Lakeside Shopping Haul Part 2

As you may know, a few weeks ago I went shopping with my friends in Lakeside. It is fair to say that I may have gone a little overboard on this day investing in a lot of makeup especially. Therefore I have dedicated this part of the haul to primarily makeup and beauty items but have thrown in my biggest and best purchase of the trip at the end just to top it all off! Let's go!
  You know that you are in trouble when you walk into Boots and they are doing a 3 for 2 promotion across their whole beauty and cosmetics range. This means you can get makeup, brushes and accessories included in this deal and I needed no invitation to make full use of this offer. I may have accidentally ended up buying 6 products but I am so pleased with them.
 One of the first things I wanted to do in Boots was to check out the Sleek makeup. I have been a huge fan of their blushes over the past year and for the past two months have fallen in love with their eyeshadow palettes. Where I live the Boots and Superdrug stores aren't big enough to sell Sleek so it was time to stock up in Lakeside.
  After looking at the palettes in the flesh I opted for the 'Ultra mattes v2 darks' palette because I have been all about matte recently. This palette contains entirely matt shades and the pigmentation of them is incredible. Like the Au Naturel palette the shades blend really nicely and I love the range of colours here. The huge mirror also is really handy if you are on the go and I love that each shade has it's own name like 'Villian' and 'Orbit.' The palettes are also so affordable, costing just £7.99 for 12 shades.

Since discovering the Real Technique makeup brushes, it has transformed the way that I apply my makeup. The contour and buffing brush have been two of my favourites so far and so I decided it was time to invest in a new blush brush. The Real Techniques blush brush cost £9.99 I still can't get over how soft it is and how easy it is to apply makeup with this. It makes product blend so flawlessly and it is the perfect shape and size.

As I've mentioned a thousand times before, I love sleek blushes. Everything to the packaging to the colour range to how easy they are to apply and the beautiful finish they give, it is hard to fault them. Whilst I had to make the most of stocking up on Sleek products I decided it was time to invest in some more blushes. Three to be exact. The first was a shade called 'Coral' which in the pan looks to be a really unique orange/pink colour. It reminds me of the shade 'Flushed' because it looks matte on first inspection but it does contain the slightest bit of shimmer.

 

The next shade that I bought was 'Pixie Pink' which is a gorgeous light pink which is very matt. However from first impressions it doesn't seem at all chalky and I'm expecting this to be great for the summer. It isn't half as bright as 'Flamingo' but it looks a much cooler tone and is so beautiful to look at in the pan. 
 The final Sleek blush I bought on this shopping trip is another matte shade called 'Life's a Peach.' In the pan this shade appears to be a very bright and slightly scary orange. However, I didn't let this put me off when I first bought Flamingo and I turned out to love it and so I thought that I would give this shade a spin. Although this may not be a shade suitable for all year round (well it could be, we will find out when I test it out!) I think it will be great for summer, especially when you have a little bit of a tan. One of the biggest advantages of these blushes is that they are so affordable at only £4.49 each and this is part of the reason why my collection of them has grown so big so quickly.
  My final purchase to finish off my Boots splurge I decided that I would buy a product that I had never previously tried. A lot of my drugstore purchases recently have been lip products, so much so that my storage is getting a bit overrun with lipsticks, crayons and balms. Nevertheless, I still decided that it would be a good idea to buy another lipstick(!) After trying and really liking the Revlon Matte balms recently and having never tried a Revlon lipstick I opted to go for a shade from their 'Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick' collection. To be honest there wasn't many shades in this collection but I picked up the shade 'Stormy Pink' because it thought it looked the best on the back of my hand. Haha. This cost me £7.49 but it turned out to be one of the free items in the deal.  
 By the time we managed to get round to going into Superdrug, it was near the end of the day. Out of a matter of interest I innocently went to look at the Sleek counter in Superdrug just to see if they were selling anything different to Boots. As a matter of fact they were. To celebrate 50 years of Superdrug Sleek have released a limited edition eyeshadow palette called the Showstoppers palette. This palette consists of 7 shimmery and 5 matte shades. Honestly I probably didn't need this palette but because it was limited edition and I loved a couple of the shades especially I decided to buy it. Superdrug were also doing a 3 for 2 on all cosmetics too and so I thought that I might as well take advantage of the offer. This palette cost £7.99  

