New in Beauty Buys

It's been quite a while since I last treated myself to any beauty buys, which is saying a lot for me as I'm usually constantly picking things up here and there. I've been really good at saving my pennies lately, but inevitably there came a time that I was starting to run out of things and needed to restock, and that time was this weekend. We move out of our house today, but won't actually be returning to the UK for another two weeks, so that meant that this was my last chance to get my hands on the bits I needed before we head off to the middle of nowhere to stay with some of my husband's family until we leave.

Now before I start, let me just say that some of the products in the picture are going to have slightly different names to what I'm going to call them, and that is because I bought them in Brazil. Sometimes we get products here that are only available in the US, and sometimes the ones which are on sale in the UK have the American names. I'm going to be referring to them by their UK names so as to avoid confusion.

First off, I decided to treat myself to a new conditioner, in the form of the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment Conditioner. I've just re-ombred my hair myself , so it goes without saying that the ends are in need of a bit of TLC. This one seems to be nice and luxurious, with 3x the conditioning power of a standard conditioner, but it can be used daily, getting to work in just minute, which I must say is rather handy.

Next up is the Vichy Normaderm Micellar Water for imperfection-prone skin, which I was prompted to buy after realising just how much cleanser I've been getting through of late. I usually rely on my Elemental Herbology Bio-Cellular Super Cleanse to both remove makeup and give my skin a deep-down clean, which inevitably requires a double cleanse, so I'm going to give this micellar a go and see if it helps me to economise.

I was in need of a new mascara, and having been disappointed by my recent purchase of Maybelline's The Falsies, I decided to give their One by One Mascara a go. I like the fact that this is meant to separate the lashes, leaving them clump free, as for me there is nothing worse that a lumpy, spidery look. However, I usually do prefer more lengthening formulations, so we shall have to see.

Unfortunately, the last four products don't seem to be available in the UK, so sorry for being a tease in that respect. I got two Garnier Fructis hair oils, one of which is designed to nourish the hair while the other is a heat protectant and is supposed to be a great styling tool for straightening hair, leaving it silky smooth ( Sleek and Shine Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment, if you're in the U.S.). I also got two Maybelline Hydra Extreme Matte lipsticks in Red Revolution and Forever Red - a girl can never have too many red lipsticks, after all, and I have already purchased and loved several other shades from this range. They are really long-lasting, and not as drying as you might expect from a matte formulation.

And that is all that managed to creep into my shopping bag on this occasion. I'm looking forward to trying them all out this week, and will let you know my thoughts imminently!

Have you made any new beauty purchases recently?

xx

Collective Fashion Haul // A Video

Please excuse what a state I look in this video, I'd just got home and found myself alone in the house during daylight hours, so I had to make the most and film in a very short window of time! It also turns out that Revlon Photoready foundation is not actually all that photo ready, as it makes me look SO shiny on camera! I did notice this before with another couple of videos, and made a mental note not to wear it when filming again, but as I said, I was in a bit of a rush this time and didn't think of it!

I won't be doing a post on this haul as I just find clothing a real pain to photograph in all its glory. However you will, I'm sure, be seeing these pieces in upcoming OOTD/outfit posts, so keep an eye out for those.

Until then, I hope you enjoy having a little nose into the contents of my (new) wardrobe, and if you do enjoy this video then please do pop over to my Youtube channel and give it a thumbs up and subscribe. I must admit, I'm feeling a bit disheartened again, as while I know it does take time to build up an audience, and I do make these videos for enjoyment more than anything else as a bit of a side project as well as to compliment my blog, my views have really decreased since I started out with filming, and I'm not really sure why! If anything, I would have thought it would be the opposite, but oh well, such is life.

Anyway, hope everyone has had a good Monday! If you have a Youtube channel then do leave me your link in the comments below, I'm always on the lookout for new ones to have a watch as I seem to get through my feed so fast!

xx

New in: Birthday Beauty Bits

Hello everyone, I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about all-things birthday-related by now, but I have one last post to share with you, and that is the beauty bits I was lucky enough to receive. Now, I have already uploaded a video on this to my Youtube channel, but as I know that some of you prefer to read about things instead I thought I'd pop up some pictures and tell you all about them here, too. If, however, you do fancy a cheeky watch of the video then here it is below. If not then keep reading :)

Video:

First up, I finally got my mitts on the Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask. I actually ordered this one well in advance, as I've had my eye on it for the longest time. It contains lots of lovely ingredients like avocado oil, and smells of vanilla and mandarin, which frankly is just divine. It's really a moisture mask, but the anti-bacterial properties of the manuka honey make it great for blemishes, too.

