The Haul of London

On Thursday I went up to London to visit the British Museum to see the Garden and Cosmos exhibition at the British Museum. It's a collection of paintings from India that were displayed in the royal courts between the 17th and 19th century. The paintings were absolutely beautiful, amazingly detailed and very very colourful! The exhibition runs till the 11th October 2009 and I highly recommend a visit!

Plus the British Museum is close to Oxford Street - which coincidentally has a MAC pro store very close.

I was very impressed with myself for buying not a lot! Of course, I would have bought more - but I tend to get overwhelmed in Oxford Street and end up running frazzled to Oxford Circus (whilst dodging the buses) to escape. But I braved the summer holiday madness and went to the MAC store to get my 15 pan pro palette I have been wanting forever... I bought it and went to Starbucks (the one that is miles away from MAC) and had a mango and passion fruit frappacino (YUM), and discovered they had given me the blush palette rather than the eyeshadow one! Sooo I walked all the way back, and exchanged it, and then went loopy and bought Silver Ring and a 239. That wasn't the plan! But Silver Ring is very pretty.

On the way back I noticed a Superdrug and found a Sleek 'Storm' palette! We don't have them 'down south' in my local Superdrug so I grabbed the last one.

It is beautiful. Smokey colours are my favourite and the shadows are very very pigmented. They are mostly shimmery with a matte light brown, dark brown and black. I think this could possibly be all you'd need in the eyeshadow department if you were that way inclined... which I'm not. But in all honesty, you can create both daytime and nightime looks with just this one palette. For £4.50! Fabulous.

Finally, I'm starting to become hooked on River Island. They're prices are excellent and a lot of there stuff is quite original. I went into Topshop on Oxford Street and felt old. I love there stuff too, but sometimes I end up looking 12 and very... Topshop-esque. I digress. I bought these chocolate coloured furry slippers :) They're so comfy and I adore the ribbon, diamante and stud detailing!

I want to go back to London already. It is by far the most amazing city on earth. I only live an hour away, why do I complain?

Current Favourite Drugstore Mascaras

Maybelline Lash Stiletto - Max Factor Masterpiece - Max Factor False Lash Effect

These are my current favourites when it comes to mascaras. I've always found that you can buy a good mascara that is a strong contender against it's high-end contender in a drugstore if you know what to look for. Which leaves precious pennies to buy the things reach really do differ in quality, such as eyeshadows.

For my favourites I picked out my favourite everyday mascara, my favourite waterproof everyday mascara (for the British weather, and days when I feel I may burst into tears) and my favourite evening mascara with that added va va voom.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto - £7.82

for everyday use

Apart from having really really rather nice packaging, this is a great everyday mascara. The bristly brush is very thin so easy to get into the roots of the lashes and separate them all, it is also tapered so it allows you to get the tiny lashes in the corners of your eyes. It's described as being an 'ultra length mascara' and in adverts it claims it can lengthen by up to 70% : I found it to be quite lengthening but not too 'ultra', so I would personally describe it more as a lengthening mascara that maintains the natural look! It is very easy to remove with your usual eye make up removing routine so there is no need to scrub it off!

Max Factor Masterpiece (waterproof) - £8.80

for rainy/gym/emotional days

Max factor make my absolute favourite mascaras. The quality of the packaging and formula is brilliant and I don't think I have ever used a mascara from them that I was disappointed with. The Masterpiece mascara is probably my most used out of the three because I feel safe with it on. I have no worries about it running down my face, clumping, or any other unpretty side effect! The brush is perfect; plastic bristles and very flexible so easy to wiggle around your lashes and get them all coated nicely before you comb it through adding definition and framing. It passed the swimming test with flying colours (no smudges!). Due to the waterproofness of this, it is more difficult to remove - I use an oil based eye make up remover and cotton pad which helps break up the product more easily meaning you can wipe it away.

Max Factor False Lash Effect - £10.99

For nights out or days when you want look fab

This is brilliant. It does what it says on the... tube! It lengthens, thickens, and basically does everything and more than a good pair of false lashes can do. Stay on! The brush is what you would call in all politeness, fat! But that is what makes this product work wonders on your lashes. I haven't yet tried the non-waterproof version of this, but I feel that the waterproof formula adds to the overall effect as all waterproof mascaras hold the curl effect you make with your curlers better than a non-waterproof version. However, nothing can be perfect. This is an absolute -bad word- to remove. Even with an oil based remover, and at a horrid stretch, baby oil, you will still need to put a little scrubbing into removing this. The price we pay to look pretty. If this was easier to remove, I would probably wear this at every moment I could, but I save it for special occasions due to the removal process.

I'm off to London tomorrow until Friday, so there will possibly (who am I kidding, of course there will be!) a huge amount of spending :)

Soap and Glory Haul + New bronzer and top!

After hearing that Boots had 1/3 off on ALL Soap and Glory products, I went a little crazy. Thankfully, Boots is the bestest shop in the world and I ended up with an extra 300 points (£3) on my advantage card from this little lot. A little something from Prestige also happened to fall into the basket.Super Eyes - Moisturising Eye Gel

I haven't had an eye gel before. In the past I've mostly used a cream and didn't find it to be too inspiring when it came to lifting my eye area. This particular gel has fine-line-fighting tripeptide, caffeine, pro-vitamin pathenol and Aloe Vera juice. Sounds good, looks good, and I'm very excited to try!

