Beauty stuff I got for Christmas

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a nice Christmas! I certainly did. It is so good being off work for a while. I have been enjoying just being at home, watching movies, eating chocolates and just generally chilling out! It's going to be so difficult getting back into a routine in the new year. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

So on Christmas Day, it was so much fun being at my sisters house. We played games, ate great food and just had a really nice day. Christmas is so not about presents for me, although I did get some lovely things. I just enjoy having fun. But, I will now show you what beauty stuff I got for Christmas. Admittedly, I did buy a lot of this myself with money I got. (Thanks dad!)

Clarins Eye Contour Balm - I chose this as I really need to start using an eye cream again. I have read good reviews about this one and the texture is so nice. I don't see any results just yet but I swear I will apply this religiously every night!

Lancome Rouge in Love Lipstick - I adore the cute packaging of this lipstick! The shade is "Midnight Rose" which is a gorgeous deep, raspberry pink. Unfortunately I have been unable to wear it yet due to a horrible outbreak of coldsores :( but this shade is so beautiful. I cannot wait to wear it.

Clinique Party Tips Nail Polish Trio - I love these gorgeous nail polishes, and is it just me or are they the most perfect shades for New Years Eve? I am kind of excited to try out Clinique polishes for the first time. They come in such a cute bag too.

YSL Touche Eclat - Oh my God, where has this been all my life? You know how I always complain about my undereye area looking less than impressive, and no concealer helps? Well this is so light and brightening, it is exactly what I needed! I got shade 2. I swear this is the best thing I have ever tried, and the only concealer that has ever made any kind of difference.

Sampar Sea Scrub - I have been lusting after this for some time. The scent of this product is to die for, it just smells like a luxurious spa. I actually thought this product was for your face, but it is a body exfoliator. I have used a small amount on my face though. It is the most expensive product I have ever used! (it was around £50.00). It is so nice and so effective.

Lancome Hypnose Mascara - After buying a Hypnose Star mascara earlier in the year, I have decided that I think Lancome do the best mascaras. I had a tiny sample of the original Hypnose which I loved, so I decided to buy the full sized version. The wand is just perfect and the bristles are so soft. It makes my eyelashes super long and full. I love it!

Nuxe Creme Fraiche de Beaute moisturiser - In desperate need of a new skincare routine, I chose this moisturiser. It is so thick and creamy, and I think it is designed for dry skin. It feels so nourishing and has a beautiful scent. It is such a luxurious product and my skin feels so soft and plump even after just a week of using it!

I also got a ton of Lancome and Clarins samples when I bought my products, so I am really excited to try these out too!


I hope Santa was good to everyone!

Garnier Ultimate Beauty Oil

I saw this beauty oil several weeks ago and was very interested to try it. At £7.99, it was a little more than I would like to spend especially for just 150ml of product. Anyway, I finally bought it at the weekend and have been using it every day since so as to give a proper review. 

The bottle has a handy spray dispenser so you don't accidentally use too much! There is a pleasant scent off the oil, it's indescribable really but it is a nice scent, I think I may be a little addicted to it actually! Ever since I started using it, my skin has never felt so moisturised or looked so healthy. Also, I have been wearing a bit of fake tan and it has not budged one bit or gone patchy, so it's great for prolonging your tan as well! i really hate the stickiness of moisturisers. This doesn't feel sticky at all and is described on the bottle as non-transferrable, which so far i definitely agree with.  

My overall opinion of this product is very high, it seems that everyone is oil crazy at the moment, but I really think that this little gem it definitely worth the price and you can really see the results. It is a little pricey though, and you can see that I have used quite a lot of mine already. On feel unique.com they sell for £6.80 a bottle. I'll definitely be re-purchasing this!!

NYC Individual Eyes Compact

I bought this little NYC Palette for about £3.00, which I thought was very reasonable! I adore NYC's nail polishes but have never actually tried their eyeshadows. This is the palette for blue eyes, and it also comes with an illuminator and a primer. There are instructions attached to the back, so I am going to follow the instructions and see how it turns out!

