Monthly faves: August 2020

I’m back again with another instalment of my monthly beauty faves series and this time for my birthday month: August.

I got quite a few new makeup and skincare products for my birthday, so you’ll be seeing reviews of these trickling out on my blog over the next few months.

This year, celebrating my birthday was not the same due to the coronavirus pandemic. I had to plan everything carefully, definitely did not see everyone I wanted and heavily relied on the weather to be good. The COVID world we live in at the moment isn’t desirable and it’s disrupting just about every part of our daily lives.

However, one part of my life that the virus hasn’t disrupted is my beauty blog. Although most of my life is very different from this time last year, there’s still a lot to enjoy. So, in this blog post, I’m sharing my top 5 beauty products that I’ve been reaching for this month. I hope you enjoy it!

** This post contains some affiliate links. This means at no extra cost to you, I earn some commission if you purchase a product through my link. All thoughts are my own, though, as always. If you want to find out more, visit my affiliate disclosure page **

1. Jordan Samuel Skin The After Show Treatment Cleanser for Sensitive Skin

Starting off August beauty faves is the Jordan Samuel Skin The After Show Treatment Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. This is my first time trying a Jordan Samuel Skin product and let me tell you, it does not disappoint.

I got this product as part of the Caroline Hirons Spring Kit One, hence the limited edition yellow tube. As Caroline loves it, I knew it would be fantastic.

This vegan gel-to-oil cleanser is so beautiful and feels soft on the skin. Although I often use this product as my morning cleanse, it easily breaks down makeup too, making it an effective first step for a double cleanse.

It’s also very gentle on the skin. After using this cleanser, my skin always feels nourished, hydrated and smooth. I have normal/oily skin, but I definitely think this cleanser would be perfect for sensitive skin. The more I use this product, the more I fall in love with it.

Where to buy

There are various sizes available for The After Show Treatment Cleanser for Sensitive Skin, which are as follows:

• 30ml – £12.50
• 94ml – £20
• 240ml – £43

You can purchase the JSS cleanser from Cult Beauty or Jordan Samuel Skin.

I think this cleanser is a very good price. It’s one of the nicest cleansers I’ve ever used. I’ve used more expensive cleansers that I don’t like as much as this one.

Rating

I have nothing bad to say about the Jordan Samuel Skin The After Show Treatment Cleanser for Sensitive Skin, so it gets 5 stars from me.

2. Glossier Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick in Poppy

The more products I try from Glossier, the more I understand the hype. And the Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick in Poppy is no exception.

My sister bought me this lipstick for my birthday as I was really drawn to the sheer, wearable formula. I have quite full lips, so wearing bright red lipstick in the day can look too strong, so I was intrigued to see how a sheerer formula would work.

As I suspected, it looks lovely. It’s vibrant but has a powdery finish, which makes it look more like a wash of colour on the lips. It’s so flattering and is the perfect dialled-down red. Most of my red lipsticks have blue undertones, but this one leans slightly orange, which I’m obsessed with.

I love the unusual blurred effect it gives too as it makes my lips look super soft. It’s something that you can only truly appreciate if you try it for yourself.

I now want to try all of the shades from the Generation G line!

Where to buy

Retailing for a very acceptable £14, you can purchase the Glossier Generation G lipstick from the Glossier website.

Although not the cheapest products out there, I think Glossier’s prices are very reasonable. For the quality of the products, I’d say they’re worth it.

Rating

I’m obsessed with this sheer matte lipstick. I’ve had a lot of compliments when wearing this Glossier product and I now want to try all of the shades. It’s an easy 5 stars from me.

3. Sunday Riley Autocorrect Brightening and Depuffing Eye Contour Cream

Another product from the Caroline Hirons Spring Kit One that’s made it into my August beauty faves is the Sunday Riley Autocorrect Brightening and Depuffing Eye Contour Cream.

I’ve used quite a few eye creams over the years and none of them have ever really done anything for me. They’d feel nice on my skin, but they never improved the look or feel of my eye area.

Enter Sunday Riley.

The Sunday Riley Autocorrect Eye Cream is fantastic at making your eyes look brighter. The eye cream gives your eyes a refreshed look and removes dark circles or puffiness with ease.

