Brush Sets

It happens every year, we hit October, the kids are back in the swing at school and suddenly Christmas gift sets, paper, cards start appearing all over the place. Boots have already lined their shelves with the Christmas gift sets as have Superdrug. But I tend to not do my Christmas shopping till November as my birthday is the end of October but that doesn't stop me indulging and having a sneaky little binge.

I have a complete weakness for make up brushes so I couldn't resist buying some of brush gift sets - they look too pretty to resist.

1- Real Techniques Deluxe Gift Set Collector's Edition £20.00

This set comes with 5 brushes with 2 being exclusives and a white make up clutch which is cute as an extra but not something I'm likely to ever use.

The brushes from left to right - Multi Task Brush, Tapered Foundation Brush (exclusive), Angled Highlighter Brush (exclusive), Base Shadow Brush and Fine Liner Brush.

The only brush I already have is the Multi Task Brush so for me the rest of these are really good additions plus for £20.00 (currently on offer in Superdrug) it works out at just £4.00 per brush which is an absolute bargain!

2- Makeup Revolution Ultra Professional Duo Face Sculpt & Illuminate Collection £10.00

This set contains the Stipple/Blending Brush - F103, Powder Brush - F104 and Contour Brush - F105.

It also contains 2 products not available on their own - Duo Face Sculpt and Pro Illuminate.

This is an excellent value set and as someone who has never tried Makeup Revolution brushes I'm quite excited to see what their like.

3- Studio London Make Up Brush Set £5.00

The cheapest of the bunch this set contains a Powder, Blusher, Foundation and Eyeshadow brush and would make a great gift. The brushes are incredibly soft for the price so this is always a good sign.

And the artwork on the back of the box is pretty cool as well!

Clo

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Bargain Of The Week

I love nothing more than a bargain so I thought I'd do a post each week that contains the best value i.e the most amazing bargain of a product that I have managed to find that week. 

And I am starting off on a brilliant one as this little beauty of a concealer brush cost me a whole 5p in Superdrug! 5 pence and I am being serious. It was marked up on the shelf as 49p which in itself was fantastic bargain and then I got it to the till and it came up as 5p which was bloody brilliant. 

And it's actually not half bad as concealer brushes go which is even better! So check out your local Superdrug to see if there are any floating about if you're looking for a bargain brush.

Clo 

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H & M Beauty

As one of my favourite shops I am forever in and out of H & M and have long been a fan of their beauty products but I always was a little bit disappointed as most of the time they wouldn't have certain products i.e mascara and concealer were the biggest ones. Also it always felt so limited in their range and dependent on the time of the year was dependent how good the items were. So the fact that they have relaunched the beauty department has got a big thumbs up from me!

The new beauty departments/stands are so much nicer and you are actually able to test the products out - something you couldn't do before. So I didn't go crazy, just bought the products I thought I'd use as you can see from the picture below.

The first product is the Mattifying Face Primer priced at £7.99 which is priced quite reasonably at £7.99, then I bought one of the Lush Lip Vinyl's in the shade Chic Choc. This is basically a liquid lipstick that is so nice and feels really glossy however the shade is just way too dark for me unfortunately so it looks as though my sister is going to have the benefit of this one! I will however be purchasing in a lighter shade and for £6.99 I don't actually think it's too much compared to other brands.

The blusher was the product I was most excited about however it might just be the shade I got - Cameo Pink - but there's no real colour pay off and it is supposed to be sheer coverage but it's almost non-existent which was disappointing. For the £6.99 I feel as though that was wasted money. 

I however did manage to get a pretty good match on the concealer front with the shade Almond Beige. It's £4.99 and a pretty standard concealer which I would probably use with another one under my eyes to hide the terrible dark circles I currently have.

The nail polish is probably my favourite buy of them all just because the shade is the most amazing nude. It's called Kalahari and it does need I'd say 2-3 coats for it to really stand out but it's such a flattering shade that could be worn all through summer and winter! The £3.99 on this was well spent and I do love the cute shape of the bottle.

The final thing I bought was a Lip Definer i.e lip pencil in the shade Au Naturel and I'm still undecided about this. I don't hate it but I don't really really love it but then I don't know if I even like it so going to give it a little more testing out and then I'll make the decision. The Lip Definer is £3.99. 

H & M do have some of their products online here if you are unable to get into a store but if you have managed to get into store and buy some products then let me know which ones you love or loathe?

Clo

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#NationalPoetryDay

Today is 8th October and that means National Poetry Day. So for that I have picked a poem that has really struck me and one that I find to be quite close to my heart in terms of how I feel especially with the the last two lines.

Don't Quit by Unknown Author

When things go wrong as they sometimes will, 
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, 
When funds are low and the debts are high, 
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh. 
When care is pressing you down a bit. 
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. 
Life is queer with its twists and turns
As every one of us sometimes learns. 
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out: 
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow. 
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt. 
And you never can tell how close you are. 
It may be near when it seems so far: 
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Clo

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Empties 2015 #3

So not a huge lot of empties this time round but a few products that I haven't mentioned before so before I get stockpiling them again I thought I'd do a short and sweet empties post.

