Recent Beauty Buys

Hi everyone, hope you're all well! Today I have a post on some items I snapped up from Superdrug the other day, yet again in one of those times where you go in to buy an essential and end up buying some things you didn't really need...in my case, I can (sort of but not really) justify it as I haven't purchased much new makeup so far this year at all - I've been trying to use up what I have and then only buy the makeup I need (a new mascara every six months is fair game, right?) and save money, and this plan is going well for the most part!

Anyway, having picked up my essential items I noticed that Superdrug were doing a 3 for 2 offer across all makeup, so you can guess what happened next...

As a side note, I like it when the 3 for 2 isn't restricted to one brand! I don't always find it easy to pick three things I'd like from just the one brand. Anyway, the first thing I picked up was the Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer in Ivory.

Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer in Ivory packaging and swatch

I didn't really need a new concealer that much so I have no excuse for this but I do like trying new ones as I have terrible dark circles and get spots quite often (although with this one I don't think I'd use it on spots, as I don't want to add radiance there and draw attention to them!) I love Bourjois for foundation (I reviewed their 123 Perfect CC Cream in my last post) and had heard great things about this new edition to their range of concealers, so I thought I'd give it a go. The shade ivory is probably the lightest shade and is a reasonably good match for my skin tone. It's also said to be a great dupe of, or at least a similar product to, the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, which I've tried and really like but can't afford to repurchase! This Bourjois one comes in quite fancy packaging for drugstore/high street and has a sponge tip applicator. It's a bit more than I'd usually like to spend on a drugstore concealer, at £7.99, but this is still pretty good considering the NARS offering is now £22.50. Anyway, I might come back with my thoughts on this after I've used it for a while! 

The next thing I got in the 3 for 2 deal is one of the new Rimmel Kate Moss 15 Year Anniversary Lipsticks in the shade Boho Nude. These lipsticks have been launched to celebrate 15 years of Kate Moss being the face of Rimmel, and come in gorgeous rose gold packaging which I adore. It caught my eye instantly and is definitely making its way to my Instagram...

There are three nudes and three reds in the collection and unfortunately I couldn't swatch any of them as my local Superdrug only had the sealed ones at the Rimmel section (I have mixed feelings about Superdrug using these stickers. On the one hand, they're great because it means you can be sure no one's been in and touched the makeup before you bought it. On the other hand, they're a pain in the arse to remove.) that is, until I was standing in the queue for the till and spotted a nearby mini-Rimmel stand which had a few testers. I'd already put Boho Nude in my basket after looking up swatches of it and deciding to take a risk, but when I saw the tester I gave it a quick swatch to actually confirm that I liked it.

It's a bit of a brown-toned nude, so I wasn't sure if it would suit me (I haven't really tried the recent brown lipstick trend, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't suit me at all!) but it's unlike any other lipstick I own so I thought I'd try it. I've worn it once and my first impressions are pretty good - it smells lovely (a similar smell to my other Rimmel Kate lipstick...I don't know how to explain it. It just smells good) has a great formula, and looks quite nice. It was £6.49 which I think is reasonable, especially considering the fancy packaging.

The final makeup item I got was a Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow in Creamy Beige. I've been meaning to pick up another one of these for ages (I already own one in the shade Pink Gold) and decided to get this as my free item in the 3 for 2 - it's £4.99 otherwise.

It's not a daring colour or anything but more of a good everyday basic brown eyeshadow that will last all day and can also be used as a good base for other eyeshadows. As you can tell from the name, these eyeshadows promise to last 24 hours - I don't know about that, but they do have brilliant staying power and are just generally really great quality and stay put. They have some really bright and more interesting shades as well which look nice but I thought I'd get more wear out of this shade.

