Products Under £5 I'm Loving At The Moment!

I missed the whole July favourites boat, so I thought I'd do something different this month! Being in college this year has meant I've really been on a budget, so I've tried a LOT of cheap makeup, and these are some of my favourite products. Everything mentioned are products I've used a lot, whether I got them a month ago or 6 months ago. I'm not saying I prefer these products to other products I've spent more on, but these are all more than decent alternatives and things that are always in my makeup bag! All these products are amazing quality and things I wouldn't think twice about repurchasing!

Face;

Natural Collection Tinted Moisturiser £1.99 - With a cheap company like Natural Collection you're never going to get a perfect product, especially not where foundation/tinted moisturiser is concerned. I've heard a lot of bad reviews off people with dry skin about this product, but I can honestly say I have dry skin and I didn't have any problems. I have to say I don't think it's moisturising AT ALL, and I still apply moisturiser before I apply this. I am incredibly pale, especially on my face and so I got the colour "fair" not exactly optimistically thinking it'd probably come out orange, as with a lot of drugstore brands lightest shades. However, this gives me a bit of healthy colour and glow without looking like a shiny orange, and I'd say a medium coverage. It has to be blended well do avoid any patches but it lets my skin breathe and with just a dab of concealer over the top, it's perfect for holiday or days you want to look more natural!

Collection 2000 Pressed Powder in Ivory £1.99 - I remember using this about age 14! I suffer from dry skin so I never want a heavy powder, because it leaves me with a cake face. However I like to use powder to buff in my foundation and concealer, and this works a treat! Something I wouldn't recommend to people who suffer from oily skin, because I don't think it would do a particularly good job about protecting against shine for the duration of a day, but if you have normal/dry skin, I definitely recommend this, it's so cheap aswell!

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19 - I couldn't NOT mention this! Best concealer I've ever used, I have a massive collection of concealers that are too orange, too light coverage, too cakey, the complete wrong shade, and this is just perfect! I do own one in "light" which is fairly orange, but the "fair" shades are perfect for anyone with really pale skin! 

Cheeks;

Beauty UK Baked Blusher in Peaches and Cream £3.99 - I've never really been big on blush, I spend half my time in a morning getting RID of my pink cheeks, but this is one of the first blushes that really converted me! I've always been a fan of glowy skin, and this blush is fairly sheer but leaves you a gorgeous peachy glow on your cheeks that I must say I'm a massive fan of. Most of the time if I do reach for a blush it's this one, and I've used blush more than I ever have before since owning it. If you're looking to try a baked blush, Beauty UK are definitely a good place to start!

W7 Honolulu Bronzer around £2 - Obvious dupe for Benefits Hoola, this is a matt brown shade, pretty much the only type of bronzer I'll use and fantastic quality for the price! I'm pale (as I've already mentioned 3582042 times so far on this post) and for a while I wouldn't step anywhere near a bronzer, let alone a scary dark one like this! It's highly pigmented, and I really have to use this with a light hand or I would end up with a dirt on face look, but it's what I reach for when I want a more bronzed look, as there's definitely more colour payback than my everyday bronzer, the Bourjois chocolate one!

Eyes;

Collection 2000 Big Fake False Last Effect Mascara £4.99 - I actually HATED this when I first got it. I've always loved massive dramatic lashes, and I've had my share of clumpy awful looking spider lashes along the way, and on a 3 for 2 deal in Boots I picked this up, oblivious of the hype surrounding it. I tried it, thought it was rubbish, threw it into a draw and in all honesty, forgot all about it. Then, maybe a month later, I started seeing blog posts and youtube videos going on about this mascara, so I decided to give it a go. It must of dried out a bit or something, but anyway it was WAY better than it was before! I personally prefer it as a second coat over another mascara, but its fine alone aswell. Definitely worth picking up if your looking for a cheap mascara!

