Summer Beauty Haul | Real Techniques, Hourglass, John Frieda & more

All of a sudden we find ourselves in the middle of May (!) and bloody hell, summers right on the doorstep now. I went shopping yesterday intending to buy only one thing and ended up coming home with a few more bits than I expected to, but lets just call it getting ready for summer...

Selfridges Splurge: London Beauty Haul

At the beginning of last week my friend Ayesha and I made spontaneous plans to take a trip into London for a girly shopping day. We both had the day off and Selfridges was just calling our names. You've got to love a last minute plan, especially when it concerns Selfridges. We don't live that far from London but I still only really get round to going once or twice a year, but it makes it all the more exciting when I get there.

On my first trip to Selfridges last year, I think I must have been a little overwhelmed by the vast beauty halls as I managed to miss taking a look at some of the exclusive brands that we don't have at home, think Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury, Illamasqua. So when I went earlier this week I made sure to take full advantage and drool after absolutely everything. As you can see from the above picture, the counter I was most awed by was Charlotte Tilbury - this was very nearly a 'Charlotte Tilbury Haul' apart from a cheeky Burberry purchase I managed to snap up in John Lewis.

I had done my research and so I had a few lipsticks in mind that I knew I would be swatching at the Charlotte Tilbury counter and I did end up buying the two I had my eyes on most. These were the Matte Revolution lipstick in Amazing Grace (because we all need a lipstick with our name in it) and the K.I.S.S.I.N.G lipstick in Velvet Underground. Two very different but very me lipstick choices. I then decided to get the lip pencil Pink Venus to go with Amazing Grace. I'll be popping up reviews with my thoughts on the lip products in the next few weeks! And then the only non lip related purchase I made was the eye shadow pencil in Champagne Diamonds a colour best suited for the blue eyed lady. I'm so chuffed with all my Charlotte Tilbury purchases and am very happy to finally own some bits in my collection, everything from the packaging to the products themselves seem amazing.

And lastly, one little sneaky purchase I actually stumbled across in the Oxford Street John Lewis was from the Burberry counter. I had a little moment when I spotted Burberry. Again the packaging and quality of the makeup just looks fantastic. Being a lover of the red lip you can imagine my delight when I spotted Military Red, a gorgeous classic red lipstick. Ah got to love a trip to London to make the most of all the beauty bits you can't buy at home!

QOTD: What would you splurge on at Selfridges?

Things Got Spendy: An Hourglass Haul

Hourglass is one of those luxury brands that I have admired from afar. When a counter opened at my nearest John Lewis department store last summer I managed to stay away with just one purchase which was their Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil which if you've read my review was a bit of a hit and miss product for me. I think that my mixed feelings on the brow pencil kept me away for a while, however a couple of weeks ago I happened to make a detour and pass the Hourglass counter. I was stood absentmindedly looking at all the beautiful products - I mean honestly I think their items are some of the most beautiful products out there - I must have been looking like a lost puppy as I was approached by the makeup artist.

I happened to be having a bit of a makeup free day - just an eye makeup/lipstick kind of thing going on, and I have to say my skin was looking dreadfully sorry for itself. The lady on the counter didn't miss out on my bare blemished skin either, as she began pointing me in the direction of the foundations. She was chatting away to me about one of their foundations: Immaculate Liquid to Powder and was basically telling me how amazing it was. Admittedly I'd never heard of it before but I listened with interested anyway.

At the time I wasn't really looking for a new foundation, I was just having an innocent, casual browse, but the girl really did seem pretty passionate and seriously knew her stuff about this foundation. I was offered a colour match and so I thought, why not it can't hurt? The girl told me to take a seat at the counter while she found my colour, she tried two on my jawline: one was a bit too pink toned for me however the second was literally the closest colour match to my skin that I have ever seen in a foundation. And it felt so... weightless.

Right away it had my attention. And so I let the girl apply the foundation to my entire face while she continued to talk about the ingredients inside the product and some of the science behind it. The result of the makeup was seriously impressive. My imperfect skin was transformed to, well almost what you would call perfection. When she was finished the girl handed me a sample to take home and try myself which I was really pleased about, too often I think I have bought foundations on a whim without actually giving them a trial before purchasing. Plus there was no way I was going to go out and buy such an expensive luxurious product without doing a bit of my own research.

