Bank Holiday Buys Review! :)

So Rachael and I had a last minute shopping adventure into Belfast on Bank Holiday Monday and for once I didn't buy a nail polish (shock horror!!)  However I did manage to pick up a few little interesting buys as did she which I'm sure will feature in future blog posts :)
































This is a quick little overview of my purchases! :) I have tried all of the items out this week so this is a little review aswell!

My first purchase was these beauties! The Cocoa & Shea butter shower gel and hand & body lotion from the Marks & Spencer's essentials range :) These smell absolutely amazing! I am a big fan of Shea butter and Cocoa butter scents separately but together they are even better! These smell like buttery chocolate! and for £1 each you really can't complain! :) I found these near a till area and think bath lotion may also be available :)

Next onto the Biore pore strips and Vaseline Spray & Go body moisturiser! I have read reviews and heard about Biore strips on the internet for a while and have wanted to try them! They are basically blackhead removal strips! I suffer greatly from blackheads on my nose and big pores on my cheeks (foundation never sits right so any advice would be appreciated on that front lol!) so I thought I would give these a go! I have only used them once so cannot say a great deal however they did what they stated and removed a lot of dirt, however they are £7.99 which is a bit pricey in my opinion so I hope to have better results as I use them more :) The Vaseline moisturiser has probably been my favourite purchase! Rachael recommended this and whilst she has the Aloe Vera version I picked up the cocoa radiant one (slightly obsessed!) and this is fantastic! I cant praise it enough! Although it is £4.99 a can it has helped improved the look of patches of Psoriasis I have on my elbow and knee and it is also easy to apply (spray on) and non-greasy! Waste no more money on millions of moisturisers just buy this one!

My final purchases were the real techniques miracle complexion sponge, Loreal true match foundation, true match concealer stick and Loreal lumi magique concealer and brightener! The real techniques sponge is a repurchase and I love this sponge! I love anything from real techniques really lol! I think it is designed to be a cheaper version of the beauty blender and it works beautifully at applying foundation when it is wet, would highly recommend this! The lumi magique concealer is also a repurchase and I mainly use this to brighten (not conceal) my under eye area as I don't feel it has enough coverage for me as a concealer but it is effective at brightening :) The last of my purchases were probably the most disappointing to be honest. I again have heard about Loreal true match foundation for a while and from American youtubers the true match concealer stick however I don't feel they have great coverage! Again this may be because I like a heavy coverage but I found the texture of the true match concealer very runny and thin and the true match concealer very hard to spread so I was disappointed and wouldn't rush out to buy any of those again!

What have been your new favourite purchases lately? Any must have's? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading :)

Amy!

Purple Passion

 I have purchased a lot of new make up and beauty products lately so I decided to do a makeup tutorial using some of the new additions to my make up collection.


                            
I am very versatile when it comes to makeup and fashion and love exploring other styles rather than just having one particular style and sticking to it. On the day that I did this makeup I was in a grungey-rock type of mood so I teamed my makeup to suit that. 

 Face - Using a Real Techniques foundation brush, I applied a small amount of Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. I think this is the perfect foundation for me as my skin does not need a lot of coverage and this gives me a light and natural effect. Then I took a Real Techniques contour brush and highlighted my cheekbones with Benefit's Hoola bronzer. Because my skintone is very pale I blended the bronzer in with a buffing brush also by Real Techniques.


Eyes - Firstly, taking my Color Riche Le Kohl eyeliner by L'Oreal, I drew a smooth line across my top lashes and lid. The next product I used was a creaseless cream shadow by Benefit which is a very pale, shimmery baby pink. I covered my whole lid with this shadow and then used a blending brush to smudge the line of eyeliner over the cream shadow to create a darker colour. For my lashes I applied a coat each of They're Real by Benefit and Lash Architect 4D by L'Oreal. To make my eyes stand out for a more dramatic effect I also decided to wear a pair of false eyelashes by Eylure Naturalities. To finish my eyes I added a coat of mascara to my bottom lashes and applied eyeliner to my waterline. 


Lips - I love a bold lip colour and I think that a dramatic lip can transform any outfit. Anytime I go out I really like my lips to stand out. I'm not afraid to try new colours on my lips and I had been searching for the perfect purple lipstick for a long time! In the end I decided to try MAC Up the Amp and I absolutely adore it. It is one of MAC's "amplified" lipsticks which is very pigmented but can be softened by blotting it after application or can be built up for a more dramatic effect. I think this was the perfect lipstick to use for my grungey-rock look and it makes a nice change from the typical statement red lip. 

Swatch of MAC Up the Amp & Benefit Bikni Tini Cream Shadow (which is barely noticeable against my skintone)

Below are a list of the products I have used to achieve this look ;

Make up bag - Ted Baker

Make up brushes - Real Techniques

Benefit kit - The Bronze of Champions

   










Foundation - Bourjois "Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation" in shade 53 Light Beige
Mascara - Benefit "They're Real" and L'Oreal "Lash Architect 4D"
Bronzer - Benefit "Hoola"
                                                                                                                             
Eyeliner - L'Oreal "Color Riche Le Khol" in 101 Midnight Black
Eyeshadow - Benefit "Creaseless Cream Shadow" in Bikini Tini
Eyelashes - Eylure Naturalities 
Lipstick - MAC "Up the Amp"

Benefit "The Bronze of Champions" Kit

Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this make up look. If you would like a full review of any of the beauty products that I have used then let me know in the comments and I will do a separate post on them. Thanks for reading.

                                                                                                                   Rachael  x