April: Loves and Lusts #AllMonthApril

It's the end of the month and so that can only mean one thing round these parts - another round of my monthly favourites/wishlist hybrid, 'Loves and Lusts'! If you're new round 'ere then let me explain... In this series I'm giving the lowdown on everything I've loved in the past month and also spilling the beans on some of the beauty bumf I've been lusting after too. If you didn't see my last three 'Loves and Lusts' posts that I did then I will link them up here. But for now let's do round four...

What I've Loved:

Maybelline Lash Sensational - I mentioned this way back in the start of the month here, went on just a bit of a rave about it somewhere in the middle, and now here I am going on about it again. If you haven't already guessed or seen either of those earlier posts - this has basically been all that's been on my lashes for the past thirty days. I'll leave it up to you lot to check out my main review of this if you want more detailed thoughts but to spare me sounding like a broken record I'll attempt to summarise my feelings about this stuff. This mascara performs wonders to my lashes - lengthening them whilst curling and lifting to such an extent they're almost vertically pointing up to the ceiling, and thickening slightly without any clumping or dreaded 'spider lashes' in sight. I'm already planning on buying another tube straight away - a rare occurrence when it comes to me and mascaras. Love, love, LOVE.

Seventeen Eye Kohl in 'Plum' - Another one featured in my 'New To My Makeup Bag' Haul post early on in the month, I've been utilising this far more often than I expected to these past few weeks. Sure, when I picked it up on a whim as part of an offer, I was hoping to somehow get wear out of it occasionally, but this month nearly every time I've been reaching for my liner pot, I've been coming away with this in hand. I personally like to use this to create a cat-flick kind of jobby on my upper lashline, and the formulation is perfect for just that. It's creamy enough to quite literally glide onto the lid with no dragging, but soon sets down to a drier finish that does. not. budge. all day. I also love how the subtle, but still noticeable colour adds a nice twist to the whole 'winged liner' thang too.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Primer - This I too mentioned a few posts back here where I talked through my top three primers for all bases - face, eyes, and lips - and how this one has quickly risen up the ranks to become my top choice for the former. Before this, the only experience I'd had with face primers was those with more of your typical plastic-y silicone-y texture, but this has been like a revelation for me this month. It's far more like your average moisturiser in formula, and so goes on like a cream and sinks in like one too, as opposed to just sitting on top of it. It still works like a primer - smooths things out, makes your makeup apply/last far better - but it just feels far more comfortable and so this has become my new go-to.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer in '10 Porcelain' - Another from Rimmel's Lasting Finish range has somehow snuck its way in (no surprise if you've already seen this post from this month about how much I love the LF collection) and another new addition to the brand's line-up and I. am. loving. it. Unlike my usual concealer crop, with your doe-foot applicators and more liquid-y formulations, this comes in a round pot and is far thicker and higher coverage than I'm used to but I've really been enjoying it. Of course with difference in texture comes difference in application and I've found that has been the real key to unlocking my love for this. While I will forever love my Collection Lasting Perfection, where I sometimes struggle to utilise it (e.g. on super-hard-to-cover blemishes/under eye darkness) I've been applying this instead and loving the result. The thicker texture makes it great for more 'pinpoint' covering-up and can be built up so much easier, yet still gives a natural finish. If you're strictly a brush gal when it comes to concealer I'd recommend sticking to perhaps facial blemishes only, but if you don't mind getting down 'n' dirty - your fingers are your best bet when it comes to zapping those under-eye circles.

Barry M Sunset Polishes - Yet another newbie from the depths of Boots and Superdrug and yet another release from the Drugstore Queen of Nails that is Barry M. They seem to add a new range to their nail line-up nearly every week nowadays, and I am totally ok with that. I love their polishes and this release made me even more excited and curious than usual. Again, I've already gave this collection a more detailed review earlier this month so I'll link that up here and try and briefly summarise (again). This new collection from Barry M attempts to combine the pros of salon gel nails whilst eliminating the cons with a range of gel polishes that 'cure' with natural daylight as opposed to a UV filter - gel nails in your bedroom, basically. I gave one shade a go a couple of weeks back with the special topcoat that you must use for it to work. While after two coats of colour I was a little shaky in my feelings, after the topcoat was applied I fell in love. The topcoat completely hardens down in seconds to leave nails that look and feel like you've just been Shellac-ed up. The formula claims to last up to 10 days, and whilst mine may not have lasted that long, they did survive longer than some of my average polishes and I can bypass that purely for the effect they gave.

