Iconic Beauty - A Review Of The Clinique Black Honey + More Gift Set And A Life Update*

I can hardly believe it's been nearly a month since I last posted but predictably life got in the way again. My auntie passed away peacefully at home with her family around after a short battle with cancer. understandably it's hit us hard, my mam in particular especially coming so soon after my uncles passing last year so understandably I've been spending lots of time with her reminiscing, and focusing on other things. Throw in the fact that she hasn't been very well either, and I'm not only still struggling with my teeth and gums, but I've also been struggling with an scratch on my left eye and very uncomfortable dry eyes, it therefore will come as no surprise that yet again the blog has been pretty low on my list of priorities.

Despite that though I have been doing a bit of post prep and a bit of editing here and there, but seeing as I'm trying to rest my eyes a bit and limit my screen time, nothings happening very fast. That been said though I do actually have a little post for you today that I've been working on for a few months now and it's part of a new mini (or maybe not so mini - we'll see ;) series called 'Iconic Beauty'. In this series I'm going to be sharing my thoughts on some of the most iconic and talked about beauty products on the market, from products with a cult following, to products that everyone on social media seems to be talking about, and the first product I'm going to be talking about is Clinique's Almost Lipstick in the iconic shade Black Honey.

First released back in 1971, this deep, deep berry shade, must have really stood out amongst the bright colours of the hippy area, but it quickly became a best seller, and all of these years later according to Clinique, 1 tube of Black Honey is sold every 7 minutes worldwide! I've been reading about Black Honey and why it's so perfect for both in magazine and online for years now but I never got round to buying it,  until that is I started using Tik Tok. Yes according to various journalists and retailers the old clock app has apparently introduced a whole new generation of people to this product, and for a while last year it was in pretty every haul video, or get ready with me that appeared on my for you page, so I gave up, I was indeed influenced and I decided to take the plunge and try it for myself.

Now, you should know by now that I love a bargain so I didn't by the lipstick on its own, instead around Christmas time I bought in a little kit called Clinique Black Honey + More. As well as containing a full size Almost Lipstick in Black Honey it also contained, a good sized mini mascara and an eyeliner for just £30, and considering the lipstick was £24 on it's own it would have been rude not to pick this up instead.

So Black Honey, why is it so iconic, well just look it, it looks beautiful, in this 1.9g full size  Clinique's sleek, minimalist, matte and shiny silver packaging really makes, this dark burgundy black lipstick stand out. It looks almost black here but I can assure you it is a tiny bit more berry toned in real life.

If you don't know anything about this lipstick, I can pretty much guess what your thinking - 'why is a lipstick that looks like it belongs at a goth convention so popular?' Well in case you haven't realised it doesn't really go on that colour. According to Clinique the perfect blend of blue, red and yellow pigments, produces a sheer berry tone, that will miraculously work on any skin tone which is shown in their numerous ad campaigns - the simple reason why it's popular is that it suits so many people.

As you can probably guess from the difference in colour in the tube, to the colour payoff, Black Honey actually has quite a sheer glossy finish, sort of my lips but better. It's described as the perfect hybrid between a lipstick, a lip balm and a gloss.

So that's why it's popular, and why it's so iconic but what did I really think of it? I have to admit that even though I knew what to expect, this 100% fragrance free lipstick still looks intimidating in the tube, but I needn't have worried. The soft but not overtly creamy formula applies easily, and it definitely creates an almost just bitten sheer berry tint - Clinique claim that you can apply it without a mirror, I guess it depends on your skin tone as I could see little imperfections on my skin when I tried but you might be different or more skilled at applying it ;). Whilst sheer the colour is slightly buildable so the more you apply the more intense the colour will be - just don't expect a block, solid colour finish.

I definitely think it has a more balm like feel, and a lovely shiny almost gloss like finish. It isn't the creamiest lip colour, or even tinted lip balm that I've ever used but it was still comfortable to wear and it certainly didn't leave my lips any drier.

The wear time was decent, predictably the glossy finish was the first to fade, transferring onto cups and glasses quite quickly, but once that had gone, it left a slight berry stain which lasted for a few hours.

