April Roundup: Favourites & Empties

A little late to the game but it feels like I was only posting my March favourites yesterday! Time seems to be accelerating at an alarming rate and I can't say I'm a fan, though the warmer weather creeping in is good.

It's rare for skincare to really wow me, mostly because it's rare for me to notice anything different about my face unless a massive spot erupts (as they are want to do) but the Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix pads have actually done that. Since using them regularly I've noticed my skin feels a lot smoother, and the KP along my jawline has almost gone. I actually think I'll be repurchasing these when they run out. £12.95 for something that has made such a difference to my face and will last me two months isn't too bad. I have two favourite lip products this month, the first being the NYC Appleicious in Big Apple Red which is a gorgeous red lip balm. I loved this, it smells like apple and leaves a lovely subtle red colour to my lips, it means that I didn't need to worry about removing my lip colour when adding balm to my lips.

The other lip product I loved this month was the Barry M Touch of Magic Lip Paint (swatched here), and not just because it was funny to see people's faces in work when I whipped out a green lipstick! I am easily amused. It gives me a bright pink lip which lasts for hours and hours and means I'm not worrying about odd lip fade during the day. I've also really loved NYX Taupe blush, the blogger favourite, and it's my daily contour shade now. Lovely pale cool tone which seems to work well with my skin. And my eyeshadow pick for the month is Innocent + Twisted Alchemy's Fatal Desire (swatched here) which has been my eyebrow of choice this month, although no one at work seems to have noticed. It's a stunning teal green and aside from apparently being more subtle than I thought, works great with my ever fading hair.

Something which isn't really beauty but I included in the picture (because it was photographable) is my eCigarette. I've been trying to quit smoking for a while and these really helps me stay away from all but the emotional crisis cigarette. I'm on the lowest % nicotine now and will probably move to the nicotine free soon. Plus all the great flavours are fun. A book that really stuck with me this month was Purge by Sarah Litman (which I mentioned in review here ). As I said there it's so well written and really strikes home, and it's rare for a book to still be running through my head so much later. Highlight of the month as far as leaving the house goes was McBusted – they were amazing. Everything the high schooler in me wished that they would be and more. I would relive that night over and over (being locked out of the house until 4am aside). Musically this month the biggest favourite for me has been Bastille's album Bad Blood. I am obsessed. I think I know most of the songs off by heart now and I have so many favourite tracks, namely Flaws, Icarus, Laura Palmer and Daniel In The Den, as well as the two big radio hits Pompeii and Of The Night. The full album is actually on youtube for you to listen to if you search.

Empties

I have a fair few empties this month as well, I seem to be using up quite a few things lately.

First the makeup, quite a lot of my empties are makeup this month. Okay, so, the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Powder and Barry M Nail Paint in Black aren't actually empty, but the powder is hard and won't pick up on my brush any more (it's got that weird 'skin' on it or whatever) and the nail paint is gloopy and done for. So they're both really as good as empty - I won't be using them anyway. I'm not repurchasing either of these, I wasn't a fan of the powder and I just bought Rimmel's Stay Matte to try out, but the Nail Paint wasn't bad at all, I just have a black from Maybelline and the Matte black Espresso from Barry M to replace it with. Then I have three lip products! The NYC Appleicious lip balm which I used almost every day this month and am strongly considering repurchasing and maybe trying some of the other shades too though I do have some other tinted balms on the way from Shiro. Speaking of... the second of my lip empties is Shiro Cosmetics Intertubes in Magnets (swatched here) which got very gritty and uneven towards the end. Caitlin has actually discontinued the intertubes in favour of a new better formulation, though if you wish to snap up any of the colours you loved they're currently on sale until they vanish here as many of the colours haven't been remade in the newer formula. I won't be repurchasing Magnets, it was pretty but gritty and that makes me sad. The final lip empty is a sample from Kiss My Sass of their Sippin Mai Tais Lip Tint (swatched here), I really liked this colour and the flavour of the tint but the wear wasn't great. Another non-repurchase that nevertheless I enjoyed while it lasted. I also used up three eyeshadows, Darling Girl The Mummy (swatch) and Ladyhawke (swatch) and Victorian Disco Mellon (swatch), I really liked all three of these but unfortunatley The Mummy and Mellon are both discontinued (as far as I know) and Ladyhawke was one of the Darling Girl GWPs which are one offs for the week, so they're all gone for good. Mellon was my favourite of the three, but I got a new appreciation for Ladyhawke just as it was running out. Typical! The final empty of the beauty products is Thursday's Child Perfume Oil from State of Grace (review here), I wish I had liked this scent more but lavender is just not my thing. So again not a repurchase. Not many repurchases here are there?

Skincare. First off the Sainsbury's Basics cotton wool pads, these were a desperate buy at the time. Next time I'm investing a little extra in my cotton pads (though I shouldn't need them for more than nails for a while with new skincare purchases) because these scratched and irritated my eyes :(. The Boots Botanics Ultra Calm Serum was a lovely feeling serum, and made my skin feel pleasantly soft but it didn't do much to help my redness which is what I'd picked it up for in the first place. I did really love the pump system, it's one of the airtight ones that flattens the tube as you go along and you get all the product out. I bought this in January I believe, and it lasted until early April with daily use, which is darn good for a £7.99 product, but not a repurchase for me. The other is Asda Mattifying Moisturiser which was cheap and cheerful and did exactly what it said on the tin, but didn't play nice with my foundations and really at 23 I need a better moisturiser that does more to hydrate and protect my skin.

Mostly there's not much to say about this last lot. Nose Pore strips don't really work, the Sure deodorant works and doesn't stain my many many black tops. Plus the new compressed tins are easy to carry if needs be. Sensodyne Repair & Protect is my go to toothpaste, it does go some way towards helping my teeth but honestly there's not much that'll save them barring a miracle. The very final empty of the month is nSpa Shower Scrub in Raspberry, this smells gorgeous - a really lush fruity smell, but it doesn't scrub as much as I want. If you have sensitive skin this would be perfect for you because it's really not harsh.