January always feels like it is 74 days long and February breezes by so quickly! In Feb I didn't try many new items so my monthly favourites are tried and tested products. Here are my top eight things for the month of February:
Kristin Ess Weightless Air Dry Crème
If you have never heard of the brand Kristin Ess, do yourself a favour and try it out. It's like a bougie haircare brand at drugstore prices. February was humid AF in Western Australia and as a girl with "wavy" hair, any ounce of humidity can turn my hair-doo from a nice polished style to a freshly groomed poodle đŠ So I whipped out this styling cream to help combat the frizz and make my hair be a little more manageable. You're supposed to use this product on towel-dried hair but I like to break the rules đ and used it on dry hair also. The smell of this product is so appealing and it didn't leave my hair feeling greasy or gross. You can pick up this styling creme from Priceline for $18.99. The next thing I am wanting to try from this brand is the exfoliating scalp scrub!
Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Touch Hand Cream
I never leave the house without a hand cream as I HATE the feeling of dry hands. It's something I have had since being a little girl. I carry one in my handbag, desk draw, car, about 17 places at home and because of this, I feel like I am a connoisseur of hand cream. I stumbled across the Sol de Janeiro Brazillian Touch Hand Cream when on one of my many visits to Mecca. I already love the scent of the original Bum Bum cream, so when I gave this hand cream a spin in the store I decided to grab it. While it isn't the most intensively moisturising cream around, it has THE BEST smell. Its like a summer holiday meets a fancy cocktail in a cream. Just to go back on the point of the moisture, if you are a sufferer of very dry hands, it won't provide you sufficient moisture. I picked mine up from Mecca for $24.
Rimmel Lasting Matte Foundation
With it being so hot and humid, I've been sweating like a prostitute in church!! Because of this I dug this Rimmel foundation out of my collection to help A) combat the dew and keep me matte, and B) ensure that my foundation lasts for as long as it can and this foundation ticks those boxes. I was expecting it to be super heavy but it's lightweight and leaves a great matte finish. While I wouldn't say it is entirely sweat-proof it held up really well. After a 10 hour day of wear, I would still be shiny but the coverage was still there and it didn't seem to break up in either of my nose or chin areas. I picked this foundation up originally as Courtney Kerr (check out her blog KERRently by Courntey Kerr here) raved about how good it was but then re-fell in love more recently when Nikkia Joy mentioned it in one of her more recent videos. I grabbed mine from Chemist Warehouse and retails usually around the $17.95 mark. Oh and my shade is 203 True Beige.
Lanolips 101 Ointment Multi-Purpose Balm
You'd think that the constant hot humid weather would mean my hands and cuticles wouldn't be so dry. BUT they've been so dry that I'm without a doubt that a toilet training mum would be envious of the lack of moisture that's how bad they've been. So I brought in the big guns and started slathering on this ointment where I needed it. I tend to get really scaly skin on the heal of my palms, along the side of my index finger and my cuticles. I would focus on putting this on as soon as I got to work as I knew that it would give it time to absorb while I type đŠđťâđť It has fixed things and is a total lifesaver. Instantly you can see a difference and by about the second-day things seem to have gone back to normal. I left this little tube at my desk at work and bought another one from Priceline. This ointment is around $18.99 but it sometimes does come on sale which I usually then pick one up as a back-up.
Kmart Bamboo Pedicure Paddles
I am not a fan of going to a nail place to get a pedicure... a manicure I am ok with but for feet, it is a no-no. It is probably because working for local government, I have heard about the nightmare stories about some salons and the (lack of) hygiene. So, I like to do my own pedicures. You may think it is hard, but if you keep on top of things it isn't difficult at all. This bamboo pedicure paddle from Kmart is one of the main tools that I use as it is perfect for getting your tootsies in tip-top shape. It has a brush, pumice, a cheesegrater style (that sounds gross I know) rasp and then a file (like a bigger version of a nail file). This paddle only costs $8 and does the same job as what you would get at a salon. My tip is to soak your feet in warm water and apple cider vinegar for around 20 minutes first to make the process so much easier. The vinegar has anti-bacterial properties and helps to get at that old, callus-ey skin.
Savvy by DB Lip Kit
I need to be upfront with this one, it can only be bought online now from Priceline for $7.00 (soz about that). Anyhoo, I love the colour and finish of this lipstick. It is a pretty nude colour that leans pinker. For the price, it is a great lippy and I have used it a bunch in February for days that I wanted to have a nude lip. The lip liner is good too, I just haven't really bothered pairing the two together as I have been lazy đ The formula is quite moisturising and has a satin texture and kind of reminds me of a MAC Blankety in the way that it behaves. My only gripe about this lipstick is the bullet. It is a round shape making it difficult to create a clean line on my top lip around the cupids bow. Apart from that, it is a great lipstick.
MUD CC Cream SPF30
If you listen to the Mamamia You Beauty podcast, you would have heard Leigh Campbell talk about this MUD Makeup Design CC Cream as one of her saveys (and a dupe for the IT Cosmetics Your Skin but Better CC Cream). This guy costs $7.50 and can only be picked up from Woolworths. It has THE WORST shade selection known to man, but if you are a similar tone as I am, the light to medium shade (which is what I use) will work. Just make sure you spread some down your neck to make that demarcation line less noticeable. I wouldn't say that this is an identical dupe for the IT Cosmetics CC Cream, it just happens to be a high SPF CC cream that is quite pigmented. Its consistency is thinner and runnier and it seems to be more matte too. So for me being a lot shinier than usual, it has been good to me. The way I apply this is with a brush and then pounce my beauty sponge afterwards to make sure everything is "melted" into my skin. Oh and I still put an SPF 50 underneath this... as I know I don't use sufficient of this cream to give me the full protection.
Maybelline The Falsies Lash Lift Volumising Mascara
This is my new holy grail mascara đđź Like it is amazing, better than NARS Climax, Too Faced Better Than Sex or even L'Oreal Lash Paradise. The formula isn't wet off the bat which I prefer and it doesn't dry up as fast as the Lash Paradise (I swear that goes dry so quickly in the tube). The hourglass-shaped brush is what I am digging at the moment in mascaras. It helps to make my lashes look like they have tones of volume. I haven't noticed any smudging or flaking during the day which is also why I love this mascara so much. I picked up mine from Priceline for $24.95. I wrote a whole review on my IG including some before and after images of my lashes so make sure you check it out.
So that is it, my top 8 favourites for February. Was there anything in my favourites that you enjoy or have never seen before? What were your favourite items in February? Leave your comments below as I would love to hear what you were digging too!
Toodles đ
Jess
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