Make-Up Free March: Week 2

The second week of March is nearly over, and the second week of my spending ban. Only two more weeks to go! Things are going better this week than last, so overall I am pretty happy. This week has been an expensive one as my car has been for its MOT and luckily passed, but it also needs insuring and taxing, so my spending ban has come at a good time!

I only treated myself to one thing on pay day  which I debated over whether or not to get and decided I deserved (another) treat. That lovely little item was my L'Oreal Stain Splash in Romy. I am really glad I got it, even if I shouldn't have. 

There are a couple of things still tempting me but I have managed not to buy them, and I have had a few repurchases of empties, which is allowed, although I did really well with that too as I needed to replace my day-to-day blusher which is almost gone, and instead of buying another No7 one I went for a Rimmel one instead which was half the price!

I'm hoping I can curb my beauty spending a little bit now as I can see the day I move out getting closer and closer. The boyfriend will have cleared his overdraft in a couple of months and as long as I have a full time job by then (fingers crossed) we can get into our own place. I really need to get myself sorted now so that it won't be an issue when moving time comes.

Total beauty spends this week: £7.99 (about £7 with discount).

I am lusting after: I still want the Models Own Fruit Pastel polishes. I have also been tempted by the new Revlon Lip Butters and this gorgeous nail polish!

L'Oreal Glam Shine Stain Splash

I haven't seen many reviews of these yet, although they seem to be appearing on many wishlists, so I thought I would get my thoughts out there! I only noticed these a few days ago and had to try them! I'm not a massive lipstick fan, so something that gives me the colour without drying my lips out is always a winner for me and these do not disappoint!

There has been a little confusion over the name of the stain, so I have gone with what is advertised on the L'Oreal stand in my Boots, Stain Splash. L'Oreal describe it as a stain which acts like a gloss and stays put for up to six hours without drying your lips! There are currently six shades available but I chose Romy, a gorgeous natural pinky "my lips but better" shade.

I love the doe-foot applicators which seem to be appearing in more and more products lately. They just seem to make it easy to get a perfect coverage in one sweep, with this one being no different.

When you first apply, the stain feels like a normal gloss. As it settles onto your lips it does change and goes a little tacky (this is all I can think to describe the feeling as I have never had anything like it, but it isn't sticky). I think this is what makes it really stay put, and stay put it does! I applied as I normally would onto bare lips...

I think I should have gone for a darker shade to test the wear, as it isn't really obvious I'm wearing it, but too late for that, and I love this shade! As you can see after 2 hours and having lunch it was still going strong and still glossy. After 4 hours and another cup of coffee, the gloss has gone but there is still a little colour left. No clinging to any dry patches either! I am in love!

Finally, just a quick mention of the packaging as I really love it. I think they look stunning and far more high-end than they actually are! They also have a lovely watermelon scent, although this disappears once applied. L'Oreal Stain Splash is available here for £7.99.

Has anyone else tried these? Are you loving them as much as I am? I might have to pick another colour once my spending ban is over as this was a naughty purchase I shouldn't have made!

February Favourites

I love seeing this kind of post from other people, so I thought I would do my own this month. It was really hard to pick my favourites as I seem to have a collection of things I have been using everyday so ended up with about 10 things I wanted to show here, but I have managed to narrow it down to the essentials.

So firstly, the only skincare product which made it onto my list of favourites, I really do love this one - Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner. I use this daily after cleansing to remove any last bits of make-up and it really does brighten my skin and make it look smoother and more even.

I also included L'Oreal Confetti Top Coat as I have really loved using this and it has to be my favourite new polish at the moment. I know quite a few other people have included this in their favourites list this month because it is just that good!

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation - I won't write too much about this as I'll have a proper review soon but I am loving this one despite its lack of pump!

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter - I had never really bothered using highlighters before I invested in this one but it is another MUA product I love! It gives a really lovely subtle but brightening shimmer for the dull winter days we have been having. I love MUA for their fantastic quality stuff at bargain prices.