I have to say I actually do like the product a lot, and I can see why it has the reputation it does but if I'm being honey I think it maybe is a tiny bit overhyped, it's certainly nothing earth shattering, either colour wise or moisturising wise, but I guess the fact the just about anyone can wear it is it's real selling point, and it's certainly better than the few so called dupes that I've tried, but I can't help thinking for the price it might be cheaper just to buy a tinted lip balm if that's the effect you're going for - hmm. For the rare people that Black Honey apparently doesn't suit there is apparently a pinkier version called Pink Honey, which I might try next - If you've tried that one please let me know  your thought- I think it might be too pale for me but you never know. The Black Honey + More Kit is really hard to find now but the lipstick, it is still widely available on its own for around £24 from retailers including Boots, ASOS, M&S, John Lewis, Beauty Bay, Look Fantastic and Sephora.

As I said earlier in this post I do love a bargain, and at the time it made more sense to buy the Black Honey + More set rather than the individual lipstick. As well as the beauty that is Black Honey herself, the kit also came with a couple of eye products, including a 3.5ml half size of the  Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black, which retails at around £14

Although I don't remember buying it outright, I had actually used this mascara before, so I think it was either a GWP or a magazine freebie, and I remember being pretty impressed, so for just an extra £4 on top of the lipsticks retail price, I was pleased to have the opportunity to try it again.

As you would expect from Clinique this mascara, is ophthalmologist tested, free from fragrance and oil, and it's safe for both contact lens wearers and people with sensitive eyes. The packaging is clinical and to the point, if you want a fancier tube Clinique certainly sell mascaras in more expensive looking packaging but this particular one lets the product inside do the talking. 

Even though this particular tube is only a half size, it came a full size, signature soft, full fibre spoolie brush, which when teamed up with rich black pigments, Clinique claim produces a mascara that adds buildable volume and length all without clumping.

Thanks to the full brush it was nice and easy to apply on the top lashes, but predictably there was a little bit of spotting and smudging on my shorter lower lashes, but nothing too extreme and it was fairly easy to remove with a cotton bud.

After just one coat you can already see the difference, the lashes are darker, longer, more separated and fuller. One coat is perfect for everyday use, but if you want to go bolder then this mascara will help you do exactly that.

Before 

1 Coat 

2 Coats 

With 2 coats, the effect is intensified, the lashes are darker still, longer, fuller, and more separated. This picture is taken straight after application, no fiddling or combing so they do look a little bit clumpy and spidery, and there are a couple of smudges under the lower lashes, but it's nothing that a lash comb and a cotton bud couldn't fix, and most importantly even with an extra coat the lashes didn't feel, tight, dry, heavy or uncomfortable.

Before

1 Coat

2 Coats 

Despite the fact that it's not promoted as a waterproof, or long wear mascara I was still pretty impressed with the wear time, only after about 6 hours do I start to notice a bit of panda eyes going but it wasn't too bad, and when even when I came to take it off at the end of the day, it removed easily with eye make up remover and there was still plenty of product still remaining on the lashes.

Whilst I don't agree with the non clumping claim, everything else Clinique claim about this mascara rings true, darker, longer and fuller lashes, a buildable formulation, and decent staying power. There are probably a lot more dramatic, false lash effect mascaras on the market but this particular is a real workhorse, perfect for everyday both wear and for when you want to add just a touch of drama. 

Also available in Brown and Black-Brown, this half 3.5ml half size retails at around £14 and is available from various retailers including Boots, ASOS, Beauty Bay, and M&S. The full 7ml size retails at around £24 is also available from Boots, ASOS, Beauty Bay, and M&S, as well as John Lewis, Look Fantastic and Sephora.

Now as well as the two items that I was more than happy to have Clinique's Black Honey + More kit also contained another item from the High Impact range, only this time it was one that I wasn't quite so enthusiastic about!

Yes it was of course my nemesis, an eyeliner, and more specifically a felt tip liner - the Clinique High Impact Easy Liquid Liner in Black. I think this is the year when I've eventually admitted defeat with liners like this, no matter what the brand and the promises they make, my eyelids are just to oily and my hands are too shaky to make them work. Purely for you guys though I had a little play with this one and whilst I achieved nothing worth photographing, I do have a few thoughts.

