SOAP AND GLORY HAUL

For some time now I have been a fan of Soap and Glory. Affordable, cute and always delivers! So when Boots put their 3 for 2 offer on Soap and Glory products I was quick to snap up a few with a sneaky extra thrown in. Looking for an intensive conditioner 'Glad Hair Day' certainly ticked all the boxes for me and this has a ridiculously gorgeous scent, used a couple of nights a week this is the perfect pampering treat for a Sunday night! Ah my pores, the bane of my life sometimes but having never been let down by the masks before I was keen to try the 'No Clogs Allowed' mask. I am still waiting to try this so will report back with my findings but I like the fact that it comes with a nifty little sponge to help remove it. When Anna raved about this foot cream it went straight onto my shopping list and once I finally got my hands on I was keen to try it out, slather this over your feet after a bath, don some jazzy socks, get some shut eye and et voila feet as soft as a babies bum, I kid you not! Finally let me introduce you to the scrub that conquers all scrubs. This literally slows away all dead skin and leaves my skin feeling ah-mazing! Plus the slight oily residue it leaves behind means I can often skip moisturiser which is a must for nights when I just want to sink into bed after a long day.

Have you picked up any S&G products on offer lately?

Paris Haul

Hi there lovelies, almost 2 weeks has past since my little trip to Paris and so much as happened. I have moved into a lovely riverside apartment with my boyfriend, so far so good. But to say it has been stressful is an understatement to say the least. Amongst moving, making furniture and having zilch time off of work I have also been deprived of the internet for the time being which makes blogging a little difficult! And boy do I miss it! I could not hold off any longer though so I have popped to mums for tea and wi-fi access...bliss! 

I have to say I think I was quite reserved when it came to splurging whilst away and tried to stick to products that I could not get access to in the UK, well not easily anyway so Caudalie was struck off the list and I resisted the urge to pick up extra Bioderma as I am quite liking oil based cleansers lately, shock horror!

The first thing I picked up was the Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip balm. This was actually recommended by a fellow reader and I can't wait to try this. I tend to apply lip balm before bed and then in the morning so this is a nice bedside table addition. 

HD Forever Foundation 

Despite the language barrier I was matched up in Sephora by a lovely assistant. This was probably the one thing I was most excited about trying and can't wait to test this on a forthcoming night out I have planned! I know there have been mixed reviews surrounding the hype so I hope I am not let down. Let me tell you though Sephora is an absolute beauty junkies heaven, I do hope that they bring one back to the UK although for the time being its probably safer on my bank balance that they don't :-)

Embryolisse moisturiser has been somewhat a hit amongst the beauty world and I have heard on the grapevine this could be available over here...Again this is yet to be tried and tested but I hear it leaves the perfect base for makeup, so watch this space!

Ah those cheeky little products they line up whilst queuing for the till, they get me every single bloomin' time! I saw this product which was almost an exact replica for the Bourjois magic polish remover, it even smells the same. It was roughly the same price so is far from being a cheaper alternative but it will be interesting to see how this fairs against the original which I am running out of fast, hence the choice to pick this up! 

Well thats all i actually got, but its safe to say France definitely wins hands down in the pharmacy stakes! I could have spent hours in them. I hope that you are all well and thanks for sticking around whilst I am a little absent on the blogging scene. I have a mountain of blogs to catch up on and YouTube vids as well as a ton of posts to write up and review so when I do get internet back I am sure my laptop is going to be on fire! 

Mini Haul | Space NK and Boots

Yesterday afternoon as the heavens opened in the UK my boyfriend and I took a trip to our local shopping centre Bluewater. Along with several thousand other people it seems as the place was heaving, talk about the weather doing good for the local economy. Whilst I had a list the length of my arm and envisaged returning with bags of goodies I only got a few beauty bits. 

First stop was Space NK. I could seriously live in this shop. My only issue is that the shop is small and the sales assistants tend to be on you as soon as you walk through the door. Now I don't have an issue with this but 9 times out of 10 I will be happily browsing and have several assistants check I am OK cue when I need help and there is no one in sight? Is this just me? So I ended up getting the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser. I said I wouldn't. I eyed it up every single time I went in the shop and I managed to resist temptation and then this weekend after yet another swatch in the shop and temptation got the better of me. Hopefully I won't be too disappointed when I try this. I also picked up the REN Invisible pore detox mask. I have a slight obsession with face masks at the moment and love trying different ones usually on a Sunday night. I already own the REN glycolactic renewal mask and after being suitably impressed I decided to pick up this one from the range which was surprisingly a lot cheaper at only £18. The kind lady then threw in a little sample. Although I did have to ask which is usually quite rare in Space NK when you are buying a significant amount of goodies! 