Moving on to skincare, I needed a new cleanser and moisturiser so after a bit of deliberation (looking for ratings or reviews using the free wifi) I decided to try Superdrug's own brand Tea Tree range. They had lots of cleansers to choose from but I got the Foaming Face Wash. The range had a '2 for £5 deal' on so I also got the Tea Tree Moisturising Face Cream. You only get 30ml with the moisturiser which I thought was quite small, and both products are £3.29 normally so the 2 for £5 deal is pretty good. I've only been using these for a few days but so far I quite like them, they may not have worked miracles on my spots but they work well at getting the jobs done of washing and moisturising my face - the latter leaves my face feeling nice and smooth without being greasy at all.

I always find it a bit funny how Superdrug offer a '100% happiness guaranteed' deal with their own brand skincare - if you're not 100% happy, they'll give you a full refund and 25% off your next own brand purchase. So I could just go back to the shop and say "I'm only 99% happy with this" and they'll give me this offer? Also, it's so cheap I don't think anyone would actually bother with the offer unless it was really convenient for them to do it/they wouldn't feel awkward/they really really hated the product. But I digress...another good thing about these products is that they're both paraben free and cruelty free, which I like!

Sort of sticking to skincare (only it's skincare for the body) I decided to try a new body scrub. My local Superdrug didn't have a huge range to choose from so I was tempted to leave it and get one from the Body Shop or somewhere instead but then I saw the Palmers Cocoa Body Scrub, which was on offer for £3.29 instead of £4.99.  I've not tried anything from Palmers before but thought they're meant to be a pretty good brand for body products and this one sounded good -"This unique formula contains pure Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Vitamin E and natural crushed cocoa beans which moisturise, refine and polish skin." 

I've used it once and so far I really like it, it does really well at exfoliating and moisturising your skin and smells AMAZING. Just like chocolate. I kind of want to eat it, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. I'm sometimes a bit too lazy to use body scrubs but with this one I think I'll enjoy using it!

That's it! Hope you enjoyed my ramblings about buying some new beauty things, which I probably didn't need but what the heck...treat yo self.

What have you treated yo self to recently? :)

Sabrina xx

Night Out Makeup

Hey everyone! So I went out in Stafford on Saturday and I quite liked how my makeup turned out, so I thought I'd write a post on it! This post turned out a longer than I thought it was going to be...

I forgot to include the Porefessional sample in this photo so let's pretend it's there too haha

I had moisturised my skin with the Avene Cleanance MAT Mattifying Emulsion, letting it sink in for a while before I primed my skin with Benefit's Porefessional, which I have a few sample sizes of (one was with a gift set, another with a magazine.) I don't think I like it enough to purchase the full size one when my samples run out - it's a nice product but I don't think it makes much difference on my pores and I feel like the siliconey formula is quite dupeable on the high street. However my makeup did last quite well despite me getting all sweaty in a nightclub - I'm not sure whether it's down to this, my foundation, my powder or just the combination of all three!

For foundation I went with the YSL Touche Eclat Foundation, which is the only high end foundation I own. This contains no SPF so it's ideal for night time makeup. When I bought it my skin was more normal and less blemish prone so because it's quite glowy and my skin became oily I was put off using it a bit. When I applied it last night though I really liked it - it blended beautifully when I used the Real Techniques Buffing Brush. Its coverage was light to medium but buildable without becoming cakey, as I did need to apply a little more than I normally would because of the amount of blemishes I have. (Quick foundation tip: obviously you can start applying it wherever you want on your face, but if you have an area that you think needs more coverage then you might like to start applying your foundation there.) I think I have the lightest shade and it matches me perfectly.

I did still powder it with MAC Blot Powder as although the dewy-ness of this foundation is nice, my oily skin means my face risks looking shiny as the night goes on. Again I have the lightest shade although this powder has barely any colour as it's not intended to add any more coverage! I have very much hit pan but I'm not sure I'd repurchase as it is expensive at £20.50.

I went for a neutral eye look because of how bright my lipstick (MAC's Show Orchid) is. So I blended together the MAC eyeshadows in Satin Taupe and Patina, which I've raved about before here.

Left: Patina Right: Satin Taupe

Swatched in the same order

I also applied Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Stag which came with the Naked on the Run kit. I rarely wear eyeliner but this one is great - a flattering dark brown with a lovely smooth formula. It also stays put for a long time, as the name suggests!

