Superdrug, Barry M and The Body shop haul

Hi Beauts.

Today I wanted to share a few things that I bought whilst in town, mainly from Superdrug, but first I wanted to share my thoughts on something that has hit me pretty hard - Animal testing. 

Now, if you follow me on twitter then you'll already know this but I've decided to stop buying any and all products that use animal testing in any way. I won't go on too much about it as I'm drafting up a post solely on the subject, but I saw a picture on a website that literally broke my heart. I've always known that animal testing happened, but I didn't realise the extent of it or how many brands and companies use/allow it.

After hours (yup hours) of looking into which brands do and don't test on animals, I found out that one of my favourite shops doesn't test it's products. Which shop is that? Superdrug. Superdrug's OWN BRAND is NOT tested on animals. After binning my current hair care, skin care etc i headed out to Superdrug (and a few other places) to stock up on their own branded products (Which I've actually heard great things about anyway) and thought I'd share what I got. 

Superdrug 

* 48 hour protection Anti perspirant deodrant in Cotton - 89p

* Pro Vitamin full volume shampoo and conditioner - £1.12 each

* Cucumber facial cleansing wipes - 99p

The Body Shop

* Seaweed deep cleansing facial wash - £8.00

* Seaweed mattifying moisture lotion - £11.00

I had a 40% off code, so instead of my total being £19.00 it was £11.40

Boots

* Burt's Bees lip balm in grapefruit - £3.69

* Rimmel stay matte pressed powder in translucent - £3.99

Tesco

* Barry M Gelly-Hi shine nail polish in Lychee - £3.99

* Barry M flawless matte foundation in Ivory - £5.99

* Barry M matte nail paint in Crush - £3.99

Tesco currently have Barry M products on a 3 for 2 offer

I'm so pleased that I've found a few more of my favourite brands don't test on animals!

Hope you've all had a fab Sunday Beauts! 

Stacey x

Collective haul

Hi Beauts.

I've been buying little bits here and there over the past two weeks and rather than do a couple of little hauls, I decided to stick them all in one post.

There's isn't a whole bunch of things but I thought I'd share anyway

* Lush bubble gum lip scrub £5.50

* Next Diamonds perfume £6.00

* The Body shop hemp and protector £10.00

* Collection eyeshadow pencil in Vanilla Sky £3.19

* Rimmel stay matte foundation £5.99

* SEVENTEEN Miracle matte pressed powder £3.99

* Dr Martens £35.00 My cousin's friend works for the company and gets a CRAZY discount, so instead of paying £100 I paid £35.00. BEST bargain ever!!!!!!

* I am currently addicted to NCIS so I bought the season one box set in HMV £14.99. Major Mark Harmon crush going on right now

* The Jo Nesbo collection and Sophie Kinsella book box sets were on offer for 2 for £10, hello bargain!!! Being the bookworm I am, I just couldn't pass that offer up could I?

* Simple baby wipes 99p

* Simple oil balancing moisturiser £2.89

* Simple oil balancing face wash £2.89

* Benefit Boi-ing concealer in 01 £17.50

What goodies have y'all been buying lately Beauts?

Stacey x

All used up in November

Hi Beauts 

Time for my second to last empties post, this month has literally gone nowhere!! Crazy crazy times. Anyway, here's what I used up throughout November:

* Skinology tea tree blackhead cleanser - This has been part of my skincare routine for the past 6+ months and I can't be without it. It definitely pays a big part of keeping my skin spot free. REPURCHASE? Definitely RECOMMEND? Yes

* L'Oreal 3 in 1 purifying micellar solution - If I'm completely honest I don't get the hype with Micellar water. Yes it removed my make up with ease, but so do other products. I also didn't notice any difference whatsoever between this and Bioderma. REPURCHASE? Maybe RECOMMEND? Yes, if you're looking for a Bioderma dupe

* Clarins hand cream - So many people say that higher end skin care is so much better, but I have to say I don't always agree. This did nothing for my dry hands except make them sting, and it had a overpowering floral scent which I really didn't like REPURCHASE? No RECOMMEND? If you like heavily floral scented products, and you don't have super dry hands