Continuing on the theme of skincare,  also got the Elemental Herbology Eye Elixir, and so far I'm absolutely loving it. It's so rare to find an eye cream that offers to fight dark circles, puffiness and fine lines all in one go, let alone one that actually delivers, and so far this one has definitely impressed. Plus, it has a lovely herbal scent, which is always a bonus in my eyes.

Lastly for skincare, my lovely mother got me the Elemental Herbology Weekend Facial set, which consists of their Facial Detox mask, Facial Glow Radiance Peel and Biodynamic Souffle, which is an overnight moisture mask. So far I've only used the first two once, so I will keep you posted, but so far I like them a lot.

Moving onto makeup, the hubby took me birthday shopping at the weekend, so it was only natural that I'd pop into Mac. I went in looking to come away with a Paint Pot in either Bare Study or Groundwork, and in the end I went with Groundwork. If you're not sure what these are then they are basically cream pigments which can be used either as an eyeshadow base or on their own, and I've been enjoying using mine solo as an easy every-day eye colour. While there, I was inevitably tempted by the lipsticks, and soon foun myself in the possession of my first Cremesheen lipstick in the shade Coral Bliss, which is a lovely sheer, pinky coral. It has quite a glossy finsh, meaning it won't cling to any dry patches, and the colour is buildable, so you can vary the level of intensity. All in all, a lovely, easy to wear lipstick for Spring.

Last but not least comes a Sheertone blush in the shade Peachykeen. I actually had no intention of getting a blush at all, but the sales assistant had popped some of this onto my cheeks while I was in-store, and after I left I kept finding myself admiring the pretty, healthy glow it had given me whenever I passed a mirror, and in the end I just had to go back and snap it up. I'd say it's somewhere between a peach and a coral, and in the pan it does seem to contain some glitter particles, but these don't transfer onto the skin at all as it leaves only a luminous glow.

So that's my lot! I may well be doing a second part to this post at some point, as I know I've been sent a few  other beauty-related bits as presents which haven't arrived yet. 

Hope you enjoyed having a little nose at the latest additions to my beauty cupboard and that you're all having a great week.

xx

Beauty Haul

Woah there, that was a lot of beauty products.

Now, I haven't been out on one massive shopping spree and piled all of this lot into my basket all at once. That would just be ridiculous. Oh, no. This is basically everything that I have either bought or acquired within the past couple of months, whether through online shopping, late Christmas presents or competitions and giveaway wins. Actually, I say everything, but I can think of at least a few bits I forgot to pop in the photos, but never mind. The point is, I've been meaning to do a haul post for ages, and it's only now that I've been able to get everything together and go for it. The products are pretty much just a big jumble of goodies - I haven't separated them into groups depending on where they came from, because frankly, I can't quite remember. 

That being said, I must drop a thanks in here to the lovely Wengie of Raves 'nd Ramblings for the beautiful Nuxe travel set I won in her giveaway, and Suzy of Suzy Hearts Beauty for the goodies I got from hers, although saying that, I can see that most of it is not, in fact in the photo as they have already found their way into my daily routine and various handbags and makeup bags.

Big thanks also go to Gem of the wonderful Gem Seren blog for the lovely Secret Santa gifts she sent me, and to My Beautie and Baobella for their generous Christmas competition prizes (I seemed to be on a bit of a winning streak back in December!).

Now, I'm not going to go through each individual product and tell you my thoughts, because a) I will be writing full reviews on them all soon (in fact, I have already posted about a couple of these) and b) there are LOADS, and that would make this a ridiculously long post that no one would be able to finish reading.

So, without further ado, here's a big old list of everything that's in the photos, and consequently, my haul

For those of you who like to know what came from where, I have marked the products below accordingly, with 'c' for competition, 'g' for giveaway, 'cp' for Christmas present, and '£' if I bought it myself.

Elemis Skin Nourishing Milk Bath (c)

Nuxe Travel Set (g)

Laura Mercier SPF20 Tinted Moisturiser (shade 'Sand') (£)

Vivo Colour Block Palette (cp)

MUA Pro Brow Kit (£)

MUA Bronzed Perfection Bronzer (£)

MUA Cream Blush in Dolly (£)

Ren Keep Young and Beautiful SH2C Serum (£)

Antipodes Grapeseed Butter Cleanser (£)

L'oreal Volume Million Excess Mascara (g)

Along Came Betty Shea Body Butter (c)

Model's Own Winter Wonderland Nail Polish in Northern Lights (g)

Milani Mineral Blush in Sweet Rose (c/cp)

Milani Single Eyeshadow in Evening Sky (c/cp)

Milani Single Eyeshadow in Heavenly Pink (c/cp)

Eylure Katy Perry Lashes (c)

NailEase Nail Wraps (c)

Violent Lips Lip Tattoos (c)

The Milani products are marked with both 'c' and 'cp' because I'm actually not sure where I came from - my mother passed them onto me already unwrapped, and there was no note with them, so I'm not sure. If you are reading this and they were from you then thank you very much! :)

So there you go, I hope you liked having a nose, and if there is anything more you'd like to know about any of the products before I review them in full then ask away and I will be happy to tell you.

