A Very, Very Late April And May Haul Featuring Make Up Revolution, L'Oreal, Boohoo, H&M And More x

I can hardly believe that we're in the middle of June already! Alas I'm in the middle of another illness nightmare so the blog posts have tailed off again :( I'm sorry but please, please bear with me - I can't guarantee posts every day at the moment but I'm going to do my best to get at least a few up a week xx Thankfully I've had a couple of day of lucidity so I thought I'd put up a very, long overdue, April and May haul post.

I honestly didn't think I'd bought as much as I had - obviously I bought a few magazines with free gifts but it wasn't until I started sorting my bits out to photographed that I realised just how much I'd actually bought. A lot of this stuff was actually bought with birthday money which makes this haul considerably less scary - First up clothes, jewellery and accessories 

My weight loss has trailed off dramatically over the last month or so and I'm still struggling to lose the weight that I gained in May, but despite this little blip I've still picked up a few clothing items, including these trousers from H&M.

I'm slowly but surely starting to embrace the patterned trouser trend, and these ones are exactly the same in size and style to the animal print ones that you can see here. 

I'm having a serious think on what exactly to wear these with, a the moment definitely white and navy, but I'm thinking of picking up maybe a vest or top in a similar green tone too. These are so, so comfortable, you honestly think that your wearing PJ's. My mum has kindly ordered me another colourway which I'll hopefully show you next month.

Next up a couple of things from boohoo that I picked up thanks to my birthday discount code - first this floral patterned scuba skirt.

I love this skirt, I love the colour and the pattern, and the almost wetsuit esq fabric.It's so summer and I can't wait to wear it, when we get some sunshine!

I also got this floral patterned t-shirt - It's a little more sheer than I would have liked but I'm loving floral patterns at the moment.

It wouldn't be me if there was no jewellery, and not wanting to disappoint  I picked up a few things this month including my Gold Stone bracelet from DYO Fabulous that you can see here, and also this bracelet set from Avon.

I have to be honest and say I was a tiny bit disappointed in this, the friendship bracelet with the word LOVE on it,it is a little bit cheaper looking and thinner than I expected. It also comes with a black faceted bead bracelet which again will be great for layering x 

As well as the bracelets I also got this ring set from H&M. It contains 3 rose gold effect, rings that can either be worn individually or layered together.

You get a little bow, a star and a slightly smaller star and a crystal.

Before I move onto the beauty products I picked up I just want to show you this Poundland bargain x 

For Christmas I was lucky enough to receive an iPad Mini. It came with a sturdy case and cover but sometimes you want something a bit lighter and this simple sleeve does the trick perfectly x This size also fit my kindle and they also do a larger version for bigger iPads and tablets all for £1.

Speaking of Poundland I also got a few nail related beauty items including some more of the Nail Rock Frou Frou Nail Charms.

The last ones I got were all about ice creams and desserts, but these ones are fruity themed. There are little strawberries, orange and apple slices. They had few other Nail Rock bits in when I was there including some nail wraps and a couple of their nail caviar kits. I decided to get a caviar kit and the one I got was Neptune which came with a polish in Neptune Green, and a tub of pink and blue micro beads. I know this trend isn't to everyones taste but if you fancy giving it a go, Poundland is the the place to pick up the bits on the cheap.

Another Poundland nail bargain came from Revlon x I've looked at the fabulous polishes in their Chroma Chameleon a few times but I never made a purchase, but low and behold I spotted this beauty in Poundland.

The polishes in this range are all about the duo chrome, metallic and Pink Quartz, is a sort of pink, green, yellow, bronze hybrid.

I keep saying I'm going to stop buying nail polish but the lure is just too strong, especially when it comes to Avon -  this is one of their Speed Dry + polishes in Trance, a gorgeous turquoise shot through with sparkle x 

3 for 2's are always dangerous, and throughout April and May I picked up a few things from Superdrug including a few Make Up Revolution Items - First up Iconic 3

I think everything has pretty much already been said about this palette, the price, pigmentation and quality is first class - if your thinking of buying Naked 3, like I was, buy this and it will be all you'll need x

Next up I picked up two of their Baked Highlighters - on the left is Golden Lights and on the right is Peach Lights.

I have a real thing for highlighters and these ones are gorgeous for the price, Golden Lights is sort of an iridescent white, gold and Peach Lights is a lovely iridescent pale peachy, pink.

If you want to win your own Make Up Revolution Iconic 3 Eyeshadow Palette and your own Golden Lights Baked Highlighter, click here and quick because my giveaway ends in a few hours time xx

As if it wasn't excessive enough to buy two highlighters in two months, I actually bought 3! I'd seen this one a couple times on various blogs and instagram pages , and since all the make was on 3 for 2 I thought why not.

The L'Oreal Lumi Magique Pearl Powder in 02 Rose Radieux, admittedly has quite a bit of over spray on it but the underneath shade is a gorgeous shimmery, peachy pink. You can use this powder as an all over face colour but I think I will just be using it as a blush and highlighter.

