Beautifinous.

So here we are! We have reached the end of 2015, so that means that it is time to discuss what beauty products have impressed us the most this year.

As I did last year, I have compiled a list of products that I have throughout the year and have loved. They may not have been originally released this year, but they were tested and written about on the blog over the course of 2015.

It's been a difficult list to come up with as there are so many stand outs for me, but I've managed to whittle it down into a list of 9 products (including 1 Children's product) for your viewing pleasure.

Don't forget to get down to the end of the list to see what my ultimate top product of 2015 is and to let me know what your favourites are too!

So without any further delay, let's take a look at the list.

Hey guys!

Today's post is just a notifier to let you all know that I now won't be posting until after Christmas. I'll be back before the new year though with my Top Beauty Products of 2015 post, so keep your eyes peeled for that one!

For now though, I hope that you all have an incredible Christmas and thank you all once again for your continued support. It really means a lot to me to have such an amazing collection of readers from all over the world, and I look forward to bringing you more exciting posts after the holidays.

Make sure that you all have an amazing time over the festive period, and I will be back soon.

Much love,
Zoe. @Beautifinous

In the lipstick world, MAC pretty much have it covered. Their matte lipsticks are rather amazing and provide a fantastically matte finish that a lot of other companies simply can’t reproduce, so for a company to boldly stand up and claim that their new lipstick is more matte than MAC deserves a bit of attention.

Naturally then, I had to put this to the test. Today I have every shade from the new Avon Perfectly Matte Lipstick collection to show you (there are 15 in all) and I also have a matte finish MAC Lipstick in the shade Sin for comparison purposes. Are these lipsticks really more matte than MAC? Let’s find out.

During the colder months, it can be nice sometimes to daydream about a holiday in some warmer climate. Instead though, you can always bring the essence of a beautiful Mediterranean country to your bathroom.

It's that time of year again - Christmas time! As well as the big day itself, there are usually a whole host of events happening in the run up and afterwards too, making it party season! Therefore, it's time to pull out your party proof makeup. Luckily, today I have an item to review that claims to be just that. It's the name of the product and everything!

ModelCo's Party Proof Lipstick claims to be an ultra long-lasting lipstick that provides a super vibrant, semi-matte finish colour. It comes in a range of 17 shades that promise not only to be party proof, but drink proof and kiss proof (pucker up!).

Today I have the shade Smitten to show you, which arrived in my December Birchbag (sign up to Birchbox here! This months comes with a pretty, sparkly clutch bag!). It is a beautiful, dark, cranberry red shade.

This particular one that I have comes packaged in a sleek, black tube which is the limited edition packaging rather than the usual white, rectangular tube.

If you were only able to wear one makeup product at a time, what would it be? Usually I’d say concealer or foundation, but eyebrow pencil is actually a great answer. Even if you have nothing else on your face, filling in your eyebrows can make an instant change that makes you look more polished.

The Lord and Berry Magic Brow eyebrow pencil is a slightly different type of eyebrow pencil as it actually contains three colours to create a marbleised effect for a more natural colour. The trio of colours comes with a dark shade, a mid-shade and light shade. They’re a bit like those funky rainbow pencils that everyone had as kids for creating awesome rainbow lines, but without all the bright fun colours and more browns, blondes and blacks.

I have the shade Wonderful which contains white, mid-brown and very dark brown. It also comes in the shades Blondie and Brunette.

In addition, the pencil also has a brush at the end to tidy those brows up and help to blend the pencil at the end.

Before I get into this post, yes I do know that this is the second eyeliner based post this week. However, this little Botanical Color Eye Pencil by Yves Rocher arrived in the post this week and I simply had to discuss it with you all!

The Yves Rocher Botanical Eye Pencils are a range of highly-pigmented eyeliners that comes in a range of 13 shades inspired by botanicals. They can be used alone or together to create "ultra intense eyes".

The shades range from your typical black, brown and grey to some more vivid shades of yellow and orange.

The formula contains 100% botanical origin Carnuba Wax to help to provide a smooth and creamy application.

Today I have the shade Eucalyptus to show you which is a dark, shimmery green.

You know the saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Sometimes though, people decide to fix it anyway. Now and again this doesn’t turn out for the better, so when it comes to a product that you love, it can make you a little uneasy. Is it going to be worse? Will I no longer love it as much as I do now? It’s totally understandable. That’s why I wanted to get my hands on a this particular reformulation of a popular product.

