I am so thankful that Spring is almost here - I am not a cold weather person and much prefer the sunshine. I have put together 20 of my favourite Spring beauty products, ranging from skincare, to haircare, fragrance, makeup and everything inbetween!
Starting with haircare, we have a new release, which is the Garnier Ultimate Blends Colour Illuminating Hair Food Goji & Soy* (£6.99 for 390ml). This huge pot contains a treatment for coloured hair that is blended with Goji extract and Soybean Oil and can be used in three different ways. You can use it as a conditioner on wet hair to instantly restore coloured hair's shine without weighing it down, a mask on wet hair which you leave on for just 3 minutes to intensely nourish and revitalise the hair or as a leave-in treatment on wet or dry hair to give it a vibrant shine and leave it feeling super soft. You can find it online at Boots here.
Next up is a product I use most days, the Batiste Dry Shampoo (£2.99 for 200ml), although I thought the Wildflower fragrance packaging was super pretty and perfect for Spring. The Wildflower fragrance has a fresh, fruity scent with a floral heart and is lovely for Spring, to refresh the hair whilst adding body and texture. I don't like to over-wash my hair as it can do more harm than good, and so most days I spritz my hair with Batiste as it is my all-time favourite dry shampoo. You can find it online at Boots here.
Moving onto body care, we have the new Payot Baume De Douche Reconfortant Nourishing Cleansing Balm*. This super soft shower cream is suitable for all skin types and smells absolutely gorgeous and perfect for getting skin in tip top condition for the sunnier months ahead. The Balm melts from a soft, shimmery pink balm into a foaming cream upon contact with water, and contains micellar technology to nourish and deeply cleanse the skin. The skin is left beautifully soft, refreshed and smelling lovely and this will help even the driest of skins. You can find it online at Beauty Things here.
For a beautiful Spring fragrance, I recommend the Ted Baker Polly Eau De Toilette* (£18.00 for 30ml), which comes in a stunning ombre effect glass bottle complete with rose gold cap and pink gem on the very top. Polly contains top notes of mandarin, red berries and peach with a twist of amber and vanilla, so it is a fresh, fruity scent which is lovely for Spring and Summer, when you don't want anything too heavy. Due to those amber and vanilla notes, this could be both a daytime and night time fragrance as even though it is fresh and fruity, it is also quite warming. You can find it online at Ted Baker here.
Next up is skincare, and we are starting with the fairly new Evolve Beauty Liquid Radiance Glycolic Toner* (£20.00 for 100ml). This toner is suitable for all skin types and comes in a glass bottle with a regular cap as well as a spray mister nozzle. This is a 100% natural AHA/BHA liquid exfoliator that instantly leaves skin much soother and brighter. Key ingredients include glycolic acid, malic acid, citric acid, as well as BHA salicylic acid from willow bark. This blend helps to boost exfoliation, reduce irritation and dryness and improves the overall texture of the skin, to give you clean fresh skin for Spring. There is a delicate orange flower scent to the Toner, but this will not irritate skin and is lovely first thing in a morning. You can find it online at Evolve Beauty here.
I don't know about you, but this cold weather has caused my lips to be permanently dry, so as a booster, I have been using the O'Keeffe's Overnight Lip Repair Balm* (£5.25). O'Keeffe's do amazing products for dry skin, and they have really helped my Dad's skin which goes super dry due to medication for his rheumatoid arthritis. You only have to apply this balm onto the lips before you go to sleep, and its highly effective formula will work throughout the night to renew and restore the lips and provide intense hydration so that you wake up to moisturised lips in tip top condition! You can find it online at Boots here.
My next product is kind of skincare, kind of makeup, and it is the IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Neutralising Correcting Cream* (£26.00 for 11ml). This little pot of joy contains a colour-correcting skin calming cream that is technically skin care, but which gives you long-wearing, colour-correcting full coverage. The formula is rich in anti-ageing peptides, colloidal oatmeal, hydrolysed collagen, aloe and avocado and helps to camouflage any red-toned skin discolorations such as rosacea, broken capillaries, blemishes, skin irritations, sun damage, scars, age spots and more. I don't particularly have sensitive skin, but I do always have redness on my cheek area and so I like to use a small amount of this and blend it into my cheeks to create a smooth, neutral base before applying my makeup. However, you can use this with or without makeup, so even if you just want a little bit of coverage, Bye Bye Redness has your back. You can find it online at IT Cosmetics here.
