I always intend to do a May Favourites post as they’re some of my favourite posts to read and YouTube videos to watch, mainly because I’m nosey and I like to see what other people are making work for them (and it helps me to add a whole list of new products to my shopping lists, thanks you bunch of enablers). My list this month is make up heavy as I’ve been purchasing quite a few new pieces and embracing spring/summer releases.

I was once upon a time swearing by bottles of quick dry nail polish as a nail hero but post polish removal I was finding my nails were in shocking condition but couldn’t fathom why. Then I figured: quick dry top coats must pack in a while load of chemicals in order to sap the wet out of the freshly applied polish and make them touch dry within a matter of seconds. With this in mind I decided to swap my usual quick dry top coat for this old school No Chips number from Sally Hansen, queen of nails & my nails have been all the better for it. Of course I forsake the quick drying time and spend longer rendered defenceless after application but I find it’s worth it for the health of my nails.

I was a beauty PRs dream when I saw a photograph of this mono shadow from 17 from Boots on my Twitter timeline. For the same price as your Starbucks, the shade “Rose Quartz” is a beautifully pigmented bronzey shade that looks absolutely gorgeous on the lids. I wear mine over the Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo “On and On Bronze” for a more intense colour. Bee-yooo-tee-fool.

The Urban Decay Primer Potion* has been my reach for saviour this month as I’ve found myself sobbing into my hands after my usual felt tip liners of choice have succumbed to the oiliness of my lids and begun transferring throughout the day. Not cute. I tend to skip primer due to downright laziness but this new phenomena has meant that I’ve had to bring out the big guns in the form of this UD godsend. Oily eye lids be gone.

The fan brush from the Real Techniques Sculpting Set (exclusive to Superdrug) is exactly what I’ve been looking for to contour with. I have a more in depth review of these brushes coming up but I’ve used this brush every day since I purchased it. A FAN BRUSH FOR CONTOURING? Chill out. I picked up the technique from this video by Coffee Pls. The brush picks up just enough product and the light density of the duo fibre brushes means that you achieve a soft shading rather than a tell tale tiger stripe.

Speaking of contouring and cheeks and that, this Rimmel Lasting Finish Mono Blush in the shade Santa Rose is absolutely blooming beautiful. I first saw this in a video by Vivianna Does Makeup. “Nice colour” I thought and that was as far as it went.  “Rimmel mono blush” didn’t really tickle by beauty sensors.  Then I applied my mums makeup for a wedding she was going to and low and behold, Santa Rose was there in her makeup bag – check out my momma getting with the beauty vlogger recommendations. This blush is a lovely soft peachy pink shade that doesn’t come with an explosion of glitter but instead gives a beautiful “lit from within” glow.

Essence are a brand that have really seemed to build in popularity lately, their blushers especially. I’ve used their “Lash Princess” mascara in the past and that was OKAY but it wasn’t really anything to shout about, in fact, I’ve not really had a mascara to shout about in a long time, until this one. The Lash Mania Reloaded has quite a wet feel to the formula and is a breath of fresh air in a world of dry and clumpy offerings. Alot of the magic of this mascara comes from the elastomer brush, which features a star-shaped arrangement of blades that accurately grip your lashes to give them a push-up effect – think Benefit Roller Lash crossed with They’re Real (both of which I love) on a budget.

To me, the eagerly anticipated Revlon Ultra HD Lipsticks are the 2015 offering of the raved about Revlon Lip Butters but with hella more colour pay off. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t the worlds biggest fan of the Lip Butters. I found they wore off weirdly around the mouth and left you with a 90’s esque lip line – grim. What I did love was the L’Oreal Caresse lipsticks. These were released around the same time as the Lip Butters, were quite sheer in colour but super, super hydrating and were more like a tinted balm on the lips. Think Maybelline Baby Lips with more colour. This latest Revlon release is like those in that they’re quite balmy, they’re hydrating but they have amazing pigmentation – they also smell DIVINE and are all named after flowers which I find quite a nice touch.  I have the colours Hydrangea, a bold pinky orange shade and Sweet Pea a blueish toned pale pink colour – both perfect for this sunny weather.

I used to use a mineral foundation way back in the day in the form of Collection 2000 Mineral Perfecting Powder. It was probably a smidge too dark for me on reflection but it gave awesome coverage and I loved it… until they discontinued it. Bareminerals is THE big daddy of mineral foundation and I recently raved about their Complexion Rescue Gel Cream, so why not step back to a time before liquid foundations and see if mineral foundations are as amazing as I remembered? Firstly, the shade choice for Bareminerals is incredible, I have the Bareminerals Original* in the shade Fair and it matches my skin tone perfectly. I’ve been buffing this into my skin with a kabuki brush after applying the Complexion Rescue and it gives amazing build able coverage so I can choose whether I want a natural freckle showing base or high coverage for a night out as well as it giving a healthy glow.

Are any of my May Favourites YOUR May Favourites?  Let me know below…