March beauty favourites

It's the last day of March, and I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my favourite products this month - some of them newly discovered, some that were love at first sight, and some that I've grown to love.

To summarise; they're all fantastic, and they all truly deserve a spot here on Fashion Infatuation as they've all impressed me in one way or another.
Read on for more details.

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Foundation

My friend convinced me to go to Clinique to try out a foundation a couple of months ago. I was a bit hesitant even after I bought the foundation, but I needen't have been. This anti-blemish foundation has got anti bacterials in it, so it helps heal the spots you cover with it. It's a lightweight foundation, which I didn't like to start with since I had to many spots to cover, but it really has helped me clear my skin, and now I love the look this foundation gives me.

L'Oreal Paris False Lash Flutter Mascara

Best everyday mascara ever! It took me a few days to work the winged brush, but once I got the hang of it... I mean, oh my! The mascara has a little bit of fibres in it, and really builds up your lashes to quite a dramatic look. I've never been a fan of the natural look since I've got pathetic eyelashes, so this is like a match made in heaven. 

 

Dermalogica Age Smart Eye Cream

A silicone based eye cream that is really smooth and lovely, and that even smells nice! I've got quite sensitive skin around my eyes, and if I use the wrong type of eye cream my eyes start watering, so this little number is perfect. The fact that it's got an anti ageing element to it is just a big plus.

 

Murad Blemish Clearing Solution

I've suffered from hormonal acne for quite a few years now, and I've tried several products for this. It was never bad, but bad enough to annoy me. Before Christmas I got myself a pharmacy cream with benzoyl peroxide, which was really strong and cleared my skin quite quickly, but it also left it dry and a bit patchy. I've now followed on with the Murad Blemish Clearing Solution which contains salicylic acid - an ingredient that will keep my skin clear of spots and even out my skin tone without drying out my skin. I've used it for a few weeks now and I love it! My skin hasn't been this clear in years!

So these were my daily use products. Over to the ones I use a bit less frequently.

Joules Pick of the Patch Body Lotion & Body Butter

Just a little treat to myself when I fancy a little pampering session. I'm not so good at treating my body to good moisturising, but I do try sometimes. These little handy sized products from Joules are lovely in texture and fragrance. A very fresh smell, and lovely and lightweight products. 

ESPA Refining Skin Polish Exfoliator

I got this little gem at the Harvey Nichols event I attended a few weeks ago. When I spoke to one of the dermatologists there she adviced me to exfoliate my face once or twice a week to even out my skin colour from where I've had spots before. The exfoliator has got teeny tiny little grains that really leave your skin smooth like a baby's bum. A great combo with my Blemish Clearing Solution.

Sanctuary Spa White Lily & Damask Rose Body Wash

Well, I never thought I would write about something as simple as a body wash on my blog! But.. here it goes! I've always gone for the £1 Palmolive or something equivalent from my local supermarket before, not thinking about a shower cream needing to do more than smelling nice and obviously getting me clean. But, when trying this body wash from Sanctuary I was so pleasently surprised by how different a quality brand can be. The wash is very thick, with lots of bursting moisture beads, and it smells divine! 

This was a very different post for me to write, so I really hope you liked it.

Let me know if you have any questions about the products.

Spots and Stripes

I was inspired by the pretty purple spring colours in my garden, and decided to create a manicure a little bit based on this. 

The nail polishes I've used are all of different types of purple - a bright purple glitter polish from Zoya, a dark and dusky purple polish from Barry M, and a very light but also dusky lilac polish from Barry M. I'm finishing off with a matte top coat.

Other tools used for this manicure is my trusted dotting tool, a cuticle clipper, nail tape and tiny little metal studs.

I love the look of multiple accent nails when it comes to my manicures, so as usual I'm starting off with a few different base colours. I've planned the nail art in my head beforehand so that I know which nails to stick the metal studs on before the nail polish has dried. This is the best way of attaching nail studs. Simply just add a layer of top coat afterwards to make it stick properly. DO NOT USE GLUE as this will be a nightmare to get off!