Laura Mercier just released a whole new line of primers, and as I suffer from enlarged pores, I opted for the Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer Blurring (£32.00 for 50ml), but of course you can choose the right one for your skin type. The Blurring Primer is a mattifying formula which is designed for oily and combination skin - I have combination as I get dryness but then oiliness on my T-Zone. It comes in a squeezy tube and the formula blurs the appearance of imperfections such as large pores, fine lines and wrinkles, ensuring a smoother base for applying makeup on to. A couple of key ingredients include microalgae to condition the skin and glycerine to ensure the skin is hydrated and nourished. So far, I have been loving this primer and it definitely makes a great base for my makeup. You can find it online at Space NK here.
I couldn't do a beauty post without including my favourite foundation, the IT Cosmetics CC+ Illumination Full Coverage Cream* (£32.00 for 32ml). There is an original and matte formula too, but this one has my heart, as I get so many compliments on my radiant skin when I wear it and it is my fail-safe foundation. It contains SPF50+, so there is no need to worry about your skin once that sunshine makes an appearance and this is full coverage, so if you suffer from redness or have blemishes, then this foundation will cover all that and more, whilst still giving a pretty, glowy finish to the skin. As well as this being a makeup item, it is also skincare and contains hydrolysed collagen, peptides, niacin, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and vitamins, so it also takes care of the skin whilst you are wearing it, which can't be said for many foundations. There are ten shades to choose from, and you can find it online at IT Cosmetics here.
To apply the IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream or any other foundation for that matter, there is also an IT Cosmetics Love Is The Foundation Foundation Brush* (£36.00), which was a special release for Valentine's Day as it is in the shape of a love heart and features lots of gorgeous love hearts along the handle. Even though this is a special release, it is still currently available at the time of writing this. The heart-shaped head is densely packed with Heavenly Luxe hair for effortless application of liquid, cream and powder foundations and has been custom-designed for precise control. This is a splurge, but the quality is so there with this brush, and I love how quick and easy it is to apply my makeup smoothly with it every morning. Plus it looks super adorable! You can find it online at IT Cosmetics here.
Last month I did a Sephora France order and noticed that there was a new Beauty Blender in town, the Beauty Blender Shadeshifter (£17.00), which is now also available here in the UK at Selfridges. I use Beauty Blenders most days, and this one looked super cute as it starts off as lilac and then once it gets wet it changes to a light blue and I thought it a nice, new addition to my Spring beauty collection. Because I use Beauty Blenders a lot, I am also rubbish at cleaning them so every so often I will get a new one and because it is a little different to the original ones, I thought I would include it in today's post. If you are new to Beauty Blenders, then they are my all-time favourite beauty sponges for foundation and powders. You can find it online at Selfridges here.
I featured the I Heart Revolution Heartbreakers collection a short while ago, and I had to buy the I Heart Revolution Heart Breakers Concealer (£6.00 for 12ml) when I saw it as it is super cute, with its love heart cap and love heart shaped wand. There are eighteen shades available, and I went for Oat which is for fair skin tones and it works perfectly for me. There is a delicate coconut fragrance to the formula as it contains coconut extract to brighten, hydrate, revitalise, soothe and nourish the skin. It is a lightweight formula and comfortable to wear and I would say coverage is medium, which I prefer as it gives a more natural finish rather than it being too thick. You can find it online at Revolution here.
Moving onto the cheeks, and I love a pop of colour in Spring! First up, we have the New CID Cosmetics i-glow Shimmer Powder* (£27.50) in the shade Ice Pop. This gorgeous blush comes in a white compact complete with mirror on the inside of the lid. Ice Pop is a demi-matte blush with cool pink, lilac and cream pigments which swirl together to create an English rose flush of blush. The formula is lightweight and very comfortable on the skin and you can have it as a light pop of colour, or build it up for a bolder look. I love the New CID Cosmetics baked powders as they are so beautiful to look at as well as wear. You can find it online at New CID Cosmetics here.
I have also really been loving cream blushers at the moment as I find they sit beautifully on drier skin and one I really like is the Maybelline Dream Matte Blush in the shade Coy Coral (£5.49). This creamy balm-to-powder cheek tint blends seamlessly into the skin to give a soft matte effect and gorgeous coral colour. I have quite light toned skin with blue eyes and blonde (highlighted) hair and so coral shades work really well for me. This is a great bargain buy as you only need a small amount per use and Coy Coral is perfect for Spring. You can find it online at Superdrug here.
