Mac lippy haul

After having an on/off relationship with MAC, in particular the lipsticks I have rekindled the romance. Since purchasing the shade Hue at the beginning of the summer my old opinion of MAC lippies has been shelved.

My most recent purchases were Odyssey and Peach Blossom from the cremesheen and pearl collection.

     

The swatches above from L-R is odyssey, peach blossom. (apologies for the naff pic but i am inbetween cameras and I have to wait and see if santa brings me a new one for xmas)

 

Out of the two I have to say Odyssey is my favourite, its a lovely deep plum colour that when first put on isn't as dark as I thought but can be built up if you want a more dramatic look. This shade is going to be my go to for the party season and is a nice alternative to reds, which are everywhere at this time of year but red just is not my colour (i think i tried every red MAC had to offer). I found that this shade did not dry my lips out and had pretty good staying power, I think I only had to touch up twice on a night out at the weekend.

The peach blossom shade is shimmery and sheer and is not drying on the lips either (I found that my previous MAC lipsticks did this, I think my first ever shade was Plink was I was about 19 or 20!!) the shade is a peachy nude that is perfect for everyday wear or if on a night out and you wanted to focus on eyes this would be the perfect lip colour.

 

 

 



No7 Stay Perfect Foundation

The world of foundations has always been a mystery to me. I have never really found one that I have got on with, in my younger days drug store foundations were the purchase of choice, my friends all wore foundation and I followed suit and I always ended up looking like a flakey orange!! So I was put off and stuck to tinted moisturisers, until now.......

Originally I really wanted to try the Liz Earle foundation but my local John Lewis doesn't stock the make up collection, had no samples to colour match me so I could buy online and basically looked at me like I was a fool, so done was that idea. Other high end brands did tempt me but it is alot of money to spend on something I may regret when I got home as shop lighting can be harsh and colour matching may not always be accurate (so I discovered after my friend spent £50 in YSL and the colours looked awful when she got home!)

After seeing the adverts for the new No7 foundation matching service in Boots I was intrigued. How can a little computer pick out a perfect shade for you? Anyway on the off chance that I was walking past a large out of town Boots when I was going to do the weekly shop I thought I would give it a go. They place the hand held device over each cheek and it determined 2 shades from their range that would suit my skin. I then tested each one and decided which one I wanted, simple as that!! Well I actually picked one shade and the staff gave me some in a pot to take home and test so I could see it in the correct light.

I went for the shade Cool Vanilla and went for the Stay Perfect formula. I have only worn this a few times so far but I have to say that I am in love!! It glides on easily and gives medium coverage that lasted all day, although lasts even better if you wear a primer. It is also the least drying foundation I  have ever tried, I usually get really dry bits on my nose and by my eyebrows, but not with this foundation! Unsure how it would work out in summer months but I don't have to worry about that!!

All in all I am very impressed with No7 lately and will be trying more of their products so all recommendations welcome.

xxx

Haul!!!

I have been a bit absent of late (literally and absent minded!!) but my mind has been else where. I gave birth to my first baby at the end of August. Little Freya has rocketed into the world and turned our lives upside down  in an amazing way!!

Anyway since being on maternity leave I have turned into a blog whore and am checking my favourites several times a day and finding new ones too. Also internet shopping has become my downfall and Boots has become my best friend (or worst enemy depending on what way you look at it, i think my husband may ban me from going in there!).
This is a haul that I would like to say has been since August but unfortunately its been in the last week or 2. I have broke it down as there is a few hair care bits, some make up bits and some skin care bits.

The first purchase is a 100ml bottle of Moroccanoil, which I purchased off Amazon for like £29. Now I have put off buying this for so long as I really wanted to try it first and wanted to know if it honestly worked. I went to the hairdressers and she used it and my hair felt AMAZING! It was so soft and shiney for like a week and I think the ends of my hair feel alot healthier. I have used it since and the results continue. Very impressed so far.

The next is of a similar nature, the Carino Miracle oil is £3.99 from Aldi. I have been waiting for this to come back in stock for months. It looks very similar to Moroccanoil in regards to packaging. I am unsure yet as I haven't tried both enough where the differences lie but this little bottle came in really handy when I had to travel away for a weekend, so a good purchase none the less (I actually brought 2!)

