A Beauty Sale Haul Featuring Boots,SpaceNK And The Body Shop

As much as I love shopping, for some reason I can never seem to get excited about the post Christmas and January sales. I hate getting up early, and I can't stand all of the pushing, and shoving and hustle and bustle so I tend to avoid the shops until well into the New Year. Online shopping though is another matter and as soon as a lot of shops stop delivering in time for Christmas, you can pretty much guarantee, that their online sales will follow soon after.

I normally start off any sales shop by working out what I actually need, with clothes it's always the basics, but when it comes to beauty, I'm pretty easy, sometimes I'll go for things I know and love and sometimes I'll take advantage of a sale price to try something new.

I'm always a bit loathed to place online orders with SpaceNK, thanks to their over inflated postage but they had a few good offers on so I decided to take advantage and place a little order. A lot of stores seem to have had sale stock issues this year, and some of my order was subsequently cancelled so I didn't save as much as I would have liked but I did manage to get two things.

Lipstick Queen is a new brand to me and one that I'd wanted to try for a long time. This is the Lipstick Queen Chinatown Three To Thrill Set.

The set contains 3, 3g Lipstick Queen Glossy Pencils, in some of the brands most popular shades, Chinatown Chase, Chinatown Pink Bluff, Chinatown Catalina. I love this type of product so I thought that this kit would be a really good introduction to the brand. I think I'll get more use out of the pink based shades, Pink Bluff and Catalina, but despite looking a little bit scary in the tube Chase, is actually a much more wearable, subtle pale, coral, red, shade. Unfortunately due to the lousy weather we've had lately, I haven't managed to photograph any swatches for you but if you watch the video at the end of this post. hopefully you'll be able to get some idea of what they look like.

Although these pencils aren't full size I still think that this kit was well worth the money. It was originally £18 but I got it for just £7.50. Unfortunately this set seems to have sold out online but all of the shades are available in the full 7g size for £22 each.

In an ideal world I would now be showing you some of the beautiful Laura Mercier Creme Brulee products but it wasn't to be, so instead I'm showing you a beautifully boxed nail polish from Rococo.

The box maybe beautiful but the bottle itself it quite plain, thank heavens for the gorgeous colour inside.

It's quite hard to see here, but Rococo Nail Apparel in 8559 Mystic Luxe is a purple, blue shade which is crammed full of silver shimmer. My picture aren't really doing it justice but it a really pretty colour,

I don't think it's anything overly unusual but it looked so pretty, and since it was reduced from £12 to just £3, it gave me the perfect opportunity to try a new nail polish brand. This colour is still available on the SpaceNK website along with several other Rococo colours.

One of the brands that SpaceNK sell is This Works and whilst they did have a few kits in the sale they didn't have the one thing that I did want, so I looked elsewhere and thankfully Boots came up trumps.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a frustrating illness, you can either sleep the clock round or you can't sleep at all. I suffer from terrible insomnia at times, and after watching a few presentations on QVC I really fancied trying the This Works Plus + Pillow Spray.

I can be a bit funny with scent though, so I didn't want to launch straight in and buy the full size, so this seemed to be an ideal solution. The This Works Sleep + Cracker contains a 10ml bottle of the Plus + Pillow Spray which contains a variety of essential oils, and ingredients, which is clinically proven to help provide a better nights sleep. This cracker was originally £12 and I got it for £8, I haven't tried it yet but I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

I can pretty much guarantee now that I'll get at least one Soap & Glory kit for Christmas, and Christmas 2015 was no exception. I was lucky enough to get the big The Whole SheBang set. I love everything in it and I particularly excited to try the tinted body cream, but at the same time I was a bit disappointed that this years set didn't include any of the Sugar Crush products. I love the zesty, yet warm lime fragrance so I couldn't resist buying this kit.

I admit it part of the reason I went for this kit was down to the bag, the Soap & Glory Get A Smooth On kit, came in a gorgeous, holographic silver, barrel bag.

I love anything holographic, and the fact that this bag contains products from the Sugar Crush was just a bonus. The bag contains a 500ml Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash. a 300ml Soap&Glory Sugar Body Wash and a 300ml Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream. Ahh limey heaven but my excitement quickly faded when I realised that there was a product missing!

This kit should also have included a 100ml Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Spray. I would normally have sent the whole kit back but it was sold out and I really wanted the bag so I emailed Boots customer service, and thankfully they came up trumps. They apologised and added 500 points to my advantage card - 400 to cover the cost of the product and 100 for the inconvenience. Thanks Boots, customer service at it's best even at their busiest time of year! This kit was originally £35 and I got it for £17.50 which was half price x

Something else that's become a bit of a Christmas tradition is The Body Shop and their festive fragrances. I picked up a few bits before Christmas but as soon as the sale launched online. I ordered a few extra bits.

