Marks and Spencer's Beauty Advent Calendar

Why hey there,

So yesterday I received a very exciting parcel, which my mum had ordered for the both of us to share. That's right the Marks and Spencer beauty advent calendar is here and my gosh I love it. 

It is on offer at the moment at £25 when you spend £25 on anything from their beauty section, which is not as hard as you would think as Mark's and Spencer has a wide variety of beauty brands both online and in store. So if you manage to spend £25, you get the calendar for only £25, now personally £25 is a absolute bargain, as it is worth a grand total of £200!

It includes brands such as Rodial, REN, Stila, Philip Kingsley, Cowshed and lots more.

The most exciting thing for me has got to be the Pixi Glow Tonic hidden behind one of the numbers....that is right I did say Pixi Glow Tonic! Now I must admit it isn't the full size but it is close enough. 

Obviously I am not going to show you guys everything that comes in the calendar as that would just ruin the surprise would it not. 

It comes with an impressive 24 doors, or should I say boxes, to open so you get a lot for your money. The design is far better than those calendars which have the tricky doors I can never open, because I have no nails, instead each item comes in a cute little box. If you are anything like me you'd be thinking, wow I could totally reuse this calendar next year to create my own advent calendar  Nifty idea I know, I totally may have to do so.

One bad thing I need to admit to you all is that they are sold out online...but do not fear, as stores still have them in stock. And my local store has loads, so I'm sure you can find one from somewhere.

Overall thoughts

Last year my mother and I shared the body shop advent calendar, so this year we decided to opt for a different beauty calendar. The minute we heard about the Marks and Spencer's beauty advent calendar we were both sold on which one we wanted, and my mum even got up early on the release date to ensure we got one (thank you mum). 

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick: My thoughts

Hey again, hope you're all well. So recently I purchased Bobbi Brown's Skin Foundation Stick. I heard and read some amazing reviews about it, and thought I would give it a try because my skin was going through a bad patch.

Now, I love love love the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Liquid, it is my most worn foundation and possibly the only foundation I have ever repurchased I love it that much. So when I heard about the Skin Foundation Stick I just could not resist.

While the Skin Foundation Liquid is very natural, glowy and gives you the look of your skin but better (hence the name). The Skin Foundation Stick provides a medium-full coverage. I personally have combination to dry skin and I must say I never really wear a heavy coverage foundation, but the ingredients in the Foundation Stick just mesmorised me, like olive extracts and shea butter, it just sounds like a dream.  

I must say it does not feel at all heavy on the skin, and once it has settled, give it about 10-15 minutes to do so, it just looks beautiful and radiant. 

If you are one who wants to apply concealer with the Foundation Stick, I recommend doing so before you apply the foundation. It just makes life a lot easier and give's a better result afterward. 

The texture of the Stick Foundation is a mousse to cream like consistency. It is the opposite to the Skin Foundation liquid. I have to admit the first time I swatched it I was not to impressed as it felt very dry to the touch and it was not the easiest to blend in with your fingers. However, I pressed on and I am very very glad I did. It is definitley foundation that needs to have time spent on it to work it into the skin, so it is not the best for a quick makeup rush in the morning. I found the best way to apply the Stick Foundation is with the Zoeva 104 buffer brush and then I tend to go in with my beauty blender after, just to ensure a seamless finish. 

Products I Cannot Live Without

And so it begins....

For the first proper blog post, I decided to share with you all the products I cannot live without. These are the products that I have no regrets purchasing and ones which you will probably see in many other posts. So lets begin.

1. Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar bronze and glow - I love this product to the moon and back, although I must say I despise the hefty price tag it holds of £49...I literally almost fell over when the lady told me, but with all the hype around this product and how beautiful it was I just could not resist. The bronzer is just gorgeous and especially amazing when I have a tan in the summer, but even when I pale it is just incredible. The highlighter I must say isn't my favourite highlighter but it is still very good.

2. Jest Eyeshadow by Mac - I absolutely adore this eyeshadow! And it is by far my most used eyeshadow ever, if I am wearing eye shadow no doubt this will feature on my eyes in some way. It just goes with every look.

3. Rimmel London Kate Moss Lipstick in 08 - This lipstick is a close dupe to my all time favourite lipstick Tom Ford casablanca, which I haven't featured in this post because although I love it, it is just far too expensive to wear everyday like this lipstick by Kate Moss. It is just my perfect nude lipstick, and the formula is just incredible, so creamy and moisturising. I highly recommend Kate Moss' lipsticks with Rimmel, they're my favourite drugstore lipstick brand by far.

4. Tweezerman Tweezers - These are a must have item. I most certainly could not live without them. I am eyebrow obsessed, and these tweezers have been a stable for a good 4 years now. 

5. Blistex Daily Lip Conditioner - HOLY GRAIL lip balm!!!! Best lip balm I have ever brought. I think I first purchased this when I was 19, and since then I just cannot find anything that lives up to this product.

These products are most certainly my holy grail products. I cannot live without any of them. 

What are your 5 holy grail products?

Welcome

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Why Hey There!

I'm Sophie. The girl behind this blog. I am obsessed with beauty, fashion and anything music related.

I am setting up this blog Beauty By Fi as a way of helping all those 'English Rose's' out there like me. And not forgetting the rest of you who enjoy all the things I do.

So you want to know a bit about myself?

Well basically, I am in my final year of university and have been wanting to set up a beauty blog for some time now. Stupidly I decided the best time to do so was in my final year of university, probably the most stressful but i'll cope.

I will be blogging mainly about beauty, but you will also see me posting about fashion, lifestyle and everything else.