You can see where the story ends here. I fell head over heels. And so once I had saved many pennies up I headed back to Hourglass, unable to be without the foundation once my sample had run out. I won't say a lot more because I am going to do a full review on this soon. But I will say for now its been worth every penny. And while I was feeling ridiculously high on my splurge to Hourglass I went all out and picked up one of the Ambient Lighting Powders in Diffused Light. Now these I had heard plenty about and I thought there was no better time than to add one to my makeup collection as they are truly stunning. I most certainly am loving Hourglass as a brand at the moment and I also got a handful of free goodies to try with my purchase including a mascara, lipstick and some of their famous veil primer!

QOTD: What beauty products have you splurged on lately?

Spring Beauty Haul #2

Time for another Spring haul of things I've purchased in recent weeks.This is a small albeit mish-mash of a beauty haul but I thought I'd share my new bits none the less. It wouldn't be a haul from me without an item from The Body Shop would it? This time I picked up a tub of the Hemp Intensive Hand Butter - the Hemp Hand Protector from TBS is my ultimate hand cream so when I saw this tub on offer on the shelf I was intrigued to see how it compared to the original. I might do a comparison post on the two in the upcoming weeks. The next thing I picked up on a recommendation from my friend, and it was the Neutrogena Pink Grapefruit Scrub as she said it really helped in clearing her skin. When I saw it on offer in Wilkinsons for just £3.50 I thought why not give it a go?

From Boots I decided to pick up another Tangle Teezer Compact as they're really handy. I picked up the leopard print Style compact Tangle Teezer from duty free a while ago so went for the purple one this time as they're just great to keep it in a handbag and I wanted to get another as back up. The compact Tangle Teezers are light and obviously 'compact' as the name suggests with a protective back you push in and out. Then lastly a high end beauty piece that came from the Chanel counter in Boots is the Rouge Allure Gloss in number 13. I've seen quite a lot of these glosses pop up on the beauty scene - literally as these glosses slide in and out of the packaging in such a chic format. But I won't say too much more as I will definitely be doing a full review on this soon.

QOTD: What have you picked up recently?

Clinique Haul

Hello 2015! I'm starting my year of blogging with surprise, surprise a haul post. But I'm being a tad cheeky with this one as I actually picked these bits up a few weeks ago - technically last year - while I was on my recent winter break, when we went for a little visit into Norwich for a spot of shopping. While we were there I made a quick stop at the Clinique counter in Boots.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned that my skin has been really playing me up in the last few months, and my mum suggested that I go and try out some of Clinique's products as it might be a bit kinder to my skin. She also said that over the years Clinique have been some of her favourite foundations, so the first thing I was in search of was a foundation. As much as I love my Nars face products I do think that they have a tendency to make me break out a bit so I think that a new foundation could help in my skincare troubles.

It took a matter of seconds stood at the Clinique counter for me to feel utterly overwhelmed by all that they had to offer in the name of foundation. Thankfully I was quickly approached by a very helpful shop assistant and I told her all of my concerns, and the sort of foundation I was looking for - medium coverage nothing too cakey and she offered to try some on me so I could get a correct colour match. The foundation she recommended was the Clinique Even Better makeup, and she did an amazing job at applying the foundation and I loved how it looked - I won't say too much more as I plan on doing a full review shortly in the new year.

The next product I decided I would try was the Dramatically Different Moisturizer which was another family recommendation as quite a few of the women in my family use/have used it. I tried a little sample version of this moisturizer a while back and my skin got on with it so I hope that this will be a good safe option for me as a moisturizer. Lastly, I decided to try Take The Day Off balm to remove my makeup with. I've heard balms are meant to be one of the best types of cleansers to get every last scrap of makeup off your face and the shop assistant also said it was really good as a makeup remover.

