Best of Beauty 2015| It's Carenza B

Hello!

So this post is going to be part of a series where I look back at my favourite things from 2015, and in this one I am going to be discussing beauty. 2015 was the year I discovered a lot of new brands in the beauty world and branched out into different elements of the beauty world. I discovered products I loved and products I didn't, I found out what type of makeup I like to wear on the rare occasions I do wear makeup. To sum up 2015 was a year of new discoveries and I would like to share with you my favourites.

Makeup

My first favourite of 2015 is the Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation in Chelsea Porcelain. If you struggle to find a pale foundation then this is the one for you, on the slightly pricey side of makeup at £15 this foundation changed my life. A medium to high coverage, a little goes a long way and when applied with a beauty blender looks flawless. I would say it looks better when you don't prime first, but then it might just be the primer I am using. I love this foundation for the colour, as someone who is stupidly pale this matches my skin-tone to the point where it's almost too pale and washes me out! I would highly recommend you get this as it is an amazing foundation and there are heck tone of shades to pick from. 

The beauty blender has also changed my life, it came in the September edition of Glossybox and at first I thought nothing of it but now it's the only thing I use to apply foundation and concealer. It just makes it look more natural, and you don't get any marks from applying it like you can with some brushes. I use the flat bottom to apply foundation to larger areas of my face i.e. forehead, cheeks and chin and the round pointed end to apply foundation around my nose and mouth. I also use the pointed ended to apply concealer under my eyes.

Next we have my three trusty palettes of the year, which are Urban Decay's Naked Three, Sleek's Vintage Romance and Collection's Eyes Uncovered Nudes. These pallets range from costing over £30 to costing £5, which is insane.

The Naked 3 ended up being the only palette I used in the summer when I went on holiday, I found that a bronze eye suited me a lot in the summer and wore that look to death. My favourite shades from the Naked 3 are Trick (6 from the left), Liar (8 from the left), Mugshot (10 from the left) and Darkside (11 from the left). Together they create a bronze eye fit for the summer and the darker shades add definition to the look. With this pallet you are paying for what you get, which is high end good quality shadows.

The Sleek Vintage Romance Palette was a love of mine this winter and in particular the three gold shades on the top row received a lot of love. I have raved about this palette already so I won't go into too much detail but I will link the posts here and here so you can read them. Again these three shadows are a dream team and the pigmentation is amazing, I feel like Sleek is such an underrated brand and deserves more love.  

Finally (Palette wise) we have the Collection Eyes Uncovered Nudes palette. At only £5, this palette is amazing and I would say a dupe for the Naked basics and you get very similar shades in it. Although not as long lasting as the other two palettes, it is a great palette and you can create so many versatile looks. My favourite shadows are Biscuit (3rd shadow), Chocolate Milk (4th shadow) and Brown Sugar( 5th shadow). Together they create a subtle everyday look and a perfect for lazy days. 

Next we have my two lip favourites of the year and guess what? They are both berry toned purples! I recently discovered that dark lipsticks suit me more than light lipsticks and these two have been my go to colours. The first one is the Revlon 477 Black Cherry which I got in the November Glossybox and the other is the Sleek Dare.

Black Cherry is a lot darker than Dare and also is a creme finish rather than a matte, I will admit it is a bit scary the first time you put it on but you'll soon fall in love. I have to say that Dare received more love than Black Cherry simply because I had it longer. I also think that Dare suits me better as its a matte finish.  

Top Swatch- Black Cherry
Bottom Swatch- Dare

Finally in the makeup category we have my favourite Mascara of the year which has been Urban Decays Perversion. I got this with the Naked on the Run Palette, which I still need to use, but I am in love and will be repurchasing when it runs out. I also love that it's a travel size version, which makes it great for travelling.

This makes your lashes look amazing and open, like it says on the tube "Bigger, Blacker, Better". It is amazing and just opens up your eye. I'm not sure how to describe it but I love it and it makes my eyelashes look amazing.

