French Pharmacy Haulin'

L-R: Avene Cleanance K Cream Gel, La Roche-Posay Effalcar Mat Moisturiser, Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Balm, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel and Avene Thermal Spring Water.

So I may have gone a bit skincare mad recently and with so many amazing deals floating about during the month of March, I was oh so tempted to spend a wad and fill my bathroom cabinet for the year. Luckily, Mother's Day was at the end of the month so it was the perfect excuse for me to convince the other half that I HAD to get all this stuff whilst it was on offer and he eventually gave in and let me fulfil my fancy, french skincare wishes. French pharmacy skincare is renowned for being pretty awesome, effective stuff and from my own point of view, I've been really impressed with the brands I've tried out so far. I decided to grab a few more bits from the La Roche-Posay Effaclar range as I'd already discovered the awesomeness that is Effaclar Duo. I would normally use Duo as my daily moisturiser/make-up base as I have quite oily skin and it does the trick of keeping oiliness to a minimum alongside the other benefits of fighting blemishes etc. This time around, I fancied trying something a bit thicker and more moisturising so opted for the Effaclar Mat which claims to tighten pores, slow sebum production down and in a nutshell, mattify the skin whilst thoroughly moisturising. I also picked up the accompanying cleanser, the Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel as I have been in dire need of a face wash targeted towards my skin concerns. Having heard Lisa Eldridge rave about the Avene range, I obviously had to throw a couple of their beauts into my basket so I went with the Cleanance K Cream Gel which I have started using as a night treatment and the Thermal Spring Water, to refresh and set my make-up. Of course, I had to pick up the widely raved about Nuxe Rêve de Miel Honey Lip Balm, as this has been on my must-have radar for quite a while and I also mentioned this on my most recent beauty wishlist.

I will try and review all of the products mentioned here, once I have used them all consistently for a solid period of time. Everything mentioned here is available from Escentual and all of the products I bought were on promotion with up to a third off selected products, I would definitely advise trying to contain yourself and making the most of these kind's of promo's when they crop up.

What are your favourite French pharmacy goodies?

Mini Haulin'

Just thought I would share a little haul of goodies I've bought over the past month or so. As I've just started a new job, I'm going through a bit of a transitional period so it's a small but, in my opinion, perfectly formed haul.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum #52
I'm a big fan of the healthy mix foundations and I'd read around a bit on the serum but kept getting the impression it might not be great for my combi to oily skin. I don't want to blab on about it too much as I'd love to do a more detailed review but in a nutshell it's a nice, light feeling foundation although perhaps not suitable for oilier skin types or those who want something with good coverage over imperfections.
Maybelline The Collossal Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara
If you read my review of the normal i.e. non waterproof version of this mascara then you should realise how much I like this however I don't think I ever specifically needed a waterproof mascara. I suppose I wanted to see the difference and now I know...it's basically a pain in the arse to get off. I get it, it's waterproof, it's meant to be long lasting but I can't be bothered with the faff.
Bourjois Liner Pinceau Eyeliner
I've only used this a couple of times as I don't have much time to do full make-up nowadays but I absolutely love this. This was free as there was a promo on Bourjois and initially I thought it like a pen tip liner which I've always wanted to try. When I discovered it was just a normal flicky kinda brush, I thought all hope was lost but it was literally so easy to use as the brush is quite thin and precise, as the name suggests.
Carmex Lip Balm
My lips have been disgustingly dry recently, to the point where I had to start using this cream every day and that is some seeeeriously heavy duty stuff. As the dryness situation improved, I reverted to an old favourite, my good old Carmex.
Revlon Lip Butters - Strawberry Shortcake, Creme Brulee, Juicy Papaya
These are so widely raved about so I decided to finally snap some up when I spotted a 3 for 2 in Boots. It's obvious to see why they are so loved...creamy, awesome pigmentation and soooo many colours, I want them all.
No7 Total Renewal Microdermabrasion Exfoliator
My skincare regime is pretty dire at the moment, I've been in urgent need of a good exfoliating sesh so I googled my options. This popped up a few times so I snapped it up with the help of £5 off voucher, I love those things. I've only used this twice so far but initial thoughts...my skin literally feels baby soft after using it and not too iritated. Definitely give this a whirl if you have a voucher as it works out pretty cheap for what is marketed as a more high end product.
Paperchase 2014 Diary
A bit of a random purchase and considering I'm normally super organised, I have no idea why I have only just bought a diary for the year! This was half price, I can't remember how much exactly but I think it was £6 in the sale and there was only one left! When I was going through school, college etc, Paperchase was like one of my favourite shops ever and they always have such cool diaries with so many useful bits so I was very happy to have spotted this. It has a little slot in the back for a disc and a little pencil case built in, I am so impressed...sad I know. Here's few more pictures of the internals anyways, if anyone wants to see how the weekly planner looks and all that shebang.

