My (uber belated) May favourites

I know, I know it's June 18th and I'm posting my May favourites. Poor effort from me but number one -working full time and blogging doesn't always go hand in hand, number two - my laptop went in for repair this month and number three - my OCD just wouldn't allow me to miss a monthly favourites post! Oh and Alix from I Covet Thee only posted her May favourites the other day, so it must be acceptable! *wink Emoji*

So now I've done my explaining, I shall proceed with what beauty products in particular I enjoyed using throughout May. This is a slightly smaller favourites post than usual but as we get into the summer months, I try to use as little amount of products as possible... Nobody likes a hot mess!

Right, enough rambling, here are the products:

Clarins The Essentials Eye Make-Up Palette - £35

Ah, The Essentials Palette, or as I lovingly dub it: "the Naked Palette's older, more sophisticated sister". This came out last winter and I've tried my hardest to play down my love for this palette because I know it's going to end in tears...You see it's sadly limited edition and I don't think you can purchase this anymore *Sob*. On the surface this palette looks like your standard neutral eye palette but trust me it's so much more than that. This 10 shade palette is just divine, I adore the Naked Palettes I do, but this palette is just so much more chic, due to its sophisticated array of (mostly) metallic shades. All shades are extremely wearable day or night. I'm a shimmery eye shadow girl but I've got to say I even love the two matte shades here which is unlike me.

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow - £15.50

Another neutral, metallic eye product Naomi, really? Yes really. Throughout May I reached for this little beauty, whether I was wearing this alone all over the lid or as a base for other eye shadows. It's a lovely product and the colour is gorgeous too. It's a champagney, gold colour with a frosted finish. This lasts all day on me. Lovely, lovely.

Superdrug Coconut Oil - £2.29

I picked this up from my local Superdrug in May after noticing Coconut Oil was doing the rounds in the blogging community and I decided I wanted in on the action! Despite Coconut Oil being renowned for being an excellent multi-use product I've only used it on the ends of my hair so far, post wash. It's keeping my ends looking, feeling and smelling great, and I'm hoping it delays my next trip to the hairdressers by at least another fortnight! Another added perk, it's cheap as chips!

Barry M's Hi Shine Gel Effect Nail Paint in Lychee - £3.99

I don't need to say too much about this product surely? If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll have seen this Nail Polish formula and this particular shade appear in a number of my posts. I painted my nails in Lychee a number of times in May. Overall, I love the formula, it leaves my nails looking glossy and it remains chip-free for a good number of days, and I love the colour, it's a highly wearable nude-grey.


That was short and sweet but it's good to be back. I've got plenty of ideas lined up for upcoming posts, including some venturing into new Better Ni than Never territory... It won't all be beauty, look out for some fashion posts and maybe even a non-beauty favourites post soon! Thanks for reading!

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Review of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and Express 2 in 1 Eye Make-up Remover

You cannot step into a Boots or Superdrug these days without seeing a brand's take on micellar cleansing water. Over the past year or so, micellar water has started appearing from all corners. They're a super fast way to cleanse your skin and remove your make-up. They contain micelles which act like magnets that gently lift away make-up.

The craze started with THE 'big mama' of micellar waters, Bioderma.

(Forgive me for my sins, I have a bad beauty blogger confession to make: I've never tried Bioderma - anyway moving swiftly on...)

With the cult following behind Bioderma, of course it was only a matter of time before drugstore brands caved and started producing their own versions as Bioderma hasn't always been the easiest product to get hold of in the UK. When L'Oreal brought out their version I was excited, I repurchased time and time again but a few bottles down the line my skin was starting to disagree with it. It ended up drying out my skin, as well as leaving it a little red, accompanied with a slight stinging sensation. Nicht gut! So when I heard that Garnier had released their version of micellar water I had to have it right away!

Firstly, the packaging of Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water really drew me to the product. It's fairly similar to Bioderma with its round bottle and pink lid.

Secondly, it's excellent value for money. At 400ml it's double the size of L'Oreal's cleansing water but they're priced the same. (RRP - £4.99) However, I must say both Garnier and L'Oreal are on offer most of the time in Boots and Superdrug.

Now to the crucial bit, does Garnier's version work for me? And the answer is yes it does. I use this as my pre-cleansing step, before I use a cream cleanser. It removes the bulk of my make-up without drying out my skin. It's extremely gentle, soothing and hydrating. I'm thoroughly enjoying using it so far and intend to repurchase it. However, I do not use this for removing my eye make-up, which leads me onto Garnier's Express 2 in 1 Eye Make-up Remover. (RRP - £3.50)

This stuff is excellent. This biphase eye make-up remover is enriched with Arginine, which helps to care for your lashes - meaning I don't lose half my lashes while removing my mascara. Most other eye make-up removers (I'm looking at you L'Oreal Absolute Make Up Remover Eye & Lip) leave my eye area quite oily, whereas Garnier's doesn't. My only criticism is a 125ml bottle of this stuff does not last long, I'm going through it fast!

Overall, I must applaud Garnier on this new cleansing duo of theirs - both of these are brilliant products that require no harsh rubbing to remove your make-up, just simply hold down with a cotton pad for a few seconds and voila - make-up gone. I will certainly be repurchasing both of these in the future.

Have you tried this duo yet?

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