I then popped to Boots, advantage vouchers in hand and spotted the Revlon Kissable Lip Balms. I literally jumped at them. I had seen them on the website but was unaware they were in store yet. Yes, there was a limited amount of colours but I managed to get Honey Douce and Rendezvous which is one I have had my eye on since Louise posted about it. Boots are doing a £2 discount on Revlon so these worked out a fiver each. Not bad going when you look at the price of the Clinique version. I swatched these yesterday and the stain is still visible this morning, albeit faded but it goes to show that when they say a 'stain' they mean a stain, expect a review very shortly. Finally and last but by no means least I picked up a new L'Oreal Telescopic mascara in waterproof. I have finally finished my last one and don't think I could stray to another mascara now as this one ticks all the boxes for me. 

So that's it, not a big haul but the weekend is not over just yet. My boyfriend usually works Sundays but for once he has this weekend off so I am sure we shall be out and  about at some point today. What have you been up to this weekend? Any cheeky purchases?

Look what I bought today!

Hey Everyone 

Its been a little while since I did a haul post. I have had the week off work to use up my annual leave and have spent a majority of it having a good sort out but today I was a little bored and fancied going into town for a little browse. What started out as a little window shopping turned into an entire shopping trip (sorry bank balance). So with this in mind I thought I would share with you a few of my purchases today...

I already own the Real Techniques stippling brush which has now become my most reached for brush in my ever growing collection, so when I heard that they were selling in Boots from this month I was keen to get some more. I didn't think that my local smaller Boots would sell them but they did. I picked up the Blush brush and the starter kit. I got the starter kit as it includes the deluxe crease brush that you can't buy separately - if you watch Pixiwoo then you will know that this is an excellent brush for concealer!

Now this is what I actually went to town for, a new candle (exciting hey). I used to be a Yankee candle girl through and through however a few months ago my mum and I were traipsing through TK Maxx and I discovered Bahoma London candles. These last for absolutely ages and smell divine. They are pretty pricey but I picked them up at a very highly discounted price, I also picked up the reed diffuser too as my last one ran out. I love the packaging, so simple and elegant and they look pretty on my dresser.

The first thing my dad said when he saw this was 'not another bloody bag'. Yes, I do have a little obsession with bags and chop and change regularly as I get bored easily and just love the excitement of filling a new bag. There are a lot of the Berkin style bags floating around at the moment. I like the fact this not too big but big enough to hold a lot. It also has compartments which I like and it was only £35 from Oasis. Granted its not real leather but it feels pretty sturdy and lasting and fulfils my bag fetish whilst I lust over the Mulberry Hobo...

I actually got these jeans in red a while back before Crimbo and I loved them, the style, the fit, everything. I'm a strong believer that if you find a pair of jeans you love then invest in more, so it was only fair that I got these in Navy! Love them!

I have been looking for a new facial wash to use with my Clarisonic Mia for a while now and wanted one that really foamed and felt like it was getting deep into my pores. Someone recommended on twitter the Philosophy Purity but I could not get hold of it in my town so whilst I was in Boots I picked up one from Botanics and the oil free moisturiser too. Expect a review soon! I am still determined to try purity though and perhaps compare them? What do you think?

Finally I got a couple of tops from Zara. I love Zara for their simplicity, yet elegant clothing which does not break the bank. This first top is just a casual tee with an edge which I plan to wear with either leggings or black jeans and boots. Its long enough to cover my booty and cover my modesty :) The second is a little more dressy but can still be worn casual. Again i'd wear this with skinny jeans, its not quite long enough to wear with leggings without showing a little too much though. I love the longer sleeves as Im not one to love bearing my entire arms...

What have been your recent purchases?

HAUL

Hi Girls,

I went shopping this weekend with my lovely boyfriend. The main purpose of the shop was to find a dress for my other half's sisters engagement party...but seeing as I didn't find the perfect dress I thought I would share with you some of the other items I picked up.

Due to it getting dark so early in England lately it was near impossible for me to take near decent photograph's so I have opted for the store photographs so that you don't miss out. I apologise for this in advance as I do like to take all my own photos for my blog generally.

Enjoy...

If you have read a previous post, I purchased some lovely brown ankle boots from Forever 21, I wished I had got them in black too so I have been hunting for similar since...these were a little more expensive however for a hard wearing leather boot I think they were pretty reasonable.

