A cheeky skincare and body haul...

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the photo I posted yesterday of my bags of goodies from the Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar. I made a list at the start of the month of beauty products I desperately wanted to get my mitts on and since Friday was pay day, I could finally justify taking a little trip to town (braving the horrendous snow, I might add) to go and spend some moneys.

Now as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm something of a Youtube beauty channel addict and I'd say that the majority of things purchased yesterday were down to one blogger in particular. Step forward Anna. I pretty much want to buy every product she's ever spoken about ever, and since she frequently sings the praises of Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight mask, that was top of my list of things to buy once pay day came around. I think my skin has been suffering from the weather recently and going from the freezing cold outside to the central heated inside hasn't been doing it any favours, so I figured a really intensive hydrating mask could be a big help. When I got to the Origins counter however, the very helpful lady told me that they were giving away a free gift if you purchased two products. Perfect - just the excuse I needed to convince myself that I should probably definitely have a nosey through the exciting Origins shelves and buy more stuff.

I stumbled across the lovely Brightening Musts set which contains a full size tube of VitaZing, a 30ml tube of Modern Friction and a little pot of GinZing all for just £26 and just knew that I had to have it! Since the VitaZing on it's own normally costs £27, I thought that it was pretty flippin' bargainous! I'm not sure about other Origins counters, but if you're in Liverpool, get down to the Beauty Bazaar pronto and snap up one of these sets!

Of course, because I'd purchased two items (well, technically four), I got my free gift, which consisted of the Plantscription serum (15ml) a super pretty headband with Swarovski crystals on it (so unnecessary but so cute) AND a full size Starting Over moisturizer which normally costs £38! All for free! Origins, I think we're going to be good friends...

I think I might actually give the moisturizer to my Mum, because I'm THAT nice and also because I'd already purchased the This Works Perfect Skin Super Moisturizer (another Anna recommendation...) before I went to Origins. I feel like I'm constantly on a search for the perfect moisturizer - so I'm hoping that this, which seems like a good all rounder (it's actually a moisturiser and a serum in one) could be the one for me.

Finally, I left the Beauty Bazaar and headed over to Boots to grab a couple of slightly more budget beauty buys. Firstly the Botanics Rejuvenating Bath Elixir (which, yes Anna has also spoken about before... this is starting to get a bit embarassing...) plus a pair of oh so glamourous exfoliating gloves. Even though I use a body scrub regularly (currently it's Soap & Glory's Breakfast Scrub, which I have to stop myself from trying to eat every time I use it because it smells that AMAZING), I think a good rub with a pair of these gloves can be a big help when trying to slough away all of that nasty dead skin, as well getting the blood flowing (not really sure why that's important, but it definitely is). I think they cost about £3 so they're very purse-friendly.

So that's everything. I'm ridiculously excited about trying everything out, and maybe even doing a couple of reviews once I've had a bit of time to use it all properly! Ooooh don't you just love new things!!!

Have you tried any of the products above? What did you think? Got any other Origins recommendations for me? I fear this may become a bit of an addiction...

I just love buying stuff.

Oh... hello!

Yes, I know it's been a while, over a month to be exact, which is never an acceptable amount of time to be away from blogging for, but I'm back now so you can stop panicking.

I've been in my new job for about six weeks now; it's crazy how quickly the time goes - I feel like one minute I'm waking up, sleepy and bleary eyed on a Monday morning thinking "and another week begins..." and the next minute it's 5pm on a Friday afternoon and everyone's going "bye, have a nice weekend!" Madness. It's knackering though, which is one of the reasons why I've not posted anything in a while; by the time I get all the way back home from Chester, I can just about manage to string sentences together, never mind start writing a blog post. Fortunately, I'm starting to get used to it now, so hopefully blogging will start to be a bit more frequent again. I've already get a Youtube video filmed, I just need to upload it, which I'll try and do this weekend too.

Anyway, last Saturday was the first time in about three weeks where I had absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be, so I took a little trip into town to buy my Mum her Mother's Day present and while I was there I got a bit overexcited and bought myself a few treats...

Topshop Blush in Neon Rose, Topshop Lips in Brighton Rock, Benefit Tan About Town, Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream*, Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Core Collection

Proof that I'm still a bit amateur when it comes to this beauty blogging/photographing products malarkey; by the time I'd realised that I should take some photos for a haul post, I'd already taken everythig out of the boxes and tried them all out. Proper beauty bloggers wouldn't dream of doing something so gauche - your products have to be pristine and untouched when you photograph them! Sadly, I don't have that kind of self-restraint - I didn't even wait until I got home from town, I'd already started playing with them on the bus!

