Beauty Haul & Review

So we all love a good beauty purchase and I do too, just like the rest of them... and as you can see, I've been shopping! I picked all of these up a while ago but wanted to give them all a go before letting you know my thoughts. I'm talking drugstore beauty (and one shadow from KIKO) and what's better? They were all discount beauty buys... Boots 3 for 2, I'm looking at you. 

First up and I'm talking skincare. I used to be a total face wipe fiend, no matter what anyone said the ease of them just meant that I'd keep on using them. But then the Micellar water came into my life and at first I used the L'Oreal one and it was lovely, but it went down SO SO quickly. Meaning it worked out pretty expensive... Reluctantly I went to repurchase as it was so great for my sensitive eyes and voila! The Garnier Micellar Cleansing water was staring at me and had so much more in for around the same price. There was no question, I had to try it. I was a little nervous at first, but it feels essentially the same and if it means its even more purse friendly, then I'm happy with that... Onto the next product and I picked up the Tea Flower Deep Clean Clay Purifying Mask from Super Facialist by Una Brennan and this skin saviour had been on my wishlist for a long time. I wanted a more budget mask to stop me using all of the Aesop Parsley Seed mask - a beautiful beautiful mask, but not so great on the bank balance... And although this mask isn't as nice in my opinion, it's a lovely mask to use in between your favourite one. A 'filler' mask if you will... It leaves my skin feeling uber soft and clean and I am happy with that. I doubt I will repurchase once this tube has gone though, but who knows, I'm forever changing my mind.

Now we're talking hair and I am forever after those volumized hairstyles that last! My flat hair is super prone to dropping, I'm talking curls and volume, nothing will last and although the beauty blogger in me wanted to pick up the Oribe Dry Texturising Spray, the student in me just couldn't afford it, so I had to pick up some drugstore dupes to see whether they help my lack lustre hair at all. There is one love and one leave... but that's okay, I mean, if you love one it's okay not to love the other so much, right?

So do you want the good news or bad news first? I'll soften the blow and start by talking about the leave...

The Toni & Guy Casual Rough Texturiser looked so promising, a beautiful tube, I am so in love with the sleek packaging and the Matt finish only sounded amazing but for my flat hair, it just didn't do enough. Once applied it freshened it up a little but just didn't do enough to justify the slightly pricey price tag for a drugstore product.

The Charles Worthington Salon at Home Volume and Bounce texturising spray is the one. It volumises my hair, gives it texture and it holds a lot longer than most. It does drop after a little while but that's just my uber flat hair and nothing a hair juuz can't fix and another quick spray. It leaves a funny product filled texture to the hair so I leave this one for evening events and nights out so I can wash it out when I get back, but it is oh so worth it and if your looking for a little bit of oomph, then you need to give this a go.

Now I'm not sure if you know, but for a long while now I've been a bit of a base-a-phobic. Nothing worked with my skin, it made it look super dry and the colour match just never seemed to be right but then I decided to bite the bullet and pick up not one, but three bases. I went for a foundation, BB cream and CC cream just to try them all and by buying one of each, well, I could justify it, you know? 

Starting with  the Rimmel BB Cream and this was the one I was expecting to like the most. It has a super thick and hydrating texture and the colour match seemed just about right.... but it leaves my skin looking super flakey and so dry... so back in the face drawer it went and honestly, I haven't looked back since. Maybe I should try again... 

I had such high hopes for the Bourjois CC Cream after hearing about how amazing it was from every blogger and their dog... and the texture was so nice but the colour, oh the colour was just that bit too dark. It had a slight orangey tinge and it just doesn't work with my skin at the moment. This was such a disappointment, but all it does mean is that I need to get my tan on, right? 

I had lost hope by this point and thought I would like the foundation the least but after hearing that the Rimmel Match Perfection Radiance Foundation was a dupe for the NARS Sheer Glow, I had to give it a go. It's been on my to-try list for so long, but I just couldn't justify it because it's more likely I won't like it than anything, but oh boy. This foundation, it's the one... Perfect light but buildable texture and the colour, it's perfect! I've finally found a match for my pale skin.... 

Onto the eyes, and I picked up this budget KIKO shadow in their Oxford St. store and although I wasn't expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised.  I love to use it just to intensify a smokey eye a little and it's perfect for that. Beautiful shade, nice texture and it last's well. Definitely worth a look if your around... 

What have you been buying lately? Let me know and I'll add it to my next shopping list...

Lorna x

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Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo Gel-Cream Eye Shadows

Now we all know the eyeshadow palette is the in thing at the minute, it's quick and easy and all in one place but with products as good as these, I don't think it really matters palette or no palette. The Maybelline Color Tattoo Gel to Cream Eye Shadows are long lasting, easy to use and in beautiful wearable shades... Who needs a palette when you have all that!

Ever since the first wash of that beautiful creamy shadow across my lid I have been in love. My collection started out with the cult shade On and On Bronze (also know as Bad to the Bronze) and after giving it a good go, I was sold. I needed them all! And although I may not have gone that far, I have surely gone far enough with my collection of gorgeous wearable eye shadow shades. 

Now I bet you're wondering how to apply the Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadow, and this is the best bit. It's super easy. Using your finger swipe on some of the colour, and to blend you can either use a clean finger or a fluffy blending brush to blend out - it's as easy as that! Blending two colours together is just as easy too. The super creamy, and super blendable texture makes it such an easy shadow to work with. 

