January Favourites

It can't really be the end of January already can it?

Today I thought I'd share with you some of the beautiful products I've been loving this month. For me, January has been a month of trying out (any falling in love with, in most cases) lots of lovely new products. I've been really enjoying trying out some new makeup products because I don't feel like I switch up my daily makeup look half as often as I'd like to, mainly because my school (along with a majority of others) love to dictate exactly how we all look, so I stick to a simple foundation/concealer/mascara look.

Here we have the two perfumes I've been spraying non-stop over the last month. Over on the left we have "Daisy" by Marc Jacobs, and on the right we have "Girlfriend" by Justin Bieber. Both of these perfumes were christmas presents and I absolutely love them. "Daisy" is a perfume I've had my eye on for what seems like forever, so I'm so happy to finally have it in my procession. The bottle is breathtakingly beautiful and it looks absolutely delightful on my dressing table. I've had so many compliments on the scent when I've been wearing it it's actually been silly! I had my sixth form interview last week and the teacher interviewing me actually noticed the scent when I walked in the room which was slightly strange I do have to admit. It's a very floral scent, with hints of violet, wild strawberries and white woods accord making up this beautiful scent that I can only describe as the perfect girly scent. "Girlfriend" is another perfume I've had my eye on for a while. I'll tell you what, Justin Bieber may have been in a fair amount of trouble over the last week or so but boy he can create a incredible perfume. I loved his last perfume "Someday" so I was expecting to enjoy using this too but I never realised just how much I'd love it. It's a very fruity scent, with hints of mandarin, blackberry, pear and strawberry in there and it also features hints of pink freesia, star jasmine, apricot nectar, orange blossom, vanilla orchid and luminous musk. It all sounds like a bit of a mouthful but it all comes together to create a stunning scent.

Now we have my two favourite makeup brushes ever: the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and the Real Techniques Powder Brush. I honestly can't remember how on earth I did my makeup before these little beauties came into my life. I'd seen blogger after blogger raving non-stop about these brushes so one day I just took the plunge and delved into the heaven that are the Real Techniques brushes. These brushes provide such a flawless even skin look and they help me to achieve the high coverage I desire. If you haven't tried these brushes before and you're looking to jazz up you makeup brush collection, I urge you (yep, not reccomend, urge; they're that good) to give them a go, makeup wise, it'll change you're life.

Next up are my three current favourite lipsticks: Topshop "Screen Siren", GOSH "Sundown" and Maybelline "Iced Caramel". Can we just take a second to appreciate just how lovely the names of these shades are please? I've fallen a little bit in love with them. I won't blabble on about "Screen Siren" because I did a full review a few weeks ago, which you can find here. "Sundown" is a gorgeous natural orangey shade that I recieved in a Glossybox a few mont has a hint of shimmer that I know will definitely get lots of use over the next few months. "Iced Caramel" is another neutral shade, with a more pinky base. It's become my go-to lipstick when I'm just about to pop out because it's so lovely and natural looking. Maybelline seem to do lots of amazing lipsticks so I definitely want to treat myself to some more.

Fourth on my favourites list is the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation. I picked this up on the Calais to Dover ferry back in November (don't you just love duty free?) after seeing so many people rave about it, but it wasn't until December that I first gave it a try, and I've fallen in love with it! It provides such good coverage, and it really lasts all day. I've always seen myself as more of a liquid foundation kind of gal than a mousse/powder etc gal but I'm getting on so well with this foundation, and I can't see myself changing foundation anytime soon.

Now we have the Lush Rose Jam Shower Gel. I think this is one of the Lush christmassy items that I picked up in the Lush boxing day sale (online of course, I wasn't mad enough to venture into my local lush during the sale). It smells lovely and it's one of those shower gels where the scent says all day long. I seem to have rediscovered my love of the Lush shower gels recently and I'm really excited to try out some more from their permanent range. One aspect of the Lush shower gels I really love is the size of the bottles. I always get the smallest of the bottle options so I can chop and change which of their shower gels I'm using more frequently than I could when I was using other brands.

Finally we have the one non-beauty item on my January Favourites list. It's my current favourite book "My Life Next Door" by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I discovered this book on Goodreads at the start of this month and it was featured during Week 1 of my 'My Weekly Read' series. You can find my review of this fabulous book here.

 

What have you been loving this month?

Lots of Love

Chloe xxx

 

 

 

 

My Weekly Read (No. 2) ~ The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding




It's week two of my little 'Weekly Read' Series!


'My Weekly Read' is a little series where I read a book between Monday and Saturday and then post a review for you all on the Sunday. I'm going to be reading books that I've never picked up before and are relatively unknown so I can introduce you all to some fabulous new books.


 Today I'm going to be reviewing The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding.





Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?





When I first stumbled across this book on Goodreads I didn't know what I was going to think. I found the idea of a YA book focusing on a mother-daughter relationship intriguing and it was that element of the story that compelled me to read it.

I have mixed views on the character of Devan. Although her views on friends, fights, jealousy and boys are so relatable, I found her perfection to be so annoying. I always hate it when the protagonist is written as a huge bundle of perfection, because it takes away from the realism of the story. But the loveable supporting characters definitely made up for this slip up. My favourite of these characters was definitely Sai. I think every girl wants a guy with a personality like Sai. As soon as his character appeared on the page I decided I wanted to marry him (a want I clearly shared with Devan). I just wish that the author had explored Sai's character in more detail, as he seemed to have such an interesting back story that I would have loved to hear more about.


The plot definitely didn't disappoint, as the author explored Devan's relationship with her mother in such depth, which made the book a fascinating read. And the little love stories that were interwoven in, made the book even better. 


I have to admit though, I would have wanted a bit more of a juicy twist than was provided. The last line of the synopsis "Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?" was a tad on the dramatic side when you look at what actually happened (you'll have to read the book to find out won't you). That line really suggests a big dramatic event, something I think would have definitely added to the book.


I also wanted the story to continue and explore the aftermath of all the events that were featured in the final chapters of the book, in more detail, as I felt it ended quite suddenly. This was a big disappointment for me because it seemed like the author had gone into lots of detail about the things that didn't really matter, but then written really briefly about the events that did.


Overall though, I did enjoy this book and it was a really easy read. I found myself constantly intrigued about what was going to happen next, and it's one of those books I can definitely see myself reading again.


Lots of Love


Chloe xxx


P.S: Have you read any books you think I'd enjoy? Leave a comment and I'll have a look.
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