Xmas Treats for....Me ;-)

I'm so excited it's nearly Christmas and while I was browsing for pressies online, I think the excitement might of took over a teeeeny bit and I kinda bought stuff for myself instead of family & friends I should of been buying for...epic fail :-\ I have began to kinda hate when people do huge haul blog posts or videos because in a nutshell it's kinda annoying watching someone drone on about how they just "popped" over to the MAC counter and only bought "a few bits" which "only" cost them at least £50....BORE OFF with your indispensable amounts of money! Anyways, on that note I thought I'd share my haul with u haha....

 Witch Cleansing & Toning Wipes
These do the job in terms of removing make-up and freshening up the skin but I was especially impressed at how gentle they are on the eye area. With other face wipes that are marketed in a way to help fight spots, I've found them to be too harsh to use around the eye area so I was pleasantly surprised with these.

Nivea Visage Facial Cleansing Wipes for Normal & Combi Skin
My go to face wipes, basically because they always seem to be on offer in Asda. I have to admit I quite like the smell of them as well even though I'm sure all that fragrance is probably crap for my skin!

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask
As I've mentioned in my previous post, I had a facial which included a clay face mask being applied and whilst I would've loved to shell out and buy the Dermalogica mask, I thought I'd opt for something cheap and hoped it would provide some cheer for my skin. Anyways, I am soooo happy with this as a cheap substitute and I would love to babble on about its merits but I'll save that & some before/after photos for another post :-) On a money saving tip, this costs £10 from The Body Shop but there's some great deals on fleebay *hint hint*

Stargazer Nail Polish in Silver Chrome
 I bought this specifically to do nail art stamping with as it's supposedly a good stamping polish. I was definitely impressed with how opaque it is and the consistency of it for stamping is spot on.

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
I'd heard good things about this top coat from one of my fave nail bloggers so was quite keen to try it out & it didn't disappoint too much. It's really shiny when dry & obviously it's an added bonus that it dries super fast but it's not exactly the longest lasting top coat I've ever come across. I'll definitely be doing a mini review of this soon anyways if anyone wants to know about the pros and cons of this much raved about top coat.

 China Glaze Nail Polish in Midnight Kiss
 This is another nail polish I bought with the sole intention of using for nail art stamping...unfortunately it's not quite thick enough to show the colour & pattern off that well but it does still create pretty enough designs that I'll be sure to upload in the near future.


Sigma F80 Brush - Flat Top Synthetic Kabuki
I bought this whilst Sigma were offering free worldwide shipping a few weeks ago during the annual Black Friday sales and I could not be more pleased with it, so pleased that I think it may even deserve a post dedicated to how much I love it!


Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Considering this is such a staple product in so many ladies make-up bags, I quickly snapped one up when my new favourite website buyapowa were offering them for £10. Yet again, another product that I think deserves a mini review as I did a little comparison against another eye primer I had the other day and this basically blew it out of the water so yeah, watch out for that soon.


Wow...I can waffle on sooo much but I hope at least one person got something out of reading this?!? Have any of you tried the products I've babbled on about and what did you think of them?

Models Own Haul

Hey guys, if you read my blog already you may remember me posting a nail of the day a few weeks ago featuring Models Own Beth's Blue which I bought along with four other polishes when the 50% off sale was on a few weeks ago. I finally received my 2 faulty replacements yesterday so I thought I'd share what I picked up with you.

