Boots Bargains!

I was in Boots the other day and decided to browse the clearance section. Usually I find that the clearance section consists purely of broken eyeshadow palettes and questionable nail varnish shades, so I was pleasantly surprised when on a recent trip I stumbled across these products in the sale section. As my local store is so small, they often have to clear stock to make room for new products and I managed to pick up all of these products for just £7.25! 

First up is this Expert Wear Blush by Maybelline in the shade Rosewood. I thought this looked like a really pretty, wearable shade for everyday use and as I usually opt for higher end blushes I'm intrigued to see how this compares.

RRP: £5.19, I paid: 26p!

Next up is this L'Oreal Color Riche nail varnish in the shade Opera Ballerina. I'm a massive fan of nude nail varnishes and the applicator brush is quite wide which I like as it makes painting your nails a lot easier. Also, to be honest, as I do ballet I also just liked the name! (That's a legitimate reason for buying it right?!)
RRP: £4.99, I paid £2.50!

I also picked up this Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping mascara as I was quite intrigued as to how a mascara could "plump"! I really like mascaras that give my lashes added volume and so I thought I'd give this a try. They only had this mascara available in the Blackened Brown shade, which I don't usually go for, but I think brown mascaras are perfect for creating a more natural, subtle eye look.

RRP: £9.99, I paid: 50p!

I've actually been wanting to try this mascara out for a while now as I'm a massive fan of the Maybelline Volum' Express range and the One-by-One mascara is my all time favourite. This is the Mega Plush mascara, which has an innovative gel-mousse formula and a super flexible brush to coat every lash. I'm really excited to try this out and I'm hoping I love it as much as the One-by-One!
RRP: £7.99, I paid £3.99!

Overall RRP total: £28.16, I paid £7.25!

I can't wait to start trying out all of these new products and would definitely recommend you checking out the clearance section in your local Boots!

Have you found any make-up bargains recently? 

No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser & Quick Thinking Wipes Review

Just before I left for university a few weeks ago, my sister gave me a voucher she had got from Boots for £5 off No7 skincare. As you'll know if you've seen my Starting Off: Skincare post, I very rarely invest in decent skincare products and so I took this as a chance to try out the No7 Beautiful Skin range The products are more expensive than my usual Olay choices, but not as steep as some high-end skincare brands. 

The first thing I picked was the No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser. I've been wanting to try out the  Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser for a while now, but at £24.75 for 200ml in comparison to the £4.95 that the No7 version cost with my discount, it was a no brainer! In the box you get a 200ml tube of product, which I can tell is going to last me absolutely ages, because you only really need one pump of the cleanser per use. It also comes with a muslin cloth, which is great as it saves you having to go out and buy one, but to be honest it isn't that impressive and a hot flannel would probably work just as well. The actual product itself however is really impressive!

I use it about once a week, massaging the cleanser over my face, then running the muslin cloth under a hot tap, wringing it out and then placing it on my face. I usually wait around 5-10 minutes before taking it off, as the muslin cloth starts to get cold and quite simply I get bored! But it is really relaxing, has a lovely scent and leaves my skin feeling like it's been really thoroughly cleaned. Personally I suffer from dry skin and it really helps to exfoliate away any dry patches and as long as I moisturise straight after patting my face dry, my skin is left feeling really soft.

When I bought the cleanser, I was actually given another £5 off voucher and so a couple of days later I decided to buy the No7 Beautiful Skin Quick Thinking Wipes, which usually retail at £7. Now, you'd think that for £7 you'd be getting a pretty spectacular pack of wipes. Unfortunately not.

It's not that they're particularly bad, it's more that I really can't tell the difference between these wipes and the £1 packs of wipes that I usually get from Superdrug/Savers/Asda etc. Also, the Boots website claims that they're "suitable for all skin types and remove even waterproof mascara", yet when I use them to take off my eye make-up they make my eyes sting and feel slightly sore, which is strange because I don't really have sensitive skin and never usually get affected in this way by make-up removers. 

Overall, I was really impressed with the Hot Cloth Cleanser as it leaves my skin feeling incredibly clean and I would definitely repurchase it again, but I would still like to try out the Liz Earle equivalent just to see how they compare. The wipes however I have not really got on well with and I don't really think the price is justified.

Have you tried any No7 skincare products? 

New Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation Review

(For the record, this foundation isn't particularly "new", but Bourjois revamped the original Healthy Mix Foundation and therefore on their website it is referred to as the NEW Healthy Mix Foundation.)

Hello again!
I was in Superdrug with my mum the other day and she was looking for a new foundation. I recommended the Bourjois Healthy Mix, as although i'd never used it, i'd heard it was great. Luckily for me, Bourjois had a 3 for 2 deal on, so she bought me one too!

I'm actually a bit of a foundation snob. I have quite a lot of high-street makeup, but when it comes to foundation I don't mind spending a bit more, as it will be going on my skin pretty much every day. For this reason, for the last couple of years i've tried MAC's Mineralize Foundation, Studio Tech and Studio Moisture Tint and more recently Benefit's Hello Flawless, which I LOVE. Therefore, I was excited to see how this high-street foundation would compare.

