Beauty Budgeting: April Buys
Hey lovelies, can’t believe we are almost in June. I have one more exam left TOMORROW and I am done! I’ve got lots to share with you especially my latest skincare discoveries that have become such a staple in my life. But for now I have a monthly haul. Remember when I said I will stick to buying only things I really really need/want? That hasn’t gone too well.
My purse clearly doesn’t like me this month. The first thing I’m going to share with you are the lipsticks I picked up. I have no idea what made me decide to pick up these lipsticks, I think it was just one of those impulse buys! Please remind to not go near make up counters for a very long time because lipsticks have suddenly started shouting my name when I walk past them!
The first, and my favourite of the two, is a Shieseido lipstick named RD304 , and it from the Perfect Rouge collection and I’ve actually really been enjoying it. It’s unlike any other colour I have and it is quite moisturising and lasts quite well. I love the feel of the packaging, it definitely feels luxurious and high-end. I’ve never had a Shieseido product before, and I’m looking forward to discovering more stuff from the brand. I can’t fully explain the colour to you, and I’ll try do a swatch soon. But to describe it, I would say it isn’t a bright red nor a deep red but more an in between colour, so a strawberry red. There is also a slight white shimmery finish, which is extremely slight so it still suits me well. I think it’s the warm undertones that make it wearable for me and it goes on very smoothly.
It costs £21.00 to buy (here)
The Benefit lipstick is called Wild Card, and this was definitely an impulse buy! I wasn’t looking to buy anything at all when I walked past the counter but then thought oh, I have a couple of Benefit Silky Finish lipsticks maybe I should grab a Full Finish Lipstick. I went for a wine red as that was a shade I don’t yet have. To be honest, I haven’t really worn it yet and it has been just lying around. It is really pretty and suits my warm skin tone but I’ve had super bright reds and pinks on recently and Wild Card has been neglected. I will pop it in my makeup bag to remind myself to use it! It feels really creamy to apply.
It costs £14.00 to buy (here)
Okay, next is a product which I deem the very best topcoat in the world. I was introduced to it by my aunt who bought it over from Canada for me, and has completely changed nail polish application for me. I think I will constantly re-buy this product for the rest of my life. It is the Seche Vite topcoat and I need to do a review on it for you guys!
I bought the Seche Vite from Buyapowa, which is a co-buy website, and it was actually a duo co-buy. That meant that the Seche Vite Base Coat came with the topcoat and both together were £11.50 excluding P&P. I was extremely happy to be able to get the deal as the topcoat by itself is usually £11. The base coat is… a base coat. It’s meant to fill in ridges and such but I’m not really a base coat fan and could’ve done with out it. But I decided to go for it anyway because I do have polishes that stain my nails so thought that would protect me from them.
To buy them normally:
Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat costs £10.50 to buy (here)
Seche Base costs £9.95 to buy (here)
Okay the next and last but certainly not least product is the one I am most excited about. Remember when I said I wanted to expand my NARS collection, as I really like their products? Well I certainly have! I went and got this lovely blush which took me forever to chose. It is in the shade Taos and I love her (the blush). I went intending to buy NARS Orgasm as it is so raved about but after swatching it I was rather underwhelmed. It isn’t that amazing on my tanned skin tone but it is really nice. The lovely makeup artist recommended a few colours instead and Taos and Torrid immediately caught my attention. Taos is super pigmented and so pretty that I ended up choosing her. You literally need on swipe and your brush is packed with colour, I know it will last forever. You need to apply it with a light hand, and it’s red coral tone with golden fine shimmer is a perfect compliment to my skin tone. I just love it.
It costs £21.00 to buy (here)
I was speaking to the beauty advisor for absolute ages, and they happened to have held a makeup master class the day before in store. NARS stands don’t usually have samples at all, but due to the master class they had some left. Because she knew I wanted to try Orgasm, and they just happened to have a sample of it, she gave it to me just to be nice! She also threw in a primer sample for me to try, how lovely of her especially as she didn’t have to. Best customer service ever.
NARS Orgasm
NARS Pro-Prime
That is all for my April haul, and believe me when I say I have been far naughtier for the month of May. Something I am definitely not proud of and I really need to get myself in check. I have been placed under a self imposed beauty spending ban, so that means NO beauty buying until at least August. Ah, it is going to be so hard to resist because I think I’m become a bit obsessed! No matter, the ban is in place and it cannot and will not be lifted. Even if NARS goodies become £2.00 each. (Slight exaggeration, if that was to happen I will buy the whole collection!) Wish me luck for tomorrow, and hopefully the next time I speak to you I will be elated over the completion of my exams! (Just remembered I need some cuticle stuff *sad face*)
Thank you for reading beautifuls, and make sure that if your using Bloglovin or Hellocotton & enjoyed the post, press like!
Guest Post at: Jayne’s Kitschen
Evening lovelies, hope you’ve all had a great day & weekend. I thought I had this post scheduled for yesterday but some silly reason it didn’t happen. Stupid wordpress thing (although it most likely was my own fault!)
I recently did a guest post over at a blog belonging to the very beautiful Jayne, and would love you all to go over and have a little read. She is also such a lovely person, I love her old fashioned values and her blog is a gem so enjoy reading. I wrote about my latest She Said Beauty Box so if you want a peek and my thoughts, head on over.
Peekaboo! from: http://www.jayneskitschen.co.uk
You can read my post (here)
I’ve been speaking to Jayne for quite a while now and she is so sweet and lovely to know. She has some great posts and pictures. Her blog is all about beauty, fashion and lifestyle and she always injects positivity.
