My favourite budget beauty products

 

There was a time where beauty products had to be high end for me. I spent a month in New York with work back in 2003 and my apartment was just off 5th Avenue,  I therefore spent ALOT of time in Saks trying out (and buying) pretty much anything I set my eyes on.  I got the bug and carried on spending when I got home!

Fast forward a few years (and a couple of expensive children) and I have learnt that you don't have to spend loads to get good results.  Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some high end items that I wouldn't be without but there are also loads and loads of really good items that are affordable even the week before payday!

Here are a few of my favourite budget beauty products.  I have loads more favourites which I may post about later but these were the first things that sprung to mind when I decided to do this post.

 

 

First up is the mega impact gel eyeliner in black flash. avonshop.co.uk £6

Now, I must point out that I paid nowhere near £6 for this.  I buy my Avon products through my local Avon rep and in the Avon catalogue there is always loads of offers.  I'm pretty sure that this cost me no more than £3.

 

 

This eyeliner is amazing.  It glides on so smoothly and it is really, really black.  When I use eyeliner on my waterline I find quite often it can irritate my eyes but that doesn't happen at all with this.  Just one stroke of this is all you need, no going over the line again and again to try and deepen the colour.

It's a pencil style rather than a twist up which I prefer as you can sharpen it to a nice point if you want.  Next time I see this in the catalogue on offer I will definitely be buying another for when this runs out.

 

Next up is the tea tree and witch hazel cleansing and toning lotion from Boots.com £3.59 for 150ml

This is currently on 3for2 so is even better value!

 

 

I have used different variations of these Boots lotions for years - since I was about 14.

As I have got older, my skin has got drier so I don't use this all the time anymore (as it can be quite drying) but I always have a bottle to hand.

This really cleans my skin, every single tiny weeny piece of dirt is left staring at you on your cotton wool pad after using this.  The tea tree and witch hazel really helps when I get breakouts  I've been having a nightmare with my chin for the last few months and this really helps.  I would have thought this would be brilliant for oily spot prone skin.

 

Third in my favourites is the No.7 beautiful skin cleansing water from Boots.com £9

This is currently on 3for2 but I bought this with a £5 off No.7 voucher so it only cost me £4

 

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I'd love to try the Bioderma micellar water but it is really expensive so for £4 I thought I would give this a whirl.

I mainly use this for taking off my eye makeup if I am not using my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and it does a really good job.  Unlike some of the dedicated makeup removers I have tried it is not greasy and I don't find I have to scrub at my face to remove my eyeliner r mascara.  Next time I get a No.7 voucher I will definitely be using it to buy another one of these.

 

Moisturiser next.  This is the Johnson's daily essentials nourishing 24 hour day cream for dry skin.  This is sold everywhere, including supermarkets and Wilkinson's and normally at least one place has an offer.  I think it was £3 in Superdrug the other day.

 

 

I have tried countless moisturisers, expensive and budget and this is hands down my favourite.  It moisturises my skin, keeps the dryness at bay and doesn't cause my skin to break out.  It has a gentle, pleasant scent and I do not have a bad thing to say about it!

If you have dry skin you really should try this.  They have a night cream version too but I always just use this at night time as well.  This was the first moisturiser that I actually finished which definitely says something.  It's so cheap and works so well that I am sticking to this from now on.

 

Next is the MUA cosmetics Undressed palette from muastore.co.uk or Superdrug £4

If you haven't heard of MUA or have but haven't tried their products then hotfoot it down to Superdrug now and buy this!

 

This palette is the exact dupe of Urban Decay's cult Naked palette. Hmmmm, £36 for the UD version of £4 for this???  Plus, to make it even more of a bargain, this is often on 3for2 at Superdrug or if you like the MUA Facebook page, once they get to 50,000 likes they will be releasing a 50% code!  I bought my palette (the second one of this I have bought) a week or so ago when they got to 35,000 likes and had 35% off everything.

If you are not already convinced, the pigmentation and staying power is great!  I'm not going to do a massive review here but if you google it, you will find lots of blog posts all raving about this!

 

Another blogger favourite next, the Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer - Boots.com £4.19

I have it in shade 1 - fair.

 

 

When I bought this, I did not believe the hype.  Everyone said it was amazing but I have never found a concealer that actually covers up my spots so did not hold out high hopes for this. I was wrong.  It has great coverage but yet blends really well so if I am wearing just powder on top and no foundation (as I often do for work) my face does not look at all patchy.  I will definitely be repurchasing this.

 

Last but by no means least is another Avon product, this time the Colortrend Dazzlers nail top coat in gold fleked £3

This is another item I got discounted through my local rep.  I paid £1.50 for this and it was really worth the money.

Some glitter top coats are really annoying.  You need about 100 coats to get any hint of glitter but with this, a couple of coats and you are good to go.

 

 

In the picture below I have quickly put 2 coats over the nail varnish I was already wearing (Essie Penny Talk) so sorry it doesn't go very well or look very well done.  I really like this and will be wearing it loads over the Christmas season no doubt.

 

Phew, that went on didn't it??  What are your favourite budget beauty items?





Christmas Wishlist

For me it is now officially Christmas season! I have just come back from my annual shopping trip to London with my mum so I thought I would share what is on my Christmas list this year. I certainly won't get all of these items but a girl can dream right??!!

