As much as I enjoy sunny days, with pretty dresses and glasses of chilled white wine by the pool, I’m a little sad that the end of August has brought spring with it.  I’m a winter baby, so the autumn and winter are my favourite times of year.  I love cold weather, warm clothes, scarves and boots, and all of the wonderful warm drinks and snuggles that the chillier time of the year brings with it.

With the beginning of a new month, comes my roundup of all the goodies I loved and used the previous month.  To find out what my August favourites were, and why, read on!

Bodycare

City Girl Beauty Flower Power Sugar Body Scrub (R110)*

I’m a body scrub fanatic.  I love nothing more than buffing the grainy mixture into my skin and smoothing away dry patches, to reveal super soft, glowing skin.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the dry and slightly rougher texture of the Neutriherbs Coffee Scrub, this one that is ‘juicy’ for lack of a better description is just rough enough to buff away any dryness.  It also has a nice oiliness to it, leaving skin hydrated enough that applying body lotion isn’t necessary.

I can’t wait to try out more of the City Girl Beauty scrubs, as I love the packaging and find this one so good to use.  Plus – it smells like spring to me!

Skincare

Pink Cosmetics Lip Scrub in Creamy Coconut (R75)

I adore lip scrubs, but other than the Lush ones, I’ve battled to find one that’s truly gritty enough to do the job.  This one from Pink Cosmetics comes in a variety of delicious flavours, and really and truly gets the dead skin off my lips.  It was an absolute godsend during winter, and if I was good and used it at least twice a week, I didn’t suffer with any dry patches whatsoever.  If I was naughty, it helped to buff whatever dryness off in one use, yet didn’t leave my lips feeling raw and sore.   It’s also a bit more affordable than the Lush ones, so if you’re placing an order on Pink Cosmetics, be sure to pop one into your cart – you can even use my code SUGAR to get a nice discount on any of your Pink Cosmetics purchases.

This one is actually almost finished, so I need to replace it with another soon – perhaps the Black Cherry Bomb this time?

Benzac AC 5 Gel (R94.99)

Starting from the beginning of August, I have been battling through a difficult period with my skin lately.  It’s become exceptionally dehydrated lately, due to a combination of stress, hormonal changes and the change in season.  With the hormonal issues come breakouts, and not just any breakout.  What seems to be patches of small red bumps as well as cystic acne spots that come up and DO. NOT. DISAPPEAR.

With a trip to Cape Town looming, I was determined to try and get rid of these darned spots.  I had tried so many different things that usually work like a charm for me – Cettua spot patches, pure organic tea tree oil, Zambuk ointment, salicylic acid serum and the L’oreal Pure Clay Detox mask.  In a desperate attempt, I even applied the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion to those nasty, big buggers, even though it’s actually suited for small spots that pop up with a head.  Eventually, while chatting to some of my beautiful blogging buddies, they suggested Differin Gel if I could get a script, and if not Benzac Gel.

Oh my word, but literally overnight the spot (that had been with me so long, I’d named him Pedro the Pimple) shrunk to half its size!  Since then, I’ve used this treatment on any spot that’s popped up, and while they still linger a little, they’re around for much less time.  The hormonal patches of bumps I’d had on my neck and cheeks have all but disappeared too, leaving behind no marks at all.

One note I do have – do not apply this all over a patch of skin, apply it to each individual spot, even if you use a cotton bud to apply it more precisely.  If you rub it into a patch, that patch will dry up and leave you with cracked, sensitive skin.

dr.dermal Total Rejuvenation Facial Mask (R480 for 4)*

I had a few of these sheet masks applied while going to see Thejal, the aesthetician at the Skin By dr.dermal clinic in Umhlanga, during the build up to my wedding.  They are miracle workers for your skin!

When I attended the dr.dermal event at the beginning of August, we received two of these gorgeous silk sheet masks in our goodie bags, so I was THRILLED!  I used one up a few weeks ago, and was reminded how beautiful these masks are.  They’re completely saturated in the gorgeous serum that is packed with hyaluronic acid and other anti-aging ingredients, and they help to reduce wrinkles, hydrate the skin and reduce the appearance pores.

I’ve already bookmarked the second mask to take to Cape Town with me, so I can at least ensure my skin is looking its best after a plane trip and multiple wine tastings.

If you’d like to check out these sheet masks (that come in a pack of 4), or any of the other incredible dr.dermal skincare products, head on over to their website HERE.  You’ll receive free shipping, and if you use my code SUGARANDSPICE5 you’ll also get 5% off your purchase!

