MAY FAVOURITES

I've been meaning to start posting my monthly favourites for a while now, but when I remembered to do it, we were always well into the next month, so it felt a little pointless posting so late. I know we are four days into June but I think I'm just in time with this one! I wanted to show you all the products I've been using and loving the most throughout the month of May, including everything from bath products to makeup. When it comes to beauty, I tend to be the kind of girl that finds something and sticks to it unless advised to try something else by a reliable source, and you'll probably find that I always end up going back to the same thing eventually. A couple of the items I've picked have already been reviewed on the blog, so for those I'll pop a link to the relevant posts incase you wanted to find out a bit more about them. Others I have used and loved for a long time, and some are recent discoveries. Here goes! 

Miss Dior EDP - A fragrance that I've always admired from afar on other people, and cheekily tested on myself in my local Boots on regular occasions, is now finally mine! I decided to treat myself and take the plunge. Perfume is something I usually get as birthday or Christmas gifts, and something I rarely buy myself, so this felt like a big chunk of money to me, but I'm so glad I got it. It's only tiny, but being an EDP it is more concentrated, so a little goes a long way. I love the girly yet grown up scent to this and have had to stop myself from using it too often as I don't want to run out any time soon!

Waitrose Essential Cinnamon Cakes Body Wash - My brother made me smell this when we were shopping in our local Waitrose a few weeks back, and as soon as I smelt it I knew I had to get it. If you the smell of cinnamon and cakes, you will love this. It smells good enough to eat, and foams into a thick creamy lather on the skin when showering. I actually repurchased this at the weekend (hence the full bottle) and I'm sure I'll be going through this one pretty fast too. They also do it in bubble bath form which is next on my list.

Crabtree & Evelyn Citron Honey & Coriander Body Lotion - I first tried this when I went to the Hilton in Manchester at Christmas, and after using up the complementary sample in the bathroom, Dan bought me the full size version as one of my Christmas gifts (he's good with hints). I was surprised how much I liked this at first as its quite a herbal scent, whereas I usually lean towards the more sickly sweet body creams (coconut, vanilla, cinnamon.....cakes......), however this is so lightweight and refreshing. It sinks into the skin without being greasy and has a lovely citrus summery fragrance that isn't overpowering. I'm nearly through the whole bottle now, and will definitely be picking another one up soon.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser - My absolute favourite skincare product of all time. EVER. If you read my review of La Roche Posay and the bad experience I had with it, you'll know I've had a little bit of a tough time with my skin lately, suffering from nasty breakouts. Well this has fixed all my problems and my skin is at it's best it has been in a long time. I used Liz Earle religiously for about a year and then got lazy with my routine and stopped for about a month or so, and that's when bad things started to happen. However, now I'm back on track with this I'm really pleased with how my skin is looking. I wrote a review of this a while ago which you can read here.

Boots Botanics Hydrating Eye Cream - The combination of a very bad cold a few weeks back, combined with my skin being dried out by La Roche Posay products, my eyes were in a pretty bad state. At one point I couldn't bare to have any make up on my eye lids, and it looked as though I was shedding skin (ew). I popped into Boots in search of a cheap solution, and stumbled across this. It worked wonders for me and really helped to moisturise my eye lids and under eyes. The light cream consistency goes on smoothly with no dragging, and has a lovely gentle cooling effect.

Hay Max Aloe Vera Hay Fever Balm - At the moment I am suffering quite badly from Hay Fever as I always do at this time of year. I've been getting it every year since I was about sixteen, and always seemed to resemble Rudolph when pollen count was high. I came across this Hay Max balm when looking for antihistamine tablets, and thought I would give it a whirl. Think of it as a Vaseline for the nose. You rub it around the nostrils to act as a barrier for pollen, and the Aloe Vera moisturises the nose at the same time. Red noses are no more and sneezing is dramatically reduced - hurrah! Vaseline would probably do the same trick, but I like to keep the two products separate.

17 Blemish Balm All In One Magic Make Up - On my quest for improving my skin, I decided it was time to switch up my foundation for something lighter, in the form of a BB Cream. I tested some out at my local Boots, but found it difficult to get one light enough for my pale skin. That was until I got to the 17 section and spied their Beauty Balm. Their shade 'Light' matched my skin nicely so I snapped it up. The packaging states that you will have better skin after 4 weeks. I'm 5 weeks into this and can confirm that this has indeed improved my skin dramatically, and has weened me off the thick foundation for the foreseeable future.

Benefit Fine One One - My absolute favourite cream blush, hands down. You may have seen my review I wrote about this not too long ago, and I am still loving it just as much, if not more now. I love how a highlighter is built into this nifty little gadget, giving a lovely flush of colour and perking the cheeks up instantly. This will be brilliant throughout the Summer to give a natural, healthy glow with a dewy finish.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Satsuma - After reading up on all the hype over these across the Blogosphere, I was pretty sceptical, and when I first used this particular colour I found that it chipped really quickly. However I've since used this a number of times and it's lasted for up to a week on my nails before signs of chipping! The first time must have been something to do with the condition of my nails because I have had brilliant results with this since then, and absolutely love the summery coral shade.

Jessica Nail Colour in Sensual & 3D Tangerine - Having recently got into Jessica Nail Polishes after buying from a friend who used to own a salon, I've become a firm fan. I have quite a collection of colours building but these two are my favourites. They last well on the nails and have a really nice finish to them. Sensual is a gorgeous girly bubblegum pink, and 3D Tangerine is a shocking orange that I alway get compliments on. It's an unusual shade for nails but looks really nice on, and would be the perfect colour with tanned skin on holidays.

Barry M Nail Art Pen in Black - I've been trying my hand at nail art lately, and this has been a great tool for that. This nail pen has a nib almost like a felt tip pen, making it easy to control and doesn't make a mess! I've been using this to create leopard print patterns and it has worked a treat. It dries quickly and it is pitch black in colour. I'll be snapping up a few more colours pronto!

So there are my favourites from the month of May. Are any of these on your favourites lists too? What have you loved using throughout the past month?