Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel For Oily Sensitive Skin

I used to use this product quite a bit a while back when I had a load of samples of it. I then forgot about until the other day when I found another tube of it hiding and thought I'd use it to help with my stubborn spots that nothing seems to be shifting! I only used it last night but it does seem to have reduced the spots on and around my chin and it feels a lot smoother. It lathers up great so a little goes a long way and doesn't leave my skin feeling tight. The scent is fresh and pleasant and it is soap free with a pH of 5.5 so it shouldn't mess with your skins balance. I would definitely buy a full size tube of this- once I've gotten through the mountain of other cleansers I've got that is!

Hope you all had a good weekend. I'm not a happy bunny today I have to say as my car had to go to the garage on Friday and so I've had to miss out on a days work whilst also annoying my agency person for not telling her in time :( That combined with a bit of a wobble last night (over The Knob, as always) means I'm not feeling my best! Think I'll paint my nails with one of my new Models Own polishes to try and cheer me up!

Coconut Oil Hair Mask

So after my disaster earlier in the week whereby I made a hair mask using banana, avocado, cantaloupe melon and yogurt only to be left with tiny bit of banana stuck in my hair- it looked like I have banana nits, awful! So I ended up washing my hair like fifty billion times which completely defeated the purpose! Was drier than the bloody desert once I'd finished with it! Anyways last night I thought I would use up some of the coconut oil I got from Superdrug last year. At room temp its solid so I gouged it out and  used about 2 teaspoons to cover my hair, only the lower half mind, I didn't want greasy roots! To apply it I simply melted it in between my hands then smoothed it on. My hair looked a mess when I had finished- most trampy, but I tied it up and put on a hair turban and slept with it on. I left it on for a very long time actually, I put it on at about 7 last night and finally got around to rinsing it out at 5 this afternoon! It was worth it though as my hair is feeling lovely and soft, much softer than it has in a while. I shampooed twice to make sure all the oil was out and then slathered on my Tresemme Keratin Smooth hair mask for even more moisture. It didn't actually feel soft straight away but it was so silky by the time I had finished drying it. I'm very impressed! I'll definitely be doing this again, plus my hair now smells gorgeous!Have you ever used coconut oil as a hair treatment? What did you think?

I can't remember how much I paid for this but I know it was very cheap!

Saturday Shopping- Korres, Weleda, Barry M, Marie Claire

So I toddled off to town yesterday with the intention of getting some of the new MUA products, in particular the cream blush and one of the nail constellations. Alas they didn't have what I wanted! It's a new stand but it was pretty poorly stocked, least with the new stuff. I should have just walked out but I had a nosey at the Barry M stand and saw the new Gelly polishes. Big mistake. I ended up with a Gelly Hi-Shine nail paint in Prickly Pear, a pretty lilac, as well as a glitter polish in Rose Quartz and a nail effects polish in Burgundy Croc, which was free if you bought two other items. I was tempted to get the pumpkin coloured spider web one but I thought I wouldn't get much use out of it. I swatched these last night (and stupidly didn't take a photo) and the Gelly is indeed very shiny, the glitter polish is just GORGEOUS and the croc effect looked nice over a gold shade. Seems to work best over touch dry polish rather than still tacky. It does actually say this on the bottle but I curious! What else would work well with burgundy?

The Gelly and Croc effect polishes were £3.99 each and the glitter one was £2.99 from Superdrug

I also popped into TK Maxx and found a Korres Guava showergel for £3.99. I've heard good things about the brand and when I sniffed it it instantly reminded me of holidays abroad for some reason! I think it reminds me of suncream and it has notes of coconut. Very tropical! It's also 91.4% (very accurate there!) natural and has a long list of what it does and doesn't contain. For example it has no parabens, mineral oil or silicones but does contain fragrance and SLS. In the clearance section I also spied a Weleda Sea Buckthorn body lotion. Weleda seems to be another blogger favourite so I picked it up for my sister as she religiously uses lotion every day. It was only £4 and comes in a rather funky blue glass bottle. I had a cheeky try (well not cheeky as I did buy it her after all!) and it's really light with a fresh citrussy smell-lovely!

Lastly I also had to pick up a copy of Marie Claire magazine (£3.70) for the L'Occitane hand cream. I chose the date fragrance as I was intrigued as to how it would smell. I really wanted the original one but couldn't find it, may have another look today as they are really nice and perfect for taking with me out and about. I don't normally read Marie Claire- and I have to say it's rather hefty haha. I hope it's not full of ads. Also don't you think mags are getting expensive for what they are? This one is fairly good value though as the mag also comes with a sample of Dove colour radiance express treatment conditioner. I use up conditioner quite quickly so this is a welcome addition.