They have a range of shades, I have (L-R on swatches) Timeless Black, On and On Bronze, Permanent Taupe, Immortal Charcoal and Metallic Pomegranate but there are other shades that will suit all eye colours! Although I do love them all, I do have a combo that I use most of the time. I apply On and On Bronze across the lid and then Permanent Taupe under the lower lash line. It gives a beautiful bronze smokey eye, and works well with or without liner on top. Perfect for a lazy makeup day!

I definitely need to add some of the others into my collection, what are your favourite shades? Go on, tempt me... 

Lorna x

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My Current Skincare Routine

I've always put off writing this post and honestly, I don't know why, I'm skincare obsessed so surely this would be the post I would want to write? The fact that I love skincare so much is the reason for me taking so long to write this post, I don't really have a specific routine. It's always changing. I'm always trying out new products but then I thought about it and thought about the products I'm using at the moment and more often than not it's the same, so it was time, finally time, for me to write this post. For reference, my skin is normal to dry. 

For cleansing, I love the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, this has been a staple in my routine for so long. I have a secret stash of all of the smaller ones from all of my Liz Earle orders, I'm becoming quite the collector. I love using it with a muslin cloth and warm water. My skin feels hydrated after use and super clean. It's really great for sensitive skin too so it doesn't feel like you're using too much on your skin, just make sure you don't scrub too hard! Recently I've actually been changing up my cleansing routine and sometimes using The Body Shop's Nutriganics Softening Cleansing Gel Oil. When I felt the texture of this in store I fell in love. It is perfect. I love a gel texture and this feels so great against my skin. Super softening and cleanses my skin really well. It comes in a really handy tube so I would usually just leave this in my shower for a quick in shower face cleanse. 

The one toner I always go back to is the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic, it has a really relaxing scent and has a lovely moisturising feeling which works so well with my skin. Really lovely product! I love the Liz Earle Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion. I have super sensitive eyes and this works so well with them. I often have allergic reactions and generally I can feel it coming from the eyes, so a quick swipe of this and my eyes are left feeling soothes and hydrated. I'm not one for eye drops so this is the next best thing. 

My all time favourite moisturiser is the Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Moisturiser and I think you will all probably know that by now. Super hydrating and the texture works so well with my skin. I chop and change with this with The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Serum, a very similar texture and again works well with my skin. I will sometimes use this before a moisturiser but my skin doesn't often fair too well when using too many products on it at once. For the night, I often use the Origins High Potency Night-a-Mins, it has a thick creamy texture and is super moisturising and smells amazing! Last but not least is for those times where I might find that I have a little blemish, I will always go for the Origins Super Spot Remover as it is one of the only blemish treatments that I can use due to my Tea Tree allergy but I find that it works great.

One thing that is missing from this routine are exfoliators and masks, and I'm a bit in between having just a couple that I use. For exfoliators, I love to use The Body Shop's Vitamin C Microdermabrasion, this is one of the best I've tried, pop in store and try a little bit out on your hand and honestly you will notice a difference! For a less intensive exfoliant, I love the Origins Never A Dull Moment. This has a beautiful texture and the scent is amazing. It leaves my skin feeling super soft and hydrated. For Face Masks, I used to always use a moisture mask like the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask but at the moment I just don't feel like my skin needs it so I've been mixing it up between more purifying clay-based masks like the Aesop Parsley Seed Cleansing Masque and the Elemis Fresh Skin Deep Clean Purifying Face Mask, both beautiful beautiful masks, but honestly I usually just give a go whatever I seem to have but really those two are probably my favourites. 

I'm forever trying out new products so this list is probably forever changing but a lot of the products here are firm favourites and will forever be popping up in my routine. I will always go back to a lot of them, that's how much I love them. 

What are firm favourites in your skincare routine? 

Lorna x

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Yankee Candle Salted Caramel Jar

Yet again, my love of Yankee Candles continue and this was one of the gifts from my Secret Santa at work, the lovely Chloe. She got me down to a tee. The Yankee Candle Salted Candle Small Jar is so lovely, my first jar candle actually and I couldn't be happier. For those of you that love a super sweet sugary scent then this is definitely for you. I haven't burnt it that much yet as I'm totally savoring it, it's gorgeous! I love the jar candles, there's just something luxurious about them. I'm so excited to have this in my collection and I cannot wait to expand it more!

What Yankee Candles are on your wishlist? 

Lorna x

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W7 Nail Glitter: Cosmic Nail Dust

I love glitter nails and nothing, not even the pain that it is to take it off can put me off. It's just so pretty right? I usually stick it to just an accent nail for that reason although I have been known to fall in love with the accent so much that I just put it all on the other nails anyway. 

The W7 Cosmic Nail Dust nail glitters* are just lovely. You paint your nails the desired colour, apply the glitter and then I usually apply a top coat on top just to seal it all in. Super pretty and super easy! The only downside is that it is a little messy, but we can get over that for glitter can't we?

Lorna x

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*PR sample

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Zoeva 110 Face Shape Makeup Brush

The Zoeva 110 Face Shape brush* is probably my most used brush in my collection at the minute. I'm keeping clear of foundation for a while and sticking to my favourite Moisturiser and Concealer duo. Although this isn't what the brush is directed at for use with but I love to use it to blend in my concealer. It's the perfect size and the finish is beautiful. I've fallen in love with it and definitely want to pick up some more from the Zoeva range. Although I do love using it for concealer, I'm planning on putting it down for a while and using it to try out a contour. I'll keep you posted... 

Have you tried any Zoeva brushes before? What are your favourites?

Lorna x

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*Recieved in Goody bag at event

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