Collective Cosmetics Haul

This is a somewhat of a collective cosmetics post with items that I have collected over the last few weeks and while this does contain not only group photos of what I purchased, I thought I'd take a series of photos to record the day for you! These haul posts that occur with Lucy seem to be a monthly occurrence now, in which way to much food is consumed and too much money is spent. Yesterday was no different and once again took place in Southampton. This time however, we found the Debenhams (who isn't keen to collect the points?) the staff there are soo much more friendlier than those at the John Lewis. I guess it's probably because they're not as busy and can spend the time chatting to you, but both ladies we spoke to (from Dior and Urban Decay) were lovely and I can not fault them! This is primarily where the damage was done to be honest. Dior were offering a free lipgloss (plus many serum samples) with any two purchases. From there we moved to Boots and then on to John Lewis and Next. I did buy some mugs in Next (cheating a little on cosmetics) but they were super cute and couldn't resist! I just hope you enjoy a lot of pictures.

OOTD (T-shirt = Topshop, Cardi = NW3 for Hobbs, Skirt = Primark, Trainers = Nike, Necklace = Stradavarius, Barry B nail polish in Blue Grape, Bracelts = all gifts)

Good ol' MAC lipsticks

Which results in the need of a make-up wipe

Gingerbread hot choc anyone?

Sneak peak into one of Lucy's purchases...

- Dior Addict Lip Glow
- Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick 08
- Dior lip pencil 663
- NYX blusher
- Barry M nail vanish Passion Fruit
- L'oreal Lumi Magique (a dupe for Touche eclat?)
- Mac Viva Glam Riri lipstick
- Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish set
- Next Mugs

Free gifts:
- Dior lip gloss (No name/ number)
- Clinique all about eyes sample

The Too Faces Chocolate bar palette. This calorie free chocolate bar is perfect and smells oh so gorgeous. If this interests you, I'll be doing a full review later this week!

Lastly I picked up the Real Techniques Blush, Stippling and Expert Face brushes at my local Asda (available here) as they are so cheap! I haven't taken photo's of these. Firstly, I forgot I'd bought them, and secondly  they've been photographed and reviewed to death. They're amazing. Enough said.  

Have you bought anything new recently? 

What's on my face

Now I know I do a fair few posts on what I've purchased and my thoughts on them, but very few on what I wear them with! I'm currently working a lot of shifts at my part time work place (a little pasty shop) to which it gets very hot and the greasiness does not do wonders for my make-up! In these circumstances I turn to trusted favourites that I know don't budge that (just about) last through an 8 hour shift! 

So, what's on my face? Starting with the base, I've been using Benefits porefessional followed by Rimmel match perfection foundation (I use 200 soft beige and the real techniques buffing brush). I love this foundation and have re-purchased it a few times. I like the medium coverage which can be built up easily and the very slight glow it gives my skin. For my tired old eyes, I use collection lasting perfection concealer. This stays put a little longer than other concealers I have, although it does start I crease around mid - day (only when I'm at work) so I have to do a lunch time touch up. If things are bad I set it using rimmel's stay matte powder, but too many products on my face leaves me looking like a greasy mess come the end of my shift. For a bit colour I use Mac's Plum Foolery. I adore this blusher. I have used it every day in what seems like forever using my Bobbi Brown blush brush. For eyes I use a Laura Mercier eyeliner on my waterline in Espresso with Mac's Opulash and Cliniques bottom last mascara. This Clinique mascara is new to me, but so far so good! I used to wear eyeshadow, but regardless of primer, they creased almost instantly due to the steam of being in dishwash. To finish off, I am loving the Max Factor lipfinity lip tint (01). This lasts well and fades nicely so I don't have to worry on dodgy lipstick if I don't have a break in time to reapply. 

So there it is, my slightly rambling post on my work day make-up. Once I get a proper tri pod I'm going to include a few more of the "what's on my face" type of posts, so let me know if there's any look in particular you'd like to see!

