They See Me Haulin' | Collective Beauty Haul

Hey there girlies! 

Today's post actually scared me a little. It's amazing how much you buy in the space of a few weeks without realising! This doesn't even include the clothes I've splurged on! Oh well, at least I'll look preened and polished when I have no money aye!? 

These are my beauty purchases from the past month... 

Batiste Dry Shampoo 'Tropical': Every girl needs a good dry shampoo at hand for those days where your hair just needs a little pick me up. I have been using Superdrugs own brand as they had a 3 for 1 offer a while back, but if I'm honest, it wasn't very good. I picked this one up, having used and loved Batiste before. I've only ever used the original scent, however this tropical version is amazing; it smells like coconuts and the smell lingers on your hair for most of the day! 

Garnier Body Hydrating Firming Lotion: If you read my blog regularly you'll know how much I LOVE Garniers body lotion offerings; especially the gradual tanner. I'm almost out of that one, and picked this up as it was on offer. It claims to make your skin look smoother in 7 days....We shall see.

No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser: I actually also picked up the Superdrug Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser on offer for a mere £2.95 (bargain!) aswell but forgot to photograph it. The No7 hot cloth cleanser was picked up a while ago with a trusty £5 off voucher - Thankyou Boots! I've been using this for about a week so far, and haven't had to reach for my eye make up remover once. This does the job all on it's own - even with stubborn waterproof mascara! 

Superdrug Vitamin E SPF 15 Moisturising Day Cream: As the days are finally getting warmer (yay!) I've been looking for a cream with SPF in it to use in conjuction with my Good Things mattifying moisturiser. Although I tend to lean towards combination/oily skin in the summer, I do still have the odd dry patch, so the vitamin e cream provides enough moisture to combat dryness, whilst my Mattifying cream takes away any unwanted shine. 

Vitamin E SPF 15 Illuminating Eye Cream: My eye cream has gone walkabouts. I have no idea where it could have wandered off to, but either way this is my replacement. It has a slight shimmer to it, which illuminates the eye and brightens up any dark circles, and the SPF is always welcome some summertime. 

Revlon Cushion Brush: I was due to replace my trusty old Remington hair brush, and was looking for a paddle brush, however came across this Revlon one on Fragrance Direct for a mere £1.99 so thought why not. So far, so good! 

Orlando Professional Teasing Brush: As my hair is long, sometimes the weight of it can drag the hair down, making it look flat, so I occasionally backcomb my hair to add more volume at the roots. Also purchased at Fragrance Direct for £1.99, this teasing brush is just what I needed. 

Illamasqua Blusher 'Lover': You can find my full review of this blush here. It's a peachy matte finish blush which looks gorgeous when applied. 

Dainty Doll 'You Are My Sunshine' Blusher: Again from Fragrance Direct (Had a bit of a haul there alone!) is this gorgeous blusher from Nicola Roberts make up range; Dainty Doll. I'm planning a full review on this, but it's a gorgeous coral with flecks of gold running through, very similar to Nars Orgasm.

Sinful Colours Nail Polish: On a recent trip to town I found myself browsing in Boots and came across Sinful Colours. I'd heard a few bloggers rave about these so thought I'd use my advantage card points to treat myself to a few. I picked up from left to right: Be Happy, Island Coral and Orange Cream. I've only used Island Coral so far, and I love it. The colours are amazing, and I'm planning a review with swatches of them shortly! 

W7 Eye Shadow Brush: This was a rush purchase really as my eyeshadow brush from ELF had broken, so I needed a quick replacement. I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet, having only been using it for a few days, however so far, i'm not OVERLY impressed. 

MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush: I actually found this on eBay, as I was NOT about to fork out over £30 on one brush. I bought it shortly after my 217 purchase, and was so impressed I decided I wanted more, however I have yet to find the perfect job for this. I thought it would be good for stippling in foundation, however my Real Techniques buffing brush does a better job. I did try it with cream blush yesterday and found it did a good job so maybe it will be destined for that... 

MAC 217 Blending Brush: How have I lived 23 years without owning this?! For £17, this is definitely a pricey purchase, however I do feel it's worth it as I can't see myself needing another blending brush. Ever. 

Butter London Nail Polish 'Jaffa': I found this by chance on the Debenhams website on sale for a bargainous £3.40! That's almost a £9 saving. It went into my basket faster than you can say 'Jaffa'. 'Jaffa' is a gorgeous bright orange verging on coral. I have found that the formula is quite thin, however I want to do a full post on this soon so i'll expand later. 