Still in the cheek area, but a little higher, we are moving onto highlighter, with the Too Faced Tutti Frutti Frosted Fruits Highlighter Stick* (£25.00) in the shade Pink Lemonade. There are two shades available, but Pink Lemonade is for lighter skintones like mine. The highlighter comes in a metal tube adorned with baby pink and lemons and of course, in true Too Faced style, it is all kinds of cute. The highlighter itself is a stunning light champagne shade with soft pink iridescent sparkle and is a cream-to-powder formula that can be used on the cheekbones or the eyes - I love a multi-use product! Cream formulas often work better for drier skin as I mentioned previously, and this will give you the perfect Spring-time glow. You can find it online at Boots here.
On to the eyes and we have the brand new No7 The Full 360 Ultra Mascara* (£15.00), which is available in Black or Black/Brown if you prefer a lighter shade. The mascara has an hourglass-shaped wand full of natural bristles and is great for adding length, volume and curl to the lashes. The formula contains shea butter and vitamin E to nourish and condition the lashes whilst you are wearing it, so there is no flaking or drying out of the lashes, helping them to look better than ever. Combined with soot black micro-fine pigment particles for an intense colour, this mascara creates a bold, lifted lash without the use of eyelash curlers. This is definitely my new go-to mascara! You can find it online at Boots here.
Something I picked up at the airport back in December when I flew out to Orlando is the Tom Ford Soleil Eye Colour Quad in the shade story Soleil D'Hiver (£75.00) and I just thought these colours would be beautiful for Spring and Summer so I have only just gotten around to using it. The white and gold compact contains a mirror on the inside of the lid, and you get the four pans and then two double-ended applicators - I am not a fan of sponge applicators, even Tom Ford ones. The shades are all metallic, and you get a soft champagne, a soft peach, a mink and a warm chocolate, and the quality and pigment is second to none. This is a pricey product, there is no getting away from that, but it isn't something I would buy often and this was a treat, but Tom Ford makeup is exceptional. Unfortunately, this colour option is currently sold out as it was a limited edition, but a similar one is available online at John Lewis here.
Another beauty treat I picked up whilst in Orlando is the Too Faced Shake Your Palm Palms Eyeshadow Palette* (£22.00), however I was also very kindly gifted this one too, so I gave the one I bought to a friend and shared the Too Faced love. The packaging really attracted me to this palette as I adore the pink and coral stripes and the palm leaves adorning the lid. Inside you find a mirror on the inside of the lid and eight shadows. there is a pretty mixture of mattes, metallics and shimmers, featuring shades of nude, brown, green, pink and more. In true Too Faced fashion, the shadows do smell of peaches and cream, which is always an added bonus when opening up your makeup and the pigment and consistency of the formula is great, as it always is with the brand. You can find it online at Debenhams here.
My Valentine's Day gift from my Dad this year was the Gucci Sheer Lip Color (American spelling) in the shade Hold Your Man (£34.00). I used to love Gucci makeup but then a year or two it just disappeared into thin air and so I was really glad to see it return, even if it is just lip products for now. The cream and pink floral casing and gold base it just stunning and very high-end vintage glamour. Hold Your Man is a pretty everyday light nude, which I chose because I wanted something I could get a lot of use out of. The formula is sheer, but you still get plenty of colour pay-off from it and there are other formulas available in the collection. You can find it online at Gucci here.
As I mentioned earlier, I love a pop of coral when it comes to makeup as it just seems to really suit me, so I am ending this post with the Too Faced Tutti Frutti Juicy Fruits Comfort Lip Glaze* (£16.00) in the shade Dreamsicle. There are a total of 15 shades to choose from in this particular Lip Glaze formula, but Dreamsicle is my favourite as it is coral and has lots of tiny gold sparkles running throughout it. The tube has a funky fruity lid and there is a slanted sponge applicator for quick and easy application. Just one swipe of this gloss gives you full-colour glistening shine and I will be using this a lot this Spring and Summer. You can find it online at Boots here.
All the Loves,
Kathryn xxx
*Items marked with an asterix have been gifted to me, but all opinions are my own
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