29 February 2016

Mini TKMaxx & Primark Beauty Haul.

I've definitely been converted to a TKmaxx lover recently. I love that I have to have a proper good rummage throughout everything in the beauty section, makes finding some treasures really worthwhile! Last week, I managed to find these...


There was a really good selection of Nars duo eyeshadows. I opted for Brumes, which will be perfect for a smoky eye. New travel makeup bag essential? Oh yes! I picked this up for £9.99.

The other thing I found was the Hourglass No. 28 Primer Serum. This is just the 8ml travel size, but it has an RRP of £24 and I got it for £12.99. This is advertised as a primer and serum in one with 28 beneficial ingredients to nourish and prepare your skin for a flawless makeup application. This is the first Hourglass product I've ever owned so I'm excited to try this out.



I also headed to Primark for a mega splurge. Amongst all the clothing items, I also bought a few beauty bits...

The Velvet Matte Lipstick Crayon in Dark Purple. Do I even need to mention how great these are? The hype is real, if you haven't given in to it yet, you need to! These crayons are only £2 each but they are amazing. I think I've just about got them in every colour now. I might do a seperate post on these at some point and include swatches.

I think the Makeup Brush Cleanser is a new product as I hadn't seen it on previous visits. This was also only £2 and for that price, I'm not bothered if it turns out to be complete rubbish but I'm interested to see how it compares to a pricier cleanser.

The Brow Fixing Gel was only £1, a complete steal! Saying that, I haven't tried it yet but c'mon, one pound! I'm a fan of Primark's brow pencils so I do have high hopes for the gel.

Lastly, I picked up the Makeup Revolution Pro Prime Aqua Priming Base in superdrug. I've only tried this once but I'm liking it so far. I'd never used a spray primer before but I think I could turn out to prefer this. I have quite dry skin so this could be a better option for me.

Have you found any gems in TKmaxx recently? Have you tried Primark's lipstick crayons?

20 February 2016

Mini Lush Haul, February 2016.






My addiction to Lush only started around summertime last year, I was definitely late to the party! I'd had a few things as presents before but I'd never been to check out the products in store myself. Even now, when my love for Lush has grown, there are still loads of products I've yet to try as my purchases haven't really strayed from bath bombs and bubble bars, give or take a couple of products.

I'd bought a Lover Lamp bath bomb recently and loved it so much, I felt that I needed to buy another while I still could. This led to placing an order online as I wouldn't be heading into town anytime soon. I had a little browse and decided to add a few other things to my order while I was at it. So let's take a look at what I picked up!



The reason I placed an order in the first place, the Lover Lamp bath bomb. One of the Valentines products, this smells amazing. Granted it isn't the most colourful of bath bombs but the butter hearts that escape from this totally make up for it. There's even little ones inside as well as the big ones you can see before you pop it into the bath!





My first ever purchase of a Lush kitchen product, this is the Heart Throb bubbleroon. According to the website, the ingredients in this include heady ylang ylang, frangipani and skin-softening organic shea butter. I'm  definitely thankful for the website description as my ability to pick out different scents is pretty much non existent!





This smells good enough to eat, but I wouldn't recommend it! I'd heard lots about this product on plenty of other blogs and decided I needed this in my life. I have sensitive skin when it comes to shaving and am guilty of getting unsightly red bumps on my legs afterwards. I'm hoping this products helps with that problem and leaves my skin softer to boot!


I also picked up two small bottles of shower gels. I'd smelt both last time I went into the Leicester store and loved them. Don't Rain On My Parade includes blueberry juice, vanilla pod infusion and violet leaf infusion. I was surprised about the blueberry juice as I'm not big fan of blueberries but I really do love the smell of this!

The Yummy Mummy shower cream is one of the Mothers Day products and is my favourite out of the two I got. Depending on how quickly I make it through this bottle, I may have to get another. You don't have to be a yummy mummy yourself to appreciate this shower cream! I'd knew I'd love this before I'd even smelt it, when the words "tonka absolute" caught my eye.

I'm excited to try both of these products as I'm still a Lush shower gel/cream virgin. My beloved Soap & Glory Clean On Me is going to have to take a backseat to these beauties for a while!


Have you tried any of these Lush products? 
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11 February 2016

Cohorted box, February 2016.



February's here, which meant I got my second box from cohorted. Just as pleased with this one as my first box. £35 for the products inside is great value. I'd also subscribed to the Look Incredible box and I got my first box from there this month. I wasn't as impressed with that box as I am with the Cohorted boxes I've had so far. Cohorted have set the standard for subscription boxes pretty high and in my opinion, no other box quite compares. My Look Incredible subscription was cancelled the day I received the box!

Anyway, let's take a look what's inside this month's Cohorted box...



The booklet included says the the value of this month's box is £111.50, however the booklet also includes a product that seems to have been replaced with something else.


There's no Pixi crayon included in the box, despite being in the booklet. I've heard from other subscribers that they've had an e-mail to say that this product will be included in next month's box instead. I haven't had this e-mail, but I'm happy with the product that seemingly replaced this.


