WHAT’S UP IN BEAUTY: MY SUMMER FAVES

**********This post contains gifted and non-gifted items. Gifted mentions may also be present. All links used are affiliate.********** 

Beauty favourites: summer 2020

Beauty favourites. It’s been a while. Remember the good old days of monthly favourites? I don’t want to commit to that, but there’s been a few bits I’ve been using EVERY SINGLE DAY lately and that must count for something. Welcome to (not) monthly favourites reimagined.

Glow baby summer makeup

'Back to basics' has been my makeup motto of this year. It’s funny how I no longer care for everyday makeup *thanks to lockdown* yet I continue to buy makeup. The everlasting fight with my good old makeup shopping addiction!  I picked up a couple of newbies that stole my heart from the first use and I can not imagine doing my makeup without them. 

First up, Nars Paradise Found Bronzing Powder is what dreams are made of, surely! A delicately fragranced, super finely milled bronzer that will work beautifully on fair to medium complexions. The sparkle overlay disappears (thankfully!) although made for incredible photos I must admit. I’ve tried my best not to get it out and I’ve been using the top bit to still be able to take a few more good photos! The shade itself reminds me of the original Laguna, not too warm and not too cool - perfect every day to add a bit of healthy colour to the skin. And the packaging? I mean, must I say more? I managed to snatch it in the promo on E-Bloggers, but if you’d like it’s also available on Look Fantastic, and there’s always plenty of codes going around over there!

Secondly, I have to share with you my current highlighting obsession thanks to Maura Higgins', aka my favourite Love Island contender, and Inglot’s recent collaboration. I found my makeup mojo back thanks to Maura x Inglot Sparkling Dust Highlighter in City Lights, a perfect blend of pale peachy base and champagne sparkle in an ultra glossy finish. If you like to GLOW, glow you shall with this finely milled glass-like finish powder. It’s what I hoped ABH Loose Highlighter in Vegas would be (it wasn't!) shade-wise, and I’m glad I found my new favourite highlighter, as there’s no Beauty Drama Queen without a visible from outer space highlighter! Available in Boots now. Oh, and did I mention it's only £10 too?

Skin goals

Starting with a gentle everyday acid toner from the Allies of Skin sister brand PSA Skin. PSA 002 Heroine Toner combines the powers of Mandelic Acid and Licorice for the instant glow that’s super gentle even on sensitised skin. And glow it does, trust me. A beautiful neon orange-red bottle has that basic but extra feel to it and despite being up there on the luxury scale, it won’t break the bank (that much). I love Allies of Skin but boiiii are they expensive, so to find PSA toner at £28 - colour me impressed. Available now on Beauty Bay, I bought it on promo and got a free retinol oil too. Wish I bought more now! I love a good acid toner that doesn’t anger my currently sensitised skin but gives me the ultimate glow and this one does just that. Top tip: use a lint-free cotton pad soaked in toner and go around your face, neck and décolletage until it runs dry, then wait a couple of minutes to allow the actives to work. Glow central guaranteed.

Another toner, what a surprise (not really, if you follow my daily skincare routines on Instagram!). This time, a new K-beauty discovery, the Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner* has been in my daily routine for a good few weeks now. I’ve been using it day and night, either after an acid toner or instead, before serum or if few layers applied, instead. I love how light the formula is, it‘s not an essence just a bloody good toner you know? It has that fresh and sweet green tea smell thanks to a whopping 80% concentration of Jeju Green Tea extract. Green tea is perfect for sensitised skin in need of soothing. Perfect for dehydrated and lacklustre skin in need of a good shot of hydration as well as combo skin thanks to balancing ingredients controlling sebum production. Honestly, guys, it’s love. And did I mention how inexpensive it is? You can get it in many UK online retailers although the price vary. Here’s a couple: YesStyle and Stylevana (cheapest at the time of posting). Oh, and the good news is, it may be coming to my favourite K-Beauty retailer Tonic15 very soon! 

On that note, here’s a little Tonic15 gem worthy of my discount code (BDQBLOG for 15% off - affiliate). The brand new Huxley Secret of Sahara Eye Cream: Concentrate On* has been applied religiously by yours truly every day, day and night since I got my hands on it a couple of months ago. A beautiful matte glass packaging hides away a rich and buttery cream that won’t cause puffiness, and it’s so incredibly plumping my under eyes haven’t looked this good in years! I apply it liberally to my under eyes, eyelids up to a brow bone. I love how it melts on the contact with the heat of my skin and sinks in super quickly too. It’s rich yet light, I can’t quite describe it. Sporting THAT Huxley scent (if you know, you know and if you don’t, what are you waiting for!?) as well as being enriched with Ceramides derived from Prickly Pear Oil and antioxidant-rich Prickly Pear Flower Extract it works a dream on my almost *cries quietly in the corner* 35 years old under eyes! At £39 it may seem a little pricey but you also get the double of a standard eye cream with whooping 30ml of product. And with my code BDQBLOG, you can grab it for only £33.15 now (with free delivery in the UK). Grab yours here.

Celebrating Black-owned beauty

I want to be better at celebrating Black-owned beauty brands so today, let me re-introduce you to Charlotte Mensah and quite literally the best hair oil I have used to date, and boiiii have I used them all or at least it feels like I have! Now, here’s my issue with hair oils. I have normal hair that tends to look and feel fine and flat. Combine that with usually heavy oil formula and we have ourselves a dirty hair looking party. No longer! From the luxury British haircare brand, Charlotte Mensah Manketti Hair Oil* is a quintessence of high-end beauty. The dry feel oil smells absolutely incredible, doesn’t weight down my hair and makes it feel soft and healthy despite how badly I treat it with bleach and toners. Honestly,, guys, there’s nothing quite like the feeling (and smell) of this oil on my hair. I love warming up just a drop or 2 in my hands and applying it to mid-length to ends every morning for the fragrance alone and not to mention the hair health benefits that are visible after a few months of using it almost daily. It’s a huge bottle too, so it’ll last me forever! Great tip: apply generously to hair and scalp and leave overnight, then wash it off in the morning for the best hair day you’ve had in ages. I made so many friends buy it already and all agree - it’s not just a hair oil, it’s a bit of magic too. Available from SpaceNK for £48 now.

What are your current beauty obsessions?

And that's it for my current beauty favourites. There are so many more products I've been using lately so lookout for some new posts soon. Lots of in-depth skincare reviews and more reimagined blog series coming soon too. Exciting times ahead!

Thank You For Reading.

With love,

Full disclaimer:

In line with an updated CMA/ASA Non-broadcast Code, all products marked with * have been gifted to Beauty Drama Queen for review consideration, therefore are considered sponsored and displayed as a form of an unpaid advertisement.

All articles sponsored by a brand, a retailer or via a PR agency where specific product placement has been paid for on top of product gifting will be clearly branded as AD.

Products I've bought myself, but there's a current or past (up to 12 months) relationship with the brand present will be marked with **.

Products unmarked have been purchased by Beauty Drama Queen, gifted by family and friends or won in a giveaway and therefore not in the scope of the legislation.

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