun (if not lacking any music) with people chatting as we waited - we found ourselves with a 90 year old man and a couple of gents, one who had travelled from Cornwall.

Soon the 'carnival' started making it's appearance, unfortunately it was more vehicles who sped through the high street throwing out Yorkshire Tea, Fruit Shoots and the like - it was a shame they weren't a little slower for us blogger types to take some photos. Thanks to the age of smart phones I was able to bring up live action so we could have an idea of where the cyclists were and my mum was asking for updates at her spot outside a friends further along the route.

After four hours of standing around and Pimms drinking the cyclists appeared in the distance and whizzed past in a matter of seconds if not minutes. It was amazing to see how quickly workers stepped in and started removing signage and packaging as we did what anyone would do after such excitement - hit the pub and BBQ.

If that wasn't enough oh la la for one week the following Saturday we stood host to a French market. Despite warnings of rain the sun was shining and mum and I had a lovely stroll through the high street buying French soaps, cheeses and sweet treats. Who needs to cross the Channel for a taste of the French?

I hope you enjoy some more photos from my faux French adventures.

My Morning Skincare Regime

I've been having lot's of conversations recently with friends and family about skincare regimes of late as well having the opportunity to try out lot's of new products. Before it's time for a switch up I thought I'd  share with you what products make up my morning ritual.

No 7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser 

I enjoy the morning wake up call of a wash off cleanser and have one or two that I chop and change between depending on mood. As my Liz Earle Limited Edition version will be popping up in my next Empties post I thought I'd mention again No 7's Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser which I have also reviewed here. I find this a great alternative for a cheaper price tag and for those who enjoy the 'clean' type of fragranced products this will be a hit. Another major plus I love for this bottle is you can see how much is left and when it's time to replace.

L'Oreal Age Perfect Refreshing Toner 

Too lazy to walk to my nearest Liz Earle stockist and replace my favoured Skin Tonic I decided to browse the aisles of Boots and see what was available to me. I was impressed with L'Oreal's micellar water and when I saw it's toner for 'mature' skin boosting Smoothing and Anti-Fatigue assistance I thought this is the one for me. I rather enjoy this toner particular it's somewhat manly scent although if I'm honest I'd prefer something a little more refreshing in smell of a morning and I will be making that walk to pick up some Liz Earle. As a night time toner this fits the bill perfectly and I gave myself a pat on the back when Caroline Hiron's mentioned this in a recent drugstore skincare video recently.

A-derma Rheacalm Soothing Eye Contour Cream* 

For someone who complained about dark circles being their thing in yesterday's post it's somewhat surprising that I've always been lax with eye creams and such a shame that using them has improved the appearance significantly - if only I'd started earlier. I added this eye cream to my hand luggage back in April and happily have continued using it since. I use a heavier duty one at night time but this is the perfect light cream to brighten the area and not cause disruption to make up applied over.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo 

The Effaclar Duo from La Roche Posay is my holy grail product and one I've talked about before in this post. Without repeating myself too much my skin has been transformed by using this product. My first tube was used daily, now my skin is in better condition I tend to use sporadically to hold off any blemishes. I urge everyone to give this a try and see how it works for them.

MyChelle Pure Harmony Serum* 

Serum's are a new arena to me and i have quite a few that have made their way into my regime, mixing them up based on my skins needs. I was given the MyChelle Pure Harmony Serum following my Skin Analysis at Whole Foods which you can read about here. This serum helps to calm and reduce the signs of ageing in sensitive and irritated skin types and I have certainly found that whilst my skin has never noticeably been sensitive it feels much calmer. It's a different texture to some of my other more thicker textures and not the most pleasant of colours but one small pump is all that I need to work into my face.

Vichy Idealia Smooth and Illuminating Cream* 

I have never been wowed over by moisturisers until the Vichy Idealia Smooth and Illuminating Cream came into my life and I am really enjoying using it as my Summer, morning moisturiser. It seems obvious to me now that a lighter product would lend itself well to the warmer months and this fits the bill perfectly. There's almost a creamy gel like texture to this cream and on applying my skin looks wide awake and I'm quite happy to walk to the station bare faced before I set about applying make up on my commute. I also must give note to it's packaging which aside from being pink feels very old school glamour, there's just something about the pot sitting on the side which gives me visions of some 1950's housewife at her dressing table applying her creams.

*this post contains press samples

Hitting Pan #1

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Powder link

It's well known that I love my monthly Empties posts for the sense of achievement and satisfaction at having loved and used a product in it's entirety but unfortunately featuring make up products in those posts rarely seems to happen. That said there is a similar joy when one hits pan on a product as again it signals that this product is well loved. Here's what I have hit pan on recently.

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Powder has become a holy grail product for me and one I have mentioned and recommended on numerous occasions. Were my makeup bag stolen tomorrow the first thing I’d rush to replace is this powder. On its release I was drawn to the light coverage and ‘healthy glow’ offering suggesting it might make the perfect every day base for me. A little too sheer even by my standards I have now found it to be the perfect companion to my regular Erborian BB Crème (or any base I’m wearing for that matter) used as a setting powder with a little extra something – the ‘healthy glow’. Thankfully the initial rush on this product upon its release means that there is no need to stock pile and it can be readily found on counters. I’m currently wearing shade 20 and am tempted to delve into darker shades for bronzing but at £39 I maybe need to just stick with what I know. If you’re toying with the idea off adding this to your collections, aside from it’s gorgeous packaging the product itself is the silkiest powder I’ve known and there’s no danger of the dreaded caked on look. Of course with all Chanel products there is the fragrance which may put some people off but otherwise I have nothing bad to say and urge you to try it.