First up the blurb from Clinique - again as you would expect, it's fragrance free, ophthalmologist tested, allergy tested and suitable for people with sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers. Advertised with the tag line ' All the drama of a liquid eyeliner without the drama of putting it on' - this pen is designed with a precision, ultrafine tip for both thin and thick lines, and they claim is has 24 hour smudge and budge resistant wear.

I'll start by saying that this is a believe around half the size of the regular, retail product, and do you know what? if pushed I would definitely go for the smaller size pen. The smaller size made it, even for me, quite easy to control. I also liked the tip on this pen, it was fairly easy to manipulate, it was also quite firm and as a result you didn't need a lot of pressure, so I'm pretty sure that the steady handed liner lovers amongst you should be able to achieve both an ultra fine, and thicker bolder line.

So far so good, but the old, oily, hooded lids quickly ruined any joy or love that I felt towards this liner! Whilst it did seem to dry fairly quickly the minute I blinked a smudgy, mirror image of a line appeared in the middle of my eyelid, and almost immediately the original line looked faded and patchy. That been said though once I'd cleaned it up, reapplied and made sure not to blink for a few minutes whilst it was completely dry it did actually stay put - it did fade and go patchy but there was still liner there when I removed it with my normal eye make up remover about 6 hours later!

As someone is rubbish with liner it this one wasn't actually that bad, the key i think is to give it enough time to dry - If you're a liner buff and you're looking for something to try then this one might be worth a look. I can't find this particular 0.3g size online but the full 0.6g size retails at around £23 and is available online in this shade from John Lewis, M&S and Look Fantastic.

I hope you've enjoyed this little foray into some of the Clinique's make up products, and taking a look at one of their cult products in the Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. If you've tried it I'd love to your thoughts, and whether you think it lives up the the hype, and I'd also love to know what other cult beauty products you'd like to see me cover in this series - so please leave me a comment and let me know and I will see you soon with a little nails of the day post x 

*This Post Contains Affiliate Links 

Clinique Chubby Stick Cheers To Chubby Set - Review And Swatches

You should know by now that I'm a pretty honest person so I'm going to start this post with a bit of a confession, and it's one that applies to pretty every single post bar 1 that I'm going to be publishing in the run up to Christmas - This post like so many others is late in fact it's almost a year late!

Despite the fact that I love a bargain, I'm not a huge fan of the post Christmas sales, after being squished and stressed whilst shopping in the run up to Christmas, the last thing that I want to do is to go through it all again on Boxing Day. That said I have been known to brave the frustration of websites going down, and online queueing systems, to do a bit of sales shopping online. Although I used to be a little bit more slap dash, I'm not more selective about what I do buy, and way back in December 2017 I picked this Clinique Chubby Stick Cheers To Chubby Set up in the Boots sale.

At that point my lip colour collection was probably worse than it is now, but despite trying every chunky lip pen, and chubby stick inspired lipsticks I had never ever tried the original, and this kit gave me the perfect opportunity to try both of the Clinique Chubby Stick formulations, and some of their most popular colours.

This kit was obviously a one off for Christmas last year and as a result it's no longer available but I still think that it's worth talking about because of the shades are permanent and are still available in their full sizes from both the Clinique website, and from their online and in store concessions.

The kit itself came packaged in a compact and reusable metal tin, emblazoned with the Clinique logo. The tin contained 5 x1g Chubby Stick Lip Colour Balms, in both of Clinique's Chubby Stick formulations.

The original Chubby Stick formulation is the Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm, which contains both mango and Shea butter, and is designed to give the lips intense nourishment and a subtle sheen and tint. There were 2 of these in this kit 13 Mighty Mimosa and 07 Super Strawberry.

If you want a bit more coverage in your lip balm then Clinique also make the Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm, they have a similar ultra nourishing formula but with a more intense gloss colour. There were 3 shades in this formulation in this kit 08 Grandest Grape, 05 Plushest Punch, and 03 Mightiest Maraschino.

From left to right - 13 Mighty Mimosa, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 05 Plushest Punch, 08 Grandest Grape, and 07 Super Strawberry

I'm going to talk about each colour individually but first just a few general thoughts x First of all Clinique are known for catering for sensitive skin so all of these products are fragrance free, and they have no real taste to them, which personally is a bit of shame since the names lend them so well to flavours and tastes.

