Mini Haul

Whenever the stress of daily life and A Levels (bane of my life!) start to get to me, I always turn to the beauty that is online shopping! Whilst it feels like Christmas has come early every time I get a package, my bank balance probably does not feel the same joy. Oh well! Such is life. 

This time round, I hit up the E.L.F and REN Skincare websites and did some browsing! 

I have had this cleanser on my 'To Buy' list for the past year and a bit and have always backed out at the last minute, not willing to ever spend more than £10 on a cleanser. BUT I recently rekindled my obsession for the skincare guru that is, *Caroline Hirons, and was reminded of some Godly advice: "Equate your skincare spending to what you would spend on a handbag or shoes. I'm not saying you should - I'm saying you should be willing to." 

With this in mind, I took the plunge -the £18 plunge- and bought the REN Skincare Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Milk. On Asos, the product retails for £18, but on the REN website, you can pick it up for £16! As it was my first order with them, I also benefited from 10% discount and two free samples (Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask & Ulta Moisture Day Cream). Making it £17.40 with P&P included! All that, and change for a pack of Oreos! That's a good deal in my books.           

                           

Next, I ordered a couple of items from E.L.F and came across the HD Liquid Blushes from the Studio line (£4.50). With the MakeUp Forever HD Liquid Blushes in mind, I ordered two of these from the 5 shade collection, hoping that I was picking up some mega bargains as a decent dupe of the MUFE Blushes. And I think it's fair to say...I succeeded. These blushes are so super pigmented, that even a quarter of a pea size pump is more than enough for both cheeks! Yes, they dry insanely quickly and therefore can sometimes make it difficult to work with, but at about a quarter of the original MUFE blush price... I think I've found a good'un! Also restocked on a Small Stipple Brush (£3.95) - cheap, simple and does the job; can't complain!

This post was unnecessarily long for what I had to say, so if you read to end 'Well Done You!'

Manny x

Muji Makeup Storage

Hey People!

So for the past year and a half now I've been admiring these acrylic containers from Muji with the intention of storing my make up in it. It got to the point where I kept my products in 4 different bags around my room...and that was just stress! It'd take me at least 10 minutes to find what I needed, and by then I just could not be bothered with actually doing my make up!! So, I finally decided to just get on with it, and walked into 'Muji' knowing that I would DEFINITELY leave with my drawers. And I did!!

I'm soo happy with how everything turned out, and pretty proud with how this stands on my dresser now :) 

So I bought 2 of the 'Acrylic Box - 2 Drawers Wide' with each one at £10.95 each. I can't tell you how amazing these drawers are - but sturdy, stylish and simple come to mind!

  

If you would also like these beauties, check out their website or go into store and you're sorted!

Manny! xx

New Bits and Bobs!

Hey People!

So I’m one of those who go to Boots/Superdrug and either spends a ridonk-ulous amount of money, or goes and buys only a couple of things. There’s NEVER an in between! This time, I only picked up a few things, so thought I’d share it with you! Enjoy! 

The first is the L’Oreal Couleur Infallible (don’t you just feel so French saying that!) – I got this in the shade 021 Sahara Treasure, and bloody hell! It’s a good’ un! I’m basically obsessed with browns, beiges and neutrals in general, whether it has a matte finish or shimmer, so this is right up my alley! I am really impressed with how highly pigmented this is and it’s just a GORGEOUS colour, whether you’re using it as an eye shadow or even a highlighter!

Next, I repurchased (for the umpteenth time!) the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown– I’m sure everyone’s heard about the amazing-ness that this is! Great quality for such an amazing price (£2.99!!!!) . I also got the Maybelline MasterPrecise liquid eyeliner. I’m basically trying to find the best drugstore/high street liquid eyeliner and this is the next one that I’ll be trying. I’ll let you guys know how it goes!

