June Favourites

When I saw a blogger posting her June Favourites on Friday I was thinking, um somebody’s early…….then it hit me, nope, it really is already July and June is finished, kaput, gone! How insane is that?? I had to scramble a bit to narrow down my June favorites, but I think this is a fair representation of the items I reached for most days.

Stila’s Eyes are the Window palette – Spirit

This was probably my first eye-shadow palette and I must say I was smitten at first swatch! I know, my palette looks VERY sad…. We need a moment of silence for Kitten *sobs*, Oasis and Pewter. 🙁 Kitten was the most devastating loss.

Okay, moving on, what I love about this palette is it has a nice mix of matt shades, shimmer shades, light shades and dark shades. You can use this for a daytime look, all the way through to a dramatic nighttime look. It’s really versatile and the perfect starter palette for any makeup lover. The powders are all soft and very pigmented with very little, if any, fallout! Money well spent. I’ve reached for this palette a lot this month and will continue to use it until my kids smash the crap out of the rest of the colours.

Kalahari had these at 50% off at one stage….I really wish I’d gotten all of the palettes at that stage. Stila is available at Woolworths and at the time I paid R495,00 for this palette.

Essence’s 2 in 1 shadow and liner in She’s got the mauve (06)

I absolutely love these shadow sticks from Essence. The quality of this stick for the price is so amazing. It’s a stunning shimmery mauve colour and dual purpose. You can use it as an eye-shadow or a liner. It’s waterproof….I swear this stuff doesn’t budge unless you remove it forcefully from your eyes (in a good way).

These sticks are available in 6 shades from Dischem and retail for about R59,95 each.

Benefit’s Roller Lash Mascara

I feel like such a broken record, but I’m a huge Benefit fan. I ordered this as one of the first items from Benefit and I was not disappointed. The brush is plastic and has this ‘Hook ‘n’ Roll’ capability that separates, lifts and curls your lashes. You can honestly feel it ‘hooking’ every single lash and you’ll be thinking: Wow are those all my lashes? I can’t gush about this enough, it really is one of my top 3 mascaras and I will definitely be repurchasing it. It’s perfect for day wear to the office, or you amp it up and apply 2 or 3 coats for evening wear.

One last comment about these, you can apply numerous coats and I don’t find it to go clumpy at all like some other mascaras get after more than 1 or 2 coats.

Benefit products are available online at Red Square.

Wet n Wild’s megaclear brow and lash mascara

Prior to discovering this brow ‘mascara’, I was using a similar brand’s products. While I usually love the brand, I just felt the gel was really not holding my unruly brows in place, and then I discovered this Wet n Wild one. For the price, I think it does a really good job of holding my brows in place and I even use it for that unruly hair that doesn’t want to just relax and go behind the ear…grrr

Wet n Wild products are available at Clicks and this gel was around R34,95 if I’m not mistaken.

Essence lip liner in ‘In the Nude’ (11)

Yes Simone, stop with the Essence gushing already…. I can’t help it. It’s amazing to me that you can have a brand be so affordable with so many great products. I have a few of these lip liners and this is I think my favourite one. It really is soft and glides on like a dream. I have a lipliner costing 5 times this and it’s so harsh on application, so I really really do love these liners from Essence. There are about 8 shades, including a transparent one that I assume is a universal ‘don’t worry about the colour you’re putting on your lips’ sort of situation. Essence has launched a new range of lipliners that I have read rave reviews about, but after searching high and low in Port Elizabeth, I’ve given up the search. If any PE gals have seen it, please let me know below.

Essence lipliners are available at Clicks and Dischem and retail for R18,95 each.

Kardashian Beauty Take 2 Dry Conditioner 

When I first received these in one of my secret boxes from RetailBox, I was so disappointed. What would I do with such overpriced products? Dry shampoo and even worse…dry conditioner? What is that even??? I didn’t want it to go to waste so I thought my 7yr old could spray it on before swimming classes as perhaps a ‘protector’ from the chemicals, but that still made me sad thinking of the price tag attached to these.

One day I washed my hair and just shampoo’d it, and had no intention of blow drying it so I whipped this out, sprayed my hair and put it in a bun. The next morning my hair was so soft and curly that I absolutely loved the effect. I was traumatised when I flat ironed all those soft curls away. What Retail Box says about this product:

A lightweight conditioning spray that revives dull or dry hair by enhancing shine and moisture in between styles. This moisturizing formula contains small conditioning molecules that instantly hydrate hair, leaving it incredibly soft and smooth. Nourishing Black Seed Oil provides added radiance for the ultimate glamorous finish.

The smell of this is divine and I’m sure it’s the black seed oil that contributes to leaving my hair feeling so soft and nourished. That being said, despite how much I like this product, at R395 from RetailBox, I just cannot justify spending that money on a Dry Conditioner 🙁 Getting to try it out though as a fraction of the cost due to the Secret Box again hits home what I love about the Secret Box. Read about the Secret Box here.

Lindie’s homemade Rubies

Well I warned you that I love chocolate….so I have to share my chocolate love of the month with you <3 I was not a fan of the original brownies and blondies from Lindies, but on a whim I decided to try these Rubies. They are the latest offering from Lindies, and are Red Velvet Brownies. Yes you heard right, RED VELVET CHOCOLATE BROWNIES! I was always going to be all over that like white on rice! I love them with a big glass of milk….. I’m never going to be skinny….*sigh*

These are available at Spar and retail for R34,99 for a box of 4.

Here are some swatches of 2 of the Essence products.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my June favourites 🙂 Let me know in the comments below what you loved in June and also are these posts too long, too many pictures, too many words? I’d appreciate the feedback.

Until next time. xxxxx