Secondly, as you would expect for something called a chubby stick these are quite chunky, so if you have really thin lips you might have problems applying these neatly, it's fine with the original formulation but even on my full lips it was a bit difficult to apply the intense shades particularly on the cupids bow area without the need for a little bit of a clean up. It's not a serious problem you just have to be a bit careful, and you could of course use a brush for neater application

Finally as you can see these are the 1g size which is around half the size of a regular Chubby Stick, the components are probably a little bit more plastic based but they look pretty similar to their bigger cousins. The biggest difference though with these is that you can't twist them up or down so I can imagine it will get harder to use the more you use it and you will probably will end up using a lip brush to get the last bits out. Hassle ? Maybe but if you're anything like me you'll want to use every last bit of all of these colours.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 05 Plushest Punch

Plushest Punch is one of the Intense shades which are a lot bolder and a lot more pigmented. Plushest Punch is one of my favourite shades in the kit, I love pinks, and this is a gorgeous deep pink. For such a pigmented shade I was really impressed with just how moisturising it was and just how glossy the finish was. Given the moisture content it wasn't surprising that this colour transferred onto onto other humans, and of course glasses and mugs but considering the texture and finish the wear time was still pretty good. You can see it on my lips in the picture below and I am also wearing it my October Pink Parcel video that you can see here x

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 03 Mightiest Maraschino

If you're looking for a lip colour for that Christmas party then Mightiest Maraschino could be the one, it's a lovely bright cherry red, with the merest hint of pink, so it's perfect if you normally shy away from reds. Again it's from the Intense line so the pigmentation is superb, it applies well, and it feels smooth and creamy on the lips. There was a bit of transfer again, and it did bleed and travel over the lip line a little bit so touch ups and careful application was needed but again it wore well, and once the gloss had faded it almost seemed to leave a stain on the lips

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 08 Grandest Grape

One good thing about kits like this is that they give you the opportunity to try out both products and colours that you wouldn't normally try, and one such colour is Grandest Grape. I'm not that experimental when it comes to lip colour but after trying this I think particular shade I think I need to expand my horizons. Grandest Grape is a deep plummy, berry shade again with some pink undertones. The pigmentation and colour payoff again was superb, and if anything this particular colour seemed to even more pigmented and more moisturising. It was probably the hardest shade to apply neatly, because it's such a deep shade the application needs to be spot on and given the creamy texture that wasn't that easy with such a chunky applicator, throw in the fact that it was prone to transferring and smudging then you'd think that maybe it wasn't worth the effort. Well let me tell you that it was, I've had several compliments on this lip colour, and if you can get past the need to clean up every now and then, it actually wore really well and again it seemed to almost leave a moisture filled stain on the lips, when a lot of the gloss had disappeared x See what you think in the pic below x

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm - 13 Mighty Mimosa

Now if intense bold colour isn't your thing, then this kit also contained 2 shades in Clinique's original Chubby Stick formulation. These shades are all about the treatment, and less about the colour, they impart all of the moisture only with a sheer, more natural colour, that for some is a lot more wearable for every day.  Mighty Mimosa is the perfect peachy, nude, pink shade, obviously the pigment isn't quite as intense as the other 3 shades but there is still a bit of colour there. You obviously get the same burst of moisture, but you also get a hint of sheer glossy colour.

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm - 07 Super Strawberry

Again Super Strawberry offers intense moisture, with just a hint of glossy light strawberry pink colour. Both this and Mighty Mimosa are shades that will suit everyone, the colour doesn't last quite as long, but with these less pigmented shades they are really easy to reapply even with the chunky tip, and you needn't worry as much about bleeding, smudging or going over the lip line.

