Huge Beauty Haul - ABH, Body Shop, Lancome, NARS

I thought I would share the latest products I have purchased and my initial thoughts, I haven’t done a haul post in a while!

Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara Waterproof Mini

I saw Allana Davidson rave about the non-waterproof version of this mascara on her channel, so I originally picked up that option. However, as the weather has got warmer, the pigment has started to transfer onto my brow bone over the course of the day. Then I saw Anna from the Anna Edit talk about the waterproof version, I picked up this mini one from Boots to see if that improved transfer. After testing, I noticed not as much pigment transfers as the normal formula, however as I have quite oily lids and hooded eyes, I still do get a few smudges throughout the day. If anyone has a good recommendation for a waterproof mascara, tweet me!

Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Essence Lotion 

Essences have hit the Western market after being highly successful in Asia. So if you aren’t sure what an essence is (I was clueless at first), it’s a watery lotion that you splash into your hands and then apply to your face using pushing movements with your palms. It’s a hit of moisture after cleansing, which a lovely sensation if your cleansing product has left you feeling tight. This essence feels lovely on the skin and would be suitable for all skin types. I’m keen to try more essences.

Body Shop Drops of Light Pure Resurfacing Liquid Peel

This is a very strange product! It claims to help peel away the dead skin cells. You massage the product over the face for a few seconds and you start to see little balls, which I assume is meant to be the dead skin cells coming away, gross I know! I’m not sure I 100% believe in this product but I do find my skin feels squeaky clean after. I’d be interested to see what others think of this product.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Palette

I recently broke my eyeshadow palette spending ban for this dream! I talk more in-depth about the palette in this blog post but overall I've been loving experimenting with the colours so far.

MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork

This is such an underrated cream eyeshadow from MAC, I bought my first post all the way back in 2015! It's a mid-tone matte brown cream, it's a 'one wash wonder', simply apply a thin layer over the lid and then blend the edges. It creates a modern, slightly grungey effect and I love it. 

Touch In Sol No Poreblem Primer

I bought this on the recommendation of Katie Middleton. She'd raved about it on her Instagram and I was searching for a primer that minimised the look of my pores. This product has a velvety consistency which creates a smooth canvas ready for foundation. My pores do look less noticeable and it does help my makeup stay on longer. 

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

You might have seen me purchase the mini version of this concealer from Space NK, minis are such a good way to try a product before splashing out! I loved the consistency so I decided to purchase the full size. The finish is not too matte or cakey, perfect for someone who has fine lines or dry under eyes. 

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner Travel Size

Liquid eyeliner is one of my favourite beauty products to test out. While shopping on Beauty Bay, I saw this cute mini from Eyeko. It's a very easy to use eyeliner which has a thin nib, perfect for winged liner. The only issue with this product is that it does smudge in the inner corners of my eyes in hot weather, not great for summer!

Vita Liberata Body Blur

I've seen so many Youtubers mention this when they get ready for events. They use it as a quick way to perfect the skin without having to fake tan. I'm yet to try the product out as I haven't had a special occasion recently but I have high hopes!

I'd love to know if you have tried any of these products! What have you been buying lately?

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Styling Havaianas with Jake Shoes

Jake Shoes recently got in touch and asked if I'd like to select a pair of sandals which would work well with my summer wardrobe. If you haven't heard of Jake Shoes before they stock a number of well know footwear brands such as Birkenstock, Sketchers and Dr Martens. I was spoilt for choice but finally settled on a pair of Havaianas.

Flip flops are one of the handiest things to have in your summer wardrobe. I picked out a simple black pair of Havaianas, as I thought they would work well with a number of outfits. I'd pair them with blue skinny jeans and a white t-shirt to emulate that model 'off duty' relaxed style. I also have lots of floral dresses that these black Havaianas would look great with, I'd just add a denim jacket for evenings. Of course, if I go away on holiday this summer, I'll be packing these, they are perfect for pairing with your favourite swimsuit!

I found some lovely fashion inspiration via Pinterest on how to style Havaianas.

What style of sandals do you like to add to your wardrobe during the summer?

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eBay Dupe of the StylPro Brush Cleaner and Dryer - Review

I am terrible at cleaning my makeup brushes, yes I know shame on me! Think most people would agree that it's a boring chore, so I started researching those spinning makeup brush sets hoping it would make it quick and easy.

I believe the original product was the StylPro Makeup Brush Cleaner and Dryer. However, when I popped into Boots to find out the price, I was shocked to see it labeled as £39.99. Personally, I thought this was a little too expensive for a plastic bowl and a battery operated spinner. So I hunted on eBay for a dupe. I clicked order and it arrived a few days later.

When the dupe arrived, it was boxed up much the same as the StylPro one, a cube-shaped box, with illustrative pictures on the side. The only difference was that it wasn't branded. The contents of the kit were the same too, a plastic bowl, a battery operated spinning device, a few rubber attachments to grip your brushes while they spin and an instruction booklet.

I put the dupe to the test, my dirty makeup brushes were piling up quickly. The eBay dupe didn't come with any brush cleaner so I used my Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Brush Gel. I added warm water to the bowl and added a couple of drops of the cleaner. The kit provides you with rubber grips, you simply slide your brush handle into the grip and then attach it to the main body of the spinner. These were easy to switch over and ensured the brush didn't fly off as the spinning motion began.

The spinning motion was quite hard to get used too, sometimes it wouldn't do much at all and then the next minute it was zooming around! This made it really difficult to control the speed and make sure my brushes were spinning correctly in the water. 

I'm not sure if it was the brush cleaner or not, but the cleaning kit didn't really seem to be able to get the makeup from the inner part of my makeup brushes. So I was having to take them out and rinse them in the sink to ensure they were roughly clean. I also used the spinning to dry the brushes, it did really help speed up the drying time.

Overall, I'm not impressed by this eBay dupe, I think I'll stick to washing them in the sink!

Breaking My 'No New Eyeshadow Palettes' Ban

Back in the days of old-school blogging, my makeup dream was to create my own custom eyeshadow palette from MAC. Does anyone remember the hype over Woodwinked and All That Glitters eyeshadow? The drugstore didn’t really have eyeshadows that matched MAC quality.

Then came along the Urban Decay Naked palettes, they beat the quality of MAC shadows every time for me. They are highly pigmented and are easy to blend.

I have every Naked palette; however, they now lay gathering dust. So, if I love the quality so much why am I not using them? Every time I open a Naked palette I feel so uninspired, I've had them for so long.  I was actually thinking of getting rid of them, so I put myself on a bit of a palette buying ban to avoid more items gathering dust. I hadn’t bought an eyeshadow palette since the Urban Decay Naked Heat was released back in August 2017.

The ABH Soft Glam palette has been the only item I wanted to break my ban for since last year! One of my blogger faves, Lily from Pint Sized Beauty, raved about this palette. From online swatches, the colours looked so pigmented and buttery. Most importantly I feel the colours work in harmony so I can create a look without reaching for substitutes.

I ripped open the package when it arrived, and it didn’t disappoint. It looked just as beautiful in real life as it did on online. I’m not 100% sure on the velvet style packaging but I’ll try and keep it as neat as possible. I can’t wait to create some new looks, it’s really inspired me to start experimenting with makeup again!

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Have you tried this palette?