Estee Lauder Pure Color Sheer Rush LipShine - Poppy Shock - A Review

Estee Lauder Pure Color Sheer Rush LipShine in Poppy Shock | Boots | £19.50

These Estee Lauder Pure Color Sheer Rush Lip Shines are super glossy, hydrating and very pigmented. I love this colour which is a gorgeous orangey red, perfect for spring when it finally arrives.

The main thing I love about this lipstick and the reason I turn to it over my many MAC lipsticks is because it is so hydrating. Usually, with bright colours, you have to prep your lips beforehand, use a decent scrub and hydrate them a few hours before applying a bright, vibrant colour, but with these, they're so hydrating, they don't stick to or make dry lips stand out.

The colour also lasts a lot longer than most of my MAC lipsticks, it sort of leaves a stain on the lips which gradually fades after around 5 - 6 hours of wear.

I think this colour may be discontinued, or sold out now, but Boots have two shades left.

Laura xx

     

Manchester Mega Shopping Haul

A few months ago, my friend and I planned a shopping trip to Manchester for 17th December, so last week, we jumped on the train (£17 return from Nottingham!) and stayed in at the Premier Inn Manchester Central for £29.

I spent wayyyy too much money, but I have been working so hard over the year that I felt like I deserved it, even if I did feel a tad guilty! I pretty much worked all summer and only had a few days off and the same over my Christmas break. I have Christmas Eve (today), Christmas day and Boxing day off and then the fun begins again - back to working!

Everyone in the blogger world seems to love seeing and reading about shopping hauls (and I love showing you what I brought!), so here are a larger number of photos showing you what I spent my money on:

Gorgeous printed top, looks really nice and flattering on. 

£32 | Oasis

I love the sparkle to this top and it helps to jazz up a pair of blue jeans for dinner/wine with friends. 

£30 | Oasis

A bargain from H&M | £12.99

I love the colour and zip feature of this jumper, it's something a bit different

H&M | £14.99

Another Oasis purchase, I spent quite a lot of money in here! Although I think it's gone down to £25 in the sale in stores.

Oasis | £32

I thought this was a little expensive for a lace vest, but loved the style and fit when I tried it on.

Oasis | £28

I wanted a pair of boots that would be ideal for day and evening and I think these fit perfectly. I've seen these boots worn by quite a few other bloggers. 

Black scalloped mid chelsea boots | Faith, Debenhams | £75

This necklace was in the sale for £10 which I thought was quite good. It's simple and will go with most outfits, although I'm not very good with necklaces and really struggle to match them up!

Box Chain and Spike Necklace | Warehouse | £10

I absolutely love this stuff. Conditioner often makes my hair lank and greasy, so I use this as an alternative. It really helps me to brush through my hair after showering and makes it lovely and smooth but without weighing it down.

Ojon Revitalizing Mist | Boots | £20.50

I've never tried this before but liked the sound of it. It smells very unusual, herbal and quite heavily scented. I will review fully once I've used it a few times.

Ojon Full Detox Rub-Out Dry Cleansing Spray | Boots | £19

In need of a new scrub, I picked up this. Although apparently it's for oily skin? Not sure whether this will be too drying on me. I'm almost out on my MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator but wanted to try something else.

Clinique Exfoliating Scrub | Boots | £18.50

I've been eyeing this up for sometime now so decided to purchase it. It's very strong and sensuous, hence the name! I don't think it would be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. It's very vampy and overwhelming, perfect for winter.

Estee Lauder Sensuous Noir | Boots | £48.50

Three Estee Lauder Foundations | Double Wear Ecru | Double Wear Light Intensity 2 | Resilience Lift in Nude

I love this ultra dark and vampy lipstick from Smashbox in Black Plum. I will swatch it soon and write a review.

Boots | £15.50

I think this is from a discontinued collection, but I thought it was gorgeous and I'm a real sucker for highlighters.

MAC In The Abstract Highlighter

I'm really loving dark vampy lipsticks at the moment in berry shades and deep purples. I think this lipstick is discontinued or was limited edition.

There are some really, really good swatches of Black Cassis on beautyswatch.com 

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Velvet Lipstick in Black Cassis Matte

This is a very summery me colour. It goes on beautifully and is really sheer and hydrating with a nice pop of colour. You can put it straight on dry winter lips and it still looks lovely, there's no need to prime your lips beforehand.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Sheer Rush Lipshine | Boots | £19.50

Again, I think this is another discontinued product, but I love the colours. I've never tried a Mineralised eyeshadow from MAC, so can't wait to try this out.

MAC Mineralised Eyeshadow Duo, Thunder and Rain

This is limited edition and now out of stock on the Aveda website. I like the sound of this mascara as it's conditioning and contains Iceland moss. Not sure what that's supposed to do, but I'm looking forward to trying it.

