August beauty favourites

I never do favourite posts mainly because, 9 times out of 10, the products are generally the same. This month I have some new products and as always, I include non-beauty favourites too! I know it's cliché but this year has seriously whizzed past; I start my final year of school next week, my birthday is in a month and then we have Christmas in 115 days! Before we know it, it will be 2013. Anyway, let's get started.

Maybelline One by One Volum' Express Mascara, Urban Decay De-Slick, Nars Laguna, Clinique Airbrush Concealer, Ted Baker S'lip Liquid Lip Colour and imPRESS Nails

These are the products that I've used pretty much every day this month, especially when I was in Italy. I love trying new mascaras and I think I've found my new favourite in the Maybelline One by One Volum' Express. It doesn't clump, it nicely separates the lashes and gives a decent amount of length. I would say it gives that much volume, but layered with another mascara would do the trick. I opted for the non-waterproof, and it still stays on all day. The powder I've been using every day is the Urban Decay De-Slick Mattifying Powder - it's perfect. It doesn't leave a white cast, it keeps my skin matte all day, it comes with a puff for touch-ups (if needed) and the packaging is awesome. I love it so much I have even hit pan. At £20, it is decently priced yet I do think it's worth it. Another product I've hit pan on is the infamous Nars Laguna bronzer. I was sceptical about taking this abroad as I've heard all of the horror stories about it breaking but mine was perfectly fine. I love this bronzer, it works for all skin-types and is perfect for those with pale skin tones as it doesn't make you look muddy or orange. My favourite concealer this month has been the Clinique Airbrush Concealer as it's easy to apply, blend and is very natural looking. It also works as a good highlighter for the cheekbones. I've been loving the new Ted Baker Liquid Lip Colour in light rose. It's a shimmery blue-tone pink and is perfect. It lasts for a really long time and smells amazing, too. My final favourite are the imPRESS stick-on false nails. The first pair I bought was in "Starstruck" and I loved them so much I bought another pair (I can't seem to find the name of these, but they're leopard print). They last a long time, look great, are easy to apply as well as easy to take off. They are on the pricey side, but I do think they're worth it for those special occasions!

Now for the non-beauty favourites.

Nylon magazine, Union Jack sunnies, Contagion, sketching pencils and my iPhone

I'm a magazine hoarder. Each month I buy at least ten different monthly magazines - keeping in mind they are roughly £3-£4 each! But I just love them. Anyway, this month I found American magazine Nylon with the gorgeous Ashley Greene on the cover. It's such a good magazine, check it out. Even though the Olympic fiasco is over, I've still been wearing my Union Jack Sunglasses that my dad bought me on eBay. They're in the style of Ray-Bans which, he knows, I love. My favourite movie this month has been Contagion. Brief synopsis: a deadly disease infects civilisation and a team of doctors have to deal with the outbreak and conjure up a cure. It's f**king amazing. It stars famous actors like Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law, so it's a definite must-see. I'm just annoyed that I didn't go and see it at the cinema! I've been getting much more into art recently - hence the representation by the two sketching pencils. My dad bought me a really lovely leather sketching book which I've been constantly drawing in. Then we have my iPhone, sneakily disguised by, what I think, is the best case in the whole world. It looks like a Nintendo Game Boy! I don't know what I would do without my phone - I listen to music, play games, surf the web, read e-mails, call, text, set reminders, take pictures and so much more. #TeamiPhone

No favourites post would be the same without a run-through of my favourite songs!

• Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men
• All I Want Is You - U2
• Family Friend - The Vaccines
• Some Nights - Fun
• Baba O'Riley - The Who
• Where I Belong - Building 427
• Runaways - The Killers (best song ever, hands down)

YouTube them all, and then fall in love.

Suzanna xoxo

Review: Mario Badescu Silver Powder

Mario Badescu Silver Powder is designed to remove blackheads, clear stubborn clogged pores and to reduce excessive t-zone oil by using the special absorbent powder. To use: dip a damped cotton ball into the powder and press on nose, chin or other clogged areas. Leave for 10 minutes, then remove with a toner or astringent. Fairly simple process and claims to work wonders. But does it work?

I bought this along with the Control Cream (review here) and the Special Healing Powder in hope to clear up my skin. The control cream is perfect, the special healing powder wasn't anything special - I'll do a proper, in-depth review of that soon.

Therefore, I didn't know what to expect from the silver powder, but I was excited to try.

The first time I tried it I followed the instructions: damped cotton ball, press on areas and remove after ten minutes. I was impressed as it did remove most of the clogged up dirt in my pores, yet I felt like it could've removed more - especially on my forehead. It seems to remove the blackheads on the nose extremely easily. Second time I tried it I left it on for longer and put more product on the places that were more stubborn to get out - in my case, this was my forehead. It seemed to work much better.

