A Weekend Of Bargains!

This weekend just gone was an absolute dream for me, not only due to the fact that my maternal grandparents were visiting, but also for the insane amount of outstanding bargains I managed to pick up! I know full well just how expensive beauty blogging can end up, and so I was thrilled when I found some drugstore makeup and also a couple of high end pieces all for well under said drugstore prices. And why on earth wouldn't I share these little secret spots with you?

Friday: Poundland.
Did someone say £1 Rimmel? Oh yes, me. Pound shops often do sell drug store makeup and I have had quite a few Rimmel products from poundland, but most of them have been unused testers or samples. However after hearing rumours of apocolips, I dashed in to town and went to see if the rumours were true.. and they were. Thank God!


I ended up picking three Apocolips lip lacquer's simply because at £1 you have to grab them while you can. Right now theses are £6.49 at Boots stores which in itself is quite a good deal but obviously is no where near as bargainous as a mere quid! The three shades I picked up unfortunately don't have names on them and most of the writing on the packaging is foreign, however I have been kindly informed by the good people of Instagram that the nude colour is called 'Nude Eclipse'. As you can see from the swatches I bought an intense coral shade which may be stored away until next summer, the for mentioned nude and a deep burgundy colour both of which I feel will be getting possibly overused this Autumn/Winter. Rimmel's Apocolips range is simply amazing in a whole sense, which was quite clearly shown when they were launched and the blogging world went in to mass hype about them, but there's not much to love! Even in the swatches you can see just how thoroughly pigmented they are. They are long lasting and extremely manageable! If the intensity of the colour's isn't for you then you can simply dab a smaller amount on with your finger and blend it into a more natural and less intimidating look. While these are beautiful, they are also just that. Intimidating. They take a fair bit of practice but one you have it down then you will never have boring looks again!

  

I also picked up one of the eyeshadow paints in '002 Slate Grey'. I have to be honest with you here and say I am genuinely unsure of whether I bought this for the product or because it reminded me of the fifty shades trilogy which I am currently obsessing over (again). I am seemingly glad I picked this up though as it is quite pretty. Again this is an intimidating product because the initial outcome of the product is very dark and metallic and completely inappropriate for daily wear. It is much more of a night time look. However as shown in the swatch this blends out in to a lovely pop of colour which looks really very nice in the day time with just a small coat of mascara. It's very simplistic but I cant quite contain my excitement to use this on a night out when I can transform this into a gorgeous and glamorous smoky eye.



The last thing I picked up was this Lycra Pro nail varnish in '391 celebrity bash'. I picked this up because it reminded me of 'rapid ruby', also by Rimmel. Last year I could not put that shade down throughout autumn and so I felt this would be a good replacement. Of all the things I bought over the weekend this is definitely my least favourite due to it being such a stubborn product to use. It's one of those nail varnishes that takes up far too much time and patience as you really need three coats to achieve a perfect finish. Personally this product just pushes me way out of my comfort zone as I can't sit and apply three coats waiting in turn for each coat to dry, resulting in a messy finish. I feel as though there are so many better nail varnishes out there that match the price I paid for this. Particularly MUA cosmetics' nail varnishes that are also one pound each but are much faster drying. I'll definitely be heading in to Superdrug to see what I can find in that range.

Saturday: Boyes.

Chesterfield have recently had a Boyes store open up in the town centre, and as I'm from Hull originally and Boyes are a Yorkshire born brand I was really excited about the opening as I know how awesome Boyes is for bargains. The only thing I picked up was this W7 'In The Buff' Eyeshadow pallet for a mere £4.99. After putting this picture on Instagram I had a comment regarding the fact that this pallet is a near dupe for the Urban Decay 'Naked' Eyeshadow Pallet. Having not owned any of the naked pallets, I couldn't really comment on the similarities between the two. However what I can say is that the quality of these eyeshadows is simply impeccable. This pallet is of a similar standard to the MUA pallets I own which I obviously rave about for pigment, control and lasting purposes and although I haven't had this all that long I can comment that when I have used this the effects have been in turn exact to those of the MUA pallets. These are extremely pigmented and long lasting, and what I like most about this pallet is the range of colours. I'm very much a brown eyeshadow only girl and very rarely stray from neutral tones like this, so this pallet really is a dream for me. There are a mix of matte and shimmer shades ranging from cream to black, with golds and coppers between. The names of the eyeshadows Left to Right are Buff, Camel, Sand, Dust, Chocolate, Topaz, Earth, Storm, Silk, Wave, Thunder and Onyx. I dare say my favourite of all these shades (if I had to pick) would be Thunder. Everything about this pallet appeals to me from the gorgeous rose gold tin packaging to the double ended brush included and I think for under five pounds this is a pallet every girl should own.

