Pick of the week #16

 

Following on from last week's beach holiday shop, here's my top pics for the best beach beauty buys.



 

1. Face sun protection - Rituals £14.00

I find that regular body sun tan lotion is too greasy for my face and I end up getting a breakout while I'm away. I've been using this SPF30 face cream for 3 years now and I love it, plus I get a 30% discount which always helps with the price.

 

2. Maybelline BB cream - Superdrug £7.99

I LOVE the Universal Glow version of this BB cream. It gives a really good glow and pre-holiday I was worried that it would be too orange for me but whilst I was out there and gradually getting a tan it was the perfect cream for a coverage that wasn't foundation-heavy. I also used it for months afterwards going back to work, so I can't wait to get a good use out of it again.

 

3. Mark Hill sea salt spray - Boots £5.99

My hair is neither here or there so I like to put a product in it whilst I'm on the beach to stop the frizz and keep the flyaways tame. I can't remember the spray I used last year so I'm going to try this one this year and hopefully it'll keep my hair in good shape.

 

4. Palmers Cocoa butter lip balm - Boots £1.89

This is another beach bag essential for me that I've used year on year. I'm a devoted Vaseline addict but it just doesn't do the job in the sun, my lips just burn straight away. This lip balm is cheap and cheerful, smells great and does the job.

 

5. Moisture Surge - Clinique £32.99

This moisturiser is the best thing since sliced bread. Fact. I use it all throughout winter when my face gets dried out by the cold and wind, but also use it on holiday when I get a heat rash on my cheeks / chin every year without fail. It keeps my skin moisturised and clears it up much faster than anything else.

 

Next week's Pick of the Week - Holiday Footwear

 

Dans x 

I don't need more makeup but oh, go on then

Well after my mega makeup haul a couple of weeks ago, I blogged about how I wish I had bought a more striking lipstick but always back out as I'm not brave enough to wear red. I also came away wishing that I had bought a brow definer because my brows are just so fair and they haven't really grown back properly from when it was 'cool' to have thin brows in my teens.

So I was happy to see that this month's Marie Claire included either an Avon brow 'glimmerstick' or a lipstick in Smitten Red. My colleagues at work love it when my favourite mags give away a great product as I always buy several copies and dish them out for lunch time reading.

Awful quality, soz.

So when I got home that day I played around with them a bit and was really disappointed to find that the lipstick was nowhere near the smitten 'red' that Avon claimed it to be, but was actually a really bright pink which I've got several of in the bottom of my never worn stash makeup bag. But I actually quite liked the eyebrow pencil and even though it was a bit dark for me I can get away with putting it on quite lightly to fill my eyebrows out and make them look much better and defined.

 

I took the lipstick off straight away as I didn't want to scare my sister, who was my dinner date for the evening and would have said 'is the Queen coming for dinner' or something along those lines. Who knows, I might try it out for a night out but for the moment it's definitely one for the pile of neglected lippies.

 

Dans x

Pick of the week #7

1. Conscious collection print blouse - £9.99 H&M
I bought this blouse during my lunch break last week and I'm in love with it, it's so flattering and fits perfectly. The only problem was that I left it at work, so I couldn't wear it over the weekend!

2. Pineapple bikini - £32.00 Topshop
I'm really hoping for a summer holiday this year, and if we book one then I'm right down to Topshop to pick up this patterned bikini.

3. Turquoise tote bag - £39.00 Accessorize
This bag turned my head when I walked past Accessorize on my lunch break last week, and I couldn't resist but to go inside and fawn over it for ten minutes. Definitely on my wish list for this summer.

4. Ciate paint pot in Pocket Money - free with Marie Claire
I've been on the lookout for this for the past week because every shop I had to only had the gold shimmer pot available. I love this shade; it's very similar to the Boujoir So Laque in Beige Glamour, which is my ultimate fave nail polish.

5. Tribal print sun top - £26.00 Topshop
I'm definitely in love with prints lately and this suntop, new in this week at Topshop, is at the top of my list for a payday pay out.

Dans

It's bonus time!

There's nothing I like better than a Clinique bonus time!

I've been holding out for one to launch at Boots since Christmas when I got a giftcard from my family - I've even resisted the bonus times at Debenhams and John Lewis (still ongoing) because I just knew the Boots one would be fab and it is.

It's strange that we have two huge Boots in our city centre and yet neither of them do Clinique. So my sister and I went on a shopping trip today so I could get my hands on one, and I was not disappointed!

To qualify for bonus time, one item has to be skin care and so I bought my regular foundation (Even Better, shade #1 Alabaster) and the Anti Blemish Solutions cleansing foam - this is excellent if you have combination skin like me with the monthly pimples that just seem to flare and not go anywhere. It is quite drying but makes blemishes disappear sometimes as quickly as the next morning if I apply it before bed.

1. Moisture surge - I love this moisture surge and always use it as well as my regular moisturiser. It's perfect during the winter and I always make sure I stock up in time for summer holidays too, because as soon as I seem to step down off of the aeroplane steps into a hot sunny climate I come out in a heat rash that covers half of my face, and this really helps to make it disappear after a couple of weeks.

2. All about eyes - I've been hooked on this ever since the first time I tried it, and put it on nightly before bed after my three step, along with my moisturiser and moisture surge. It does really well to make my eyes look more awake and if you use it in the morning after a three step it can also help to keep eyeshadow / liner in place throughout the day.

3. Rinse off foaming cleanser - I've had this before in a giveaway and wasn't very keen on it. I find the texture very strange and I don't like the way it doesn't glide over my face as easily as the regular Clinique wash off face cleanser.

4. Chubby stick - I love love LOVE Clinique chubby sticks and can't rate them highly enough. DC bought me a pack of five a couple of Christmasses ago and I was automatically hooked. They give a good coverage of colour and I was surprised that they actually last a reasonable amount of time before they run out. The only downfall is that I find them quite drying on my lips, just the same as the regular Clinique lipsticks, although applying a little bit of vaseline just before application usually sorts that problem out.

5. Quickliner for eyes - this is the only product in this Bonus Time that I have never tried before, but my fellow Clinique-obsessed friend J swears by them, and goes through them like I don't know what. This is something that I've going to have to try out, and blog about later. I usually apply one of the Clinique dark eyeshadows under my eyes with a tiny brush for definition, but I'll try this eyeliner this week instead and see how I get on.

6. High impact mascara - I have been loyal to Maxfactor's Masterpiece for many years now and never thought I would find another mascara that I would love as much. When I got my first high impact mascara, I didn't even bother to try it because I was that convinced that it wouldn't help my lashes as much as the Masterpiece does. I only happened to use it when I had ran out of the Masterpiece and didn't have anything to use - and then I was changed woman! It's an excellent mascara even for fine lashes like mine. It adds definition and length and can help with both a day and night look - one coat for work, or for a night out build it up and it can look really striking. I now alternate between buying and using the Maxfactor mascara, and switching to Clinique whenever I get a bonus time.

As you can see this bonus time is great for me as I've used most of the products before and absolutely love them. It's annoying when you look forward to a Bonus Time and when it arrives it doesn't include anything that you would really use, and then you get a build up of products in your beauty cupboard that you don't use but don't want to throw away. But Boots always put on a really good deal and I always find myself pleased with what I get. Plus, the Clinique beauty assistants in my Boots are a hundred times more helpful and pleasant compared to our Debenhams and John Lewis. They always have a smile on their face and are more than willing to help. Bonus Time + excellent customer service = happy beauty shopping.

Dans