As I had not bought a new nail polish in a while I decided to have a little look at what Rimmel had on offer. I was aware that Rita Ora recently bought out a range of nail polishes and Colour Rush Balms, but one of the repackaged lasting finish polishes actually caught my eye. This shade is called 'Fancy a Dip' and is a lovely blue shade. I think it is really unique because it isn't a pale blue or a royal blue but it looks slightly lilac and is completely different to the other shades I own. This retails at £2.99 which is so affordable and I'm really excited to try this shade out really soon.
 After buying a lot of the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly collection nail polishes last summer it was good to see that they have released some more shades for this summer. I've noticed a lot of the new colours focus on pastel shades and these really appeal to me. I've been really attracted to blue tones and shades recently and so whilst browsing the new shades on offer 'Huckleberry' stood out to me. It is a really pale almost white blue shade and I think this will look absolutely amazing alongside tanned skin. It is really similar to the shade Blue Moon from the original Barry M nail polishes but I'm sure the added shine will make a big difference to the appearance of this shade. It costs £3.99 like with the other Hi-Shine polishes in the collection.
  Now on the way to the checkout in Superdrug I noticed that they were selling the Tanya  Burr Cosmetics. I've really wanted to try out some things from her collection ever since they were launched but this was the first time I had seen them in the flesh.
 I decided to try out just one product to start with because I didn't want to go crazy buying a product that I had never tested before and so opted for the nail polish in the shade Little Duck because I had seen some photos of this shade and loved it. I plan on writing a full review on this product, especially because it has been receiving some incredible hype over the blogging and Youtube world recently. This nail polish set me back £5.99 which I thought was quite a bit for a polish but until I try it out I won't know if it is worth the money.
 Tanya Burr's nail polish concludes the beauty and cosmetic part of my haul and I have a load of products now that I will be vigorously testing over the coming weeks and months. There is just one more product that I bought in Lakeside as a treat to myself.
About 5 years ago now my mum and step-dad got me a iPod Nano as a Christmas present from New York. I have had so much use out of my iPod over the years and I have loved using it but now it is starting to show signs of age because the buttons have started to become temperamental. I have been thinking about buying a new one now for about 6 months and decided in Lakeside that I would make the investment. I went into the Apple store and it was so easy to pay and get hold of one and I love it. Once again I went for the limited edition Red and Apple puts some of the money you pay for the iPod towards helping people in Africa who are suffering with AIDS. I haven't had a chance to properly set it up yet because I want to organise all my music first but I am so excited to start using it. It will be going everywhere with me when it is ready to go and I was actually impressed that the 16GB version only cost £129. I seem to remember my 8GB one cost me around £100 when I got that so I definitely got a lot for my money.  

April 2014 Favourites!

With Spring officially here and the sun shining more, we are already quarter of the way through 2014. This month I've been so busy working but with a few bank holidays and Easter happening it has also been nice to have a few days for rest and relaxation. Here are the products and things which have made April awesome.

Beauty/Makeup

Revlon Colorburst Balm:

Whilst I was out shopping with two of my friends at the start of the month, we realised that Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on all of their makeup. After deciding to buy three lip products, one of my friends recommended to me the Revlon colorburst balms which I had never used before. I actually ended up buying two of them and ever since I have loved using them. I bought two matte shades, one pink and one deep red, and they look amazing. They also smell like mint which I was surprised at when I first got them but since then I have loved the scent. They are great if you are looking for a crayon- styled lip product which hasn't got the common sweet vanilla scent to them. The mint in these makes your lips feel so fresh and hydrated and is certainly a nice change. 

Maybelline Colorsensational lipstick:
As well as the Revlon balms I also picked up a lipstick from the Maybelline Colorsensational range. I had previously picked up two others and loved them so much I wanted to expand my collection. These lipsticks are so pigmented, hydrating and they have a lovely range of colours. I personally find it quite hard to find a red lipstick that I think suits me and in this range I think I've fallen in love with all of the reds. I've even got my eye on a coral shade for the summer which is something totally different to what I would usually buy. These are also so affordable and the packaging is amazing. The tube is a different colour plastic depending on the shade of lipstick you buy and are similar to the Revlon ones in terms of packaging although I am yet to try them.


Sleek Au Naturel Eyeshadow Palette:
My final makeup favourite is a product that has been kept away in my drawer since January. Before using this product I was going to invest in some new decent eye brushes as I thought it would make the end product better. Oh how I regret waiting this long to use this product. It is the Au Naturel eyeshadow palette from Sleek. I've still not got any new brushes but I decided to try using the palette with my old ones and I have been loving the results. The palette I got is a mixture of both matte and shimmery shades, all of which are wearable everyday and in the evening time. I plan on writing a full review on this palette because it has changed the way I do my makeup, especially when I am getting ready for a night out.