Skincare

Next we have skincare. The first thing I want to rave about is the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm. This was a late discovery in 2015, but none the less I love it! It is a cleanser that removes makeup with one swipe. This was hyped up  in the beauty world a few years ago and rightly so, I have the travel size one which I bought from feelunique.com in there sale for £8.50. I will be repurchasing a full size one and when my travel size one runs out, I'll get another one of that as well. It is amazing and when used with the cloth it comes with, your makeup comes of instantly. I prefer this to my Body Shop Vitamin E cleanser as it takes two rounds of cleansing to remove makeup. I use the Emma Hardie one to remove makeup and then my Body Shop one to cleanse everyday.    

 Next we have the Body Shop Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator and this is my holy grail when it comes to exfoliators. Due to the fact that it's a cream product, it isn't as harsh as a normal exfoliator. As I am someone who suffers with sensitive skin, this product is amazing. It does the job and doesn't make me bright red like other exfoliators. As you can see, I have loved mine to death and have used over half of it. I would recommend Body Shop Skincare to anyone who isn't sure as to what skin type they have and are starting out in buying skincare products. They have great value packs for all there ranges. This was the first set of skincare products I bought, you get 5 or 6 products for about £30 which can seem expensive but is worth it when you add up how much each product is by itself.

 My go to face mask of 2015 was the Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask. This is amazing. It feels like its doing something while its on and warms up lots, but not so it burns you. I always use it when I breakout and it helps get everything down drastically, it also leaves your skin  feeling silky smooth afterwards. I have had this bottle for a year and I would say I have used 3/4 of the product, it retails at £10.50 which is quite expensive for a drugstore face mask but you get what you pay for.

 Finally we have my what I like to call "Lazy day Skincare" routine. These two together combat blemishes so well. They are the Lush Tea Tree Toner Water and Grease Lighting. Both of these products contain tea tree which helps reduce blemishes. I said I call this my Lazy day Skincare as if I'm in a rush or I can't be bothered to do a full routine, I will use these two. I will apply Grease Lighting to any blemish directly then wait a minute for it to dry then spray the Tea Tree Toner all over. This takes a few minutes to sink in but then your good to go, both of these bottles together cost me £16.50 which is very expensive for what they are, but they are just so good I don't mind spending that much money.

Hair Care

My go to Shampoo and Conditioner of the year have been the Tresemme Moisture Rich Luxurious Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. They have improved the conditioner of my hair dramatically, as someone who has dry hair this has made my hair easier to manage. I find that my hair stays shiny and silky for up to three days and then starts to get knots whereas before I could only go a day without getting knots in my hair. I love that these bottles are so large, which means I won't have to buy it as often.

Next I want to talk about the L'Oreal Elvie Anti Frizz Hair Oil. This is my third bottle of the year and I have nearly used it all up. I put this on after I have washed my hair and let it soak in, if you have dry hair you will know that using a hair oil/ serum is the only way to be able to manage your hair. I use around 4-6 pumps for each side of my head and leave it to sink in overnight.

For a while I have struggled to find a hairbrush that will go through my hair and this year I found it. It is from a brand called Denman and it is incredible. I don't know what it is about it but it works for me. With all my other hair brushes I tried the bristles were attached by this rubber thing so you could pull it out, anyway I use to spend half my time putting the bristles back into  the handle and it really annoyed me. But with this Denman Brush I haven't had to do that at all and that's why I am putting it into my Beauty Favourites of 2015.

Top Row- Tresemme Moisture Rich Luxurious Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner
Bottom Row- L'Oreal Elvie Anti Frizz Hair Oil and Denman Hair Brush  

Finally we have something that I loved so much, I used it all up. This is the Maria Nilla Luminous Colour Masque and I am gutted my one ran out. I got this in the September Glossybox and used every time I washed my hair right up until the beginning of December. The masque is designed to bring out your natural hair colour and make it look better. As someone who has been dying their hair for years, I can say it does work. Apart from where the dye is in my hair, my natural colour got brighter every time I used it. It wasn't unnaturally bright, but it put more emphasis on my natural hair colour.