Left-Right: Beth's Blue, Pink Fizz, Champagne, Smash-Up Black and Grace Green.

L-R: Beth's Blue, Pink Fizz, Champagne, Smash-Up Black with Champagne Base and Grace Green. Two coats applied.

Polishes and swatches in natural daylight.

Polishes and swatches with flash.

 Overall, I was really pleased with what I chose as I was kind of missing an element of each colour in my collection. I didn't have a blue I really liked, no glitter, gold or green and no crackle...I know I'm really, stupidly late on the bandwagon with that last one but I'd never really been that won over by the whole crackle craze.

I personally love Models Own nail polishes because the formulas are really pigmented and generally smooth to apply. What do you think of their nail polishes and did you pick anything up when they had the 50% promo on?

ELF Love & Hate

Hey guys, hope your all okay? And anyone from the UK...I hope the riots haven't affected you too much :-( Sad times for our country but hopefully things are starting to settle down now...


Anyways as I mentioned in my last post, I purchased quite a large amount of E.L.F. products the other week and since I've pretty much tested everything now I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on what I got and what I loved or hated. So below is everything I bought...please don't think I'm showing off or even that I'm made of money, I tend to purchase things more when there on sale or a promotion and at the time E.L.F. were offering 50% off there entire product range! How could I resist really when it's already so cheap?!

A lot of ELF products I've bought in the past are very hit and miss so..starting off with the brushes I have to say, overall I wasn't really impressed with what I picked up...

Brushes

• Studio Stipple Brush - this was a repurchase for me as I'd kinda ruined the one I had through being too vigorous trying to clean my Revlon Colorstay foundation off it :-\ I don't know why but its just not the same as the first one I bought?! The consistency of the bristles seems much finer and less dense than the one I already had therefore I don't think I'd get as full coverage using it to apply liquid foundation. When I tried to apply powder blusher with it, it was far too messy and not that much product ended up on the bristles.
• Total Face Brush - I found this brush to be okay, not as soft as I thought it might be but it's got a huge surface area which is great for applying a dusting of powder.
• Foundation Brush - Again I found this to be just okay, I bought this to apply primer with but I think my fingers do the job just as well. I've actually found its better for applying concealer but as I'm pretty much always in a rush I prefer to use my fingers to apply concealer.
• Blushing, Bronzing And Blending Brush - I was pretty disappointed with this to be honest, don't get me wrong it does the job but before I'd even taken this out of the plastic wallet I noticed it had already shed some bristles :-\ So yeah...it already felt very fine in terms of bristle consistency. God knows what I'd have left once I'd had to finally wash it!
• Blending Eye Brush - Not sure why but I was expecting this to be more fluffy like the Sigma E35, looking on the ELF website now I don't really know why I was expecting this! For the price however this is a good brush for blending any harsh lines in the eye crease.
• Eyeshadow Brush -Again, not sure why but I was expecting this to be more fluffy i.e. bristles a bit softer and longer in length so I was slightly disappointed at first. However I have found that it is a really good brush for applying and blending eyeshadow in the crease and the bristles feel nice and soft.

Waffle over on the brushes front! 



Studio Blushes

Left to right: Pink Passion and Candid Coral.

 These are my first ELF blushes and I picked up the shades Pink Passion and Candid Coral. Below are swatches of both colours and for your reference I'm an NC25 in MAC so this may show up differently on paler or cooler skin tones.

Swatches left to right are Candid Coral and Pink Passion, sorry there not in the same order as the first picture!

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

Swatches taken with flash.

Personally, I love this colour and its not half as scary as the photo looks! Whilst the pigmentation is really good it's also very buildable, so really its up to you how bright or subtle you want this to look.

Firstly, sorry for how messy this looks already but I have been using this quite a bit over the past few days. I was expecting this to be a lot lighter in shade than it is but having used it now a few times I have really warmed to it. It's not as coral coloured as I'd wanted but on the other hand, I do really like the subtle rosy glow this adds to my cheeks.



