I heard someone on This Morning say, "I call it 'comparisonitis'... Nobody knows what's actually going on in people's lives behind the screen" and it's so true. Well maybe that wasn't perfectly word for word but it was along those lines. When it comes to my blog though I really enjoy keeping it real and that's a 'little bit' to the reason of where I've been recently. So I nor any of my three blog readers, nor the mice that live between the cracks, foresaw me taking such time away from my blog (again, I know, bad blogger!) but unfortunately I recently went through an event that was both kind of sudden and quite difficult. Blogging was the last thing on my mind and right at the bottom of my priority list. All in all, without wanting to ponder on things too much, it's something I believe someone else in the blogging community has also gone through in recent months and involves the coming to the end of a chapter in my life. Between moving furniture and trying to keep myself moving when things have all felt a bit pants it's been a really difficult time. Nevertheless I have a new set up, I'm settled into new ways and between my freshly organised makeup dividers and mindset I felt ready to hop back into writing on the blog again.
So blink and you miss three months, am I right! As you might well be able to tell from my home page I've missed a few monthly favourites. Despite however, I was not giving up on my goal of completing my monthly favourites for each month of the year and hence I've decided to merge my April and May 2021 favoruites into this one post (I mean there wasn't really much I loved or to be loved this May!). My June favourites will also been soon to follow!
My April and May favourites for 2021 ladies, gentlemen and all...
LUSH America Cream Shower Gel
Ahh, this lovely edition to my daily routine was a very kind gift from my mum for my birthday back in March. I've been a long time fan of LUSH and I think as many golden oldie LUSH fans could admit to, I've had an eye for the American Cream scent for many years. I remember most of all the American Cream hair conditioner but recently, and to my delight, they appear to have brought it out in a shower gel. Like all LUSH shower gels I've had it was happily nourishing to my skin post-use and the scent was just a dream! Every morning I used this I just felt like a happy bunny and it just made my day. It was a really special birthday treat and I'd definitely love to treat myself to this again.
Side note - I actually can't find the American Cream Shower Gel on the LUSH website; I really hope they haven't discontinued it! The hair conditioner is still available. I wonder if it might have been limited edition or a seasonal special.
Gosh Ex-ceptional Wear Foundation
Throughout April I absolutely loved this foundation. When I switched jobs back last October and started to wear makeup again for work I found this foundation in my collection was ace for wearing under a face mask and both stayed put really well and didn't look obvious if it had rubbed off in certain places. It works wonders on it's own for me as a quick slap dash base, with a decent coverage, and following my love for a minimal makeup look I talked about back in my February Favourites I find it the perfect addition for those minimal makeup days. I'd been loving a quick pick-me-up five minute makeup routine throughout April and I'd literally just been slapping this on for a bit of light - but pretty decent - coverage, exactly as I'd apply my facial SPF - no mirror required! It's lightweight but as I said does a really good job at evening things out and achieves a nice coverage. It leaves a healthy glow and is a wondrous match for my paler than pale skin. I really should crack this one out a bit more this summer.
MAC Chatterbox Amplified Lipstick
Paired with my favoured five minute makeup look of the month, I found myself had over heels for a pink lip this April. I know, I know, MAC is not cruelty free or vegan but I still use up and enjoy the old makeup bits and bobs I've collected over the years from before I went vegan rather than wasting them - plus also in the hopes I can find some good dupes for them! Comment below if you'd join a petition for MAC to go vegan and cruelty-free; oh how I miss MAC! Anyhow, I felt a little bit out there and loved the pick me up my ever-so-slightly-Barbie-pink MAC Chatterbox lipstick gave me this April and it was a cheery edition to my end of Spring makeup. I think I'm definitely going to crack out more of my pink lip products now we can be "mostly" mask free in outdoors places.
Does any one else think there's going to be a massive surge in love for lip products again when the pandemic and mask wearing is hopefully over?
The prospect of being able to enjoy wearing a full makeup look again without hopefully having to wear a mask one day makes me very excited!
Pink Style Picks
In addition to the odd pink lip choice, I also seemed to love the pink style picks too this April and beginning of May. I found myself wearing my big baby pink suit pants an awful lot, perfect for warmer days, or breezier days with a jumper tucked in, and had a real reminiscence with my pink "Do More of What Makes You Happy" sweatshirt - ironic isn't it! Pink was a real staple in my wardrobe this spring but keep your eyes peeled for my June favourites as there's another popular trend I've been loving wearing more recently these hot Summer months!
Pretty collars
A strong contender in the trends department that seems to have have hung around from last Autumn is the collar. As you saw in the post picture I've been a sucker for pretty collars even still heading towards the Summer and have found them very versatile layering under jumpers for cooler days but with newer colour palettes for Spring/ Summer. I've still be sporting the odd pretty collar on the warmer yet not so hot days during the Summer months too and I think this staple is going to be sticking around for a lot longer - and I'm here for it!
Fleur De Force and Zoe Sugg's Old Main Channel Videos
From about last Christmas to the early months of this year I had a right old binge of all Zoe Sugg's vlogs, right from the very beginning till about mid 2015! Come this April I had a hankering for wanting to watch some proper old school YouTube videos and I found myself loving and watching lots of original early day uploads from Zoe and Fleur on their main channel.
There's just something not quite the same these days as it was back in the earlier YouTube years.
I really enjoyed Fleur's video reviewing the John Freda Go Blonder shampoo and conditioner (what a throwback!) and her really early videos featuring Woof the puppy (RIP the little soul), plus her What's in my Bag/ Purse video. As for Zoe, another epitome of an old school video I enjoyed re-watching was her 60 Things In My Bedroom, which is no longer on her channel but if you search it, it's been re-uploaded by someone else. Oh the nostalgia! Likewise, I also very much enjoyed her Tag: The Friendship Test (with SprinkleofGlitter). I think getting back to blogging Autumn of last year and doing what I really enjoyed (which is exactly that, old school blogging) just made me want to reminisce and enjoy watching where all the big original blogger's started and how their journey's began. It kind of made it all feel a bit more back in the day with the nostalgia and a time that all felt a little bit more relatable and closer to home.. Really through April I was watching their old videos like they'd just uploaded them and they were hot on the new uploads section on your YouTube homepage.
And there we have a small selection of things that brought my heart a bit of joy this April and May (maybe-not-so-much-anything-though-May should we say though). I think it looks to be a whole different kettle of fish of things I've been loving this June but also a couple of quite similar but different things! That post will be on it's way very soon if you're interested!
Please enjoy the sunshine, with much broad spectrum SPF, and stay hydrated and if I don't frazzle in this heat, I'll see you in my next post! (I can assure you, it's a complete surprise to me what post is coming next as much as it is to you!)
Ellie Xx
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