Dr.Jart+ Cream Mist Moisturiser

 

I'm sure you are tired of hearing me say that I have perpetually dry skin on this blog but I'm here to tell the truth, not to sugar coat the hardships. The struggle is real.

For a while I was having issues with layering my makeup because my skin was so dry. I could get my foundation on fine but when it came to adding any concealer or blusher, it didn't tend to sit well on my skin and I struggled to prevent my makeup from pilling.

Enter the Dr.Jart+ Cream Mist. I had wanted to try a hydrating mist for a while and this one seemed to have good reviews on ASOS so I bought it on a whim hoping it would solve all my life's problems. Ok, maybe just the dry skin issue.

This product works wonders. I spray it on top of my foundation before I put any concealer or powder products on and it works perfectly to add a bit of extra hydration to ensure my makeup sits nicely on my skin. On the first spray, it tends to come out quite patchy instead of being a fine mist. To stop me from ending up with big splodges of cream on one side of my face, I always spray the first spray onto my arm and then do 3 or 4 on my face. 

It's also a great product for those days when you are wearing makeup all day and want to refresh it at some point. A few spritzes of this before you go in with any other makeup just makes it easier to apply and stops it looking cakey.

I imagine this would be great for a holiday too - pop it in the fridge and use it in an evening when getting ready to go out. It would be so refreshing! 

It's around £26 for 110ml and you can buy it from a huge selection of retailers including Selfridges, Space NK, ASOS. 

The Eras Tour - Wembley Night 4 (Thursday 15th August)

When the codes were released for UK Eras Tour tickets last year and neither me nor my best friend received any, we were devastated. We registered for every date and every city across the UK and got NOTHING! We knew that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and we didn't want to miss it. So after we wiped our tears and stopped feeling sorry for ourselves, we decided we would keep checking the resale site for tickets. By some sheer stroke of luck, I stumbled across some tickets whilst I was browsing in the dentist's waiting room. The only time in my life I've ever been happy about being at the dentist.

We planned and schemed for the whole year leading up to the show and yet still managed to leave it until the week before to sort our outfits out. Part of the fun was the lead up to the actual event and knowing that we were going to see something amazing. We had a movie night last October to watch the Eras Tour movie and make our bracelets. We have shopped and switched eras and then switched back again, sending countless Whatsapp messages of potential outfits and accessories. We listened and relistened to Tortured Poets and sent each other lists of our favourite songs. We tagged each other in unhinged friendship bracelet videos on Insta. We then stayed up until 1am the night before the show panic making even more bracelets so we had plenty to trade. It has been a very Taylor-filled year. 

The whole night was incredible from start to finish. First of all, the whole Swifty community is just a dream. Everyone was so friendly and sweet and we had some lovely conversations with people we approached to trade bracelets. I have never felt safer or happier in a big crowd of people - it was just a beautiful thing to witness.

Of course for the most part we knew what to expect. By this point we knew the setlist in our sleep but knowing what was coming took nothing away from the magic of it all. It was still an absolute joy to sing along to all the songs and try to guess which outfits she was going to come out in for each era and secretly hoping she would announce Rep TV while we were there (a girl can dream, right?)

One of the many many highlights of the evening was when she brought Ed Sheeran out to sing Everything Has Changed, End Game and Thinking out Loud (!!!!!!!!) I was recording the surprise song section and the footage of my screaming and waving my phone around when I realised she was about to bring him out is hysterical and a video I will both treasure and be embarrassed by for the rest of my life. The video had its premiere in the hotel room at 2am as we ate McDonalds and talked about what an amazing night it was, laughing and crying into our cold fries. It will never be seen by anyone but me again. 

The day after, we went to the V&A Museum to see the Songbook Trail. We had a train to catch in the evening and we didn't really account for the queues of people that would be waiting both outside and inside the museum, so we didn't see everything. But what we did get to see was well worth it. My favourite was the dress from the Fortnight music video - wow!! 