Odds'n'Sods

This category might seem a bit weird but these are some of things I wanted to include but wouldn't fit under those three categories I had chosen to talk about.

My favourite nail colour of the year was from Bourjois and is called colour 34 violine hypnotique. It's this deep purple with a gold shimmer running through it and is perfect for the Autumn and Winter months. I love this deep purple colour and have gotten lots of uses out of it. I love the shape of the brush as it's slightly squared which makes it great at applying the colour. I would say you could get away with two coats, but I like to put on three to make it opaque. 

Next we have my winter scent which is the Body Shop's Glazed Apple. I love this scent so much, it's a really tart apple scent and stays all day. As you can see I have the travel size products which I took on holiday with me, to me they aren't as strong a scent as the perfume but I still love to use them. 

Finally we have my all year round scent which is again from the Body Shop and it's from there Mango Range. This was the first scent I smelled in the Body Shop and I have fallen in love. I have one of there massive 1 liter shower gel bottles and I have used about half of it last year. It is just a nice, sweet, fruity scent which isn't too strong.

I would also like to add that my favourite Summer scent was also from the Body Shop and it was from there Virgin Mojito Range. It was just a divine mint and lime scent which was really fresh.

So those were my beauty favourites of the year 2015 and I have two more posts like this planned to go up later this week. I hope you liked it and leave a comment saying what your favourite beauty thing was this year. Don't forget to follow my blog and follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itscarenzab. If you have any post requests email me on my business email itscarenzab@gmail.com.

Carenza x   

October Favourites 2015| It's Carenza B

Hello!
So here is my my very first favourite post! If you do not follow me on Twitter (@itscarenzab), you will not know that I had a bit of drama while writing my September Favourites. Basically, I wrote the entire post and for some reason it wouldn't save or let me upload it, so I refreshed the page and lost everything I wrote. I was so annoyed with myself, as I had spent ages writing it and it was gone. Anyway, here is my October Favourites and I hope you enjoy it!

Before I start writing, I would like to apologize for the not so great quality of my photos. As it's winter, the lighting isn't great and this means I have to use lights from my lamp and bulb. So I am sorry, but it turned out better than I planned as I used the flash for some of the photos.

Beauty

The first thing I have been loving in the month of October was the new Body Shop Foundation, I have a feeling that this is going to become a holy grail of mine. I am very pale and a lot of foundations, particularly from the Body Shop, are too dark and orange toned. Anyway, this new foundation is a perfect match, maybe even too pale for me. It applies wonderfully and doesn't look cakey, I would say that it's a matte foundation and that it isn't super glowy. I would recommend that you go and get it as it is an amazing product. It retails at £15 which is on the pricey side for a high street foundation but it's totally worth it.

Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation in Chelsea Porcelain 

Next, we have another Body Shop product but this time it's a scent rather than a makeup product. It is the Glazed Apple scent from the Christmas range. It's a sharp apple scent that stays for the whole day, I apply this once a day before I leave the house and when I go to bed at 9 or 10 o'clock I can still smell it. I have had this bottle for almost a year and its barely gone down. It's a really lovely scent for autumn and Christmas, I would recommend that you go and get it if you love apple scented things.

Body Shop Glazed Apple Room and Body Spray

Recently, I have discovered I have a love for gold eye-shadows and as much as I love my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, the eye-shadow palette I have been using lots recently is the Sleek Vintage Romance. I got this last Christmas as part of a gift set and never got round to using it till now.

My dirty but well- loved Sleek Palette

The plastic sheet of names

They all have super cute names like the purple one on the bottom row below the silver one is called A Vow in Venice, which is super cute. As you can tell the ones I have been using the most are the three gold ones.

