My Autumn/Winter Essentials So Far - B xo

So I’ve seen LOADS of people posting their Autumn/Winter Favourites/Essentials already this year, and every time I see one, I think to myself; wow. It’s only just really started to get yucky weather wise (In the UK anyway). So while I have a few bits that I would class as Autumn/Winter Essentials, I want to make it clear to everyone that these may change, or get added to, as Winter goes on! Okay, here we go.

We’ll go to skincare for my first product. It is, of course, Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. You all know by now that I am head over heels in love with this product. Since I started using it a few months ago, I have not strayed from the path, I have been completely faithful. I haven’t even been tempted to stray. This is probably my favourite skincare discovery ever. I started using it in the summer and I’ll be honest, I did wonder if it would work as well for me in the colder months, as skin needs change depending on the weather. I had nothing to be worried about. I’ve used this constantly and had no problems whatsoever. Far from it, my skin has improved dramatically compared to before Liz Earle waltzed into my life. It removes every scrap of makeup with minimal effort and leaves my skin feeling quite frankly, luscious. At £13.25 for a 100ml bottle (more than I think I have ever paid for a skincare product, constantly at least) at first glance this may seem a bit expensive (to those of us that rely heavily on high street products). However, once you have tried this product, you will realise that you have got yourself an absolute bargain. You can’t afford NOT to buy it!

My next Autumn/Winter Essential is also of the skin care theme. It is… Astral Moisturiser! I am a bit of a moisturiser whore, I don’t mind admitting. I flit from product to product, never really finding anything that really floats my boat and just plodding along with products I deem average at best. When I ran out of my little Liz Earle moisturiser (which was really nice, just not for me), I was at a loss as for where to head next in my ever long moisturiser quest. Then one day when I went into Superdrug for a browse, I spotted this on display at the front of the shop. I recognised it immediately as a product that my aunty used to use. It was her holy grail of skincare, and I remember seeing it in her bathroom from when I was a tiny toddler to when she died. And as if that wasn’t enough of a sign, it was on offer. I think I paid £3.50 for a 500ml tub (or something along those lines). I LOVE this moisturiser. And I really never thought I would say that, but it is fantastic. My skin gets dehydrated quite quickly, but once moisture has been restored, it’s okay. This means that I normally struggle to find a moisturiser that deals with both skin situations. This does it, no problem. It goes on smoothly, sinks in to the skin beautifully and has left my skin feeling soft and radiant. I’m VERY impressed. And as it is getting colder here in the UK my skin needs a bit more help. I don’t imagine I will be leaving this behind any time soon.

Moving on from skincare to hair, another thing I would be lost without this winter, is Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo. Again, this tends to be a little bit more pricey than the kind of shampoo that I used to buy but after using it religiously for a few months now (I’m getting much better at this sticking with products thing), I can totally see why. I tend to try and wait until I see this on offer to buy it, but regardless, it is definitely worth the price tag. No matter what I do to my hair, it is always dry. Before I started using Aussie, it would often be so dry that I had to condition for about 10 minutes before I could even dream of getting a brush through it. I have no more of that. The condition of my hair has really improved since I’ve stuck to this shampoo, and it smells gorgeous too!

My next product, is a fairly recent discovery. However, it’s one of those things that everyone has been raving about for ages and I’m just late to the party. It is, of course, the Revlon Colourburst Lip Butters. There has been SO much hype around these, I thought, I just can’t hold out any longer. These are around the £7 mark, depending on where you buy them and whether they’re included in some sort of offer. A little pricey for what seems at first glance to be basically a lip balm. Or so I thought. I was wrong. At first, I didn’t really get this product. Now that I do, I absolutely love it. The formulation of these are quite unique. They apply like a balm, but have the pigmentation of a lipstick. I find these to be uber hydrating and lovely, they make my lips feel gorgeous. The shade range is VERY impressive, although a lot of high street shops don’t stock them all. The staying power isn’t great, but as this isn’t actually a lipstick, I’m fine with that. The only negative comment I have about these is the packaging. I don’t like it. It seems cheap and impractical and just, not to my taste at all. Apart from that, I think these are brilliant. Definitely worth the hype and I hope to be expanding my collection sometime soon.

Have you guys got any products you'd be totally lost without in the Autumn(Fall)/Winter Months? Let us know in the comments below :)

B xo

Back In Business

Hola bambinos! I know Smekah has been off the radar for the last month or so, hence I just thought I'd do a quick little post to update you on the blog/me/sam/wdf situation. (I've written, deleted and rewritten this about a million times this week so bare with me. If there's anything I haven't covered, feel free to get in touch).