Clarins Mineral Bronzing Duo link

Prior to delving deeper into beauty blogging bronzers had always been something that scared me and I always get wrong and contouring, well that just wasn't even on my radar. That's all changed thanks to this marvellous bronzing duo from Clarins. I wear the shade Light 01 which is just perfect to add some warmth to my face. Whilst my bronzer stash has grown and I dabble with contouring the one perfectly elegant compact I return to is this one. I can use the darker shade, even despite its slight shimmer to contour and a swirl of the brush to both sides and a dusting across the high points of my face and I look like I've seen sunlight. The bronzing powder is light and velvety and will last me through a day in the office (even during this warmer weather) and I will certainly be repurchasing when the time comes.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer link

You know everyone has that 'thing', mine is the bags under my eyes which everyone tells me aren't as bad as I make out and truth be told eye creams and better sleeping patterns have seen some improvement that I even went without concealing last weekend, that said we all need a good under eye concealer in our arsenal. Bobbi Brown is famous for her Cream Concealer and mine came into my collection after a consultation at a Bobbi Brown counter about a year ago. I'd actually forgot about this product until recently and renewed my love for it but as I say my need for a heavier if not creamy product is less so now. Then of course we have such good drugstore concealers on the market such as Collection's blogger fave or mine from Maybelline which you can read about here. Will I repurchase this when it finally comes to it's end? Probably not, I'll see if I miss it first but give me a few pounds to spend at a Bobbi Brown counter and this would definitely be coming home with me.

Mac Eyeshadow in Omega, Electra and Black Tied link

In the spirit of full disclosure I haven't used any of these three shadows in some time but pulled them out for the purposes on this post (and to encourage using them up). That said Omega was a staple one colour eyeshadow that I wore back in my lazy daily make up routine days. Electra and Black Tied are my old party day colours. Electra worn with Knight Divine was my go to smokey eye look with heavy lashings of Black Tied under the waterline - yes sparkles under the eye, a big no no but I loved it! I have found as I've got older I prefer the softer browns and pinks for my eyeshadows but maybe it's time to give the greys another go?

Is it just me or do you enjoy that moment you 'hit pan' on a product?

June Empties | Beauty

Shalimar Parfum Initial 
My mum brought this for me for Christmas after observing me trying it at beauty counters on numerous occasions. Usually a lover of strong perfumes and the history of the original Shalimar I found the newer younger fragrance to be the preferred scent. Fresher than it's older sister this was a pleasant fragrance and I was glad to have it in my collection. A colleague repeatedly commented on my smelling nice whenever I wore this and has since recommended it to a friend who couldn't find any testers so I can the last of the bottle to him to share with her. I wouldn't rush to repurchase this as I always lean towards my Chanel Coco Mademoiselle but it was nice to have something new in my fragrance wardrobe.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
The perfume that happily takes me from day to night. Strong enough to smell on yourself yet light enough for day. I'm never without a bottle of this and love the handy perfume spray although as I've mentioned before it is frustrating to have to buy the whole system rather than refills. I will repurchase but in a few months when I hit duty free.

Chanel Vitalumere Aqua Foundation
I'm torn between how I feel about this blogger favourite, the foundation raved as a must have by many. This small tester bottle actually lasted a good week so I was able to put it through its paces during a week of mixed weather conditions. Some days I would look in the mirror and think wow this foundation is amazing and on another I'd feel it was less dewy and more sweaty. I think I may be more suited to the newer Velvet addition to their foundation range.

Heaven Skincare Cleansing Milk* 
I've mentioned Heaven Skincare once or twice on the blog before and I'm happy to try any range that has Kate Middleton's seal of approval. This cleansing milk was originally limited edition having been created for one of Deborah Mitchell's clients (Kate maybe?) and became so popular it was made permanent. I would use this as my second cleanse and enjoyed it's consistancy although there was nothing that particularly wowed me. Also I find the bottle really restricting. Yes the glass bottle is slim and elegant but I can't help feel that a lot of the product is wasted and for love nor money could I get the top of to scrap any residual product out.

Chanel Les Beiges All-In-One Healthy Glow Fluid 
You will know by now that Chanel Les Beiges powder is my holy grail item so I was intrigued to see how the Healthy Glow Fluid would compare and I can confirm it's love and how I have managed to resist purchasing the full size yet I don't know.
I was instantly wowed by this but when I checked it's appearance in the mirror an hour or two later I was amazed. I can only describe this as looking like you have stepped off the beach. You know when you've sat in the sun all day and have a fresh tanned glow. If I was going on a Summer holiday this year I would definitely be taking this with me.

Lush Mask of Magnaminty
I am only resisting repurchasing Lush Magnaminty so I can give the other masks in my cupboards a fair crack at the whip. I fully reviewed this mask here so I want repeat in too much detail but this is an affordable mask that now means I want to explore more Lush skincare products.

And that brings June Empties to a close, let's see if July brings another bumper bag of trash.

*this post contains press samples