What's been in your beauty shopping bag lately?

xx

Beauty Haul: Caudalie, Mac, Nars and More.

So the plan was to get this post up much earlier on, but thanks to Blogger and Picassa being exceedingly uncooperative and refusing to let me upload any more images, it wasn't to be. Allegedly, I've used up all of my 1GB quota, although I fail to see how that can be the case. And then I find out that if you delete images from your Picassa web album then they also come off your blog. Nightmare! Anyway, Twitter saved the day once again, or should I say, some of you lovelies did - and I've been able to get my images up via Photobucket. If anyone else has this problem then just sign up to Photobucket or Flickr, upload your images and it'll give you a 'Direct link' for each one. All you have to do is choose 'upload from URL' next time you are trying to upload onto blogger (it's one of the options that appears down the side of the page when you have clicked on the little picture icon to choose your image). An alternative way is to go to Image Maps and you can map the images direct from your laptop to Blogger, but I haven't managed to do that yet - I will let you know more about that when I've had some success!

Anyway. Onto the matter at hand.

As promised, I do indeed have a little haul, consisting of a few bits and bobs I have purchased over the past few weeks.Unsurprisingly, perhaps, most of these goodies were purchased online, as that seems to be the place where my naughty little fingers sneak in a few extra keystrokes without my knowledge, and before you know it I have accidentally filled and paid for a virtual shopping basket of treats. I am usually a lady of some restraint these days, having learnt my lesson the hard way when I hit the age of eighteen and grown up a lot since then. However, of late, I have just been feeling the need, and this is what I've got to show for it.

Organix Brazilian Keratin Therapy Conditioner

My hair is in need. I am a terrible offender when it comes to forgetting to use heat-protective spray, and haven't had my hair cut in a while, and both of these things have started to take their toll. I've been feeling that my hair is lacking shine for a long time now, so fingers crossed that this stuff will work wonders. I've already used it a few times, and so far, me likey.

Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days

This is not normally the sort of moisturiser I'd go for, and in fact, I never would have picked it up if I hadn't seen one or two Youtubers raving about the stuff. I usually go for rich body butters with gorgeous, intense fruity/yummy smells, but I was intrigued enough to give this a go and so far, I'm quite impressed. I in't realise my skin was in need of some extra hydration until I tried it, but alas, it was - my skin is now loads softer and smoother. Full review to come.

Hits Glitter Polishes in Rio and Rome

These two have already featured in nail posts, one yesterday and the other last week, as I just couldn't wait to crack them open before taking these photos. Rome contains flecks of gold, white, pink and blue, while Rio is choc-full of blue, orange, pink and purple. I adore both of them and have been loving them over a simple black polish, as this really shows them off in all their glory.

Caudalie Teint Divin Tinted Moisturiser

Recently, having overhaule my skincare regime, I've found that I haven't really needed to use such full-coverage foundations, and despite it being winter, I've found myself favouringtinted moisturisers. I bought this in Fair to Medium, and while I haven't yet tried this out, I'm a bit worried, as it does look quite orange when I squeeze some onto the back of my hand!

And finally, onto my favourite purchases!

Mac Mineralise Skin Finish in Light Year

I have had my MSF in Soft and Gentle for about a year now, and have been using it every day. Though I adore it, I wanted to mix things up a bit, so I decided to go for this warm-toned MSF in Light Year. The gold swirl through the middle is quite glittery, which I didn't realise when choosing, so I tend to avoid that when swirling my brush around the pan. It comes out a gorgeous medium peachy colour, with hints of pink (and obviously some gold shimmer, if youpick that up on your brush) and you could easily use this as a blush as well as a highlighter. So far, I think this is really pretty, but I won't go into too much detail as I will be writing a full review on this very soon - keep your eyes open for that if you'd like to know more.

Nars Powder Blush in Deep Throat

My first purchase from Nars! The photo really does not do it justice, as it's nowhere near as orange as it comes across  - it's a much lighter, peachy-pink, not too dissimilar to Benefit Coralista, as far as I can see, albeit with a touch less pink, but the same amount of gold sheen. I haven't used this bad boy yet, but am really looking forward to test-driving it tomorrow.