I've recently started experimenting a bit with nail art tape, so I'm nowhere near a pro yet. Here, I'm just doing a few simple stripes. Start by cutting a number of pieces of tape long enough to cover your nail, and a little bit more on top of that. Use your cuticle clipper for this, as it's a lot sharper than a pair of scissors. Start by placing one piece of tape in the middle of your nail, and go from there - trying to space out the pieces of tape as evenly as possible.

Make sure the pieces of tape sit tightly on your nail, and all the way out to the edges. If not, you'll end up with uneven stripes. Paint your taped nail withyour contrasting polish, and IMMEDIATELY remove the pieces of tape with the help of the cuticle clipper. Carefully grab one piece of tape at the time, and slowly pull it off the nail.

For the polka dots on my other nail I've simply used a dotting tool.

Finish off your manicure with a matte top coat for that smooth look, and TADAA! 

What do you think of my dusky purple manicure with spots and stripes, studs and glitter? 

Do you like the multiple accent nail type of manicure?

A Beautiful Mind - beauty event at Harvey Nichols in Leeds

So myself and these two gorgeous ladies - Kristina from Mode of Style and Laura from Top Style Advice - headed over to Harvey Nichols on Tuesday after work for the after-closing-time beauty event 'A Beautiful Mind'. It was not a blogger event, but just a general beauty event for invited people where you could take the chance to learn about beauty products and get tips from the experts. We were welcomed with a glass of bubbly, and were then free to roam around the beauty floor as we wished. 

 Laura was mostly interested in the makeup bit, and had her mind set on getting a new lipstick in a coral hue - perfect for spring. After a bit of consulting she opted for a lipstick from Clinique, and received a free little goodybag to go with it.

Kristina and I headed over to the Dermalogica counter where you could get your skin scanned by a professional skin therapist. Very interesting, I must say! I've got blemish prone skin due to my hormonal acne (it's a bitch!), and even though I keep my skin clear from blemishes with the help of a pharmacy cream, the dermatologist was able to give me some advice on how to blend my skincolour to be more even around my old scars. Very helpful! She also recommended me to use products with salicylic acid, and to exfoliate my skin 1-2 times a week.

After that we headed upstairs to see one of the many tutorials that was on the schedule for the evening.

We learnt about contouring, which has become extremely popular recently thanks to celebrities such as the stunning Kim Kardashian. I would love to learn the art of contouring, but I can imagine it takes a bit of practice!

We also treated ourselves to a mini ginger and coconut handcrafted icecream cone from YeeKwan. 

Like my Spring inspired nails? I've gone for a mint, white and gold look this week, with decorative studs and nail tape. (You can see a closeup on my Instagram)

The rest of the evening we just had a walk around the different makeup stands, getting some colour inspiration for spring. MAC had some gorgeous eyeshadows on display, and I just wanted all of them!

Guests could also opt to have a makeover on the night. Here, a professional makeup artist from MAC is showing a guest how to apply her makeup the best way to compliment her features.

It was a good night spent at Harvey Nichols in Leeds. I guess the only thing we would have wished for as the only 3 bloggers invited was that we would have been treated a little more like VIPs rather than any customer. I was quite surprised that they wouldn't even give Kristina £10 off her purchase when all the other customers had gotten vouchers on their way in. But oh well... It was still a good night, and I was happy to have learnt a bit more about the art of contouring and dealing with my skin problems.

Thanks to Harvey Nichols for inviting us!

GIVEAWAY - £100 Designer Sunglasses

 Rihanna, Khloé Kardashian, Kristen Stewart, Paris Hilton, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Beyoncé... they're all stars we look to for fashion and beauty inspiration, and one thing they've all got in common is that they look smoking hot in sunglasses! 
From winged 60's specs and the classic aviator style, to a pop of color and the 80's plastic fantastic... the celebs know how to shade in style! 
If you want to look all Hollywood glam when it comes to your sunnies you can browse through the celebrity spotter at Sunglasses Shop, and get the latest insider information on who has wore what.

