ESthetics: Summer Faves 2015

Hello beautiful earthlings!
This is a first "fave" post I have and I decided to post my beauty related summer favourites on the first day of September! By the way, hello September and hello Autumn! Also, hello to my fellow Autumn babies!
The products I would be mentioning in this post are the products that I continually used during the summer months that I have tried, tested and loved. So shall we start?

So let's start talking about SKINCARE! Skincare excites me as much as make-up or probably even more.
Bioré Ice Cleanser is one of the face cleansers I swear by.  I particularly love using this cleanser during the hot summer months as it leaves a very cooling sensation on the skin after rinsing.  I used this cleanser when I was on my vacation in Asia. This product helps me skin fight the blemishes and it leaves my skin soft and smooth!  It does have a scent when applied on the skin.  I am not bothered by it but others may.  The scent does not linger on the skin that long though.
Etude House's Wonder Pore toner was one of the products that I regret buying late in the summer months.  I did not get to use this until I got back in Ireland.  But I have been using it non-stop ever since.  It claims that it has 10 benefits which includes minimising pores. I honestly see a little difference in my pores but the reason why it is in my summer faves is that it leaves a cooling and fresh sensation on your skin when used.

The next product I regret buying late in the summer months is the Body Shop's Seaweed Mattifying day cream.  I already purchased this when I was already back in Ireland.  I heard good things about this from beauty Youtuber Saaammage couple years ago.
I have been religiously using the Body Shop's Aloe Vera moisturizers for years (almost 10 years!) and it is my HG moisturizer since it works well with my sensitive skin.  I have noticed for the past 2 years, my skin has gotten oilier around the T-Zone area during the summer months and it bothered me a lot.  I decided to get the Seaweed moisturizer and I love it.

The Seaweed moisturizer is not a cream based.  It is more like a gel type moisturizer that turns clear when applied on the face.  The first time I used it, I felt a tingly sensation on my face which scared me because I thought my skin would react badly to it.
Fortunately, my skin did not react badly.  I guess it was just not used to the moisturizer.  I like how it helps my skin's sebum in control and I don't get that much shiny as I used to.  I'd say that this keeps my face matte for about 6 hours.  Others claim that it keeps them matte the entire day but my sunscreen is on the oilier side of things that promotes sebum build up.  The only downside is that this is quite expensive almost €18 for a tub of 50 ml. 

The photo above includes the face make-up that I have loved during the summer months.  I brought these products with me during my vacation and worked really well.
I really enjoyed using Benefit's Porefessional primer as it kept my base make-up last longer and reduced the appearance of my pores around my nose and cheek area.
I love Benefit's Hoola bronzer for a little contouring of my face.  I love how the undertone is brown and not orange since I am not a fan of orange-y bronzers.
I was going to buy Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind before I left for my vacation since I heard from my sister Nikki that it works really well. I was on the hunt for it and it was sold out everywhere in the city. So I decided to just get the Fit Me Concealer.  I love it!  The coverage is really good and covers my dark circles really well.  The shade also suited my skin tone.
The powder I used to set my make-up with was ELF's HD powder.  I noticed that it does not really help with oil control so I got Rimmel's Stay Matte powder.  It claims to mattify the skin for about 5 hours.  I honestly think that it helps my skin matte for about 4 hours.  The downside with this powder was that it did not come with a puff.  I bought a separate powder puff and just keep it in the packaging to keep things easy.
Sleek's blush in Rose Gold is a good dupe for Nars's Orgasm blush.  I love how it is so flattering on my skin and I always use it even if summer has just gone by.  The blush is coral in colour with gold flexes.  The flexes does not accentuate my pores whatsoever that's why I love it!

Here are the swatches of the products mentioned above.  Rimmel's Stay Matte pressed powder did not show up that much on my skin since it does not really have that much colour to it.

I forgot to include Etude House's Proof 10 primer in this photo.  It is my HG eye primer.  It keeps my eye make-up last all day long even if I would shed a few tears here and there.  I used the primer for my cousin's wedding and I definitely teared up a bit when I saw her walking down the aisle.  And my makeup did not budge at all!

I got the K-Palette 1 Day Lash Perm Volume Curl mascara as part of a set that includes the liquid liner.  The mascara claims to be volumizing and curling as well.  To be honest, I have tried better mascara in terms of volumizing but I love how this mascara does not smudge in my eyes even without the use of eyelid primer.  Despite that, I love how this mascara keeps my lash curled and does not leave a very spidery/clumpy lash effect.

I have a love-hate relationship with Benefit's They're Real mascara.  There would be those days that I love how it looks on my lashes but there would also be those days that I dislike it due to the clumpiness it leaves my sparse lashes that it looked very unflattering.
You're probably wondering how did this get in my favourites? Well, I like how this does not smudge like the mascara I have mentioned before this.  I still yet have to master how to use this properly so I'd get that consistent lash look that I like.  I don't really think that this helps much with volume but I think it lengthens the lashes well and holds curls.

K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Eyeliner has recently become one of my HG liquid liners.  This does not need the help of a primer. It stays put where it should be for a minimum of 8 hours. I have worn this to work and I did not have to worry about smudging and budging.

I love how thin the brush is that can help create thin lines that is close to the lashes.  It is also easy to use for thicker lines with no problems whatsoever.

Clio's Pen Liner in Kill Black is the other HG liquid liner I was talking about.  I love the formula of this liner.  The pigmentation is amazing!

This eyeliner does not also smudge! I wore this to work without primer and lasted me the entire day without transfer or smudging.  It claims to be waterproof but there was a time that I walked in the rain with this eyeliner, and I got transfer from my upper lids. (I have one extremely hooded eyelids that makes eyeliner-ing quite difficult). I don't know why that happened so I will be testing this liquid liner further and I will have a full review on this eyeliner soon so look out for that!
Since this is a pen liquid liner, I found that application could be a little difficult especially if I wanted a sharp winged liner. I should try the brush version and maybe I'd like it even more than this.

Here are the swatches of the liquid eyeliners mentioned.   Clio's pigmentation is better than K-Palette's but K-Palette's application is easier than Clio's.  If they had a baby, it would have the perfect combination ever!

This Wet N Wild lipstick in Coral-ine is my favourite coral/orange lipstick! I used it all the time during the summer months.

It can be used as a statement colour but I mostly used it as a stain. I'd dab it in the inner part of my lips for that gradient effect that is a popular Korean make-up trend.  This lipstick is highly pigmented and does not leave the lips dry. I highly recommend it plus it is really affordable!

I also forgot to include Clean & Clear's Oil Control Film in my cover photo but this was my summer saviour!  It still is whenever my T-zone would get extremely oily.

The oil control film I got was in Pink Grapefruit and the film has a grapefruit scent to it.  I actually like the scent and I am not bothered by it.  I love how it absorbs the excess sebum on my skin and leaves it a little fresher than it was.
I bought this when I was in Singapore for SGD 5 for a twin pack.  I cannot seem to find this in Ireland but if you know any place that sells this, let me know in the comments below!

So that's it for my Summer Faves of 2015! I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  If you have any questions with the products I have mentioned, don't hesitate to ask!
I am now working on day 3 of our stay in Singapore which is basically staying in Universal Studios the entire day! I'll see you there!
Peace & Love!