Another MUA product in my favourites this month is the Pro-Brow Kit. You can blend the colours really easily to match your natural brows and this fills them in beautifully and lasts all day. You even get a little brush which I do actually use, and some mini tweezers.

I had to include the Seventeen Photo Flawless Primer as it is still one of my daily essentials and it amazes me every time I use it as my skin looks so smooth and my foundation blends so well. I reviewed it here.

Finally, I have been really impressed with the Rimmel Accelerator Endless Lash Mascara. I don't know whether it is helping my lashes grow, but it gives really good definition and lengthens without clumping, so it is worth a try just for that! I don't usually like thin brushes like this one but I am getting on really well with this!

There we are - my favourites for February. What do you think of them? I'd love to see some of yours, link me if you've done a similar post!

DIY Speckle Polish With L'Oreal Confetti Top Coat

Recently I have been getting a little bored of the same old glitter polishes, and as much as I love them, have found myself looking for something different. I first saw the Illamasqua Imperfection range a while ago, and have been trying to convince myself that £14.50 is just too much to pay for one nail polish no matter how much it looks like Mini Eggs!

Pictures from Illamasqua website

Aren't they gorgeous? I decided rather than splashing out one one (the lilac obviously!) I would have a go at making my own version of the Speckle polish. 

I picked up this little beauty the other day, and love it! It looks gorgeous over any colour polish, I can see this being a favourite this month! It is a clear polish with different sized white and black pieces and tiny silver specks of glitter which really make it stand out.

I decided to use the Glitter Sandwich method to try to get the speckle effect (one polish coat, one glitter coat, one polish coat). I used Barry M Gelly in Prickly Pear for the base as it was the closest colour I had to the Speckle base.

This was the effect I got. I actually ended up re-writing this post as last night when I painted my nails I wasn't  too happy with it, but seeing it in daylight today, I love it! It really does look gorgeous and you can see a similar effect to the Imperfections, although the black doesn't stand out as much as you can't get any bits to sit on top. It looks better on some nails that others, you need a really thin coat of polish over the top so the confetti isn't covered, but it is hard to get it thin enough! 

Has anyone else tried the confetti polish? I hope there are more to come like it! I'm sure I'm not the only one lusting after the Imperfections collection too, has anyone tried it? Are they worth the money?

Mini Boots Haul

Just another normal day at work for me, although my purse is a lot lighter! This was my first trip to Boots after sales-plan day, where all the offers change and the new products are available. I had a few things I needed but ended up spending more than I wanted to, as usual. So, here is what I bought:

No7 have a really good offer on at the moment, if you buy two cosmetic products you get a free Ballerina Beauty Bag worth £26. I needed some more foundation and always use No7 top coat on my nails so picked one of these up too. Inside the lovely bag you get a unique colour eyeshadow, a Moisture Drench lipstick in Mulberry, a sample size Extreme Length mascara and sample size Protect and Perfect Intense moisturiser.

Mulberry is a gorgeous deep pinky red, more pinky than the picture shows. It is a really popular colour and suits a lot of people. I don't usually go for such dark shades but this is really nice. I love the eyeshadow, its quite a pinky brown but really shimmery when wearing. I love the paler No7 shadows for highlighting parts of the eye and for a natural daytime look so this is perfect for me.

After reviewing the Seventeen Rock Hard Nail effects a few days ago here, I picked up the other colours I wanted, Blue and Grey as they were on buy one get one half price.

I also wanted to try Rimmel's new Lash Accelerator Mascara, which claims to make lashes look 60% longer and speed up lash growth. Anything which claims to make my lashes longer is worth a go, I'm not convinced it will work but I'm willing to try. £5.99 at the moment in Boots.

Finally, L'Oreal have got some more interesting nail polishes! The old ones are really dull and plain, but I love the new glittery ones. I am going to attempt something different with this which I will post about when I get round to it, but I love the black and white mix, I haven't seen any like this before. £4.99 and 3-for-2 in Boots.

There is my shopping for the day! Back to attempting to write essays!