Having been using these products for the last few weeks I'm already impressed with each one of them, as I mentioned I have a full review on the foundation on the way but if anyone would like a review of the other two products leave me a comment below :)

Collective Boots Haul

Quick little Boots Haul for you today. This is a collective haul of items I've picked up across the last few weeks or so with lots of drugstore gems that I've been meaning to try out for ages now but haven't got round to up till now.

You will see soon in my next empties post that I finished another bottle of my trusty Garnier Eye Makeup Remover. Instead of just replacing it when I last returned to Boots I finally decided it was time to switch and try out the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water which is supposedly a good dupe for Bioderma which I've had in the past before. After EssieButton introduced me to Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy in Up The Ante I was desperate to get my hands on a few more from the line, and after waiting patiently the larger Boots store nearest me finally get them in stock - I think they are new to the UK. I picked up the three shades Queen of Hearts - a deep red, High Stakes - a dark green and Wild Card - a bold blue. I love the formula and staying power of these polishes. On the topic of nails, and a purchase inspired by the lovely Tasha was the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover, I've left you a link to her blog which I love but I'm pretty sure Tasha spoke about this product in either a YT video or blog post and its been on my Boots list ever since!

Then I've made two makeup purchases from Boots recently the first being the  Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive Insaisissable which is a pretty pinky nude shade. I actually got this as something to put on my lips for when I'm at the gym. And lastly another blogger inspired purchase was from Annabel another blog which I love to nosey through, and I was actually after the new Bourjois Volume 1 Second Mascara in Ultra Black, but my tiny little local Boots didn't have that and I decided I would opt for the regular 1 Second Mascara as I've heard its just as good. Sometimes you can't beat a good drugstore mascara - I'm excited to have a good play around with this over the festive season.

QOTD: Have you purchased anything from Boots lately?

The Body Shop Haul: Love Your Body 40% Off Event

 

UPDATED: 30/11/14
The Body Shop will be hosting their next 40% off event in store & online 4-5th December!

Oh hello two blog posts in one day - but don't worry you might thank me for this one as I knew I had to spread the word about TBS two day 40% off event which lasts today and tomorrow (Thursday 20th Nov - Fri 21st Nov)  don't worry its online too! You guys know know how much I love TBS so when I received an impromptu text message today from them telling me about their 40% off event I knew I had to take a cheeky detour - if only to check out their brand new Christmas range. To enjoy 40% off you have to be a member (T&C linked here) and the savings I made today were amazing plus its especially handy in the run up for Christmas as some of their gift ideas are lovely.

I definitely went to town today, stocking up on some essentials from my favourite Vitamin E and Tea Tree ranges and then I got a couple of items from the newly released Glazed Apple festive range-which smells delicious of course.  In total the amount that was due before my savings was worth a whopping £82 which in the end came to under £35! Such a good saving! Here's a quick break down of what I stocked up on below:

Tea Tree Foam Cleanser
Vitamin E Night Cream
Vitamin E Moisture Cream
Camomile Cleansing Balm
Glazed Apple Body Butter
Glazed Apple Lip Balm
Hemp Gift Set
___________________

Total today £34.20 (worth £82)

QOTD: Will you be taking advantage of TBS Love Your Body 40% Off Event?

 PS a cheeky heads up that there may also be another 40% off at the beginning of next month too so keep a check if you miss this one.

Holiday Haul

So todays post is the second and concluding part of my holiday hauls, the first part was my duty free shopping haul which you can find here. This haul is everything that I picked up while I was actually in Majorca on my holiday. As you can see there is a right mish mash of things so we'll start off with beauty.

  

 

Where we stayed in Alcudia it was literally like heaven for me and my friend, it was ridiculously packed with gorgeous makeup and perfume shops, add the fact that a couple of days we had pretty dodgy weather equals lots of shopping. We also found that everything seemed a lot cheaper in the shops abroad than it is back at home so we definitely made the most of things while we were there. For example I purchased some skincare from Clarins - a toner and a cleanser that were about ten euros each which works out about £8 and in England these retail for twice that price. I also purchased the Clarins Daily Energiser Cream. 

