Holiday Haul - What I bought in the USA

USA! USA!

As y'all know, I went away for the first time in a lot of years this month, and as a make-up obsessed twenty something, I acknowledged I would no doubt break the bank a little when I got to play in Sephora. I also visited a huge discount outlet mall in Florida, to pick up a new Kipling bag, an ended up in a large beauty discount shop. That was fun. Also all the Burt's Bees, cause I love their stuff and its so expensive in the UK.

So here's what I got.

Beauty Discount Shop
Urban Decay Electric Palette
Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette
Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Eyeliner in Cult
Urban Decay All Nighter Eyeliner in Perversion

Sephora
 Too Faced Passport to Bronze Travel Mini's
Caolion Blackhead 02 Sparkling Pore Soap (Travel Sized)
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Mother
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Project Chimps
Sephora Green Tea Face Mask
Urban Decay De-Slick Setting Spray (Travel Size)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray (Trave Size)
Tartist Lip Paint in Hangry
Tartist Lip Paint in TBT

Other Bits
Burt's Bee Body Wash in Grapefruit and Ginger
Alba Botanics Hawaiian Clear Spray Sunscreen x2
Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick (the yellow tube without a box because I lost it)
Burt's Bees 4 Pack Lipbalm

I think the best part of the whole haul was realising that I hadn't been charged for Hangry. I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't dropped the Sephora bag and had some of the contents spill out. Because it was dark and I couldnt really see the ground under the table I just had to pick stuff up and check the receipt, and yeah, free lipstick. Woop woop.

Worst part. Accidentally spilling some of the All Nighter setting spray on the hotel room floor. Couldn't work out how to open it as it seemed too tight to just pull it off so I thought it was a screw cap. Its not and cause its so tight it took the spray top off with it. Oops.

Before I sign off I just want to say I do not normally spend this much money on myself and this size of haul is really rare. I was on holiday and had saved because I wanted to buy beauty products when I was out there. Alot of these products and brands are harder to get in UK (Tarte is pretty much impossible if you don't want charged Customs VAT as well) and they are all more expensive here. To put that into perspective, I got the Urban Decay Electric Palette for $23 (£17.60 GB). In the UK that palette retails for £35 ($45.60) so it was almost exactly half price.

  I also got a lot of travel sized products to try and see if I like them before purchasing a full sized one or because I know I like them but won't use a full sized one.

xoxo Scruffy

M&S Limited Collection Lipsticks & Lip Lacquers - With Swatches

So right before my holiday I was in the beauty section of Marks and Spencers "testing" expensive handcream and perfume when I came across these multipacks. I'd just gotten paid and decided that I would give them a go.  They were a gamble though as there was no way for me to swatch them in store and as they were cheap, they could be nasty.

Limited Collection Shades of Plum Lipstick Collection 3 Pack £12

 These packs come in three different sets, Shades of Red, Shades of Pink and Shades of Plum. I got the plum ones as they were the most different from anything I owned. That way, if they were decent and usuable I wouldnt have too much cross over.

Left to right: Plum, Mallow and Grape

I'm not sure if I love or hate the packaging. It feels very cheap and bulky, and with the cap on it looks like the cheap makeup you get on the dimly shelves next to the proper makeup displays in shops like Savers. When the caps off though, I dont hate it. If it was all silver with a clear cap it might have looked better. I'm not sure.

Left to right: Plum, Mallow and Grape

And look at these swatches.  I was so disappointed. The colours look so nice in the tubes but there is next to no pigmentation there. I had to actually try and build Plum up so you could see it more. They perform even worse on the lips, I've tried both Mallow and Grape and I had to re-apply every time I drank or ate anything. Every single time. And sometimes in between. 

They also have that weird cheap lipstick smell, not the watermelon one, the fake vanilla frosting one. Its just yuck.  I expected more from Marks & Spencers. I recently got given a Barry M lipstick that had amazing pigmentation, staying power and no nasty fake smell. I personally consider Barry M a cheap and fairly nasty brand, so for me to say I their lipstick is far better these should tell you everything you need to know. 

Limited Collection Pastel Pop Lip Lacquer 3 Pack £8

This was the only colour this set came in. I think these colours are really cute, so I would have picked them. The colours aren't named so I think I'll call them the pink one, the nude one and the orange one.

I actually really like the packaging. The squeezy tubes are a nice change to the standard clearly plastic viles liquid lipsticks usually come in and the gold caps are just enough to make them look chic without being over the top. The doe-foot applicators are really nice as well. The stick isn't too long (like the Kat Von D ones) and the doe foot isn't too big (like the NYX Liquid Suede ones) or weirdly bendy.

After the disappointment of the other lip products I really wasn't expecting much however these are really nice. Look at those colours. Especially that orange.  Love orange lip products.

So these are a bit weird. The apply really nicely, like a lip cream. The don't matte down and dry like most liquid lipsticks but aren't shiny and glossy. They also aren't sticky like a gloss. Its doesn't smell bad, I actually dont think it smells of much, although it does have a slight smell.

The only downside is that because it doesn't fully dry down, it can be quite smudgy. I loose half of it to my mug every time I have a cup of tea. I have worn it out and if you're out and about (cough*at the pub*cough) and drinking through a straw, it does last far better than any other liquid in its price range.