I didn't go mad, and I only bought exactly what I wanted. I bought another 200ml bottle of the Frosted Cranberry Shower Gel, which I love and I've bought for years, and I bought a couple of the Glazed Apple items. I must admit I wasn't sure about the Glazed Apple range when it launched in 2014 but it's really, really grown on me. I think I wanted it to be a traditional apple fragrance but it's not, it's sharp, yet sweet, sugary and fruity. I can't describe it really but it's my in shower favourite at the moment so I bought a few extra bits to see my through the year as I don't think that it's a Christmas specific scent - I got a 200ml Glazed Apple Body Butter and a 250ml Glazed Apple Shower Gel. There are still a few festive sale bits available online so move quick if you want to stock up.

Although I didn't go totally crazy I'm still really happy with my sale haul. I picked up some definite favourites and a few new things to try so I'm pretty pleased. I've made a little video to accompany this haul, so have a watch even if it's only to see the Lipstick Queen swatches x



I've only bought a couple of other things in the sales, so I probably won't be doing another sale haul post, but if you've bought anything amazing or found a fabulous bargain I'd love to hear about it, so leave me a comment and let me know your favourite sale buys x

NARS NARSissist Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette

Some people love high end make up and some people love budget beauty personally though I'm somewhere in the middle.Nowadays I don't believe that you have to spend a fortune to get a good quality product but sometimes it's nice to treat yourself and buy something a little bit more expensive.

If you're not a regular high end purchaser, Christmas and birthdays may give you the perfect opportunity to splash out and either treat yourself, or let somebody treat you to a designer beauty product or two. Way back in May I celebrated a 30 something (cough) birthday, and I was lucky enough to receive a little bit of money, most of which I spent on beauty and make up. One of the things that I bought from SpaceNK was this gorgeous limited edition NARS palette.

The NARS NARSissist Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette is packaged in a beautiful, but hard to photograph, chunky, silver, mirrored palette.

It contains a full sized mirror, and 8 x 1g eye shadows in the Dual Intensity formulation. This is one of NARS newest formulations and the multi dimensional effect shadows can be used wet or dry. The shadows can either be used dry to create a sheer wash of colour or they can be built up or used wet to create, a solid block colour, which is crease free and can supposedly last for up to 8 hours.

One of the key difference between high hand and more budget palettes is usually the applicators that they contain. More often than not cheaper palettes contain sponge end applicators I don't know about you but personally I don't know why they bother including them, they're  okay if you're desperate but I tend to put them in my craft stash or just throw them away. This NARS palette though is just quality personified  and includes an all be it scaled down, but excellent quality travel sized fluffy eye shadow brush, which can be used both wet and dry. This brush is a valuable inclusion and one I will actually use.

The palette contains a variety of shades ranging from shimmering neutrals, that are ideal for a paired down everyday look, to rich dark, smokey shades that are perfect for the party season. Although this palette can be used both wet and dry, I've just swatched it dry to give you an idea of the depth and multi dimensional qualities of the shadows

On the top row from left to right - Europa which is a beautiful, pale, iridescent pink peach, Himalia which us a shimmering topaz colour, Ursa Major which is a yummy glazed chocolate colour and Subra, which is a black orchid, almost burgundy, rouge noir shade.

and on the bottom row from left to right - Andromeda - a pale, alabaster shade, Lysithea, which is probably my favourite colour and is described as a silvery, shark grey, Giove which is a deep navy blue, and Sycorax which is a midnight black shade.

Good pigmentation and embossed eye shadows are words that don't often go hand in hand, but as you can see from these pictures, these shadows are extremely pigmented, and buildable, and they have a smooth almost creamy texture. If they look like this dry then you can imagine how amazing they look when they're wet.

This palette retails at around £45 and whilst it isn't cheap I think it's definitely worth the money - it's not only aesthetically pleasing but everything about from the shadows to the brush just screams quality. Unfortunately it was a limited edition so it's not that easy to get a hold of now but I have managed to track a few down on Sephora if you're in the US, and on ASOS and Harvey Nichols if you're in the UK.

If you can't manage to get your hands on this palette or if you only like certain shades, all of the colours apart from Ursa Major are available individually,in a 14g full size, for £21. The beautiful black orchid, burgundy shade Subra is also available along with 3 other Dual Intensity shades in the new NARS Steven Klein Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette Dead Of Summer for around £35.

Are you a NARS fan ? I'd love to hear your thoughts and your recommendations x

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush - Radiant Magenta = Blusher Love!

