Monthly Favourites - July

So I've been meaning to write a few monthly favourites posts for a while now but I've just never got round to it. This is going to be text-based but as it's August 2nd already (five months until 2014!) and I thought, let's kick this off!

So this month I've been loving a lot of products. I rekindled my love for my Bioderma after stinging my eyes with the bastard that is B's Micellar water, found a huge love for the Real Techniques expert face brush that I have been using religiously, have got into moisturising my hands a lot more with Soap & Glory's Hand Food and have worn Mac's Sashimi Mimi on a daily basis. My big love this month comes courtesy of an old favourite and a real gem - Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation. While it's more of an A/W foundation due to it's incredible staying power and strong coverage, I can't help but to love it even now. It's just so perfect even on my dry skin for covering up rosacea and holding that finished polished look. It's expensive at £28.50 a bottle (with no pump which is terribly frustrating) but my, is it a winner.

Want to know what else I've been loving? Of course you do!

My good friend Georgina is a jewellery designer and she's pretty incredible. You can find her Facebook here and Tumblr here but that's not the point. The point is she's in the running to win a design competition and all you have to do is like a photo on Facebook which you can find here. No sign up's, no following or liking, no external links from Facebook - just a like. The competition closed next week so please vote and comment if you did as while good things are already coming her way, it can't help to get a little head start on them.

I've been loving A Beautiful Mess this month. While consistently drooling over their blog posts, pre-ordering their book and constantly using their app - I'm hooked. Go look. It's one of those 'aspirational blogs' but by God am I glad I'm a follower.

I've also been hooked on The Sims 3 University to the point where I stay up way past my bedtime with music in my ears and my fingers designing the perfect house. I usually hand the laptop over to boyfriend for landscaping because I can't do it well and he's an architectural genius on The Sims but when life isn't going the way I planned I play God and this gives every eternally wishing almighty the power at their fingertips.

Becky's series of posts on 25 Things A Fat Person Shouldn't Do make me laugh and fist pump the air with empowerment.

And finally, I've been in a love affair with the beginning of the summer holidays. While the girls are not the best behaved right now with them both being home 100% of the time, it is so lovely to wake up, take our time getting ready and eating breakfast together, watch a film, go for walks - yes, I may just be in the honeymoon phase of the next five weeks of prescribed child-time but it's just really amazing to have them all around me (most of the time).

What have you been loving in July?