Aveda Black Forest Mosscara | Aveda | £15.50

Have you been on any shopping hauls recently? Leave me a link to your blog in the comments as I'd love to take a look!

Laura xx

Mini Shopping Haul - Christmas Shopping Haul

Here is my mini haul. Woop!! very excited with my purchases.

Aveda Botanical Kinetics Exfoliant - one of my favourite products at the moment so I had to reorder.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Naural in Light - Bit worried this is going to be too light for my skin, but I'll give it a whirl.

Origins Clear Improvements Active Charcoal Mask - another one of my favourite products at the moment so had to reorder a back up!

Aramis Eau de Toiletter Natural Spray 110ml - Present for my daddy for Christmas.

Estee Lauder Modern Muse 50ml - Present for my mummy for Christmas, although I do really like this myself!

Tom Ford for Men Eau de Toilette Spray 100ml - Present for my brother for Christmas. Took a bit of a gamble with this as I have no idea whether he'll like it!

Have you done any christmas shopping yet? What are you planning on getting for your family/friends?

Laura xx

Crazy Beauty Haul!

Hey guys,

I've been spending some major money recently and not saving any of it... Here are the latest products to add to my list. Reviews will follow in due course when I have a spare 5 minutes...

Origins Ginger Hand Lotion and Hand Cleanser. £16 each

I absolutely adore the smell of these. They're actually a present for my friend's birthday, but still a recent purchase. The lotion is nice and moisturising to say it's only a lotion and not a cream and the smell lasts for ages.

Clinique Sparkle Skin Body Exfoliating Cream £22.50

Clinique Lash Power Mascara £17

I've read so many good reviews about the Body Exfoliating Cream that I decided it's time to splash out. I've been using a microdermabrasion one from The Sanctuary recently which I loved, so we'll see if this lives up to that.

The mascara was brought as I'm sick of my mascara running under my eyes and making my dark circles look even worse. I'm hoping this will stay put, but that it'll be easily removed with warm water as per the website instructions.

Estee Lauder Idealist Dual Action Refinishing Treatment £36

On the search for a new exfoliator, I was either going to purchase Origins Microdermabrasion or the Clinique 7 Day Scrub, but then I came across this product. I love the fact it contains 30%  glycolic acid which my skin loves and always looks revived after using products containing it. This has mixed reviews, but I think it'll work well with my skin type. Very expensive purchase if it doesn't work, but i'll still use it.

Aveda Phomollient Styling Foam £14.50

I've read soooo many amazing reviews on this product. Every site I visit people are raving about this product. My hair is very thin and lacks volume, especially straight after washing. I'm hoping this might give some omph! This is one I'll certainly do a review on.

Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask £22

I'm not really sure if this is going to work, or how it'll help my combination normal/dry but spot prone skin. I'm hoping it won't dry it out too much and that it'll help with the spots and congestion around my jaw line. This is one I'll review.

Origins Pure Cream Rinseable Cleanser £18

I like that this is soap free and quite moisturising which is ideal for my dry/combination skin. I've used it before and it's a product I keep going back to.

MAC Strobe Cream 30ml - £12.50

MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Peachykeen - £18

Not 100% sure why I ordered these two products! The blusher is so similar to a Smashbox one I have, if a little bit peachier and I'm not 100% sure if the strobe cream will brighten my skin. I usually wear Estee Lauder Double Wear which I find extremely drying and very matte, so I thought this might give my skin a bit of a boost. I'm going to try mixing it with the double wear before applying it too and then stippling the products onto my moisturised skin.

The blush is gorgeous and extremely pretty, but do I really need another blush? Not really!

Smashbox Halo in Light - £39

Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener - £16

Smashbox Lipstick in Melondrama - £15.50

This is the second purchase of my Halo powder but in the next shade as I have a little bit of colour since the sun has been out.

The Photo Op Under Eye Brightener is great and something I've tested before in Boots. Under my eyes at the moment, after working 7 days weeks for goodness knows how long, are very dark and concealer just doesn't cover it.

Been in love with Melondrama Lipstick for so long. It's a gorgeous peachy orange. Doesn't have amazing staying power, but looks lush!

Estee Lauder Double Wear in Ecru - £28.50

I have a love hate relationship with Double Wear. I love that it stays on my skin ALL day, any day, no matter what the weather, but I hate the drying and taught feeling it gives my skin.

MAC Pro Longwear Foundation - NC15 - £25

On the basis of the above, I decided to also try a MAC Pro Longwear Foundation to see whether this will give the same coverage as Double Wear, but without the drying and very matte finish. Didn't really read any reviews on this, just liked the fact it was a longwear foundation and though, oh, sod it!

Have you brought any new makeup purchases recently? Have you brought or tried any of these products? Recommend something for me to try if there's something you're loving at the moment.

Laura xx