Have you bought anything over the weekend or tried anything I bought? Weekends go by far too fast! Monday dread is starting to set in!

MAC Fanfare lipstick

Introducing my first ever MAC lippy! I have wanted a MAC lipstick for ages now. Not for any other reason than I felt I should have at least one in my collection and to experience a more 'high end' lipstick! I spent ages googling potential shades and in the end I settled for Fanfare as it looked like a good, easy to wear, every day kind of colour. It's a pretty medium pink shade - MAC describes it as a 'mid-tone yellow pink'. Whilst I do like it, and can see myself getting plenty of wear out of it, I am wondering if it's a touch too 'warm' for me. I also love the vanilla scent and the lovely creamy texture, which it should have as it's a cremesheen one. I've found it to last well on my lips, it's also very moisturising and doesn't cling to any dry flakes. I don't really have the money to buy these but now I'd love another one! I was thinking possibly Cosmo but I'm not too sure so if you have any recommendations please feel free to leave them!

Garnier Hand Cream and Moarrrr Polish!!

I've been trialing the Garnier Intensive 7 days hand cream now over the past couple of weeks and so far I like it, but I'm not in love with it. The cream has a fairly thick texture and I do find it takes a little while to soak in- longer than I would really like, but then I am quite impatient. Also it does depend on how much you put on but I sometimes don't think and end up slathering it on! It is also strongly scented which some days I find is a bit much for me. I wouldn't mind so much if it actually smelt like mango, as it does contain mango oil, but it doesn't- just more of a perfumey smell. I also find it to leave a bit of a film but I suppose that's to be expected as it does claim to be resistant to one wash. Which it does do and is a good thing, especially now the weather is getting colder which tends to wreaks havoc on my hands. Hoping they won't get as bad as they did last year when I worked in the nursery, they shouldn't though as I'm using less alcohol gel and not washing my hands as much. If they do get to a sore state then I'd don't think I'd use this though just because of the strong scent-wouldn't want it irritating my hands. It should prevent it happening though at least! This cream was also very good value, think it was less that £2 from Saver's so a bit of a bargain for a good brand. So all in all I reckon it's worth a go if you wash your hands a lot and if your hands aren't in such a bad states that they are cracked etc.

This week I also got my Models Own package! I was planning on being good and not getting any more polishes but when I heard of the 50% off sale the devil on my shoulder got the better of me! Plus I didn't have any Models Own in my collection...I got 5 in the end so it should have cost me £25 but I only paid £12.50. I say 'only' haha that's still a lot of money on polish! Here are the shades I got.

From left to right there's Purple Poppy, Beth's Blue, Soda Shop Pink, Lemon Meringue and Jade Stone. They are all gorgeous but I am particularly pleased with Beth's Blue, it's so so lovely! I suppose these are more Spring/ Summer shades but it's boring to stick to the seasons sometimes! I can't wait to try all these out-I've swatched them already and am very impressed with the quality though they do seem to smell a bit different to my other ones, though that could just be me being strange! Did you get lured in by this sale too? If so what shades did you get? :)

MUA Out There Plumping Lip Gloss

 OMG WHAT HAS THIS STUFF DONE TO MY LIPS?!?!?!

 Lame joking aside...

I got this ages ago now and mean meaning to blog about it for a while. So the time has come! I've got this in the shade Buff and it's the perfect lip gloss for sticking on when your out and about as it's very easy to wear and goes with any make up look. The gloss is meant to have a plumping effect and whilst it does have a slight tingle (which is nothing compared to Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker) I'm not sure if it actually does anything extra! In any case it is very glossy, surprisingly for a gloss, and gives the illusion of a fuller pout. Buff is a lovely nude colour , mostly brown based with a little peach, I think! It's not sticky in the slightest yet lasts well for a gloss, plus for £2 it's a great bargain!On a side note I'm very happy that my local Superdrug now has an MUA stand and it's not just the basic line either-excitement!

 

Rather looong applicator!

Rare (actually first) full FOTD!

I've never done a FOTD post before but seeing as I'm rather bored today I thought I'd finally do one. I'm not really going anywhere today so I've kept it casual and neutral. My hair is just ick so I've just tied it back though it does unfortunately make me look a little baldy. As always apologies for the lack of focus!

Hmm should possibly tidy up my brows!

For my face I used a Collection mineral powder foundation and my Sleek Suede blush and for my eyes I used the MUA eye primer followed by Maybelline Silken Taupe all over my lid. For the crease I used Elf Studio eyeshadow in Pebble and to deepen the crease the dark brown shade from the Elf Brownstone quad. For mascara I used Max Factor False Lash Effect, though I'm not really a fan, it just needs using up! On my lips I have on Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Honey.

Pic wise I thought I'd just focus on what I had on my eyes