Superdrug haul!

Hi di hi! 

As it's coming up to Christmas I wasn't expecting to be using the word haul around here at least until the end of the month, but Christmas means cold weather and cold weather means dry skin, dry skin means sadness and that's just not allowed at Christmas time, it's the law right?

Oh the guilty conscious, you would think I had just dropped a fortune in Chanel...

...unfortunately not, but I did pick up some nice bits and pieces.

-Superdrug Brightening hot cloth cleanser 150ml

I started using this when my last Liz Earle cleanse and polish ran out, I really like the whole cleanse and polish method when it comes to cleansing my skin and I can't say that I noticed a great deal of difference between the two in terms of what they do for the appearence of my skin, I actually prefer the smell (and price) of this one so I shall continue to repurchase it.

-Garnier Micellar cleansing water 400ml

I got so excited when I saw this! A new contender to be a drugstore bioderma dupe! I've never actually tried bioderma but the whole cleansing water concept has always held my curiosity so I shall keep you posted as soon as I have given this a try.

-Garnier moisture match
24hr hydrating moisturiser-Dry to very dry skin 50ml

I wrote a full review on this earlier in the year (here) I love it, my skin loves it, and although it is always reasonably priced it was on offer for a teeny £2.98 today so my purse now loves it too!

Also I was in the market for a new mascara....dry,clumpy lashes actually make reindeer cry, and don't let me get started on what happens to them when you pass up a 3 for 2....(Oh for goodness sake what is my life??)

-Rimmel Glam eyes Day 2 night mascara

 Nothing new here, I remember there being a massive hype around this when it first came out either last year or the year before, I can't keep up, I didn't actually give it a go back then and wasn't really planning to pick it up but then I spotted the 2 nail polishes and grabbed it to make up the 3 for 2...

-Rimmel Salon Pro Kate Moss 711 'Punk rock'

Around 2 years ago I was obsessed with a NARS nail polish 'Galion' was it's name, I speak in the past tense, it is still available but as much as I have ogled it on line and stroked it in Space NK that one time, my nails are pretty rubbish so I have never justified forking out £14 for it and always had my eye out for a dupe, this my friends is the dupe! A dark 'stormy' grey with an undertone of purple, this picture does it no justice it is actually the polish dreams are made of  (well my very strange dreams anyway ;)) 

-Rimmel Finishing touch glitter top coat

Who can resist glittery nails in December? This is one of the 3 new topcoats from Rimmel a clear base laden with fine Gold and multicolour glitter I swatched this sneakily in the shop, (naughty and not advised especially in certain branches of Superdrug where you will be made to feel like a reprobate for doing so!) and it has to be the most perfect sparkly yet subtle finish for festive fingertips!!

So that's it no more spending for me, the word haul is now banished from this blog until Santa has been and gone, but do let me know if you are guilty of buying yourself pre-Christmas treats (It will make me feel lots better!)

xxx

Video: Massive collective Make-up/skincare Haul

Evening all,

So last week I was a lucky so and so and won two competitions, both of which had the best kind of prizes, Make-up YAY!! *happy dance* The first one that I won was held by Glossybox UK on their Twitter account, I entered in the morning and completely forgot all about it until I was sat reading a magazine at tea time and my phone buzzed through a Twitter notification informing me of my win, well I was chuffed to bits I cant even tell you how giddy I was, ooh maybe I should have told you that the prize was a beautiful set of Rouge bunny Rouge make-up, which included a v.expensive bottle of bronzing liquid, a luxe lip balm and one of the most beautiful eye shadows I have ever seen!! Needless to say I was grinning like a Cheshire cat for the rest of the night :D 

Image from motifake.com

A couple of days later I was sitting on my bum minding my own when I got a tweet from the very lovely Gem telling me that I was the winner of her 500 blog followers give away, to be honest It had completely slipped my mind that I had entered, so had to toddle along to Gem's blog to check out the prize, which left me a little bit gobsmacked as it was the biggest most generous lot of make-uppy goodness and Cheshire cat grinning was resumed!! :D

Do you want to see?

I made a rather long video today, but I hope you guys don't mind too much. I tried to make it entertaining during the editing process ;)

Big thanks to Glossybox and Gem for holding such generous giveaway's

xxx

Leeds shopping: MAC and Liz Earle

Hey Girls,
Yesterday my friend Lisa and I had tickets to the mind, body and beauty show in Leeds, we rocked up all giddy expecting to be attending a show along similar lines to Olympia or Professional beauty...how very wrong we were....In reality it was a tiny room inside the Northern ballet building in which a few random local business' had set up display's of their offerings on paste tables, the majority were non beauty related. After fending of the dodgy watch salespeople, sampling (and pretending we loved while trying not to vom) some rank yet expensive skincare, escaping a lengthy lecture from the Church of England and an even lengthier Tai chi demonstration we did manage to get our eyebrows threaded and a shellac manicure for a tenner before escaping to the city centre for some much needed retail therapy.

