Not another haul?! Debenhams, Boots and Superdrug bits and bobs!

Hey lovelies!

So I've been going a little haul crazy lately...

I just can't Christmas shop without buying things for myself... I try, but it never seems to happen. So i thought I'd share with you the bits and bobs I've picked up lately but don't seem to fit in any other haul. I've pretty much finished my Christmas shopping now (as my bank balance breathes a sigh of relief) and am firmly putting myself on a low-buy for the next few months, which will inevitably fail on boxing day, but oh well!

Optimum - Super Antioxidant Grape Eye Cream

   Well over a year ago i did a little review on quite a few products from the Optimum range. I have trouble finding eye creams that don't sting my eyes like a bitch so as this was half price and i remembered enjoying it i thought I'd give it another bash!

Tanatomicals - Holy Grail for the Deathly Pale

Got to admit, the name sold this little beauty to me. Since my trip to the USA I've been mourning my long since faded tan and being "deathly pale" I'm pretty damn scared of fake tanners in general. So far, i am loving this little beauty! I'm trying out a couple of sunless tanners at the moment and will probably do a little series on the good, the bad and the orange in the new year! 

Estee Lauder - Advanced Night Repair

Biggest splurge ever... I'd been lusting after this little beauty for a while and with a combination of Boots online coupons i managed to get around £12 off my big Christmas order which included this. At around £55, it wasn't cheap but I'm really enjoying using it!

 

Olay - Instant Hydration Eye Cream

30+... Ooops, I'm still using it! Another half price Superdrug little bargain.

YSL - Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Stain #14

Another splurge! I was really after their Matte Lipstick in 202, but annoyingly my Debenhams doesn't stock that range yet. With my £15 of beauty points burning a hole in my pocket i just had to pick it up and i am sure glad i did. I'm not gunna go into detail because this little gem is going to be my next review.

Are you just as bad as me at Christmas shopping?

xox

Boots Soap & Glory Haul

I love Soap and Glory.

Boots had some extra points offers a little while ago and i just couldn't resist picking up a few Soap and Glory bits! These were also three for two, so even more of a bargain. If i had some sense, i would have waited for the large sets to be a Boots Star Gift, but i have no patience! But, if you love Soap and Glory, keep your eye out for the large £60 gift sets as the last week before Christmas they generally go down to around £25, less than half price!

Hand Food
Everyone loves a good hand cream. I'm probably on my fourth or fifth tube of this little gem. It has the lovely traditional Soap and Glory scent and keeps my hands soft and hydrated. One of my holy grail products!

Wish Upon a Jar
A bit of an impulse buy… I'd heard Miss Budget Beauty rave about it and as there was three for two i thought, why not? I'm not keen on the scent of this one; it’s a chocolately orange scent... But then again I am probably one of the few people in the world that hate chocolate orange! I've seen no big changes so far, but I’ll do a full review at the end of the 28 days.

Original Pink Eau De Parfum
I love the Soap and Glory scent. It smells a lot like Miss Dior Cherie and for £16.50 is a LOT cheaper. It doesn't last as long on the skin, but for around a quarter of the price, who cares?

Make Yourself Youthful Serum
Again with the chocolate orange scent, ugh. Another impulse buy, I'd been considering starting to add a serum into my skincare routine for a while now and thought this was a relatively inexpensive way to start. To me, it feels more like a light cream than a traditional serum. Again, I'll review this fully after I've given it a good old bash!

Clean On Me Shower Gel
The only shower gel I've purchased in nearly two years. At around £5, yes it’s not the cheapest one, but it’s a whopping 500ml so lasts me a good two to three months, making it excellent value for money. It like most of the other products has the traditional Soap and Glory scent i love. A little goes such a long way with this too, i love it!  

I think that will be it for Soap and Glory splurges for a while. But i fully intend to take advantage of the Boots Star Gift offer next month!

What’s your favourite Soap and Glory product?

 xox    

Review: Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush

 

Ello lovelies!

In my last haul post i showed you some of the bits i picked up on my travels and this one had to be the first thing i reviewed. I'd been a big ol' snob when i came to Ecotools. I had pretty much turned my nose up at high-street brushes other than Real Techniques and I'm now seeing how very, very wrong i was...

Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush (try saying that three times!) is pretty fucking fantastic. It has SO many good qualities; its extremely soft, its dense, it has a nice weight to it, it has minimal shedding, blends like a dream and finally its pretty damn affordable too! I use this primarily for bronzer, my face is on the chub side so i use this for an all over bronze or some very lazy contouring. I also think this would work wonderfully for setting powders but its a little too big for blush.

I am gobsmacked at the quality of it, its one of the softest brushes i own. It makes applying bronzer a dream. It's dense enough to pick up enough product and fluffy enough to blend it out with ridiculous ease. It sells between £9 and £10 from most retailers but you can always find offers on it, at the moment Boots has them "buy one get one half off". At around the same price in dollars as it is in pounds it does work out a tad more expensive here. But considering the superb quality if i lost this I'd literally be running out to get another one!

