As much as I love autumn and winter it's always a slightly trickier business when it comes to beauty. The wind, rain and cold doesn't do much for my poor hair and skin so now's a better time than any to bring a few slightly different products into my routine. These are the products I'm currently loving.

Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturiser, £7.99

Moisuriser is a key player in my make-up routine and I find that my foundation just doesn't last without it. This little gem from Good Things Beauty includes extracts of blackcurrent - for its' clarifying qualities -  and goji berry (so it smells hella good for one thing). What I like most about this moisturiser is that it's fast-absorbing so I don't find myself spending ages trying to rub it into my face in the mornings.

Lush Rub, Rub, Rub Shower Scrub, £8.75

Not only is this pretty pot from Lush an exoliating shower scrub but it double's up as a hair treatment; adding volume and shine to the hair. So two for the price of one! I love to use this product once or twice a week in the bath to exfoliate and really treat my skin to a gentle cleanse, however, this product can be used dry for a really good buff and I find this makes it perfect pre-spray tan!

Montagne Jeunesse (now My 7th Heaven) Dead Sea Mud Spa Clay Mask, £1.09 

I'm such a huge fan of Montagne Jeunesse, who are now known as My 7th Heaven, and I probably own more face masks that one girl needs but at just over £1 a pop it's a crime not to invest in a bunch! One of my all-time favourites though is this Dead Sea Mud Spa Clay Mask.

Each mask from My 7th Heaven boasts lots of different benefits and ingredients but as I have breakout-prone, sensitive skin there's a select few I go for again and again and this is one of them. This particular clay mask is all ready for you to use as soon as you open the sachet, no awkward squeezing out and slapping on, the pre-constructed mask just unfolds, you pat it down and you're good to go!

John Frieda Frizz Ease Miraculous Recovery Intensive Masque, £2 for 25ml 

If you dye, bleach or put heat anywhere near your hair then an intensive masque or treatment will definitely make your life a lot easier! Winter weather conditions can be harsh on your hair, making the ends brittle and dry and this treatment from John Frieda's Frizz Ease range gives my hair a little TLC when it needs it most.

Superdrug B. Makeup Brush Cleanser, £4.99

I'm hooked on the Bobbi Brown Brush Cleaning Spray but as I very recently ran out of the stuff I gave this (much cheaper) version a go and I think it's great for a temporary fix! The cleanser comes in an easy-to-use pump bottle and I've found it works a treat in between washing my brushes properly.

Let me know what beauty products you're loving at the moment in the comments below or tweet me @laurenfell!

July Beauty Favourites

This last month has been a manic one and I feel like it's flown by! I've titled this post my July Beauty Favourites because I think I'm going to try spreading my other 'Favourites' out (like clothes, movies, music) throughout the month rather than all in one post because, you know, I'm always discovering new things and want to share them with you as soon as I've figured out I like them!

Anyway, that's enough rambling for me, let's get down to my July Beauty Faves.

Garnier Ultimate Blends Shampoo and Conditioner: The Marvellous Transformer with Argan & Camellia Oils 



The name is a bit of a mouthful but these two products have really helped in getting my hair back to a much better condition after it was lightened earlier this year. I've been trying for the last few months to not bleach or use as much as heat on my hair and so far so good. However, a little extra help never hurt anybody so during a recent Morisson's shopping trip I noticed these two products on offer and grabbed them!

There are a few different varieties of shampoos and conditioners in this range but this pair is designed for dry and dull hair and contains two types of nourishing oils; argan and carmellia. Since using them I've found my hair is a lot silkier and softer after washing and I like to alternate these throughout the week with the Lee Stafford Bleach Blonde shampoo and conditioner that I mentioned in my Julianne Hough hair tutorial.

Garnier Ambre Solaire Self-Tanning Dry Body Mist



Here's a funny story; last weekend I was feeling super pale, the weather was beautiful and I was going for lunch SO I grabbed a St Moriz instant tan out of my drawer and proceeded to slather it all over my body after a shower. Little did I know that particular bottle of tan was about 18 months out of date.

The tan turned an instant greyish-green colour and I freaked out and washed it off entirely. I then went back upstairs again to root through my drawer of self-tans (yes, that is a thing I'm afraid) and found this one which fortunately was in date and also worked a bloomin' treat!

I love, love, love tanning mists. They're the second easiest way of self-tanning after the super-easy in-shower tan, like the one I wrote about last month. I sprayed this instant Garnier mist all over and by the time I was ready to head out the door a couple of hours later, it had already developed into a beautiful, natural golden tan. Due to the nature of this product I found that it didn't leave nasty streaks or uneven patches. I also have the face version of this tan so I might give that a go in August and update you!

Hair Burst 



I'm going to write a full blog post on this soon, I know I've missed my 30 days milestone now but I've been super busy so please forgive me, it is coming!) So far, I really, really like the Hair Burst vitamins! I've noticed changes in my hair length, hair condition and also, more excitingly for me, the condition of my skin since I started taking them, you can read my original post on these all-natural pills here.

During certain times of the month I suffer from breakouts, usually it's inevitable and I just roll with it because it never lasts more than a week, but since taking Hair Burst it's safe to say I haven't suffered from any at all *touch wood, as I don't want to jinx it!*

Ultimately, Hair Burst contains a lot of the same ingredients as your average hair, skin and nails vitamins and I've definitely noticed vast improvements in all of those areas so I'm really chuffed. I will of course be updating more thoroughly for the next couple of months and there will be a big post at the end of my three-month trial to let you know how I got on and whether I will be continuing to take the vitamins.

My Current Bases

Two things that I'm always experimenting with and changing are foundations and moisturisers. I've got quite a collection of both and I often switch them up, depending on what my skin is doing at the time.

I've got quite dry skin so an intense moisturiser is a must and right now I'm loving this particular moisturising lotion from Aveeno. The Daily Moisturising Lotion contains Colloidal Oatmeal, which to you or I means a product which is made of very finely ground oats. This mixture is perfect for itchy and dry skin and products containing Colloidal Oatmeal can be very good to treat rashes, irritations, bug bits and other skin conditions. In my case, just super dry skin!

I find that this particular moisturiser stays put all day and keeps my skin hydrated for hours and hours, whilst in the past I've discovered most moisturisers still leave my make-up looking cakey by the end of the day. I apply this moisturiser once in the morning before I put my foundation on and then once again once all my make-up is off before I go to bed.

Speaking of foundations, as the weather gets warmer I like to ditch my maximum coverage MAC foundations and switch it up to something a little lighter. Right now, my foundation of choice is Bourjois Paris' Happy Light Foundation. I love how lightweight this foundation feels and in my opinion it's the next best thing to a CC-cream. It also contains translucent pigments which claim to give you a luminous and flawless complexion in any light - now that's a big claim! I'm not sure I'd go as far to say it does that, but it definitely gives me a dewy look with plenty of coverage and I love to team this foundation with my favourite Hoola bronzer from Benefit and MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter for that sunkissed, summer glow.

You can buy the Bourjois Paris Happy Light Foundation, £11.99 and Aveeno's Daily Moisturising Lotion, £5.45 from Boots.

June Favourites

June has all round been a pretty great month for me, it started off a bit rocky and I struggled with some bad bouts of anxiety but I also went on an incredible week long holiday to Mallorca with my best friend which was full of sunshine, cocktails and very yummy food! As the month comes to an end it's time for me to share my June favourites with you all!