I knew Leeds was supposed to be great for shopping but I couldn't believe just how amazing it actually was, the shops are all so pretty and you are completely spoilt for choice, you really do need a full day (and an even fuller bank account) to get around them all.

I would like to move there now please.

So as I'm pretty broke at the moment I had a budget, which was rather frustrating, but I decided my money would probably be best spent in a shop which us country bumpkins don't often get a chance to visit.Harvey Nichols.What a wonderful place, full of beautiful people it is!Once inside we were excitedly fondling the Alexander Wang Rocco bag while the snotty Balenciaga girls gave us evils, I had a feeling they sensed our  budget so we headed over to the sanctuary of the MAC counter where I picked up...

'SNOB' Lipstick and Studio sculpt foundation

Seen as though we were in Harvey Nichols I thought it fitting to buy 'snob' a lilac toned pink (satin finish) which I have never owned before, and has great potential to become a favourite.

I have also never owned studio sculpt foundation but it has been on my list of foundations to try for such a long time. I used it today and on first impression I really like it, it's a medium/full coverage and gives a dewy finish. Watch this space for a full review.

Also in Leeds city centre is an actual Liz Earle SHOP and it's a corker! I had to go in and repurchase the cleanse and polish hot cloth cleanser!

If you have a blog and have recently reviewed the Liz Earle Cleanse and polish, then you may have had a comment from me moaning about how my skin has missed mine since I ran out a couple of months ago, and it really has! Not too often will you hear me give a product Holy grail status, but this cleanser really is, for want of a better phrase "The absolute nuts". 

The sales assistant was lovely and because she asked me if I had purchased from Liz Earle before I had to explain that I was a Blogger and got certain products sent to me from the PR, she asked all about my blog which was lovely and told me that she usually watches Pixiwoo and we had a chat about Nic's baby, it's such a small world! Oh and when you purchase something from the shop you get a free sample size gift of your choice, I chose the skin repair moisturiser which at 15ml is a very generous amount of product, and I'm sure to fall in love with it aren't I?

xxx

Review: Liz Earle Sheer Skin tint

Hey lovelies,
This is a very long overdue review of the Liz Earle sheer skin tint, I really wanted to give this product a thorough road test before sharing my thoughts, and because I favour a medium coverage from a base on a day to day basis, I haven't always allowed myself to reach for this product, but better late than never eh? ;)

Generally I am not a fan of tinted moisturisers and haven't purchased one for myself in years, the reason for this is that if I do ever find myself wanting uber light coverage I will mix a light foundation into my moisturiser and save my money. However I do count the Liz Earle cleanse and polish as one of my holy grail items which truly worked wonders for my skin! So when I was given the opportunity to try the brand's first ever cosmetic product I was really excited to give it a go.

I really don't want to write a long winded review, as Liz Earle have done the PR rounds with this and there are a million and one reviews on it already, so I'll try and make it snappy...

Application/coverage/finish
When I initially applied it to the back of my hand I was pleasantly surprised by it's creamy texture, this fooled me into thinking that maybe it was going to blend off to a heavier than expected finish, but no, it does feel ultra rich on application but blends off to a barely there, dewy finish and leaves the skin feeling incredibly hydrated, and soft.

Click to enlarge

Left (Skin tint applied to the back of my hand)
Top (Blended slightly)
Bottom (Blended out completely)

Shade range
Sheer skin tint comes in three shades
01 Bare (for very pale skin tones)
02 Beige (for medium skin tones)
03 Beach (for tanned/olive skin tones)

I (being naturally NC20-25) chose 02 Beige which LE claims will work well on most Caucasian skin tones, and I agree as it has no stand out undertone of pink or yellow, tone wise it strikes a fabulous balance between the two. However with a (fake) tan it becomes too pale for me and I would definitely need to go up a shade.
The three shades that are available seem to cover a very broad spectrum of skin tones, although I do think there should be a shade available for darker skin as the darkest one available would not work on black skin.


Price and availability
Liz Earle Sheer skin tint is priced at £21.00 for 40ml and is available online at Lizearle.com, John Lewis, or at one of the Liz Earle stores in the UK, Store Information can be found here.


Conclusion
The skin tint is a lovely, value for money product and demonstrates how good Liz Earle are at making great skincare.If you are a fan of tinted moisturisers then I would recommend this wholeheartedly, likewise if you are new to make-up and the idea of wearing foundation freaks you out. Personally I don't think I will ever be a skin tint/tinted moisturiser kind of girl, while I'm all for skin looking like skin, I need me some coverage.

*This product was provided by Liz Earle PR