Sunday: TK Maxx.
Okay so TK Maxx is where the real bargains of this weekend lie. I picked up two higher end products both of which I am raving over completely and have used daily since I got them.


Firstly is this foundation by Rituals. This is their matt finish foundation with SPF 15 in shade 2. This has a retail price of £20.50 and thanks to the gods that are TK Maxx I picked this up for a whopping reduced price of £4.99. I was amazed to say the very least. Not only was I lucky in terms of the price but also in the fact this was the only one there and was the perfect shade for me. I genuinely have used this daily since I bought it and part of me wishes I wouldn't do that, simply so it would last longer but I can see myself getting through this mighty quickly. This foundation gives initially a medium coverage but it is easily buildable without giving a cakey finish. I apply this using my real techniques stippling brush ensuring is it all buffed nicely into my skin. The finish of this is matte, as advertised, but not in a way that washes you out. It still has a nice glow to it that looks natural and exquisite. It lasts well throughout the day with minimum wear and stays looking fresh and gorgeous. This is one of those products that I feel absolutely great wearing, a real confidence booster, and the price of this has lured me in well and good. I know I will be replacing this time and time again.



The final product of this post is the insanely gorgeous lipgloss from Cargo Cosmetics. This was reduced to £3.99 from £7.50, again being a great cheap price for what you're receiving. I am fully aware that I purchased three lip lacquer's not two days before, but they have unfortunately been over looked by this. This is in the shade 'stockholm' and is a beautiful natural, sheer, pink that just complements the look of the natural lips to a tee. This smells like sweeties which is very enticing in itself, but what's better is the formula. Again this is a sheer but buildable product meaning you can control fully the look you want to achieve. This isn't sticky at all which I love about a lip gloss. There's nothing worse than getting hair stuck all up in your grill while wearing lipstick now is there girls? As this is a gloss it does need topping up every now and again but when a products this beautiful, that's not exactly a chore. I absolutely adore using this product and am very tempted to go back and see the other shades.


So that's it for this mini bargain focused haul. I hope you enjoyed it and that you have been inspired to get out there and search for some bargains of your own! Share what you find with me, I would love to know what else is out there.
Much love, G x

L'Occitane En Provence: 5 Essential Oils Sample Review.

I recently picked up an issue of In Style magazine (October 2014 issue) and with it came two rather generous 50ml samples of shampoo and conditioner created by the ever wonderful L'Occitane. They are advertised as having 5 essential oils in the ingredients which are angelica oil, lavender oil, geranium oil, ylang ylang oil and sweet orange oil (the conditioner also contains sweet almond oil but the shampoo doesn't) so you can initially see how natural of origin the ingredients are which I love in a product.  I'm not the sort of person who religiously purchases magazines for their content, rather their freebies, is that cheeky? When I saw these samples I could not resist picking up a copy and what was more enticing was the price of the magazine was almost cut in half anyway! So I took the plunge and after a week or so of traveling/coming home/sorting out miscellaneous things I finally got around to testing them out. I've ended up with mixed thoughts about the two products and I'd be extremely interested to hear what you thought of them if you have tried them.

Application.
So the first thing I noticed about these products (besides the gorgeously chic packaging) was the intense herbal scent they produce! You really do get a huge hit of something floral/grassy as soon as you start using the products which is reminiscent to me of medicated shampoo. A smell which you either love or hate, and I personally LOVE it! So first things first, top marks on scent!
When using the shampoo I was overcome by both how easily it lathered up in the hair and also how easy it was to work through the scalp and the lengths of the hair. And when rinsed out my hair felt really noticeably clean and quite soft. I did actually do a lather/rinse/repeat of this step as I'd previously had hairspray in but even with two applications of shampoo my hair was still feeling healthily clean.
I then went to use the conditioner and this is where things went downhill. Firstly I noticed there were no directions on the sample bottle so I was unsure how long to leave it in (I ended up going for around 3 minutes) which I find very disconcerting as I don't want to over condition my hair and end up looking greasy as a result. Once I rinsed out the conditioner my hair felt actually a lot dryer than it did after simply shampooing alone and in no way shape or form did it feel conditioned.