Despite the lack of sunshine up north at the moment, it is definitely warmer than it has been, and that means that make up wise I'm moving away from heavier foundations and instead I'm embracing lighter formulations, mineral foundations, tinted moisturisers and BB creams. Although Make Up Revolution are the budget brand of the moment, one of my budget brand loves is still MUA Make Up Academy. I wasn't sure what to else to pick up in one of my 3 for 2's so I went for their BB All In One Beauty Balm in 1 Light - I haven't heard too much about this to be honest so I'll definitely stick a review up once I've had a chance to try it.

One of my favourite lip colours over the last few months has been the Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Long Lasting Intense Colour Balm in 110 Make Me Blush. I love the colour, and it's super creamy and moisturising. I loved it so much I decided to pick up another shade.

This time I went for 700 Not An Illusion, which is more of a nude / neutral shade, with a bit of warmth to it x

Apologies for the dry cracked lips, and the wild hair xx

I'm still obsessed with these lip balm, pen stain things, and whilst surveying the racks I saw Barry M's interpretation of the trend - their Gelly Hi Shine Lips

There are 5 shades to choose from and I went for GSL5 - Capella =, a gorgeous bright pink.

As you can see from the picture these are very, very creamy, they aren't as moisturising as the Rimmel oes, but they are prone to melting and smooshing, so keep them in a cool place if you can , I think mine got a tiny bit warm x Apologies again for the slightly yucky lips and the bad lighting, its actually a little brighter irl than it's showing in the lip shots  x This is also the shade that I'm wearing in the video below xx

So that was the make up but I also got a few more bits in Superdrug including a new eyebrow brush and lash comb.

..some of their own brand Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel which is just as nice as Original Source and usually a bit cheaper..

and finally some Dove Summer Glow Nourishing Body Lotion. This is my favourite gradual tanner and I'll be starting this bottle in the next week or so, to save the world from my pasty limbs.

My final purchase of April and May was from Boots, I'm nearly out of my both of my regular toners and I don't have too much of my Clarins Exfoliating Toner left so I decided to try this cheaper alternative. The Boots Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner.

This toner contains AHA's and Hibiscus to brighten and freshen the skin. I'm really hoping that this will do a similar job to my Clarins one x I'll let you know x

So that was my very, very belated April / May haul as per usual, you can also watch the accompanying video here or below



and if you have any questions on anything in this post then please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to respond xx 

February And March Haul - Beauty Featuring Avon, Rimmel, Miners And More x

Hey Guys x It's time for the long promised, second part of my February / March haul, and this time it's all about beauty.You wouldn't think it but I'm actually trying really hard not to spend so much money on beauty bits. I could seriously stock a branch of Boots based on the amount of stuff that I've got but despite that I've still picked up a few things over the last couple of months

First up Avon, as I've said before my next door neighbour is an Avon lady, I don't feel obliged to buy anything from her but I just can't help myself especially when they produce items like this.

This Marbleised Powder Blush in Self Discovery is stupidly pretty, you could wear it as a shimmery blush but for me it works way better as a summer highlight colour.

I'm not sure how well this picture shows it but it's a beautiful warm, peach nude shimmer. It's so pretty and reminds me a lot of the finish the MAC MSF's give. I think it's limited edition so move fast if you want it x

Next from Avon something I've wanted to try for a while. I'm a huge fan of their Ideal Flawless Foundation, the shade Ivory and the texture works for me perfectly so I thought I'd try it in the cream to powder formulation.

I've never really got on with cream to powder foundations before but you never know this could be the one, I'll keep you posted xx

The next 3 things I got from Avon were all lipsticks. I'm in the middle of altering my make up storage, and to be honest I couldn't believe how many lip products I own. I've done a little bit of a purge but I really shouldn't be buying any more -whoops!

The first one that I went for is the Ultra Colour Absolute Lipstick in the shade Pink Renewal.

Excuse the hideous dry scaly lips but this is actually quite a moisturising sheer baby pink shade, which is quite a bit lighter than it appears in the bullet.

The other two lipsticks that I got were from the ColorTrend range. This range is super affordable and I already own quite a few of their Kiss 'n' Go lipsticks but these ones are a little bit different.

The major difference is the packaging; Instead of the usual white packaging, these limited edition ones have red tubes covered in pink hearts.

As you can probably guess from the hearts this collection is all about love, and that's something that's also reflected in the lipstick design and in the names of the lipstick. The first one I got was Loveable.

How cute are the embossed hearts? I almost couldn't bear to use but the colour is so pretty and spring like it's already had a few outings. I'm not sure it looks in in the tube but it's a brightish pink, with just a hint of warmth perfect for people, who are scared of brights.

Again please try and ignore the state of my lips, my throat infection had ravaged my personage in more ways than one x but I hope this gives you some idea.

The last lipstick that I went for was Smoochable.

I have to be honest and say the swatch in the brochure was a little bit misleading. From the picture I thought it would be a bit nuder - is that even a word? It's a lot warmer but it has more red, and pink tones than I thought it would.