Basically, Smekah is back in business. I know I know, I can hear you all jumping for joy as you read this. After a kind of hiatus, it's all kicking off again here. As you know, Sam is now posting from Blinkered Barbie, however all of us here at Smekah hold a special place in her heart (ew, sickly sweet alert) and she has decided she's going to carry on posting here as well, probably around 3 times a week. I am going to step up my posting - it's going to be everything from reviews on beauty products, ootd's/lookbooks, lifestyle posts, reciepes, all manner of random things, so beware! If ever there is a lull and I've slipped back into my old habbits of not posting like I should, please hassle me into it. Peer pressure is most effective.

So I'm sorry that we haven't been around, but we're back now yaaay. We hope that you're all okay! 

Love,

B xxo

Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Cleanser

My love for Nip + Fab knows pretty much no bounds, I went shopping to buy their Sheer Make Up Fix (has this been discontinued, does anyone know? I can't seem to find it anywhere...) and came away with this cleanser, something I didn't particularly need in any way at all. Having said that, I've fallen in love with this Glycolic Fix Cleanser.

This is definitely an in shower cleanser as opposed to a removing make-up cleanser. It's a cloudy gel that smells like grapefruit (absolutely lush) and foams up literally the minute that it hits water. I've swapped my OXY for this, and in terms of having major breakouts (touch wood) this seems to be keeping them at bay just as much as the OXY was, only it's much softer feeling on my skin. According to Nip + Fab this cleanser contains glycolic acid to exfoliate and retexture, apple amino acid to cleanse and purify and olive oil to hydrate and smooth. I literally have no idea if all that is true, but it does definitely leave my skin feeling smoother, cleaner and just as exfoliated as if I had used a much more gritty product.

This isn't the cheapest face wash in the world, I bought it from Sainsbury's for £7.99 (/150ml) but I'd definitely say it's a nice smelling, softer feeling alternative to much harsher spot reducing products on the market and, for me at least, it seems to give a similar effect.

Have you used glycolic fix? What products do you use to prevent breakouts?

Sammy xo

Bourjois Cream Blush

I know, I know, like you haven't seen enough of these reviews already. I'm sorry, but I feel like after trying it I have to review Bourjois Cream Blush.

It's no secret that I'm often dubious about cult products, but this is one I feel like I'm right to be dubious about. I have this blush in 002 which is called "Healthy Glow". The packaging for this is adorable, it's in a little round pink pot (each shade is in a different coloured compact) which open to reveal a tiny mirror and the blush itself. This is a really odd texture, I'm not sure that I would have used the word "cream" I'd say it was actually almost balm like in it's texture, but that's all technicalities. 

This isn't a colour I'd normally go for, it's a lot more coral looking that the usual flush of pink that I choose, but regardless I was willing to give it a go. Applied without blending, the colour is amazing (the swatch to the right above), a rosy coral colour that's exactly how it's described, a healthy glow. However, when it's blended in (the left swatch) it's literally barely noticeable on my skin, and to get the healthy glow look it takes a lot of building up.

This blush isn't one I'd ever repurchase, I'm not a huge fan of the colour once it's blended or of the texture. For a similar colour, I'd definitely stick with The Balm's Instain in "Swiss Dot".

Have you used Bourjois cream blush? What did you think? Any nice alternatives?

Sammy xo.

Soap and Glory Archery

Behold; I'm about to talk about a skincare brand who have done beauty, and done it well. That's right, I'm about to delve into the make-up range presented to us by Soap and Glory.

Although I own a couple of different pieces of make-up from their brand, today I'm going to talk about their Archery brow tint and precision pencil. Before this I used Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil which I liked but was far too dark for my newly lightened hair. Colour choice is one of the reasons that I picked Archery, they do a colour really close to my (artificially) light blonde hair called "Love is Blonde". This is a product that isn't actually similar to any other on the market that I'm aware of, one end is an almost paintbrush looking eyebrow tint and the other is a slightly darker pencil tip.

The tint is to be used first. I draw around the shape of my eyebrows using the precision tip that it offers, then fill them in as a base. This gives precise shape and an all over colour, so far so good.

Then step two is the pencil. This is to fill in spaces and build up the colour to the level that you need it at. After both steps my eyebrows are neat, fairly precisely shaped and still a natural colour that is fairly close to my own.

I do think that for an eyebrow pencil this is quite expensive (£10 just seems a little steep for what it is) and I have to say, if I still had my dark hair I think I'd still favour my rimmel pencil over archery, but for those of you out there with lighter hair using pencils too dark because that's the lightest pencil you can find, I highly recommend swapping over to Archery for a much neater, much more natural look.

Have you ever tried Archery? What eyebrow pencils have worked for you in the past?

Sammy xo