 Studio Matte Lip Colours 

As soon as I saw these beauts, I was quite keen to get my hands on them and give them a try so I purchased the shades Natural and Coral.

Top to bottom: Natural and Coral

Now these actually appear a bit darker than what they do on the ELF website but I think that goes for a lot of their products if I'm honest! Despite this, I was pleasantly surprised at the pigmentation of these however they are quite creamy in texture rather than being completely matte.

Swatch of Natural taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Natural taken with flash.

Natural turned out to be quite a rosy pink tone but I really like it, it's something I could wear everyday without feeling too out there.

Swatch of Coral taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Coral taken with flash.

I don't think my pictures do it justice but this is a gorgeous colour! I've been reaching for it quite a lot over the past week but I'd say it's more of an orangey apricot toned coral rather than a pink toned coral.


Mineral Lipsticks
I've never been a big lipstick wearer but over the past few months I have started to build up a small collection of mainly drug store lipsticks so I purchased two lipsticks from the mineral range. I didn't want anything too out there in terms of vibrancy so I went with Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph.

Left to right: Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph

I'd recommend these lipsticks if your a bit of a lipstick virgin like myself as they are so cheap and relatively good quality. The texture is quite creamy, not too drying and pigmentation is good.

Swatch of Nicely Nude in natural daylight.

Swatch of Nicely Nude taken with flash.

 The ELF website states that Nicely Nude is a sheer warm pink with a hint of gold shimmer which I think is pretty accurate, having said that I wouldn't buy this shade again as its too close to my natural lip colour and that's not really the look I was going for!

Swatch of Natural Nymph taken in natural daylight.

Swatch of Natural Nymph taken with flash.

I tend to research nude lipsticks thoroughly before purchasing because they generally make me look dead or rather ill :\ After trying this, I'm kind of coming to the conclusion that until I get a tan I will never suit nude shades!  Having said that, it has come in handy on days when my lips look pinker/darker than normal. I'd say it's very comparable in colour to the Gosh Darling lipstick but minus the sheen as it does give quite a matte finish.

Swatches of all lip colours, L-R: Coral, Natural, Nicely Nude and Natural Nymph.

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

Swatches taken with flash.

Nail Polish

Considering these cost only £1.50 normally, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. The formula is really good and it only took me two coats to achieve a nice even finish. My favourite of the three shades I picked up has to be Mango Madness which is quite a bright orange toned coral.

L-R: Mango Madness, Smoky Brown and Mint Cream.

Eyebrow Kit
 

Swatches taken with flash.

Swatches taken in daylight.

This is my first eyebrow kit and too be completely honest I have a sad feeling it will end up being slightly neglected :-( I have my eyebrows threaded so the shape is quite defined most of the time, I usually just have to pencil in any faint areas with my Rimmel eyebrow pencil so for me this just seems like a lot of effort. At some point I will try and incorporate this into a made up eye and show you the results...I just don't think its fair of me to review something I haven't really used yet.

...nearly there!

Face Products

• Eyelid Primer - Basically an okay product for me. It does the job I suppose in terms of keeping eyeshadow from creasing but I don't know if that's just because of this product or because I'm using a good eye cream that doubles up as a primer on its own.

• Studio Makeup Mist & Set - So glad I bought this!! This is my first make-up setting spray so I'm afraid I couldn't compare this to the infamous MAC Fix+ I was really impressed with how this set my make-up and made it seem like I had more of a natural glow than the reality of my face being caked in foundation. For £3.50 its definitely worth trying out if your a fixing spray virgin like me.

• Oil Blotting Sheets - So far I'm really disappointed with these!! To be blunt they don't blot oil, I don't know if I was oilier than normal but when I tried these out my face looked just as bad after despite the sheet seemingly being covered in oil. The Professional Shine Eraser sheets that are also by ELF work much better so I'm not sure how they've got these so wrong.