Fashion

New Look Heels:

As a treat to myself towards the end of the month I decided to buy myself yet another pair of shoes. However this time I was rather sensible and decided that I actually needed a new pair of shoes to wear on a night out because I actually don't have many of these in my wardrobe. When I saw these black suede platform sandals on the shelf I knew they would be coming home with me. They cost £30 and are actually surprisingly comfortable. I wore them recently on a night out and managed the whole night in them (which included dancing, stairs and walking to a nightclub down a hill from the pub) which is very good for me. They came off just when we were leaving the club because it would have taken around 4 hours to get home but I still call it a success. When they are fully broken in they will be even better!
Gap Checked Shirt:

This shirt from GAP  would have been in my December, January, February and March favourites purely because I have been wearing it so much since I got it for Christmas. I don't usually shop in GAP but picked this shirt up in one of their sales for just £14.99 (reduced from £30) and it is probably the most comfortable and best looking shirts I've bought. I love that it is long sleeved and I love the checked pattern. I probably won't get as much wear from it in the summer but when Autumn and Winter comes around again I'm sure it will make another appearance.



New Look Blazer:

My final fashion favourite this month has been my New Look blazers. At the end of last month I purchased a bright red one from New Look and have been regularly wearing it for both casual and evening occasions. It is of a great quality, with a cream lining and is a great shape and flatters my figure. I have loved this so much that I went back and bought the same one again in a mint green colour and these two have been the main thing that I've been wearing this month. I've found them to be so versatile, pairing them with plain tops and also printed logo tops as well. They also brighten up an otherwise dull outfit and with the sun shining a bit more they just make you feel happy and confident whilst you are wearing them. If the bright colours aren't for you, New Look are also stocking a navy version which is also very appealing.
Food/Drink

Sweet Potato Fries:
This month I have been absolutely loving sweet potato. Whenever I have been out for dinner, I have always scanned the menu for sweet potato fries and have ordered when they have been there. I've preferred them over ordinary fries this month and I'm hoping to make some home-made ones myself or use sweet potato more when cooking in my own home.
Ben & Jerry's Half Baked Ice Cream:
This month I have also gone through a stage of craving ice cream. In particular at the start of the month Morrisons had a deal on all Ben & Jerry's costing only £2.15 for 500ml. This was great because it usually costs nearly £5 and so it was a great bargain. I have been especially loving the half baked flavour, which is half cookie dough and half chocolate fudge brownie which has been very addicting.
Disarronno:
My final food and drink favourite this month has been Disaronno. This is an alcoholic beverage and so should only be consumed if you are of the legal drinking age but this has been amazing. When mixed with Coca Cola it tastes exactly like Dr Pepper and because of this it is so easy to drink too much of it. It has been my drink of choice whilst out too and also it is slightly more expensive than some of the other spirits it is worth it. Some places do make it extremely strong though so make sure you like the taste of Amaretto before you order one. Served best with ice and lime!

Music

The Vamps:
Ever since I discovered The Vamps on YouTube last summer, I have been regularly listening to both their original songs and also their covers. I especially loved their performance in the Radio 1 Live Longue and their cover of Jason Derulo's 'Trumpets.' They have also recently released their debut album and I'm looking forward to listening to it. I've heard a few songs from it so far and some of my favourites are 'Somebody to You' and 'Last Night.'
Radio 1:
I've been a big fan of Radio 1 for years now, but I went through a phase where I found I wasn't listening the station as much. However this month I've rediscovered my love for the station and have been regularly listening to the shows throughout the day. I've noticed that they play a lot of different music too so I've been getting into some music that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise. My favourite shows include Fearne Cotton, Greg James, The breakfast show with Grimmy and Dan & Phil on Sunday evenings from 7pm.

Films/TV

Formula One:
The Formula One season is officially back and we are already 5 races into the season. I have loved watching qualifying sessions and the races once again although there have been some early mornings and falling asleep during races involved after being out the night before. With a huge change in the regulations and the introduction of V6 'power units' the field seems to be much closer together apart from if you are Hamilton or Rosberg in the Mercedes, which has won every single race so far. Hamilton has just wrapped up his 4th win in a row and has made British Formula One history by becoming the most successful British driver in history for the most pole positions. We are now moving into the European part of the season, which sees the drivers and teams visit some of my favourite tracks and I'll be excited to see if Mercedes can continue their dominance and whether or not McLaren can become more competitive.