MUA Eyeshadows £1 each - I must admit, until I started following beauty blogs and youtubers, I turned my nose up at those really cheap make up stands. 2True, MUA, Natural Collection, I just wasn't interested. I must admit, when I first used to look on the Natural Collection stand I used to sneak to it, grab an eyeshadow and run to the till as fast as possible. I don't know why, it just seems once you pass the 13/14 mark, there's a certain "look" you get off other women when you hit the stand; a similar look to what the audience give greasy haired chavs on the Jeremy Kyle show, maybe this is just my area but there's a fair amount of stigma attached to those sort of stands. Anyway, cheap makeup doesn't always mean bad quality, and although I'm not saying everything in their stands is top notch, you can't go wrong with MUA eyeshadows OR lipstick for that matter, It's ONE POUND, and personally if I'm thinking of experimenting with a colour, I'll look at the cheap stands first just so I can try it with different looks when I get home and see if said colour suits me or not. Definite value for money!

Lips;

Carmex £2.69 - Absolute staple, genuinely do not know what I'd do without it. Only thing that cures my dry lips, absolute holy grail product and for under £3 you can't really complain!

Barry M Lip Paint in 151 Sunset £4.49 - I find Barry M Lip Paints to be a bit hit and miss in terms of quality, there are a good few really chalky drying shades I would never leave the house with on, because they make my lips look bloody awful! But this one is moisturising and a gorgeous coral colour, something I definitely wouldn't wear without bronzer, but on tanned skin this looks amazing and the packaging is gorgeous for the price!

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Heartbreaker £3.99 - I've been promoting these lipsticks no end and you're probably sick of hearing about them but they honestly are some of the best quality lipsticks for the price! There are so many shades you're easily going to find one to suit you, and the pigment is SO amazing I'm so in love. Definitely worth a try!

And that's it! 10 products I can't live without, all for under £5. I tried to do it so you could do a whole face of make-up with each product costing less than a fiver and I think I just about managed it. I know a few other good lipstick brands for under £5, but I didn't want to take up the whole blog post with them, so I might make another blog post on lip products. I tried to include one of everything if I could, but I just don't own good quality products under £5 for every area, for example I always use gel eyeliners, all over £5, and to tell you one of the pencil eyeliners I use once in a blue moon and are a pain in the backside to put on are among my favourite products is both unrealistic and stupid. Again with highlighters, I don't own one that cost me less than a fiver and for that reason I didn't include it. 

Hope you're all having a gorgeous weekend!

xoxoxoxoxox

What's In My Travel Bag/Travel Make-up Bag!

Hi lovelys! So I usually take three bags in my suitcase, one for haircare and skincare and the other for make up and then I always keep my toothbrush and toothpaste separate in another little bag, which I haven't photographed purely because, it's not exactly interesting stuff. I fly out to Tenerife on friday for two weeks, so hence why I'm bringing quite a lot of makeup. I'm going at about 9am friday morning, which means I have to be at the airport at 6am (eurgh!) so I've packed my little travel bags today, so tomorrow I can do my makeup, just using what's in the make up bag and see if anything missing!

So first, my travel bag of skincare and haircare:

I always bring face packs, just incase my skin gets in quite bad condition, so I've brought these little packs from Avon.

1. I'm hoping to buy some perfumes at duty free, so I'm only bringing one with me, the DKNY be delicious in fresh blossom. This is such a light scent and is perfect for summer. I'm also bringing a spray I got as a little loyalty present from my Avon rep a couple of orders ago, which I love and I'm so grateful to her, because it's something I'd probably never of bought. Anyway it reminds me of summer and holiday, so that's why I'm taking it above my other sprays. And ofcourse deodrant is a must!

2. I'm bringing a comb because this helps detangle my hair and my hair always seems to be worse on holiday, also I can really backcomb and add volume to my hair with this.  A brush, for obvious reasons! I bought this VO5 2 in 1 shampoo so I don't have to bring a conditioner and it's a cute size that should last me the duration. And dry shampoo is a must, and batiste is easily my favourite, I've gone for the Tropical one!