Overall, this is a great product. I use it more than twice a week (despite being recommend once or twice only) and I also leave it on for much longer (again, even though it says for ten minutes). With a product like this, I think you just have to see what works best for your skin-type and what you want to get cleared up. For example, apply more product to those areas needed and perhaps leave on for an extra five minutes to ensure removal. If this doesn't work, try again and leave it on for a different length of time or apply less product. Either way, I do think it works well and I would definitely repurchase. It might take a while to empty the pot though! Note, the picture above was taken after four applications. Good, right?

Suzanna xoxo

Italian adventures

Considering I've never been to Italy before, and my mum has only ever been to Florence, we decided to go to the tourist city of Rome for a few days. Originally we weren't planning to go anywhere during the summer as we've already got a holiday booked for late October. Yet, we booked our flights/hotel to Rome a week before jetting off and I'm so glad we did. Here's a couple pictures:

Italian flag

Colosseum

Catholic church inside The Vatican City

Trevi Fountain

Visiting and going inside all of the landmarks was incredible! The weather was in the 100's and this made the days very long and tiring. We woke up extremely early, saw various sights and then came back to the hotel at mid-day. Then we would go out at about 5pm and stay out till midnight. It's so much easier to walk around at night - perhaps because of the climate change. Of course, we ate Italian food every night which was awesome. I ate pasta for dinner every night as I'm not a fan of pizza and every restaurant we went too was amazing! The holiday went really fast, unfortunately. Yet I was glad when we landed back in Heathrow to cold, windy weather despite the fact I was wearing shorts with no tights. I felt sorry for the Italians visiting London who didn't look prepared for the weather!

Hope your summer has been good. Back to school for me in a weeks' time :'(

Suzanna xoxo

What's in my travel make-up bag?

This time tomorrow, I'll be boarding the plane to go to Rome! I am so excited as I've wanted to go to Italy ever since my dad came back from a business trip and told stories of how wonderful the atmosphere is there. Plus, we're going for my mum's birthday which makes it extra special.

Considering I've never done any "what's in my ___" posts, I thought I'd start with showing you what I am taking in my make-up bag for Rome. The make-up bag that I am taking with me is see-through so I can use the products on the plane if needed. It also makes it easier for me as I know where everything is!

This is everything I'm taking...

Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara, Maybelline One by One Mascara, Clinique High Impact Mascara, Garnier Eye Roll On, MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder, MAC Eye Kohl in Fascinating, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, Maybelline Master Precise Liquid Eyeliner, Clinique Eyeshadow Duo in Victorian Pink, Avon Glimmersticks Brow Definer in Dark Brown and Blonde, MAC Brow Set in Clear, MAC Paint Pots in Bare Study, Nubile and Rubenesque, Benefit High Beam, Benefit The Porefessional, MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Crystal Pink, Nars Bronzer in Laguna, Urban Decay De-Slick Translucent Powder, MAC Powder Blush in Harmony, Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake and Carmex!

(Underlined items link to reviews)

It sounds like a lot, but trust me, it's not!

I hope you're having a great summer and I'll be back towards the end of the week!

Suzanna xoxo

PS. I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to New York in October for my birthday. I've planned to do several posts before then including what I'm taking for skincare and what I'm taking for haircare. I might also do a whats in my bag post - if interested :)

Review: Mario Badescu Control Cream

After a recent skincare "hype" I decided to buy a whole bunch of new skin care products. I've tried them all for about two weeks and am going to give my opinion on each product starting with the Mario Badescu Control Cream.

This was the product I had high hopes for - it boasts a high percentage of 98% on positive reviews - and wanted it desperately to work for me. My skin has been extremely red especially on my cheeks, perhaps because of the abrupt climate change in England or because it's 'one of those times'. Either way, I wanted to clear it up before I go on holiday. Beauty Bay, the online beauty supply store in which I purchased it from, says: "Mario Badescu Control Cream is an anti-redness cream that works best for red, rashy, flaky and irritated skin types, also for Rosacea sufferers." Reading the reviews it seemed that most users were Rosacea sufferers so I was interested to see if it would work to cure my redness. Long story short: it does. I've used it constantly for two weeks (in replace of my Clinique moisturiser) at night and have noticed an incredible difference. It seriously clams my skin, makes it less irritable and effectively reduces redness. It also worked super fast, perhaps because of the balsam peru which is an active, soothing botanical ingredient that makes a visible difference.

The only negative I have about this product is that it can be drying. My skin is fairly normal so it wasn't an issue for me, yet I would recommend using a moisturiser as well if you have dry skin.

Overall, this product is fantastic and I'll definably be repurchasing when its empty!

I also picked up the Silver Powder and the Special Healing Powder - reviews coming soon.

Suzanna xoxo

Ps. I hope you're all having an amazing summer! <3