I feel like everything has been really up in the air this month. I've felt so unmotivated to do anything and blogging has taken a bit of a back seat which is a shame. However, I have had the opportunity this month to do some amazing things, such as a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum in Poland as part of a holocaust memorial project. That was such an important and unbelievable trip and I truly believe it is something that everybody should experience at least once in their lives. There is so much we can learn from the holocaust and if you get the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau then please do go. Anyway on a lighter note, here's what I've been loving this month:

The *Benefit Porefessional  (£24.50) could have probably been in every single favourites post this year because it's a product that I use everyday without fail. I feel like I don't give this product the recognition it deserves and I've got to the point where I kind of take it for granted and don't even take much notice of it as it's just part of my routine because, come on, primers aren't the most exciting thing in the world. This does everything that I believe a good primer should. It minimizes the appearance of pores, mattifies the skin and helps your makeup glide on smoothly and last all day. If you haven't tried it you must, it lasts forever so it's definitely worth the splurge.

My skin has actually been pretty decent this month and so I haven't felt the need to load my face with products to cover it up. This has been brilliant for me because I've been feeling really lazy and running late in the mornings. So instead of my normal full coverage foundation, I've loved using the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream (£9.99). It's very light coverage but still manages to cover redness and blemishes to an extent and does leave your skin looking very natural. It also contains an SPF of 15 which is great for me because I burn so easily all year around and you can apply it with your fingers so there's no need to wash your brushes (fantastic). The only thing I don't love about this product is that I find when I don't use my *Benefit Porefessional Primer it has a tendency to cling to any dry patches and settle into any large pores that I have, which I find a bit disappointing seeing as it claims to give 24 hour hydration.

The Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer (£5.49) was a new purchase for me this month, but one that I have used every day since. It's really lovely as an under eye concealer and helps to brighten the area as well as sorting out any bags that you might have (I have loads so trust me it does it's job in that department). I really love using this under my eyes because it's super light, doesn't crease or fade away during the day and I think it looks incredibly natural. It also blends really easily which is great because you don't want to be dragging about the skin under your eyes because it's so delicate. Rimmel don't have it down as exclusively an under eye concealer, but I just find that for me, it doesn't cover spots or blemishes at all. I find it much too thin for that and I don't believe the "full coverage" claims. But this is the only concealer that I will use under my eyes from now on.




Top to bottom: Nyx Powder Blush in Mauve, The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01

I haven't been that fussed with eye shadow this month for no other reason than that my brushes are dirty and I can't be bothered to clean them but I don't want to use the colours that I already have on them. So what I've been loving instead is just running some of The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01 through the crease and outer corner of my eye and softly blending it for a really lovely simple, natural look. I've seen Lily Melrose use her Honey Bronzer as an eye shadow loads of times so thought I'd give it a go and I'm glad I did. 01 is just the perfect warm toned, light, matte brown that compliments my skin tone so well. As an eye shadow, the Honey Bronzer blends easily and doesn't fade or smudge. It's great for a laid back everyday look.

I think it's like a tradition now that my favourites posts have to feature a blusher. This month it's the turn of Nyx Powder Blush in Mauve (£6).  I love this colour so much. It's a beautiful matte, bright pink blush that gives you that lovely healthy glow. It's a lot deeper than all my other blushers so I love it for the colder months, also it lasts so long. This blush is seriously weather proof and I need to add some more to my collection. I did a full review recently which you can read here.

Last but not least I thought I would throw in a non beauty favourite and that is Instagram. I have been loving Instagram in a big way this month. I used to not really post on there at all but lately I've been loving taking photos to upload and I'm really happy with the way my account is looking at the moment. I don't have a 'theme' because I'm not clever enough for that and also I don't like to be restricted in what I can post. If I like I picture then I'm going to post it! If you aren't already, make sure you're following me for a mixture of beauty and lifestyle posts.

What have you been loving this October? Do you have any plans for Halloween?

Ciara x

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*This post contains items which were gifted to me. Full disclaimer.