Without the plastic name sheet

From left to right- Meet in Madrid; Court in Cannes; Lust in LA

Another plus is the mirror, although slightly dirty it is one of the largest I have. Overall this is one of the best eye-shadow palettes I own and I would recommend you get your hands on it. I don't know how much it costs as I got it in a set with a lipstick and a mascara.

We have another Sleek product, this time a lipstick. This lipstick is my new favourite lipstick of all time, it is a truly beautiful deep purple with red tones running through it. If you want to start wearing darker lipsticks but don't want to go straight in with the almost black toned purples this is the lipstick for you. The colour is called Dare and is a matte lipstick. Again, this lipstick is perfect for this time of year and I would say is an Autumn essential for beauty lovers.

Next in beauty we have a product from Lush, although it's not a bath-bomb it is from the skincare range which I feel deserves more recognition. The product I have been loving is Grease Lighting. This product is to be used on spots to dry the out, which sounds disgusting but it works really well. It contains witch hazel, which is really good for spots. For some reason this month I had a really bad break out and this product helped. Although over the £15 mark, I have had this for around a year and have barely used any of it, as a little goes a long way. It has a pump and you pump out a small bit, then apply it to the spot for a couple of days and wait for it to do its magic.

Lush's Grease Lighting

Finally, we have my new holy grail for applying foundation and concealer. It is a beauty blender that I got in the October Glossybox . It applies a lot nicer than a brush as it doesn't leave brush marks. However, it takes slightly longer than a brush does the final result is a lot better.

Books

The first book I read in October was The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire by Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester (amazingphil). This book was massively hyped in the world of YouTube and to some extent it deserved this praise. It was an interesting book to read, finding out all the different things that were a part of the world of Dan and Phil. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading it and there were bits that made me laugh, the only issue with it is the price. I feel like its a tall order to ask there viewers to pay £17 for it. I do recommend you go get it if you love watching their videos, I just warn you that the book isn't cheap but then there are a lot of pages in it, it's hard back and there is lots of colour.

TABINOF front cover

Next, I read Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass. If you read my birthday book haul, you will have seen this book. It is brilliant, I'm in the middle of writing a book review for it. I don't want to give to much away but I recommend you get it and read it. The main character, Celaena is amazing. You'll fall in love with her straight away. I honestly can't wait to finish the series, I'm on the third book and it's definitely getting interesting. The cover design is beautiful and the story is as well.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass

Finally I started reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is one of my favourite books in the series, as you will know if you read my Harry Potter Tag post from Halloween. I don't need to go into detail as the story is well known. I love it and I really am enjoying re-reading this series.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Bits'n'bob

My first thing to come under the character of Bits'n'Bobs are Tsum Tsums from Japan. These are a thing that Disney started doing and OMG I love them. They are so cute! I collect the small ones and am loving them. Every month they bring out a different collection, like in September it was The Nightmare Before Christmas in time for Halloween.  I have some of the classic Disney characters and some of the collections. The small ones are £3 each and are about the size of your palm. They're filled with beans like bean bags and can be used as screen cleaners, but I have never used mine as screen cleaners.  

Look how cute they are!

Since taking this photo I have got 3 more- Jack Skeleton, Zero and one of the 3 children called Shock, Lock and something I can't remember.

Next I have been loving my scarf from Miss Selfridge, I got it in January in the sales for £16 and love it. It is huge and has this lovely red checkered pattern on it. It also has tassels on it and is the warmest scarf I own. I wear it most days and when I'm doing long journeys either in the car or on a train, I like to use it as a blanket to keep me warm.

Miss Selfridge Scarf

Finally, I have been loving Christmas Magazines. I am getting excited for Christmas way to early this year but I feel like I have got some good ideas for my blog for the festive period and am looking forward to sharing them with you.

Craft and Home-ware Christmas Magazines

So those were my October Favourites, I hope you enjoyed this post and that it has given you some inspiration for the future. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Twitter @itscarenzab. Also you can click follow on here to be informed when I post. For business related questions, email me at itscarenzab@gmail.com.

Love,

Carenza B 

x