I think by now it's safe to say that I have something of an obsession for Topshop makeup. I may even like it more than the clothes, which are obviously lovely but just so frikkin' overpriced I could cry. The makeup, on the other hand, is beautious and very reasonably priced. I was so pleased to see that the Liverpool Topshop was stocking the cream blushes again; for a while I thought they'd been discontinued, and I'd never be able to get my hands on my beloved Flush ever again. They're back now though and since I've still got a tiny bit of Flush left (saved for special occasions only), I thought I'd give Neon Rose a try. I've been wearing it all week and I do like it, but still think I prefer Flush, which has a little less red in it. I also bought a lipstick in Brighton Rock, which is a lovely bright, slightly blue-toned pink. I'm slowly developing a bit of an obsession for the Topshop lipsticks - the colour range is always really on-trend, they're super pigmented, and not at all drying on the lips. I. Love. Them.

This was something of an impulse buy as it was cheekily placed right next to the queue for the tills in Boots. I never, ever buy Benefit makeup because, although I think the products are really gorgeous, I can never justify the price tag. This set, however, was just £9. NINE POUNDS! Obviously they're all minis, but still, three really good products for £9 is pretty bargainous I'd say. I knew I'd use the Hoola bronzer and the Bad Gal Lash mascara (which is one of the best mascaras I've used in ages, it has to be said) but I wasn't too bothered about Some Kind-a Gorgeous, which is a foundation, because I only use foundation quite rarely anyway and I didn't think the colour would match my skin tone. I've actually been really impressed by it though and have worn it every day this week. It gives my skin a nice dewy look and blends really well, especially when applied with...

My new Real Techniques brushes!!! (Again, you can see by the slightly stained bristles that I'd already had a play with them before taking the photo) As soon as I found out that these were being stocked in Boots I was ridiculously excited. I've been wanting the Core Collection ever since it was first released, but with the brushes only being available online, I just never got around to buying them. Now though, I've got no excuse as the entire range is available in Boots and I've got a feeling it won't be long before I've added the eye brushes to my collection. I only really wanted the Buffing Brush (the biggest one), but it's not available to buy on its own, so I obviously had to get the whole set instead. The other brushes are lovely too and really do make such a difference to the way I apply my makeup. I'm sure these will be making an appearance in my next Products of the Month video so I'll talk about them more in depth then.

So that's my little haul done and dusted. I doubt I'll be doing another one for a while because, along with a few other bits and pieces I picked up that day, I ended up spending a stupid amount of money. Joe and I will be moving into a new house in the next few months and, obviously, have quite a lot to buy, so no more frivolous spending on makeup for me, no no no!

Have you used any of the products above? What did you think? Go on, tell me!

*I didn't bother mentioning the Oilatum as I've talked about it tonnes of times before and it's not as interested as pretty makeup and brushes!

Je voudrais s'il vous plaît - clever beauty tools

There seems to be more and more clever and exciting beauty tools and gadgets being released all the time and, quite frankly, I want them all. Now. Please. Here's a few that are currently at the top of my wish list (note, some of these aren't actually newly released products; they've been out for a while, it's just that I've only recently released how much I need them in my life.)

Curlformers I think some people would see these as completely pointless, but I reckon they look like fun. I suppose they'd fall into the same category as bendy rollers, but instead of wrapping your hair around them, as you would with a roller, each curlformer is actually a curly tube that you thread your hair through... it's hard to explain. Tanya Burr used them in a video so it's probably best you go and watch that if you can't picture what I mean. They'd probably be quite time consuming, especially if you have a lot of hair, but I like how you can get different sizes in a pack, to create different types of curl and they'd be a lot more hair-friendly than using heated rollers or tongs to get the same effect.

Clarisonic Mia If you've never come across one of these before, it's basically an electric toothbrush...for your face. The Clarisonic is a clever little device that you can use morning and night as part of your cleansing routine. The idea of brushing your face may seem mad, but I've read some very positive reviews on this, with people saying that their skin has never looked better and the Clarisonic really does remove every single molecule of dirt. It has a timer in it so that you only actually use it on your face for sixty seconds, and every ten seconds it makes a beeping sound to tell you to move onto another area of your face. See? Clever!