• High Definition Powder - This feels nice and lightweight over foundation, it works well at eliminating shine and creating a matte finish. I just wish it wasn't so messy! I really don't trust carrying this around in my bag as it seems to get everywhere so unfortunately I've only been using it to set make-up before going out anywhere.

• Mineral Infused Face Primer - I'd had doubts about purchasing this as I'd read a few things about it being an oily skinned girls worst nightmare but so far I've loved this! A little definitely goes a long way as it has quite a slippery texture which makes your skin feel super smooth, I've found that it mattifies shine rather well also. Probably not the best primer for keeping oil at bay all day but definitely worth a try for £6.00 or even cheaper if you manage to grab it during a promotion period.

So that completes a rather massive review post! I really hope this helps anyone considering purchasing anything I've reviewed.

What would you recommend from the ELF range?

Small Drugstore Haul

Hello world! Firstly apologies for my lack of blogging, I've been mad busy this month as I've just recently graduated and I'm now nearly 8 months pregnant so I've been finding it a bit difficult to find the time and energy to blog :-(

Left-right: Dove Go Fresh Nourishing Body Wash Pomegranate & Lemon Verbena Scent, Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Shine Control Moisturiser, Aussie Take The Heat Leave-In Spray, Sleek Oh So Special Eye Palette, Revlon Colorstay Foundation for Combination/Oily Skin in Sand Beige, Natural Collection Corrector Stick and Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Peach Petal.

Anyways...Just thought I'd share a small haul of skincare and make-up products that I recently purchased from various drugstores around my local town centre. Rather than doing a post to review each item I will give you a collective review on the body and skincare products I purchased and I will review the make-up products in forthcoming posts.

Having settled on the nectarine scented Dove Go Fresh bodywash a few weeks ago and finding that I loved it, I was pretty desperate to find somewhere that hadn't sold out of the pomegranate scent, basically because it was the one I had wanted to buy originally and it's pink :-) yep really sad I know! Anyways I spotted this hidden at the back of Bodycare and swiftly purchased. I'm pleased to say I can completely justify my lusting for this product, it smells gorgeous, the creamy texture is lovely and it lathers up really well with my shower puff. 


As for the moisturiser, I haven't used this quite enough to give you a great review of it and considering the amount of shine control or spot related moisturisers I've tried and own, I'm considering doing some sort of review post specifically on these sort of products.


I absolutely love Aussie products, I very very rarely opt for other shampoo and conditioning products however there's not much I can say about this heat protector spray except for that it smells gorgeous as is usually the case with any Aussie products! I'm not sure it helped protect my hair too much from the heat of my straighteners though if I'm totally honest...but please bare in mind I do have very curly, dry hair so what doesn't work for me may be great for your hair type!

If you would like me to review anything specific, please feel free to let me know and of course any comments are welcome :-)

Barry M Nail Collection & Latest Haul

 

I'm a big fan of Barry M's nail polish range simply because there cheap, the formula is generally good and there's a great selection of colours, although I tend to stick to the same sort of colours as you can see. So after hearing a few beauty bloggers raving about the latest shade peach melba, I immediately popped into my nearest boots only to discover that they didn't even stock it! In the end, I resorted to buying direct from Barry M and was also tempted into purchasing two other pastel shades.

Baby Pink

This is a gorgeous candy toned pastel pink, the photo actually makes it seem less vibrant than it was though. I would say it's a slightly paler, more subtle version of the Models Own shade Pastel Pink which is exactly what I was looking for so I love this.

Blue Moon

I bought this shade as I have been desperately trying to find a pale blue or mint coloured nail polish that would suit my skin tone but unfortunately, I don't think I've succeeded! I'm sure this colour would appeal to paler or darker skin toned ladies but me and blue toned polishes maybe just aren't meant to be...

Peach Melba

I am in love with this shade and I think it would suit lots of different skin tones. The consistency isn't great, it goes on quite streaky at first but after applying two coats this wasn't even an issue.  Even my boyfriend who hates any sort of nail decoration (well just vanity in general) complimented the colour against my skin tone :)

Let me know your thoughts and whether you would like me to do any more swatches. 

Products available from: www.barrym.com