April Favourites And Things I’ve Been Loving

April has been a pretty great month, the second half especially. Easter weekend was incredibly late this year but I very much needed the four day weekend to recharge and spend some time doing things for me. The fact that we are in another long weekend makes me very happy as I’ve decided to spend half away, and half chilling which is a good mix for me. The start of April was pretty stressful with the whole Pipdig debacle (fellow bloggers I feel you) so I quickly changed my layout and while I’m still not 100% happy with it I know there’s a lot of things I can tweak to get it there.

We’ve finally got our room at my parents pretty much exactly where we want it which makes me very happy. I even managed to spend a whole day of the Easter weekend sorting out my wardrobe which wasn’t the most fun of tasks I’ll be honest. Below are just some of the items I was loving during April, let me know what made it into your monthly favourites.

Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Foundation

For a few weeks, the Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Foundation was all over the internet as being a dupe for the IT Cosmetics CC Cream which is one of my favourite bases. Based on this comparison I decided to pick it up as I was running low on my IT Cosmetics, hoping to save some money in the process. I really like this foundation and can certainly see the similarities to the Your Skin But Better CC Cream. It has a very similar consistency and isn’t too runny which makes it quite easy to blend into the skin.

Much like the IT Cosmetics, a little goes a long way with this foundation and it’s really build-able so you can go for a lighter look or layer for a heavier look. While I’m sure I’ll repurchase the CC Cream at some point, for the time being, I am more than happy to be using this instead.

Zoeva 125 Stippling Brush

Is it just me who feels a little over the beauty sponge trend?! For the last few years, I’ve pretty much only used sponges for my base makeup, and while it worked great I have been falling out of love with them. For one they’re so damn hard to keep clean and I do worry that I’ve had mine for way longer than I should have. Plus they’re pretty expensive considering you have to replace them every 3 months(ish)- although I never did. I decided to invest in a new brush for my foundation as I wanted to go back to trying a brush again and the ones I owned were a little worse for wear.

Fresh off the recommendation of Anna Newton I grabbed the Zoeva 125 Stippling Brush and it’s been working a treat for my foundation. Unlike the brushes, I currently owned it wasn’t dense so it gives a really even light coverage when using my foundation. I love this because it means I can build it up like I want to without putting too much on, to begin with. Having never owned a Zoeva brush before I’m impressed with the quality; the bristles are really soft but they hold their shape. The brush was £13 which may seem like a lot for a single brush but it’s one that will get so much use.

Make Up Forever Ultra HD Soft Light Illuminator

My final makeup love for April has been the Make Up Forever Ultra HD Soft Light Illuminators which I’ve been playing around with all month. I was kindly gifted two shades at the Intu Watford Spring event at the end of March and have been using them quite often. I have one lighter highlight shade, and one darker bronze shade which when the makeup artist applied looked stunning. It has taken me a few attempts to get the look right on myself but I love the results they give. There are so many ways you can use this, either by mixing it with your primer or foundation or using it on top as a top layer highlight.

I prefer to use the champagne highlight shade mixed with my base as otherwise, I find I go too heavy on it as a top layer item, a little bit goes a long way for me. The first time I used it, it looked like I had fallen head first into a vat of glitter, a good look for some but not for me. While the copper bronze shade is good to use as a very light bronzer on top of my makeup. The illuminators are quite dewy but not oily or greasy looking and for someone with dry skin, they are pretty hydrating which I appreciate.

Aroma Diffuser

I was bought an Aroma Diffuser by my parents at Christmas but due to the move and sorting out our new bedroom I’ve only got it up and running over the past month. As someone who loves home fragrances like candles and reed diffusers, I knew this would be right up my street and I’ve loved having it running this past month.

You pop water and some drops of essential oil in the device and set it up to diffuse the beautiful scent and our room has been smelling so nice. We both spend a lot of time in the room so it’s really made the space feel a lot more like home. I bought a whole bunch of different scented oils from Marks and Spencer and it’s been so much fun giving them a try. It seems to last around 15 hours before needing refilling which is great as we’ve had it on while we’ve slept quite a few times. The diffuser I have is just a cheap one but does the job for the moment, I’m sure when we move we’ll upgrade to a bigger and better one.

Gousto

We’ve finally got back on the Gousto train and started up our subscription again and dinner times have never been more exciting. We’ve had about three weeks worth now and I’ve enjoyed every single recipe we’ve had so far. My personal favourites have been a Sausage and Shallot pizza, a Beef and Mushroom Pie and one of the best Cottage Pie’s I’ve ever had.

We pay £29.99 for three meals for me and Luke which is usually just what we need for a standard week as generally, I’ll be out once or twice. The portion sizes are just right and it means we don’t have to keep thinking about what we want to eat for dinner.

What were you loving in April?