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

Kate Spade for Nails inc FREE in Glamour magazine!

British magazines are amazing when it comes to dishing out (decent) free beauty products and Glamour magazine never fails to disappoint with its offerings. This month there are 4 Kate Spade for Nails inc full sized nail polishes to choose from worth £11 each! Admittedly now a days I only ever buy magazines for the free gifts but I do really like having a flick through Glamour magazine so for £2 its a win win! 

As I said there are 4 shades in the range a Gold metallic (Uptown glamour), a Silver metallic (Soho Silver), a Red (Big apple Red), and a Black (New York Noir) all very festive themed, sparkly and lovely! I picked up the Gold shade as its one that I have nothing similar to in my collection and not a colour I would usually wear so I thought I'd use the fact that it's a freebie to try out something different!

 I applied "Uptown Glamour" and my first thought was "Oooh this is like Gold member in a bottle" it is like pure liquid gold! I applied 2 coats because I always do but it's pretty opaque and you could easily get away with one coat. The formula is delightful it applies smoothly and dried really quickly leaving a pretty festive metallic sheen and although I don't feel like a convert to Gold nail polish,  if you are a fan then this is definitely worth you getting!

 Because of how nice, and more importantly how fast drying the formula is my decision to just pick up the one colour (what was I thinking?!) has now been re thought and I'm off to pick up the Red and Black ones as well! 

Are you planning on picking these up?

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

Love you, Love you not #1

This is going to be the first in a little series about the products in my collection which I find myself reaching for alot and then being torn between my feelings of love and hate for. I thought I would put down in words the pro's and con's of these products and with a little help from you guys come up with a verdict on whether certain products are really worth ignoring the con's for.
Soooo this week's item in the dock is....

Seche vite-Fast drying top coat

Pro's

• SUPER quick drying time 
• High gloss finish

Con's 

• Strong headache inducing chemical scent 
• Warning on the back of the product that states that Seche Vite contains a chemical that may cause birth defects!
• Product becomes thick and gloopy after a few months making it necessary to purchase a bottle of thinner (really?come on!)
• After a couple of days wear nail polish peels off in huge chunks.

Verdict

While writing up my list of pro's and con's on Seche Vite, I came up with the cons so quickly, and aside from the drying time (around 2 minutes!) found it difficult to think of any other positives. 

For an impatient soul like myself minimal drying time is massively important as without it I get bored, fidget, smudge then either find myself starting over or removing the lot and not bothering at all, this is why I have chosen for so long to ignore the negatives and persevere with "The world's finest top coat". So the jury's out until I can find a really fast drying top coat that doesn't make me anxious about putting my hands near my mouth every time I wear it (seriously what is in this stuff??).

What are your thoughts on Seche Vite?

What is everyone's favourite quick drying top coat?

My latest favourite Nail polish combo!

Hey Girls,

So as this is a combination of polishes that are a) brand new and exciting and b) one that I have painted my nails with twice in one week, which to me is when I know that I have found a new favourite! I thought I would share with you what I have been loving to wear on my nails for the past week...

L-R NYC Expert last nail polish Lights,camera glitter (105) and Barry M Mint Green (304)

Lights,camera glitter is my first and only bottle of NYC polish and I don't really know too much about the line if im honest.This particular polish is clear,with silver glitter running all the way through it and larger pieces of Blue and Purple glitter that spread out randomly when applied giving each nail a unique appearance which I really like :) I find that it needs a couple of coats to get a nice amount of the larger glitter pieces onto the nails as on occasion I have had just one or two pieces apply to my nail and I definitely prefer a few more than that.

Good old Barry does it again with another beauty of a polish!! I dont think I own a Barry M polish that I dont like, in fact every time I pick up a new one its always my new favourite! Mint Green is no exception! A beautiful pastel Green which is perfect for the warmer months, applies opaque in two coats and although I was kind of hoping for an Essie Mint candy apple dupe (which I think leans a little more blue) I am chuffed to bits to add this to my Barry collection and am sure that I will get through this bottle by the end of the year as its just delish!

What are your favourite Barry M polishes? And has anyone tried any of the other NYC polishes?


ooh also I was tagged by the lovely Hannah to do the 50 random questions video so if you would like to see that you can check it out here  :)
xxx

Kim Kardashian made me do it!! Chanel Black Pearl!

Ok I was going to let any desire for this beauty of a Nail polish pass me by,I mean I have really never been a massive nail polish obsessive (until recently!) and although I am admittedly somewhat of a spendthrift,spending £17 on one nail varnish is not something I have ever done before and seems like a crazy amount of money to fork out on one small bottle of polish!

But as the title says...this frivolous purchase was not entirely my fault, ooooh no it was not! After watching 'Kim and Kourtney take New York' ,I noticed Kim wearing it in a couple of episodes and it just looked so gorgeous that I couldn't get it out of my head,anyway I had a couple of hours to kill in town this afternoon while my dog was being hacked at the groomers (they literally scalped him!!!) So I took the plunge, So actually Teddy is to blame aswell as Kim ha! 


I literally couldn't get it on my nails fast enough..and here are the results... 

Defo needing a manicure by the looks of my cuticles so close-up!! But that aside,I am so happy I purchased this! It applies like a dream is opaque in two coats and each coat dries in less than 5 minutes! 

I also now feel one step closer to becoming Kim Kardashian haha! 

A couple of other purchases I made today which I have no one to blame other than myself for!!

1. Sleek Pan-Tao Blush from the Avoir la peche collection 

2.MUA Lipstick- shade 7

3.Sleek Pout Polish- Powder pink

And the swatches...

L-R 

Sleek Pout Polish-Powder pink

MUA Lipstick-Shade 7

Sleek Pan-tao Blush

Im really pleased that the Pan-tao blush was back in stock at superdrug today as I was so gutted after swatching it last week when I found that they had ran out! Anyway these few little goodies will be keeping me happy for a while.
Im obsessed with Sleek and MUA at the moment especially the lipsticks and Blushers in peaches and pinks!! 

What have you been obsessing over lately??

Essie polishes for peanuts!

Beauty express is a site that somehow I have managed to forget about since I worked in a Beauty salon and used to order from them for my boss,but an e-mail I received earlier on today listing their newest additions to the Essie nail polish range captured my attention... Essie Polishes £4.65 with free next day delivery (if ordered before noon) niiiice!

I love Essie Nail Polishes,the colour range is fantastic and they last for ages! I'm also a sucker for anything with a cute name! Saying this the last time I used Essie was a couple of years back when I used to paint my nails with whatever colour caught my eye in the salon,it was like having my own personal collection I really loved that!!

Anyway when payday rolls around I have my eye on these beauties!

Mink Muffs mwah haha (childish, but I bet you laughed! )

Jam N Jelly- Perfect for toes!

Mint Candy apple 

Over the top-Is this a Dupe for Chanel black pearl??

 I'm thinking its a contender!

With nearly 80 shades to choose from I could add at least 10 more to the list but these 4 are my top picks and I'm excited to try out 'Over the top' and see if it will save me £12 on the Chanel although I have got my mind pretty much set on it now, I'm sure Kim.K had it on  Kim and Kourtney take New York last week and ever since I cant stop harping on about it!!

Check out Beauty express' Essie range here

What are your fave Essie colours?