Have a great Monday, Tanzina x
St Ives: Event
Hi lovelies, hope you are well. Sorry about the lack of posts, only yesterday I had my first exam and have one more to go till I am free as a bird. Fingers crossed time will fly by very quickly and I will be back to you as soon as possible.
Today my post is about an event I attended a few weeks back and thought it would be fun to share with you all. When the invite popped up in my inbox, immediately I was super excited because I spotted the St. Ives logo in the corner. St. Ives was the first ever exfoliating wash I ever tried, way back when the packaging was much larger and mostly white. I’ve travelled abroad with it and almost always re-stock, it’s always in my bathroom especially at home because my family tend to use it so I always get more (I live away term-time). It is never expensive, doesn’t break the bank and sometimes Boots or Superdrug have offers on the St.Ives range so I have no reason not to stock up.
On Wednesday the 9th of May (has it really been that long!) I popped along to the swanky award-winning Hospital Club near Convent Garden and was met at the door by the lovely Livvi from St.Ives. After grabbing an Elderflower cocktail and some canapés, I went into the Forest Room. Th first thing that caught my attention, was an art table. No, not a table with art but an old school painting table equipped with paints and palettes and mannequin heads to paint. I knew there was going to be a challenge at the event, but I didn’t realise just how fun (and messy) it was going to be! I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to take part but I knew I would wish to be spectator.
Delicious Salmon bites
The painting table
The challenge however wasn’t till later on so I opted to go have a chat a skin/beauty expert who informed us about exfoliating the dead skin cells away, and also gave demonstartions of St.Ives Apricot Scrub and it’s effectiveness. Having used for scrub for years I didn’t really need a demo, however I did learn things I didn’t yet know. For example, did you know St. Ives scrubs have no parabens? I sure didn’t, I don’t know why I never checked. I guess it was because being in denial meant I could use great products that aren’t too great in the long run but I’m glad to know that St. Ives doesn’t fall into that category. Also, I never stop and think ‘what ingredients are used to make the grainy bits in a scrub that help exfoliate?’ I just assumed that it is probably some chemically stuff that I wouldn’t understand. I’m glad to know different. St.Ives use actual apricot extract and the grainy stuff is walnut shells and corn kernel. All natural goodness.
Paraben free!
The expert
The grainy goodness
We were then introduced to Emine Ali Rushton, a lovely lady who happens to be the beauty editor at Psychologies magazine! She talked us through centuries of beauty treatments and crazy concoctions our ancestors cooked up in order to be beautiful and youthful. Concoctions featuring nightingale poop for the face and camel urine for the hair. Think I’ll still to apricots and almonds thank you very much. She was extremely informative and inspiring, and it’s great to meet people from the beauty industry.
Emine
We then moved onto the challenge, the prize being an edible marzipan and chocolate apricot tree which was twin to one Ellie Goulding had received. I decided to join in as it did look really tempting and fun and seemed like it would be a laugh, so like everyone else I grabbed my palette and tied my apron then sat down. The challenge was to paint the doll head in our interpretation of natural beauty. It could be anything. Here are some of the participants dolls:
I’m not sure what the inspiration was for the other girl’s dolls but for mine I decided to incorporate a few things. For the base (the skin) I decided to use the sunset, so there was a gradient all over. Eyes I used greens, drawing upon nature and leaves and plants and all that good stuff. I also did a very rushed henna pattern across it, as henna is a plant that is used to create natural harm free temporary body art. I also tried to recreate a peacock’s feather but that didn’t go to plan! Bear in mind we had about 15 minutes to complete it so everything was very rush rush and I made a lot of smudges! Here is my creation:
Emine was the judge, and believe it or not, I actually won. I really didn’t expect to and I didn’t take part expecting to win in the slightest so it was such a pleasant surprise. And yes of course the edible tree came home with me. It look so pretty, almost too pretty to eat but my best friend obviously had no problem when it came to tucking in. I think the chocolate did it for her, and before you know it my pretty tree was getting devoured. The event was so insightful and the challenge and the prize was so unique, I love how the PR company who organised it got the attendees to participate and really get stuck in. I love all that interacting stuff.
My messy self with the lovely Krista Madden (founder of Handpicked Media)
Receiving the prize!
My tree- home, safe with me
Overall if you haven’t realised just yet, I had such a great time at the event and it’s always great to meet people behind brands you use and love. It was also great to learn more about what goes in my scrub and Handpicked Media were absolutely great, especially Krista who I had a lovely conversation with before I left. Huge thank you to St.Ives for hosting, especially Livi for being so lovely and helpful.
Okay – post not over just yet! A quick overview of the St. Ives Apricot Scrub.
I’ve been using it for years, as I mentioned and what it does is help exfoliate dead skin and let the new skin underneath rise to the surface. It is gentle enough to use every day so definitely not the harsh types that leave your skin feeling raw. I like a bit of grittiness so even though my skin type is the dry/sensitive one, I opt for the blemish prone scrub and just be sure to moisturise straight after. It really leaves the skin soft and feeling fresh. If you want to start with a scrub, I would always recommend trying St. Ives out first. My experience with it has been nothing but pleasant even in super hot countries in Asia and Middle East. My whole family are hooked on it and thanks to the goodie bag at the event I now have back ups. I already had both of scrubs given sitting at home. Cannot fault it at all.
What do you think about event posts, shall I do more? Ever tried St. Ives Apricot Scrub before?
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By PDGACO gaballaloans.co.uk