January Favourites

My favourites this month are about as exciting as watching paint dry - Laura Mercier Secret Brightener, Collection 2000 concealer, Armani corrector, Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint, La Roche Posay Toleriane lotion, Effaclar Duo... all on heavy rotation as always. 

I thought I would forgo a video and instead bring to your attention the one product that I haven't really mentioned before and that has totally rocked my socks (and cheeks) ever since I received it from the company in December. The product is Benefit's Hervana and here I am wearing it in all its glory:

I am wearing it quite sheer. The finish is gorgeous - matte bordering on slightly satin. The finish and texture of the powder is probably my favourite thing about this blush. If you are a fan of Well Dressed blush by MAC and Madly by NARS, consider Hervana somewhere in the middle of both. I love the fact that it's such a versatile blush, it can literally go with any makeup look.

the pretty design doesn't budge as you swirl your brush around to get all the colours

You can wear it sheer like I am or you can build it up if you want to put more focus on your cheeks. 

The packaging is quirky and standard Benefit. You all know how I feel about the boxes (I am Hoola's biggest fan but the packaging drove me nuts). They have changed the packaging slightly to offer a little mirror and the lid has a magnetic closure as opposed to completely coming off as before.

I'm still not the biggest fan of the boxes but I know that many women love the quirky design and like to collect them. They are cute, especially with the little sayings on the sides like on Hervana, but just not as portable/travel-friendly as I'd like. I don't store my makeup in a way that it's displayed (I basically throw everything into a drawer separated into "eyes, lips face" and call it a day) so the cardboard boxes tend to get a bit beat up. But, with some products, I just have to make an exception. I've been really missing Hoola as well since it worked so well with my skin tone both in summer and winter.

Anyway, enough rambling. I have been wearing this blush almost daily since its release. The powder smells nice too, slightly floral. I have seen it at Sephora here - who now lowered the Canadian order limit to $75 for free shipping which made me happy, it was $120 before! Of course you can order it from Benefit's website or Ulta as well if you're in the US.

As for the rest of my makeup, I wore:

Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation in shade B30 (it photographs nicely but don't be fooled, this foundation is a b*tch to apply), Chanel loose powder in shade 30, Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer in shade 52, Benefit Hervana blush.

MAC Brulee eyeshadow all over the eyelid, MAC Wedge eyeshadow in the crease, Giorgio Armani Maestro liquid liner and Eyes to Kill Excess mascara.

On my lips I busted out an oldie - MAC Jazzed from the In the Groove collection from a couple of summers ago.

Hope your January was great! Mine was stressful and February is shaping up to be the same. However, if you have Instagram, I am planning on doing the "#febphotoaday" challenge: one photo per day, following a particular theme, if you search for the tag in the program you will see more about it. It seemed fun so follow me on there if you'd like, my username is "tt5andra" because weirdly enough both "ttsandra" and "5andra" were taken by other users *evil stare*.

If you're not part of the iWorld or don't care about Instagram, I may do a summary of it on here and I will tweet the pictures as well!

xx