This lipstick is one of my all time favourites:

MAC's Show Orchid lipstick

For mascara, I used two - I used the Seventeen Falsifeye HD Mascara first because it's great for length, then I topped it up with Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara. As much as I like the 17 mascara I think I prefer the Maybelline one as it's better for volume and it also seems to hold a curl longer. I did a full review of the Maybelline mascara here.

I had some spots to conceal so Collection Ultimate Wear Concealer did the job, whilst I applied NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla (review here) under my eyes along with MAC Prep and Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose to brighten the area. I also applied the highlighter on both brow bones and my cupid's bow.

Top - Soap and Glory Glow All Out, Bottom left: Mac's Blot Powder, Bottom right: Benefit Bella Bamba

For a mix of highlight and blush (because of how pale I am this product is like a blush on me!) I used Soap and Glory Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder (review here) at the top of my cheekbones and then applied Benefit's Bella Bamba Blush to the apples of my cheeks - I love this blush but haven't wanted to rave about it on here because it's sadly been discontinued! Benefit should definitely bring it back. As you can see the packaging has faded as I've owned and used it since Christmas 2011!

I used the L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper in Dark Brunette, which is a ridiculously easy way to tidy up your brows, as I'm not fussed about properly attempting to fill them in.

The finished look. I feel like I look a bit evil in this photo lol.

As for my nails, it didn't really match my outfit but my current NOTW is Rimmel's 60 Seconds in Pulsating:

I really like this colour! I wouldn't say it dries in 60 seconds but I think it does dry slightly sooner than normal. (I can't find this online but I'm fairly sure it will still be in stores, if I'm wrong then I'm sorry!) I've had this for about five years and it's still going strong and applying well, and there's some gorgeous shades in this line!

Also if you're wondering (after my last post) if I've used the Nice and Easy Root Touch Up Kit yet - nope! I'm waiting for the right time; I didn't want to use it on Saturday in case it went wrong and I also don't want to use it before Thursday as I have a job interview that day! But I will give it a go soon and report back. :)

Hope you liked this post, and thanks for reading!
Sabrina xx

The Make-up Memory Lane Tag!

Hi! I thought I'd do this tag as I've enjoyed reading it on various blogs; most recently Natalie's here and I also liked Vivianna Does Makeup's video on it. I think it's interesting to think about how our makeup preferences have changed over the years. As mentioned before, despite wearing makeup in the pictures below at ages 16 and 13, I actually wasn't really very interested in it until I was around 17!

First makeup item ever purchased?
I can't remember but it may have been either Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse Foundation (which, even in the lightest shade, was too orange for my skin!) or L'oreal Glam Shine 6 Hour Lip Gloss in Eternal Beige which is a fairly sticky and glittery pinky nude shade that I picked out especially for my year 11 prom in 2009:

This is how my natural brown hair colour looks.

Almost six years later, I still have it and I'm not sure if it might be too old to use now!

First MAC item? 

I think it was Ever Hip lipstick which is a really nice coral pink.

First MAC/other brand collection? 

Ever Hip was released in the Fashion Flower collection I believe. 

First high end make up splurge? 

I think it was YSL's Touche Eclat - but mine ran out annoyingly quickly. I got it because it was (and still is) a bit cheaper on this website and it's of course a cult product, but it basically ran out before I'd even made my mind up on whether I liked it or not - it's too late to say anything to them of course!

First makeover experience? 

When I was 13 I got a 'makeover' / photo shoot gift experience because my dad didn't want his 50th birthday gift experience. At the time I actually sort of wanted to be a model (cringe) so I quite enjoyed it, even though now the photos are a bit embarrassing! My hair was straightened to within an inch of its life and I had pink eyeshadow on:

Me in 2006...

First makeup brush? 

Hmm probably a makeup freebie, but the first proper set of brushes I bought myself was from 17!

First eyeshadow? 

