Build Your Own Birchbox at Selfridges

Hold on to your hats beauty lovers because something seriously special is happening in the Selfridges  Beauty Workshop! Nestled amongst our favourite smaller brands, opposite Aesop and across from Origins lies the Build Your Own Birchbox pop up shop.

Since returning from NYC in February, I've always thought how fab it would be for us Brits to have the opportunity to pick and choose our own goodies for a beauty box, just like in the New York Birchbox store. Yes, I know, we can choose them online, but there's something incredibly satisfying about seeing hoards of mini beauty essentials piled high into acrylic tubes, just like pick 'n' mix candy.

Just like a child in a candy store, I beelined for the Birchbox pop up on my last trip to Oxford Street, finding myself in beauty heaven when given the choice to pick out two makeup products, a body product, hair product and skincare product from a makeup menu. With brands ranging from Origins and Stila to Bumble & Bumble and Elemis, there's no better excuse to try out a new luxury product.

These are the goodies which I snapped up after much deliberation, but being spoilt for choice I may just go back for round two before the products change up ready for next month's Birchbox! I can't wait to try out the Stila cream blush, having only just discovered a new found obsession with cream bronze and blush makeup! I know already that my hair will love the Beauty Protector leave in conditioner - it's a gym bag essential, and i've been dying to get my hands on a Ren Wake Wonderful Night Time Facial, so this gives me the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl before I splash out on the full size version.

The pop up will be in Selfridges till the 28th of September, and you can Build your own Birchbox for just �15.

What will you pop in your Birchbox?

xoxo

Festival Beauty Essentials

Woohoo I did it! Survived my first festival since my teenage years (they feel terribly long ago), and, well, it really wasn't too hard. Despite absolutely loving my home comforts - electricity, warm showers, beauty products - you know, the essentials, I really don't mind camping. Having spent a month in a tent in Tanzania when I was 17, just one night in a field doesn't really phase my any more. Plus, I chose my beauty essentials wisely which definitely makes things a lot easier!

The first think I popped in my Festival Beauty bag is my By Terry Sheer Expert Foundation. No matter how neglected my skin feels (and after a night in a tent it's going to be pretty darn neglected), this incredibly moisturising foundation gives my skin that 'apr�s facial' glow, making it appear as though I've had 8 hours sleep when really I was tossing and turning on a camping matt all night. I buffed it in with my Real Techniques buffing brush, then applied a lot of under eye concealer to mask the dark circles. The By Terry Terribly Densilis ( does anyone even know what this name means?!) concealer did the trick, it has anti-aging and skin loving ingredients but I love it for its super long lasting coverage on days when I really need it.

For other areas that need coverage I relied on Benefit's Boi Ing concealer - this also came with me in my handbag for midday touch ups. This stuff doesn't budge or fade, so you can rely on it for looking flawless all day long.

I packed the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette for creating both everyday subtle looks, with shades to build up a deeper brown smoky eye in the evenings. Nudie, Honey Pot and Push Up were used to create a lightly shimmering look for the day time, but then I added some Erotica to the crease and Sexpresso to build up a dramatic evening look.

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Too Faced

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SELFRIDGES

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For my brows, my new Tweezerman tweezers came in surprisingly handy - why is it that my brows decide to grow out of control when I just have a handheld mirror to rely on?! I'll never know, but there was no chance of me mixing up my tweezers with anyone elses thanks to the personalisation - I got my new pair engraved with my name at Selfridges and this pleases me probably far more than it should!
I used the shade Sexpresso from the Too Faced palette again to build in some colour to the brows, before setting with my new Clinique Just Browsing gel, which has a coloured formula so for an even more natural look you could get away with using the gel by itself.

My lashes were curled with my Tweezerman Rose Gold Lash curlers before I coated them with my Estee Lauder Waterproof mascara. This stuff seriously doesn't budge, and once lashes are curled - the mascara holds the curl all day, all night. It's perfect for long-use wear like at a festival!

I couldn't have survived the festival without my anti-perspirant, and I took the new Sure Compressed Shower Fresh deodorant. Not just because I knew I'd be craving that squeaky clean, freshly showered feeling, but also because of it's fancy new motion sense technology which active with movement - so the more dancing, the better!

I was also thankful for my Venus Snap which I keep in my travel bag - with temperatures were up to 29 degrees my legs were out, and thankfully my pins were silky smooth thanks to this nifty number!

What are your Festival Beauty Essentials?

xoxo

Selfridges Summer Beauty Box - Out Today!

The rumours are true. Today, fashion and beauty mecca, Selfridges is launching it's new Beauty Box, and boy is it a good un. Just when we thought that the Beauty Box market was completely over saturated, and nothing new could be bought to the table, this happens.The box contains some of the most loved brands from the infamous Selfridges beauty hall, from top end brands including Nars, Caudalie, Urban Decay and Illamasqua. 

Far from the all too familiar sample sizes and products which brands just want to get rid of (sorry, the  cynical side of me tends to sigh when I open up beauty boxes and it's the weird shades and non-selling products inside!) the Selfridges Beauty Box is filled with firm favourite and best sellers. Some of my favourite products of all time are within the box, ranging from old favourites such as the Urban Decay de-slick make-up setting spray (a beach bag essential!) to new essentials like the Rodial Dragon's Blood Cleansing Gel. There's even a full sized tangle teezer, eyes eyeliner and Clarins Eau des Jardins Body Cream.

The bag itself is beautiful; a big canvas pouch which is the ideal travel beauty bag worth �20, designed by Alphabet Bag design so you know it's a good one! In total, the contents of the bag are worth �176, but the Selfridges Summer Beauty box is retailing at just �40.

It's available on the Selfridges website from this morning, and it's sure to sell out so be sure to order yours NOW before they do!

Will you be purchasing the Selfridges Beauty box?

May Favourites

Even though this is only my second ever favourites video, I can already tell you that they're my favourite to film! Looking through all the beauty and other things that I've been using that month and picking out the best of the best is such a positive experience, whether it is sharing a life-changing skincare product *cough* Liz Earle *cough*, talking about a great afternoon tea or discovering a bronzer which gives you the greatest faux holiday glow you've ever experienced!

This month I was loving lots of new (to the blog) brands, and also revealing a rather dorky obsession that I have! I've also found some incredible budget nail varnishes which you must try!

Enjoy!

As always it would mean a lot to me if you would give my videos a thumbs up, subscribe the my channel here, and if you're feeling super generous, you could leave me some comments!

What have your favourites been this month?