Stuff from Accessorize and Claire's

I picked up some jewellery recently which were absolute bargains.

The Accessorize stuff were 70% off. 

The earrings were £1.20 and hair clips cost me £1.80. I have recently got into the habit of tying my hair to the side, and like to stick some fun clips to the bun to help it stay put. So these are ideal for doing this type of hair style.

Claire's is my 10 year old niece's favorite place in the world. She would live there if she was allowed. I took her to watch Disney's 'Tangled' (which by the way was based on my favorite fairy tale Repunzel. We loved it) and popped into Claire's to spend some money she had saved up. I probably am a bit too old to be shopping there myself, but I do like their jewelry. They had an offer where you get any five sale items for a fiver. So I picked these up.

The top two are necklaces. I also got a ring and two pairs of earrings. BARGAIN. My favourite are the earrings in the middle.

My niece picked up five items too. In contrast to what I got, her purchases were; some florescent eyeshadows, an Edward Cullins notebook,  big flower Hairband, novelty erasers and 'Hello Kitty' necklace.

Perfumes Galore

Luckily for me, the original Ghost is my second most favourite perfume of all time. This is because it is dirt cheap during the winter sales.

I stocked up on two of the gift sets for about £11 each from Boots today. Each bottle is a generous 30ml and comes with a 50ml lotion. I have constantly repurchased this perfume for years now. As I tend to use perfume like body spray, I don't feel too bad when I end up finishing this quickly. I always get compliments when I wear this, and it lingers on my skin and clothes (and hair!) for ages.

Another thing I always pick up in the winter sales form Boots are miniature perfumes.

This pack of four were the only ones left from my local branch. From left to right, they are:

• Stella McCartney
• Armani Code
• Amor Amor
• Emporio Armani Diamonds

I actually don't know what most of them smell like, I love their size. I permanently have a miniature perfume in my make up bag.  

At 5ml each, they are small and light enough to carry around with you at all times, and perfect to use throughout an evening to freshen up. These last me AGES. I think this set cost me £11.

E.l.F Haul - Initial Thoughts

Eyes,Lips, Face were doing a free delivery promotion, along with a free product if purchases were over £10. So here is what I ordered, and arrived quite promptly:

Tinted Moisteriser spf 15 in 'Honey' (tone 2) - £1.50

I actually wanted tone 3 in 'Spice', but it was sold out. The reason why I picked this up was because I wanted something light for when I am out for a couple of hours (I am not expecting this to be long lasting), or to put on after work on top of my morning foundation.

At first glance, 'Honey' seemed to be a tad too light for me but I was pleasantly surprised when I swatched it on my hand, at it blended in really nicely.


Duo Eye Shadow in 'Butter Pecan' - £1.50

I had prevously bought the duo cream shadow in 'Butter Pecan' and did not like it as it creased like crazy on the eyelids. The swatch on this duo is not bad, although it was a bit crumbly. But overall, seems like a decent pair of eyeshadows.

Customs Eyeshadow in 'Sage' - £1.50

I like this eyeshadow. Its just the colour I was looking for, goes on really well and I know I am going to love wearing this. Real bargain for such a good quality product.

False lashes Neutral Lash Kit i 'black' - £1.50

I have read good reviews about these falsies and am excited to try them out. I'll probably chuck the glue out and use my Duo though

Cream Eyeliner in 'Purple' - £3.50

This is the most expensive thing I picked up. I have been thinking about getting a purple gel liner for ages as I do use a pencil every now and again. It comes with a small angled brush which is okay. On first impressions, I will probably need to do a couple of layers of this liner to achieve the opaque look I like. You have to wait a minute or two for the product to dry or else it rubs off completely but once on, it stays put. I reckon it might work as a decent base as well.

I know I will have to add on an extra few minutes into my make up routine whenever I use this, for £3.50, its a good price to try a colour like this out.

Shimmering Facial Whip in Pink Lemonade - £1.50

I got this to use as a highlighter for my cheekbones. This is where E.L.F surpassed themselves in customer services. I discovered this product faulty when it came through the post. Obviously I was a bit annoyed but I didn't know if I wanted to hassled of trying to get a replacement for something that cost me £1.50. But then I thought I'll jot them a quick email about it. I took a picture on my camera of the product and sent that through. E.L.F were content with what they saw in the picture and they sent through a replacement the very next day. So simple and hassle-free. E.L.F's customer services is one of the best I have experienced.

Onto the product itself, I have only had the chance to swatch it and it looks pretty pigmented. I'll try it out tonight along with the tinted moisteriser as I have a birthday dinner to go to. A bit nervous, as Nars Sheer Glow has been my staple evening foundation for over a year now.

Make-up Mist and Set - Free (usually £3.50
This is what I got free as I spent over £10.  I've only ever used the Boots Vitamin e spray to set my make up in summer. This will be interesting to try out.

There you go. An abundance of Make up for under £12! Plus they're all pretty good too!