Drying.
I left my hair to sit in a towel for around 10/15 minutes before roughly towel drying it. Then I went to comb through it and was so past infuriated. This combination has absolutely no detangling properties in it at all (which are actually stated on the packaging of the conditioner) and so I had to spend around 5 minutes trying to get all the knots out before I could blow dry it, obviously, creating more damage which I have been trying exceptionally hard to avoid. Whilst blow drying I also noticed that my hair was feeling very heavy as if it were full of product and at this point I really was not having a good time at all. Once dry and brushed through my hair did feel quite soft at the roots but you could easily see the damage at the ends of my hair and there was absolutely no help involved for my frizz problem.
The finish of my hair after blow drying was so underwhelming. When I think about all the super oils in these products I expect gorgeous shiny, nourished, healthy looking hair and what I ended up with was a thin and dull hot mess! So while I didn't want to add any more product to my hair due to trying to review two products alone I felt I had to add some of my VO5 Smoothly Does It Heat Protect Serum. This calmed the frizz down, added some shine and set a protective barrier for the styling.

Styling.
At this point I was really fed up of looking at my hair and so decided to straighten it simply for haste and ease reasons. Things began looking up at this point as it straightened really easily and well for a change. Usually I do have to go over it a few times before the ends are straight but this time just once seemed to be enough and I wish I knew what this was down to! I ended up with actually a really nice finish but I can't help but wonder whether that has more to do with the VO5 serum as appose to the shampoo/conditioner. The finish was very lightweight and soft but my hair had absolutely no volume at all which was disheartening.
However, after around an hour of finishing the whole process I can still smell the product very very well which is just swell!

As I said I have been left with very mixed feelings about these products. I think if I saw the shampoo on sale/offer somewhere I might pick it up as that was really nice but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. However the conditioner is just so ridiculous that I don't even think I'll be keeping the rest of the sample. I feel that the shampoo would be better either alone of paired with another conditioner so I might play around with that as I have about 4 uses of the sample left. Unfortunately I have been left extremely disappointed by the duo and genuinely wouldn't recommend them at all. Let me know what you thought about these products in the comments below. I do hope this was helpful to someone!

Much love, G x

August Favourites!

We're in the last third of 2014, did that sneak up on anyone else or is it just me? So August has been and gone as has pretty much the first week of September. I genuinely cannot believe how fast this year is going! August was a pretty hectic month for me but a great one none the less and while I thought there would be loads of beauty products that I would be obsessing over I seem to have stuck to what I know with most things. Thus meaning this post isn't going to be the biggest favourites post ever. What I can say though is that all of the products mentioned have been well and truly loved this month!

1: Rimmel London's Wonder'full Mascara.
So Rimmel London released this mascara not too long ago now and from day one I wanted it in my life and on my lashes! It contains Argan oil which I believe is some what of a conditioner. It also has one of those fancy 'ultra flex' brushes which lets be honest, what's the point? Still, it's rather appealing in it's sexy copper packaging. However, £9 is just too much of a 'should I shouldn't I?' price for me so I was very hesitant on buying this, especially after seeing such mixed reviews online about it. Then came the day that I saw it in Tesco for a mere £4.99 and the deal was sealed! I can honestly say looking back I would have happily paid £9 for this as it's just magical. This has converted me from being a heavy lash lover to actually appreciating a nice natural look and more noticeably a lovely feel! This mascara wipes out that stiff feel to the lashes that often occurs with thicker products which leaves me feeling like my eyes are getting a bit of a break! In terms of giving you a 'full' look I wouldn't agree with that. While it is a lovely formula if anything it creates more of an elongated rather than a voluminous look. One thing I do like is that the brush picks up literally every single eyelash which I find to be a rarity and a very welcome one at that. Since I have used this every single day since purchasing it I felt it only right to include it in my August favourites!



2: Bourjois' Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick in 04 Peach Club.
I am SO late jumping on this bandwagon but I am so glad I finally did! These Bourjois lipsticks are just insanely amazing and are all I could ask a lip product to be. Although they are called 'lipsticks' they're much more of a creamy gloss like substance and remind me a lot of Collection's Lip Creams. The Bourjois ones however are about twice the price but you really do get what you pay for. I chose the shade 'peach club' which is a very orange-toned pink/coral and is gorgeous to say the least. As is practically everything about these, from the classy packaging to the ridiculous staying power. I also love how versatile these are as you can create a very sheer sort of tinted look or a full blown bold lip, or if you're feeling adventurous take note that these work quite well as cream blushes too. Once applied this stuff isn't going anywhere, it doesn't bleed or fade even through general every day necessities like eating making it one hell of a high quality product. If you haven't tried any of these I highly recommend that you do. The hardest part will be picking your shade!