River Island Boots £40.00, click here to buy

I originally saw this dress via Sarah at Beauty Geek, you can view her blog by clicking here. I though this would be a great day dress yet could also be glammed up for the evening with some accessories. This was from New Look and is limited edition by Parisian and at the time of purchase they had a 25% off.

New Look Dress in Oatmeal, click here to buy

For a while I have been looking for some casual slouchy tops that can also be dressed up. I was watching Vivianna of Vivianna does makeup, you can view her blog by clicking here. She mentioned about these fab tops from Topshop. All I can say is that it was love at first sight and I purchased two of them in different colours. They are great quality material and sense these will last a long time, the price wasn't bad either at £16 each.

Colours T-B, Grey Marl & Oxblood, click here to buy

I then made a quick stop at Lush, I have only recently got into the whole Lush phase, whilst I adore receiving these products for Christmas and Birthdays I have never really tried the entire range. I had heard great things in the blogging community about the Grease Lightning spot treatment so I picked this up along with a Herbalism facial wash. I have yet to try their facial washes and this certainly looks interesting to say the least so I shall keep you posted on this one :)

L-R Herbalism Facial Wash £5.95/100g, Grease Lightning £5.65/45g - click here to buy 

Small disclaimer -  all products mentioned were purchased by me for the benefit of my loyal readers and subscribers. All photos were taken from the official websites of Topshop, New Look, Lush and River Island with the appropriate links attached. 

Forever 21 Boots

OMG last Saturday my lovely bf took me to the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, London. I am lucky enough to live a very reasonable drive away from London so popping there at the weekend is not an issue. When we were there I spotted the A-mazing Forever 21 store. Now this store is a major hit in the USA and I already used their website frequently so to actually find a store, not just a store but one 3 stories tall was well pretty cool! I used my time productively and stocked up on lots of winter jumpers however along the way I found these boots, my only regret is not getting them in black too. They were £22 and super comfy and go great over leggings or skinny jeans!

OK, so they aren't real leather yet they are such an amazing quality for the price alone and I adore the buckle and plait detail on them.

VIVO Make Up BARGAIN of the day!

Hey Everyone!

Whilst working today I had to travel about 80 miles from my hometown and I was super excited to come across a gigantic Tesco store! AND, I'm not exaggerating it must of had absolutely everything from all their stores under one roof. As I had some time to kill I felt 'obliged' to check it out so I was excited to stumble across this budget beauty range called 'Vivo'.  I don't think there was one product over £6 with the average price being £1.99 and £4 so I could not resist these little gems...

Blusher £4.00, Lipsticks £1.99

Blusher in Peaches and Cream 

Peaches and Cream

Lipsticks £1.99 - Sugar Pink and Barely There

Left - Barely There, Right - Sugar Pink

Top - Sugar Pink, Bottom - Barely There

I think the packaging is gorgeous and absolutely love the colours.  The blush is so pigmented I would liken it to those by MAC at less than a quarter of the price.  

October Wish List

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Weekend Haul and new bag :)

Hi Guys,

This weekend I went on a little shopping spree...and heres what I picked up!  Enjoy!

1. Fiorelli Bag 


I LOVE large bags at the moment and this was on sale reduced from £70 to £39.95 so I just had to have it. I love the fact that it is so big I can fit everything in it.  It will be perfect to take on holiday as an 'airport' bag.  There is so much detail and it is so well made that you just know it will last forever. Im a big fan of Fiorelli as they do amazing bags at such a great price. 


2. Dr Brandt 'Pores no More Vacuum Cleaner' for £39. I had heard some reviews about this not being so good.  It claims to 'suck' the blackheads right out. I had the urge to try this despite the reviews and will be sure to do a follow up on the product once I have tried it.  The lovely ladies of Space NK threw in a few samples including cleanser, mask and some anti ageing products???  I quickly passed these ones onto my mum, not sure I need them just yet, unless the sales assistant thought otherwise :)


3. Garnier Caffeine anti-dark circles roll on.  I have heard great reviews on this product, some even claiming it is better than the Touche Eclat by YSL so I HAD to try this.  This was around £10 from boots.  It is an under eye concealer - I purchased medium, they do a fair and dark also.  It feels so cooling when I tested on my hand so I will let you know how I get on with this one.


4. Clean and Clear Morning Energy.  I have the facial scrub of this and was quite impressed.  I love the refreshing smell and feel it gave my skin so when I saw the moisturiser I was keen to try it.  


5. Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector.  This is a BB cream or blemish cream.  Incase you are not familiar there has been a lot of hype around this and the reviews I had heard were kind of mixed. I was keen to try though and they had a special offer in Boots where you buy 2 Garnier products you get the 3rd free so I picked up an extra of this for my mum. 