3. Bringing these little nail polish remover pads are so much easier than bringing a big bottle of nail polish remover, and much lighter! I bought a travel size pack of face wipes because I usually use massive packs that would just take up too much room, these are from nivea and I don't think I've ever tried them, but my skin isn't really sensitive so they should work just aswell as all the rest I've tried :) Next are cotton buds. cotton wool and little pads. These are for my toner and removing eye make up, I use cotton buds to perfect my eyeliner aswell if it goes a bit wonky :)

4.I used the little bottles from the hotel bathroom last year, you know those free shampoos and body washes and stuff? Those bottles :) I put my Simple eye make up remover in one, Garnier 7 day moisturizer and my No7 toner in the other. I haven't gone mad this year, because my skins better than it has been for ages and I don't really need a massive skin routine.

5. Bobbles and bobbypins are essentials, I have my hair up a lot on holiday, purely because my hairs really long and I'm about 50x hotter with it down than up. I brought my Vaseline lip balm which I use at night, because I find it takes ages to soak in, but by morning my lips are so soft! I've brought two scrubs, the Clinique scrub and also the Sanctuary one. The Clinique one I'll be using on my face, and the Sanctuary on the rest of my body.

Now my makeup bag!

Now powder is quite essential for holiday, I have dry skin, but even I find with the help of a tinted moisturizer my skin is looking a bit on the shiny side. My favourite of the moment is the 17 Shine Control Loose Powder which doesn't make you completely matte but still controls your shine (hence the name). I use bronzers more than usual when I'm on holiday, because my body tans and my face usually doesn't, probably due to the high protection I always put on to avoid burning. I've gone for the beautiful Bourjois bronzer and my favourite Fake Bake Bronze Shimmer Brick Light, which I'll be putting underneath my tinted moisturiser to give me glowy skin, hopefully! For blushes, I've been enjoying the Topshop Blush in Flush which gives you a cheeky flush of colour, and a Beauty UK Baked Blush in Peaches and Cream, which gives a beautiful finish and my current favourite blush!

I'm only bringing neutral eyeshadows for my trip, and a lot of my favourites are from Avon. I've brought my Avon Quad in Tiger Eyes, which has a perfect colour for my brows, and 3 other beautiful neutral brown colours. Natural Collections Seashell is a perfect base, Clinique sample duo in Sea Shore is perfect for a smoky eye and an Avon baked eyeshadow in Moonsand is a beautiful shade. Not forgetting my Avon Neutral Tone Palette, which is perfect for barely there natural eye makeup :)

Lips products are probably what I'm bringing the most of. I just have such a diverse lip colour day to day, I couldn't NOT bring a couple of shades, plus there's not much you can do with your eyes when you've got sunglasses on all day, so you can really work a more brave colour on your lips. Natural Collection Raspberry is a beautiful "raspberry" shade (I know, I'm an A* Blogger) and as it's one of the moisture shine lipsticks, it's gorgeous for dry lips and a completely bargain at £1.99 :) Sleeks "Vixen" is a classic red, and can be worn fully for a dramatic lip, or put on lightly for a much more wearable colour. Topshop Lipstick in On The Town is a beautiful Lilac colour, which comes more on the lips as a baby pink/lilac, which is a lot more wearable than you would think, I'm definitely keen to get a few more Topshop lippies. 17s Beehive is a must for everyone and can be worn alone or over another shade, just a must have! The Jemma Kidd coral lipgloss free with Red magazine has quickly become a favourite and I love wearing this alone for a slight coral colour on the lips. A clear lipgloss, this one is from Clarins, is essential to put over every lip colour to add some super shine! Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain and Balm in Flame is my personal favourite lip stain, and a beautiful colour, that's a lot more wearable than some other bright red shades. And finally Carmex, because it's a bloody essential for us dry lip sufferers!

