Smashbox Selection

I ordered the Todays Special Value from QVC a while back cos it was a gorgeous selection of Smashbox goodies for about £36 (cant remember the exact TSV price but it’s currently £45.50 on the website)

The main reason I had to get this was cos I wanted the primer. At the minute I use Photo Finish Light but I’ve almost finished my bottle and at £29 by itself I figured this was a real bargain because I’d be getting 6 other products for less than a tenner. I know I know, I’m actually starting to sound like one of the QVC presenters. Memo to self: less tv, more reading!
Anywho, the eyeshadows, primer, lip gloss and pencil are all fab and I’ve used them most days for work since this arrived. The shadows are sooo pretty and make my eyes look fairly bright
Er, I took the pics about 5 minutes ago after walking my dogs in the park. It’s kinda windy out so if you could ignore the state of my hair that’d be awesome :)

5 of the best pink lip glosses £10 - £20

And last but not least, the more expensive £10 - £20 lip glosses that I probably could, but really don't want to live without...
Estee Lauder Pure Color Crystal Gloss in Candy (309) £14.50
Jemma Kidd Hi-Shine Silk Touch Gloss in Candy (06) £14
MAC Dazzleglass in Rags To Riches £16
Lacome Juicy Tubes in Strawberry Funk (98) £14.50Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss – Sheer Color in Pink Sugar £16.50

5 of the best pink lip glosses £4 - £10

Carrying on from my previous post these are my current 5 favourite pink lip glosses that fall into the £4 - £10 price range

I should mention that they’re not in any particular order… If I was gonna organise them in a list of most-least favourite I reckon I’d be here for about 3 days working on this post. Not that I'm really indecisive or anything :)
Maybelline Color Sensational Cream Gloss in I Love Lilac (215) £6.19
Collection 2000 Hot Lights Lip Gloss in Star (01) £4.19
Barry M Lip Gloss in shade 12 £4.49
L’Oreal Glam Shine 6hr Lip Gloss in Perennial Rose (113) £8.69
Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in That Pink (60) £6.99

5 of the best pink lip glosses £1 - £4

I’m a sucker for a nice pink lipgloss… I might have dozens that I adore but it really doesn’t take much arm-twisting to persuade me to buy another pretty much every time I’m shopping for new makeup :)

Like most of my makeup collection the majority of items are from the drugstore but every now n then I’m happy to splash out on a high-end gloss if I genuinely think it’s worth the money and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg just cos of the nice packaging and fancy ads!

I like some of my bargain drugstore glosses as much as ones that are 7 times the price so wanted to compile a little list of some favourites that are cheap as chips, regular drugstore and high end

Lets start with the £1-£5 price range :

Natural Collection Juicy Lip Gloss in Raspberry Ripple £1.99
Miss Sporty Fabulous Gloss in Paris (022) £1.99
17 Ultimate Volume Lip Gloss in Butterfly Cake £3.99
MUA Makeuo Academy Lip Gloss in shade 3 £1
Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lip Gloss in Starlet (8) £4

My most frequenty used blush

For me there are some products that are reliable fail safe options that I can always depend on… If I’m heading out somewhere nice I try to avoid using a product for the first time cos there’s a chance it’ll look horrible and I’ll have to start my makup from scratch. So if I need a nice, simple, easy-to-apply blush then I know I can use Petal by No7

This is one of those blushes that looks ridiculously pink in the palette so under normal circumstances I’d have avoided it at all costs… But I happened to be shopping when No7 had a 3 for 2 offer so I figured that I may as well give the blush a go; not like I’d be losing out on any hard earned pennies if it was rubbish or anything :)
Since then I’ve gone through a handful of these and I carry one in my handbag in case of emergency. If I’m honest I haven’t yet come across an I-need-a-gorgeous-pink-blush emergency before but there’s always a first time. Better safe than sorry I say

The powder is incredibly fine so it’s easy to use this for a really natural every day look but by the same token it can be built up to look a tad darker and more defining without ending up cakey. As you can tell by the pics these have had a lot of use but I still think they look as great now as when I bought them ♥

Simple deep cleansing face mask

This has to be one of the most gentle face masks I've ever used. Even when my skin is being annoyingly dry and sensitive I can slather this all over my face without worrying that it'll just irritate me more.

Coming from the Simple range it isn't perfumed and contains vitamins a and e. I know precisely nothing about what vitamins do for my skin except that they’re apparently really beneficial, which is good enough for me
The texture is rather odd because although it's creamy at first it becomes quite watery and extremely easily absorbed. I generally plaster this really thickly over my face before tackling a mountain of ironing and by the time I'm done (an hour or so later) theres about a 10th of the amount, which I just wash off with warm water. I always feel really fresh, clean and smooth after I’ve used this and my favourite thing is that it doesn’t dry out my skin like a lot of other masks that are advertised as “deep cleansing”

According to the instructions you only have to keep this on for 3 minutes so this would be dead handy if I wanted a quick skin boost but didn’t have time to leave a mask on for 10 or 15 mins

Impulse and Barry M lip gloss for £3

I reckon there are few things as awesome as Barry M lip glosses but I bought something yesterday that tops them hands down… bottles of Impulse body spray that come with limited edition Barry M lip glosses for a bargaintastic 3 quid!!