Elemis Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eyes Masks (RRP £15)
I've never tried anything like this before so I'm quite excited about these. I also like that 2 packs are included, I can see myself and the boyfriend having a his & hers pamper sesh including these! These are said to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles whilst hydrating the fragile eye area.


BareMinerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment (RRP £45)
Since receiving my box yesturday, I've already added this to my nighttime skincare routine as I was that excited to use it. Even after one use, I can already see a difference so I'm intrigued to see how much my skin improves after repeated use. At the moment, I'd like to think I'd repurchase this, but not with the £45 price tag! I had a quick look on Amazon, where you can buy it for around the £15 mark. This was my first ever product from BareMinerals and I think I might have to check out some more of their products.



Dove True Tone Underarm Dark Mark Eraser (RRP £20?)
This product seems to have replaced the Pixi crayon as this isn't included in the book. I couldn't see anything about it on the dove website so I think this might be a discontinued product. A quick web search shows that Boots sell this for £20 so I'm assuming that's what the RRP would have been, but I could be wrong. This isn't something I necessarily would have bought myself, but now I have it, I'm going to make the most of using it. I was going to save this and use it as summer approached but the expiry date on the bottom of the box is April '16 so that plan went out the window. I guess I'm going to have to use it now!




Cargo Long Wear Lip Gloss (RRP £10)
I love getting lip products in subscription boxes and this month, I got a Cargo lip gloss in the shade Tokyo. It's a bright red (It looks more orangey in the swatch photo) and is highly pigmented. I can't wait to wear it properly!



Marc Jacobs Lola Eau De Parfum (Sample size)
I find sample sizes of perfumes handy just to chuck in my handbag for a one off use. I've only ever tried one other Marc Jacobs perfume before so I had to have a sniff of this before putting it with my other sample perfumes. Nice scent, I like it but I'm not sure I love it enough to go out and purchase a bottle.


Chanel Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow (RRP £25)
My first ever Chanel product! This eyeshadow is in the shade Apparition and it is absolutely stunning! I doubt I'll use the brush that came with it, but I'm going to keep it just because it's oh so cute.

What do you think of this month's box?

4 February 2016

Favourite Drugstore Foundations For Pale Skin


If you have a fair complexion, you probably know how difficult it can be to find a foundation that matches your skin tone completely. In my teens, I felt like I was always wearing foundation that was at least two shades darker than what I should've been. At long last, in my very late twenties, I've settled with five foundations that I'm very happy with and they're all very affordable. These are my favourite foundations, that I rotate through pretty regularly.


Rimmel Match Perfection SPF20 in Light PorcelainMy go to foundation, the one that probably gets used the most. Rimmel have outdone themselves on the shade range in their foundations. Light Porcelain is the lightest shade and like the name, it is definitely a perfect match! I'm also a big fan of the Match Perfection concealer too.


Rimmel Wake Me Up Anti-Fatigue Foundation in Light Porcelain
I originally bought this in the shade Ivory, thinking it was the lightest shade as Tesco doesn't stock all the shades in the range. It was only after a trip to Superdrug that I realized my mistake. This one is in the same shade as my Match Perfection foundation but this offers more of glow to the skin. I got up at 4:30am three days of the week so any foundation that promises to wake me up was bound to end up in my makeup collection eventually.


Sleek Makeup Bare Skin Foundation in Shell
I tend to reach for this foundation when I feel like my skin is having a 'good' day, isn't looking too blotchy and I don't need as much coverage. Shockingly for me, this isn't the lightest shade, I think there are about four or so which are lighter than this one. Unfortunately a quick check on the Sleek website has left me in fear that they no longer make this, as the only foundation listed is the powder to creme foundation. Please tell me it isn't so! On the bright side, you can still buy this from amazon, so I may have to pick up another from there while I still can!


The Body Shop Moisture Foundation SPF15 in 04
The most expensive out of all the foundations but still only priced at £13. This is described as ideal for normal to dry skin, and I tend to save this foundation for when my skin is feeling more dry, especially around my nose. I've been really impressed with this foundation \and want to try more of The Body Shop's makeup range, especially the Fresh Nude Foundation.


Makeup Academy Undress Your skin Illuminating Foundation in Porcelain
A spontaneous purchase during a browse on the Makeup Academy website, I have come to LOVE this foundation. I picked this up for £4 last summer and it sat unused in my makeup collection until October. I'll hold my hands up and admit that I only bought it to use as a travel foundation, as the squeezy tube is much more ideal than the bottles with pumps. I hadn't expected a lot from foundation, what with such a small price tag, but the surprise I felt was very welcome. The coverage of this is insane, I can't recommend it enough. If you haven't tried this foundation yet, definitely pick it up next time you're in superdrug. You can also get it from the Makeup Academy website for only £3 at the moment.
... And you get 5ml more in this than all the other four foundations!


What's your favourite drugstore foundation at the moment?