I am so so pleased that I picked up this kit, I have been pretty impressed with a lot of the Chubby Stick dupes, but now I've tried the real thing I can now say that I completely understand the hype! and Plushest Punch is definitely on my repurchase list. As I say this particular kit is not longer available but all of these shades are available in the full size for around £18.50 each. If you want to experiment a bit or if you're already a Chubby Stick fan then there are a number of limited edition kits around at the moment that may fulfil your Chubby Stick fantasies (that sounds so wrong but I can't resist lol). If you are already a fan of Chubby Sticks then the Clinique website is selling a kit called The Chubbettes which contains 20 x 1g shades, it's an investment at £68 but you probably wouldn't need to buy any more lip colours for a long, long time. If you're after something similar to what I picked up last year though then Boots are currently selling the Clinique Lip Out Loud set which contains 3 x 1g colours for just £15.50 which would a fab stocking filler, and if you want something that gives you the chance to try 5 shades, then you can get the Clinique Chubby Colour Make Up Gift Set from various retailers including Boots, Debenhams and John Lewis, for £25 and it contains 5 x 1g Chubby Sticks. There are loads of options out there if you're a fan of these and I have to say I'm now a convert so if you have any colour recommendations then please let me know in the comments x

You Tube Hauling - Beauty, Jewellery And Accessories

I disappeared again, didn't I? I promised you some more posts and then I went AWOL again! I'm sorry that I haven't been the best blogger lately but if you follow me on Instagram or You Tube then you'll know that I haven't been completely absent from social media.

I've always tried to establish an all round social media presence, my aim is to make all of my channels work together, so if you see something on my Instagram, or on my Twitter or on my You Tube channel, then at some point it will probably pop up on my blog.

Although like many users I recently lost the ability to monetise my videos on You Tube, I still enjoy making them and having another mouthpiece for thoughts and ramblings, and dare I say it sometimes it's easier to make a video then it is to take and edit a kazillion pictures for a blog post!

It's always difficult to find content that other people will watch and hopefully enjoy, so at the moment I just seem to be sticking with the old tried and tested, hauls and unboxing videos. I definitely went to switch it up a bit though so I'd love to know what type of content you'd like to watch so please leave me your suggestions below x 

In the meantime though I've recently posted a couple of haul videos that I thought I share with you, the first one is a Dorothy Perkins haul which you can watch below or via this link. I recently took advantage of one of their 25% off everything weekends and picked up a few jewellery pieces, and a couple of pairs of cute socks, so have a watch and let me know your thoughts.

As well as a fashion based haul, I also recently uploaded a very, very late, post Christmas beauty sale haul. Yes I know we're now in April but better late then never eh? Yeah I was pretty ill over the Christmas period but I still managed to make a couple of online sale buys from Benefit, Clinique, Tarte and Marc Jacobs Beauty. You can watch my haul video below or via this link if you are on a mobile device.

Although a lot of the kits and the holiday sets that I talked about were limited editions, I still think that this video was worth sharing with you. Why? well a lot of the kits also contained a lot of permanent items and permanent shades some of which I'll be reviewing on the blog in the next month or so, and if you're a Tarte fan then make sure that you're following my blog because I might have bought a few extra sets to giveaway.

Again I hope you've found these videos useful, as I say I have quite a few reviews to come but if you have any questions on any of the items that I've mentioned in either of these videos then please leave me a comment below, and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel if you haven't already x 

A Huge High End Beauty Haul Featuring Benefit, Clinique And More

To say that this post has been a long time coming is an understatement, I've been planning this post since May! Basically what it is, is a huge collective, high end beauty haul. I started off buying a couple of things way back in May and June with my birthday money, but I never managed to get a haul up, so as the month's have gone by I've bought more and more things, till I decided that enough is enough and I need to pull my finger out and get a post and a video up :) So grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy the pretties x

The majority of this haul comes from one of my brands of the moment, Benefit. I already had quite a few Benefit products in my collection but after having a Benefit makeover at the Fenwick Beauty Week preview, I added a whole load more to my wishlist.

At the top of my list was Gimme Brow - a fibre filled gel that not only tames that brows but it also gives the illusion of thicker and fuller brows. I have a couple of bald patches after an over enthusiastic plucking session so I loved the natural effect that this gave, I went for the shade Light / Medium which was the one the MUA used on me.

I bought mine from QVC and it came in a kit with  a product I hadn't tried ,the High Brow Glow. This is a luminous brow lifting pencil. I love the look of the pencil and I can see myself using it under my brows to emphasise the arch and as an eye colour.

Something else that was used on me was the Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow / Liner in No Pressure.

I'm a huge, huge fan of the creaseless cream shadows and I already have quite a few in my make up collection, my favourite by far is Skinny Jeans but No Pressure is something that I can see myself using a lot. It described as a rich fawn, and for me it's a dark, taupe, brown with just a hint of shimmer. Creaseless creams are the perfect product if you're in a rush or you're feeling a bit lazy, just smooth a little bit of product over your lid and blend out and you're done. You can also use them as a liner so you're really getting two products in one.