Smashbox Smokebox

My first ever mid end eye-shadow palette, it is honestly very sentimental to me. I purchased this from the Cosmetics Company back in 2012 and at the time I knew nothing of the Smashbox brand and just went for the beautiful range of colours, the burgundy was something I'd never owned before. I wore this constantly for at least a year before I branched out a little and I still haven't hit pan. I think I purchased it for £23, which is a bargain seeing as they still sell it in Boots for £32 - although it has had a minor revamp. In comparison with Mac, Urban Decay and Bobbi Brown, the product isn't as soft and luxurious to touch but still my favourites. That little extra grip means these shadows do not budge without primer and they are still super pigmented.

Going from left to right, top row first:

Alabaster: A matte peachy toned cream

Thunder: A rich grey with a silver sheen

Blackout: A deep black - probably the least pigmented however

Roast: A luxurious brown with gold shimmer

Blackcurrent: An almost matte burgundy, with a hint of pinky shimmer

Seaform: A creamy silver sheen

It's also worth noting that the mini double-ended brush isn't too shabby either. Yes you're never going to be able to blend colours into your crease with it, but it's dense enough to be able to pack colour on to your lid in a make-up emergency. 

Nails #8

This weeks nails come in the form of Deborah Lippmann's Modern Love. This is a slightly darker than neutral shade, but still quite sophisticated and classic. I love the consistency of these polishes and it lasts a good 4 days without signs of chipping.

Wilkinson's Flower pattern desk tidies

I thought I'd fill you in on some pretty amazing storage that I stumbled across in Wilkinson's the other week. These pen and letter holders have a cute cut out flower pattern and for those with slightly smaller brush collections, I think these are pretty perfect! The"pen holder" is £2.50 and the "letter holder" is £3.75. As a slight variation to the icon Ikea plant pots I think these looks fairly elegant! I currently have the one "letter holder" that contains 3 of my bigger palette's, 2 pots for brushes (one for eyes and lips and face) and one that holds eyeliners/ mascara. My only criticism is that the 3 part holder isn't tiered, but for the price I think they're super cute and just a little bit different.

Where it all started

Does anyone remember those palettes you used as a child, cheap plastic packaging, even cheaper products which contained a bright pink lipstick, a bright red lipstick, some "blusher", eyeshadow, lipgloss and nail vanish which always dried up before you actually went to use it? Oh they were awful, yet I loved them. From those drag queen-esque days, my make-up looks changed slightly. When I was probably about 5 (1998 ish?) silver body glitter was oh so popular and my Dad teased me many a time for looking ridiculous. Teamed with some of my Mum's eyeshadow (normally a blue shade that she didn't wear) I was the bees knees. Alongside these timeless looks came the introduction of fake tattoos, glitter hair spray and those god awful hair tattoos, normally in a star formation that had to be applied wet and then wouldn't come out again? No, just me? I just feel sorry for my Mum!

As I got a little older the magazine "Sabrina's Secrets" was launched with the arrival of a purple trunk and a silver nail art pen with an increase amount of crap every week after that. I didn't get every magazine, but a fair few! I also received a make your own nail vanish set when I was 8/9. My Mum hated that set. It was messy, gloopy, and the colours always resembled a grey sludge. Nice. 

I think hair is also worth a quick note. I loved crimper's and scrunchies. I wasn't such a fan of the butterfly clips, but that feeling of wearing a new summer dress and matching srcunchie was un-beatable.

I'm happy to announce that I no longer believe silver glitter is acceptable all over ones arms and cheeks and I now don't use the same brush to apply all my make-up. But, without sounding like a Granny, so many young girls take their childhood too seriously and seem to miss this "experimentation" stage. I loved receiving those weekly (or was it every other week) magazines, and I wouldn't love make-up now if I hadn't experienced it then!

Smashbox Heatwave palette

Oh how I love this palette. It's sort of neutrals with a slight twist featuring 5 warm, yellow based tones and 5 cool tones which are perfect for a subtle smokey eye or a wash of colour. These shadows aren't as buttery as Urban Decay and when packing on the colour, the shimmery shades tend to fall a little on to the cheek if you're not careful. However, they are very bendable and beautifully pigmented shades. Another slight negative is that they're not named, a concept I do find quite odd, and a little lazy on Smashbox's behalf. However, I have included some swatches below, all of which are true to the shades shown in the palette. I picked this up for £23 in The Cosmetics Company, however it is available in Boots (here). Word of warning, the picture used on the Boots website does not give these colours the justice they deserve!

