Recent Purchases - mini haul

Just a quick post to share with you some of my recent purchases. While Superdrug had the 3 for 2 on I had a HUGE list of products I wanted to get, unfortunately they never had stock of anything I wanted (sort it out Superdrug) so this mini haul is a lot smaller than I expected.

Sleek Blush BY3 - Lace £9.99 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) -  I have been looking for this for so long in Superdrug, I'd given up on finding it so I went in for a different blush but when I asked to see if they had the other blush in stock the sales assistant found the palette and tons of others in the drawer (why don't they have them out!) I've already used this loads and love it, review to follow soon - although I'm not sure anyone really needs to read another review on it.

Revlon Colourstay Foundation - Buff £12.49 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) - I used this foundation years ago but stopped wearing it when I wanted a lighter coverage, I bought this as although I don't wear medium to full coverage foundation daily its always handy to have for really bad skin days. Although I wish that I'd waited and got the new SoftFlex ColourStay.

L'oreal Lumi Magique - £8.49 (bought in Superdrug 3 for 2) - I've wanted to try the Lumi range for awhile but the foundation colours really don't work for me and I'm not in need of another primer so I went for this instead. I love the packaging but if I'm honest I'm not sure its really working for me.

nspa Nourishing Eye & Lip Treatment - £2.50 (Usually £3.00) ASDA - I was in need of a new eye cream and as this was only £2.50 it was a bit of a impulse purchase. I haven't used it yet but the smell is delicious!

BM Beauty Finishing Powder - £8.00 EthicalSuperstore.com  - I loved the samples I received from BM Beauty and I absolutely adore their brushes so I have high hopes for this powder. I've played about with it and its seems lovely and light, not at all cakey. I will of course review it fully asap.

Revlon Lip Butter - Tutti Fruitti  - £5.99 Boots (Usually £7.99) - Elaine LOVES this lipstick and I've had my eye on it for awhile, I've got quite dark lips so the lip butters don't do too much for me but its a easy and light alternative to my Topshop Infrared lipstick - I also love using a bit of it on my cheeks when I don't have any blusher with me.

Do you use any of these products?

Rachel

A Slightly Late May Favourites

Benefit Moon Beam

I’ve had this and two bottles of High Beam lingering in my make up drawer for awhile. It used to be a staple of mine a few years ago when I wouldn’t go a day without mixing a tiny bit into my foundation but for some unknown reason I stopped using it. Now because of the nice weather I’ve fallen back in love with its subtle warm glow. I also just noticed that Benefit have released Sun Beam a new bronze highlighter which looks great. I must say tho if you are looking to buy this product I would never pay the full and quite extortionate price of £18.50, you can get it far cheaper on a number of websites including ebay and there are a number of dupes for both High Beam and Moon Beam.

BM Beauty Brushes

I was kindly sent the BM Beauty Eyeshadow brush to review and I was so impressed I went out and bought the foundation brush. Both these brushes are extremely soft and densely packed with cruelty free synthetic bristles. The eyeshadow brush is perfect for blending and picks up eyeshadow extremely well.  I’ve also washed both and so far not a single hair has fallen out. These are now some of my favorites and without doubt up there with my Real Technique brushes. I will definitely be buying more of these. (Ethicalsuperstore.com have these at 25% off at the minute)

Topshop Infared lipstick

This now famous lipstick has been my go to shade for the past few months. It’s a stunning bright orange which is perfect for nights out and on summer days (the few we have had anyway). You can see a full review here.

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser

I bought this a couple of weeks ago when ASOS had a 20% beauty event, I’d been umming and arring about buying this for quite some time as I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend that much on a tinted moisturiser. However I am so glad I did, I think it’s amazing and I’ve been using this every day since buying it without fail. I’ll do a full in depth review soon.

Clinique High Impact Mascara

I got my first sample of this awhile ago in a magazine and really liked it, so I was thrilled when the mascara swap came back to Debenhams and I snapped this up. I think it’s a lovely mascara for the daytime and doesn’t leave your lashes hard, flaky or clumpy in the slightest, just beautifully long and soft. (I’m not quite sure I would call this High Impact though! If your after a bit more vavavoom I would recommend YSL Shocking mascara)

Sorry its a wee bit late but I hope you enjoyed it!

Rachel

BM Beauty Mineral Makeup Goodies Review

We were extremely luckily to receive some samples and a eyeshadow brush to try out from Laura McConiskie the co-founder of BM beauty. Neither of us had really tried mineral makeup before, but it is something that has always interested us, so we were happy to give it a try.

We received 3 eyeshadows in Aquatic Galaxy, Her Majesty and Platinum Tiara (L-R).

The eyeshadows are extremely pigmented and have a great depth of colour, from different angles you pick up a range of colours in the shadows. They are great buildable colours you can wear them as subtle or as strong as you want or you can get an extremely vibrant colour when applied wet, which is great as an eyeliner. Although we found they can be a bit messy to apply and do fall out so make sure you have a brush to clear up under your eyes when your applying them!


We mixed the eyeshadows with clear nail varnish to make our very own nail varnish, it was soo easy we will to a NOTD post soon!

Bronzer in Summer Warmth.

We were both a bit scared of this bronzer when we first swatched it as it seemed so dark and shimmery and we both tend to prefer matte bronzers, however after we had a play with it we instantly loved it. This is a really shimmery bronzer and adds an instant fresh tanned glow, I think its a bit much for the daytime but on holiday and nights out this will look great. As we are both very pale we only needed the tiniest amount and found that a little goes a very long way. You can really build this up to the strength of colour you desire so it should suit most skin tones, and although it looks it in the pot it really isn't too orange. I've also worn this as an eyeshadow, which I think looks lovely alongside the bronzer for a really simple tonal night time look.  I'm going to take this on holiday with me next week as I think it will look amazing on tanned skin and the sample pot is the perfect size for a travel bag!

Lipgloss in Nude.

This is a beautiful nude/pink colour with a hint of coral.  It doesn't feel too sticky when you are wearing it, but due to the sample packaging we received it in it was very difficult and messy to put on so we haven't really worn it much so couldn't comment on how it wears. Overall though if you're after a nice nude lip gloss I think the colour of this is gorgeous and I was really pleasantly surprised at how nice this looked on as I have dark lips I struggle with nude lip colours. As you can see in the image above it looks great on Elaine and you can see how lovely and pigmented it is.

123 Eyeshadow Brush

This is a really nice soft brush, it picks up the mineral eyeshadow really well and is a really nice size to blend with. We have already washed this and were happy to report that all the bristles are still intact. We have also learnt from the BM Beauty website that synthetic brushes are more hygenic than real hair which is nice to know.  I usually swear by my Ecotools and Real Technique brushes but I'm definitely going to invest in a few of these, I've got my eyes on the foundation brush and blush/bronzer brush.

We both really liked the BM Beauty makeup and have heard good things about their foundation and finishing powder so can't wait to try them out too, you can buy sample sizes of their foundation from their website for £1.25, although there is a £3.50 delivery charge.




Elaine & Rachel