A Not-so Surprising Lush Haul

It's been a while since I've had a Lush haul where I've bought loads of bath bombs. I do use a good lot of bath bombs over a year but generally I don't take many baths so I don't use too many bath bombs. I thought I'd share a few bath bombs I picked up on my last haul just at the start of last month, some of the products may not be available anymore due to the fact they're seasonal but they may come back next year.

• Monsters Ball: This bath bomb was part of the Halloween range so it's no longer available. I tend to stock up on seasonal products so I can use them whenever I feel like it rather than waiting another year for them but I didn't get many this year. This bath bomb is quite fun because it is really bright which is not what you expect for a Halloween product. This is bright pink and has electric blue inside and is very fun. It smells very citrus-y and contains lime and Himalayan salt. As it is not available online they have suggested a similar product which is the Comforter bath bomb, which I do think it is similar too. 

• Avobath: this bath bomb contains a mixture of avocado, lemongrass and olive oil. Honestly I don't really like avocado but this bath bomb is fresh and simple. There's not much going on with this bath bomb and its not too interesting but it's calming and great for a relaxing bath. 

• Floating flower: this bath bomb contains lavender and almond oil. This is a very fresh bath bomb also and reminds me of the avobath bath bomb as it is a similar shade of colour and doesn't have any surprises inside. The top part is a harder substance and contains cocoa butter, as the bath bomb melts this floats along the top of the water as the name suggests. 

• Peachy: this bath bomb is very fruity as you would assume, it does smell peachy but also of grapefruit and lemon. It's very colourful inside as it fizzes and shows a variety of pinks, oranges and yellow. It's one of the classic Lush bath bombs and I feel like everyone loves this one.

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• IRL: this bath bomb is a collaboration between Lush and Zoella and I believe that it is no longer available. The website suggests to try the Twilight bath bomb as an alternative but I don't think that's the best one I'd probably go for Intergalactic. This bath bomb is rose and orange inspired. When it fizzes more colours come out and it really swirls and spreads nicely around the tub I do wish this had a longer run.

I can't wait to try some of the Christmas themed bath bombs in my next haul and see what they bring out this year. Has anyone tried any of these before?

C.Y.O. Haul

Just before lockdown I wanted to restock on some make-up. I often use the C.Y.O. foundation as it's pretty affordable and cruelty free. Yet on this trip the whole section had been cleared and I couldn't find any. I was told by staff in Boots that they were discontinuing the whole collection which I found very sad to see. I thought it may have just been that Boots were stopping selling them but after a quick google I found out that everything is discontinued and the site has put up an announcement. I hate to see a good brand go and it will be annoying to read considering the products are now unavailable but I thought I'd share anyway incase there's still some places with stock! I bought a good few things and a few things I wouldn't normally buy as everything was more than half price to clear stock.

What I got: 

• C.Y.O. long lasting foundation - this is something I've used many times before and love the lightweight consistency. I go for the lighter shades and even at that they can come out quite dark but do look nice when properly blended. It's very watery and smooth and lets other products sit on top nicely.
• Triple Fix prime, glow and mist - honestly the look of this really intrigued me. Its a very pale pink which has a shimmer flowing throughout which you shake around and honestly it just looks pretty. I haven't tried it yet but it's meant to prep the skin and also leave a nice glow so I'm not sure how shimmery it is on the skin but is very interesting.
• Plumping Lip gloss in the shade Act Up - this is very nice lip gloss material which is kinda sticky but also very shimmery with little specks of glitter throughout, it's also pretty light on.
• Kohl gel eyeliner in the shade highflier - this is just your basic eyeliner but I really liked this as its a very electric blue which is not something I can say I've ever tried before. I won't get a lot of use out of it but it'll definitely make an eye look pop.

• Take the Threeway shadow, liner and mascara - this is interesting too as it's very skinny and small for something that has a few things incapsulated inside. On one side theres a liner and underneath that is and eyeshadow that you can blend. On the opposite end there's a mascara. I think this is such a good idea and perfect for short trips or something to throw in your bag for everyday use.
• Brow Sculpting pencil - this is your standard pencil with one end being the pencil shade, and the other being a brush. I feel like you can't go wrong with a pencil that has a brush with it it's always a bonus to help get the perfect blend.
• Two clever by half lipstick and liner in the shade Free Pass - I think you could tell if you've read this far that I love duo products or things which have more than one function and this is no different. One side is a liner and the other is the lipstick, which again is perfect for having in your bag and carrying around.