 

I was so excited to spot Victor & Rolf BonBon which I've been eyeing up for so long but haven't seen it available in England anywhere yet. For a gift for my mum I got her L'Eau De Chloe fragrance as I knew she likes Chloe and this one smells lovely. I got one piece of makeup while in Majorca and that was a stunning Estee Lauder lipstick which surprise surprise is another red, whoops. But its seriously stunning - full review to come! Then in the local Spar shop I spotted a Palmolive Soap that I don't think we get in the UK, or at least I've never seen them in the supermarkets here aha.
 
Moving on to jewellery / accessories I picked up a really cute Pandora bracelet which I'm so happy with - I've been wanting to get a casual one like this for ages. My most favourite purchase I got on the last day of my holiday - I actually saw it on the first day and it was on my mind ever since. I thought about it all week and finally caved in to a rose gold Guess watch on the Saturday before we flew home. I absolutely love it and haven't stopped wearing it since. Lastly and very randomly I returned home with some Milka chocolate - there were so many different chocolate/sweets in the shops in Majorca that I found so fascinating to look at. My favourite was the Milka with strawberry filling mmm yum!

QOTD: What have you purchased recently?

'Duty Free Made Me Do It' Airport Haul

 

 

 

Duty free makeup shopping - ahhh - every beauty blogger's dream come true. Dozens upon dozens of high end beauty brands at a discounted price, how could you possibly resist? Plus when you're off on your old holibobs its basically permission granted that you're allowed to utterly spoil yourself (like we ever need an excuse to do that.)

 

You know that it must be holiday time when you're stood swatching Mac lipsticks at 4:30am with a cheesy grin on your face soon to be walking away with three brand new lipsticks in hand. Now I know that to some people three Mac lipsticks will be nothing or to some it will seem like a ridiculous amount, but this isn't something that I would ever usually do. However when you are getting them at three, nearly four pounds cheaper than usual a girls gotta take advantage! I'm pretty much sorted for autumn lip choices now with Cyber, Twig and Brick-O-La added to my collection.

 

I couldn't go away on holiday without purchasing a new fragrance, I think that its such a lovely way of bringing back memories and then whenever I wear the perfume I can always be reminded of the good times I had. From the moment I sniffed a sample of the new Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt it was love and I knew that I needed it in my life: fresh, energising and so beautiful. Even though I was travelling I had to go for the 100ml bottle as it was such an amazing saving and thankfully I managed to get it to holiday and home safe in one piece and I'm so happy I went for the size I did.

 

The next few items I actually got whilst I was on the plane, the first one being a Style Tangle Teezer. My old teezer was in a right old state and so I thought it was about time to replace it with this. Not only is the print amazing but it also has a protective back meaning I can throw it in my bag. The actual bristly parts are so much firmer and stronger on this brush than my old teezer that it has made brushing my knotty hair even quicker and easier - I'm so glad I picked this up. Lastly on a bit of a whim I decided to get the Glam Glow Mud Mask as I've heard so many people talking about this - I'm super excited to try this out!

 

QOTD: What would Duty Free Shopping make you do?

Tempted: Yet Another Beauty Haul

When planning yesterday's shopping trip I had every intention of being on my best behaviour (honest I did.) With my holiday at the end of the month I am trying to save all the pennies I can for that which is just around the corner. But then Nars happened. Followed by Hourglass. Yep, my prayers had been answered and my local John Lewis department store finally got their buts into gear and graced us with two beautiful new Nars and Hourglass counters. I know you can buy all these things online but its not the same when you can't see it in person or have a good old swatch away and feel the packaging in your very hands. You know what I'm getting at. And so obviously all good intention went flying out the window from there on out. Can you blame me though? I mean it would have been rude not to right?

The first item that lead me into temptation was the Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser. I was lucky enough to receive a free sample of this product from my recent trip to Selfridges during the summer which I have since used up and it firmly earned a place on my never-ending Nars wish list. Temptation number two may have something to do with my recent obsession with red lips, say hello to Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl. This is a lip product that I have been eyeing up all year long, as I have apparently heard Taylor Swift uses it so naturally this is something I need in my life. One swatch on the back of my hand in store confirmed that Dragon Girl needed to be added to my collection, the colour is fierce.