It's still super pretty though and very wearable, but again yuck lips and apologies for the full face shot apart from the lipstick I'm completely bare faced x

The last Avon item that I've bought was a nail polish. I love Avon nail polishes so much so that I'm waiting for a couple coming eek but this one isn't a colour in the conventional sense. It's actually described as a top coat.

Destination Peach is one of those pearlised iridescent colours that you can use to change the colour of other polishes. I haven't had the chance to try it out yet properly but it gives the nails almost a opal like, satin finish.

Would you believe from this, that I'm also cut down on buying nail polish, some hope, I recently added another two to my huge collection including Pacific 404 from the Barry M Aquarium Collection

and this one from a brand called Jess at Poundland. They have some really pretty colours and for a pound they're worth trying. I'll definitely be having another look at their pastel shades if this one is any good.

Breathless by Jess reminds me a lot in the bottle of Indian Ocean by Models Own. I'm definitely going to do a comparison post when I recover from a cat related nail injury - hmmm

I've being a bit obsessed with Poundland lately stocking up on Popcorn and the likes so on another trip to my local I found these Nail Rock Frou Frou gems.

These are ridiculously cute lollipop, cake and ice cream shaped charms / 3D decals that you stick on your nails. I'm not sure if I'll use them but they were too cute to leave behind. I'm also lead to believe that ones shaped like animals have been spotted, and I'm gutted that I couldn't find them :(

From Poundland to Poundworld and oddly enough something that I didn't pay a pound for! I much prefer Poundland to Poundworld but my mum had watched a documentary on pound shops which featured a £1 comfort bra so in we went. She picked up her bra, (which she loves by the way) and I found a little something in their reduced section.

I didn't know that pound shops even had reduced sections but this one did and I managed to a Milani Runway Eyes Fashion Shadows Palette in Fashionista Pink for just 50p! I already have one of these in olive green tones that I got in a swap and I'm really pleased to pick up this one. Admittedly I'm not a huge wearer of pink eyeshadows but this was two good to turn down. One of my Instagram followers also suggested that it would make a nice blush palette, apologies that I can't remember who suggested it but yes, yes, thank you I've tried it and it's fab, so many different tones, and a highlighter all in one.

Speaking of cheek colours, the lovely Michelle from Butterflies and Lillies mentioned that the Co-Operative Pharmacy nearest to me stocked Miners make up. I've never really tried anything from Miners before so I just went for the one thing, a Blusher Brick in Pinks.

It contains three different shades, a creamy pink highlight, a cool, bright pink and a more mauve pink.

Unusually for a product with embossing detail the texture is very soft and silky and the colour pay off despite my not so good picture is really good.

Again I'm not sure how well this comes across here or in the full face Loveable post but this a very wearable cheek trio, I really, really like and I'll definitely be checking out Miners as a brand in the future.

One of my obsessions over the last few months has been the chubby lipstick, balm hybrids. So far I've managed to resist the lure of the new Revlon ones but I couldn't resist this one from Rimmel.

Why though do these things have such long and complicated names ? This ones full title is Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Long Lasting Intense Colour Balm! Really? I won't be spouting that out on a regular basis!

They were quite a few shades to choose from but my love of pink lips shone through again and the colour I went for was 110 Make Me Blush.

This is another one of those brights for people that don't like bright lips. It's a lovely cool toned bright pink, quite a bit brighter than it 's appearing which I'm in love with. For a better idea check out my haul video at the bottom of this post to see it on my lips x  The wear time is excellent, it easily survives drinking and eating, it feels nice on the lips and it has that vanilla, cocoa butter taste reminiscent of MAC lipsticks and glosses

I'll definitely consider picking a few more of these up - naughty LouLou x

It's been a little while since I've purchased anything from ebay but after seeing these on Venus Loves Virgo I thought I'd give them a go.

Yup a make up sponge on a stick, on reflection I wish I'd gone for a pointier / thinner shape but it looks fun and it didn't break the bank. It was just 99p including postage from this seller x

I also picked up a few skincare bits including some face wipes from Primark - I got some of my favourite tea tree face wipes

and I also picked up some new ones from their new beauty range  - the PS Love Your Skin Deep Facial Cleansing Wipes. Again you get two packets of wipes for a pound - I've used one pack of these already and they really aren't bad, I'm not too struck on the smell but they do the job.

Finally I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a bottle of the new Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. I'll do a full review of this when I've had the chance to try it properly but first impressions are good.

The last three things that I acquired in February and March are magazine freebies. Like everything else I'm trying to cut down on the amount of magazines that I buy but a good freebie is a good freebie. The Model Co Eye Liner Pencil in Black 01 came with Glamour, the Percy and Reed Wonder Balm came with Elle and an unbranded mascara came with Company magazine x

So despite the fact that it's now the middle of April that's my February and March beauty haul x To find out a little bit more about the things in this post please watch the You Tube video below or you can see it here x



and if you want to know anything else please leave me a comment x Thanks for reading xx