My lipstick collection

I first wrote this post back in June last year and since then my lipstick collection has grown quite a lot so thought I'd do a new post.

 Avon lipsticks L-R:

Color Trend - £3.50

- Sequin

- Berry Pink

- Creme Caramel

Smooth Minerals - around £8, can't find on the website

- Smooth Nude

- Smooth Berry

Swatches in the same order as above 

Boots 17 lipsticks L-R:

Supreme Shine 'Bella' - £4.99

Mirror Shine lipsticks - £4.59

- Sugar Daddy

- Flirtini

- Hollywood

- Peace

- Belle 

 Swatches in the same order as above

Left - Right:

 No7 Sheer Temptation 'Attract' - £10.00

No7 2011 Limited Edition - No longer available

Benefit 'LaLaLand' - no longer available

Kate Moss for Rimmel 'shade 3' - £5.49

 Swatches in the same order as above

Left - Right:

L'Oreal Naturals 'shade 235 nude' - £

L'Oreal Studio Secrets lip glow - £8.49

Mac 'Midimauve' - £13.50

Collection 2000 lasting colour 'Queen of Hearts' - £2.99

Collection 2000 Cream Puff 'Cotton Candy' - £2.99

Collection 2000 Cream Puff 'Fairy Cake' -  £2.99

Swatches in the same order as above 

My current favourite lip products are Collection 2000 Cream Puffs and 17 Mirror Shine lipsticks. What lip products do you love?

Another haul!

This is that last of any big hauls for a while now as I'm on a mission to try to save some pennies but I did get some bargains!

Boots

I had three £5 off No7 vouchers burning a hole in my purse and got these:

No7 Beautiful Skin T-Zone Rescue - Unsure of the price, can't find on the website

No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser - £9 (£4 with voucher)

No7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make-up Remover - £7.75 (£2.75 with voucher)

17 Blush and Glow in Peachy - £3.99 (free as 17 was on 3 for 2)

17 Supreme Shine lipstick in Bella - £4.99

17 Mirror Shine lipstick in Hollywood - £4.59

17 Hide and Chic concealer - £4.99 (free with voucher) 

 Swatches (L-R): Blush and Glow, Bella and Hollywood

Discount make up shop

I can't remember the name of this shop but it's on of those that sells discontinued stock at super cheap prices.

Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals foundation - £2.99

L'Oreal Glam Bronze bronzer - £4.99

Primark

Barbie Girl t-shirt - £6

Cardigan - reduced to £5 from £12

Skirt - reduced to £5 from £10

So that was my bargain haul! Can't believe I got hold of the Collection 2000 foundation, it's on of the best mineral foundations I've tried and I love the shades in the L'Oreal bronzer even though it is for blondes but as I have pale skin it'll give a subtle bronze shade on my face.

What bargain finds have you come across recently? Le me know!

Comparison: No7 Cleanse and Care make up remover and No7 Beautiful Skin make up remover

A few weeks ago No7 relaunched some of their skincare ranges as 'Beautiful Skin'. As it's a relaunch you would expect the product formulas to be the same but just different packaging. As I had a £5 off No7 voucher burning a hole in my purse I thought I would try their 'new' Beautiful Skin Eye Make Up Remover.

At first glance it looks the same, a slight different shade of blue and a different bottle but no other obvious change.

I have been a fan of the No7 Cleanse and Care eye make up remover for years, in fact I have about 6 of the old bottles in my stash of products but I'm not sure if they had slightly changed the formulation over the years because the most recent bottles I had didn't seem to remover mascara as well. I know No7 have sneakily changed the formulation to one of my other favourite products without telling customers.

On my first glance to the ingrediants on the new bottle I was somewhat shocked at how few there were. I was sure that the old bottle had lots more and when I got home and checked I was right. The old one contained a whole seven paraben ingredients whereas the new only contains one! In my eyes this is win-win! So yes the formulation must have changed but would this impact on the result? Well in all honesty I prefer the new formulation, it removed all traces of my mascara and was gentle on my eyes.