Lierac Paris Skincare Review

Lierac is a french skincare brand that I've been hearing more and and more about recently.  It may have been around for ages and I've only just picked up on it. BritishBeautyBlogger, someone whose articles I really enjoy reading, recently wrote about using Lierac products as staples in her skincare regime. It made me more curious.

There is a website (the UK version could be better) but other that that, I didn't find a lot of information about Lierac online. Its main philosophy is the use of botanical - plants, flowers, root, leaves etc - fused with technology (increasing the effectiveness of the ingredients?) that will help renew and restore skin. 

My problem areas from the beginning of time are the dark circles under the eyes (which I think I have finally found something that is helping combat this - for another post), darkness around the mouth and brown spots on the sides of my face. Very common ailments for indian skin. Sun screen is helping to stop the development of more dark spots. My skin is also ridiculously senstive, and gets all bumpy around the cheeks whenever its gets in contact with a product it doesn't like.

I have been trying a couple of Lireac products for about three months now, and thought enough time had passed to give my opinion on them.

First up, my: The favourite 'Apaisance Anti- redness fluid cream'. 

The cream contains :

• Linden Mallow extracts - limit inflammation and increase the tolerance of the skin.
• Oat Extracts - helps the skin to fight against external factors and their accelerating effects of skin aging thanks to their richness in essential amino acids
• Algae Extracts and Correcting Pigments - reduce the appearance of small blood vessels on the skin surface.

I like using this in the mornings before a moisturiser when not using a serum. I concentrate around the mouth area and have noticed that it has evened out the skin time ever so slightly. It might be due to the tinge of green in the product itself that gives an illusion of a more even complexion, but it is really exciting and have found myself a bit addicted to the stuff. It is not a serum and has more of a 'lotion' feel to it. I find that it sits really well under a moisturiser and foundations. 

Next up is the 'Apaisance Dermo-Comfort Cream'. 

This cream contains :

• Plant Extracts - Also with Linden and Mallow and Oat to strengthen the skin's natural barrier to help protect the skin from external aggressions
• Indian Ginseng Extract - intensifies the anti aging and protection action.

I use this once a day, either under a serum in the mornings when I am not wearing make up or as a night cream. This is because the consistency is thick and my skin is loving it in the winter at the moment. Sometimes I use the two both together at night to give my skin that extra treat. They make my face feel plumper and look a bit better.

Both products are from their anti-aging range, and designed for sensitive skin. I have been quite reluctant to start such products as I don't want to start too early. But now that I have (ahem) just ended my 20's (I'm cool, I'm cool about it.... I think...!), I've been slowly introducing it to my routine. 

I alternate between different products because I don't want my skin getting used to anything as eventually, I find things can stop working for my skin. Both priced at £30 for 40ml, you can peruse their entire range on the Lookfantastic website.

Side note: Lierac is part of Eco-Emballages and participate in a European programme to eliminate and recycle all components of their packaging. What a wonderful thing.

Soap & Glory 'The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser' review

Another cleanser review, and a few more still to come. As you can see, I have almost run out of my No7 Cleanse & Polish which I very much enjoyed using.

You can see my initial thoughts on the product here where I also talk about the original hot cloth cleanser, the Liz Earle one.

My skin seems to like the concept of using muslin cloths so thought I'd try out the Soap & Glory version of the cleanser.

 

As with all Soap & Glory products, this has fun packaging which looks nice in any bedroom or bathroom. The packaging on the product itself is just as lovely and although it looks made out of tin, I think it is plastic. 

Directions for use, and texture of product itself similar to other hot cloth cleansers.

However with this one, you leave it on for a minute or so before you use your muslin cloth (which is included). I find that just leaving it on for that extra minute really helps get rid of all the make up and grime. What I tend to do is apply a small squirt of the product onto my face, and then another squirt around the eye area. I warm the products into my hands before I apply to my face. It sinks right into my skin and it really does feel like the make up melts away from my face, including the stubborn eye make up. It smells very aromatherapeutic, which can be a bit strong for some. One of the key ingredients it boasts of containing is Panthenol which is a form of vitamin B5. You can read up on the beneifts of panthenol here. I have no clue how much of this ingredient is in this product, but any amount can surely be of some good?

This is another cleanser which I really like. It takes off all my make up, does not irritate or dry my skin out and controls those pore and blackhead problems. A definite thumbs up for me. You can pick this up for under £10 at Boots. For 12m, I reckon this will last you a couple of months if you use it every day, but for me it will last longer as I have other cleansers which I alternate with.

****ASOS is selling it for £5.50 at the moment!!!****

One thing to be aware of though is that the product comes in a toothpaste tube like packaging. So remember to squeeze from the top down to ensure you get as much product use as possible. I obvioulsly need to remember to do this from now on:

Talking about other cleansers, I went and bought me some Eve Lom which I will write about in the next coming weeks.