6. Boots No. 7 Concealer Brush - I had a £5 voucher for No. 7 so this only cost be £3. I always get the vouchers and never use them so I was determined not to waste them this time.  This looks like a good quality brush and its larger than my existing concealer brush which I liked. 


Well thats it for my haul this week, I hope that you enjoyed. Please leave comments below as I always respond and love hearing your thoughts and latest  buys. 


Also, don't forget to subscribe to ensure you don't miss any follow up reviews :) 

E.L.F Cosmetics Haul

I was so excited this morning when a parcel arrived for me! It was my E.L.F delivery.  For those of you that are not familiar with this brand, it sells gorgeous cosmetics at really good prices without compromising on the quality.  I ordered my batch on Sunday,  I received an email on Wednesday stating that there was a slight delay due to the volume of orders so I was a little disappointed as I was so eager to check these beauties out :)  Anyways I could hardly complain as the postage was FREE, yes free if you spent over £30.00.  The cosmetics are at such great prices its hard not to spend £30.00 and considering the amount you get for your money it is definitely money well spent.

  
Top - Left to right 


Shimmering Facial Whip - Spotlight £1.50
Shimmering Facial Whip - Pink Lemonade £1.50

Studio Cream Blush - Flirt £6.50

Studio Cream Blush - Heartbreaker £6.50

Shine Eraser Sheets £1.50

Bottom - Left to right

Nourishing Cuticle Pen £1.50

Bronzing Brush £1.50

Angled Eyeliner Brush £3.50

Lipstick - Voodoo £1.50

Lipstick - Fantasy £1.50

Liquid Lipstick - Raspberry £1.50

Liquid Lipstick - Maple Sugar £1.50

Facial Whips - Spotlight & Raspberry

These highlighting creams can be used on the eyes, the face and even the lips.  I intend to use these on my cheekbones as a highlighter although I suspect they would make a good eye primer.  When I opened 'Spotlight' liquid literally poured out, in fact so much so that I had to rush to the sink and 'drain it' I was worried I would not have any product left.  After I shook it vigorously I was able to get an OK consistency although I found it very watery and hard to actually get a vibrant shade because of this.  I then tried the Raspberry one and luckily did not have the same problem.  This had a lovely even consistency and blended perfectly.  The colour looks so vibrant in the tube although it is actually very subtle so these would be perfect in the summer when you just want to add a little colour without feeling plastered in make up.  

 Studio Cream Blush - Flirt

These cream blushes were my favourite.  I have been looking for a cream blush for so long yet have never got around to getting one so on this occasion I bought 2 given that they were such a bargain.  These were from the Studio line and so are slightly more expensive at £6.50 than the standard E.L.F line. But its a great price in comparison to some higher end cream blushes on the market. This had a mousse like consistency and I loved the feel so much I had to literally force myself not to squish my finger right in the jar. The packaging of the Studio line looks more expensive and would look lovely on anyones dressing table.  I first tried 'Flirt'  This is a vibrant pink yet blends so well it does not look over the top - i can't wait to wear this.
  

 Studio Cream Blush - Flirt

As well as 'Flirt' I purchased 'Heartbreaker'.  This was more of a coral shade and the photos do not do 
it justice. It looks very bright here however it is actually more subtle. I am a big fan of Benefits Dandelion blush and this was in the same colour chart.  

Studio Cream Blush - Heartbreaker

Next I purchased some shine control sheets.  These are just similar to those found on the market by several other brands and are designed as a quick fix during the day.  You just wipe over the parts of the face where you are shiny and it instantly mattifies the face without ruining your make up - I definitely think these should be in every girls handbag if you are prone to an oily face.

Nourishing Cuticle Pen

In case you did not know I am obsessed with painting my nails. I do not think a week goes by where I have not bought at least one nail polish yet using nail polish remover constantly can have a drying effect on my cuticles and nail beds so I purchased this nourishing pen which you rub into your cuticles.  It contains Avocado and Almond oils so this is a real treat for your nails.

Bronzing Brush

I had been looking for a small angled brush for contouring. This is a lot smaller than I envisaged from the website and when I removed the plastic protective cover there was some hair loss. Im not sure how this brush will stand in comparison to my other brushes but it seems like a good little brush for the price and perfect if you are just starting to get into makeup and don't want to splash out too much on the right tools.

