7 Weeks of Shopping - Sorry Bank Account

If you're a regular reader then you'll know that I (L) have been in America the past 7 weeks for a uni course.

I got back last night and spent 14 hours sleeping after completely missing a night of sleep due to the travelling.

I've spent the majority of today lazing around, sorting washing and unpacking my suitcase of all the treasures I bought.

So, sit down with a cup of tea (I'm slowly catching up on 7 weeks worth ha!) and I hope you enjoy looking at my vast range of purchases!!!

I've included the prices where I could and the pound equivalent so you'll be able to see how much cheaper it was there, I was in heaven.

First up it's the nail varnishes...I haven't bought any new ones for a little while.

I might be lying to myself here but let's go with it for now ;)

So when I saw these in the shops for a much cheaper price than at home I couldn't resist stocking up!

Revlon nail polishes were $7 each, which is £4.50.

I bought the pink scented one called Raspberry Rapture along with their new range of nail treatments including (L-R) Fast dry drops, Post Trauma treatment and Calcium nail hardener which was great for my nails after spending 3 weeks of my time in the dirt digging.

I haven't mentioned this before but the course I went to do was Forensic Anthropology, and so lots of my time was spent using my hands and trowels to dig up plastic bones, which FYI is not good for the nails!

I also bought the Barielle wedding collection which I have previously posted about here and have a NOTD from them coming up. This cost me $10 at TJ Maxx which was such a bargain!

Next up I took full advantage of Nicole by OPI being $7 in Walmart and picked up a normal glitter one with hearts in and 2 Kardashian colours (Wear Something Spar-Kylie review here and also Kimpletely in Love)

I also bought my first ever Essie nail polish in Sand Tropez which I wouldn't have looked twice at but I'd read about it online and fell in love when I tested it! A review will certainly follow!

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in 540 Frutti Petutie $5 or £3.20

2 brand new China Glaze polishes were bought in a 3 for 2 deal with the Essie polish (I could have bought so many!!!) and were originally $7/8 each but were $16 for all three which is a bargainous £10.30.

The colours I bought were Turned up Turquoise and Pool Party. So looking forward to using these!

Lastly I'm a bit of a Hunger Games geek and when I noticed the Capitol Colours mini set for $13.95 (£9) I had to buy it!

I was quite reserved when I got to Mac, I knew what I wanted to buy and got exactly that and nothing else!

I could have easily gone mad but I had to be careful after wanting so many other things.

Pressed powder in medium ($22/£14.20)

Studio Fix Fluid ($27/£17.40)

Eye brow pencil ($14/£9)

I've wanted to try the Revlon Photoready products for a while but had loads of foundation and could never justify the price so was waiting for an offer to be on.

I bought the PhotoReady powder and the Colorstay foundation ($10 each or £6.50) and the PhotoReady Perfecting Primer ($12/£7.70), hence why I gave in as they were all at a reduced price.

Lastly I also bought the Almay Smart Shade primer which was $10/£6.50 and is green and purple to correct any kind of colour imperfection you have. As far as I know we don't have Almay in the UK (I may be wrong) so this definitely intrigued me!

I've always wanted to buy Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour cream, and I found it in TJ Maxx for $7, a whopping £4.50! I was so excited I almost screamed! What a bargain for a 50g tube!

The L'oreal Magic Perfecting Base was a favourite of mine when it came out and was at it's introductory price of £10, but at £14 for so little product I wouldn't justify buying it again. For $10/£6.50 I certainly will!

My Benefit haul could have been so much bigger but I ran out of cash (on my last day I had $16 for all 3 meals...oops!)

Cha Cha tint was on my list for so long and I've fallen in love with it! $29/£18.70

Am yet to try 'They're Real' but I've been told it's really good for people with straight lashes who want them to curl, here's hoping! $23/£14.80

I was surprised to see Real Techniques brushes over there, I have 2 already but just didn't think they'd be there. I was even more surprised to see they were $17 (£11) for the core collection which is £18 in Boots!

I snapped that up so quickly they probably thought I was crazy!

I also rebought my Naked palette after mine went 'missing' at a friends house.

Won't say any more about that but I was soooooooo pleased at having this back in my life!

After owning it for 6 weeks after Christmas and using it most days I felt like I'd lost a limb, now I can finally show you my smokey eye designs with it!

This was $50/£32 so not much cheaper than the £36 it costs in Debenhams but I needed it ;)

I think like most bloggers at the moment, Origins is my skin care of choice.

Their Eye Doctor (found here) has completely renewed the skin around my eyes and any lines I had have gone.

We're big fans of products without chemicals on this blog so Origins are a big winner.

I snapped up lots of oily skin products which I cannot wait to use!

Out of Trouble mask: $22 (£14.20)

Zero Oil Instant Matte Finish: $13.50 (£8.70)

Zero Oil Pore Purifying Toner: $19.50 (£12.50)

Ginzing Eye Cream: $29.50 (£19)

Zero Oil Oil-Free Moisture Lotion: $26 (£16.70)

As you can see from this, I made a big saving on most of their products!

Neutrogena Deep Clean Daily Scrub is the best thing I found out there, my skin broke out really badly when I got there and this baby cleaned them up right away!

Both Tigi products were from TJ Maxx - Some Like it Hot humidity protector and Control Freak Conditioner. Can't remember the prices but they were verrrrrrrrry cheap.