Has anyone tried any products before? What would you try if you could?

 

Yet another Kiko Haul

If you've been reading my blog for a while or even just read one or two posts, something you'll see a lot of is Kiko. Now there's no shops near me but whenever I'm travelling I buy so many things and I decided that this time I should just do an online order. I was running out of a lot of things and running low on staples so I re-purchased somethings that I have tried and loved before as well as ordering some new bits. Also as I am writing this I realised that I didn't include the lip products that I bought. I got the Unlimited Double Touch in the shade 101, which comes with a base colour and top coat. I love these and I have the shades 102,103 which I love so I thought this shade also wouldn't disappoint but I was wrong. The shade is too light and doesn't compliment my skin tone in the slightest. I also received a free lipstick for a purchase over £50 but I misplaced it so don't know what it was but it was a nice surprise to receive it also!

The first thing I repurchased was the Green Me mascara - now I have tried this before and have been using it consistently. I love their Green Me range as they are very environmentally friendly in this range particularly in their packaging of the products, and I think it looks great. I've never had any issues with this mascara, it's super easy to apply, dries quickly and is easy to remove also. There's a lot of product in the tube also, you'll be using this for months without it drying up.

Pink Clay Mask - This is a hydrating and soothing clay mask. The weirdest part about this mask is the fact that there is no instructions or how to use on the product itself, which I think is pretty necessary for something that you're going to put on your face. It's pretty easy to give it a quick Google but I still find it on that you would need to do that. This mask is okay for what it is, it did make my skin feel soft but I don't think it actually did anything beneficial for my skin. 

Smart Contouring Palette - I again, have tried this before. I got the shade 01 light to very light. This is meant to be a highlighter and contour set, yet I don't think the highlighter part is much of a highlighter. I actually use the highlighter as a powder for setting my makeup, but if you wanted a very subtle highlight this could be a good choice. The contour is a great contour though the shade is very light and blendable they're also very soft powders which are buildable.

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Eyebrow Sculpt Automatic pencil shade 04 - This was another re-buy (clearly loving Kiko) This eyebrow pencil is super handy. It comes with a twist up pencil which is not a pencil feel it's a lot softer and comes out on your eyebrows like it's an eyebrow gel so it is very easy to stroke out and draw. The other end is a little brush which you can use to brush out your brows or fix lines that you've drawn with the pencil. I would highly recommend this, especially if you don't spend too much time on your makeup.

Smart Hydra Shot Stick - I've never tried this before and never tried anything similar. I use facial sprays and toners usually to hydrate my face but I love the idea of hydrating a particular area that may need some extra hydration. This is great for sensitive places and priming before applying makeup and is a great little product to have for sure.

Smart Hydrating Foundation shade 01 Warm Rose - Foundation is something I change up a lot and it doesn't tend to affect my skin what I use. I use the lightest shade as I am very pale. This isn't a very pale shade and does bring a lot of colour to my skin. It's glowy and more matte than liquid finish and I like that in a foundation. You don't need a lot of product for it to go a long way so it does last a while, although foundation is probably the product that runs out the most for me. I would like to invest in some more high end foundations if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them!

Has anyone bought anything from Kiko recently? What are you loving at the moment?

Kiko Haul

Seems like lately all I have are hauls, but my makeup collection needed some new pieces, I ended up running out of mascara and foundation because I've been so good not buying makeup recently so hauls were definitely needed. Kiko is one of my favourite brands, especially the new vegan range that they released earlier this year, and they are cruetly free which is amazing! They were doing an offer last time that I was there that was buy two get two free on certain collections, as far as I remember which is amazing so of course I picked up a few bits.

I got one piece from the Green Me collection, the Volume mascara in black. I really like this mascara and I feel like it will last a good long time. The packaging feels really nice and the tube is really big and makes it easy to apply, I love everything from this collection as the packaging is made from recyclable materials and it's all natural ingredients.

The second thing that I purchased from the Gold Waves collection and it's the Gold Waves Foundation in the shade 01, I am really pale so the lightest shades are normally the best for me, unless I need to cover more imperfections. I really like the texture of this foundation it's quite heavy but is easily blended in and although it's thick it leaves a nice glow and colour on my skin. I know this is a really nice foundation for this time of year as the weather is nice as it also has SPF 25 and also protects my skin from sun rays and I know I'll be using it for the rest of the summer. 