When I was 14 I used to quite like using this Ipod-shaped eyeshadow palette that my friend got me, but the first eyeshadow I think I ever bought for myself was a dark brown 'Little Round Pot' by Bourjois - I'm still not sure whether shades like that make my blue eyes pop or whether they just made me look tired or bruised! The actual eyeshadow is nice though.

First skincare "investment"? 

Hmm, I actually don't think I've ever made a massive splurge on a skincare product. The only thing that comes to mind is La Roche Posay's Effaclar Duo which unfortunately didn't work at all for me, but I was able to get my money back with a guarantee :)

First nail polish owned? 

I used to get random unbranded nail polishes for free from my teen magazines but I didn't use them very much because I didn't want to get into trouble at school (such a goody goody) I did enjoy peel off nail polish though - so satisfying! I have no idea what the first nail polish I ever bought for myself was.

First fake tan attempt? 

I've never tried to do an all over fake tan application apart from dabbling a little bit with gradual tan. I did use to apply fake tan on my legs for nights out to in an attempt to make them look less pasty (that's right, only on my legs.) But other than that, I can't really be bothered to do a fake tan and I'm okay with being pale!

Hope you enjoyed this post!
What are your makeup memories?

Sabrina xx

Review: Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

Hi! I've been trying Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara out for a while now and I thought I'd share my thoughts on it.

As you can see it has a curved wand and has actually been classed as a potential dupe for Benefit's Roller Lash Mascara for that reason. I haven't tried Roller Lash to compare them but the last mascara I tried that had a curved brush was 17's Doll'd Up Mascara, which is a great lengthening mascara. This mascara's brush is bigger and fatter than 17's mascara but I don't think it's too big.

I've noticed that the brush tends to pick up a lot of product, hence the lid of mine is getting a bit dirty due to me using it to get rid of excess mascara.

Maybelline say it has a 'lash multiplying brush' to give you 'a sensational layered, multiplied look.'

Cue scarily close shots of my eyes... (I didn't curl my eyelashes)

Before and After

I think my favourite thing about this mascara is how well it lasts, particularly in holding a curl. Some mascara's curling effects tend to drop but this one lasts all day.

However it can be a little on the clumpy side sometimes so it might take a bit longer than usual to achieve the look you want. I'm also not super keen on the very wet formula but it does dry quickly.

Overall, I think this mascara is really good! It builds nicely, gives me excellent length and volume, and is capable of giving you a beautiful fanned out look. I'm really enjoying using it! I wonder how Roller Lash would compare to this?

Have you tried this product? What's your favourite mascara?

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara is £7.99 available from Boots and Superdrug.

Thanks for reading!

Sabrina xx

PS: What do you think of my new blog design? :)

My Top 10 Nail Polishes for Spring/Summer

Hi everyone! I thought I'd share 10 of my favourite nail polishes for Spring and Summer in no particular order. I'm actually sort of 'shopping my stash' with this post as I don't need any more nail polishes and will probably be applying all of these colours in the coming months! I tend to mostly go for bright pinks and oranges as you can see in the picture below, but I also love pastel shades.

From left to right:

1. MAC Morange - this is the only MAC nail polish I own and the most expensive of the bunch at £10. I got this a few years ago when MAC released nail polish and lipglass versions of their most popular lipsticks, including Morange - it is permanent however. As much as I love bright lipsticks, I think this sort of bright orange is probably better off on my nails than my lips! It's been a while since I used this but I don't recall having any problems with the formula.

2. Rimmel Cocktail Colour in Shirley Temple - I am a sucker for glitter polish, despite how annoying it is to get off, and I love this vibrant shade. It doesn't seem to be available on Boots.com at the moment but I have seen it in stores. It's great on it's own or layered over a similar colour, like Barry M's Mango.

3. Maybelline Forever Strong in Tornado Rose - this is a very pretty and girly pink which is right up my street. (Excuse the white label mark - mine somehow got stuck to another nail polish!)