Another notable difference is the change from a pump bottle to the open top bottle. Personally I prefer the pump top and I know some people moan saying they can't get the dregs out but I used to screw off the top and use it that way, simple! An open bottle runs the risk of accidental and unnecessary spillage and at £7.75 a bottle this wouldn't go down well!

Overall I can get over the new bottle not having a pump top as the formulation improvement gets my vote! I'm glad that No7 have reduced the paraben content and I would buy this again with the £5 off voucher as it only costs a grand total of £2.75!

Have you tried this yet? How do you think it compares to old version?

NOTD - Barry M and No7

Today is a little christmassy nail of the day.

No7 Limited Edition nail polish - Grey Matter

Barry M Limited Edition nail polish top coat (exclusively from Boots)

Face wipes: The best and the worst

Face wipes - I think just about every skincare brand has them in their range. I love face wipes as they're a quick and easy way to remove your make up but with so many on the market which ones are the best? I've tested 6 different brands to try to answer this question and here is what I think..... photo's have been borrowed from the internet as my photo's were atrocious.

Soap & Glory Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths - £4.09 for 25 wipes

These have a smooth side and a slightly bumpy side for exfoliating. They also have that lovely Soap & Glory signature smell. They were quite moist and removed my make-up really well and my skin felt clean after. I have a stock pile of these to use up because I like them that much!

No7 Quick Thinking 4-in-1 wipes - £7.00 for 30 wipes

These are really wet, not too wet but they remove my make-up easily with little rubbing. My skin was left clean and these are the most repurchased but mainly because I get them with my £5 off vouchers which Boots always give out.

The Body Shop Vitamin E wipes - £5.50 for 25 wipes

These wipes were a little on the dry side for my liking but even though they did do a good job at removing my make-up. The wipe is slightly thicker than others I've tried but I'm not keep on the slight scent they have. I would repurchase but they wouldn't be my preferred choice.

Time Delay - £4.07 for 30 wipes

Really unimpressed by these. They were really dry and it took some really effort to remove my make-up. The worst face wipes I tried.

Bourjois Make-Up Remover Wipes - £3.99 for 25 wipes

Like the No 7 wipes these were really wet and removed make up easily and effortless. I was really impressed with these and would repurchase.

Organic Surge Kiss and Make-Up Cleansing Wipes - £3.49 for 25 wipes

I really liked these, they are thicker than other wipes and are more of a cloth. For the money they are really good value and I would repurchase.

Overall my favourite wipes were the Bourjois and the Organic Surge ones. Have you tried any of these what did you think? Or are there any brands that you would recommend?

NOTD - No7 Oyster

Today's NOTD is No7's Oyster from their new nail polish collection.

NOTD - No7 So Simple

No7 So Simple nail polish available at Boots for £7.00.

New cosmetic launches - March

 Ok, so I'm a tad late with this post but it is only just April so I think it's still alright to post! So this is another post to show some of the new products in self selection cosmetics.

17

Nail Xtras crackle top coat (1 colour) - £3.99

Supreme Shine nail polish (15 colours) - £3.99

 Collection 2000

Lock n Hold lipgloss (6 shades) - £2.99

Ultimate Fix 3-in-1 foundation, concealer and powder (3 shades) - £4.99

Maxfactor

 False Lash Effect Fusion mascara - £11.99

Models Own

Models Own Pro polish (41 colours) - £8.00

No7

Poppy King limited edition lipgloss (7 shades) - £11.00

Poppy King limited edition lip stick (7 shades) - £12.00

Revlon

Just Bitten lipstain (7 shades) - £7.99

Scented nail polish (8 colours) - £6.29

So has any of these caught your eye? Or have you already bought something featured here? What did you think?

Review - No7 Intense Volume mascara

I've had this No7 Intense Volume waterproof mascara for a while but hadn't really used it until a couple of weeks ago when my favourite Revlon one dried out so thought I'd give this one a proper go to see how it compared.

 

The brush is bigger than a normal mascara one but it's not the biggest that I've used and it's also not a spiky plastic brush like some other brands use which I do not get on with at all.