I am so sad it's all over and knowing she will never do a tour like this again breaks my heart a little bit. I am so grateful I was able to attend one of the shows and I will let you know once I've stopped rewatching the videos and staring at all the pictures I took. Oh and if anyone was wondering, I live in my grey Eras tour sweatshirt and Bejeweled bracelet now. 

Charlotte Tilbury Foundation Stick | Review

 I went on a cruise recently and knew that I would end up getting sucked into buying something in duty free. I didn't even try to fight it and went straight to the Charlotte Tilbury counter (or did the universe drag me there, who's to know?) I was initially hoping to buy a powder highlighter but they didn't have any so my next choice was the foundation stick. 

I love this product. I was sceptical on seeing the reviews online and because of the fact that it is marketed as a 'sheer' coverage foundation. I have clear skin now (which is a whole other story... it took me the best part of 15 years to achieve clear skin) but I still have some scarring and a few marks.

My mum kept commenting on how 'fresh' my skin looked and it was perfect for the hot weather because it didn't feel like I was wearing any product. I tended to wear it on its own during the day with a few dabs of concealer here and there but in an evening when it was a bit cooler, I wanted a bit more coverage so I used a small amount of my regular foundation on top of it. It is marketed as 'hydrating' and this is a claim I absolutely agree with. I suffer with dry skin but this went on like a dream. 

I bought a shade darker than I would usually buy (4 Fair) because I tend to use tan on my face during the summer and I was hoping to catch a bit of sun whilst I was on holiday (every time I deceive myself into thinking I'll get a tan knowing full well I won't and will ultimately return home disappointed... it's a vicious cycle of unfounded hope and inevitable disappointment). I think I will probably buy the lighter shade but maybe not until next Spring when I will get more use out of it. 

Another Charlotte Tilbury product that just hits the mark. I just love the gentle bit of shimmer and highlight it gives you without being overwhelming. It costs £35 and you can buy it directly from the Charlotte Tilbury website. 

Books in July

July seems to have been a bit of a slow month for reading. It probably didn't help, however, that I was reading multiple books side by side and kept getting distracted by important things such as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader documentary on Netflix (has anyone else watched this yet?) It also didn't help that I wasn't overly into the books I chose to read so they were a bit of a chore to get through. There was only one I really enjoyed!

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley | I have read a couple of Lucy Foley's books before (The Paris Apartment, The Guest List... I also have The Hunting Party on my bookshelf). That being said, I always find her books just 'ok'. I always find the premise of her books really appealing but they are just never quite as good as I hope they will be. The Midnight Feast was no different. This novel is set during the opening weekend of a new resort which was once the grounds for an unfortunate incident 15 years prior. I struggled with this one because I didn't like any of the characters and it's really hard to care about what happens to them when they are so unlikeable. The chapters were short so it wasn't overly taxing but I think I can say with some confidence that I'm not a huge fan of Lucy Foley.

Mrs England by Stacey Halls | This is the second Stacey Halls book I have read and I loved it as much as the first. The good news is that I already have The Foundling on my shelf waiting to be read next and I can't wait! Mrs England is about a children's nurse in 1904 who goes to work for a family in West Yorkshire and uncovers all sorts of secrets about them as well as confronting some difficult situations from her own past. I love a good piece of historical fiction and Stacey Halls hasn't let me down yet. 

Lock in by John Scalzi | This is about a virus which causes some of the population to 'lock in' i.e maintain their awareness but be unable to move. It's got a few hints of a crime/thriller novel as the main characters begin to solve a murder which, on the surface, makes no sense. I have had this on my kindle just about since it was released 10 years ago. I love a bit of sci-fi but this just seemed to miss the mark. Again, I didn't really care for the characters. I don't think all of the technical jargon was never well explained so I had to re-read parts and in the end I just thought 'well if I don't understand it now, I never will'. It got more enjoyable towards the end but it took me a while to get through because I wasn't crazy about it.

In August I am planning to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy (my brother and I both unknowingly asked for this book for Christmas and decided we would read it at the same time). I also want to read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (although I'm unsure how this one will go down, despite the rave reviews!) So hopefully a better month of reading next!