This is probably my favourite discovery of the past few months and considering my giant Florida splurge, that really is saying something. I really cannot recommend this brush enough!

Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush is available from a ton of retailers including the Boots website here.

Have you tried any other Ecotools brushes? Let me know!

xox

Current Favourites & My Everyday Face

 Heya lovelies! My favourites posts are few and far between, but as I've been loving a whole load of new and rediscovered products i thought I'd share the best of the bunch with you lot! I'm never going to be a monthly favourites kinda gal, i just don't change up my routine enough so those posts would be pretty samey, but from time to time i love to show off the bits and bobs in my collection that have been getting a lot of love recently...

Royal and Langnickel - Flat Top Kabuki Brush
I picked this little beauty up at IMATS. Now if you've watched a lot of IMATS videos you'll have seen these pop up quite a lot over the years, normally to be never seen in a video or post again but lately i have been LOVING it. This had been sat on my shelf for a good few months without use, so after cleaning all my brushes i hooked it out and was determined to give it a fair ol' use. I've been using it to apply my Dream Matte powder, its perfect for setting foundation by just pushing the powder in to the skin. Its ridiculously soft and only cost me around £6 with the IMATS discount, but can be found on the Royal and Langnickel website for about £12.

Natural Collection - Apple and Lime Body Spray

I was introduced to this one a month or so ago by the bestie and I've got to say other than being a teenager and drowning myself in the vanilla version I'd been a bit of a snob about these. After a girly night i could smell DKNY Green Apple, so being nearly out of mine (and about four other favourite perfumes, sob) i asked her if i could have a squirt of hers, turns out it wasn't DKNY at all, but this little beauty. Now on further inspection it isn't an exact dupe as it has a lime element to it that the DKNY doesn't have and it isn't quite a sharp, but its pretty damn close. At £2, its a real bargain if you're not in the position to splash out on the real deal, and if you have an unsophisticated nose like me, you may not even be able to tell the difference! It obviously doesn't last as long on the skin, but for the price difference, who cares?!

Revlon - Kissable Balm Stains

I want more of these and i want them now! Near enough the only thing on my lips for the past month, i just wish they had more shades! For someone who isn't a fan of creamy lipsticks, this is perfect for me. It adds gorgeous colour without me feeling conscious of smearing it across my face, win! The stain lasts a good few hours for me and the chubby stick like packaging makes it ridiculously easy to apply. I'm planning to get my paws on a whole bunch of these while I'm in the USA next month.

Origins - Drink Up Overnight Mask
I'll keep this short and sweet. Gorgeous mask, leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised without feeling greasy. 100ml for £20, so not bad at all price wise! I've recently reviewed this beauty here.

 China Glaze - I'm Not Lion

I'm Not Lion is an absolutely STUNNING shade. Its a beige, champagney glitter that would work beautifully for both warm and cool toned skin. I've been wearing it for every night out over the last few weeks! Its opaque in two coats and in any form of light sparkles like an absolute dream. Me and my amateur camera skills haven't been able to capture its full beauty yet... But google swatches... Do it NOW! If you don't have this, you need it!

Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder

 Another product that had been sat in my drawer for quite some time, i think i have faaar too many of those! Up until recently I'd preferred quite heavy coverage and had been loyal to setting my foundation with either Elfs HD Powder or Mac Studio Fix, but as HD isn't really travel friendly and Studio Fix is on the heavy side i hooked this out of my collection. Its matte without looking heavy and powdery, its not the longest lasting powder but its easy enough to shove in your handbag and reapply on the go.

Milani - Corallina Baked Blush

 My only coral blush, although I'm still eyeing a few! After seeing these all over American blogs and Youtube channels i caved and eBayed one of the Milani Baked blushes. Its a gorgeous orange coral with quite large silver shimmer. Now at first the silver shimmer REALLY put me off, but it buffs away to be mostly unnoticeable, so i can live with it. I think these cost around $6 but i payed a little over £8 with delivery which isn't too bad. The only downside is that my Mother has taken a shine to this blush, so i am constantly having to steal it back from her!

Mac - Cream Colour Base Pearl

Possibly my favourite highlighter ever! Stunning goldy, pearl, cream highlighter. Gives the face a real radiant glow! I absolutely love it! And taking into account how little product you need to use, I've actually hit pan on this which says it all really!

Wow this post is getting lengthy! I've worn this look for about 75% of the last 4 - 5 weeks, i should really change it up soon but I'm really loving to easy it is to apply in the morning. And as it involves quite a few of my current favourites i thought I'd share it with you!

Eyes:
Makeup Forever - Smoky Lash Mascara
Mac - Omega Eyeshadow (brows)

Lips:
Revlon - Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous

Face:
Missha M - Perfect Cover BB Cream
Maybelline - Dream Matte Powder
Mac - Cream Colour Base in Pearl
Milani - Baked Blush in Corallina
Nars - Laguna Bronzer

What are you're current favourites?

xox