But the biggest star of them all when it comes to fashion and big-ass sunglasses is of course the living legend Victoria Beckham. With Paparazzis constantly following her around there's no wonder she likes to hide behind a pair of over-sized shades - so much that she's even created her own sunglasses collection under her fashion brand!
Oh, doesn't she just look fabulous!

Fashion Infatuation has teamed up with Sunglasses Shop and will give away one pair of designer sunglasses from their impressive collection to one lucky reader. The winner can pick any pair of sunglasses from the website, for a value of up to £100.

All you have to do for a chance to win is enter via the different options in the widget below. The more options you enter by, the higher the chance to win!

Go on! We could all do with a new pair of sunnies now that Spring is finally here! 

Good luck to you all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rocking it in Manchester

When in Manchester, you have to play the part, right?

Compared to Leeds, Manchester is the industrial city in the west, known for its music scene when it comes to both gigs and musicals. I've lost count how many times I've had to travel over to Manchester in order to see my favourite rock bands - apparently Leeds is not hardcore enough for them! So when I recently visited this city I felt that it was appropriate to dress a little bit rockier than I usually do.

It was all about the black and grey, metal and leather, and the relaxed and slouchy but still fashionable style.

This over-sized light grey cardigan is one of my favourite garments at the moment. It's so comfy and it just goes with everything! I picked it up at Primark the other week (it comes in tons of different colours).

But the best part of the outfit - the part that actually makes it scream rock - are these punky black and white stripy tights with the writing Rock & Roll on them. Can't be more clear with my message than that, can I? ;)

I'm pairing them with my trusted black leather lace-up boots.

I love a good life motto, and one of my favourite ones is "The rest of your life starts today". This is written on a steel pendant I got from my parents as a present recently. I've got a few different pendants from Rirem, and I love them all. The great part about them is that you only need one chain for your different pendants, and you simply clip them on the chain and can swap them around however you want.

My greyish lilac nail polish is the matte Almond from Barry M.

The basic black vest top and black high-waisted jersey skirt are both from H&M. They're both great capsule wardrobe items which goes with everything. The black waist belt with the metal clasp is from H&M as well.

It's not extreme in any way, but I love the fact that I can incorporate a bit of rock'n'roll inspiration into my outfits.

Will you be my maid of honour?

French romantic, lace, pearls, flowers and dusky pink and lilac hues... 

Want to know where I got my latest nail art inspiration from? 

Well, this lovely box was given to me by my best friend at the weekend...

...and it incuded a bunch of lovely gifts, along with the question of 'Will you be my maid of honour?'.

Of course I said YES!

Being her maid of honour will include tasks such as keeping her from crying on her wedding day (I'm doomed already! Every bride cries, right?), helping her pick the wedding dress (This is when I'm gonna cry... into my champagne!), throwing her an amazing hen party, telling her off when she's sending out bridezilla vibes, and a very important task... holding her dress when she needs to pee!

She had placed lots of little cards of inspiration in the gift box, which respresents the colour theme of the wedding. These included bridesmaid dresses, the bridal bouquet, hair pieces and all sorts, and it's what got me inspired...

I dug around in my nail polish collection and found a number of them that matched the theme. Although, I had to mix the peach and green polishes slightly to get more dusky colours.

I didn't really know what style I was aiming for, so I started off with a couple of different base colours, and just experimented from there. I knew I wanted to include some green and lilac, as well as lace and pearls to match the overall theme of the wedding.

And this is the result! - a very romantic, old fashioned and dusky look. Everything is handpainted by myself with the help of a dotting tool, and the tiny pearls are attached with the help of clear nail polish. I've finished it all off with a matte top coat - something that's new to me, but I really like how it turned out.

I can't wait for my best friend's wedding, and in the year and a half (almost) leading up to it, I'm sure you'll see more wedding inspired posts here on Fashion Infatuation.