Have you ever seen a product in either a magazine or online, and said I need that? If you're anything like me you'll probably say that every day of the week. More often than not though all it translates as are just words. For most of us, we know you simply can't buy everything that you want, it just isn't practical but every now and then it's good to treat yourself and buy something that you know you'll love.

At the end of April I treat myself to an early birthday present from SpaceNK and I picked up two things that I'd wanted and lusted after for the longest time. I'm going to review the NARS palette at some point for you but this post is all about a beautiful product from Hourglass

It's not often that I actually get to go into SpaceNK, but when I do I always had straight for the Hourglass fixture. I've spent many a moment stroking their feather light powders, and wishing and wanting, so eventually I took the plunge and ordered one the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushers.

Boxed and packaged in a luxurious, but almost impossible to photograph, metallic compact, these fabulous blushers have a beautiful marbleised appearance and contain a photoluminiscent technology which gives them dimension and depth. There are 6 shades to choose from but I went for one of the pink shades, Radiant Magenta.

All of the blushers in the range are comprised of at least two contrasting shades, and whilst there are variations in the depth of colours, Radiant Magenta includes two shades, a cool, slightly scary looking, bright pink, and a neutral champagne, highlight shade. 

The first thing you notice when you touch this blusher is how soft it is. It has a fine,smooth texture, and to me it feels like you're stroking fur or silk, it really is that soft. Whilst you could in theory pick out the individual shades they are designed to be worn together. The combination of the two main colours produces a bright but wearable pink with just a hint of shimmer. The pigmentation as you can see is excellent, and after only the tiniest touch your brush is fully loaded.

Applied with a very light hand, this blusher gives the skin a really healthy look. As you can see this isn't about a blush with in your face shimmer or glitter, all the shimmer and the multiple pigments in the blusher do is to make you look healthier and glowing and to use a cheesy phrase as though you're lit from within.

Not the best pics as per usual from me and apologies for the lack of lipstick and the funny expressions, but I hope you can see from this just how pretty this blusher really is. It feels soft and silky to the touch, the pigmentation is superb and it applies and wears like a dream. This particular blusher is also not tested on animals and it's also free from talc, fragrance, parabens, nano particles, and gluten. 

The one negative maybe is the price - the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushers retail at £28 for 4.2g from various retailers including SpaceNK. Spendy, but based on Radiant Magenta I can definitely see why people pay that, and I have a horrible feeling that this little pink blush may have started a dangerous obsession. I'd love to know if you have any Hourglass recommendations but I'm definitely thinking about another blush or maybe one of the highlight powder, or I might wait until the Christmas kits appear - I've already seen some previews and there is one kit that may have my name on it ;) Who knows only time and maybe my willpower will tell? Do you like the look of Radiant Magenta? Let me know x

Huge Collective Beauty Haul Featuring NARS, Tarte And Ebay - Picture Heavy!

I said I had a few haul posts today and this one is probably one of the biggest. Don't worry though I didn't buy all of these products at once, this is a collective beauty haul going back to around April time -eek I really am that far behind with posts! It's a nice mixture of things with some high end buys (birthday money treats( and a few budget and quirky things, and even a couple of freebies, So sit back cuppa in hand and enjoy reading about my new pretties x

We'll start off with some of the higher end bits and a little Space NK haul. Okay maybe it wasn't so little price wise but I was really good and despite a little discount promotion that was running at the time I only bought two items but what beauties they were.

I'm going to be doing a full review of both of these items so  just a couple of sneaky peeks x First up one of the gorgeous Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushers, Radiant Magenta

and the droolworthy, although now copied, NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette. I'm loving NARS at the moment and this palette made a nice addition to my And God Created The Woman palette which I've also picked up recently (You can read my review and win one for yourself here x )

Any beauty blogger or beauty buyer loves a sample and I love Space NK's sampling policy. I know it quite common abroad but in the UK we seem to be a bit stingy with our samples but I was lucky enough to be able to choose two sample sachets to go with my Space NK order. I got the - Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer Oil Free SPF 15 and the Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless Fluide in Ecru. Again I'll be reviewing these samples for you when my Sample Saturday series resumes later this month x

As well as NARS another brand that I'm loving at the moment is Tarte. For years and years it was impossible to get hold of in the UK but now we can be selected items through QVC. I've treat myself to a few bits lately including the gorgeous Poppy Picnic palette and cheek brush.

I will do a proper review of this soon but it's such a nice palette, with a beautiful shimmery blush, and easy to wear neutral matte eyeshadows x

Last week also saw the long awaited first ever Tarte Today's Special Value on QVC UK, and it was a goodie I used my remaining birthday money to make a little purchase.

