Make up and beauty haul

Hey everyone. So firstly I'd like to explain why I have been such a rubbish blogger lately. In my last post I quickly wrote to you all to say that I recently had a baby and all my time and attention has been on him. With Alexander now being five months old and having a regular bedtime routine, I've started to get back some time to myself and what better way to spend that time than writing blog posts, reading blog posts and watching youtube videos. I am now aiming to do four or five posts a week, wrote mainly in the evening, and hope to get back on track with this little blog land. So without further ado...

I turned 23 on the 30th August and went on a big shop to treat myself and splash the cash I had been gifted for my birthday. This is the first of three hauls I am hoping to do in the next few days and, being a blog that primarily shares my love of make up, I thought it only right to start with the make up. It's not the biggest of hauls as the main reason of my shop was to get new autumn clothes, but I thought I'd share what I got with you anyway. 

Firstly, on my hunt through the pound shop to see which gems I could find, I bought this, the Rimmel wake me up instant radiance shimmer touch blush. I have yet to use the products of this haul but after swatching it on my hand, I can say that it is a really nice, subtle colour which doesn't have too much shimmer. I'm not personally a fan of the shimmery, glittery blush look so this is a plus for me.

Another pound shop find is the ALLURA caviar nail art set. I have not yet given into the hundreds and thousands nail trend but after seeing these cute little pots for only one pound, I thought I could give it a go.

I found a stila angel light whitening powder foundation sponge whilst shopping in this store. I had read on other peoples blogs that they had been lucky enough to find some stila products in their local pound store so, although not a make up product, I was quite excited to find this. It's been a long time since I used a sponge to apply foundation so I am intrigued to see what this will look like. 

If you've ever dreamt that you'll one day be able to buy an OPI nail polish for one pound, it's finally a reality. Not yet leaving the pound store (you really can find some bargains! Route around!), I found this shatter by OPI. I have used quite a few cheap crackle polishes and not really been a fan. Having put this down to them being cheap and not a great formula, I thought I'd give the look one more chance, so I'm really looking forward to using this. I'm not sure which colour to put underneath though? Red maybe? 

Being well and truly on the blogger bandwagon, I bought the Collection 16 hour wear lasting perfection ultimate wear concealer. I am quite ashamed to admit I have never tried this concealer. I have read about it on every blog I ever come across, and have had it on my shopping list for months, but always forget to get it. Now I do, I have high hopes that it will make the 5 months of not much sleep dissapear from my face and make me look flawless. Quite high hopes for a five pound product, but if I believe what I read, it's true! 

To compliment the concealer, I bought the matching Collection lasting perfection ultimate wear foundation. This was on offer and only about five pounds and what appealed to me was the oil free and SPF 20 claims. With the heat being how it's been recently, I certainly need both of these things in a foundation.

Another foundation I decided to try is the RIMMEL lasting finish 25 hour foundation. I don't quite believe that this foundation would stay put for 25 hours, but I'm willing to give it a to see what the coverage is like. 

Not  very exciting, but I bought these eyelashes as my sister told me good things about the wilkos eyelash range, and I liked the look of these ones as they are quite natural and not too over the top.

After loving my Barry M make up for a long time, and needing a concealer brush, I bought this concealer brush by Barry M. I'm hoping it's good as they have quite a good range of brushes I can go back and buy and they are quite cheap. 

This was a repurchase for me, as I have just run out of this and absolutely LOVE it. This is the Natural collection blushed cheeks blush in pink cloud. I am soon posting an empties post which will go into more detail on this product.

I am wanting to get more into lipsticks. I have quite a few already but only ever use two quite nude shades. I want to experiment on what suits my face so I thought I'd buy some cheap lipsticks and try them out. This is the MUA lipstick in shade 13. 

These are the Avon COLORTREND lipsticks in nude flash (swatch left) and coral you later (swatch right). I love the colour of both these lipsticks. The nude is a really nice colour to wear on the not much make up days, and the coral is a lovely shade for a more adventurous day. 

These are Natural collection lipsticks in sheer natural sand castle (swatch left) and moisture shine pink orchid (swatch right). I really like the lipsticks in the natural collection range. There is a lot of choice available and they are really long lasting. I'd definitely recommend them.

Another crackle polish I decided to try is the Collection 2000 nail smash top coat in shade 2 white smash. I thought that a white one would be quite different and go with every colour so I'm also excited to try this out. 