First up is the Fitbit one - £79.99 fitbit.com

The Fitbit One is basically a super duper pedometer.  It tracks how far you've walked, stairs climbed, calories burnt etc. you can also wear it at night to track your sleep cycle. The Fitbit also syncs to your iPhone 5 via Bluetooth and can link up to My Fitness Pal for tracking your food.  I fell in love with it's predecessor the Fitbit Ultra at the Gadget Show Live in April and I really think this will help me get fit in 2013. 

Next up are a couple of goodies that I know I have got as mum bought them yesterday. A new bottle of cleanse and polish (£19.75 for 150ml) and a lipstick (£14) by Liz Earle.-uk.lizearle.com

I don't need to go into much detail with the cleanse and polish... everyone has heard of it and blogged about it. If you haven't then please try it, you will not regret it. My troublesome skin always looks clearer and brighter when I use this, it gets all my makeup off and smells lovely.

The lipstick I have gone for is Number 12 - Azalea. It is described as a soft, wearable coral and I thought it looked very pretty.  The formulation is nice and creamy so it won't dry my lips out through the cold, wet and windy winter. 

(This is the swatch from the website but here it looks more like sardine and tomato paste than the lipstick. It's beautiful in real life, honest!)

Another gadget next (I'm a total gadget geek). This time it's the new Kindle Paperwhite -£109.99 amazon.co.uk

I like reading in bed but find my iPad is too heavy to hold for long. This new Kindle has a built in light rather than needing a separate reading light or case so will be perfect. I often end up sharing my bed with the kids as well as my husband so having a bedside light on isn't an option. I'd still like to be able to read my books on my iPhone and iPad so the Kindle, with it's IOS apps is the obvious choice.


Last up is the Zara office city bag - £49.99 zara.com

In a dream world I would love the Chanel Executive Tote but I think this a good affordable option.
I love structured bags and this one also has lots of zipped sections to keep my iPad and other bits and pieces safe. It would look great for the office but I think it would also look fab teamed with jeans, boots and a blazer for shopping and coffee at the weekend. (I'm going to ignore the fact I spend most of my weekend in wellies on a soggy football pitch watching my son play).

What do you think of my list? What are you asking Santa for this year?

Enrapture Amplify Jumbo Waver Review

My first ever blog post! I'm sure noone will read this, so if you are, hello and thank you!

I bought these pretty much on a whim yesterday.  I already have a couple of curling wands which I cannot get the hang of at all and I read loads of reviews that said wavers were really easy to use and gave a really natural, wearable result. The Enrapture version definitely seemed to be everyone's favourite and as they were half price at Argos and Boots it seemed rude not too!

Enrapture describe their jumbo waver like this:

'Amplify your hair and create a rock, beachy or mermaid look with big tousled ‘s’ waves. With superior titanium plates the jumbo waver gives even heat-distribution so you can add volumising texture to any hair length.' 

Well, as a girl with horibly fine, lifeless hair the idea of volumising texture was enough to get me going!

What's in the box?

Firstly, it's a very lovely box.  I know that isn't really very important to some people but it is all part of the package to me!  It's a beautiful shiny bluey purple with the Enrapture logo in silver.  The flap also has two magnetic closures on it to keep it all nice and tidy!

Inside is a use and care instruction manual and a style guide booklet.  This covers all 3 of their products and although it has a few handy hints it would have been nice if it had been a bit more indepth.  The website (enrapturehair.com) however has 2 how to videos and another with top tips so I would definitely recommend watching those before trying the waver for the first time.

Next in the box is the heat mat/case.  This little case is great as it unzips into a heat protective mat.  When you have finished with your waver you can just zip it up and pop the waver inside.  This is especially good for mum's with little ones like me as leaving anything hot lying around is a big no no.

The waver itself is quite light so I didn't find it too heavy to hold.  It's definitely the biggest hair tool I have ever used but that's because the barrels are a whopping 25mm each - a complete must to get those lovely s shape curls that Enrapture mentioned.

There is a simple illuminated on off switch and a 25 setting heat dial.  Enrapture recommends starting on the lowest setting and slowly increasing until you find what is right for your hair.



My only grumble with the product at this point is that there is no indicator for when the tool has reached temperature.  Still, it only takes a couple of minutes to heat up so I just timed 2 minutes before starting.

Here is a quick picture of my hair before I started waving it.  I washed and dried it, sprayed on a little heat protector and then straightened it.  My hair is naturally straight but can be a bit frizzy so thought best to straighten it first.

I found the waver really easy to use.  I am normally terible with hair gizmos but this was a breeze.  You just section your hair, clamp it over a section near your head, hold for 5-10 seconds then move further down your hair and repeat.  Simples!  You can adjust the heat, how long you clamp each section and the size of each section depending on how defined you want your waves.

I started with the dial half way and it wasn't hot enough for the look I wanted. As soon as I turned the dial up to about 3/4's it was much better. Also, as my hair is quite fine it started dropping quite quickly. Next time I will spray some hairspray on each section first and that should help it hold.

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished result...



Next time I do it I will take some more pictures as by time I took these it had dropped a fair bit (my daughter wanted her lunch, I couldn't leave her with a hungry tum could I?!)  However, I LOVE IT!!!

My hair has got so much more body but yet doesn't look overly 'done'.  I can see myself using this loads.  Perhaps not for work as it took me 45 mins but certainly for nights out or going shopping.

I'm really happy to have got this for the bargain price of 37.49 (reduced from 75!)  I also noticed that Enrapture's other products - the Totem hair styler and the Extremity heated rollers are also half price at 37.49 at the mo.  I'm quite tempted to give them a whirl at some point too!

Has anyone tried any Enrapture products?  What did you think?  Would you recommend the Totem or Extremity?