Make Yourself Youthful - Rejuvenating Face Serum

This smells like oranges. Yum Yum. It really smells good enough to nibble on. You apply this after cleansing and toning and before moisturising... and it has the benefits of anti-wrinkle peptides! Despite not having any wrinkles, I do sometimes find the odd fine line, which saddens me hugely. I'm praying this will solve my fine line sadness. The formula has Shea butter, sweet orange peel oil, ginseng and botanical soothing extracts. I still can't get over how nice it smells :)

Mist You Madly - Fragrant Body Spray

Soap and Glory make my favourite body sprays of all time. They're perfect for spritzing on after a shower (to save on the tres expensive eau de parfum!) and before bed. Mist You Mady smells as amazing as I hoped it would, with notes of Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Magnolia, Freesia, Vanilla and Musk! Plus the bottle looks very pretty.

Glam-A-Lot - Fragrant Body Spray

"Fresh Flowers layered on a Woody, Vanilla Musk base". This is divine. It makes me feel happy and la di da. The woody-ness of it is gorgeous, and I can't stop sniffing! With both body sprays, the fragrance lasts for a long time which is a bonus that other body sprays lack.

Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Sun Baked Mineral Bronzing Powder in 'Glam Tan'

I've heard a lot of good things about Prestige's bronzers, so I decided to pick one up. Unlike MAC MSFs, this isn't full of glitter. It has a gorgeous shimmery effect and it's the perfect golden bronzy colour on my fair skin. I'm looking forward to playing around with this, as I lack a selection in the bronzing department.

And finally, I fell in love in River Island. I don't venture into River Island very often, because they usually tend to stick to garish colours (e.g. fluorescent pink) which I'm frightened of. But I had time to kill so I popped in and I found this:

It reminds me of the sort of thing All Saints (one of my favourite shops!) sells, but at about 75% less monies. I love the fact it is fitted around the top and waist and then flares out around the back and hips. It also has ruched sleeves at the bottom! I love all the little touches. I'm happy.

EOTD - Smoky Blue

Nothing special, but I wanted to find a daytime non 'in your face' way to wear my freebie (The Body Shop blue eyeliner!).

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion
2. Maybelline Lash Stiletto
3. The Body Shop Eye Definer in 'black' - on upper waterline, and lower lashline.
4. The Body Shop Eye Definer in 'brilliant blue' - on lower waterline.
5. Nina Ricci black liquid eyeliner
6. MAC eyeshadow in 'meet the fleet' - on upper lid blended into:
7. MAC eyeshadow in 'aria'
8. MAC eyeshadow in 'pure energy' - on inner corner and brow bone.
9. (the darker brown) MAC eyeshadow in 'fake' - outer corner.

Mini Frugal Haul

As university draws closer, I have to retrain my shopaholicness into a more frugal variety! Today, I did exceedingly well! I even had money left over for a blueberry crumble muffin (perhaps this wasn't exactly re-educating my spending, there wont be any blueberry crumble muffins in September =( ).

From left to right:

• James Brown London, Intensive Mask for Hair - Free with Marie Claire magazine!! It smells delicious. Apparently Kate Moss and James Brown work hand in hand. The smell reminds me of The Body Shop's Shea Butter Body Butter!


• The Body Shop, Eye Definer in 'Black' and 'Brilliant Blue' - Free with InStyle magazine, these are due to be released in store on the 20th of August. The pencil is lovely and creamy and glides on really easily. I've always wanted a blue eyeliner and never got round to purchasing one, and now I have one for free plus a magazine to read!

• MAC, Liquidlast Liner in 'Powerplum' - I admit, this was not a frugal purchase, but I fell in love with the colour and I was afraid I'd never see it again if I didn't buy it there and then. Let's quickly move on. (The photo doesn't do the colour any justice, it is much more metallic plum in real life! Note to self: fix photo lighting).

• Collection 2000, Hot Looks Fast Dry in 'Dynasty' - After seeing this on http://lollipop26writes.blogspot.com/ I knew I had to have it, plus for £1.75 it beats OPI any day. Nearly. It's the perfect lilac cream and it looks good with very nearly anything.

John Frieda - Go Blonder Shampoo and Conditioner

Magazines, television, blogs, supermarkets - it's everywhere! So of course, being subjected to it on a regular basis, I gave in and bought the pair in Superdrug for £6.46 (currently on offer!). Never mind the fact I'm bordering brunette.

John Frieda's website claims the duo gradually lightens your hair to "achieve a magical sun-kissed sparkle". Sounds good to me. Especially as it is suitable for daily use. It also smells delicious; a citrusy fresh and summery scent.

The only tiny issue I have is the packaging. The shampoo looks nearly identical to the conditioner, meaning you have to double check if what you are holding IS what you think you're holding. But that's a silly issue that is easily managed by using one's eyes.

Before and after photos opportunity number 1!