Tangle Teezer Not a new product at all, but something I've just never gotten around to buying. A Tangle Teezer is a special kind of plastic hair brush that is designed to gently de-tangle and smooth hair without damaging it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this problem, but pretty much every time I comb my hair after washing it, loads of it seems to fall out. It is natural to lose a certain number of hairs every day, but personally I'd like to keep that number to a minimum! Because the Tangle Teezer is so gentle, you're less likely to pull out a lot of your hair when you use it. This is another one that has fantastic reviews - it's right at the top of my list.

Real Techniques Core Collection I mentioned this in my Christmas wish list post too, but I really want some lovely new makeup brushes and these ones are designed by the genius that is Samantha Chapman, so they're bound to be good. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even that fussed about the other brushes in the collection, I just really want to get my hands on the buffing brush (the big flat-headed one in the pic) and you can't buy it separately. When I had my Illamasqua makeover, the lovely makeup artist told me that he always buffs foundation onto the skin with that kind of brush, rather than use a flat foundation brush, as you end up with a much better finish. I have to say, my foundation looked flawless and lasted really well after he'd applied it that way, so I'm dying to give this a go.

Enrapture Encode Totem Styler Ok, so it may seem silly to include curlformers and a curling iron in the same wish list, but I just think that this is an absolutely genius gadget. Unlike other curling tongs, the barrel of Encode Totem Styler is split into three different sections, each with their own heat control, meaning you can create lots of different curls and waves. For example, you could set the top part of the barrel on a low heat, then the other parts on a higher heat to create a loose curl at the top of your hair with a tighter curl at the bottom. The possibilities are endless!

Travalo Again, not really a new concept, as perfume atomizers have been around for years, but the Travalo is so dinky and cute! Last year I had a really handy solid perfume from Lush that I could just toss into my bag without worrying about it breaking but there's no way I'd take the same risk with my current perfume of choice - Illamasqua Freak. Joe bought me it for Christmas and I've been wearing it all the time, but the bottle is so gorgeous (and it was expensive!) so I never take it out with me for fear of it smashing. This means I can't top up my perfume throughout the day and I'm one of those people whose skin just seems to absorb scent - I can never smell it on me! A Travalo is the perfect solution - tiny enough to chuck in my bag, plus it re-fills really easily, so I could just keep decanting some Freak into it and keep my lovely big bottle safe at home. Excellent.

So that's my beauty gadgets/tools wish list done and dusted - I think the Travalo and the Tangle Teezer are the two things I'm most likely to purchase first, as they're the most affordable; some of the other items on the list are quite pricey and will have to be saved up for a special occasion...

Is there anything on the list you like the look of? Or have you got some other clever beauty devices in mind? Share the love and tell me!

I am 24 going on 30

So, last month (31st August, to be precise) it was my 24th birthday. Yep, I'm properly in my mid-twenties now - I can't pretend to be on the cusp anymore, let's face it, it's all downhill from here. Anyway, I finally got around to making a haul video of all the lovely goodies I got. (Not that I'm materialistic or anything...)

I realised, after I'd finished filming, that I didn't mention the present my boyfriend got me. This is not because his present was rubbish or weird or anything, it's because I am foolish and forgetful at times. You see, everything I talked about in the video was a physical thing I had in front of me, whereas his present wasn't. He took me to see The Sound of Music in Manchester and because I am foolish I didn't think to keep the tickets or buy a program as proof. Anyway, it was marvellous, I'd really recommend it to any musical fans out there. Verity Rushworth (who used to play Donna Windsor in Emmerdale) was absolutely brilliant as Maria and Jason Donovan was supposed to be playing Captain Von Trapp, but we saw the undertsudy because he was ill. Fab show though... "the hills are ALIIIIIIIIIIVE with the sound of music!" Thanks Joe!

Products of the Month - August (and July)

Ok, so originally my Products of the Month for July was meant to have two parts because it was too long for one video. I published the first part here but never got around to doing the second part, so this is Products of the Month for July Part 2 (Franki Returns) and Products of the Month for August all rolled up into one horribly edited little package. Hurray!

