MUA Lipstick Haul!

I popped to Superdrug on my lunch break yesterday and ended up coming out with 2 Lipsticks, 2 Lip Lacquers and 1 Lipgloss! As far as hauls go, this has to be down there with the best value for money, as this lot came to the grand total of £9.00! 

Each product is slightly different in colour, texture & formula and I'm really looking forward to trying them out! 

I picked up The MUA Luxe Lip Lacquers in Atomic & Criminal for £3 each. I also thought I'd try out a  £1 lip gloss tube in Let's Meet and of course, a lipstick haul is not complete without a matte so I picked up Pouty Pink & Totally Nude also at £1 each! 

I've not a clue what to expect with any of these products, but with all of them at £3 and under... I feel like i'm onto a winner. I'm looking forward to trying them out and seeing what looks I can create with them.

Have you tried any  of these products? I'd love to hear your thoughts on them! Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

Mini Nail Polish Haul!

If there's one area of my current beauty regime that's seriously lacking, it's my nails. I love how painted nails look, however what I don't love it how easily they chip at the worst possible moment. Because I rarely paint my nails, when i do get around to doing them I often forget that they're done. Naturally,  It's only usually when I'm on my way to an important meeting do I realise how many chips are on my nails and then the panic trying to peel off the remaining polish begins.

I headed to Superdrug recently to pick up a few essentials and came home with these polishes. All of them are unusual choices, but I'll talk you through my reasonings....

Models Own Scented Sweet Shop Polish - Fizzy Cola Bottles.

Price: £5.00 each or 2 for £7.99 

So, I don't know where to begin on the colour of this. It isn't one I'd ever usually pick out and honestly - I didn't choose this one - my boyfriend did. He's a big fan of Coke Zero, and when asked which one I should get, he chose this erm, brown shade. I think I'll wait to see how it looks on before I pass judgement, and I'm looking forward to seeing how scented this is! 

Models Own Scented Sweet Shop Polish - Rhubarb n Custard.

Price: £5.00 each or 2 for £7.99 

I'm a massive fan of sweeties and I was drawn to this polish instantly. I love the sparkle in this deep raspberry shade and I'm looking forward to seeing how this looks on!

Barry M Nail Art Pen

Price:  £4.99 Each or Buy one, get one half price (at Superdrug)

So I rarely wear nail polish and I can't draw, but for some reason I really wanted these nail art pens. I've got quite a few cute pastel nail polishes in my collection and thought whilst summer is still here, I should try and attempt some summer nails! I Picked up 2 of these as they were buy one get one half price. I'm looking forward to giving them a try... and If all else fails, I may even try and persuade my boyfriend to do my nails for me as he has crazy drawing skills.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these picks, Have you tried any of these before?? Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

KIKO Longlasting Stick Eyeshadow Haul & Swatches!

This week I was a woman on a mission to spend money on things I didn't know I needed, and those things just so happened to 6 KIKO Eyeshadow Sticks. This week also happened to be a week of first times, as these were my first ever KIKO purchases. I'd been into the store in Westfields Stratford before, but it was so busy I couldn't even get to the products and I sensibly left the store before I started getting pushed and shoved.

On Monday, I must have got lucky as on the suggestion of a few bloggers on twitter I walked to Regent Street in London, and popped to the KIKO store. I'd heard that the KIKO eyeshadows are good dupes for the By Terry, Ombre Blackstar Eyeshadows and having just spent £28.00 on one, I was keen to see how a £6.90 Dupe would compare.

There are 32 Eyeshadows in the range and I must've spent about 40minutes swatching and walking back and forth the shop trying to decide what to get. I finally settled on the 6 shades above as I felt that they were the perfect mix of every day wears and comfort level pushing shades.

My favourite on first swatch, has to be 07 as I think this could easily work it's way into my everyday look! Coming in close second is 36, this is a stunning rose gold shade and as beautiful as this is, I'm not sure If I can pull it off yet! I think it's going to take some experimenting!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these shades! Which is your favourite?? Let me know in the comments...