 

The mascara is a nice consistency, not too thick but also not too thin, and with the brush it's easy to apply. I find it easier to coat my lashes using the end of the brush and then use the full brush to brush it through so it doesn't clump. I also wait for the first coat to dry before applying another layer and then I do it again. This means you get maximum length and volume to give you luscious lashes!

  

And a close up of my lashes. I was quite impressed with the results, it's not my favourite mascara but for everyday use it definitely gets my vote!

This is available exclusively from Boots and is £11.50.

My most repurchased products

This is another request from my blog giveaway. This post is going to feature my most repurchases make up and haircare products.

Make-up

Back row:

• No 7 Shine Free make up base - I use this on my forehead and chin to elevate shine, the secret behind this product is less is more!
• Collection 2000 clear mascara - I do need a new one of these as you can tell from the colour! I like clear mascara because I don't want to wear mascara everyday so this just adds a little definition to your lashes

Front row:

• L'Oreal True Match powder - I use this over the shine base on my forehead and chin to prevent shine
• Benefit Boi-ing concealer - This is the best concealer ever! I use it to cover my under eye circles but it is anti-bacterial so it's perfect for spots
• Benefit Lemonaid - This is a yellow colour correcting eye primer. I use this under my concealer to try to neutralise the colour of my dark circles and I wouldn't be without it
• Benefit Powderflage - This is a light pink powder concealer. I use this over my concealer to set it and it also helps to brighten my under eye area. It does come with a brush but I find it easier to apply with my finger

Hair care

• Avon Advanced Techniques Oxygenating Scalp Treatment - This has now been replaced with a different product. I have eczema on my scalp just behind my hairline near my face and after I've washed my hair I use a couple of pumps of this to rub onto the problem area and dry my hair as usual. It definitely helps to elevate my eczema, I just hope the replacement product is as good!
• Batiste dry shampoo - I use this every night before I got to bed to absorb any oil which is produced whilst I'm sleeping. The reason I use this at night is because my hair is dark brown, this product is white. I sometimes got a little OTT with spraying this on which leaves me with a bad greying hair effect after! Not good!
• Lee Stafford Poker Straight Flat Iron Spray - I use this before blow drying and before straightening to protect my hair from any heat damage
• Lee Stafford Poker Straight Glistening Balm - I rub a little of this onto my hair before blow drying to protect against heat damage and it does give it a slight shimmer as it is a glistening balm

Do you use any of these? What are your most repurchased products?

On my make up table

This is another post I've been meaning to do for a while now but again I haven't had the time.

My make-up table is actually my old computer desk but after I moved I needed a bigger computer desk and a smaller make-up table so I swapped them around.

So here it is:

So what's on it? A lot!

• My No7 magnifying mirror (which I couldn't live without)
• GHDs
• 2x hairbrushes
• A clock
• Multi-coloured bangles
• A basket full of hair products including: hairspray, hair mousse, heat protection spray & heat protection balm
• A basket of make-up which I don't use daily
• A mug with make-up brushes in
• Sure deo
• Urban decay eyeshadow pallet
• A selection of Benefit products

1. Sugabomb
2. Stay don't stray
3. Throb
4. Boiing
5. Lemonaid
6. A powder set (cant remember the name)
7. Powderflage

• 4x foundation
• No7 anti-shine make-up base
• No7 spring eyeshadow pallet
• No7 mineral highlighter powder
• L'oreal true match powder
• L'Occitane moisturiser
• And much much more!

But I also have my little pink stool with products on too as this week at work we are dressing up as a decade from the 40s right through to the noughties and I'm being the 80s so I have layed my things out ready as I have to be up early in the morning.

Right so on the stool there's:

• No7 mineral foundation
• Benefit one hot minute bronzing powder
• W7 neon yellow eye shadow
• Collection 2000 gold glam crystals eyeliner
• Avon bronze lip gloss
• Revlon double twist mascara
• Benefit lyin eyes concealer
• Soap and glory arch de triumph eyeliner pencil
• FCUK make-up bag
• Fresh breath spray!
• And finally a nail file!

Phew! So I think that just about covers everything - oh there is an avon tea tree spot roll on treatment but I'm not going to be wearing that!