My favourite eyeliner is easily maybelline gel eyeliner, so ofcourse it's the one i'm taking! Other years i've taken a black, brown, grey, blue etc but I ever use half of them so I'm sticking to boring black. I'm bringing 3 mascaras, purely because I use all 3 on a day to day basis and they work hand in hand to create my everyday eyes and well, I need them all. All worth a try, I don't think SuperFull works very well at all alone, but adds amazing length on top of a good volume mascara.

the primer I'm using at the moment is the one from Avon (I know, this has turned into a bit of an Avon love post) and I'm sure it's not the best out there and I probably won't repurchase but it does do the job. I'm bringing my Healthy Mix foundation to wear at night when I want more coverage and the Natural Collection Tinted moisturiser for in the day. I'll pair these both with the Collection 2000 concealer. Mine is running out, and I'm hoping it lasts me the 2 weeks orelse I'll have to try something while I'l abroad and I don't hold out much hope for any store holding the "milk bottle white" kinda shade. And High Beam, free with this months/last months Glamour purely because it's smaller than my dupe MeMeMe full sized version. 

Here's my collection of drugstore brushes I'm taking. These are the brushes I use all the time on a day to day basis so these are the ones I'll be using. Instead of bringing either of my foundation brushes I've decided on bringing my QVS "The Airbrush" as it gives me a much lighter and more flawless coverage, and despite shedding a little when I first bought it, I adore it at the moment. There's a fair few eyeshadow brushes I'm taking as I tend to wear more eyeshadow than I normally would on holiday, and a few angled brushes and my little kabuki for bronzer and blush etc.

l-r GOSH Lavender Love and Peachy, Barry M Mint Green, Berry Ice Cream and Coral And W7 (doesn't say a name).

These are all quite summery colours, and I couldn't only bring ONE nail polish, I'm far too indecisive. I narrowed it down to these 6 favourite summer shades, and I love them all. GOSH nail paints aren't talked about enough, they are beautiful even if they don't have the best shade range.

So that's it! Tomorrow I'm packing, so if I have time I might do a little post, but otherwise from Friday I'll be away for two weeks in sunny Tenerife! I'm not going to have internet access at all, so obviously during that time I won't be able to respond to any comments and I won't be making any new posts, though hopefully on the break reading a LOT of magazines will fill me with a lot of inspiration and ideas of posts I can do when I get back.

Love you all!

xoxoxoxoxo

Haul; Superdrug, Boots, Savers, Topshop etc..

I seem to be buying more rings and make up than anything at the moment. I went in various charity shops today determined to get something! I don't like this shirt with the sleeves, but I think once they're cut off I can definitely combine it with a bodycon skirt and hopefully make it work, and if it doesn't for £3.50 it's not the end of the world. Though I do think charity shops in my area need to look at their prices, they wanted a fiver for a black and white stripe plain top... from primark! It probably didn't cost that brand new!

I seriously recommend Red magazine this month. I've never actually read the magazine before, but the free gift was too much to resist! For £3.80, you get a free Jemma Kidd Lipgloss which retails at £14.00. There's three shades, a light pink, a coral and a red (the red was made exclusively for Red Magazine). I chose the coral colour, a beautiful shade that goes on fairly sheer yet beautiful on the lips. At that price though, I think I'll be going back for the red!

Currently everything Ruby & Millie is 75% off! I've never really been "wow"ed by the few products I've bought from there, honestly I thought it was all a bit overpriced (£10 for a nail polish?!). But at 75% off, I fancied checking out whether any of the brushes were lying around in my local boots. The whole stand had been cleared of all the good stuff; typical! But I did manage to grab the last foundation brush, reduced from £12 to £3! 

Then using one of those lovely no7 vouchers I decided to go for the No 7 Eyeshadow Blend and Contour brush, a supposed dupe of the MAC 217 which I'd never buy seeing as I refuse to spend £15.00 on an eyeshadow brush. And this is a bargain at £6.75, but even better with a £5 voucher making it a fabulous £1.75!