It’s amazing how your eyebrows can change your look. Even if you have no time to put on a full face of makeup, simply spending a moment on your brows can make you look put together in an instant. Sometimes it may get tiring or dull, but dedicating some time and love to your eyebrows can make a huge difference in the long run.

It only contains one ingredient, and that is castor oil. 100% natural and organic, cold pressed castor oil that contains omega 9 fatty acids that are known to be highly nourishing on the hairs and the follicles. Cold-pressed castor oil is said to be the highest quality oil as the first pressing releases the highest quantity of the castor beans' essential fatty acids, nutrients and minerals. 

We all need a hero in our lives, which is why it is pretty lucky that I happen to have myself a little bottle of one to show you all today.

Recently I've been trying out a whole bunch of InstaNatural products, but today I have not one, not two, but THREE InstaNatural products to share with you (woohoo!).

Today I have three facial skincare products, the InstaNatural Dead Sea Mud Mask, Eye Gel and Skin Clearing Spot Treatment.

I've spent some time testing them all out to give you some feedback, so I'll break it all down and go through each product one by one, starting with the Dead Sea Mud Mask.

One thing that can get really annoying - especially at this time of year - is dry lips. Nobody enjoys it and it can cause all sorts of other issues too, such as cracked, painful lips or the entirely cosmetic issue of flaky lipstick. Well, thankfully, there is a cure.

The Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid is a multi-award-winning, 99% natural, ultra rich and creamy lanolin lip treatment that contains organic lemon oil to naturally exfoliate. It also contains over 70% of Ultra Medical Grade Lanolin, exclusive to Lanolips, which also adds a glossiness with a hint of shimmer. The overall finished result is moist and soft lips.

It comes packaged in a small, clear plastic squeezy tube that holds 12.5g of product with a gold screw cap lid. The product itself is a thick, pale yellow balm that smells of lemon (of course).

A common saying in dermatological circles is that fingernails are the window to your health. Strong and smooth nails provide the clues to your overall health. From the vitamin efficiency to a lung, or heart disease down to systematic diseases, such as lupus, or anaemia, your nails are a sign of any problem in your body.

Finally, the importance of aesthetics is not to be undermined either. Beautiful nails build your confidence and confidence makes you even more beautiful and attractive.

"I've looked everywhere for a range of products that are natural and biodegradable, but, just as importantly, look, smell and feel wonderful to use. I drew a blank so I decided to develop a range of products myself. It's been a challenge but I am delighted to now be launching the Humble Natural Beauty Range. I wanted to give people the chance to spoil themselves without spoiling the environment" - Kate Humble. Founder, Humble

Hey guys! Today I have some really exciting news from Yves Rocher to share with you!

Whilst a lot of people will be getting into the middle of the nitty gritty on November 27th, queuing up outside stores at midnight, there are loads of great bargains to be found without needing to even leave your house (my favourite type of bargains!).

From the 23rd of November until the 30th, Yves Rocher are offering 44 of their best selling products at 60% off (wahey!). In addition to this, they are also going to be making 170 people very happy with up to £10,000 worth of gifts to be won.

UPDATE: In light of the atrocities in Paris, Yves Rocher have changed the name of the event to "Temptation Days".

Click read more for more info!

Hey guys! For this post, I decided to do something a little different. I haven't done any nail art in a while, so I got playing with my new MoYou Tropical Plate No.12 and new O.P.I Nail Polishes* to create two designs to show you today!

It's worth noting from the offset that even though I've wanted to try them for a long time, I've never actually used a stamping set before this one. So come and take a look at how I got on and what you can achieve yourself!

I'll start off explaining how to use the stamper, then show you the two looks that I tried.

Kids bath time. Some love it, some hate it, but one thing is for certain - what they are using on their skin is important, especially those that are prone to eczema.

Childs Farm is an award-winning British brand that provide skincare and haircare products for babies (newborn and up) and children, even those with sensitive and eczema prone skin (they even have their own cartoon on Cartoonito!). Their products contain natural and organic ingredients and are free of SLSs, parabens, mineral oils and artificial colours.

I've written about two of their products in the past (the Caked in Mud Body Wash and Hand & Body Lotion), but today I have a great little collection called the Top-to-Toe Cleaning Kit, a three-piece set that contains three of their top selling products to clean your little ones from head to toe, all of which are no sting/tears formulas.

It contains a 100ml Childs Farm Bubble Bath, 100ml Shampoo & 100ml Conditioner in a re-usable transparent bag that can come in handy for travelling or swimming amongst other things.

Being big fan of the products that I've tried from Childs Farm so far, we got to testing the Top-to-Toe set to give you all some feedback!