Random

New Car:
When I started my new job last year, the first thing that I decided to save up for would be a new car. Although there is nothing wrong with my 2003 Ford Fiesta I just fancied a change and had my eye on one of the new Ford Fiestas for a while. Originally I wasn't going to buy a brand new car but as it turned out it was cheaper for me and more practical to take the plunge. I ordered the car at the end of March and have been so excited for it to arrive. I went for the colour 'Frozen White' and had privacy glass added to the rear windows and had parking sensors fitted to the back of the car because it wasn't going to affect the price of the car too much.

Ear Piercings:
Throughout the month of April I have been nursing and taking care of two new piercings. One Saturday me and my friends visited a local piercer and I decided to perhaps stupidly get three at the same time. I already had my lobes pierced once, but wanted them pierced again so had one in each ear followed by having my tragus pierced on my left ear. At the time it was painful and I almost fainted but now that they are healing I've found myself wanting more. I love my new piercings and definitely don't regret them.

 

Lush Lip Scrub Review

 

With Winter seemingly coming to an end and with spring a step closer, I have been desperately trying to keep my lips in tip top condition, especially with the ever-changing weather conditions here in the UK. Luckily this little gem from Lush has been doing just the trick.

It is of course, the lush lip scrub and it has been a total saviour for me. I've always been a huge fan of treatments such as Vasaline, yet have never bought into the concept of using scrubs, until now.

 

On a recent trip to Lush in Cambridge I decided it was about time I got myself one of these scrubs, especially because my sister had been raving about them for quite some time and even managed to use all of hers up before I got my hands on my own!

The scrubs themselves cost a reasonable £5.95 (ish) and for your money you get a 25g sized jar, which surprisingly, lasts you an amazing amount of time.

There is also the opportunity to pick from three flavours, bubblegum, popcorn and a chocolate mint too I think. Of the three the bubblegum scent instantly drew me in and is definitely my favourite of the three scrubs. This is probably because I'm a sucker for sweet scents and this smells AMAZING.

 

So the concept here is that you use this to buff and scrub your lips, which does so incredibly well, I do notice a difference in the condition of my lips even after the first use. As an additional bonus you can even lick off the excess scrub afterwards and I can confirm that the bubblegum scrub tastes as good as it smells!

Lush obviously recommend you follow up this scrub by using one of their lip balms, which I am as of yet to try, but I've been using Vasaline afterwards which has been working perfectly well.

 

If you are looking for a new product to treat your lips to, or if you think they are in need of some TLC, then look no further than the Lush lip scrubs. They are worth every penny that you pay, and to be perfectly honest these had me hooked from the first smell of them.

Lush Christmas Gift Box

For Christmas, which was now technically last year, I was lucky enough to receive one of Lush's gift boxes as a gift from my sister. I have never previously had one of these so I was so excited to try it out, yet didn't want to use the products because they all smelt amazing!

Over the past month, bath time has definitely been treat time as I have been able to use some brilliant products. Each bath has been so relaxing and now that I've nearly used the whole box up I am feeling quite sad.

The box I received focused heavily on rose scented products and I was actually surprised by the amount of products I actually got inside. 

 

 

As soon as I opened the box I knew that I would enjoy using these products, they smell absolutely gorgeous and I was so pleased that there were a mixture of lush products in the box and not just melts or ballistics. 

 

One of the first things I used was this bubble bar, called the rose jam bubbleroon. As the name suggests, it is rose scented and it can be easily spilt in half so if you want to make it last you can, which is what I did when using this product. This bar made a ridiculous amount of bubbles and made my skin feel really smooth and softened afterwards which was lovely.

The next thing in the box was this huge pink bath ballistic called 'rose queen.' When I used this, it turned the bath water a beautiful pale pink and it also disperse actual rose petals and leafy bits, finishing with a small pink flower. It was actually quite strange to bathe with bits of flower surrounding you but it was something totally different. As before, this created a beautiful rose scent but without the bubbles. For this reason I think I prefer the bubble bars, purely because I think no bath is complete without bubbles!

 

 

 

The final 'drop in the bath' product I got within this gift box was another bubble bar called 'amandopondo.' This bubble bar again is huge and so to make it last I spilt it in half and I am so glad I did. Whilst running the bath I crumbled half of it and then left the room, but when I returned the bath was literally full to the top with bubbles. Even when I got in you could not see the tap at the other end so thankfully I didn't use the whole product. Again, this smells lovely and is so relaxing and refreshing as it contains lemon scents as well as the themed rose. 

  

The final thing inside the lush box was this skin conditioner. This is the only thing inside the box that I have not used yet, purely because I forget that you use it whilst bathing/showering and not afterwards! However I have smelt it a few times and if it is as good as it smells, we could be onto a winner! 

