I should probably start just by clarifying that the title of this post does not mean that I looked beautiful on my birthday a couple of weeks ago. In fact quite the opposite. I was working from home, so I spent the morning in my PJs with no makeup on and my hair in the obligatory mum-bun. And in the evening Rich had arranged a Frozen-themed tea party (according to him, now we’ve got Lyra, my birthday is no longer about me. Rather, it’s about Lyra. Grr. I had one day. ONE DAY. I will remind him about this when his “special day” rolls around), so by the end of the evening I was covered in jam and party ring crumbs. I definitely did not look beautiful.

So this post is actually about birthday beauty treats. Firstly, the Clarins Opalescence Face & Blush Powder which was a present from my Auntie Maggie. And secondly, the L’Oréal Pure Resource Shampoo: a birthday treat to myself.

Clarins Opalescence Face & Blush Powder

I’m all for a multi-tasking beauty product – we’ve had a lot of weekends away recently due to weddings and what-not, and I am also guilty of doing my makeup on the train to work, so I love compact pieces that are easy to carry around and pack away. This powder was right up my street.

It consists of a trio of beautifully embossed shades and a smattering of gold – almost too pretty to use. Almost. So far I’ve used the powder as a blush – jabbing at just the coral shade is fiddly but gives a gorgeous rosy glow – and I’ve also swirled a brush over all three shades and swept over my cheekbones which makes me look sunkissed and healthy even on the greyest Monday morning. I’ve also used a makeup sponge to apply the beige foundation and am happy to say that it’s lasted all day.

Pure Resource Shampoo

I talked about my obsession with Simple products in my haircare post a few months back. However I’ve fallen out of love with their shampoo because my hair was getting greasy pretty much the next day. I’m also a firm believer in mixing up your haircare routine every once in a while.

I was drawn to Pure Resource for three reasons – firstly, it claims to rid the hair of excess natural oils. Goodbye grease. Secondly, I spotted the word ‘citramine’ in the description so I foolishly assumed that it was going to have a delicious citrusy fragrance. Thirdly, and most superficially, I knew the bottle would look good on my bathroom shelf.

I’ve now been using it for a week and it has definitely made my hair more lightweight and squeaky clean. The fragrance is more lavender than citrus – a scent that I would usually have steered clear of but now love.

As a purifying product it aims to remove build-up so it’s worth a whirl if you’re in need of a shampoo that rids your hair of all of the gunk in everyday haircare and styling products. Apparently it’s also a must for cleansing your hair of chlorine and hard water – I’m yet to test it post-swim but am confident that it would do an excellent job of getting rid of that lingering, chemical, swimming-pool-aroma.

Are there any other multi-tasking makeup products that I need to know about? Has anyone else been persuaded to buy solely due to pretty packaging?!