A little make-up pick me up

Today was one of those days where I needed a little cheering up so the obvious thing to do was a little retail therapy. This isn't a huge haul but I did manage to pick up an item that was on my Spring/ Summer wishlist. This is purely a list of what I brought and I'll do reviews at a later date.

First off is the Elderflower unperfumed gel from The Body Shop (£7). Now I can not for the life of me remember who's blog it was I read that highly recommended this clear unassuming gel, but their wise words on how this controls puffy eye's and dark circles caused me to put this on my shopping list. I also picked up the Warming Mineral mask (£10) which was posited next to the gel. Now after using the pore reducing mask that Soap and glory had to offer I've had breakouts on my cheeks and chin so I was keen to pick up something different. Now I haven't tried any masks from The Body Shop before and I haven't read a review, this was just spontaneous purchase so stay tuned if you wish to find out how I got on.

Next on my list was Boots. A haul is not complete without Boots. From here I picked up the Samantha Chapman duo-fibre collection brushes (£23.99) as I was particularly interested in the face brush. From first inspection, these are super soft and I can't wait to use them. I then picked up the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer (£4.19) in 2 as my 3 gets a little dark when the fake tan starts to fade. From Essie I picked up the rich, dusty rose "In Stitches" as I love the colour and do not own anything even remotely similar and then from Revlon I picked up the Rose glow Highlighting palette (£8.99) which according to Lily, is a better dupe to the Bobbi Brown!

Last but by no means least is the Dior Trianon Edition blush in 763 Corail bagatelle (I assume that's the name?) it is beautiful, not just in colour but just so aesthetically pleasing too and definitely too pretty to use just yet.

I hope I haven't rambled too much, is there anything you have your eye on at the moment?

Home Scents, Ralph Lauren Northern Coast

I am a self confessed right fussy mare when it comes to candle scents/ diffusers and equally can't justify the price of those I do like ie. those sold in Space NK. However, things have got a little desperate lately with my uni room getting really quite mouldy (we're waiting for the rook to be repaired) and it's started smelling a littke funky. Thus I started scouring the streets of Portsmouth for a decent candle.. I really dislike Yankee Candles, which I know is pretty mush unheard of, but I am yet to find one that isn't too sweet or too musky. A few weeks ago I thought I'd found the perfect room diffuser in Next from their New York range but (as you'll know if you've read my last haul post) I purchased the perfume by accident, then lost the receipt and it turns out my local next didn't stock it anyway. Moving on, whilst shopping for the boyfriend Valentines present I spotted Ralph Lauren had their candles at £9.99 each and their room diffusers at £12.99. What a bargain! I was first off drawn to the packaging of this Northern Coast scent, which I know you don't judge a book by it's cover, but this smells oh so perfect. It's main notes is Mango, with hints of lemon and musk. Whilst the candle alone isn't overpoweringly strong, it's ideal for my little room. The pair are in frosted glass containers with the RL logo and the candle states a 50 hour burn time. I love them, and while they're this price I feel I may have to stock up!

And relax...

It's got to that time of week again. The Sunday evening we love and hate. The best time of the week to relax and prepare for the following week but then again, Monday morning is looming. A warm bubble bath seemed the perfect time to read the March issue of Elle. 

Today I decided on the Cowshed "knackered cow" bath gel with hints of lavender and eucalyptus which I received in their Christmas cracker (currently £3 for 2 of these miniatures here). For my face I used Soap and Glory's "fab pore 2 in 1 mask". My skin has been feeling deflated and spotty this past week and my house mate recommended this to really clear my skin - I'll report back on if this has worked. 

Lastly, for true relaxation I compiled a simple playlist to complete my bath experience. This little collection lasted the perfect amount of time before the water went cold! As for the songs, I warn you there is a mix, but this is what I chose:

Blue - Beyonce (ft.Blue Ivy)

Dance With My Father = Luther Vandros

Electricity - Original Cast of Billy Elliot

Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac

Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding

On My Own - Samantha Barks (Les Mis)

The Power of Love - Jennifer Rush

Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen

One Day More - Les Miserables Cast

Memory - Elaine Paige (Cats)

So, what have you done to relax this Sunday evening?