3: Maybelline New York's Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow in 40 Permanent Taupe.
I purchased this quite a while ago and was seemingly disappointed with it. I found it to be more of an ash grey shade than anything near the brown you would associate with 'Taupe'. It made a nice alternative eyeliner shade for a while but was a faff to apply so I gave up with it pretty quickly. That is until I decided it was time to start maintaining my eyebrows. I'm not usually one to bother with my brows as they've never really been unruly however I thought that it was time to neaten them up a bit and give them a bit of shape. I have relatively sparse hairs through my brows and so I was on the hunt for something to apply to them and all I could find was an old Rimmel brow pencil that was too dark for my now lightened hair. That's when I picked up this and got curious. Yep, it was a success. While it is still maybe a shade or two dark it's nothing remarkably noticeable and the ash shade works pretty well. I apply this with an angled eyeliner brush through my lashes to add definition and shape, and I am left with a very nice well groomed finish. I do love a multi-functional product!



4: Vivo's Under Eye Concealer in Shade 1 Light.
 This is not the world's best concealer by any standards. In fact it is very translucent and weak. I bet you're wondering why this is classed as a monthly favourite. I have been loving this over the past month for it's highlighting properties. While it isn't shimmery it leaves the skin with a gorgeous dewy glow and so for most of the month I have been replacing my powder highlighters with this. I apply it in the same places I would a powder and just blot it in with my fingers. I am left with such a gorgeous healthy radiance, as though my skin is really well hydrated, but without the appearance that makeup has created this affect. It is such a natural and beautiful finish and is actually a lot easier than applying a powder as you can't really apply too much. I do use this under the eyes if I am applying makeup first thing in the morning not for the concealing effect (that isn't there), but as it has a metal rollerball applicator that is extremely cooling and seems to reduce any puffiness from my sleep. Again, another awesome multi-functional product.



5: Pro Formula's Radiance Melting Gel Cleanser.
I've gone and found myself another holy grail product! I picked this up in Tesco for a tiny £3, bargain! I am so obsessed with this. This is a melting cleanser and so when you apply the gel to the face and begin to massage it in, it turns into an oil which breaks up and dissolves makeup and other nasties. When you then apply water to the cleanser it turns to a milky substance and glides off the skin without leaving you feeling sticky. This product contains green tea and vitamin E complex and so smells absolutely divine and probably does a lot of good stuff for the skin (Can you tell I'm no dermatologist or what? haha). Since using this my skin had felt a lot more clean and nourished and a lot of the redness in my face has died down as the product has been clearing up my complexion. I am such a lazy person when it comes to skin care and admittedly baby wipes are my best friends, however since purchasing this I don't think there's been a day where I haven't used it. I enjoy using it so much and I just adore how it leaves my skin feeling afterwards. I already know this is going to be a repurchase product for a long long time!



6: Calcot Manor's The Lazy Evening Gentle Salt Scrub.
Another skin care product that I have been obsessing over is this salt scrub from Calcot Manor. Again this is an old product that got shoved aside and is now rediscovered and this time I can't put it down. I use this twice a week in the shower and my body is now so soft it's unbelievable. I was suffering from a few dry spots on my arms and after using this for around a week and a half they had completely cleared up. This is quite a harsh exfoliate with large bits of sea salt in it but it doesn't by any means irritate the skin as there is such a generous amount of almond oil which just hydrates and softens to no end! You really do not need a great deal of this product to do even your whole body so I can tell this will last me so long and there isn't much concern of it going out of date as there is a 36 month (3 year) use guideline on it. I feel as though I wont be putting this down again throughout autumn/winter which I am perfectly content with as it's such a treat to use!



Favourite Instagram Account: BOULTBEEABLE!
My absolute favourite Instagrammer of August was by no doubt Grace Boultbee. Why? Simply for the picture below. How immensely perfect is that winged liner? I am so jealous of that talent! Grace is from my hometown and is such a lovely girl. She always has something nice to say and our opinions on the 'bank of mum and dad' are extremely similar! Haha! Her Instagram account to me screams 'keeping it real', she hasn't got a themed account which I love. If she wants to post something she will and I admire that so much. Overall Grace is so beautiful and funny and deserves to be followed by anyone who is reading this now! So if you're not, why? Go follow her and show her some love!

Grace's Instagram Here.


So that's it for August! Although we're only 4 days into September I've already had so many awesome things happen that I could write about and when there's another three birthdays to come this month I'm sure there'll be a lot more happening. I'm aiming to post a lot more this month and already have a few posts lined up! Be sure to comment below if you have any questions for me regarding any of the products in this post or if you have any ideas of future posts for me. I love feedback!

Much love, G x