There's a couple of things that I really love in the beauty world (well, lots more than just a couple, but shh) and that's natural products and a good lip colour.

100% Pure's Lip Glaze is a sheer but moisturising lip colour that is made up with fruit pigments on a base of cocoa and avocado butters. At the same time as proving a wash of colour to the lips, it nourishes them with antioxidants and vitamins.

It comes in a range of 21 shades ranging from neutrals, pinks and reds.

Today I have the shade Daiquiri to show you which is a bright and happy pink shade. I received mine as part of my October Birchbox (if you'd like to subscribe to Birchbox, you can do so here and receive £5 worth of points to spend!) and instantly wanted to discuss it with you all!

It comes packaged in a silver bullet like tube and then packaged again inside a cardboard tube. The packaging is fantstic! I genuinely really love it, it's the perfect blend of quirky and high-end, if you get what I mean?

I don't know about you, but now the days are turning colder, my hands tend to get incredibly dry. Particularly around the knuckles. In fact, this year they have been particularly bad.

Step up then, Balance Me's Super Moisturising Hand Cream!

I’ve been testing a few InstaNatural products lately (and loved them all!), but so far they have all been either hair or body related. Today however, I have two face products to talk to you about!

InstaNatural’s Retinol Serum and Retinol Moisturiser are primarily both designed to work together and do the same thing: help to fight against the signs of ageing. That’s not all they can do though.

The Age-Defying Retinol Serum contains 2.5% retinol to fight deep wrinkles, dark circles, fine lines, hyper pigmentation and sun damage as well as antioxidants such as Vitamin C, E and green tea to repair skin damage around the face, eyes and neck. Salicylic Acid in combination with the green tea help to soften blemishes, clean pores and remove dirt whilst Hyaluronic Acid provides necessary hydration.

The Advanced Action Retinol Moisturiser also contains 2.5% retinol, Vitamin C, green tea and Hyaluronic Acid as well as jojoba oil and shea butter to deeply moisturise the skin. It also has AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) which can increase sun damage so make sure it is followed up with SPF.

The Retinol Serum comes packaged in a 30ml bottle with a pipette to help disperse the serum. The Retinol Moisturiser comes in an air tight pump bottle that holds 100ml of product.

Hi guys! I don't usually post on a Saturday, but I've had a couple of tech issues that have delayed this post. I didn't really want to delay it any further as I have other posts on the way too, so I decided that on a Saturday it would be. Anyway, on with the review!

So basically, it’s kind of like a combination of their other two eyelid primers, Lemon Aid and Stay Don’t Stray with some extra benefits. Lemon Aid is a colour correcting primer that comes in a creamy compact whereas Stay Don’t Stray is a creamy liquid formula, tinted eye primer. Being a big fan of both of those products, my excitement to try Air Patrol was at a high level. I recently acquired a sample of it and that is what I will be discussing with you today.

Back In August I wrote about Avon’s newly released 3D Plumping Lipstick range. Well, for those who enjoyed the collection or for those who prefer lip gloss, there is good news! 3D Plumping Lip Glosses are on the way!

When it comes to eyeliner, winged eyeliner (or flicked/cat eye) is a key look. However, they can be a tad tricky to master. Because of this, there are thankfully a range of products available to help you out.

I've spent a lot of time discussing argan oil on my blog recently, but there is another fab oil that I think deserves some attention: Jojoba oil.


Jojoba oil is close in molecular structure to sebum, the oily matter that is created in the sebaceous glands in our skin to "lubricate and waterproof" hair and skin. A large chunk of sebum is made up of wax esters, but as we age, we produce less of it, meaning that we lose more moisture from the skin. Jojoba oil is the only oil that is known to also contain wax esters, meaning that it acts as a great moisturiser for both skin and hair as well as helping to restore youthfulness to the skin.

In addition, Jojoba naturally contains powerful antioxidants, Vitamins A, D and E and Omega 6 & 9 fatty acids as well as as being hypoallergenic.

The Jojoba Company is an Australian company that produces jojoba based products, but they also sell pure, 100% Australian Jojoba Oil, which I'm going to be discussing with you all today.

Just like argan oil, jojoba is incredibly multi-functional. Therefore, like in my InstaNatural Argan Oil review, I'm going to list the ways that I tested it out and what results I've had.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may have seen that I have reviewed a couple of InstaNatural products recently and I have been loving them! Well, today I am quite excited to discuss not one, but TWO InstaNatural hair products for you all!

It can be used as an overnight treatment, a quick 10 minute treatment, 2 hour treatment and even a serum on dry hair.