The Dove hair mask is something I picked up on a whim, needed a hair mask and didn't want to get an expensive one from the hairdressers so will have go with this one and see how it goes!

 Skin care wise I haven't tried any of these yet (unless you count standing in boots for over and hour playing with testers like a crazy person) but I have heard good things about Soap and Glory, so maybe when I have tried them out I can review further.
The No7 moisturiser was a recommendation from a friends as was the Loreal youth code moisturiser. I need to have a good stock in the winter as the season hates my skin and I sometimes find myself needing to put moisturiser on up to 3 times a day. Plus I need a replacement for my beloved Origins moisturiser as it is discontinued!

Body wise the Clinique deep comfort body moisturiser is actually a repurchase, kind of. I had a sample tube in a gift set I got and loved it and when I was in a designer outlet recently this was on offer in their cosmetic shop so I snatched it up as the sample tube has run out!
The L'occitane hand cream again a repurchase, I have just used up the last of the rose tube which was a gift from work, I loved the cream just not the rose smell so went for a different scent. Just after I had purchased this it was released as a free gift with this months Marie Clare so I grabbed another one!

A few makeup bits. The first one I will rave about is the Essie Sole Mate. I love this nail polish, it is like a black cherry and I first saw it on Anna of Vivianna wears makeup www.viviannawearsmakeup.com and thought it looked gorgeous so quickly snapped it up. Perfect shade for all those winter parties. I can actually see me finishing a bottle of nail polish for the first time.
The Korres lip butter I got in jasmine, haven't used it yet (haven't even got it out the box, oopppss!) but I have a feeling I will love it!
The Rimmel scandal eyes waterproof eyeliners have been hyped up in the blog world lately so naturally I had to try, I normal stick to Urban Decay eyeliners as they have amazing staying power and the formula of these Rimmel liners. I picked up the shades nude and taupe, I think they were £3.99 and were on 3 for 2 at boots (my friend got the black one and says it is the best liner ever!!!)

I would like to say this was the end of the spending..............................................................

sadly not.

Origins moisturiser haul

Firstly welcome to my first post and thanks for looking!!
I seem to be on a never ending quest for a moisturiser that is perfect for me. Moisturiser is one of those elements of skincare that I am particularly fussy with. I have dry/sensitive skin, which can get very dry, especially in the winter when everyone whacks up the heating.

I had previously really enjoyed using Clinique moisture surge extended thirst relief, when that run out I purchased Clinique moisture surge intense, which is lovely but it far to thick for daytime wear. So I retired that to my night time moisturiser and the quest for a light day time moisturiser went on.

So one hot afternoon I went into my local John Lewis afterwork and headed straight for the Origins counter. I explained to the sales assistant my dilema. I wanted a light moisturiser to wear in the day that wasn't going to leave a clogged up greasy feeling on the skin.

She tried the Make a difference moisturiser on me link. I was impressed it was a very light formula that instantly left my hot tired skin feeling refreshed, I think it had a light cooling effect on the skin. The smell was nice as well, the product did actually make me feel more awake,  which after a 8 shift was impressive!! I now use the product every morning and it will last me AGES as the pot is huge!!

Now the Vitazing moisturiser: link was an impulse purchase, she tried it on me and I was impressed. I had heard about this in the bloggin world but like a simpleton did not realise it was tinted!!! But as i have always found my skin far to try to wear liquid foundation I was sold as the coverage the moisturiser gives was perfect for my skin. I did however find that when I used it as a stand alone product it was slightly drying so now I do layer the make a difference moisturiser lightly underneath and you do have to rub/blend it well or you can get left with some strange orange streaks!! or that could just be me!!

Overall I would highly recommend both and would put them down on my list to repurchase them. Slightly pricey maybe but you get alot of product for your money and I would suggest buying off the origins website as you get to choose 2 samples and they are good sizes!! Sometimes the counters do this but it often depends, they threw in a sample of their Drink up intensive mask for me link and all I have to say about that right at the moment is WOW!!!