Em xxx

My Space NK Haul!

Sometimes, a little retail therapy is just the pick me up I need, so on Monday I headed to Space NK for a browse and to buy some Nars Sheer Glow Foundation. Believe it or not, this was actually my first ever Nars Purchase!

I feel like such a fraud as a beauty blogger saying that, but for some reason, Nars has always been one of those brands that I've never actually managed to add to my collection, but not for the want of trying. I must have the worst luck, as a few weeks ago I went into 4 different stores and called around but nowhere had the Siberia Sheer Glow in Stock. After calling the store on and discovering it was back in, I made sure I headed there to pick it up. At £31.00 It's one of the priciest foundations I've purchased, but I'm hoping it will be worth every penny as I've read so many great reviews about it. 

However... that wasn't the only thing I came home with! 

Monday afternoon, I mentioned on twitter that I had been lusting after one of the By Terry, Ombre Blackstar Eyeshadow Sticks but at £28.00 for a single eye shadow, I wasn't sure if I wanted it enough to justify the price tag. Upon posting this to twitter, let's just say my news feed got a little hectic, with tweets flooding in half gasping at the price to half telling me to buy it. I soon discovered that twitter is full of bad spending influences! Here are a few of my favourite tweets from some enablers...

Remind me never to actually go shopping with that lot in person as I'd be bankrupt before I even step foot into the shops! 

Even though it has the most difficult packaging in the world to photograph, i'm so in love with my Frozen Quartz, By Terry Ombre Blackstar Eye Shadow already, and I'm so glad the girls encouraged me to buy it, because it's one of the best purchases I've made in a while. I'm looking forward to trying it out and sharing the results with you all!

Have you tried any of the By Terry Ombre Blackstar eyeshadows?? Let me know in the comments... 

Em xxx

Primark Jewellery Haul!

I've recently fallen in love with statement jewellery. I've never really owned any statement pieces as for some reason I always thought I couldn't wear them because I had a bigger bust. I was gifted a beautiful statement necklace from Oliver Bonas last month after leaving my job and that has ignited my new found passion for bold pieces. I recently headed to Primark for a browse and here's what I ended up coming home with!

I absolutely fell in love with this piece as soon as I saw it. It was one of those moments where you can't help but think if you've walked into the right shop. I could not believe the quality and how beautiful it was for only £6.00 and in Primark!

 There are so many outfits and make up looks i'm dying to pair this with. It's perfect for a cute girly look or to add some colour and glam to a jeans and T-shirt day.

As well as loving statement pieces, i've also been loving gold jewellery as of late. Sometimes I want to wear a statement piece that isn't a girly flower necklace. 

When I saw this necklace my first thoughts were that my boyfriend will hate it, and unfortunately for him... I have to have it! 

I don't know what drew me to it, but i imagined it going perfectly with a white topshop jumper i'd recently bought on ebay. At £5.00 this was a welcome addition to my jewellery collection.

I'd pair this necklace with a bold black wing, ponytail and a leather jacket for an edgy glam look.

And for those days in between girly and edgy, here's the best of both worlds. I loved how simple this was, but that it can add a finishing touch to any outfit. I have a feeling that this may turn into a simple everyday necklace for me. I like the clean lines and that it's what i'd call, an understated statement necklace.

At £3.00 it's a great little everyday necklace and i'm sure it's going to be popping up in blog photos in the future.

A jewellery haul isn't complete without some midi rings and I picked these up for the bargain price of £1.50!

 I have tiny fingers and i'm pretty sure only the adjustable ring will fit me, but even at £1.50 for the one ring it's a bargain!

Last, but not least I finally bought a flower crown! I'd been after one of these for what seems like forever as there were a few editorial looks I'd wanted to try out, but needed a crown to pair it with. 

At only £4.00 it was an absolute bargain. However, this one didn't pass the boyfriend test as he wasn't too keen on it, but i'm sure I can change his mind if I style it a little more professionally than slapping it on my head and saying "Look how pretty it is!" 