Next up we also have the Argan Oil Hair Mask, a deep conditioning hair treatment for dry, damaged hair. It includes a collection of natural and organic ingredients such as argan oil, coconut oil, Vitamin B5, shea butter, jojoba oil, avocado oil, amino acid complex and more.

It aims to fix up dry or damaged hair as well as making hair more manageable, smooth and shiny with more volume.

Both products are safe for coloured hair and also help to protect the hair during heat styling.

I’m going to start off by discussing my results with the oil, then follow up with the conditioner.

Dark circles around the eyes can be annoying. However, they're not really avoidable as they tend to be caused by our genes (thanks, genes!) amongst similar reasons, such as getting older (thanks, ageing!), but there are ways that we can help to reduce their appearance.

Are you losing your hair? If you are, you are not alone, but you certainly want to stop it from happening. Thankfully, what you eat can have a major impact on your hair's ability to grow and your hair's strength and health.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will probably have seen the fabulous guest post by Amy Goldsmith about the uses of argan oil for skin (and if you haven’t, I highly recommend that you do give it a read!). Argan oil is a great multi-purpose product that can be used for a number of things. It can be used on the skin, on the hair, for nails or even for healing purposes.
 

Recently I went on a break from the blog whilst I was moving house. During this time, I missed my June Birchbox review. However, I did receive it, and inside there were a couple of things that I wanted to talk about. One of those items is the Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Wash.

Balance Me's Super Moisturising Body Wash is an award-winning, sulphate free, 99% natural body wash that helps to replenish, cleanse and protect dry and/or irritated skin.

It is rich in shea butter, patchouli, benzoin oil and yarrow to keep skin so soft that you can skip on moisturiser afterwards if you're in a rush.

Soap and Glory’s Kick Ass Instant Retouch Pressed Powder is a lightweight, translucent, imperfection blurring powder that is designed to perfect your face. It contains “vision-boggling Superblur technology” and Camouflawge 3D to leave the skin looking and feeling silky smooth and retouched. 
The powder itself is tinted yellow with no shimmer and can be worn alone or over makeup as a setting powder.

It comes packaged in a black compact that does include a mirror, but no applicator (so if you don’t have one already, you will need to purchase one).

Argan oil is produced in Morocco where it has been used for centuries by Moroccan women in their beautification rituals. This nectar of beauty is in so many ways special, and its traditional preparation is just one of them. The nuts are hand-picked and squeezed with a stone, then ground into a thick paste. The paste is then drained to get the oil. The final product is this almost perfect cosmetic product which is used to nourish skin and hair, for wound healing and to treat skin rash. High levels of essential fatty acids make argan oil a powerful skin moisturizer. In addition to the essential fatty acids, this precious oil is rich in vitamins, especially vitamin E, which successfully fights free radicals. At the same time it stimulates microcirculation and provides maximum nutrition to skin cells. On top of all that, it is so easy to use, as it requires no additives other than plain water.

Here are but a few benefits of this liquid gold, as Moroccans call it:

It's that time of year again when we begin to see the transition from summer to autumn in the beauty world, and that means new shades to wear!
Zoya have just released their Focus and Flair collections for Autumn 2015 which are two ranges of five jewel-tone cream shades and five jewel-tone metallics.

Today I have the shade Aggie to show you, a metallic, duochrome gold and green/bronze polish from the Flair half of the collection.
As with all other Zoya nail polishes, the formula is five-free, meaning that it doesn't contain Formaldehyde, Camphor, DBP, Formaldehyde Resin or Toluene.

Oily or combination skin can be a pain to deal with. There are some mattifying moisturisers out there that can make oily skin appear worse after a while or even some that do nothing at all, but one of the things I personally look for is a moisturiser that simply balances the skin. Something that doesn't necessarily make your skin matte and dull, but something that just regulates excess oil without going a step too far.

Cattier's Fleur d’Émulsion Mattifying Day Care for oily to combination skin claims to do just that. It has a powdery texture and it moisturises whilst rebalancing the epidermis. It's a natural product that contains organic anti-oxidant hazelnut oil, organic shea butter, masterwort flower extract, Phycosaccharide (brown alga extract) and organic aloe vera to intensely moisturise as well as mattify (along with the help of Silica).

It is also non-comedongenic which means that it doesn't clog up the pores.

Dry or colour damaged hair? Gone a bit overboard with your hot hair tools? We've all been there, but nobody wants to be. Hello then, Green People's Intensive Repair Conditioner!