4. L'oreal Colour Riche in Sex on the Peach - firstly, great name! This is a peachy pink and definitely one of my favourites. The only thing with this is I think it's a bit expensive for a drugstore polish in terms of how much product you get for your money - it's £4.99 for just 5ml, so basically a pound per ml, which is the same as MAC as that is £10 for 10ml. I wonder if this will be the first nail polish I use up as I'm already about half way through!

5. Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Mango - a bright, shiny and very cheerful orange. It's gorgeous! However I do remember this one chipping quite quickly.

6. 17 Fast Finish Nail Polish in Peacock - this is a stunning turquoise with an almost duochrome effect going on - depending on the lighting, it can look quite blue or green.

7. Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Stop the Clock - this is my most recent purchase of the bunch and what I've had on my nails for the past week. I love this colour! The other day I had to repaint both my index finger nails after they chipped when I was scooping up some coconut oil, but other that I haven't had any problems with chipping.

I wouldn't say it dried that quickly which is slightly disappointing, and it also can be a bit streaky so it needs at least two coats - but other than that, this is a great polish and very summery.

8. Essie Mint Candy Apple - this a beautiful mint green, a very popular shade from Essie and one of my all-time favourites, even though again the formula can be a bit streaky and runny making it sometimes a bit frustrating to apply - you have to be careful not to let it run on either side of your nail. I can deal with this though as the colour alone makes it worth it!

9. NYC In a New York Minute Quick Dry Nail Polish in Raindrop - This is a lovely 'sky blue' shade which I wore to match my May Ball dress in 2013. I would say this is the most bargainous out of all my picks, as for your £1.79 (or £1.49 on offer) you get a very nice quality polish - although again I wouldn't say it dries particularly quickly.

10. Barry M Nail Paint Boots Limited Edition - Sorry to choose a limited edition shade that I'm pretty sure is no longer available! I've included it anyway because I think this shade is quite dupeable - I had a quick look online and one example I've found is Revlon's Grape Icy, which by what I can see is a bit darker and more purple - see here. Essie's Splash of Grenadine also looks similar, but a bit lighter. But I'm sure there are loads more dupes out there for this!

There you have it, those are my 10 favourite Spring/Summer polishes that I'll be sporting this year. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post!

I'd love to know, what are your favourite Spring/Summer nail polishes?

Sabrina xx

High Street Haul: Boots, New Look and Superdrug!

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great Easter! Today I have a haul post to share, because I went to Boots, New Look and Superdrug, and stuff just happened...

I actually only got a few things from Superdrug so I'll start with those. I got two Barry M nail polishes from Superdrug as the £3.99 ones are currently on offer for 2 for £6 and I wanted to get a more expensive product for free when I took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer in Boots.

As I've said before, I do have too many nail polishes - but in my defence these two are both very unique in my collection, as I don't think I had any yellows at all before I bought this one!

I picked up one of the new Quick Dry polishes in Stop the Clock, which is a really pretty and summery pastel yellow. I'm not sure if this will go that well with my skin tone but I love the colour so it's worth the risk. I'm also looking forward to seeing if it does dry quickly as it promises!

The other colour I got was Almond in the 'Gelly Hi-shine' range which Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup said was an amazing dupe for Nails Inc's Porchester Square in this blog post. I don't normally go for this kind of taupe shade but I thought this would be a great work-appropriate neutral which is something a bit different from the light, natural pinks I usually go for when I think of more formal nail looks. I've tried a few shades from the Gelly range and they've all been great, and I love Barry M polishes in general!

Moving on to Boots, I went in knowing I was going to get the L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper, as Renata from Speaking Beauty wrote that it was a great dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I've tried at a Benefit counter - it looked great, but it's too overpriced for me at £18.50. L'oreal's offering is £5.99, but I got it free with the 3 for 2 offer and it's the first eyebrow product I've ever bought! They had no tester for the darker shade but I tested the lighter one and knew it would be too light so I got the darker one - I have dark blonde hair so I just hope my eyebrows don't clash too much with my hair colour.