As if a brand new Nars counter wasn't enough of a temptation for one day, literally next door sat another all new beauty counter: Hourglass. How dreamy are Hourglass products? I mean come on. I definitely need one of those blushes in my life in due course! However blusher wasn't on the agenda for yesterday. For a little while now I've been on the hunt, unsuccessfully for a holy grail eyebrow product and I've heard so many rave reviews about the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil that I simply couldn't resist a purchase.

After the excitement that was John Lewis naturally I had to have a quick whiff of the new Jo Malone cologne Wood Sage & Sea Salt  on a little tester - lets just say I can see what all the fuss is around this new fragrance. A definite new entry to the wish list... It wouldn't be a proper beauty haul without a Boots visit would it now? I finished off the shop with a skincare product that I'm going to take on holiday and that is the Origins Drink Up-Intensive Overnight Mask. This is another well loved item in the beauty world that I wanted to try out, I love that Origins do the 50ml options that are so handy when you want to try a new product but not sure if you want to spend the full amount. Lastly a bit of a impromptu purchase and that was the Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat. I'm trying to invest in a product that will make my nails last a bit longer without chipping, so I thought I'd give this a go.

So there you have it, thats what happens when your local department store finally add two very exciting new beauty counters. Or at least thats what happens if you're me, or any other self-confessed beauty hoarder for that matter... Welcome to my life Nars and Hourglass ;)

QOTD: What beauty products have you been tempted by recently?

Summer Beauty Haul

This weekend has been filled with all of my favourite things: family, friends, food and of course shopping. It had been a busy but awesome week that filled me with those feel good vibes and I was ready to see the weekend in. Saturday started bright and early with my alarm clock (aka Peggy) waking me up at precisely 5:17am, needless to say two coffees had been consumed before the 8oclock news sounded on the kitchen radio yesterday. I had arrangements to meet up with my friend Camilla who I've been in touch with for a few years now but never got round to meeting before yesterday for a little trip to Bluewater. It was really nice to finally meet up in person and get in a spot of shopping.

Naturally I felt the need to do a bit of haulin' for you on the blog today to share my purchases. One of the first shops we stopped in was Topshop where we were both drawn to the cute and colourful display of nail polishes. Neither of us had owned a Topshop nail polish before so we both decided on getting one. Originally my hands were lingering towards a pastel orange shade until I reminded myself of the drawful of orange nail varnishes sitting at home. What I am in shortage of is a green to go with a few of my holiday dresses. Venus Fly Trap was the colour I settled for in the end which is the perfect hue of greeny yellow - quite a warm shade that will hopefully look lovely on some tanned fingers in a few weeks time.

Boots was another shop in which we found ourselves and I was on a mission to pick up a brow pencil. I'd heard good things about Sleek's eyebrow pencil and the £5.99 price tag was definitely appealing to me. After swatching the tester samples I settled on Light, I'm excited to give this a try for a week or so and will hopefully pop up a review of it in the next little while if anyone's interested to see what my thoughts are on this product.

It wouldn't have been a shopping trip without a stop off at the MAC counter which was where I made my last purchase of the day with this 'out-there' eyeshadow. I've been loving my Mac shadows lately and Coppering was the latest one to win me over. I can't wait to play around with this bright beauty!

QOTD: What summer inspired purchases have you made recently?

Selfridges Haul

Oh boy am I excited to be bringing you this haul today. Over the weekend I made my first ever visit to Selfridges in London which was absolutely amazing, and lets just say I was definitely #feelingspendy. And so here we are with my first ever Selfridges haul featuring plenty of luxury beauty items that I can't wait to delve into. I was made more aware of Selfridges from the television show Mr Selfridge (which I adore) and then obviously as I got into beauty in the last year its been somewhere I was desperate to visit.

From the second my feet stepped into the store - which conveniently happens to be the ground floor beauty department - I knew I was going to be in my element. Selfridges is unlike anything I had seen before: with its all white halls of cosmetics, where the light seems to shine beautifully off every counter top to proudly show off the extensive array of beauty offerings. I struggled to refrain myself from squealing out loud in pure delight several times, it is truly something else.

