Manchester Haul | New Look, Lush, Makeup Revolution, Yankee Candles

Saturday I headed to Manchester to buy some new boots after unexpectedly receiving a 5 week wage and creating my New Look wish list and decided to grab some other bits and bats. I can not get enough of these stores lately especially Lush and Makeup Revolution so I had to fulfil the urge to buy more.

LUSH cosmetics | Northern Lights & Cupcake Face Mask

My last LUSH visit (post coming soon) I missed out on the Halloween and Christmas range by 1 day I was gutted, I saw that quite a few bloggers had the Northern Lights bath bomb (RRP £3.50) and I must say it looked absolutely stunning in the bath I had to have it. Unfortunately this time I did not raid the store but just grabbed this and a sample of Cupcake face mask, Soon as I got home I ran the bath and tested ‘Northern Lights’ out and I must say OMG it is absolutely amazing, it smells great, looks great and even leaves stars in your water! I was left feeling clean, refreshed and relaxed.

5/5

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I love my face masks I currently have at the moment from my last LUSH haul ‘Mask of Magnaminty’ and ‘Dark Angels’  which are great for oily skin, again I have read quite a few blog reviews about the ‘Cupcake’ face mask and read good things so when I went into the store I kindly asked if I was able to grab a sample which I have yet to review so keep your eyes peeled.

“Rhassoul mud, which is highly absorbent, works with cocoa powder to draw out all the dirt and impurities and give a deep cleanse. Fresh mint stimulates and tones the skin, whilst linseed and cocoa butter soften and moisturise.”

Yankee Candles | Cinnamon Stick, Fireside Treats & Amber Moon Votive Candles

I have always loved candles it reminds me of those cosy nights in with my mum, you have to admit it makes your house look that much cosier. When candles spring to mind I always think of Yankee Candles and their smell.. it is divine with so many scents. I was strolling through Manchester Arndale when I spotted that they had recently opened a Yankee Candle store which I had to raid! I literally smelt nearly every candle they had (my poor Fiance and little lady) but I decided to grab 4, I chose ‘Cinnamon Stick’ (RRP £1.35), ‘Fireside Treats’ (RRP £1.35) and ‘Amber Moon’ (RRP £1.80) and they smell great, but my favourite has to be ‘Cinnamon Stick’ so I grabbed two of those.

5/5

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Makeup Revolution | Redemption Palette Hot Smoked, Adore 14 Nail Varnish & Top Coat and Base Coat 04

Last time I went to Manchester they were in the process of adding it into their Superdrug store which I was so excited about because I am really loving their products! (latest review of their lipsticks). I originally wanted to go to grab their new ‘Brow Dual Ultra Brow Arch & Shape‘ but unfortunately it was not stocked and I could not leave without a few of their products especially as it was 3 for 2. I decided to grab the ‘Redemption Palette Hot Smoked’ (RRP £4) I absolutely adored the colours it caters for those smokey eye and nude looks fantastically. When swatching the palette the colours are highly pigmented just one stroke with your makeup brush and it does the trick, no need to build up several times.

5/5

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I also decided to grab ‘Adore 14’ (RRP £1) and ‘Top Coat and Base Coat 04’ (RRP £1) I am a sucker for nail polishes I love them, I feel naked without any on and as mentioned before I love purple so I saw that they had a pale pastel purple i grabbed it. Unfortunately it takes a few coats to create full coverage but can you really complain with it being £1. I also was running out of top coat so I decided to pick that up which I have found that if too much is applied once dried it goes quite bubbly.

3/5

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I am continuously pleased with Makeup Revolutions products, they are a fantastic budget brand and also grabbed their ‘Brow Dual Ultra Brow Arch & Shape’ and their ‘Pressed Powder’ online (review coming soon).

New Look | Black Cross Strap Buckle Boots

I have recently done a wish list post on New Look items and these boots were included in the list, as mentioned in the post new boots were a must with returning back to work soon. These ‘Black Cross Strap Buckle Boots’ (RRP £19.99) are super comfy, feel great and not to mention not too expensive.

5/5

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Have you had a recent shopping haul? What did you grab?