Mac Lip Pencil in Cherry

I am one of those people on whom lip products just do not last two seconds. Ok, make that five minutes if we're being pedantic. But anyway, I have been meaning to pick this beauty up for ages. It's a blue-toned red, highly pigmented and slides on extremely easily - to the point that it's really quite difficult to apply neatly. 

Mac Amplified Creme Lipstick in Craving

Amplified Creme is by far my favourite finish from Mac, so when I saw this gorgeous plummy-pink shade, I just had to go for it. It's perfect for the Autumn/Winter seasons and is such a wearable shade - I'm already hooked after one day.

And that's the lot!

Hope you enjoyed having a little nose into the contents of my shopping bags. Have any of these products tickled your pickle?

Have a fantastic weekend lovelies.

xx

Mini Skincare Haul!

 1. Caudalie Eau Demaquilante Cleansing Water (Micellar solution)

2. Eucerin Dermo Purifier Exfoliator

3. Caudalie Eau De Beaute Beauty Elixir

4. Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel (sample sachet)

5. L 'oreal Paris Pure Zone Peel-off Mask (sachet)

Hey lovelies, how are you all today? I would imagine you're all pretty happy that it's Friday! I know I would be too, but as I've mentioned before, I'm taking my holiday from work, so I have been off all week!

I've purchased and acquired a few new beauty products this week, so I thought I woud share them with you all now, and then write some reviews on them later on when I've had a bit more experience with using them.

So, first of all, I picked up the Caudalie Cleansing Water. I have just finished my big tube of my beloved Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, and while I will definitely be repurchasing, I thought it might be nice to try something a bit different in the meantime. Actually, I wanted to get a cleanser by Caudalie too, but as it wasn't available from the store I purchased the other items from on Ebay, I decided to wait, and use the Micellar solution in conjunction with my travel-size Cleanse and Polish. Then, as I was buying something by Caudalie anyway, I thought I might as well give in and finally purchase the massively hyped Beauty Elixir! It's not so much that I'm behind the times on this one as that I wasn't intending to try it any time soon, as I often find that such raved-about products can't live up to my expectations. But I've got it now, so I shall let you know!

When my bits from Ebay arrived, I found that the seller had kindly popped a sample sachet of Dermalogica's Special Cleansing Gel in with them. I really like Dermalogica, so I was happy to try this, although as it only contains about two applications, I don't really feel that I'm going to have had enough experience with it to review it fully. I think that you really need to try out skincare products for a good couple of weeks - preferably more - before you can possibly start to talk about the effects they have had on your skin, although some products to seem to make an impression straight away, in one way or another.

My skin has been looking a bit dull this week, so I decided to try out this L'oreal Pure Zone Mask, which is designed to be applied only on the T-Zone and dies to form a peel-off layer. I like the fact that my local pharmacy sell this in sachets, as buying large tubs or tubes of face masks can be quite expensive, and it's really nice to have a chance to try before you buy. The mask claims to banish excess oil and to help clear blocked pores, and if you read this my Beauty SOS post this month, you'll know that this is one of the things I've been on the lookout for, as I do tend to suffer from blocked pores on my nose.

Last but not least, I grabbed a Eucerin Dermo-Purifier Exfoliator, as let's face it, we all need to slough away those dead skin cells every now and again. I usually do find that my Cleanse and Polish does a good job of keeping my skin looking bright and fresh, but sometimes it just seems as though it could do with a little extra help, usually in the winter or when I have just been ill.

So that's my little lot! I hope you enjoyed having a nose at my stash and you can expect some reviews on these coming up in the near future.

What are your current favourite skincare products? Have you tried anything by Caudalie, Eucerin, Dermalogica or Liz Earle?

xx

Collective Haul! (Primark, Topshop, Miss Selfridge and more!)

Hello lovely people, and thank goodness it's Friday!

Today, I have got a bit of a haul post for you, which I am really happy about as I have been trying to get this up for ages! I've been having a bit of difficulty with my camera, lighting and backdrops, which has made things a bit difficult for me in terms of getting some decent photos ready for you, but thanks to the lovely sunshine we've had this week, I've been able to get outside in the garden and go a bit snap happy!

So, what I have got here to show you are basically all the clothes and accessories I have collected over the past two months. 

Let's get on with it.

Drop Arm Palm Tree Print Top, Topshop , £26.

Mint Green Cropped Tie-up Shirt, £9.99 

Aztec Print Sheer Top, Primark.(I think this was about £8)

Parrot Print Crop Top, Primark, £4.

Playsuit, Miss Selfridge, £37

Rust Chinos, Next, £29.

Floral Vest, Primark, £6.