Finally in the make up and beauty part of my haul, I bought these three products from the boots own range. I bought the essentials cucumber facial wash, essentials cucumber moisturising cream and the essentials cucumber eye make up remover gel. I have only been using these for the last two days so I cannot tell you if they are working miracles on my skin, but they are really refreshing and I am enjoying using them. 

That's everything in the first part of my birthday haul. I hope you enjoyed reading and I'd love to know if you've tried any of these and what your opinions are. Thank you very much for staying with me during this very silent period of my blog. I am now once again a dedicated poster who will be with you a few times every week. I'd love to get some feedback on this post as I am using a new camera and am out of the swing of writing. 

Thanks for reading 

Niki

The best and worst drug store make up (Superdrug and Boots)

WORST

THIS! is the 2true cover 'n' conceal from superdrug. I think that this is superdrug's own brand (correct me if I'm wrong) and I hate it. It's one of those concealers that clogs up under your eyes and gets into lines and doesn't blend properly. This is the second time I have had a bad experience with 2true. I once bought a liquid eyeliner and after 1-2 hours of being applied, the line would start to crack and crumble and would have to be constantly reapplied. I don't know if it's just me, but I wouldn't buy anything from this brand again.

BEST

I absolutely love this foundation which is dream matte mousse in the shade cameo. It applies really well to my face and stays there most of the day. I love mousse foundations at the moment as I just find them so easy to apply and find that they go onto my skin really well, as well as not being too 'caked on' in the warmer weather.





 This is Maybelline moisture extreme with SPF15 in the shade orchid frost. I absolutely love this lipstick. I use it most days and I just think it gives my lips a really shimmery, spring look. Recently, I've started to wear less make up on my eyes and made a effort to wear more lip colours as I never used to and this has to be my favourite.



This is by far my favourite powder at the moment. I don't tend to use much powder in the spring/summer as I think it's nice for your skin to look 'dewy' in those months. However, if my skin is looking shiny I always use this. It is the collection 2000 pressed powder in translucent and I love it.

This is a collection 2000 mascara called super size fat lash mascara and, of course, it's in black. I naturally have quite long eyelashes anyway and I think this mascara works well at opening up my eyes without having to use layer after layer to build it up like most. I would definitely recommend this mascara if you want to open up your eyes without the mascara clumping or flaking off.




There you go. My best and worst. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions comment below.

Nikiniknak xx

March favourites!

These are a few of my favourite products that I have been using in the last month (March) 

This John Frieda frizz-ease spray gel with heat protection says it is meant to "give curls shining style with smooth, lightweight definition for up to 24 hours". 

I use this product after I have washed my hair and want to have it curly instead of straight. I have naturally very frizzy, dry hair and this helped to calm down the frizz and keep my curls looking nice instead of out of control. I received this as a gift but I would purchase it again!! 

This is a clean skin oil balancing facial scrub for every day use. This bottle only has a tiny bit left as it was a Christmas present and I have used it EVERYDAY!! I love it. I am definitely going to buy this again and again. It has made my skin so much clearer and smooth. I have been looking for a daily facial scrub for a while and this is by far the best one I have used so far. 

This is another product by simple; the kind to skin replenishing moisturiser. I love the simple range and I definitely love this moisturiser! I also use the cleanser and toner and need to repurchase them which is why they are not in this blog post. I use this moisturiser morning and night everyday and have definitely noticed a difference in my skin. 

This is a deep conditioning treatment that I try to use 1/2 a week after washing my hair. It is the VO5 emergency rescue elixir 1 minute nourishing treatment, but I actually leave it on for about 10 minutes. once again this product calms my frizzy hair after a shower and allows it to dry more sleek and smooth. 

There's not much to say about this really, but I always repurchase this as it is cheap (only costing one pound!!) and good at removing nail varnish, which comes off easily first time round. In the past, I have bought nail varnish removers which I had to reapply and reapply to get the full amount of polish off but this works instantly. 

Not very exciting but used ALL the time none the less. This is the aloe vera Vaseline. I use this on my lips everyday, as well as smoothing down eyebrows and moisturising dry skin. Superdrug and boots have now put the price of this up to about one pound thirty but Wilkinson's is selling it for 60p which is over half price. Get some now!! 

All. Time. Favourite. Foundation. EVER!! This is dream matte mousse in the shade 020 cameo. I use this everyday and it gives my face a perfect finish, covering up blemishes and red patches perfectly. This is more make up than beauty product I know, but I had to include it. I bought this recently from Asda and they were selling 2 for ten pounds so it's worth having a try. 

Thank you for reading my March favourites. If you have any questions that I have failed to answer then write them below and I will definitely reply. 

Nikiniknak xx