My July Favourites!

- L'Oreal Volume Million Lash
This mascara has lived up to my initial expectations. It is fantastic. If anything, I like it even more now. I haven't noticed the overpowering scent for a while; the careful light hand approach (which is required) now seems effortless and it still looks very classy in it's gold casing.
You can read my review here http://essjay23x.blogspot.com/2010/07/mascara-mascara.html

- Sable and Satin Taupe
I'm loving Sable eyeshadow at the moment. I know that you might think it quite a dark, heavy colour for the summer but since I've been laying off the foundation, I have needed more striking eye make up. I'm finding that shades closer to my skin tone such as Modellette and All That Glitters just highlight my poor skin and the lack of foundation.
Sable is a way to get striking eyes with the minimal of effort. Colour block it, a slick of mascara and that is my eyes done. I love Satin Taupe but I feel it needs more work (usually with another shadow and liner) to create the same impact.

- Hue
I can never stay away from my first Mac lippie for long. I love Hue. A nice natural, low maintenance lip for the summer. I also like the fact that it is not that red or pink as I'm finding some of my more pink/red lips draw attention to any imperfections or sore skin on my face. You can read more about Hue here http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/the-first-date-my-mac/

- Lipgloss
I am not the biggest gloss fan but I have worked them a little this month. I'm finding that they have felt increasingly refreshing and moisturising on my lips as the temperature has risen. I have found myself picking up two lipglosses often. One is Underage from Mac ( pictured above). I have always been a bit wary of this gloss as sometimes it looks a bit artificial on my lips and messy like the lipsticks, Barry M 101 and Gosh Darling. However when I use a light hand with Underage, the slight shimmer is much more flattering. You can read about my first impressions of Underage back in January here http://essjay23x.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/the-first-date-my-mac/
Also Kim has done a great review of Underage here http://misskc027.blogspot.com/2010/07/mac-lipglass-comparisons.html.
Gloss-wise, I also like the Jodie Kidd Shell and not just because it was a freebie from a magazine. Shell is very similar to Underage but I prefer the formulation. I find Shell nicer (easier) to apply. I'm always surprised that it looks less pink then Underge in the tube as I think they give a similar finish on the lips with Shell maybe finishing slightly more neatly.


- Dark hair
I have dyed my hair again. Last time I dyed it, I chose Medium Golden Brown. This time, I have gone a shade darker to a Warm Dark Brown and I like it. The Medium Golden Brown was ok but I preferred the colour before it started lifting. So I thought it would be an idea to go one shade darker.

In my dreams, I would love to be a blonde. Oh, how I would! However, I am now starting to face the fact that in reality, I'm always happier when I keep my hair at the dark end of the spectrum. It seems to frame my features better.

- Intimately Beckham
This is an old favourite but I particularly like it in the summer (yes, I do wear it in the day), it is one of those scents that seems to intensify in the heat and linger a while. It is gorgeous and reminds me of carefree days in Ibiza. This perfume never fails to make me smile.

- Eat Love Pray
I have always been a little bit curious about this book. Angela's (http://ohsheglows.com/) recent posts and news of the forthcoming film only heightened this. So when I finally got my hands on Eat Love Pray,  I devoured it in less then a week. It is a brilliant read and very thought provoking. I might go through it again now with a marker. I do like a good quote!

So that was my July favourites. Interestingly, there are not really any new products in there. So that makes me think that either there isn't anything that new and exciting out there at the moment or just maybe I'm getting the hang of this saving thing (yeah, right, after that TopShop haul)! What do you think? Have you any July favourites? Is there anything I'm missing out on?

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Three things!

Here are three things that I’m liking at the moment.

1/ FRENCHED

This Benefit lipstick has defined the last week. Ever since the PixiWoo Christina Agrilia trutorial and Pixi2Woo wearable red lip one, I have being heading towards pan with this beauty. I am going to do a post/vlog very, very soon (I am wearing it in my new perfume collection videos http://www.youtube.com/user/essjay23x ) but this is a true, true red. No compromise or safe bet like the pretty but nowhere near as daring as Viva Glam Cyndi. Frenched is a berry red, a real red and I can wear it! Yay! And what is more, no gloss is required, a beautiful pigmented creamy finish is delivered by Frenched all by itself.

2/ SATIN TAUPE

I’ve always liked this one. It is so verstaile and can be used just for the lid or it can be the lid in a smoky eye or the contour in an everyday look. I’m favouring the mono look in the day and then smoking it up with carbon and sable (or one of the browns from my Sleek palettes) at night. I knew I liked this one but didn’t realise how much I wore it until I was flicking through some photos earlier. I love Sable but I think sometimes that is a little bit red for me. Satin Taupe is more of a greyer brown akin to Barry M Mushroom rather then chocolater colours.

3/ CURLIER HAIR

It must be the green tea because I am a ‘Sleek’ freak and almost always wear my hair straight on a day to day basis but I would say I have curled, flicked or waved in some way at least three times over the last month and I think I act differently with curled/waved hair. I’m more relaxed, more ‘blonde’, I guess. Maybe I think that I’ll get away with more as curly hair is so not me. It does take some heavy conical work to curl/wave my hair so that it wearable. My hair is not straight so I presumed (pre-curling action this month) that it was wavy or curly but no, curls actually fall out in a quicker time duration then the transformation from my straightened hair to frizz. I have come to the conclusion that my hair is just one great big puff ball. Although the Garnier Fructis Bamboo Finish and Hold Extreme (obviously) hairspray seems to help a lot!

What are you liking at the moment?

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