Firstly I did apply the primer, and after a few minutes I noticed it was starting to crease up. I don't know if that is because I perhaps used too much or not. If I was using this palette again I would probably start with a different primer!
So all over the lid I applied the light grey colour, then the very bright purple went in the crease. I was a little intimidated by this colour as I don't usually wear this bright of a colour, but it is not really that pigmented. So far so good!

Then I used the darkest grey to contour, and the light purple to highlight. The photo below is the finished result..

Of course, it was missing a bit of eyeliner and mascara! I used my Clinique gel liner, and Essence Get Big Lashes mascara. I also applied a little of my Sleek glitter eyeliner. To finish, I used the illuminator in the palette in my inner corners and a little on my brow bone.

Overall I really like the finished look, for £3 you can't really go wrong! I did think that the brown eyes palette had nicer colours though! I think they grey and purple shades do compliment blue eyes.

Benefit - Blast from the Past!

I have these three "vintage" Benefit items...

Does anyone remember these??

I remember getting this Hollywood Glo as a Christmas present! I never really liked the product itself as I found it was a bad colour, and also it is really heavily perfumed. But look at the bottle!! It's as if it is straight from the 1920s and that is what I loved about it! 

Check out how 1920s this tin looks! It is the same as the Hollywood Glo only in cream form, I never really used this either, as you can see!

And this is the very first Benefit product I ever bought. I got it in San Francisco way back in 2005! I absolutely fell in love with this gorgeous powder puff, it is so elegant and of course vintage looking. It has a nice smell and when you pat it onto yourself, very fine glitter comes out. I just checked it on my arm and it still works! 

I really wish Benefit would go back to making their products more vintage inspired like they used to. It is what attracted me to them in the first place. I know they still have beautiful packaging, but I really feel that when you compare it to these that it has become a lot more fresh and modern. 

Benefit Skincare Set

I ordered this set online from Debenhams for £10. I thought it was a good enough deal, since I had thought about purchasing from this range but not sure if the products would be right for me or not. 

This little set is very well presented, it would make a lovely gift! Plus it looks really cute on display in my bathroom.  It contains:

Foamingly Clean Facial Wash

Refined Finish Facial Polish

Moisture Prep Toning Lotion

Triple Performing Facial Emulsion

Total Moisture Facial Cream

It's Potent Eye Cream

I have used all the products, and to be honest the only items I would purchase the full sized versions of are the Total Moisture cream and the eye cream. I am not saying that the others aren't good, I just don't think I would use them that often! There is still quite a lot of product left in my sample sizes. I had been using Clinique All About Eyes Rich and I really think that It's Potent is a much better eye cream, it has really brightened up my eye area after just over three weeks! I am so impressed with it.

My Recent Purchases!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I have always wanted to do this and I can't wait to get started. I love anything to do with make up and nails, and I am constantly trying out new products. While I do treat myself occasionally to luxury high-end products, recently I have started playing around with budget cosmetics which I find are just as good as the expensive ones! Not everyone can afford Mac or Benefit all the time, and there are many cheaper alternatives out there which are excellent as well.

For my first post, I will show you some of the items which I have purchased in the last couple of weeks. 

Essence is my new favourite brand. It is very cheap and the products are really lovely. If you can find an Essence stand near you, I highly recommend trying them out! While I was in Dublin recently I purchased some items from the huge stand in Pennys on Mary Street! I picked up three of their Kiss Care Love lipbalms. From left to right, they are 04 Caribbean Sunrise, 02 Purple Berries and 01 Fruit Crush. They are almost completely sheer, and the scents are just lovely. The purple one is actually my favourite. They are very moisturising, and you can still feel them on your lips even after over an hour. 