Petites Floral Print Playsuit, Miss Selfridge, £37 (*Now in the Sale online for just £22!*)

Please excuse my foot for sneaking it's way into this one. It's such an attention seeker.

Zebra Print Scarf, Primark, £4

Swallow Print Scarf, Primark, £4

Accessories, all Primark (see below for details)

Ivory Hair Flower, Peacocks ( received as a present).

Nautical Flower Hair Clips, £1.50, Primark.

Earrings, Primark (about £3-£4)

Aviators, £1. Red Floral Bow Headband, £2.

Both pairs of earrings were about £3-£4 from Primark.

Pink/Multi Floral Wire Headband (received as present).

Cat Pendant Necklace (long chain), Primark, £3

Coral Crepe Shorts, Miss Selfridge, £29.

Playsuit, Primark, £5.

Nautical Scarf Chain Necklace, Primark, £4.

(I like to wear this as a headband).

Sorry not to be exact on some of the Primark prices, I forgot to keep the tags of the accessories so now I'm not 100% sure what I paid, but I'm sure the numbers listed are pretty close, give or take 50p, perhaps.

I am loving the cropped Palm-tree print top from Topshop, and have been enjoying wearing it with a pair of red high-waisted shorts. I'm now looking to get my hands on some pastel high-waisters (lilac) and I think it will look great with them. The top hangs quite loose, but is a really flattering shape and cut. Love it!

I also adore the two Miss Selfridge playsuits and the coral culotte shorts, as I think they are lovely, summery colours.

As for Primark, you can't go wrong stocking up on your summer essentials there, in my book. I think that the little black bow-print playsuit was absolutely bargainous at just £5, and they had lots more options in for the same price, though unfortunately not in my size. I've since ordered one the same as this but plain red with navy trim, and a strapless striped/sunflower print one from Ebay, because I was so annoyed to have missed out on them! These babies are just ideal for pulling on after a long, hot day on the beach, and are also perfect for wandering round in on your hols as they are really thin and airy.

The mint-green cropped shirt, would you believe, is actually from the kids section at New Look (age 14-15). If you are petite, like me, then I would highly recommend having a root around in there, because you can often find the same things that are in the main collection for a fraction of the price! I'd say the teens sizings are quite generous, too, as a dress I picked up in age 14-15 was actually too big for me!

I don't feel that I need to go on and on about each individual piece, as you can see what is there. But I will say that I'm really happy with everything I got and have been living in all of it!

I hope you enjoyed this sneaky little peek into my shopping bags, OOTDs feauring some of these little treasures coming soon, just as soon as I can rope the Mr into playing cameraman!

Hope you're all enjoying a relaxing Friday night, whether you're having a quiet one at home or are heading out to party it up!

xx

Youtube Hauls

I've been watching loads of  'haul' videos on youtube this evening.
For those of you who don't know, a 'haul' video is where someone gets together everything they have recently bought, and sort of show and review them, so that those watching can either go and get themselves the same bit, or just enjoy having an insight into someone else's style.
 At first, I didn't get why people would make them, because if you want to see what's available in a shop without leaving your house then, generally speaking, you can just have a look on the website. But after watching a few hauls which were, well, not really to my taste, I did come across a couple of girls who have really similar taste to mine, but what I really loved about their videos was that they had picked things which, although in my 'style zone', I perhaps wouldn't have thought of picking out myself. It's a really great way to get some fashion inspiration, and see how other people style up pieces that you like, and also how to add pieces you might not have thought of to your wardrobe.
A lot of girls also do videos showcasing their beauty hauls, which is, again, a really interesting viewing experience - perhaps more so. I don't know about you, but I always find myself looking at friends, and just randomers in the street or the pub, who seem to have perfect skin, or who are sporting perfectly shaded eye-shadow, and wondering how on earth they did it. My elaborate  make-up attempts never seem to come out anywhere near as well, and I also find that, even when you think you've found the perfect foundation, the miracle effect never seems to last longer than a week, and then I find myself lusting after a better one!
So even though these haul vids aren't exactly make-up master classes, it's good to know the products that these people use, so we can see them in action and give them a whirl ourselves.

What are your Christmas beauty lust-haves? Do you have a special look planned for the big day?

The pictures above are of some of the more impressive finds amongst Primark haulers, and are actually from www.fluttersparkle.com . If you are interested in seeing the rest of her haul then go to http://www.flutterandsparkle.com/2011/12/another-primark-haul-november-december.html
Leopard print Peter Pan shirt, £7. Embellished crop vest, £10

For some good haul vids, I'd recommend visiting Zoella's channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390?feature=watch - my favourite haul vids so far.