Rimmel 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish in 'Tangerine Tent' - Finally, another nail-related favourite this month and another I featured in my 'New-In' post and this Polish Pick a few days ago so I will link them up if you fancy seeing a proper 'show 'n' swatch'-type affair. This doesn't claim to have any special formula unlike the Barry M offerings above, apart from the time-scale (perhaps slightly overambitious), but I just really enjoyed this for the colour. Released as part of Rita Ora's new line for the upcoming warmer months, this bright orange looks stunning in the bottle and equally so once on. At last branching away from another of Rimmel's nail offerings (Salon Pro - I'm lookin' at ya), I found a lot of similarities between those lacquers and these. Both with the same flat, wide brush I love, and both with a more runny formula that still goes opaque in two coats and lasts a good amount of time too - in fact, I think this may have just lasted even better *looks away from the Salon Pro's, trying not to make eye contact*...

What I'd Love To Have:

Barry M Nail Paint in 'Flamingo' - £2.99 - Another Barry M mention in the same post? I know, I know. When I saw this polish featured in Aly's post here (the lovely gal who kindly redesigned my blog for me!), I instantly put it on my wishlist. I've never come across this shade before at one of their stands, so I mustn't be looking closely enough as I don't think it's a new addition. This slightly coral, mid-toned pink looks absolutely gorgeous and - wait for it - I actually don't think I have any other lacquers that it matches up to!

Oribe Dry Texturising Spray - £38.00 - This has been doing the rounds in the beauty community for as long as I can remember, and as someone who will forever hate her natural 'first day hair', I am always on the hunt for that perfect product to make my hair more worn-in. Many bloggers have raved about how good this is at achieving just that, and despite the perhaps slightly-extreme price tag for what it actually is, I can't help but feel like I need to give it a try. Maybe I'll focus my attentions more on the travel-sized one for now though...

Models Own Polish For Tans (New Shades) - £4.99 - More nail polishes (#NailPolishAddict) - this time from a brand that I have actually never tried anything from before. It seems everyone and their dog has sampled the goods of Model's Own before and I have to admit there have been times where I've come close to making a purchase - particularly with the hype surrounding last year's 'Polishes for Tans' drop. This year they've done it again with the addition of a few more shades to the range, and one especially - I believe called 'Cocktail Hour' - made its way onto my Twitter feed a few days ago and I instantly fell in love.

Barry M Bronzers in 'After Glow' and 'Deep Glow' - £5.69 - Do I really need more bronzing products in my life? I think we all know the answer to that question, but it sure don't mean I'm paying any attention to it. I do still adore my Soap and Glory Solar Powder and can't see that changing anytime soon, but being the classic beauty blogger that I am - I can't help but be intrigued when new ones come to market. These look particularly interesting - matte bronzers available in two shades, one more warmer in tone and the other more honey-toned, with the former especially tickling my paler skin's makeup pickle.

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Spray - £4.00 - If you're a regular round here you may've already heard of my love for Soap and Glory, and probably heard me ramble on about my love for the Sugar Crush range too, especially. So when I heard on the grapevine about this new spray from the brand soon to be released, you can imagine my levels of excitement. This scent is buy far my favourite of all that Soap and Glory offer and so I am most definitely eyeing up a purchase of this stuff at some point in the near-future...

Fairydrops Scandal Queen Mascara - £18.50 - I've been hearing Anna raving about this stuff for the longest of times and now Lily's been getting in on the Fairydrops action too, proclaiming it as one of the few mascaras both of them actually like. For me, when a mascara starts getting mass-raves across the table is usually when I start to listen up, as with mascara typically being a matter of personal preference - for one to appeal to the majority must be a sure indicator of it being a good'un, right? I'm unsure as to whether a purchase will ever happen though, as I'm so set in my drugstore ways when it comes to my lashes and more often than not recoil in horror at the thought of paying more than a tenner for a mascara, but I'll keep you informed. It's certainly up there with some of the more luxury ones I want to test out.

Topshop Lip Ombre - £9.00 - Finally, a perhaps more random product I've been lusting after. I've seen this pop up  far few times on the bloggersphere recently as just one of the new lip 'crazes'. As most of you would already know - ombre refers to the graduation from one colour to another - and while the trend may've been popular in hair-form for sometime, lip ombre is a completely new thing and I'm intrigued. From what I can make out, the set comes with two colours - one darker and one lighter - and the aim is to apply the former all over the lips and the latter just in the centre to get that 'ombre' effect and make your lips look slightly more plump and Kylie Jenner-esque. Two lip trends in one? I'm in...