 Keep your eyes peeled for a look featuring this on the blog very soon! 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these and If you've picked up some jewellery at Primark recently, let me know in the comments! xxx

Drugstore Base Products Haul!

It happened...The Boots 3 for 2 got me. I popped into Boots on my lunch break last week and of course walked out with a bag of products I hadn't gone in for.  This summer I'm going to be doing a series of posts on The Best & Worst Foundations for Pale Skin, so the 3 for 2 seemed a great place to start! 

Here's what I picked up:

L-R 

Rimmel Match Perfection in Ivory. Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in 51 - Vanilla. Revlon Colourstay in 150 Buff.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Shade 1

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - Translucent

Collection Sheer Loose Powder - Translucent

If like me, you're planning on rocking your pale skin this summer and not hitting the bottle aka Fake Tan, then make sure you stay tuned for my series of Pale skin Foundation posts which are coming soon! 

I'm going to be putting foundations to the test and finding out which are the best and worst for Pale Skin tones. From BB creams and tinted moisturizers, right up to full coverage foundations, My Pale Skin will be swatching and testing so you can choose the best product for flawless summer skin!

Have you tried any of the products in this haul?? Let me know in the comments... xxx

[HAUL] NYX Cosmetics Haul!

I recently attended the Professional Beauty London show. (You can read about it here!) and I manage to pick up some goodies from the NYX stall. I've shown you guys a few FOTD featuring the 2x Matte Lipsticks I picked up, but here's the full haul!

NYX had a trade show offer for up to 20% off everything! The stall was incredibly busy and I found it quite difficult to get close to the products. If it were quieter, I think I would've ended up with buying much more! There were quite a few things that I would have liked to have bought from NYX when i found their concession stand at Next in Westfields Stratford, but the stand was in bad shape and many of the lipsticks were contaminated and I couldn't work out what had been used and what hadn't. 

Luckily for me, I had no such problems at Pro Beauty!

So let's look at what I got, shall we?

I have a thing for a nice matte finish, and i've heard very good things about these setting sprays. I find that powder often looks cakey on my skin, and if I can set my face without using powder, that would be pretty cool. I'm looking forward to trying this out.

I couldn't get one, without the other... so I picked up the Dewy finish setting spray. I really hope it doesn't make me look sweaty! I've no idea what to think of this, and I'll post up a review of it after i've tried it.

I love the colour of this 'Sweet Pink' lipstick. Love it. I'm a sucker for a nice matte pink lipstick. It's vibrant and has just the right amount of girliness. I'm going to save this one for one of those days where I feel like adding a nice kick of colour to brighten up a look.

It glides on really easily and doesn't seem to tug. The pigmentation is strong with this one! Cannot wait to try it out!

The second matte lipstick I picked up 'Tea Rose' is one i'd consider a day to day lipstick. it reminds me of my Mac Pink Plaid, and i'll be interested to see a swatch of them side to side.

I've swatched the two Matte lipsticks side by side so you can see the difference in colour. 

This  NYX Black Label Lipstick is an unusual choice for me. I have a love/hate relationship with shimmery makeup. Maybe because I wore too much of it in the 90's/00's as a young girl, but there's something I just don't like about sparkly lips. 

However, this was in the bargain bin for £1 and I sure as hell wasn't going to leave it there for that price.

Back to Matte, and I couldn't buy NYX lip products with buying one of their highly praised soft matte lip creams. I've heard so many good things about these! But I admit it, I played safe and went for a dusty pink shade.

This stuff glides on like a dream. It's my first step into the world of lip creams and I'm really liking how it feels so far. (Swatch in the background is the Tea Rose lipstick from above)

And finally, an NYX sharpener. My Milk Jumbo eye Pencil is in a desperate need of a good sharpen, I picked this up for the bargain price of £3.50 at the trade show and it's a definite must have for Jumbo Eye Pencil fans!

That's it for this haul. I'd love to hear what you think of the lip products and setting sprays! Which are your favourites?