Although I normally buy a lot of my Benefit products in store and on counter I have placed a couple of orders on the Benefit website lately, mainly when they've had an free postage offer on or when they've had a good gift with purchase offer. I bought this shadow from their website and I also bought this.

Despite being in my late 30's I still have quite an oily skin particularly on my t-zone, my nose and my chin so this product automatically appealed. The Benefit The Porefessional License To Blot Instant Oil Blotting Stick, is basically a solid, twist up stick of the Porefessional Primer. Instead of using it underneath your make up you use it on top, to take down the shine, instead of using say a face powder. I haven't used this yet but I'll give you some feedback when I do.

As I say I only order from the Benefit website when they have an offer on and one of their most recent offers was a good one. With any purchase you got a free Benefit tote bag. I have to say I wasn't expecting much but this really surprised me. With a San Francisco design, little feet on the bottom and a hot pink lining, this bag is a really nice quality, and would make a fab beach bag. It's well worth subscribing to their newsletter to keep up to date with all of their offers and new releases.

Another benefit (haha) of ordering from the Benefit website is the free samples. You usually get two free samples with each order and with my two orders I got two samples of the Total Moisture Facial Cream, a sample of Puff Off and a sample of the They're Real Remover.

My next two Benefit purchases both came from ASOS thanks to a couple of discount codes :) The first kit that I got was the Operation Pore-Proof Mission Accomplished Pore Kit.

Two of my biggest skin care concerns are large pores and oiliness and that's what this kit claims to disguise. I love this kits from Benefit and they really give you an opportunity to try a few products at once without having to shell out for the full size. This kit contains a mini Dr Feelgood, a mini The Porefessional Primer, a mini the Porefessional Agent Zero Shine, and a brush, a mini License To Blot and a mini Shy Beam. At the moment this kit is the only way to buy Shy Beam, it's basically a matte highlighter, the concept is a bit strange but it does what it says it does. I will be reviewing this kit in the run up to Christmas because I think it will make a great gift especially for teenagers.

The final Benefit item that I'm going to show is also a mini kit and it's also something that I got from ASOS. During my makeover, I no only had the opportunity to try out some of the Benefit make up products but I also had the chance to try out some of their skin care products, and I have to say I was impressed. I think it was the light textures and the smell that impressed me the most - they all have the same gorgeous fresh, slightly fruity, floral scent, and they all have a sort of light gel / cream texture.

The little mini kit that I got from ASOS unfortunately isn't online anymore but it contained a mini Porefessional Primer, and two mini glass packaged, skincare products, the It's Potent Eye Cream and the Triple Performance Facial Emulsion. I'm probably going to be reviewing these in a future Sample Saturday post so stick around x

Although I've bought the odd item from Clinque, I would never consider them as one of my go to brands, but lately I've spent more and more time lusting after their products with the Chubby Sticks and these gorgeous Cheek Pops right at the top of my list.

How pretty are these blushers? I've wanted one of these for the longest time and now I have one in the shade Berry Pop - I haven't got heart to destroy the pretty pattern - Products are made to be used and not looked at though so one of these days I will get round to swatching it and no doubt I'll show you when I do.

My next Clinique purchase isn't as pretty to look at but over the last few months it's become a real staple in my make up routine, It's the Stay Matte Oil Free Make Up in the shade 2 Alabaster.

Way, way back in April I received a little Clinique sample pot in my goodie bad from the Intu Metro Centre Fashion Live Event, and straight after the event I went to the Clinique counter and got a sample of  foundation chosen for me by one of their make up artists,and this was it. The colour match is perfect and I love how long wearing it is on my oil prone skin. If you would like a review of this one let me but this is definitely a product that I would repurchase.

The last make up purchase in this haul comes from a brand that seems to have fell off my radar lately, MAC. Don't get me wrong I still rate the brand but they just don't seem as exciting or as innovative as they once did. The majority of their releases have all just been a bit samey, the one however was just a little bit different

MAC Cosmetics La Disko Dazzleshadow in Boom Boom Room is a beautiful burgundy shade which is shot through with emerald sparkles. It's a total bugger to photograph but it's one of those fab duo chromes that changes colour with every movement - it's beautiful!

