May Favourites 2015!

The typical opening for every month's favourites post, but how fast did May go?! It was quite a hectic month for me, as I graduated secondary school, and had lots of blog events and other fun things to go to. June will be quite a challenging month as I begin my Leaving Cert exams on the 3rd (I'll actually be sitting one of my exams when this post goes live, so please send a miracle my way!!). 

The last month or two, I've been really back into my beauty products and I've bought lots of new goodies to try out, so I have some great gems to share with you this month.

L'Occitane Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc Perfume
My mum recently got me a gift set from L'Occitane, which had all of their Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc collection in it. This is the first taster I've ever had of their products, but this perfume is my absolute favourite scent at the moment! It's literally summer in a bottle - it's the perfect balance of fruity and floral, and it's not too overpowering in the warmth. Its top notes are citrus and blackcurrant, and its base notes are musk and cedarwood, so it definitely strikes the balance of not being too sweet or too floral. Compared to some of my other perfumes, it wears exceptionally well. I normally spritz some on my neck and on my wrists and it will last me the whole day. It'll definitely be a summer staple for me!

L'Oreal Infallible 24H-Matte Foundation
Due to my horrific exam stress skin, I've been gravitating towards full coverage foundations, which is quite unusual for me as I've always been one for lighter foundations. After hearing multiple bloggers raving about this new offering from L'Oreal, I decided it was worth a go as my local pharmacy had it on sale for €8. I'll be doing a full in depth review of it soon, but I absolutely love it. The coverage is perfect, the longevity is phenomenal and the shade 12 Natural Rose is a perfect match for my skin. Stay tuned for my full review in the next week or two, but if you're on the hunt for a new drugstore foundation, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a whirl.


Rimmel Lasting Finish High Coverage Concealer

Continuing with my full coverage theme, I've been really enjoying this new concealer from Rimmel. It's part of their Lasting Finish collection (I reviewed the range's newest foundation here!), and I believe it's their first cream concealer. I'm not one to normally go for cream concealers, but I wanted to change my routine up a little as I usually use MAC's Pro Longwear concealer. The consistency of it is really creamy and easy to blend into the skin. It settles nicely onto the skin and doesn't move when you're contouring or anything like that. The coverage is excellent - definitely on par with MAC's Pro Longwear. One downside to this product is the lack of shades though - there are only three to choose from, and this is 20 Ivory, which is the middle shade. That aside, if you can get a colour to match you it is a really excellent product.

MAC Corduroy Eyeshadow

I recently went to my local MAC counter to update my eyeshadow collection, as I felt my MAC palette lacked some good basic matte shadows. I picked up a couple of different shades, but the one I've been using most is Corduroy. It's a muted, reddish brown colour that I've been putting in the outer corners of my eyes in place of a matte black, or in the crease to deepen a look. It's such a smooth eyeshadow that blends so easily. I've been really into softer, brown smokey looks recently so it's perfect for defining my eyes but not making them too dark. I've also been enjoying Embark, but Corduroy is my favourite!

Covergirl Lashblast Volume Mascara

This has always been my go-to mascara, but I recently realised that I've never mentioned it on my blog. It's the definition of a perfect mascara - it adds volume, maximum length, it's the blackest of black and it doesn't smudge or run at all. I have fairly short eyelashes so I'm quite fussy with mascaras, and no mascara gives my eyelashes the volume and length that this does. Although this isn't a waterproof formula, I have really watery eyes and I've never experienced flaking or smudging with this product. Can we start a petition to get Covergirl onto our shores please?!

Essence The Gel Nail Polish in 'Indian Summer'
My favourite thing about being finished in school is definitely the fact that I'm now free to paint my nails whenever I want! My school didn't allow us to wear nail polish so I certainly won't miss that rule! I've heard so many positive reviews about the brand new Essence The Gel nail polish range, so I bought this beautiful coral shade called Indian Summer. It's the perfect summer shade and I love the gel finish. This lasted on my nails for 7 days without the slightest bit of chipping - the quality is absolutely incredible! I've since bought four more, so I'll be doing a full blog post on them. There are 48 shades available in this range, so at €1.79, I can certainly see myself going back for more!

Just to round off today's blog post, here's a little collage of some of the things I got up to in May!

I got an Olaf graduation ballon! | I graduated secondary school! | I went to see 5 Seconds Of Summer | I attended the launch of Bioderma in Ireland! | And finally a picture of me with a 5SOS foam finger.

Let me know what your May favourites are!

Zara :-)x