The next two items are from the Jungle Jelly collection, one of them is a lip and cheek tint in the shade 01 natural beige, although admittedly I have not used it on my cheeks, I know that it would do a good job at adding a nice simple colour to the cheeks as the texture of the product is nice and smooth with a subtle pigment. On the lips it's very soothing and creamy but it doesn't last long, it comes off really easily but I do like how it looks on, it's very natural and a subtle pink purple tone to it, it's nicer than using a liquid lipstick in the hot weather.

The last thing I got is the Jungle Jelly eyeshadow palette in Hyperreal Forest, I really love Kiko palettes as they're so cute and small and easy to carry and travel. I love the colour of the palette it's a vibrant blue and it's see through from the front of the package, which is what intrigued me in the first place. There's only a few matte shades in the palette most of them are shimmery, I really love the juxtaposing colours of the palette and I'm really a sucker for all these bright colours recently. I love the bright vibrant pink and blue shade, the neutral shades are quite light and need a few layers to bring colour to the lid, but the bottom three shades are quite pigmented. Although I love the size of the palette the shades themselves have very little in them and I think if they were used frequently they would hit pan very quickly.

     

The above swatches are of the Jungle Jelly palette in Hyperreal Forest, the shades themselves don't have names, unless I can't find them but they are swatched in order. 

The above swatch is of the Jungle Jelly lip and cheek colour.

Has anyone tried any of these products before? What do you think?

Sephora Haul

You might live somewhere with easy access to a Sephora store, but where I live there isn't one in the entire country so it is very exciting to see a Sephora store when I'm travelling. I know that there are a lot of brands in the store that I can get online or elsewhere at home but there's something so exciting about being in the store which makes you want to buy it all, which is dangerous for my bank account, so naturally I did a little haul.

The first thing I picked up and got very excited about is the Sephora Radiance Cleansing Foam. I love a product that foams up when you use it, I'm not sure why it's just so fun. You pump a little bit of this product onto your face and rub it in and it's so soft and cleansing on your skin. After you wash it off your skin feels so soft and smooth, I will definitely be repurchasing this after I finish this bottle.

The next product that I purchased is the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray, and I have heard a lot of good reviews on this product that I thought I would treat myself to it especially as the weather is getting so warm at the moment. I think that it does a really good job controlling the oil and making my makeup stay in one place all day, it's quite refreshing and does what it's supposed to do. The thing I really dislike about it is the smell of the product itself. It's really strong and I hate it, even though I know you shouldn't be inhaling it so it's not the worst problem. 

The last thing that I got was the Kat Von D Lolita Lip Duo. I'm a sucker for mini lipsticks anyway and I've been looking into buying these colours for a while so I needed this duo set. I really love the Kat Von D liquid lipsticks as they last so long and the shades are all so beautiful. These colours are very similar to each other, and they are variations of each other, the shades Lolita and Lolita II and the only difference is that one is a darker version of the other but they are both so beautiful on and they're going to be a staple makeup piece for me for sure. 

The swatches are of Lolita and Lolita II.

Does anyone else love visiting Sephora? Have you tried any of these products before?

Mini Rimmel London Haul

Rimmel London is one of my favourite brands ever, it might be because of the Kate Moss lipsticks but I love all their stuff. I bought a few products of theirs the other day because they were doing a buy one get one half price offer.

     

• First of all I picked up a new Rimmel Kate Moss Nude Collection lipstick. Of course they were sold out in the shops and if there was some left they were either broken or didn't have any choice. This was the only shade they had in stock, but I like brown lipsticks anyway so it doesn't bother me much. It's number 48 and the nude packaging is so pretty. 
• Since they didn't have any choice in the nude lipsticks I bought another normal Kate Moss lipstick for the sake of it. I got this in the shade 16 which actually turned out to be pretty nude despite the vibrant pinkness of it. It brightens up my lips a bit but not as much as I thought it would which is actually a good thing because pink lipsticks don't really suit me. 
• The next thing I bought was the Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder. I needed a new powder and saw that this one has natural minerals in it compared to my last one. So I was thinking it's better for my skin as my skin isn't the best lately. 
• The last thing I bought was the Brow This Way eyebrow kit. As I don't have that many eyebrow products I don't know what I like yet. I tried the gel on this and it was nice the first time I tried it but after that it just looked to dark and greasy so right now the powder side is working for me more. Plus the little brushes in it are so cute, typical statement of me.

Anyone else a big fan of Rimmels products and which ones?