Current Loves - The First Edition

The products that have been tickling my fancy so far this January with a book thrown in for good measure... 

Last year I featured a 'current favourites series' on my blog for a few months where I wrote about products, clothes, food etc. that I had been loving at the time, a monthly favourites type of thing just not necessarily at the end of each month, this year I hope to make this type of favourites posts a regular feature on my blog, I love reading what other peoples favourite items are so here are mine...

First up is an old favourite just in a lovely new bottle as I had run out of my first one, Chanel's Chance Eau Fraiche is such a gorgeous scent, it's light, fresh and feminine without being overpowering. Next up is The Body Shop's Hemp Hand Protector, this is a must have in the winter months for me, the cold weather can really take its toll on my skin and nothing comes to the rescue better than this rich hand cream. Packed with Community Fair Trade Hemp Seed Oil this hand cream is super heavy duty, it even heals cracked sore skin so definitely one I recommend if you are outdoors a lot.

Another Body Shop favourite is the Camomile Waterproof Eye Make Up Remover, this oil and water combination is perfect for removing stubborn mascara and matt lipstick, I just shake the bottle to activate to formula and apply to the skin using a cotton pad, it lifts away make up effortlessly without having to spend ages tugging away at the lashes.

Soap and Glory's Calm One, Calm All Bubble Bath has been keeping my baths nice and relaxing with subtle girly aroma and moisturising bubbles, the formula is enriched with lemon balm and mallow extracts meaning if your feeling super lazy you can skip the moisturiser and fall straight into bed, which is what you will want to do after using this - this stuff is seriously relaxing!

My final favourite is one I literally struggle to put down, Lena Dunham's Not That Kinda Girl is such a hilariously honest account of Lena's journey into becoming a woman, she is so relatable, as a reader you feel as though she is willing to share anything with you no matter how dark or embarrassing that might be, I especially loved her food diary entries. Definitely recommend checking this book out if you're a Girls fan.

So that's my most recently loved products so far this year, what are some of yours? Leave your blog links below.

Disclaimer: Although I work for The Body Shop this in no way effects my opinion.

August Playlist

Aside from Fashion and Beauty I'm a bit of a Music obsessive, so below I have selected a few songs that I really like right now:

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Electricity.
The Captain is one of my all time favourites, his Avant Garde  Jazz, Delta Blues, Punk, Rock and Roll racket is literally impossible to categorize so don't even bother trying just sit back and let yourself into the insane world of Captain Beefheart.

Pond - Xanman.
This is the first single to be taken from Ponds new EP Hobo Rocket. It's almost impossible to talk about Pond without mentioning Tame Impala, lead singer Nick Allbrook is former Impala bassist and Pond features other members of Tame Impala, even Kevin Parker featured on their previous album on the drums. But whereas Kevin Parker is clearly massively influenced by Tomorrow Never Knows era Beatles, Pond's sound is a lot heavier, imagine if The Stooges had been on acid instead of heroin and lived in San Fransisco in the late 60's instead of Detroit and you have an idea what they sound like. This single is magnificent fun and is loud enough to annoy the neighbours which is a phrase I haven't been able to use enough recently.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Higgs Boson Blues.
The latest single to be taken off the Bad Seeds album Push the Sky Away is one of the best songs this year. I can assure you that you won't have heard another song this year sung by a 50 year old man rhyming Hannah Montana with African Savannah and for this alone it is worth a listen! To me the song sounds like it's going to explode any second but never does and I think it's the case with a lot of the album, there's almost an underlying threat through all the songs but whereas in previous albums they would have delivered on this threat they seem more restrained on this record but I think this gives the song a brilliant atmosphere.

Lou Reed - The Kids.
One of my favourite songs ever from one of my favourite albums ever Lou Reeds Berlin. This song is incredibly brutal and chilling and nothing like any of the songs from the glam rock Bowie produced Transformer. The first lyric sets the tone:

"They're taking her children away, because they said she is not a good Mother"

If this wasn't enough towards the end of the song there is the sound of crying children over the music. Legend has it that Lou got the children to cry by telling them their parents had been killed. Unsurprisingly the record was a commercial disaster but would go on to influence bands such as Joy Division and is now considered a masterpiece. 

Deerhunter - Monomania. 

Halcyon Digest was one of my favourite albums of the past couple of years and I could have easily listened to 10 more albums from Deerhunter like that but what I love about Deerhunter is that they never rest on their laurels and this song finds Deerhunter in a completely different place. Whereas the last album had a very dreamy, ambient sound to it this song is urgent, fast and the sound of a band playing as if their lives depend on it and I love it! It's a great garage rock song that literally sounds like it was recorded in a garage, it just makes you want to jump around. I mean it's not as good as Helicopter or Desire Lines but it's by no means at all a backwards step for the brilliant Deerhunter.

All artwork belongs to the Artists.

On The Lips...

Top Left: Rimmel Red Fever 230, Revlon Balm Stain Just Bitten Kissable Rendezvous, Rimmel Kate Lasting Lipstick 016, Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick 107, M.A.C Morange Lipstick.

I always like to have some form of lip product going on, for me it is as important as mascara, Lipstick is a great way of injecting some colour if you are going for a natural look with the rest of your make-up. Here is a few of my favourites:

Rimmel Red Fever 230 Lipstick, I'm not actually sure the price of this one as I can't seem to be able to find it for sale online so it has probably been discontinued. This is a true old Hollywood glamorous red, the texture is very matte and the finish is really long lasting.

Revlon Balm Stain Just Bitten Kissable in Rendezvous, £7.99. This is great for work or school as it has a barely there look that is just your lips but better, its a pretty natural sheer colour. I like the crayon style application as well.

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 016, £5.49. This baby pink colour is perfect combined with a dark smokey eye. The finish is long lasting as you may have guessed from the name! It has good coverage but still has that sheen to it making the look softer.

Rimmel Kate Matte Lipstick in 107, £5.49. The whole matte range is gorgeous first of all, the colours are so creamy and opaque and they really last for a long time, this colour is amazing, it's sexy, dark and can look a little bit intimidating, but I promise once this is one you will love it! and for just over a fiver you can't really go wrong.

M.A.C Lipstick in Morange, £15. Coral/Orange toned colours really suit my skin tone so I have quite a few, this is my favourite though, it's bold but pretty and is such a summery shade. Again this doesn't feel cakey and dry like some other lipsticks I have tried, it's creamy like the Rimmel Lipsticks and the cover is very opaque.

What's your favourite lipstick?

Left to Right: Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick 016, Revlon Balm Stain Rendezvous, M.A.C Lipstick Morange, Rimmel Red Fever Lipstick, Rimmel Matte Kate Lipstick in 107.

Danielle