Kiko Green Me Pieces

If you've read my blog for a while you'll know if I ever see a Kiko shop I have to get something as I love them but they don't have any of the stuff where I live. Since I don't get to go a lot I don't know what they have and what's new but I'm pretty sure the Green Me collection is new and after reading up about it online it says it's limited edition too. What I really loved about this collection is that the products are made from natural ingredients, and the packaging is made out of recycled paper and plastic and wood which is really environmentally friendly. The lady in the shop even told me that it's vegan which made me want some pieces even more.

   

I purchased two things from this collection that I thought I would use a lot. The first thing was the Green Me hydrating face mist (which I can't find online). Coming into the hotter weather I think looking after your skin and keeping it hydrated is very important so I thought this would be good. I have a Lush face mist that I normally use for the morning before I apply makeup so this one I normally use after I take my makeup off after a long day. If I'm wearing a full face of makeup all day my skin can get really tired and worn out so this helps add extra moisture and restore my skins glow. I really like this product and think it does do a good job. It doesn't really have much of a scent but the size of the product is also perfect for travelling which I find is a great thing to have with you as travelling can be exhausting. 

The second thing I purchased was the Green Me eyeshadow palette in number 2 Feisty Saffron. I liked this one because it had more of red and orange undertones than the other palettes in this collection. What I love is the size of this palette, it fits in the palm of my hand and is perfect for carrying around and topping up during the day as it has it's own mirror too. For such a small palette it has a good amount of shades, there's nine in total, with four shimmer and five matte. I think there is a good mix of colours in it and it can make a perfect day to night transition palette. It's perfect for every occasion and I really like the consistency. It's very creamy and smooth and easily spread along the eyelid. The eyeshadows don't have individual names as far as I'm aware, but my favourite is the third one in the first row, which is the most pinky nude shade of the palette, and the one in the very middle which is a pretty shimmer copper colour. 

The swatches are of the palette starting from the top row, middle then bottom in order, they have no individual names.

I want to pick up a few more pieces from this collection hopefully before it sells out but the quality and the idea behind the whole range is right up my street and I love it.
Has any one else tried anything from this range?

Current Hair Products & Routine

While I like to use products to make my hair feel and look nice, I don't think I use a lot when it comes down to comparison with other people. I'm very minimal with my hair care, and my hair generally is good with doing what I want it to do. My natural hair is slightly waving which makes it easy to straighten and curl. It's also a dyed blonde now, which means I have to put a little more care into looking after it than I would if I was still my natural brown, to maintain colour and softness. The products I'll be discussing are what I use all the time to keep my hair daily, while I use other conditioners too, they change regularly, but these are the products that I've been using constantly for a while.

The first product is usually what I use first in my shower routine, it's the Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Shampoo. Purple Shampoo is good for dyed blonde hair as it enhances the colour of it and gets rid of brassy undertones and helps it glow and shine even more. I use a handful of this to help my colour stay and last even longer, I know that there is a conditioner to go with this but I feel like using both might make my hair feel like it has more chemicals in it, even though it's bleached, so using a natural conditioner with this helps my hair get a break from that. The size of this product is really good, and depending on how often you use it you can get a good while out of it. It definitely does the job and doesn't dry out my hair, while helping it stay blonde.

I didn't include my other in shower products as I thought there would be too many so I've decided to do another post in the future. The products that are next in my routine come after my shower before I dry my hair. I use the TRESemme heat defense spray, this is my favourite heat protector as I love the smell of it and I feel like it does a good job. I think it's important to use heat protector if you put a lot of heated products on your hair as it does a lot more damage than you may think, I definitely notice a difference when I use it, my hair feels softer and less coarse.

The John Frieda Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray is something that I don't use every time I shower as it contains a lot of bleaching qualities to obtain its lightening. This product gradually lightens your hair, I find that like the purple shampoo, if you're blonde and really want to go a little lighter this is perfect. You spray this on wet hair and dry it and gradually after a few weeks your hair becomes brighter. The only thing with this is that you need to be careful with how much and where you're spraying it because you can make really light patches in your hair so you need to spray from as far away as you can. I think this is great for blondes who want to go lighter without psychically dying their hair. 

  

The last product that I like to use is the Mark Hill Miracoilous Moroccan Argan Oil. I hate the feeling of argan oil, but I know that it does wonders for your hair. You rub a tiny bit of this product in between your hands to warm it up then spread it into wet hair. It leaves your hair silky smooth and shiny when dry and its super hydrating.

Does anyone use any of these products or have any suggestions that I can add into my routine?