Mario Badescu Rose Hips Nourishing Oil (R499)*

The folks at Mario Badescu are absolutely incredible, and their customer services is top notch.  I mentioned on my Instagram Stories how the horrible cold I’d had, had left me ravaged, dry and sore around my nose, and my skin breaking out.  They saw that and very kindly sent me the Drying Lotion for the spots I was getting, and this facial oil to hydrate and soothe the dry skin around my nose.

The Rose Hips Nourishing Oil is packed with antioxidants and really works hard to soothe and nourish dehydrated skin – my biggest skin concern.  However, what I enjoy most about this oil is how incredibly lightweight it is!  I’ve managed to find a few good oils that hydrate my combo skin without being too greasy, such as the Nikel Evening Primrose Oil, and the Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, however they both still feel like oils.  This feels almost like water, yet you can still feel the very slightly oily texture for just a few seconds after pressing it into your skin, and then it vanishes!

It is the least oily oil I’ve ever tried, and one I think would be an ideal starter for those too scared to use oils on their skin.  It was pretty much the only facial I used all of August.

Makeup

Cala Urban Studio Angled Contour Brush R79.95)

When I first saw this brush in stores, I kind of ‘brushed’ it off (see what I did there?)

It didn’t look ideal for contouring, unless you were going to use it to buff out already applied cream contour, and that was something I’d never really gotten into using.  Yet, I then read a post on Prettiful Blog, saying that she used it for her foundation, and loved it!

After my buffing brush from Swiitch Beauty started to shed, just a couple of months into owning it, I figured I’d give this one a bash.  I’ve never looked back.

It’s dense enough to really buff the foundation into my skin, yet it’s not too dense.  It gives me a full coverage from my foundation and even my Garnier BB cream, and I actually battle to apply my foundation without it now.

Yes – I realise this image is of a new brush still in the box.  I have now even bought a backup, as I can’t be bothered to constantly be cleaning brushes, and I like to clean this every couple of days to prevent any bacteria being buffed onto my skin.  Also, I was a bit lazy, and hadn’t cleaned my current one, so this one just looked so much prettier for photos!

Catrice Lip Foundation Pencil in 030 Addicted to Café Au Lait (R49.95)

I am always looking for good quality nude lip liners, and I have to say that this offering from Catrice is fantastic.  It comes in a range of nude shades for (surprisingly) more skin types than their foundations cater for.  It’s also super soft, buttery and glides along your lips with little to no effort.  It’s also waterproof, and once you’ve applied it and it’s dried down, it won’t budge.  What a fantastic product, and it’s a great idea to buy a couple of shades and use it for lip contouring.

What I love the most about this shade?  It’s pretty darned close to my MAC Velvet Teddy lipstick, so I can use it to slightly over line my lips, or I can colour them in before applying the lipstick, for an additional layer that will prevent it from fading.

My only negative is that it’s a pencil you need to sharpen, and you’ll need to sharpen it after, at most, 2 uses.

Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer in Light Bronzer (+-R220)

I really battle to find bronzers for my skin when it’s on the fairer side, and this one has actually stood up to my Essence Luminous Matte Bronzer pretty damned well.  It’s a great formula in that you can apply a light dusting to fairer skin, yet when I do have a bit of colour, I just need to be a little more heavy-handed and it will still show up.  It doesn’t seem to swatch well because it’s the fair shade, yet on the face it works like an absolute charm.

One thing to note, is that if you don’t like using scented products, then this isn’t for you.  I enjoy the tropical scent of it, yet it’s very strong and it doesn’t seem to fade away after application.

Benefit Ka-Brow in shade 2 (R355)

I’ve long been a pencil-only brow gal.  I’ve always been too nervous to pick up these brow gels or pomades, as I assumed they’d be a lot of work to get right.

My mom had bought this for herself, but she very seldom fills in her brows, and she also found this too dark.  She gave it to me, and ever since I’ve wondered what I did before this product!

The pot comes with a brush in the lid, and it’s small and angled, absolutely perfect for brow products.  I find it incredibly quick and easy to get a very nice, defined brow with this, and I can tell you now that I’ll be repurchasing this as soon as I’ve managed to work my way through it all.

I do find it dries out quite easily, but the product itself always seems a little drier in general anyway and I prefer this as it means less smudging.  Just ensure you close the lid tightly when you’ve finished using it.

What favourites did you have for the month of August?  Have you used any of these?

You can find my last few favourite’s posts below:

July Favourites

June Favourites

May Favourites

*PR sample