Monthly Favourites: July

Tis the end of another month which can only mean one thing. It's monthly favourites time and this month I have a lot more non beauty favourites than I do beauty favourites purely because make up has been the last thing on my mind during this horrendous heatwave and skincare I have no new favourites.

I haven't worn a full face of make up in weeks, choosing lighter, skin tint/tinted moisturiser bases instead. But I still wanted the little coverage I was wearing to stay in place. I also wanted something that was going to disguise any redness that warm weather had brought to life. Which is where the Maybelline Master Primer Anti-Redness Primer comes into play. This primer has worked wonders for my skin everytime I've used it, it's disguised redness, blurred my pores and gave my skin a perfected look without that horrid green cast that many colour correcting primers do. And make up actually does last longer with this on, something I happily discovered as I rushed sweatily to dinner with a friend the other night. I've been enjoying this that much I haven't even reached for my trusty SuperStay Primer from Maybelline and we all know how attached to that product I am.

The only other beauty product I've been loving this month is a setting spray from I Heart Revolution. I credit a lot of my 'make up' staying on my face to this as well as the Maybelline Primer. There are various scents in this range but I have the Guava and Rose scent which seems to calm and hydrate my skin, making my make up look natural yet still flawless or as flawless as it can be in thirty degree heat. It's lightweight but powerful and has stopped me looking like an oil slick whenever I've wanted to look nice instead of my bare faced teenage self again.

I have a new TV addiction and it's all Shemar Moore's fault. His latest show S.W.A.T just premiered here in the UK and I was hooked with the first five minutes of the first episode. That hooked that between work, sleep and baking, I binge watched the entire first season in a week. And I may or may not be indulging in a rewatch as I wait for Season Two to arrive in September. Centered around the LA Metro SWAT, the show focuses on the work of Sergeant Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson and his team of extremely badass colleagues. Each episode is packed full of drama, action, humour and realistic issues that the world is facing each and every day. It's easy enough to get lost and binge a good three or four episodes at a time without realising you're doing it.

 I don't even think I need to explain why I loved this next favourite so much but I'm going to any way. Mamma Mia Here We Go Again is the amazing sequel to the ABBA fest that was Mamma Mia. I can't even put into words how much I loved this film and how uplifting and feel good it was. The soundtrack was phenomenal (I've had it on repeat all week) as well as the cast, who brought back all the memories of the original Mamma Mia but with the added additon the younger versions of the original cast. Lily James smashed it as young Donna whilst Amanda Seyfried gave me all the feels as present day Sophie. Too some people it's camp and over the top but it's a good way of relaxing for two hours with amazing music, scenery and several heartfelt moments that'll have you reaching for the tissues. And it has Cher in it, what more could you want from a film.

Apart from the Mamma Mia soundtrack there has only been one other album I've loved this month. And that comes from Canada's greatest export, Shawn Mendes. His new self titled album can be described in no other words than amazing. In My Blood, Nervous, Lost In Japan and Particular Taste are my most played songs but really there isn't a bad song on the album and coming from someone who's fussy as anything about albums like I am it's saying something. It's been my baking playlist, my blogging playlist and my relaxing playlist since I downloaded and apart from my next favourite, I haven't listened to much else.

My penultimate favourite is a musician who can do no wrong in my eyes. Her voice is sensational, her music is incredible and I can remember every word to every song better than I can remember any other song lyric in exsitence. Carrie Underwood is the queen of country music, her albums the only other music I've been listening to after Shawn Mendes this month and I'm counting down until her new album is released in September. Songs like Choctow County Affair, Church Bells, Undo It, The Champion, Cry Pretty and Cowboy Casanova are some of my favourite songs but again she is an artist that doesn't produce bad music and if Cry Pretty is anything to go by, her new album titled Cry Pretty which is released in September will be another sensational album from my musical idol.