I’ve been struggling with my sleeping recently, which means I frequently look tired. This eye cream has been brilliant at helping conceal my tiredness, while making my eye area feel refreshed and hydrated.

It’s brilliant but the only downside is that it’s expensive.

Where to buy

The Sunday Riley Autocorrect Eye Cream costs £60 for 15ml and you can purchase it from the new UK Sunday Riley website, Space NK, or Cult Beauty.

Rating

I love this Sunday Riley eye cream and it’s by far the best one I’ve used. However, it’s pretty expensive and you only get 15ml, so I’m giving it 4 stars.

4. PONY EFFECT Everlasting Cushion Foundation SPF50+ PA+++

The PONY EFFECT Everlasting Cushion Foundation is one of my first-ever K-beauty purchases and I’ve loved using it so far.

Recently, I’ve been really interested in K-beauty products. It’s a well-known fact that Korean people have gorgeous skin and I love the emphasis Korean makeup products stress on natural, glowy skin.

With this in mind, I opted for the PONY EFFECT Everlasting Cushion Foundation. It had fantastic reviews on YesStyle and is from popular Korean makeup Youtuber PONY Syndrome’s makeup brand, so I couldn’t wait to try it.

I’ve honestly loved using this foundation. You only need a small amount of product to cover your face and it gives the most amazing glow. It was my first time using a cushion foundation. However, pressing the puff into the cushion was easy to do and the foundation blended out like a treat.

When I wear this foundation, my skin feels hydrated and looks healthy. However, as I have oily skin, I’ve found that I do need to set my skin with quite a lot of powder in my oily areas (nose, cheeks and forehead) to ensure I don’t look greasy throughout the day.

I hadn’t tried a Korean foundation before, so trying to match myself to a shade online was a bit difficult. I opted for the shade ‘Natural Ivory’ and it’s 100% too light/white for me. Thankfully, I already owned a foundation that’s a bit too dark and yellow for me, so mixing the two together results in the perfect shade.

The main issue I have with a lot of Korean makeup products is that there are hardly any shades for darker skin tones. This is a shame because it excludes a huge demographic from trying the various foundations, concealers, blushers etc. in the K-beauty world. More needs to be done to cater to deeper skin tones within the K-beauty-sphere.

Where to buy

Retailing for around £25 for the cushion foundation and one refill, you can purchase the PONY EFFECT Everlasting Cushion Foundation from YesStyle.

Seeing as this price includes the foundation and a refill, I think it’s excellent value for money.

Rating

Even though I love the PONY EFFECT Everlasting Cushion Foundation, I think you have to use more setting powder than usual if you have oily skin. Whilst I don’t think this is an issue, people with particularly oily skin might want to steer clear.

However, I love how radiant my skin looks when I’m wearing this product, so for that reason, I’m giving it 4 stars.

5. DWIRA Hemp Superfood Face Oil

The final product I’m including in my August faves is the DWIRA Hemp Superfood Face Oil.

Adwoa, the founder of black-owned beauty brand DWIRA, gifted me the Hemp Face Oil for review purposes. Since using the facial oil, I’ve been really impressed with the vegan formula. It feels luxe and gives my skin a very healthy glow.

Although the oil is quite thick, it’s surprisingly lightweight and absorbent. As I have more oily skin, I was worried it might leave my skin feeling and looking too greasy, but just a couple of drops makes me look glowy without being too heavy. I also adore the vibrant, playful and African-inspired packaging.

Rating

I really like this hemp facial oil. People with drier skin will particularly appreciate this nourishing formula, but the lightweight feeling makes it suitable for oilier skin types too.

I give the DWIRA oil 4.5 stars.

Final thoughts

And that’s my August faves wrapped up. I had so many beauty products I could’ve included this month, but I opted for the ones I’ve been reaching for the most.

If I could only recommend one product from this beauty faves list, it would have to be the Glossier Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick. It’s such an awesome formula and colour. However, the Jordan Samuel Skin Cleanser is another must from this list.

Sarah Sarsby is the owner of A Woman's Confidence. With over 5 years' experience of writing in the fields of beauty and lifestyle, Sarah is passionate about all things content, makeup, skincare, wellness, and lifestyle. She has oily skin, is obsessed with lip gloss, and loves cookie dough.