'Dark Brunette' swatched

I quite like it so far! It's a welcome new addition to my everyday makeup as it definitely makes my eyebrows look more polished. I had a look at the even cheaper (£3.99) Rimmel version of the eyebrow mascara type product (Brow This Way) but the brush was shorter and larger so I wasn't sure about it. I like the brush of the L'oreal one, it's quite long yet small and it makes me feel like I know what I'm doing when I do my brows haha.

Before and After

But seriously, this kind of brow product did seem best for me as an eyebrow product beginner because I just don't know how to fill in my brows with products like Benefit's Brow Zings and the mascara-like brush does it all in one go so it's pretty effortless. I also wasn't sure if my eyebrows even need much filling in as they're quite thick already!

I also went in thinking I was probably going to buy the No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation - I had a sample of it and quite liked it, but I also noticed that L'oreal had a new foundation aimed at oily skin - Infallible Matte Foundation, which at the time of posting is on offer for £6.99.
It looked intriguing - it promises to stay on for 24 hours which is a slightly pointless claim considering that no one keeps their foundation on for 24 hours! In the end I went for the No7 Foundation as it has SPF which is great for daytime wear (I can use my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation for night time wear to avoid flashback in any flash photography) and looking on Makeupalley on my phone I could see that the No7 foundation had a higher rating/more positive reviews than the L'oreal one. I would still love to try that L'oreal foundation sometime though! I have never tried a foundation from either L'oreal or No7.

Side note: am I the only one who checks the overall rating of a product on Boots.com and Makeupalley whilst browsing in Boots or Superdrug?! I just don't want to take the risk of blindly buying a product without checking any reviews or ratings first, and I might even return a product unused if I did buy it blindly and then find that it has extremely negative reviews!

The final product I got in the 3 for 2 was the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, £7.99, which I've heard great things about on blogs. I've used it a few times now and I like it so far apart from that it's a little clumpy, but I'll let you know how I get on and probably do a full review soon!

I went to New Look just to see if they had any nice work appropriate pieces other than the usual white shirts and black trousers. I bought this dress with a contrast collar. It is a little short (I'm 5'9) so I'd probably wear it with tights. The only size 8 they had in this had foundation marks around the collar so I got 10% off and it's non-returnable. It is £19.99 normally and looking online it's currently on offer for £14.99 which is slightly annoying, but nevermind.

They also had a black version but no size 8s, I tried on the 6 and it was way too tight, so that made the decision for me on which colour to get!

Lastly I didn't intend to buy a bag and I haven't bought a new one in ages, but I fell in love with this one - it is such a classic style but in a gorgeous, unique colour, which I couldn't help but notice is very similar to the nail polish I bought earlier that day, Barry M's Almond.

The rose quilted design is very pretty and it's a good size - not too large or small, and I really like the adjustable strap. It was also very reasonably priced at £12.99!  I'm not sure if it goes that well with my new grey dress, but it doesn't clash either. Overall, everything about this bag is gorgeous, and I think it's suitable for finishing off both formal and casual outfits.

Thanks for reading!
Sabrina xx

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Ten Makeup Favourites Under £10!

Hi! So I thought since I've mentioned high end brands in my other posts so far that it was about time I balanced it out a bit and talked about really good affordable products (I'm sticking to makeup, because it would be hard to talk about skincare as well and fit into a list of ten products!) They're all available at your local Boots or Superdrug unless stated otherwise, and they're all in no particular order. For each product I'll mention if there's a high end product it compares to and if I have any minor gripes with it. Enjoy!

1. Collection Ultimate Wear Lasting Perfection Concealer, £4.19

I'm starting with an obvious one! I mentioned this in my last post as I'm currently trying out the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and I'm curious to see how it compares with this. This concealer is really, really good - there's a reason it gets so much hype in the beauty community (blogs and YouTube.) It gives you a high coverage and doesn't look cakey. It can sometimes be drying and settle into fine lines under my eyes, but other than that this concealer is amazing. I've repurchased it many times.

Here is a swatch along with the NARS one. The NARS concealer is making the Collection concealer look kind of orange but it's not! The fairest shade is a good match for my skin tone.

Top: Collection. Below: NARS.