And for my last favourite I'll have to ask you to ignore the awkward pose and the dirty mirror and focus your attention on the jeans. Never did I think there would be a day where I would prefer wearing a loose fit blue jean over my standard go to black skinny jeans. These little beauts are from Marks and Spencers and are the best money I've ever spent. They're a mid rise, relaxed fit, slim leg jean that have the most flattering turn up on my 5'3 frame. They cost a little more than I'd usually like to pay for my jeans but they are so comfy and give such a nice relaxed look to any outfit whilst keeping me cooler than skinny jeans would in the hot weather.

Monthly Favourites: November

I say this every month but literally where has the month gone. It's nearly December and I haven't even got half of my Christmas shopping done. The panic is starting to set in a little if I'm honest. This month there isn't a lot of new favourites or a lot of favourites in general. For some reason I just haven't been using or discovering a lot of new products this month.

A lot of my favourites this month are old favourites that I've fallen in love with again. The first of these is Pixi's Glow Tonic. This has been my go to toner for the month and it's really changed both how my skin looks and feels. A lot of it's down to the 5% Glycolic Acid in it's formula that has helped my skin, making my skin look brighter and feel softer to the touch. And I've been using it everyday instead of every now and again and I think that's why it's been working so well with my skin. In fact I'm nearly out and need to pick up another one up soon.

Another oldie but a goodie is the Emma Hardie Morninga Cleansing Balm. I go through phases of using it and then stopping because I only had travel sized pots beforehand. Now though I have three 50ml pots waiting for me when I have finished this one. I love this product, it just works wonders on my skin, especially now it's Winter. Rich, thick and nourishing, this is my favourite second cleanse at the moment as it just does so much for my skin. If you've never tried it before I highly suggest you do, you won't regret it.

From one end of the price spectrum to another. To go alongside with my Emma Hardie, my favourite inital cleanse/make up remover has been from Loreal. Their Extraordinary Facial Cleansing Oil has been my go to intial cleanse. Lightweight, non greasy and non pore blocking, this cleansing oil breaks down make up, including mascara without stinging or leaving a film behind. This paired with my Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm is like a match made in heaven. Together my skin feels squeaky clean but not stripped and the combination of the ingredients have left my skin glowing, clean and soft.

The only make up favourite I have this month is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation. I picked this up at the beginning of the month after a few weeks of debating if I really needed it. And I'm so glad I picked it up. Amazing coverage, gorgeous glowy finish and brilliant staying power, this foundation I've been wearing this month. Usually Bourjois base products have a tendency to oxidise on my skin but this doesn't do that and looks flawless a good eight hours after I've applied it. Because it's more of a glowy finish I do need to powder a little more but that's not really a big issue for me.

This month I turned 25! And as my birthday present my bestest friend/soul sister Jasmin brought tickets for us to go and see Mamma Mia. I didn't have any idea where we'd be sitting, I just went by what Jasmin said. On the night we went for dinner and headed to Oxford and that's when I for once in my life was a little speechless. We were seven rows from the front. SEVEN ROWS! It made me a little emotional and left me a little speechless at the same time. Mamma Mia was amazing, I found myself laughing, singing and even at the end dancing. If you've ever thought of going, do it. It's an amazing night out and I can't quite believe that Jasmin did something like this for my birthday.

The other non beauty favourite I've been loving this month is the reboot of Strike Back. Retribution is a brand new cast for a ten part series which kicked off with a bang. Now I didn't think this was going to amount to much as I didn't think they could top the original series with Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton. But they're on a good start to do so. Four episodes have aired so far and each one has been bigger and better than the last. It's also set up the rest of the series nicely and I can't wait to see how it plays out. Warren Brown and Dan MacPherson are brilliant as Mac and Wyatt and have the same style banter as seen before with Winchester and Stapleton but it's the women of the team that I'm loving the most. Roxanne Mckee and Alin Sumarwata are absolutely amazing as Reynolds and Novin. Strong, badass yet still human and hilarious, the pair are my favourites of the show. And it's one of the reasons why Strike Back is one of my favourite shows even if it's not the typical kind of show you'd expect me to watch.