Also check how good the orange looks with my sunglasses. 

xoxo Scruffy

Holiday Packing - Summer Beauty Haul & Review

So I planned on having this post up before I went on holiday but that didn't happen. I wanted to discuss why I bought what I had, I'm going to do a mini review instead though. Good times.
 
I'm going to split this into three categories, skin care, hair care and sun care. Two products a peice.Theres also a fail with a funny photo coming at the end, so we'll all get a laugh. Everything featured here is cruelty free as well. 

Skin Care

Yes to Carrots Night Cream

I knew my skin was going to take a beating abroad. I break out at the thought of applying sunscreen to my face, and true to form, I had face demons from day two. For that reason I wanted any other products I was using to be very gentle, calming and without too many harsh scents or colours.

This cream is nice, it soaks in easily and does hydrate well. The texture kind of reminds me of Sudocrem nappy cream. It has that same almost dry texture when you rub it on your face. That's the only similarity to baby's butt cream though.

 My least favourite thing is thing about it is the way it smells. As there's no added fragrance it just smells like the base they've used and its not the nicest. I can live with it though. I can think of a lot of things I put on my body that smell way worse.

Would I buy it again? Maybe. Its not my favourite and I'm sure there are far better creams out there. I'm probably going to go back to the Soap and Glory Beauty Sleep Enhancer, once I'm finished this and some of the other creams I have in the bathroom. If I can't find something I want or the Soap and Glory cream is out of stock when I need a new one, then I'd repurchase.

Lush Eau Roma Water Toning Water

Lets be honest here, I only bought this so I could spray myself in the face with something cold when I got too hot. And it smells funky. I do like that about it.

OK, I don't really think I can give this a fair review. I don't use a toner everyday. I never have and its just a whole other thing I'll research one day but I don't feel I need in my life. Right now my routine is face wash and moisturiser and that usually does me pretty well. I really did just want the novelty, and I mean I pre-planned buying this so I knew what I was doing, of being able to cool my face off with a spray bottle type product.

This was nice, it was refreshing, the smell is good. I've been spraying it on my face in the middle of my skincare routine, after wash but before moisturiser, and I can't say its doing anything except making my face smell pretty. Who knows?

Would I buy it again? Nope. I like the smell and its fun but that's it.

Hair Care

Lush Jason and the Argon-oil Shampoo

Lush's solid shampoo bars are just about my favourite shampoos on the market. I have 3 favourite bars Braziliant, Montalbano and this one. Its a lovely rose scented bar that lathers really well and leaves my hair lovely and shiny. I still have loads of this bar left as they last a really long time and are great value for money.

Would I buy it again? Definitely. But I won't need to for a while which is great.


Sugar Daddy-O Solid Conditioner 

I don't normally get solid conditioner, and when I have in the past I've always opted for Jungle. When I was in-store buying this stuff two staff members recommended this one though.

Personally that may have been the wrong decision. It smells really nice and reminds me a little of Parma Violets although it doesn't directly smell of them. Its more solid than Jungle and I found it harder to use though. It also probably wasn't thick enough to tame my wild hair. If I combined it with a lot of the leave in Macadamia Oil treatment I sometimes use then I got OK results, but that made my hair feel more heavy than I like.


Would I buy it again? Probably not. Will I use it up? Yeah, its not terrible.

Sun Care

Superdrug Solait Factor 50 Sun Spray

I hate suncreen. I need it though. I burn so quickly and so badly, its almost like one of the X-men but I have the worst power possible. I really hate the horrible, sticky, gloopy creams so this seemed like a good idea.

Overall it wasn't bad. It was easy to apply, didn't smell and the whole time I used it, I did not burn. Exactly what I want in a sunscreen.

Would I buy it again? Yeah, its fine, reasonably priced and cruelty free.

Superdrug Solait 50+ Anti-Aging Face Fluid

 Further to my previous rant about my deep rooted hatred of sunscreen, it gets worse.  The feelings I have about rubbing sunscreen on my body get amplified about a hundred times when it comes to putting it on my face. Sunscreen usually breaks me out like crazy as well, especially down my nose and thats an area that usually doesn't get too spotty and bad.

 I wanted to mininise the amount this happened so I thought I'd try a specialised face cream in the hopes it would moisturise and protect without the added face demons.

Did it work?.... Nope. The first full day it was fine, no problem and it seemed nice. However by mid way through day two I had a nice strip of spots down my nose. I tried to keep going with but the next day forehead and chin had completely broken out too and I had to give up. My other half kept using it though and he was totally fine. I think with these kind of products its all down to skin type.

Would I buy it again? Not for me. If my boyfriend asked for sunscreen for a trip he was going on then I might get it for him though. Not a bad product, just not for me.

And now onto that fail I mentioned...

 

This stuff...

Yeah thats what light looks like...

Shiny, orange and gross (just check out my hairline, eyebrows and the marks on my neck).

I showed this photo to a girl in work and she actually thought I had some kind of peel off mask on. I 100% would not recommend this. It went straight in the bin after I took this photo. 

If you do have pale skin and are looking for a tinted moisturiser/BB cream type product, I would recommend the Autograph Illuminating Touch Tinted Moisturiser in light from M&S. Its more pricey at £9.50 but if you're like me; pale as can be, hate heavy products that require a lot of work and don't want to end up looking tangerine, its a good all rounder.

xoxo Scruffy