Products featured;

Collection 2000 Cream Puff Lip Cream in Powder Puff
Barry M Nail Paint in 318 Peach Melba
Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream
Benefit Posietint
Schwarzkopf got2b 2 Sexy Collagen Hairspray

I'll be uploading a 'birthday haul' video in the next day or so, so keep an eye out for that. Yes , that's right, two videos BACKTOBACK! I'm a video-making-machine!

Products of the Month - July

Finally, finally uploaded this video to Youtube. I really enjoy vlogging but it is SUCH a faff at times! I actually filmed this right at the beginning of August but when I uploaded it to Youtube it was removed straight away for being too long (by a minute and a half grrr!) - why can't I upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes but other people can??? Anyway, I decided to have a go at editing it down, rather than filming it again so I downloaded some video editing stuff and then spent about five hours editing (would have been so much quicker to just film the video again...) Anyway, here it is, in all its glory... well actually, it's just the first part, I've still to film a second part because I've got loads of lovely products to talk about.

I've never edited a video before so if it's a bit jumpy in places, that'll be why - hopefully it's something I'll get better at...actually hopefully it's something I just won't have to do again because it took far too long.

Products featured;

Topshop Skin Glow in Light
Veet Hair Minimising Body Moisturiser
VO5 Miracle Concentrate
Sanctuary Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser
Barry M Nail Effects in Pink Fizz

I hope everyone's had a lovely weekend, I've been mainly chilling today, had some time to catch up on returning blog comments and read some blogs, which is nice. As I mentioned in my last post, I went to the Jacques Townhouse yesterday and had such a good laugh, I wish I could have stayed there all evening. I'll do a full blog post about it soon, but if anyone is in/around Liverpool over the next few days, I'd really, really recommend going - you can register for tickets here.

The best things in life are free

As someone currently on the tightest of budgets, I find myself constantly justifying even the most basic purchases and convincing myself to only buy products that are reduced, on offer or just very cheap. I've gotten used to this, but every now and then, I still get the urge to leg it into the John Lewis beauty department, grab as many beautiful things as I can get my hands on, and stick them all on my credit card, all the while shrieking and laughing like a madwoman. Fortunately, I normally manage to fight this urge and have been pretty darn sensible lately. (NB It is my birthday at the end of the month and it's likely that a significant portion of birthday money will be spent during a burst of the aforementioned madwoman behaviour...).

Recently though, I've managed to get my hands on quite a few lovely things, without actually having to spend any money at all. No, no, I've not taken up shoplifting, don't worry, I've just been taking advantage of freebies. You're probably already aware of this, but Lush will give you a fresh face mask for absolutely nothing if you bring back five of their black pots! Last week, after finishing off my big tub of Dream Cream, I realised that I'd finally managed to acquire five pots, and headed to Lush, ready to grab a freebie.

Since I'm STILL being plagued by the little blocked pores around my chin, I decided to go for something really deep cleansing, in the hope that it'd shift the buggers once and for all. The guy in Lush recommended Cosmetic Warrior, so I snapped it up, handed over my pots and off I went, happy in the knowledge that not only had I just gotten a face mask that normally costs about £5.50 for nil points, but also, that I'm being a good recycler and that is very important.

Contains garlic, tea tree oil, honey and eggs to name but a few. Does not smell pleasant. I'll do a review at some point soon.

Later that same day, I randomly ended up going back into town to meet some friends, but as I got to town a bit early, I went into Superdrug for a nosey. Thank goodness I did because I then picked up my second excellent freebie of the day! I noticed near the entrance of Superdrug, there were lots of lttle makeup stations set up, each with what looked like a goodie bag next to them. I was obviously intrigued by this (gotta love a goodie bag) and as I went for a closer look, one of the girls who worked there asked me if I'd like to go to the Superdrug Beauty School? "DO I?!" I thought, "HELL YEAH IF I GET A GOODIE BAG... what is it?" The girl explained that basically I just had to sit at one of the booths and let her instruct me on how to apply makeup to recreate a specific 'look'. Easy. So I did. The look I had to to recreate was called 'Pop Lips', which consisted of bronzed skin, defined lashes and a bright coral lipstick - right up my street! I had to use Miss Sporty products, which I've not used for years, but I was pleasantly surprised, especially by the lipstick, which I think was called Bubblegum and was a lovely sheer pinky coral. The class took about ten minutes and I think was probably aimed at younger girls who aren't used to wearing makeup - the other two girls doing the class at the same time as me were both 15... I felt a bit silly when I told them I was 23... but ah well, any opportunity to mess about with makeup is fine with me!