Green People's Intensive Repair Conditioner is a natural and 91% organic conditioner that is perfect for rejuvenating dry and/or damaged hair. It doesn't contain any SLS/SLES, parabens, alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol), gluten, harsh foaming agents, colourants, DEA, TEA or PEGs, petrochemicals, lanolin, propylene glycol, PABA-sunscreen, synthetic fragrances, irritating emulsifiers or phthalates. On top of that, 10% of their net profit is donated to charity!


It helps to boost shine whilst nourishing the scalp and hair shaft and preventing dryness and loss of natural hair oils.

It can be used as a regular conditioner as well as a hot-towel hair treatment.

Birchbox is a monthly beauty box that includes 5-6 deluxe samples of beauty and lifestyle products that are tailored to you.

You get to discover new products and test them out in the comfort of your own home with no pressure to buy the full product if you don’t like it! However, if you do enjoy it, you can purchase the full sizes from the Birchbox store with the most recent month’s brands being available with free delivery (min. £10 spend)!

Avon are soon to be releasing a new range of lip-plumping lipsticks - the Ultra Colour 3D Plumping Lipsticks. They contain a dual-plumping formula with a Retinol Colour Complex that boosts retinol and collagen.
It will come in a range of 10 satin-finish shades, ranging from nude shades to pinks, red and purple, and in this post I have swatches of every single shade to show you!

Click Read More to view swatches of every shade!

If you are a regular reader of my blog then you may remember that recently I fell in love with Korres' Bergamot Pear Body Milk. It's such a beautifully scented, lightweight moisturiser, and it was only a matter of time before I bagged myself the accompanying body wash.

The Korres Bergamot Pear Showergel is an 87% natural product that is free of silicones, mineral oil, parabens, alcohol and more (see below), is also suitable for vegans and vegetarians and is not tested on animals. It is rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin C, zinc and antioxidant enzymes and also contains Active Aloe, an ingredient that has the "ability to stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis," helping to reduce the visible signs of skin ageing. It also claims to help boost the skins immune system.
It comes packaged in a dark red/brown bottle (with the product information sticker wrapped around it) with a white flip cap that holds 250ml of product. The wash itself is a cloudy white colour with the same beautiful scent of the Body Milk.

Birchbox is a monthly beauty box that includes 5-6 deluxe samples of beauty and lifestyle products that are tailored to you.

You get to discover new products and test them out in the comfort of your own home with no pressure to buy the full product if you don’t like it! However, if you do enjoy it, you can purchase the full sizes from the Birchbox store with the most recent month’s brands being available with free delivery (min. £10 spend)!


This months theme is Make A Splash, inspired by summer holidays. For this month only, Birchbox have swapped out their regular boxes for Birchbags, small clutch bags that come in a range of four colours. Each colour is inspired by a different holidaying location. There is a beautiful green for the island of Hydra in Greece, bright pink for Ibiza, orange for St Tropez and yellow for (check).

Here is what I received in my Birchbox (bag) this month:

Hello everybody!

Today I have some really exciting news to finally share with you all - we're moving house!

As you can imagine, moving house can be an incredibly busy time. It also comes with a whole range of issues regarding getting everything sorted and back into place. It's because of this that I wanted to inform you all that I will be taking a break from the blog for anywhere between 2-4 weeks.

Another issue that I will be having is that of tomorrow I will temporarily have no Internet connection. Therefore, Tweets from my Twitter account will also slow down for a short while.

I wanted to make sure that you were all aware of the situation so that nobody thinks that I have vanished from the blogging world - I can assure you that I haven't!

I'll be back soon, and until then, I hope that you all stay well!

Zoe. @Beautifinous

Soap & Glory’s Sexy Mother Pucker Pillow Plump XXL lip gloss is a hydrating, ultra-glossy, lip-plumping colour. It contains LIPSWELL natural oil infusion and 3XL-PEPTIDE PLUMP that has been shown in tests to support fat cells, boost the levels of hyaluronic acid and to provide a cushioning lip-plumping effect.

It comes in a range of five shades, including one clear gloss. I picked myself up the shade Cherry Up which is a nice, bold pinky-red with a hint of sparkle.

I understand that lately there is a big thing about plumped up lips (thanks to Kylie Jenner who has even admitted that her lips are the way they are due to injections). However, I don't want the fact that I am reviewing a plumping lip gloss to come across as if I am endorsing a trend in which people are hurting themselves for bigger lips. Whether you have big lips or small lips, you are beautiful and you do not need the latest trend to dictate whether you are or not. Stay safe, kids, and don't be stupid!