I've really enjoyed using a selection of Lush products over the past few weeks and months and so I'm really looking forward to when I next pop in there because I would love to try some more of their bubble bars and perhaps some of their lip balms and soaps.

First Purchases of 2014 (Makeup Haul)

 

So with Christmas over for another year and having received my bank statement for December (ouch!) it's that time of year where you decide that you really need to save some money after spending so much during the festive season.

Apparently I didn't get that memo and I've been out shopping over the past few weeks and have brought some amazing cosmetics which I'm going to share today.

 

The first thing that I've purchased were these makeup wipes from Superdrug. Recently I've been using some Sainsbury's own branded wipes just because they are cheap and easy to pick up, but I decided I should probably invest in some wipes that are actually designed to be used to take off makeup. These were also a complete bargain at only about £1.50 and although I have never used them before I thought that they would be worth the risk.

 

My obsession with nail polish continues. Barry M have recently released a new collection of matte polishes in a variety of colours. Their new polishes always intrigue me and after buying loads of their standard as well as jelly polishes I just needed to try this one. I picked up the shade 'Vanilla' costing me £3.99 from Superdrug.   

 

As Superdrug were having a 3 for 2 offer on all their Barry M products, it would be rude for me not to buy two more polishes. For my second polish I decided on this gorgeous burgundy shade called 'crush' from the new matte collection, which also retails at £3.99.

 

To complete the three for two offer, I needed to decide on one final polish. On the Barry M stand they had a picture of a model showing off one particular shade. I fell in love with it and decided that this would be the final shade that I would buy. This polish is part of the Hi-Shine jelly collection and is called 'Guava', also priced at £3.99 in Superdrug.

 

I actually brought another nail polish from Barry M a few weeks ago whilst I was shopping in Cambridge and totally forgot about it. At the time Superdrug were doing a 2 for £6 deal on all their nail polishes and so my friend and I got one each. I picked up this shade called 'blackberry' from the jelly range, saving myself 0.99p!

 

Living in a small town means that my local Superdrug doesn't sell any sleek products. After buying a blush and the contour kit online, I was desperate to get my hands on some of their other products, but wanted to be able to see what I was buying first. Luckily Cambridge had a whole stand of Sleek products, and it's fair to say that I went a little crazy.

 

The first thing that I picked up from Sleek was this gorgeous lipstick in the shade 'barely there.' Although I haven't used this product yet it claims to be a highly pigmented non drying and conditioning lipstick, which sounds pretty good to me! Costing only £4.99 it is also a bit cheaper than some of the other drugstore lipsticks out there so thought it would be worth a try.

 

After buying and falling in love with the Sleek blush in the shade 'flamingo' I decided that I would definitely need to expand my collection. With 11 shades in the collection it wasn't easy to pick just one so I brought two on this occasion, but could have easily brought them all! Oops.

 

I decided to go for two more pink shades, but these are no way near as bright as 'flamingo.' The blush pictured above is a lovely dark pink almost red shade with the slightest bit of shimmer in called 'flushed.' I can't wait to start using it and with it being priced at only £4.49 it is a serious bargain in my eyes.

 

The other blush I picked up for £4.49 was the shade in 'rose gold.' I've seen so many other beauty bloggers and vloggers rave about this shade of product and thought it was about time I got my hands on it too. It contains more shimmer than the other two blushes I have, yet will be a welcome addition to my collection.

 

This is where I think I got a little bit over the top and went a bit crazy with the sleek products. But whilst I was there I decided to pick up one of Sleek's eyeshadow palettes.

 

Typically of Sleek, the have kept their gorgeous black packaging for the palette and I'm so excited to try it out. They have a variety of palettes available but I got the 'Au Naturel 601' palette as I thought it would be one that I'd use the most.

 

Although I haven't used this product yet, I am seriously impressed with it at first glance. The colours inside look absolutely gorgeous and I love the mixture of both matte and shimmery shades in there. I also love the fact that each shade has it's own name and that there isn't one colour in the palette that I don't like. Perhaps the biggest bonus is that this cost only £7.99!

 

 

My final purchase over the past few weeks have been some new make-up brushes. I've had my eye on real-techniques brushes for ages and after receiving some for Christmas I decided to expand my collection. This resulted in a trip to Boots!

 

I decided to purchase the core collection, costing me £21.99. Working out at only about £5 a brush, they are seriously good value for money and even the woman in Boots told me that they are amazing!

Featuring a foundation brush, a brush for concealer, powder and contouring, I'm super excited about using these brushes alongside my new and old purchases, although I don't want to get them dirty! Haha.

Wow, it seems as though I've gone a bit overboard recently on products. One day I will learn to resist. (I hope)