Essie Nail Polish 'Mojito Madness': I was looking for a minty green colour to replace my Rimmel Lycra Pro 'Peppermint', as I've lent it to my sister, which means I may never get it back, and online, Mojito Madness looked like a contender. Upon opening the package however, it's a lot darker than I had thought, so I'm not sure whether it will be a regular on my nails or not. I haven't actually tried it yet so I will hold judgement until I do. 

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 'Notting Hill Nude': I have this lipstick in the shade 'Soft Coral' and loved it, so picked it up in a lovely soft nude, only to get home and realise it's almost identical to Rimmel Lasting Finish Kate '03'. Bad times. Notting Hill Nude is very slightly lighter in tone, and I do like nude, so I imagine I'll get enough wear from them both. 

MAC Creamsheen Lipstick 'Coral Bliss': If you follow me on twitter you'll have probably seen my many tweets moaning that this was out of stock and I couldn't get hold of it but really wanted it. Well it FINALLY came back in stock on the Debenhams website so I snapped it up at the same time as my Butter nail polish. I was right to have lusted over it for so long. It is gorgeous, and it's been my most used lip product ever since I received it a week ago. The most perfect peachy coral with the right amount of moisture and shine, which doesn't cling to your dry bits too much, giving a lovely and even finish to the lips. This one will be a definite summer favourite of mine. 

Calvin Klein Delicious Truth Lipstick 'Illusion': I forgot to photograph this one, but i'm wearing it now and it's no nice I have to add it in. A very sheer peachy pink, this lipstick is almost like wearing a gloss, and it's absolutely perfect for days where you just want a slight wash of colour on your lips without having to crack out a full coverage lipstick. 

So that's all my beauty buy's over the past few weeks. 

Have you been splurging lately? 

Real Techniques Core Collection.

Hey there lovelies! 

Today's post is my review of the Real Techniques Core Collection. I've been meaning to do this post for a while but kept forgetting to take pictures, then when I did remember my brushes were dirty! I've finally gotten around to doing it so without further ado.... 

As I'm sure you're all aware, Real Techniques are designed by pro make up artist Samantha Chapman, and are designed with the aim of making professional looking make up easy for us normal peeps. 

The core collection consists of 4 brushes which are aimed at creating a flawless base. As Ms Chapman says, "great looks start with a flawless base". 

I'm not a massive fan of the cheap plastic packaging that this collection came in, however I usually throw packaging away so I guess it doesn't matter too much. I'd have preferred something sleeker looking, perhaps in a more eco friendly cardboard box? The set also comes with a black 2 in 1 case and stand. I travel a lot to see my boyfriend, (who very nicely bought me this set - good boyfriend points Arron! =)) so the travel case has been very handy for keeping my brushes together, and out of harms way. I doubt i'll ever use it as a stand, however. 

Each collection has a colour code. The core collection, as you can see, is gold. This is particularly handy if you are in a rush and need to find a certain brush quickly. There's nothing more annoying that having to empty your entire make up bag or pot of brushes just to find one thing! 

The buffing brush is probably my favourite from this collection, along with the contour brush. This brush is meant to be used with powder and mineral foundation. Now, I don't use powder foundation, so I have found a use for this brush as a stippling brush. It's a fairly similar shape and size to the Real Techniques stippling brush anyway, so I have been using this with my Rimmel Match Perfection foundation, and find that it creates a flawless look, giving a seamless finish, that my other foundation brushes just don't give. 

The contour brush is meant to be used with highlighter to contour the cheekbones. Again, I don't always use this brush as it's intended purpose. I find that this brush is perfect as a blusher brush. I like to apply blusher to the apples of my cheeks, and sometimes my blusher brush is just too big, however this one allows me to create more of a subtle glow. 

I think maybe you're starting to see a pattern here...I use this brush not as a foundation brush, but as a concealer brush, as I just find it too small to use with foundation. As a concealer brush however, it's the perfect size. 

Finally we have the detailer brush. This is my least used brush, as I have been trying to use it as an eye brush, and failing. I've recently actually looked at what this brush is meant for; concealer and/or lips, and hung my head in slight embarrassment. I've since began using it as a lip brush and I feel that I may get a bit more wear out of it now. 

Although I don't actually use the majority of these brushes for their intended purpose, I have found that they do work for me in my own way. All brushes are soft to the touch, don't absorb too much product and do help to create more of a flawless finish to my skin (however impossible a mission that may seem). I'd highly recommend this set as a starter kit for people who want to start using a higher end brand, but don't want to spend those higher end prices. This kit, and each of the others (I think) retail at £21.99 at boots, however Amazon occasionally sell them for a few pounds cheaper.