I am sure you have already heard this, but I actually cannot even believe January is over, and February is moving along swiftly too. Today I will be sharing my January First Impressions with you.

As you will see below from the abundance of essence products, in January I took every new essence product from my stash and tried them out. I think I should do that with some more brands too, do you have any preference? Leave them in the comments below. I also tried out some skincare and haircare, as well as some perfect date night makeup picks.

First up I tried this polish from OPI called My Chihuahua Bites. I absolutely love the shade, but 3 coats of a polish is just too much effort for me, so it will be going to my blog sale.

Another polish I tried is this gorgeous one from essence called *Need Your Love. I used it with the Morgan Taylor React System, and went chip free!

The brushes and mini nail files came in the *Advent Calendar which I loved! The nail files are a bit too gritty, but great to keep in your bag for a nail emergency. The brushes are nice, but I much prefer my usual brushes.

Now for some eye products. Well, the essence Make Me Brow makes me happy! The *mascara is okay, nothing fantastic. The stays no matter what pencils are a bit dry, and not very creamy or smooth, so it pulls at the skin slightly. The *kajal smudges. But the eyeshadows blew me away, they are velvet soft and highly pigmented and I love them all!

And for the lips. The lip oils are a nice budget option for the Clarins or Lancome Juicy Shakers, although less pigmented. They are moisturising and aren’t too thin, they have a bit of a sticky consistency so they last well on the lips. The XXXL Velvet Matt Lipgloss is stunning and is a January Beauty Favourite! The Velvet Sticks are really nice, and come in a good colour range with two finishes, matte and glossy. The liquid lipstick is amazing, and this shade is a great addition to my others. The *glossy kiss is okay, but not really my type of lip product.

I love the face palette! The mosaic blush is really pretty too! The concealer palette has some great shades for correcting and concealing, and works well on light to medium skin tones. I particularly like the salmon shade. The make-up fixing spray is okay, but not something I would repurchase. The blush ball has a nice illuminating satin finish, and I actually quite like it. The translucent powder is okay, but I prefer my colour correcting and skin coloured setting powders.

I tried a few new perfect date night makeup picks, which you can read all about in my Date Night Beauty Edit.

Lastly, I tried a few travel size products, The *dermalogica cream and wash give a spa like feeling, thanks to the gorgeous scent and velvety creamy finish. The Uriage Cleansing Cream is a great all over gentle cleanser. I have already said how amazing the Supergoop Setting Mist and Peter Thomas Roth Mask is in my January Favourites, so you can read about them there. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed by the Label M Intensive Repair Shampoo and Conditioner. They did nothing for my hair, and actually made it feel drier than before.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to check out my NYX Cosmetics Giveaway.

*Press Sample