I had a really keen and generally lovely lady at the till who seemed more happy at my bargains than me haha, and she told me if I could add another 25p then I'd get another five pound voucher, so ofcourse I bought a good old creme egg!

I love this ring! I've been painting my nails pretty bright for spring/summer so I've found it difficult to match them with rings without clashing. I never wear silver so I opted for gold and I really do love the leaf wrap design!

I've been meaning to try Topshop makeup for a while, there's so much I wanted to try and I didn't really know where to start! I love the packaging, and a lot of the time it really is a decider on what product I buy. So as Topshop are having 20% off for students all this week I thought this would be the perfect time.

I wanted a blush, I've been lusting after both Flush and Neon Rose for quite some time, I decided to opt for Flush. These are cream to powder blushes, which I've been preferring recently and even though the colour is REALLY scary (trust me this picture does it no justice, have a look in store), it really does come out a really sheer and beautiful rose colour that does honestly give you a "flush" of colour :P

Then I've been wanting a lilac colour but I just couldn't find "the right one" in drugstore. I really didn't want to fork out on higher end, so when I saw this on the topshop website I was VERY happy! It really is a beautiful colour, a nice lilac called "On The Town" which doesn't look too drying! I'll let you all know, I've never really had a purple lipstick, I think it's a kindof love/hate thing, but hopefully I'll like it.

This ring is probably my favourite purchase of today! I've never really looked at Matalan jewellery, but this double finger anchor ring is lovely! And it was on sale from £5 to £2 so ofcourse I snapped it up! I also bought another ring but it BROKE in my bag so I haven't shown that haha! 

Bought this shower and bath gel from asda purely because it smells AMAZING! I got the small 100ml bottle for a bargain of £1! So if the smell lasts and it really is half decent I'll be buying a bigger bottle!

I've been meaning to buy this QVS "airbrush" brush for ages from Superdrug but honestly I'm not too sure it was worth the £8. I was hoping to use it for foundation but it doesn't seem very dense, it's probably going to be better for blush or bronzer. Kinda disappointed, really don't want to splash out on the MAC 187 :(

I decided to pick up another sleek lipstick, this time "Vixen" a really classic red colour, I probably have about 4 other lipsticks similar to but still ;)

I decided to pick up this blush after seeing it on a couple of blogs, it's such a pretty colour. I've never really gone near the Beauty UK stand, just because it's slightly more expensive than the other "really cheap" brands (MUA, 2True, Natural Collection, Miss Sporty etc) yet the packaging really does look cheap, for example their lipsticks cost the same as sleek and yet I find sleek lipsticks much nicer and the packaging looks a lot better.. which brand I buy from? SLEEK. Despite all this though for £3.99 this baked blush is beautiful. I got the shade "Peaches and Cream", which is a peachy gold colour with hints of coral.

From Savers I picked up this Simple face mask. I love the simple range, and I love face masks, so this was a match made in heaven! Can't wait to try it and see if it lives up to expectations! and for £1 you can't go far wrong!

While I was there I also picked up this hair removal cream. Now I've always hated hair removal cream due to the whole smell thing, I absolutely despise the smell :( However this is meant to have a floral scent, I don't know how true this is or whether the horrible smell will overpower it, but for £1 I figured it was worth giving a go!

And lastly a tin of Vaseline with SPF15 for my lips when I'm on holiday, another bargain at £1! :)

I got this from a charity shop for £1.99 on the kind of idea I'd put something in it. Though now I'm back at home I have literally no idea. I was thinking bobby pins but I would never fill a jar this size with them! Arrrrgh.

Swatches of all the lipsticks/lipglosses/blushes, bare in mind these are heavily swatched, the Topshop blush comes out a lot sheerer than that and baked Beauty UK blush really didn't swatch well at all!

Now to finish the day, I will be watching Britains Got Talent - which I'm afraid to say really is a joke this year, whilst eating some of my favourite sweets from my childhood, NERDS! xoxoxoxo