* L'occtaine dry hand cream - Now this hand cream I loved. It was quite thick but not too greasy, had little to no scent and it kept my hands super soft. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* Rimmel Fix and Profect face primer - I've had a 'Love hate' relationship with this, and I've found out why. Because I have oily skin, I usually go for oil free primers. So when I was using this I sometimes tended to look a little shiny. However I noticed that when I used matte foundations, this was the best primer to use. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* Rimmel stay matte foundation - I used this years ago and really liked it, then the formula got switched up and it wasn't all that great at all. However Rimmel changed the formula once more and it's amazing. It's definitely a matte foundation, it lasts all day and it's available it a wider shade range. My new fave! REPURCHASE? Absolutely RECOMMEND? Yes, if you have oily/combo skin

* Garnier BB cream - I've never really been a big fan of BB cream because I have oily skin and none seem to work. However this one from Garnier is amazing. It has a great coverage - med to full, it keeps me matte (even whilst I was in NYC) and it lasts all day. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* SEVENTEEN miracle matte powder - This is my HG powder, I've raved about it time and time again. It keeps me shine free all day, and I very rarely need to re powder REPURCHASE? Oh yes! RECOMMEND? Yes

* MUA pro base fixing mist - I used to use Urban Decay De slick setting spray which worked wonders, but to be honest I found this to work just as well. It kept my make up in place so much longer than without using it. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* MUA eyeshadow primer I swear this thing was never ending (never a bad thing) I don't usually have a problem with eyeshadow creasing/not lasting long when I don't use a primer, but I have to say I enjoyed using this one. It kept my eyeshadow in place with no creasing, and I think it's a good dupe for Urban Decay primer potion. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* Wet and Wild eyeshadow in cream - I've been trying to finish this bad boy for SO long. It seemed never ending! This was pretty much my every day shade with another colour in the crease/outer V. It was a neutral champagne shade, extremely pigmented and super blendable. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* MUA Extreme felt liner - This fast became my Holy Grail eyeliner and I wore it every day. I'm pretty sure this was my 6th one! I personally love it, it was extremely pigmented, easy to use and stayed put without sliding across my face. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

* Pixi eye bright liner - I loved this for those mornings when I needed my eyes to look more awake than they actually were. And the best thing about this pencil was that it was such a neutral tone, I've found a few others to be slightly warmer which made it obvious I was wearing nude liner. REPURCHASE? Yes RECOMMEND? Yes

Well, one more empties post of 2013 to go.......WOWZA!! 

Stacey x

31 blushes of October.....week Four

Hi Beauts.

Well it appears we're nearing the end of October already! This has been a funny old month for me for some odd reason, I think I need to go into hibernation until spring :P 

Today I bring to you my fourth week of blushes:

Monday:

Sleek lace palette - Crochet

Tuesday:

Sleek lace palette - Guipure

Wednesday:

Sleek lace palette - Chantilly

Thursday:

Rimmel - Berry

Friday:

Rimmel - Pink Rose

Saturday:

MUA cream blush - Yummy

Sunday:

MUA cream blush - Blossom

Well, that's it for this week. Only one week left then maybe I'll start on the lipsticks.......

Previous weekly blush posts:

Week one - here

Week two - here

Week three - here

Have a great week Beauts!

Stacey x

31 blushes of October

Hi Beauts.

I was going through my make up the other day to pull out all of the products I hadn't used in a while  and show them some love. Whilst doing so I realised the ridiculous amount of blushes that I own, and I have to say it is quite stupid to have so many. So what I've decided to do is use a different blush each day of October and get rid of the ones I don't like. I'm going to do  a weekly post on a Monday showing which blushes I'm using that week, then maybe at the end of the month do an overview.  Without further ado,  here are this weeks choices:

MONDAY: 

Benefit Coralista

TUESDAY: 

NYC Color Wheel mosaic face powder in 'Scarlet letter'

WEDNESDAY:

e.l.f Peachy Keen

THURSDAY: 

MAC Desert Rose

FRIDAY: 

Natural Collection Rosey Glow

SATURDAY:

Rimmel lasting finish in 'Summer Fever'

SUNDAY: 

MUA Shade 5

Which blush are you currently loving?

Stacey x

Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer review

Hi Beauts.

After getting many recommendations from some lovely girlies on twitter, I decided to pick up the Rimmel Fix and Perfect primer.