Lastly I know Nioxin has been doing the rounds recently, and if it wasn't for that I would never have noticed this in TJ Maxx also.

For the shampoo, conditioner and scalp activating treatment in the full sizes of 500ml or 50ml for the treatment I paid................................$10!

I couldn't believe my eyes!

I'm always wanting my hair to be bigger and more voluminous and instead of paying the $37 for the kit online it was $10, amazing!

The only difference I can tell between this and the current kit is that the packaging has changed so that it fine by me.

What do you think of my buys??? I went completely overboard but I couldn't stop myself with all of the bargains to be had!!

M is going to America in September and is already making a list....I'm also making one for her too ha!

This is not going to help with my beauty rehab posts at all!

I'm such an addict!

L xxx

NOTD: Nicole by OPI Wear Something Spar-Kylie

This is a scheduled post from me as when you read this I will be travelling somewhere between Atlanta and the UK!

This is one of my purchases that I picked up during my few weeks in America, it is one of the Kardashian nail varnishes from Nicole by OPI called 'Wear Something Spar-Kylie'

Its a lovely clear pink polish with pink glitter bits in.

I was really excited when I saw these colours as I've always lusted after them but never actually picked any up, mostly as I didn't want to pay UK prices or shipping from the US.

A first coat gives the following coverage:

It's quite clear still but as you can see there is quite a lot of glitter in just one coat so whilst it isn't opaque this was a subtle way of adding glitter to a fairly light colour polish.

Of course it's also easily buildable and with 2 coats I had a really good coverage which was great as this can save lots of money in the long run and also time when you're trying to get ready for a night out!

I wore this whilst in the ridiculous heat of Southern USA and whilst digging and I had to say it held up very well and didn't chip as easily as most other polishes do.

By the end of digging after 4 hours I actually only had to reapply one layer for it to look perfect again which is pretty much a miracle!

I think this colour will get a lot of use as a full manicure, accent nail or with nail art so i'm looking forward to using it more and seeing what I can do with it!

What do you think of this colour? Do you have any Kardashian nail polishes??

I also bought Kimpletely in Love which I also adore!

L xxx

Review: Sleek iDivine Ultra Matte V2 Darks Palette

A little bit late to the band wagon with this one but even so, it's my first ever Sleek palette and I felt it deserved a post!

This palette is the i-Divine Ultra Matte V2 which is the the Darks palette.

I have to say I quite like the packaging, the crushed eyeshadow pictures on the simple box and the sturdy black plastic packaging is something I quite like.

I normally leave the applicators that come with the palettes as they're never normally that good and I prefer brushes but I used this one for a little while and it did pick up the colour quite easily and the longer handle made it easier to use.

I will still probably use my brushes but if I needed to touch it up when I was out then this may actually do the job!

You can see from these photos the different colours in this palette and the names of them all below:

I feel like they are a good set of colours, different enough that none of them are samey but will also work really well together.

They are also the exact kind of colours that I will use!

Here's just a few more snaps as I got a bit camera happy with my first ever palette!

Now onto the important stuff....

Here are swatches from the top colours, and then the bottom colours follow after it:

I feel that the colours are really pigmented and show up really well considering I just brushed the top of each colour.

The only colour I was a bit disappointed with was Dune, it is a very light colour and doesn't same to be very pigmented and therefore doesn't seem to match the palette like the others do.

I'm sure you've seen these pictures before by another blogger but I needed to share my excitement at my very first Sleek eye palette.

I particularly love how the navy has come out, as well as the bottle green colour.

I've brought this palette with me to America and have so far been using it for all manner of occasions but I especially love it because I can use the black to line my eyes for every day wear and the brown to fill in my brows as it's the perfect colour for my almost black eyebrows!

What do you think of this palette? Do you prefer this one or V1 Brights?

I'm really impressed with my very first Sleek buy!

L xxx

Review: Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick Shade 20

As I posted my July Wishlist yesterday there wasn't a Lipstick Monday post, and this lipstick is one I couldn't wait to share. I own one other of the Kate Moss Collection (so far, as I really love these) in shade 03 which is a pretty browny nude. Shade 20 is a very very bright pink and not one for the faint hearted.

It comes in the sleek black packaging with the crown on top to identify it as Rimmel and Kate's signature which is pink on this one. (on my nude on it's red). It's flattering on my pale skin at the moment but also think it would go gorgeous with a tan. I pair it with my No7 lip liner in plum to help it last.

So here it is. Cue silly pout, a gorgeous vibrant super pigmented lip colour. I am so impressed with the lasting power of this lipstick. It's quite thick so in one sweep you have impressive colour that doesn't dry out the lips.

This is it after two hours and a visit to the dentist. Pretty impressive right??

 As it fades more, this is after 3 hours my lip liner becomes visible and I tend to reply apply, but I have had it last upto four hours. It leaves a very slight stain on the lips which I don't mind.

Overall I adore this lipstick. I'm such a fan of the bright pink lip at the moment and it's making these horrible grey skies a little brighter. I think I need more of the Kate Moss lipsticks. I'm very impressed with the formula, pigmentation and lasting power. Plus they smell nice. Any suggestions on other shades to try??

This can be picked up from boots for £5.49 but are currently on offer for 2 for £7. Quick ladies suggest me two more shades. I need to go buy these. 

Do you like the Kate Moss lipsticks as much as me? Would you wear such a bright pink?

Love M

xxx