Weekend haulage and bank breakage

Hello guys and dolls, how’s your Wednesday so far? I’ve been pretty busy moving home from uni and unpacking this week, so the posts have been rather sparse. Well, no worries as everything should be on track again.

I had a good ol’ browse at Boots before I left uni, and here’s what I got! I was rather numb as I entered my card pin, since the total came close to £100… for a single transaction! I think the total on my What’s Your Face Worth post should be updated with my additional purchases, but that number already scared me. However, I do think the great GWP incentives negated the price slightly.

So here’s what I got! There might be a few GWP items missing, as I had packed everything away before remembering to take a photo, and couldn’t recall all the small samples that came with the purchases.

Lancome Primordiale Skin Recharge night cream (*gulp* £52. Remember my raving review on the day version? Well, I loved it so much I decided to get the other one too. It’s worrying how the combined total of these two creams can almost get me a Clarisonic Mia, which I want desperately).

Lancome GWP, which includes Galateis Douceur, Tonique Douceur (gorgeous scent – light and refreshing), Bi-facil (fantastic makeup remover – no panda eyes please!), Genifique, Hydra Zen day cream (so yummy – leaves my skin soothed and soft. A close favourite to the Primordiale), Genifique Yeux (pretty good, not sure how effective it is on my 20-year old skin, but great moisturiser), Hypnose mascara (very black), and finally a juicy tube in framboise (strawberry, for non-French speakers. It has a yummy scent, great formula).

Max Factor Lip tint pen in Pink Princess (£7.99)

Max Factor lipstick in Pearl Orange (great coral shade for summer, £7.99)

Max Factor GWP, contains a miniature mascara, lipgloss, eye shadow, nail varnish and a coupon for £3 off a foundation, all in a cheap but smartly designed makeup bag that has an attachable mesh bag inside.

Benefit High Beam (£18.50)

Origins serum sample

Did anyone buy anything fun over the weekend? There are so many great GWP deals out there at the moment that I’m rather spoilt for choice! I know Estee Lauder has a ‘customise your own’ freebie deal which sounds like a great idea, and UNE is giving away a free blush with every foundation purchase.

   

My mini haul: Mac and the 7 magazines

So the Wonder Woman collection came out last Thursday at Mac counters. I dashed over there as soon as I could to pick up Pink Power, the only thing I was interested in. Good thing too, since it sold out like hotcakes – I checked back two days later and there were ‘Sold Out’ stickers dotted everywhere!

You’re probably sick and tired of seeing photos like these now, but here it is again! I should have included a photo of my hand holding it really, since the thing is BIIIIG! It’s larger than my palm and actually reaches the middle joint of my fingers. Granted, I’ve small hands to complement my small size 3 feet, but I’ve yet to come across such gigantic makeup items before. Bobbi Brown’s compact foundation is a very far second place indeed. I also asked for a Studio Finish foundation sample since my last one did not match. It’s so annoying how I’ve now been matched to NC 30, NC 25 and this time NC 20 in the span of a season – all because the makeup artist was different. This time, at least I didn’t fork out any money for the mistakes.

Also, I grabbed 7 magazines too, since some great freebies were given with them. I got a copy of Marie Claire with a Cowshed body lotion and 7 copies of Glamour for the Clinique goodies. Yes, the checkout lady looked at me strangely. As did my friends when I distributed 6 copies of Glamour to them. See what I have to put up with in a non-makeup addicted real world?

The Clinique freebies I chose were: 3 Moisture Surge moisturisers, two All About Eyes, 1 Take The Day Off and 1 moisturising lip balm gloss tube thing (you can tell I’ve forgotten the name, right?).

I’ve seen quite a few Glamour/Clinique magazine sprees lately, but would love to know if you succumbed to the temptation and bought a stack too. If so, what did you get?

Freebie alert: Missguided Lipgloss and DKNY fragrance!

This month’s Cosmopolitan is giving away a free Missguided lipsplash gloss (7ml, worth £5). I’ve got the bright red one called Missfortune since the other two on offer are clear or nude. You probably know how much I enjoy colour (and if you didn’t before, you do now!), so bright it was!

It applies a lot sheerer than the colour in the tube would suggest. I would show you a photo swatch, but it’s late and I’m really tired after a 9 to 7 day whilst functioning on my second day of 6 hours of sleep. My beauty has immensely declined under these dreadful conditions and I am reluctant to scare away any future readers or potential followers.

Anyways, there is a sweet (coconut?) scent on application, but it disappears quickly. It feels very light and moisturising on my lips – quite similar to the Nyx round glosses.

As if that wasn’t enough, Cosmo readers are also getting a free 7ml DKNY fragrance, to be picked up at Debenhams from the 7^th March. It’s a gorgeous light sweet scent that’d be perfect for spring/summer, assuming the temperamental (PMS-ing, really) British weather decides to man up for the occasion.

There’s a great feature on great lip tips and tricks in the Beauty section that I really enjoyed and decided to share with you here. So check it out here and let me know what you think of the freebie alert – is it worth the £3.50 Cosmopolitan price tag?

Free Benefit Bad Gal mascara!

Simply go to Debenhams on the 14th Feb and you'll receive a free makeupper and mascara!

You'll need to check in on facebook via your mobile browser and the first 10 people to visit their local store will get this fantastic freebie.

For further information, check out the Debenhams blog here.

I've tried the Bad Gal mascara before and have to say the brush is a-MAH-zing! It's big, round and creates fantastically voluminous lashes. If you haven't tried it before, this is a great chance to give it a whirl for free.

Barry M freebie alert and review

There’s a great offer out on 12^th February that I’m sure some of you may already have heard of. Free with The Sun’s Buzz magazine is a trio of Barry M goodies worth over £9, consisting of a nail paint, lip gloss and kohl eyeliner.

I got a Barry M lip gloss from Shout magazine in January, so thought will do a quick review on the lip gloss. After all, I am familiar with the brand’s nail paints and dazzle dusts but never paid any attention to their other products before. This is a situation I doubt I’ll rectify any time soon.

According to the Barry M website, the glossy tubes are ‘a generously glossy and flavoured lip gloss in a non stick formulation.’

The colour I’ve got is in Shout 1 and is a very sheer coral pink. It feels thin and glossy on my lips, lacking the heaviness some glosses have (Re. Revlon Superlustrous). From the swatch, it is possible to see fine shimmering particles in the formula – something that is not translated across to the lips. On me, it looks more like a clear gloss. This makes it ideal for layering over lipstick.

Lips without any product

Lips with gloss

There is a light scent of synthetic sweetness to the product which disappears soon after application. It might be pleasant to some, but I feel my tastes have evolved past the stage of candy-sweetness in cosmetics. Of course, each to their own.

Review Summary:

Packaging: 5/10

Formula: 6/10

Cost:   £3.99 (or free if you go for the offer!)

Verdict: Nice to try but lacks pigmentation and dislike the scent. Will not repurchase.