Beautifully boxed in a Missoni type design, the kit came with a full size Lights Camera Lashes Mascara, an exclusive to this kit neutral toned, eyeshadow quad, a full size Coloured Clay Bronzer Blush in Park Avenue Princess, a Lipsurgence Lip Creme in Vintage, and exclusive double ended patterned brush and a full size Coloured Clay CC Primer in Light.

It also came with a gorgeous Missoni esq zig zag designed make up bag.

Most of the items are on sale separately either on QVC or via Sephora so I'm going to do a full review of the individual items as soon as possible x

So they were the high end bits now onto a few more budget friendly things starting with one of my favourite shops of the moment, Poundland, and their own Make Up Gallery line. After my positive experience with their Feeling Blush Blusher in Candyfloss 2 (read my thoughts here) I decided to try another shade, this time I purchased Soft Blush 1, a really neutral peach, nude tone x I haven't had a chance to use this one yet so I'll let you know what it's like when I do x

As well as the Make Up Gallery range it's always worth having a look at the rest of the make up on offer in Poundland. At the moment they seem to have an awful lot of Rimmel in, including Apocalips shades, Maybelline Colour Show polishes and lots of Barry M. Once one of the beauty bloggers favourite brands, Barry M is one of those brands that doesn't seem to get as much publicity as it once did but the nail polishes and Dazzle Dusts are still firm favourites in my eyes. The store I was on seemed to have a lot of Dazzle Dusts and a quick look at the Barry M website seems to suggest that a lot of the shades have been discontinued :(  Not good news in my opinion but it's good for bargain hunters because I managed to pick up shade 1.

Excuse the terrible picture but this is a gorgeous champagne shade that will a fab highlight shade on the eyes or even on the cheek bones.

Although I don't think I'm going away on holiday this year, I'm still trying to get myself summer ready and summer ready means getting my feet out - there are a few things in this haul to make my feet look less hobbit like and one of those things is a set of Moisturising Socks from Allura.

The idea is simple, slather your feet with foot cream, and pop the socks on over night and voila much softer, less dry feet I swear by these and I also picked up some of the gloves to help with my dry, hands.

The other thing that you see in the picture is a piece of the nigh on impossible to get hold of Allura Acrylic Storage. This general make up one and the lipstick holders are like gold dust. I grabbed this one from my nearest Poundland and to be honest I haven't seen either style again.

I'm trying to revamp my make up storage yet again so I also made another acrylic storage purchase this time from ebay.

This two drawer set is much smaller than the Muji drawers that I own but they were ideal for the smaller space that I have. I'm going to use them for mascaras and eyeliner storage. They were £7.49 including postage from this ebay seller.

I've made quite a few ebay beauty purchases over the last few months and sticking with the dry feet and hands theme I also bought some of these hand and foot peels.

I've tried similar things in the past which were quite a bit more expensive then these so I'm hoping that they work .The foot masks were just 99p from this seller and the hand masks were also 99p from this seller.

Something else that I bought from ebay was something that I'd had on my watch list for quite a while - the Tony Moly Cats Wink Clear Pact Face Powder in No.1 Clear Skin.

Basically all it is, is a translucent face powder, but I couldn't resist the cat head shaped packaging. I love Asian cosmetics for their packaging and Toly Moly are definitely one of the cutest brands out there. I can't find the original ebay seller that I used but there are plenty of these available for around £4.80.

As well as the powder the seller I used was also kind enough to include some sample sachets, I got two sachets of the Tony Moly Glow Aura Luminous Glow Aura CC Cream SPF30 x Let me know if you would like to see a review xx

From super cute to interesting and practical - If your looking for a make up brush on a budget than ebay is the place to look. I loved the look of the Bare Minerals Perfecting Face Brush but the £24 price tag put me off, so I had a look on ebay and found this almost perfect dupe.

It just looks like a normal face brush but when you take a closer look (hard to see in these pics admittedly) you notice that the brush has a little well in the centre, where you put the foundation.

This is something else that I haven't managed to try yet, but for the price and the saving on the original it was worth a try. It was just 99p with 79p postage from this seller.

Over the last month of so I've also placed a couple of Avon orders, you seem some of my nail polish and jewellery buys already but I also got one make up item.