I then got the Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me – Quite disappointed with this if I’m honest though – I really don’t care much for the scent or the packaging, and find that it doesn’t even moisturise my lips very well L And finally, from Boots, I picked up the Maybelline Color Show nail varnish from the Vintage Leather collection (shade – turquoise temptation). Gorgeous colour, easy to apply and love the matte effect and 'vintage leather' that it dries to! Without a top coat, it's gorgeous. With a top coat, you can really see the iridescent flakes come out and that also looks gorgeous! I think it's essential that I get a couple more from the range, just so this one doesn't feel lonely...it's only fair :)    
*The nail polish has come up so much lighter in pictures*

Thanks for reading guys! :)

Manny! xx

Real Techniques Review - Starter Set

Hey people! So being completely and utterly obsessed with make-up (like I am), seeing another review on the Real Techniques make up brushes is probably not a surprise, but I figured I might as well put my two pence in! So, if for some reason you do happen to live under a rock, Samantha Chapman, make up guru extraordinaire, from Youtube channel “Pixiwoo” created a series of makeup brushes in collaboration with the makers of EcoTools. I intended on making this a short entry, but I can already see that that’s out of the window! Because I don't want this to be too long, I'm going to focus mainly on the 'Starter Set' - Enjoy!

Base shadow brush

So this brush is pretty much self-explanatory. Basically, it's used to apply a smooth foundation of eye shadow - what I like mainly about this brush is that it works just as well with powder eye shadows as it does with cream ones. I've used it with the likes of Sleek eye shadow palettes as well as Maybelline Colour Tattoos and it works equally well with both! Also, as a given with any RT brushes, it's (mind blowing-ly) soft, easy to use, easy to clean and does not shed! 5*s from me! 

Deluxe crease brush

OMG! This brush is so damn amazing, I just...I can't even! It's beautifully dense but easy enough to blend and just the right size to fit in the socket in order to blend properly. There's not much else to say to be honest! Regardless of the product, it's so easy to blend without having to be too heavy-handed and the job is basically done for you. I would recommend this brush to anyone who is getting started with eye make-up and is working on blending. Love it! 

*Btw, depending on the size of your eye sockets (that sounds so weird), you can swap the two above brushes and use the deluxe crease as a base brush and vice versa as both brushes are VERY similar.* 

Accent brush

Ok, now I may just be quite dense, but I'm still trying to work out the point of this brush! Maybe because I've already got the 'detailer brush' from the Core Set, I have no specific use for this brush, but i'm told that it can be used to place product before blending...I just don't see it working! Basically...I'm baffled :/

Pixel- point eyeliner brush

For someone who does not really use gel eyeliner, this brush does not appear to have much use. I can't deny however, that it is still a really nice brush and I can see it being useful and easy to use. I've tried it once with a gel eyeliner by Maybelline, and it seemed to work nicely but I find that because it's not very dense, it's quite hard to get a straight line. 

*I apologise for the crap photo quality, the lighting changed drastically and so I had to make do with what I had :/*

Brow brush

Erm, I'm a bit on the fence with this brush. On one hand I love how it can make my eyebrows look, on the other, I don't. Basically, It's a slanted brow brush that can be used to define brows. I like how it doesn't give a ridiculously dramatic look and doesn't overload on product to make the brows look unrealistic. However, I find that it is not precise enough, so whilst it makes my eyebrows look thicker, it doesn't do much for definition.

Ok, so there's my 'short' review on the Starter Set, I hope you enjoyed that. There should be a review on the 'Core Set' out soon.
Manny! xx

  

Body Scrubs

I will be comparing a low end and high end body scrub; the Soap & Glory “Scrub of Your Life” and one from Occo from the range “Raiyia”.

Both of these scrubs were given to me as gifts and work fantastically well- but is it worth paying more for a body scrub? 

Review: The Mega Plush Volum'Express Mascara

Mega Push Volum' Express

I bought this mascara unexpectedly about a month ago. As I am SLIGHTLY obsessed with mascara and its Maybelline’s first gel mousse mascara, I thought I should give it a go!

Basic Daily Products

So this blog post will feature the few basic products I use in my morning and evening skincare routine. They include the Johnson's hydrating day cream, the rehydrating night cream (both for normal skin), carmex and the Lush spot treatment "Grease Lightning"