There are 3 different scents that come with 3 different lip gloss shades and they are all extremely wearable. There’s a pink, nude and sparkly lip gloss but I figured I may as well get them all, you know, just in case :)
I havent actually worn Impulse since I was at school and it still seems like the female equivalent of Lynx but I’m looking forward to giving them a try
They seem to have sold out of the “Tease” version in a lot of stores already (not to mention online) but I guess we all love a bargain so it’s not a big surprise

Maybelline Liner - day time look

Just a quick post on a recent purchase; Maybellines Lasting Drama Gel Liner.
I’ve only worn this during the day so far and the looks have been fairly subtle but I’m already impressed by the staying power. I’ve taken a couple of pics of me after work yesterday and the liner held up as well as my Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner!
The gel itself seems easy to work with (though I’ll have to try a proper “going out” eye look before I can tell that for sure!) and the little brush works pretty well, which came as a bit of a surprise as I’d expected it to be one of those “filler” items that come with a product but aren’t really worth using. In this case I’m happy to be wrong :)

Nivea pearly shine lip balm

A friend of mine bought me this lip balm a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to mention it as it’s one of the few products that, in my humble opinion, doesn’t have a single fault

The packaging is a cute colour and handy shape, the smell is sweet and fruity (a bit like Postman Pat sweeties that used to come in the blue wrappers, if you remember that far back?) the colour is subtle and sheer so I just end up with a pearly pink sheen that makes me look a bit healthier. Last of all it even keeps my lips from drying out. Rather important what with this being a lip balm n all but to be honest it has so many good qualities that I almost expected it to leave my lips all dry
Oh and did I mention that it costs less than £2.50? I know I know, I shouldn't have looked at the price because it was a present but I had to know! For, uhm, blog research purposes. Yeah, thats it

Hand Food and Protect & Perfect

Good evening all and happy bank holiday weekend! Hope you get Monday off work too. Tuesday is my RDO which means I have a 4 day weekend and that has got to be one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language. In face it's so good I feel the need to say it again... 4 day weekend... Le sigh :)

I haven’t got the chance to blog much recently cos I’ve been redecorating the living room; I’d expected it to be all laid back and straightforward as I was just re-painting and getting some new furniture but it was actually a lot of hard work and expense… On the plus side it looks a million times better and I get to lie on the sofa all day tomorrow enjoying the end result of my hard work (Hurrah!)

Oh oh oh! I also wanted to mention the hand creams that have been my saviours over the last week or so. My hands have been in pretty bad shape thanks to sticking them in buckets of boiling hot water to clean everything and then literally washing them in white spirits to get rid of the paint specks that I was pretty much covered in…
I’ve been using lots of Hand Food by Soap & Glory throughout the day cos it’s non-greasy and really quickly absorbed. Sometimes my hands are so dry I feel like they’d actually soak up baby oil if I dipped them in it but this stuff sorts them out in no time. The smell is beyond scrumptious and one bottle will last me months!
Then at night I’ve coating my hands in Protect & Perfect hand cream by No7; this is the kind of cream I like to put on at night under little cotton gloves because the next morning my hands feel seriously soft and silky… This cream is extremely rich and definitely isn’t as easily absorbed (or as delicious smelling) as Hand Food so although I like it I generally use it when I know I wont have to do much with my hands

On that note I’m off to soak in the bath for a while

All these Clinique goodies for £45

Don't you just love when the planets align, the universe is on your side and something works out exceptionally well? Me too! and talking of which... I ran out of Moisture Surge on the same day that I got a leaflet through the door from Clinique offering a free gift with 2 purchases from their range at House of Fraser. Ok, so maybe it isn't the most life-changing occurrence but I was all chuffed!Lipgloss (Grapefruit 10), Superbalanced makeup (ivory 03) and High Impact Mascara (black)
7 day scrub cream (50mls) Blended face powder (Invisible blend 20)

I figured I'd pick up a new jar of Moisture Surge (perfect for this time of year cos it's so light but still seriously hydrating!) and a new mascara. I love how the mascara has a little comb instead of the usual round brush… haven’t actually tried it yet so I have no idea how well it works but the sales assistant assured me that it coats the lashes beautifully and separates them all very well. And we all know how they are completely and utterly honest about the stuff they're selling us :) Superdefense SPF 25 (15mls) Foundation brush, powder brush and makeup bag

The little free gift comes with a great mix of products; foundation (available in 3 shades) a powder, lip gloss, mascara, superdefense moisturiser, 7 day scrub, a foundation brush and a powder brush. The cherry on the cake is the cute summery bag it comes in

Quite a decent haul for £45 I reckon!

little eye makeup haul

Happy Friday all!! Hope you’re not stuck in work from 8.30 till 4 tomorrow like some of us! :) I’ve been so tired this week that I actually intend to stay in bed until lunch time on Sunday. Might follow that with a wander round the boot sale and a nice long bath. Yep, living life on the edge as always

Just thought I’d mention a few eye makeup products that I’ve picked up during the week… There’s been so many ads for the Maybelline gel liner that I figured there’s no way I could not get it and try it out

Anywho, it’s well after 1am so I’m off to bed. Have a great weekend ♥ Rimmel Glam eyes quad in 014 (bold behaviour)
Sue Moxley merged eye shadows in shades 4 and 1 (from left to right)
NYC Metro Quartet in Chelsea Chic
NYC single eye shadow in Bazaar
Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24h
AVON Magix Illuminator in light
Accessorize Icon eye shadows in Sage 16, Truffle 3 and Soft Pink 10 (from left to right)