Benefit GALifornia Love | Gift Set Review

I received this as a gift a while ago, I know so cute, and I don't usually buy myself Benefit products but I love using them. This gift set GALifornia Love contains three full sized benefit products, with a few that I've been dying to try for a while. It contains a full sized Roller Lash, a Galifornia blush and a Gimme Brow eyebrow gel. I love the quality and packaging of Benefit products and I've been loving using these over the past few months.

   

The gift set comes in what I'd describe as a globe shape container, and the products have a stand at the bottom where you can display them after opening the lid. I find that Benefit gift sets have very awkward packaging, although they're very cute they're not very practical. This package is very large and I'm not too sure whether to reuse it, and how and where to display it. I think it does make a wonderful gift though, and it's not too pricey for the amount of full sized products that you get.

The first product in this set is the Roller Lash mascara. I love Benefit's They're Real mascara and use it a lot so I've been wanting to try another one of their mascaras. I love the feel of the packaging and it makes it very easy to grip and apply on your lashes. I love the length of the applicator and brush and it makes it so easy to blend it all over your lashes and make sure that there is no clumps. They give a really natural and long vibe to your lashes but you can easily add more layers if needed. 

The next product is the Galifornia Blush, which I had not seen before. I don't love most of the blushers that I already have from Benefit because they're way too peachy toned for my liking. This one is very cute and is an oranged toned pink and I think it would look really cute in the summer, but I haven't had much wear out of it yet. I do like the quality and the packaging of this blush but I never like the applicator brush that comes with it as it's too long and narrow for blending. After looking at some of the images online for some of these blushes I've noticed that there is a different design on other ones that isn't on mine so I think there might be a few variations of it.

The last product is the Gimme Brow eyebrow gel. I normally use eyebrow gel to fill in my eyebrows and this gel is perfect for setting them and brushing them out. The consistency is very light and easy to spread and brush through your eyebrows. I use this more to set than fill in my eyebrows. If you were having a minimal makeup day, a quick brush through your eyebrows with this would look really nice with little effort. I really like it and I'd love to try more of their brow products.

Has anyone tried these products before? What do you think of them?

April Favourites | 2018

This month has been full of deadlines as I approach my final month in college, rather than how chill March had been for me. I've had a few pieces from the last month I've been trying out and loving so I thought I'd share them.

The first item I've had for a while but never remembered to put it in my favourites. It's the Real Techniques brush cleansing gel, now I've never owned a proper makeup brush cleaner before so I thought I would invest in one since I have a lot of brushes that need cleaning. Most of my brushes are Real Techniques so I thought that a Real Techniques brush cleaner would be the best option. Turns out it's one of the best things I could have ever bought, it makes cleaning your brushes less of a chore, and if you're anything like me, it's a very big chore. You put a little bit into the bristles of your brush, and although I have a brush cleaner mat, not sure what they're really called, but I find that it's actually better to just clean them with your hands. It takes the product remains out of the brushes with such ease, it takes very little effort and scrubbing to completely clean them and it's just amazing. It made my life so much easier, as it normally takes about an hour to clean all my brushes.

You may have seen that I went a little bit Lush crazy with their Easter range, so I bought more products than I could review on my blog. One of the products in the Easter range that I've been loving is the Bunch of Carrots, which is the cutest little bubble bar. It comes with three carrots, a pink, orange and purple one, (I've already used the pink). I really like this product, it's not much more expense than any other Lush bubble bar, yet it comes with three different products in my opinion. Although you can always reuse bubble bars, you might not get much use out of them, with these you can get at least three baths out of it, using one for each, which I love. I think the idea is so cute and they leave your bath a really vibrant colour and they smell really sweet and nice.

The next product that I've been loving is the Kiko Milano Instant Colour Matte Liquid Lip Colour in 03 Amaranth. This is a dark purple red tone which isn't too strong but makes your makeup look look like you've put more effort into it than you have, it reminds me of the Plath Kat Von D lipstick that I also love. I have a love for Kiko products yet I cannot get them in Ireland so every time I am abroad I look for a Kiko store to explore. I really love the consistency of the product, not too heavy or too light and it has a nice payoff colour.

The last thing in my favourites is the Lancome Bi-Facil eye makeup remover. I don't normally take my eye makeup off with a separate product than the rest of my face but when you wear a little bit extra makeup than usual I think it's nice to cleanse your skin a little more as it may have been a bit harsher on it than usual. I bought this Lancome mini in the airport the last time I was there as they always sell the perfect travel sized products there. I really love this eye makeup remover as I feel like it really does get everything off your face that you may have missed. It's good for people with sensitive skin, which I have. I also really love shaking the product and watching the liquids fuse together in the bottle is really satisfying.

The above swatch is of the Kiko Instant Colour Matte Liquid Lip Colour in 03 Amaranth. 

What's everyone else been loving this month?