April 7/11 post!

Greetings from Cairo!  I've been working here all week and am heading home to Dubai tonight-looking forward to a nice lie in tomorrow and lots of kitty cuddles!

My 7/11 post is my monthly version of the favourites posts-I pick my top 7 favourite products at the moment and post on the 11th of the month!  Easy!!

Picking just 7 hasn't been that easy though this month-but I eventually managed to narrow it down to these shout out worthy products

My top 7 products right now-Alpha H Liquid Gold, Lush BIG Sea Salt Shampoo, Kiehls Ultra Facial Moisturizer, Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector, Mac Casual Colour in Relaxation and Mac Packed To Go 6 eyeshadow compact

Alpha H Liquid Gold

I recently reviewed this amazing HG product here so I don't really need to say much more about it apart from if you do suffer from acne this could be something that could really help.

Alpha H Liquid Gold

Lush BIG Sea Salt Shampoo

I actually never thought I would blog about a shampoo-I'm strictly a supermarket/Boots girl when it comes to shampoo, conditioner and shower gel.

I don't even know why I bought this-I was browsing Lush and it caught my eye.  I have fine, thin hair and like the idea of body boosting/thickening formulas.

Lush BIG Sea Salt shampoo

I think the reason I am loving this shampoo so much is that it is so weird!!!  I have never used anything like it.  It has *actual* big sea salt crystals in it-now this won't mean anything to non cat lovers but if your cat uses silica gel crystals as their choice of litter then this is a bit like rubbing those silica crystals through your hair!

You literally need a tiny bit of this shampoo to get a rich lather and my hair has never ever been so soft as it is with this shampoo.  It retails in the UK for £11.25 but this should last far longer than the average bottle you pick up in Boots.  Aside from sea salt it also contains seaweed and coconut, lemon and lime, mandarin, neroli and vanilla.  I can definitely see me repurchasing this over and over.  Don't be put off or slightly freaked out (as I was) but the sea salt in the formula, it dissolves on contact with your hair.

Sea salt crystals

Kiehls Ultra Facial Moisturizer, Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation and Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector. 

This trio of products have been my 'go to' base whilst my skin slowly repairs from it's sorry blemish prone state.

I find myself going back and back to the Kiehls moisturizer.  It just seems to work for me.  It's light and non greasy, it doesn't break me out and is easily absorbed.  It's got no fancy ingredients to speak of-it's mainly just Vitamin E and Vitamin A but my skin just likes it. 

Kiehls Ultra Facial Moisturizer, Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation and Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector

I don't suppose the Laura Mercier Silk Creme foundation needs much of an introduction-it seems to be a beauty bloggers favourite as a medium/high coverage foundation.  I was dying to try it, especially as Laura Mercier has just been relaunched in Dubai.  So I hot-footed it down to Bloomingdales to be colour matched.  Firstly I thought the girl on the counter was very good BUT I have come away with the wrong colour for me.  But not to worry because I squirt of the Clarins product mixed into the foundation makes it the perfect colour for me.

Firstly, I didn't get on with the foundation at all.  I had purchased the LM radiance primer on the recommendation of the consultant but I found that the foundation was breaking up on my nose almost immediately after applying it.  I tried applying it with a brush, then with my fingers, then with 2 other primers underneath and I still wasn't happy with the finish.  I finally seem to have cracked it by applying it without any primer with my fingers, blending it it with my fingers and then doing a final 'buff' with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.  I like the fact it is buildable for a heavier coverage.  I don't think it is the perfect foundation for me but I would be lying if I said I didn't currently enjoy using it.

I know I have spoken about the Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector before.  I cannot speak highly enough of this product!  It is something I have bought 4 or 5 times over.  I stumbled on it by accident about 3 years ago when I was looking for something to add to my foundation to make it a bit darker for when I had a tan (a rare occurrence even though I live in Dubai!).  I was looking for something not too dark and with no shimmer at all.  The lady on the Clarins counter asked me to try this and I refused thinking it would be shimmery (as its called 03 Bronze Shimmer) but I was wrong.  Its a light gel/cream that mixes perfectly with foundation.  It's not too dark and you can add more or less according to how tanned you are.  I absolutely love it-it lasts forever and I love the fact that the packaging has a vacuum effect-so as you're using it, it sucks in on itself so not one drop gets wasted.

Swatches of the LM Silk Creme and Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector

Mac Casual Colour in Relaxation and Mac Packed To Go eyeshadow palette

Mac Casual Colour in Relaxation and Mac Packed To Go eyeshadow palette

I blogged recently about the Mac Casual Colour and you can read my thoughts here.
Sadly it was limited edition but there may be some floating around on eBay.

The Packed To Go was also a limited edition palette brought out around Xmas time maybe 2/3 years ago.  I've never really touched it until I found it recently during an epic spring clean and I've been using it almost daily since.  This was a definite 'shopping the stash' win!

Although it was limited edition, all of the shadows except Stormy Love (and Mac Club is a good dupe for this) and Showstopper are permanent range so can still be purchased.  This palette is the perfect neutral smoky eye palette and is so versatile for day and night.

Top row-Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting.  Bottom row-Greensmoke, Stormy Love and Showstopper

L-R Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting, Greensmoke, Stormy Love and Showstopper.