I've tried to swatch this but it just won't show up in photographs :( I've also tried swatching it in the video at the end of this post but it still doesn't do it justice - this is a colour that you need to see in the flesh but move quickly if you're interested as this was a sparkle filled, limited edition.

Next up one my own personal obsessions - nail polish. As well as picking up a lovely hot pink Nails Inc polish in Notting Hill Gate with this months Glamour magazine, and a lovely bronze, gold Orly polish with ELLE (see my Instagram for pics) I've also picked up quite a few sparkly polishes lately including this OPI kit.

T

This was the recent OPI Christmas Today's Special Value on QVC and I love it. There were two options Warm and Cool, and obviously I went for the cool option. The kit contains 4 full sized polishes from the new Holiday collection in sparkly blacks, blues and silvers, as well as a full sized Nail Envy, and a full sized Bubble Bath Nail Envy which is exclusive to QVC. It also contains a full sized Avoplex Hand Cream and some Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops. I will be featuring all of the colours in the run up to the festive season and I'll also be showing you the Bubble Bath Nail Envy and reviewing the Drip Dry Drops and the hand cream.

I've took full advantage of ASOS discount codes lately and something else that I got was something that I'd wanted for a very long time, Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Melange.

Melange is the most gorgeous colour, it's a dusky teal green, shot through with lots and lots of fine gold sparkle.

Again the pictures just don't do this polish justice, it's one of those colours that you need to see in the flesh and one that I can't wait to get on my nails.

Next up another purchase that was down to a discount code and this time it's from SpaceNK. I recently reviewed a few Bumble and Bumble products for you, and I loved them so much I couldn't resist repurchasing them especially with a discount. I just got the two minis - a mini Bb Hairdressers Invisible Oil Sulfate Free Shampoo and the Bb Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Conditioner, and being Space NK I also got a few sample sachets from Wei, Caudalie and Goldfaden MD.

I think I've mentioned it once or twice but I'm a bit of a QVC aholic and I love nothing better than settling down in front of the TV and watching one of their beauty shows. I love how QVC embrace bloggers, You Tubers and social media and one of their most recent guests was the lovely Caroline Hirons. Caroline was modelling for the Pixi team who were demonstrating Pixi Glow Tonic. This stuff had been on my wishlist for the longest time so I took the plunge and ordered it, and  even though I've only been using it for a week or so, I have to say so far so good, my skin looks brighter and feels smoother already.

The final two items that I'm going to show probably highlight how overdue this post actually is, they're all about summer and they're all about the tan.

Okay I didn't strictly buy this St Tropez kit, but I did purchase a Red Magazine subscription to get it. The offer was well worth it, as well as a discount on the magazine, you also got a free St Tropez toiletry bag, a full 50ml size of the St Tropez Light / Medium Gradual Tan Everyday Dace Lotion, and a full 200ml size of the St Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower Tanning Lotion. I have to say I got this mainly for the in shower tanner but as of yet I haven't used it or the mini one I got free with a magazine. I'm a bit frightened of staining my mums new wet room but one of these days I'll bite the bullet and give it a go. Just a hint though I'm probably going to be cancelling my Red subscription, not because I don't like the magazine but because you don't get the cover mounted free gifts - grrr!

If you've made it this far, well done this haul has been pretty epic and at last you've made it to the final item and yes this was summer related too, a huge 400ml size of the Gatineau Tan Accelerating Lotion.

Ho Hum, I didn't get that much use out of this, this year, but with a two years once open shelf life hopefully I'll get some use out of it next year. It's basically a gorgeous anti-ageing body moisturiser that contains an ingredient that activates the melanin in your skin, allowing you to tan more quickly. 2015 was a fail for me when it came to sun exposure - I think I sat outside for one day! so here's hoping 2016 will be a little bit sunnier.

You've done it! You've made it to the end x Well done I hope you've enjoyed my rather epic 5 month long haul but if you haven't had your fill of my beauty buys then settle down and enjoy the accompanying epic video which you can find here or below x



Thanks for watching and if you have any questions or comments (keep them nice x) and I'll see you soon x