I've done quite a bit of shopping lately so thought I'd do my first ever haul post to show you what I've been buying. This haul is beauty related but I've bought myself some new threads too so I'm going to do a separate post for my fashion related purchases. I've accumulated this stuff over the last couple of weeks so I don't feel too bad when I think about how much I've spent. Wouldn't it be lovely if I could afford a haul like this every week though? A girl can dream! So without further ado, here are the products that have made it into my beauty basket lately...
Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm (£21): Oh look! Another skin care purchase inspired by Caroline Hirons! My purse is begging me to stop reading her blog. This melting make up remover is one of her firm favourites and is a lot cheaper than the popular Emma Hardy Cleansing Balm which does the same sort of job. I've used this a couple of times so far and love it already but need to use it a little more before I give you guys a full review.
Ciaté Emerald Collection (£25): I actually got this amazing kit as a birthday gift from my friend Tonya. She knows me so well. Not quite a purchase of my own but I just had to include it because it’s so beautiful. The kit includes an array of sprinkles, sparkles and fluff to create three different textured nail art looks. I find myself in a trance-like state whenever I look at the glitter pot! It's just so pretty...I can't wait to dip my nails in. I've never seen anything like the velvet effect before so I'm rather intrigued with how that works. Green is my favourite colour so this set is simply heaven for me. It's like I've died and gone to the Emerald City.
Primark Face Cloths (£1.50): To some, these flannels may be basic, boring and Nana-like but to me they are a godsend! I use them on a daily basis to cleanse my face and remove my make up and they're a great little accompaniment to my new cleansing balm. At £1.50 they're a steal!
Primark Plastic Travel Bottles (£1): Another boring but practical purchase. I'm going away for the weekend at the end of this month and have been warned in advance that I need to pack light. These travel sized bottles were just £1 from Primark and are going to help me on my quest to take less products with me. Now if only there was an easy solution for my shoes...
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara (£12): How cute is this? This teeny tiny mascara is designed especially for your bottom eyelashes. The minuscule brush is perfect for getting into the hard to reach inner corners of your eye and is great for avoiding those pesky mascara smudges. Is it a necessity? No. But I was swayed by an offer on the Boots' website and thought it wouldn’t hurt to try. I’ll review it for you soon.
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (£3.99): I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve repurchased this. It’s the only concealer I use and I’m not about to start changing it anytime soon. The consistency is thick and creamy and the coverage is amazing. Spots, redness, eye-bags...you name it, this covers it. If there’s one thing I recommend you try it’s this.
Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask (£22): I think this is the product I was most excited about buying. After hearing so many rave reviews about how it transforms your skin I knew I had to try it for myself. Leave this mask on your face overnight and your skin will literally drink up the moisture. The next day my face felt hydrated and looked brighter than it had in a long time. I am really impressed!
And that includes my beauty haul! What do you think? Any treats in there that you would like to purchase yourself? Or is there anything you’d recommend I buy next? I know I shouldn’t considering my recent beauty binge but I really don’t care. A girl can’t have too many products in my opinion ;)
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Is there anything more disappointing than lusting after a product for weeks, if not months, to find that when it does eventually become yours it’s just a little bit naff? All of the time spent debating over the price-tag and the anticipation you felt whilst waiting for the postman to arrive suddenly just isn’t worth it because your new beauty buy simply doesn’t live up to its claims. Well that’s exactly how I felt when the Ciaté Chalkboard Manicure kit became mine to test and trial till my heart was content and unfortunately, it wasn’t content for very long.
I know nail art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially something as ‘oh so un-chic’ as this chalky childlike concept but when it comes to my nails, I like to have fun and play around with cutesy, colorful designs. From the offset, this manicure looked foolproof. All it should take is a quick coat of the black matte Chalkboard Paint Pot and then you’re free to go doodle crazy with the highlighter-style pens provided. Simple right? Well not quite. You’re advised to give the pens a little shake and to lightly dab them onto a firm surface to release the flow of polish inside, however, the pens took so long to start working that I thought they had dried up. I had to dab so hard to get one pen started that I pressed through my piece of paper and onto the arm of my sofa where a blue stained dot still remains to this day...taunting me.
When I began to use the pens on my nails, I found it nearly impossible to create any sort of neat, clean design as the nibs were just far too thick. They dragged the colour around my nail, making it look smarmy and stained, like a chalkboard which had been left outside a pub on a rainy day. I’m not the most artistic person but even I should have been able to create something simple yet effective. After a frustrating sixty minutes I admitted defeat and sealed my designs with the Mattnificent Matte topcoat from the pack.
My nails attracted plenty of attention at work the next day and I must admit that although they did look okay from a distance, I cringed a little when anyone asked to see them up close. And if it wasn’t bad enough, the varnish had already started to chip on the first day of wear. Not good!
It’s a shame that the kit was such a let down as Ciaté usually have a great range of products and this had the potential to be really good. After trialling it, I chucked it in the back of my cosmetics draw with the same disheartened feeling I used to get as a child when my attempt at one of Neil Buchanan’s Art Attacks had gone terribly wrong. It’s not often I say this about a product but this one’s really not worth a go.
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