Angled Eyeliner Brush

Now this I am seriously excited about.  A few weeks ago I bought a gel liquid eyeliner and no matter how much I tried I could not use the brush that it came with.  I tried to use my angled eyeshadow brush but STILL could not get the technique right and I do not even have a shaky hand.  I watched a YouTube video and a girl took a thin paint brush and bent it and then applied her eyeliner so imagine my excitement when I found this on E,L.F.

Lipsticks - L-R Voodoo, Fantasy

These lipsticks smell absolutely lush, sort of like a sweet coffee but very subtle.  I will be honest Im not a big lipstick buyer and always opt for gloss but I have gradually been purchasing more and more lipsticks as I love the feel on my lips.  They are a lot less sticky than lipgloss, much to my bf's approval :).    

 Liquid Lipstick L-R Raspberry, Maple Sugar

I was somewhat intrigued by these on the website as they are called 'liquid lipsticks' however when they arrived they are more like lip glosses but less sticky.  The colours in this photo appear very dark but if you knock 2-3 shades off and your getting there! I had to twist these approximately 20 times before the colour came to the surface.  To be honest I'm not fan of the twisting types as I like to be able to just remove the lid and my products there.  But having said that now I have done the initial twisting I think these will only need half a twist at least per use.  The only thing I will say about these though is that it is a lot more packaging than product and I think that lets it down but I can't see these running out any time soon.


These products were definitely worth the wait and I will definitely be returning to the site to purchase more in the near future once I've given these all a good trial.  


Please let me know about your purchases from E.L.F and if you have a review please link it below as I would love to read it.  


Thanks for reading xx

Beckysmakeup.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter @BeckysMABBlogs 

Saturday 24th September HAUL

Today I went shopping with my lovely boyfriend.  And he definitely has the patience of a saint to stand around Beauty counters and drugstores whilst I hover and browse at the latest products....so i thought I would share with you guys some of my bargains of the day!


1st stop - Poundland - Seriously! Everything a pound???  


It is absolutely shocking (in a seriously good way) the bargains that are right under your nose in this shop and many people bypass it!  I had been looking for a glass jar of somewhat to store cotton buds.  I had looked on eBay and other homeware stores but they were all about £10 and even I thought this was a little much for a jar to make my cotton buds look pretty.  So you can imagine my excitement (yes, over a jar) when I stumbled across this little jar for only £1.00!

I also grabbed 2 sets of 3 nail varnishes.  All for £1 each for the set.  Thats 6 large nail varnishes for £2, now being a nail varnish fanatic thats a serious bargain and I will be sure to do a review later on. I purchased one glitter set which came with 3 x clear nail varnishes with glitter particles in and a superstar set which has a silver, a black and a gun metal colour.  They all came with a small emery board and the nail varnishes are 14ml bottles. 

Next stop - Superdrug


I have recently signed up for their beauty points card.  For every £1 you spend in store you get a point and every point I understand is worth 1p.  Its not as good as the Boots advantage card but seeing as I spend a lot in both of these stores on a yearly basis it was worth it to save throughout the year to use at Christmas etc.  


I have been looking for a black eyeshadow as I recently saw a review whereby it was used as an eyeliner across the top lashes and gave a much more subtle effect.  The eyeshadow used was MAC carbon however this is approximately £11.  I purchased the Bourjois Paris Intense Extrait 10 for £6.99 which claims to have a 16 hour hold and is also hypoallergenic.  I have not tried this on my eyes yet but just by doing a swatch this appears to be highly pigmented and good value for a higher end drugstore eyeshadow.

I have been looking for a stipple make up brush for some time now and I picked one up for £7.98 by QVS and also a dome eyeshadow brush by Revlon for £5.99. The only thing that I did not like was the fact that you could not feel the quality in store as they were well packaged.  Having now got these home I can say that for the price they do feel very high end. The real test will be when I use them, let me know if you would like a brush collection review.

And last but not least in keeping with the nail varnish theme above I purchased some New york colour NYC vanishes.  These again were from Superdrug and were on special offer for buy 3 and pay for 2.  These were £1.79 each and they are 9.7ml bottles.  I actually love the shape and packaging of these as despite being the somewhat cheaper brand they actually look high end.  These are from the 'In a New York Colour Minute' range and claim to be fast drying, which is great for me as I am guilty for smudging the second I apply it!  The colours that I got were Fashion Avenue Fuchsia, Times Square, and Prince Street.  Being a lover of New York, these were perfect for me and came in such vibrant colours which I look forward to trying and showing you! 

So that is it for my Haul this week.  Be sure to follow me via the follow me link above.  If you have any suggestions for future topics please get in touch.  

Twitter me @beckysMABBlogs