I think that MAC was one of the first counters as you come in, and although it was quite an impressively sized counter my local department store has one that I'm always buying from so we didn't spend too long there. Instead my friend and I hit up the nearby YSL counter as we both had our eye on the classic Touche Éclat which is pretty famous in the beauty blogging community to say the least. We each sat in the beauty chair and had the Touche Éclat applied - which instantly illuminated and brightened our faces. Needless to say that we didn't need much convincing, so then when the sales man explained about a current special offer where you receive a free mascara we were both nodding our heads in enthusiasm getting our purses out. The mascara is a Mini Baby Doll Mascara which I can't say I've heard too much about but I'm more than up for giving a new mascara a whirl!

 

 

I also picked up a stunning lipstick which is one of the Rouge Pur Couture lipsticks in the shade 52. I will be dedicating an entire post to this purchase very soon so I won't go into it too much, but just look at that dreamy packaging, the same goes to the Touche Éclat, the slick gold packaging is so stunning and light reflecting... just drool worthy to be perfectly honest.

 



Behind the YSL counter we spotted Nars which was so exciting as there isn't a Nars counter anywhere near us at home. I've been itching to get to a Nars counter for so long now and if you're curious for the reason why? Three words : Sheer Glow Foundation. The foundation I have been going on about wanting for months and months is finally mine! I think that the packaging is so chic, and I know a lot of people moan about the pump/lid issues but I quite like it as it means I can proudly display it on my dresser! My friend and I were so impressed with the MUA at Nars he bloody knew his stuff he was brilliant, just so helpful without being pushy which I think sales people can sometimes come across as. We were talking to him for ages and he was nice enough to throw in a generous sample of the tinted moisturier which is another Nars product I'm hankering after....

 

 

 As we were walking through the store a lady grabbed our attention by calling us over to ask if we wanted to try any makeup on, I looked up at the brand name which was Trish McEvoy and it didn't ring any bells to me. Apparently its pretty big in America but over here the only other place its sold is Harvey Nichols. But anyway this woman was pretty enthusiastic about this gel eyeliner she wanted me and my friend to try. To be honest I was a little bit sceptial as I'm not really a huge eyeliner kinda gal but I was willing to give it a go. She put it on my friend first on the inside of her lash line and it defined her eyes and lashes in a way I had never seen before - it looked incredible. I was equally as impressed when it was my turn to sit in the chair and have the liner applied to me. It literally looked like I was wearing false lashes! Stay tuned for a full product review in a few weeks time!

 

Of course I couldn't avoid MAC altogether and did end up making these two purchases, both of which are eye related. The first product I picked up from Mac was the eyeshadow Woodwinked which is a lovely golden colour. Its been on my Mac eyeshadow wish list for ages but it was only hearing Vivanna Does Makeup talk about it in a recent video that reminded me I needed it in my life. The second and quite exciting purchase was the Mac 239 shading brush, which is another item thats been on my beauty wish list for what feels like forever! The 239 brush is a firm favourite among many bloggers and I haven't really got a decent eyeshadow brush so I'm eager to give it a go!

 

 

 And last, but by no means least my friend and I found ourselves at the stunning Jo Malone boutique. Now this was something I was again, very excited about because as you probably know Jo Malone is a brand that has been popping up everywhere on the beauty scene in the last few years. But my local shopping centre is only just getting a Jo Malone store this very week so obviously I'd never had the chance to look at the products (or more importantly smell them) until Sunday in Selfridges. So I was eagerly anticipating my first inhale of Jo Malone scents.

 

 I thought that the counter was so lovely in the way that all the bottles of fragrances were lined up categorically, 'fruity' 'floral' etc. It could have been a bit overwhelming looking at a new brand that I unfamiliar with which has such an extensive array but this meant that I could easily look at products to suit my own taste and style.