I've used this foundation about three or four times now and here are my thoughts on the product...

Pros-

• The colour. I got this foundation in the lightest shade available, 51 Light Vanilla and it matches my (very pale!) skintone perfectly.
• The smell. This foundation smells so lovely! The product contains apricot for radiance, melon for hydration and apple for youthfulness and together they make a really pleasant, fruity scent, which makes applying this foundation really enjoyable. However, this could be a con for those of you who don't like scented products. 
• Radiance boosting. Bourjois claim that this foundation is radiance boosting and I would definitely agree with this. It gives your skin a really dewy, healthy looking glow, without being shimmery or making your face oily.
• The packaging. The original Healthy Mix came in plastic packaging and i'm really glad that Bourjois have opted for a glass bottle this time around as it makes it feel much more luxurious and distinguishes it from cheaper high-street brands.
• Light texture. The product itself is very light, which makes it very easy to apply. I have been using my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to buff this into my skin and once applied it feels like you aren't wearing anything at all. (Read my review of the brush here.)
• Price. This foundation retails at £9.99, which for a product of this quality is a great deal and Boots and Superdrug constantly have some sort of deal on  Bourjois products, so keep an eye out for them!

Cons-

• The colour range. Although my shade matches my skin well, the actual range itself only consists of eight shades. All of which are fairly pale, as you can see here on the Boots website. So women with darker skintones may not be able to use this foundation.
• Coverage. Although this foundation is intended to give a very natural look, which I think is great for those days when you don't want to wear too much makeup, it really is quite sheer. Personally I generally prefer a slightly fuller coverage, to even out my skintone a bit more and give a more flawless finish.
  
    
  
  
  

Have you tried this foundation?  What did you think?

Revlon Colorburst™ Lip Butters Review

I'm pretty late to join the bandwagon on this one, but i'd been wanting to try out the Revlon lip butters for absolutely ages. I bought mine from Boots, where they are currently 2 for £10, but Superdrug are also offering this same deal. I spent quite a while trying to decide which shades to go for, as Revlon have vastly increased the number of colours available since they were first released.

Naturally, the collection includes an array of different shades of pink, but there are also some more interesting options, such as "Provocative", a pastel lilac colour and "Tutti Frutti", a reddish orange. Eventually I decided on "Strawberry Shortcake", a girly Barbie pink and "Candy Apple", which is a classic pillar-box red.

First of all, I must say that the packaging is lovely. The quilted effect gives them a high-end feel and the fact that the packaging colour coincides with the product inside makes it easy to pick which one you are looking for. As well as this, they have a clear top, which is great for me as I lay them flat in my muji drawers where I store all of my makeup and then I can easily find them.

Although they look like lipsticks, as Revlon state on their website they are actually balms, offering "sheer to medium colour with buttery shine". I'm not sure how far i'd agree with the claims that they "boost lip moisture by 156%", but they definitely add softness to the lips and they seemingly melt, like butter, onto the lips. The lip butters are quite sheer, but are certainly buildable, with the end result being highly dependent on the pigmentation of your lips originally. For example, Strawberry Shortcake is far more subtle on my lips, as my lips are quite pink to begin with. However, a few layers of Candy Apple creates a lovely, classy red, without the heaviness of a lipstick. The staying power is good considering they are essentially lip balms and as they are so hydrating I don't mind reapplying them every few hours.

(l-r Strawberry Shortcake, Candy Apple)

I'll definitely be investing in a few more of these, overall I think they're really great, particularly for the price (RRP £7.99). Have you tried any of the Revlon lip butters?

Real Techniques Core Collection Review

My lovely boyfriend recently bought me the Real Techniques core collection, so I thought i'd do a little review of my thoughts so far.

The set comes with four brushes; a detailer brush, a pointed foundation brush, a buffing brush and a contour brush, as well as a lovely protective case for the brushes that also doubles as a stand. All of the brushes are extremely soft and seem very well made given the price (in boots it retails for £21.99).

The detailer brush really is absolutely tiny, which makes it great for concealing particular areas, or for neatly applying lip products. However, personally I have been using it to apply a highlight (i'm currently using 'virgin' from the original Naked palette) to my brow bone and the inner corner of my eyes.

The pointed foundation brush is a bit of a hit and miss really. I already have the regular Real Techniques foundation brush, which can be found here and I think it is absolutely perfect, so I don't really have any need for this smaller, pointed version. I've tried using it to apply concealer under my eyes, but I don't find it blends as well as using my fingers.

The buffing brush is great with powder, as it enables you to actually build up quite a full coverage as the bristles are so densely packed together. Normally, I use my Mac Mineralize Skinfinish natural (found here) simply to set my foundation, but when used in conjunction with this brush it builds up, providing a much higher, yet not cakey, coverage.

The contour brush is brilliant, i've been using it to apply my bronzer and its great at defining the cheekbones without picking up too much product and making it look unnatural. Though i've only used this brush with bronzer so far, due to its size I think it could also work really well at applying a highlight to the tops of the cheekbones and down the nose.

I hope you liked my review! Sorry there aren't more photos, but my brushes are covered in makeup at the moment and I fear that wouldn't do them justice ;)
Have any of you tried any real techniques brushes?