Glossybox | July 2013 Special Edition

Glossybox July 2013 (RRP £10 plus £3.25 p&p)

I was on the look out for some more UK  Beauty boxes after getting hooked on them and once again I turned to Which Beauty Box. I find her blog absolutely fantastic in helping me choose which company to go for. In one of her blog posts I saw that she had an offer that if you signed up for a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription of Glossybox during September then you would receive one of their best-selling boxes from the past year for free. How can you turn that offer down? so I signed up for the 3 month subscription, and what a box I received.. I managed to get the July 2013 Glossybox which is great for what my personal preferences are in regards to beauty.

Whats in the box?

Ciaté nail polish – Full size

Bamboo Style Boho Waves – 25ml 

Mineral Face SPF 20 – 7ml

Pure Coconut Refreshing Dry Shampoo – Full Size

Ila Face Oil – 1.75ml

Ciaté Nail Polish Island Hopping

I was excited when I saw that this nail polish was included in the box as I have always loved the packaging of these, the little cute black bow is a gorgeous and cute touch to the bottle. Though unfortunately I do not like this colour, personally I much prefer darker colours for my nails such as blacks, greys and purple. No doubt though that this is a perfect colour for those christmas nails, I know I said the dreaded ‘C’ word. What I also find great about this nail polish is that only one coat is needed for full coverage unlike other brands but a top coat is a must as I have found it chips away rather quickly otherwise, but that may just be because I do quite a lot of washing up due to my little lady.

4/5

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Bamboo Style Boho Waves

I am always on the lookout for new hair products to try out as mentioned in previous blog posts, I hate my hair being lifeless and flat as it does not suit me at all. So I was happy that this product was included in the July beauty box as I have always liked using Bamboo’s products on my hair. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed with this product, after testing it out several times it did not create the texture, volume and beach waves that it claims to but left my hair looking quite greasy and flat so I think that I will stick to my LUSH sea salt spray.

2/5

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Coola Mineral Face Sunscreen

This product acts as a 2-in-1 not only is it a sunscreen but also a tinted moisturiser and cruelty free, can it get any better? Unfortunately as this product sounds great whilst testing this out on my jaw line baring in mind that I am pale skinned and usually BB creams or tinted moisturisers do not agree with me it fitted into that category again and looked quite orangey so it may be more suited for those who are darker skinned.

2/5

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Pure Coconut Refreshing Dry Shampoo

As mentioned I am always on the lookout for hair products to test out especially when it comes to dry shampoo as unfortunately my hair seems to become greasy fairly fast. I have used dry shampoos by Batise and Herbal Essences so lets see how this one compares… Well I quite like it, it does the job in masking that greasy look until you wash your hair leaving it looking fresh and smelling gorgeous and even better, it is paraben free. Though a downfall of this product is that I have found if too much is applied it leaves the room smelling sickly and overpowering with coconut which is not the greatest.

4/5

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Ila Face Oil

I was not too sure whether to try this product or not as my skin is oily, I know I don’t have the best of luck when it comes to my face and hair! I can not fault this product so far and whats great is that it is not tested on animals. I have tested it a few times and it does not leave my skin looking or feeling greasy which you would imagine it would do because of it being an oil. My skin is left looking refreshed and soft with using only two drops blended throughout my face. Though only using it for a short period of time I am unable to say what it does for my oily face, whether or not makes it worse.

4/5

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Overall, I am quite pleased with this Glossybox as the box design is absolutely stunning and the contents of the box are reasonable but I will not be purchasing the full sizes of the majority of these products as they do not work for me but I cannot complain as it was free with my 3 month subscription. I am really impressed with how many cruelty free products were included in this box, hats off to Glossybox.

3/5

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Have you tried this box before? What did you think?

Head over to their website by clicking their logo below to grab your subscription.

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

I absolutely love nail polish and the colour purple, so when I saw this Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure (RRP £6.99 no longer available to purchase) I had to have it. I used this polish as a top coat over a standard black nail polish, it applied fantastically in a few strokes and the finish looked amazing. A lovely glittery sparkle of different shades of purple transformed my plain looking nails into party nails. Another aspect that I love about this product is that it is chip resistant which I constantly have a problem with some other brands and this always leads to me having to repaint my nails. As a top coat on a dark base colour it creates a nebular style effect which is always a popular pattern. This product can also be used on it’s own to give your boring plain nails a little bit of a spice up in one quick and easy motion. I am definitely excited to try out the other prouducts in this range and right now this is my favourite nail varnish in my bag.

 5/5

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What do you think of this product? What is your favourite nail polish? Leave a comment below.