I also got a Catrice Made to Stay eyeshadow, in the shade Lord of the Blings. I never thought I could find a cheap alternative of my beloved Benefit Creaseless Creams, but I am so impressed with this. I did not have a crease even after a full day. It is a lovely neutral colour with a bit of shimmer. 

Before Christmas I treated myself to three of the China Glaze Holiday polishes. From left to right they are Champagne Kisses, Glistening Snow and Pizazz. 

I don't really believe in buying expensive polishes (my favourite brands are NYC and Essence) because I always end up chipping it. I must admit I am a little disappointed with these polishes. The colours are fantastic, don't get me wrong. They apply nice and smoothly, and dry quickly too. But they feel quite grainy and chip so, so easily. Pizazz was probably the most long-wearing, I layered it over a silver polish and it looked really festive and sparkly. I am wearing Glistening Snow now. Though my favourite shade was probably Champagne Kisses. 

I discovered this Essence Nail Art Stampy Set, which I also picked up from Penneys. It contains one image plate with nine designs, one rubber stamp and one scraper. I think it costs about €4. It is very easy to use and for the money I am so impressed. 

I am a huge Sleek fan, their palettes are so amazing and so reasonable. They released the Sparkle 2 palette for the Christmas period and I had to get it! 

The colour selection is just amazing and very pigmented. My only criticism is that they do not appear  glittery once they are on your eye. I have tried many different techniques to apply the colour, but I just cannot achieve any glitter payoff. In the palette they look so beautiful, and my photo above was taken with no flash. The sleek palettes cost around £7.00 and I am still a huge fan of them. 

I picked up two mascaras to try. The Collection 2000 Big Fake Ultimate (£4.99), and Essence Get Big Lashes (£2.00 I think?). 

They are both quite good for the price, but if I had to choose I would honestly go with the Essence one. The Collection one, while it does lengthen your lashes, it leaves them looking a little thin even after numerous coats. My lashes are long already, so I just like a little volume. The Essence mascara is quite comparable to Benefit Bad Gal Lashes, which is my ultimate favourite mascara (and it is a fraction of the price!). My lashes look super full and volumised. Although the Collection one says "Triple your lash volume and add length", I really did not feel that it lived up to its expectations. 

I just picked up the Essence white tip painter because I don't have one at the moment. The application brush makes it really easy to apply, and I am so bad at painting white tips! 

I also really wanted to try these Express Dry Drops, I was curious as to how they work! Quite often I apply my nail polish and am too impatient to wait for it to dry. These drops are fantastic! You apply one or two drops to each nail, and after about two minutes, the nail polish is fully dry. The only thing that I don't like is that the drops run onto your fingertips and you realise how oily the formula is. However, I think this product is excellent and I don't know how I ever lived without it!

I went into my local chemist who have a small Essence stand. I was hoping to find the new Vintage District collection, but instead they had this range of hand creams. They cost £1.29 each and there are three different scents. I had to go with the apple and cinnamon as it reminds me of Christmas! I have to say, I really think this was a great buy. The formula is not greasy or sticky, it is very moisturising and the smell is just lovely! 

I also got the Essence Shimmer Powder from their Twilight collection as it was the only thing that I didn't have from this particular collection. It is a really nice silky powder, it gives a nice glow however I would not use a lot of this product as it can look quite "gold" on your face. 

Finally after trying numerous brands in search of the perfect glitter eyeliner, I found it! It's Collection 2000 Glam Crystals in the shade Funk. The difference between this liner and other budget glitter eyeliners is that the glitter is in a tinted gel as opposed to a clear gel. I think it cost around £3.00. When applied, it is so sparkly and eye catching. It's absolutely perfect as a finishing touch to your going out make up!

And last but not least, since I am addicted to glitter nail polishes I found this Essence Special Effects Topper in the shade Glorious Aquarius. I layered it over a turquoise polish and it looked stunning. I can't wait to wear this one more.

That is all for me today, I hope that you enjoyed reading!