I usually use No7 beautiful skin primer, but I find it a pain to blend sometimes as it's a mattifying primer. I didn't think this would work for me if I'm honest as I have oily skin, but wanted to give it a bash anyway.

Packaging:

This primer comes in a tube, which I prefer when it comes to liquid products as it makes it easier to control the amount of product you use. I also like the fact that you can snip off the bottom to get every last drop out.

Product:

The product itself is, I'd say, similar to that of a light moisturiser. It's not too thick or thin and has a slight scent to it. It's not a perfume scent, more of a clean smell - if that makes any sense?! It's not greasy at all either, which I have found some other cream primers to be.

Application:

After using the No7 primer, and having to buff it into my skin, this was a dream to apply. It did just feel like applying a moisturiser. I used my fingers to apply this and it was smooth, easy to blend and soaked into the skin pretty quickly. I wasn't left looking greasy or dewy, I wouldn't say my face looked matte but it did look healthy. This can also been worn alone, which I haven't tried

Staying power:

I was pleasantly surprised by this if I'm honest. I know so many people love this primer, but again as I have oily skin I usually go for mattifying primers and didn't think this would work for me. But I was wrong. I did lose a little foundation on my chin but I usually do (I tend not to when I use Revlon colorstay) but other than that, after 9 hours my face was still looking fresh and not at all shiny.

Claims:

As with all products, this primer has a number of claims which of course I put to the tea:

Smoothes - Yup. My skin did look smoother

Resurfaces - Yup. I'm pretty sure this goes hand in hand with smoothes

Brightens - Yup. My skin definitely looked brighter after applying this

Mattifies - This one, I'd say not so much. I definitely didn't look shiny or dewy, but I didn't look matte either

Protects - I'm not sure what it's protecting from if I'm honest?

Would I recommend this primer? Absolutely! I'm so glad that I tried it out, and I shall definitely repurchase once it done with this tube. I'd say this is best suited to all skin types, it doesn't dry out the skin so it would work for those with dry skin. And it definitely works for oily skin. 

Thumbs up from me Rimmel :)

Have you tried this? What did you think?

Stacey x

Products I want to use up

Hi Beauts! 

Going through my make up and skincare collection, I've noticed I have a couple of products that are half used up, or have a huge dent in them at least. Two things I have a serious problem with constantly buying are Lip balms and hand creams.

I've decided that I'd pick out the products that I've hit pan on and things that have been half used up, and concentrate on finishing off those before I decide to open/buy similar items. I also find it highly satisfying using up a whole bottle/tube/whatever of something.

Body and skincare:

Clinique Happy Body Smoother - I got this as part of a gift set a while back and I've used almost half of it up. My problem is, I have so many body lotions on the go that I forget what I have. This is one that needs to be finished, and i think it's the perfect time - it's definitely a summer scent

Soap and Glory Heel Genius - I only have a quarter of a tube left so this definitely had to be included. I bought this a while back, and recieved another tube in a gift set I got for Christmas

Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment - One of many hand creams I have in my collection, and one I'm not overly keen on. However, I was brought up never to waste anything so I shall be using the whole thing

Balance Me Rose Otto Intensive Lip Salve - I got this free in a magazine so long ago, and once again because I have so many lip balms open I forgot about it. I love this, especially the smell so I'll enjoy finishing this for sure

Make Up:

Wet and Wild eyeshadow in Cream - I hit pan on this ages ago and because I have so many neutral shades like this one I don't really use it. It's a gorgeous all over lid shade and great for highlight too 

No7 eyeshadow in Wheatsheaf - I've added this to my little hit list because I have this in a full size too and never use either. Time for some neutral eyes I think

No7 Blush in Candy Pink - I have a ridiculous amount of blushes and still keep buying more. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to finally use the rest of this one before I buy any more

Rimmel Sweet Jelly Lipgloss in Jammy - I have a few of these tubes from Rimmel in different shades and once again because I have a stupid amount of lip products I thought I'd best get cracking on using them up

I think I might do this either every month or maybe every 3 months, depending how I get on with tackling this lot. Hopefully I can get through them quickly, which means I can buy more.....mwahahahaaaaa :P

I have a lifestyle blog too if you fancy a peek

Stacey x