I've seen a little bit of a buzz about these CC Colour Correcting Pearls already, and their similarity to the Guerlain  Météorites Pearls Powder so I thought I'd given them a go. They claim to perfect the skin and add radiance so I'll see how I get on. The Guerlain version retails at around £37.50 compared to £10 for these ones so they are well worth trying x

I also bought another foot care product to make hobbit not so much look better, but feel better. I mentioned in my most recent empties post that I suffer from hot, itchy and tired feet, well the Avon Foot Works Beautiful Cooling Crackling Mousse sounds like it's designed especially for me. It's basically a mousse that you rub onto your feet. I smells very like Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and it feels cool and fresh and the skin, and you also get a crackling popping sound and sensation very look popping candy. I'm still going to be picking up some more water refreshing spray but for just £3 this is definitely worth a try and I would thoroughly recommend it for anyone who spends a lot of time standing up and on their feet.

Next a couple of bits from Superdrug, this should have been a slightly larger haul but they messed my order up - I'm sure you'll already know about this if you follow me on twitter or instagram but needless to say I'm still not a happy bunny with Superdrug! Never mind I just ended up with two things - a replacement MUA Make Up Academy Power Pout in Irreplaceable (read my review here),
#

and another pressed powder - my skin is like a shiny mess at this time of year so I always like to make sure I have a face powder in every bag. This is a real budget one,  the Miss Sporty So Clear Anti Spot Pressed Powder in Transparent.

It looks a tiny bit darker than what I'd normally go for but hopefully I get a bit more colour as summer goes on x

My final proper beauty purchase was yet another duo pack of the Primark Tea Tree Face Wipes, I've lost count of how many of these I've used over the years and at just a £1 for 2 packs they are well worth the money. I mainly use them for cleaning up swatches but they're also great for freshening up and quick make up removal.

You should now by now that I love a freebie, well over the last few months I've managed to pick up a few good ones, thanks to a few online chums. First of all Burberry ran an online promotion to get a free mini 1g Burberry Kisses Hydrating Lip Colour, Yes please, I requested No. 05 Nude Pink and it's a real beauty x I'll be featuring it in an upcoming Sample Saturday post but here is a sneaky peek.

Another high end website also had a little freebie promotion and that was brand de jour Charlotte Tilbury. This is definitely one of my most lusted after brands at the moment, and I quickly put my name down for some free foundation samples I was sent four 1.5ml sachets of the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Youth Boosting Perfect Skin Foundation SPF 15 in 1 Fair, 2 Fair, 3 Fair and 4 Fair to help my pick my perfect shades. Again I'll be featuring swatches of all of these shades in a Sample Saturday post for you to lust over and pursue x

Some other freebies come courtesy of the news stand worth of magazine that I buy every month. Okay they're not technically free as you need to buy the magazine, but you can pick up some good things and it can give you a chance to try some new products at a much lower price. We're very lucky in the UK with our magazine cover mounts so I always take advantage when I see something I fancy. Alas some of the issues are no longer on stands but I'm just showing you in case you would like any review x

First up some Eyeko London Mascara Off Eye Make Up Remover Wipes which came with I think April's issue of InStyle. These retail at £6 for 10 wipes which made this a decent freebie. It seems a lot for just £10 wipes so I'll see if I think they are worth it. Also in the picture you can see something which came with last months copy of UK ELLE, a 30ml bottle of Percy & Reed Volumising No Oil Oil. I've already got one of these somewhere that I've never tried, this is a bit of a cult product though so I really need to give it a go.

Last months InStyle also included a free gift, a 10ml size of the new Clinique Smart Custom Repair Serum.

Last month's Red also had a free gift last month a 25ml size of the Rodial Stemcell Super-food Glam Balm which is worth around £21. This is basically just a rose, floral smelling multi purpose balm that you can use on your lips, your cuticles and any dry patches. It's a bit highly scented but I've been using it on my lips and cuticles last think at night and my lips definitely feel less cracked and dry.

Speaking of rose scents the May issue of Marie Claire also came with a 50ml Neals Yard Hand Cream. There were a few different scents to choose from but I went for Wild Rose.

As I say all of these magazines are long gone but I've also picked up a couple of free gifts that you can still get your hands on. The new issue of Marie Claire comes with a choice of two free 15ml Elemis products. You can either choose from the Papaya Enzyme Peel or the Pro Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm which was the one I went for.

The new issue of Glamour is not only just £1 but it also comes with one of four Model Co products. I've tried a few of their items in the past so I went for the Model Co VolumEyes mascara. Finally ELLE magazine, I haven't seen this issue in store yet and I'm not sure if this is just for subscribers but with my latest issue I got a Malin + Goetz mini set which contained a cleanser, a lip moisturiser and a face moisturiser.

If your still with me I'm proud of you - that was a pretty epic haul even for my standard, I'm going to try and review as many of these items as I can but if there is anything specific you would like to see please let me know xx Thanks for reading x