Back from my hiatus :) Mini beauty haul + review of Sally Hansen Sheer Cream Blush

I certainly missed this blog! An entire 4.5 months has gone by so fast I barely got to catch my breath.  I am finally done with my Masters Degree!! Woo hooooooooooo :D There has been many ups and downs both in my professional, university and personal life, but I am still hopeful for that silver lining behind the cloud.

So to celebrate my completing the degree and also to cheer myself up from a rough time this past weekend, I decided to go on a mini shopping spree. Retail therapy teehee!

There's currently a 50% off promotion for the entire Rimmel range in My Chemist, so I decided to take advantage of it and went to test out the oh-so-famous-on-youtube "Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation".

After testing it out on my hands though, I must say that it's not for me. There are obvious shimmers in the foundation, which may suit skin that is more dry and perhaps smaller pores. Personally though, I don't quite like shimmer all over the face, but rather in specific locations - which is why I am particularly fond of highlighting my cheekbones and the inner corners of my eyes. My pores are relatively large and because of this I fear that the shimmers/glitter will only accentuate them. I also have oily skin, so I don't see this working for me.

I was rather disappointed, but then I turned to play around with other Rimmel foundations and fell in love with the texture and finish of their Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation! It's a light perfecting foundation, which give a satin finish - a perfect balance between glowy/dewy and completely matte.

The shade that I have is called Ivory 100!

Rimmel Match Perfection in 100 Ivory & Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sheer Cream Blush in  01- Beaming

Ivory 100 is the lightest shade in the yellow undertone side of the range, which fits my skin tone perfectly. I have yet to actually try it on my face, but I think this might be one of my soon-to-be-favorites this next month!

The other beauty item I got today was the Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Sheer Cream Blush in 01-Beaming. I purchased its sister in 05-Bloom a few months ago (I think this was in a previous haul) and ended up loving it so much that I decided to get this shade as well.

The texture is not too creamy or sticky and blends in with the skin very nicely. It dries to a satin-finish which is very natural on the face.

In terms of longevity, because of my oily skin, it does tend to fade a bit, but I find that it works best as a base for other powder blushes as well! If I want the exact color, then I would powder very lightly. Otherwise, I layer another blush on top and it stays on all day for me.

Here are the pictures of the two shades and also the swatches!

Left - 01-Beaming// Right - 05-Bloom

 

 

 

Left 05-Bloom// Right 01-Beaming

Bloom is more of a medium pink, whilst Beaming has more of a peach undertone. The swatches on my wrist are more true to color than how they look in the pan in the pictures above.

Top - 01-Beaming// Bottom 05-Bloom

I highly recommend the cream blush as they are generally low-maintenance, appear very natural and are especially great when you're pressed for time.

xoxo

Soap & Glory: Body Butters!

I am a huge, HUGE fan of Soap & Glory. Their products are amazing, as they deliver what they promised - soft, lovely, healthy skin.

I'll be comparing two types of body butters from the line today - first up is the "Butter Up" Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream.

Butter Up Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream

Even though the package claims that it's a cream, the texture is very much like a body butter and is rather thick. The texture for both products in this post are so similar that I thought one picture should suffice (see below)

Smooth and thick - very moisturising :)

 This product is extremely moisturizing, which is why it's great during the winter time. I have very dry skin, so I use it before bed a lot of the time. The only thing which is a serious turn-off is the smell! :( Usually, almost all products from Soap & Glory smell AMAZING. But for some reason, this one smells different, and I can't quite describe it, but it's pungent - and not in a good way. I put it on and my sister actually said "Yuck, that cream doesn't smell good at all" T___T

So I found the perfect remedy - using this on my feet instead! It works perfectly fine, softening the skin on my feet (which are seriously dry), whilst being far enough from my nose that I'm not bothered by it :)

Next up is my favorite of all body butters I've tried - ever! It's my Holy Grail Body butter called  "The Righteous Butter" <3
First awesomeness - It's pink!!! Plus, it smells DIVINE...

The Righteous Butter

  I wouldn't recommend it for use during the summer in the day time, but then again it depends on your skin type. I smooth this on before bed and wake up to super soft skin. I even touch my arms in the morning for fun because they're so soft after the product sinks into the skin (as wrong as that may sound lol) >__< If you smooth it on right after a shower while your skin is still moist, your skin will absorb more of it and faster, thus it will be more effective.

Just can't get enough of this: My HG Body Butter!

They're a bit pricey compared to other brands in Thailand, and you can only get them from Boots, but there are constant sales like Buy 1 Get 1 Free or Buy one get the other for 50% off (which is when I stock up on these), so overall, I think you're getting more than your money's worth.

Overall score: "Butter Up" Deluxe Body Smoothing Cream = 8.5/10
                      "The Righteous Butter" = 10/10 (++ HG Product & Must-have)