 

 

 Soon after we begun sniffing the fragrances and swooning another really helpful lady approached us and we chatted about the products for a bit until she then offered us a hand and arm massage so we could try out some more of the products. Before we knew it we were sat down at these lovely stools being thoroughly pampered. I can't remember now exactly what products the lady used but everything smelt incredible - we had our arms placed up over a white towel where the lady washed and then applied a body cream to them before spraying us with a colonge. It was so relaxing and the lady was so friendly - it was like chatting to an old chum (plus she had a beautiful Irish accent) she mentioned she watched Youtube so we were talking about that for ages as well as all the lovely Jo Malone products.

 

After spraying many different fragrances on the little Jo Malone tester strips of paper, I decided I could have had them all, but only the small fact that my bank balance probably wouldn't after my spendy day. But I finally settled on my very first Jo Malone colonge which was English Pear & Freesia - a beautiful fresh scent for the rest of the summer.

 

 As you can imagine, I absoultely loved my first experience shopping in Selfridges - I can't wait to get back there. I really hope you enjoyed the post! QOTD - Have you been to Selfridges?

 

 

The Body Shop - Small Haul

 Fancy a haul post?

 

Well you're in luck as you can see I went for a little wander in my local Body Shop, and thought I'd share my purchases with you. I'm not sure about you but I definitely go through stages with The Body Shop, I used to love it in my early/mid teens when I was at that transitional period of starting to make more of an effort with myself. I was mainly interested in the body butters however as a jobless teenager I couldn't really afford their prices and mostly only ever received them as birthday gifts. I remember attending the odd Body Shop party, and buying some of the travel size shower gels as they were mostly my price range, but I ended up getting frustrated at how quickly they ran out. And so my dabbling with The Body Shop has been very intermittent.  

 

 

But then back in February I went in with my friend one time when we were shopping for the first time in probably at least a year and I was so pleasantly surprised. Firstly I love the makeovers that the shops have had. I don't know if all the stores across the country have but both of my nearest ones had changed since I had last been in them - they were so light and welcoming, with all the colours of the rainbow in pretty bottles and tubs lined up on the walls, just asking to be whiffed.I promise that this story has a point, so basically I actually ended up signing myself in for one of their loyalty cards. I won't go into the nitty gritty details but you get loads of perks - I'll leave the link here if you want to find out more. And so an email entitling me to 25% off had me hopping into my Mini to get myself to my nearest Body Shop to buy a quick few essentials.

 

I received a sample size of the Vitamin E cream cleanser which I used up a while ago. Now for me to use up a skincare product is saying something as I'm very new to the whole skincare jazz - a lot of products I've tried in the past have resulted in nasty consequences of breakouts and had me running a mile. But this was extremely gentle, inoffensive and left my skin feeling lovely and clean. Being that I'm new in the world of skincare I don't want to go crazy and buy anything expensive that I will regret so The Body Shop's offerings have been a bit of a saving grace - sorry about the pun ;) I've been using the cleanser to remove my face makeup on slightly damp skin by massaging it in slightly and because its a cream consistency it definitely leaves your skin feeling nicely moisturised.

To accompany the cleanser I decided to buy the toner in the same range which I use straight after cleansing. Now I've never even used toner before so I wasn't really sure what to expect from this product. However after using it for a few weeks now I can honestly say that I love it - especially when put with the cleanser it seems to be the perfect match. The toner is beautifully refreshing, with a light but pleasant smell which just leaves my skin feeling amazing. I have really seen the benefits of finishing up with a toner, as it often picks up some traces of makeup that I have maybe missed out which has as a result made my skin a lot clearer.

Just to relive my former Body Shop loving days I decided to pop the Grapefruit shower gel into my basket. If you caught one of my recent posts on my new Soap and Glory shower gel you may have realised that I'm having a bit of a fad with fruity scented bath products at the moment!

Have you purchased any skincare items recently?

Beauty Haul | Benefit, Urban Decay, MAC + more

If you read my recent update post you may already know that I decided to quit my part time job a couple of weeks ago to begin persuing my career. This means that I will no longer be relying on a weekly wage that I have been accustomed to for the last 5 years and as a result no more beauty splurges or trips to my local Mac counter until I'm back on my feet again. With that knowledge my friend and I went on a lovely spend up last month while I was still earning and we definitely made sure it was a bloody good one! Here's what I got.