I was really impressed with the goodie bag I got at the end of the class; while it is mainly just Superdrug's own brand stuff along with some samples and vouchers, they're all items I'd actually use, plus I literally had to do nothing to get it, just play with makeup for ten minutes!

Products in the goodie bag included a Nail Shaper, Delicious Body Spray (which smells lovely!), Dry Shampoo, Miss Sporty Disco Tech UV Topcoat, The Little Pink Tin lipbalm, Self Heating Smoothie Mask and a Self Tan Applicator Mitt, as well as samples of the new VO5 shampoo and conditioner and Vera Wang Lovestruck perfume, plus loads of money off vouchers. Not bad eh?

The Superdrug Beauty School is happening in larger branches of Superdrug all over the country - you can see the full list of participating stores here. It looks like the next class will be using 2True products, which I've never tried before, so I'm tempted to go back!

Had any good freebies lately? Has anyone else been to a Superdrug Beauty Class? What did you think?

POTM - December

Happy New Year! This video was supposed to go up on the 1st but for some reason my videos take five or six hours to upload to Youtube and this one kept failing halfway through (grrr!) Finally, after muchos messing about, I've managed to get it up here. Technology, you will not beat me! (see after the video for a full list of products with links to where you can buy them)

Purity Organic Skincare Conditioning Cleansing Lotion
MeMeMe Blush Me! in Rouge (see Halima's review of all the different colours here)
Rimmel Pro Matte Topcoat
Sex and the City Look Palette - Miranda (currently in the Boots half price sale for £4!)
John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour in 5B Medium Chocolate Brown

Clean as a whistle

In case you hadn't noticed from some of my recent posts, aside from being dangerously obsessed with clothing, I'm also a bit of a beauty junkie. There is never a time when I don't 'need' some kind of cosmetics and every trip into town will generally end up with me wandering around Boots/Superdrug/Lush looking for something wonderful to buy. I've been thinking for a while now that since I spend so much time buying and messing about with makeup and stuff, I should write about some of my favourite products on this here blog. Hopefully people will find them useful, you know, a kind of "I try before you buy" type thing. Except, it only works if you're planning on buying things that I already own/am going to buy anyway. I really don't have the money to do requests. But if you want to send me things, that's fine. Or send money. I'd be ok with that too.

Ultra Bland - "The most thorough of all cleansers" from Lush

While something that proudly claims to be 'ultra bland' may not sound particularly appealing, blandness is actually a very good quality to have in a cleanser; all too often cleansers and facial washes are full of chemicals and perfumes which are harsh on your skin and strip it of its natural oils, but this stuff does no such thing. Appearance-wise; Ultra Bland is a thick, yellowish, oily substance which smells vaguely of peanuts, (NOTE If you have a nut allergy, you probably shouldn't use this as it contains peanut oil. It contains 'fresh iris extract' too so you should also avoid it if you have an issue with irises) so it clearly does differ from the majority of Lush products which are colourful and interesting and smell of joy. However this is their best-selling cleanser and I can absolutely see why; it leaves your skin feeling super clean and soft AND it's incredibly gentle, so you can use it to remove your eye makeup without worrying about going blind in the process.

The directions for use say to rub a small amount all over your face and then remove with damp cotton wool, but I found that the oiliness of it meant that I had to use a lot of cotton wool to remove it all, so instead I've been using a face cloth, which works just as well (just make sure to wash your face cloth regularly - hygiene is important!). What's great about it is that you only need a very small amount to get the job done so it lasts for ages AND, while a lot of Lush products have a use-by date because they contain fresh ingredients, Ultra Bland doesn't expire for over a year (I bought mine just before Christmas and the use-by date isn't until 2011) so you probably won't have to throw half a tub away because it's expired (I quite often do that with the fresh face masks from Lush because I put them in the fridge and then forget about them).

All in all, an excellent product. I can't remember the exact price but I think it was probably around £8, which is pretty reasonable for something that's going to last you a long time and makes your skin feel all soft and delightful.

As with all of their products, there's also the added bonus of knowing that Lush only use organic, vegetarian ingredients and don't test on animals, so you can wash your face safe in the knowledge that you are not only going to have lovely skin, but are probably going to Heaven too. Who said angels had dirty faces?