Dirty Works Body Scrub Sainsburys £4.00 - This contains shea butter, sweet almond oil and vitamin E. It's an OK scrub in my opinion, not the best and not the worse but definitely a lot nicer than the one the in range that comes in the tub. I don't think I'd repurchase however.

Anovia Sugar Scrub Savers £1.00 - For the price point there are no complaints from me on this scrub, it's not too harsh and it smells pretty good and it's one that I do seem to purchase anytime I go to Savers so no complaints.

Organic Surge 2 minute moisture mask TKMaxx £3.99 - Contains pure coconut oil and plant extracts.

This is quite possibly my favourite hair mask of all time. It's formulated for dry or frizzy hair and due to a lot of heat that I use on my hair it can become a bit of both but after smothering my hair in this for 2 minutes and washing it off, my hair becomes instantly revived. Big Love.

Dove Advanced Series Pure Care Dry Oil Conditioner Boots £5.99 This left my hair feeling so soft and I was rather hesitant to spend the money on the shampoo and conditioner as for Dove it is a higher price point than their other shampoos and conditioners but it's definitely worth it. These products are a little bit more luxurious so after using them I didn't mind spending the extra money.

John Freida Frizz-Ease Miraculous Recovery Masque Superdrug £5.99   Now for this luckily I didn't actually pay the full price as I managed to get it on offer as I do really like the product but for the money it seems as though you barely get anything in there. I used this 3 times and the third time wasn't really a proper mask because there wasn't enough product left. So I like it and it has a delicious smell but guys give more product or reduce the price!

Nivea Daily Essentials Extra Gentle Eye Make Up Remover Superdrug £3.49 This barely removed my mascara so not one that I will be repurchasing in a hurry as I'm sure there are better eye make up removers out there.

Clo

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MUA Hyrdo Range

Every brand and it's mother seems to be bringing out new products/ranges/formulations at the moment and like most of us I am a bit of a sucker for new products and this is especially true when they're under a fiver! MUA have done it again and along with all their new lip products they've released recently they have also gone and bought a new trio of primer, foundation & powder in what they are calling their hydro range.

The range of products are lightweight infused with Vitamin E and Jojoba which is supposed to give a natural finish on the skin which for me is perfect as I don't tend to wear a lot of makeup so if I'm putting a foundation on I do like it to look as natural as possible. The only one I've properly tried so far is the foundation in the shade natural ivory and it was ridiculously lightweight on my skin to the point that I might as well not wear it because there is no difference which was disappointing. However for others of you it might be fantastic but for me it just didn't work but if you're thinking of maybe trying there are six different shades and it's £4.00 so it's not really a huge loss.

The powder comes in only 1 shade and it's quite light to the point that on the skin it will probably be translucent but I've not tried this one out yet so no verdict at the moment. And then finally the product I am most excited about is the primer because I have a primer obsession. Every time a new highstreet/drugstore/budget primer gets released I am there like a shot and this one is the main reason I decided to give the range a go. 

As the picture above is supposed to show you but I couldn't quite capture it is that this primer is a lightweight gel now this is again one I haven't used yet so there verdict is out on this but I will say this does have an odd smell to it so it might not be for everyone. This is the most expensive product in the range coming in at £5.00. 

This range is available both from Superdrug & MUA plus available in your local Superdrug store!

Clo

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New Make Up Releases That Actually Interest Me

It's not often that new make up releases genuinely catch my eye at first, it normally takes me a couple of months to catch up but over the last couple of weeks there has actually been some brand new products out there that have hooked me in and made me put my card in the dreaded chip and 

Side note to self that I MUST STOP spending on a whim.

Anyway I thought I'd share the following products with you that I have purchased and I have been quite good as there's only 4 - I was restraining myself - however there could have been more if I allowed myself to purchase a multiple of shades but I was GOOD. I haven't yet properly used any of these products but will in the future let you know of  my first impressions/how I find them!

1- Collection Contour Kit

Contour kits have been released by pretty much every other brand so it was only a matter of time before Collection go in on the action! Currently on offer for £2.79 at Superdrug which is an absolute steal and even the full price of £4.19 is really good value so definitely worth checking out.

2- Collection Speedy Highlighter

Collection have had their 'Speedy Blushes' out for a few months now but the latest addition to the family is this beautiful highlighter which I love. It's great for when you are in a rush and it's lovely and small to be able to pop into your make up bag without taking up loads of room! This little thing is also currently on special offer for the fab price of £2.66 at Superdrug and full price will be the the rather purse friendly price of £3.99! Oh Collection! - I just don't think I'll ever outgrow you!

3- Sleek Barekissed Illuminator in Monaco

Sleek have just  released a range of Barekissed Illuminators in range of different shades - Monaco, Cuba, Casablanca and Pompeii priced at £9.99 available from Boots. Out of the range Monaco appealed the most because it's more a natural Illuminator whereas the others aren't really and being so pale I think this will be the best one for me! This is the new release I am most excited about so will be sure to report back.

4- Sleek Candy Tint Balm in Bon Bon

So Sleek had another new release in the shape of this lipstick/balm product. There were 6 different shades all named after sweets and because they had no testers I randomly picked Bon Bon as it looked the most natural. Although when I got it home I wasn't that sure and I'm still undecided how I feel about the colour. Priced at £6.49 I'm undecided if it was worth or not but I'll wait and see before making a concrete decision. 

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