Urban Decay Naked 3.
I've wanted this palette since its release, and with all the beautiful spring rose pinky, goldy makeup looks flying around the bloggersphere in the last few weeks I finally gave in and purchased it from my local House of Fraser the stunning packaging alone is enough to make you weak in the knees. I definitely think that this is the prettiest palette from the Naked family and I don't own anything similar in terms of eyeshadows. I've pretty much worn this every chance I've got since buying it.

MAC Mineralized Blush - Dainty.
I have been lusting over this pretty pale pink mineralized blush from Mac for a while now. I love subtle pinks for every day blush but whats different about Dainty is that because its mineralized it has a little shimmer to it which makes it very pretty on the skin.



Benefit Instant Brow Pencil & High Brow.
Having only owned high street branded eye brow pencils I was excited to pick this up from Benefit. My friend and I both got our eyebrows done by the MUA as we were a little bit dubious to spend out without making sure we liked how it looked first. I had the light pencil applied with high brow penciled under the arch of my eyebrows and was definitely impressed with the results. I had some Boots points on my card which I put towards one of the pencils - isn't it a good feeling when you get to spend those points on something lovely?

Bourjois 24h Colour Edition - Petale de Glace.
This was purchased after watching a recent video from Vivianna Does Makeup. I thought that this looked so pretty on her and is really lovely for the spring being a toned down pinky cream eyeshadow . For the price its also really affordable.

Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub.
I finally picked up a lip scrub from Lush which I have been meaning to do for ages! I won't go into too much detail as I actually dedicated an entire post to a Lush haul here rather than make this post really long.

 

Victoria's Secret Body Mist - Love Spell, Pure Seduction & Coconut Passion.



I was so excited when I found out my local shopping centre was opening a Victoria's Secret store this Spring. It was the first time I'd been in a Victoria's secret shop and I knew I wanted to pick up some of the highly coveted body mists. These were purchased in a special offer where you could buy 7 for £36. My friend and I decided to go in together and pay half each meaning that for three and a bit each we only spent £18, considering that one of these costs £11 I thought that was an absolute bargain. These all smell incredible I can't stop picking them up and spritzing them, I also quite like using them as a bit of a room spray in my bedroom too.

 

 I'm sad to say that it may be a little while until I get to do another collective beauty haul of this size :p What have you been buying recently?

Easter Themed Lush Haul

 

 

 

Hello I hope you're all having a great Friday and ready for the weekend to begin! I've been out shopping doing a bit of damage and thought I would quickly do a mini lush haul for you today as I ended up picking up quite a few things in there. I purchased lots from Lush during the winter especially from the Christmas range and I imagined that my temptations would end there as the spring months rolled around. However the new Easter stuff Lush introduced was far too tempting to miss out on.

The first thing to catch my eye were the adorable Bunch of Carrots bubble bars. I really like the bubble bars from Lush, and these smell exceptionally fruity and delicious. Its good that with this you actually get three 'carrots' that are reusable so you will get plenty of bubble baths out of these. The bright pink Fluffy Egg bath bomb was next to catch my eye, equally as fragrant and delicious - exactly like candy. These remind me of the Think Pink bath bombs, both in appearance and smell but obviously the fluffy egg is larger and shaped like an egg of course. I can just imagine the pretty colour this is going to make in my bath water.

 Last from the Easter range I got the glittery Golden Egg bath melt, the smell reminds me of caramel or toffee or something. If this is like all the other bath melts I have tried from Lush, this is going to be super luxirous and make my skin feel all soft, I always describe the melts as sort of oily as they make the bath water all silky smooth - and glittery golden from this one I expect! Something I have been meaning to pick up from Lush for ages but always forget is one of their lip scrubs, I went for the Popcorn scrub and can't wait to get nice smooth lips from this.

Now all I have to finish off by saying is, is it bath time yet?

What do you think of the new Easter range from Lush? Will you be picking anything up?