Mini beauty haul

So I went and did a bit of shopping yesterday; I mostly bought clothing and basics but I also picked up a couple of beauty bits.

I repurchased my all-time favourite concealer- the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in shade 1 Fair (£4.19 in Boots). This concealer isn't a favourite in the beauty bloggers world for nothing! I've tried many higher end concealers all in aid of trying to banish the pesky dark circles around my eyes, and I find none of them compare to this. I had to drag my sister around a few stores with me to find this in my shade, but my goodness it's worth it!

I also picked up one of the new mascaras from Maybelline, the Rocket Volume express. I've been looking for a new mascara for a while and this just caught my eye in the shop, so I thought "Why not?" lets give that one a go! I think it was on offer for £5.99 in Boots (normal price £7.99). I tried it for the first time this morning and it looks promising so far. It's got a plastic brush and the brush is absolutely huge, but the application was nice and I am pleased with the result;. it made my lashes long and thick without any clumps.

The last item I bought in this mini beauty haul was a nail varnish from Rimmel from the Lasting Finish range in the shade 704 Sweet as Sugar. It's a very pale baby blue with an opaque finish. Now, I bought this because I love the shade, but I'm not blown away by how it applies or with the overall finish. I prefer the brushes on the Rimmel 60 seconds polishes because they're so easy to use, but the brush on this one is tiny and left streaks on the nail. Maybe I'll keep this one just for my toes. (The picture below was after 2 coats, see what I mean about streaky?!).

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Louise Gray Cream Blush Duo

I may be a little late on the bandwagon with this product but I couldn't resist writing a post about it... it's amazing! This little beauty was a January sales purchase, it caught my eye as I was waiting in the queue in Topshop and as I'm a sucker for anything blusher related I just knew I had to have it. It was part of the limited edition Louise Gray for Topshop makeup line, originally priced at £12.50; I think I paid £6.00 for it in the sale.

The packaging is really eye-catching; a fluorescent green with a gold, spiky pattern on the top. It's a nice sized compact, with a mirror and two cream blushers. The colours look a bit intimidating in the compact, but they both give a lovely wash of colour on the cheeks. The coral/ orange shade blends nicely into a peachy colour, and the fuschia pink gives a beautiful "I've just come in from a wintery walk" flush; both very natural and pretty. I was expecting the texture of these to be a bit sticky on my skin, but they blend so well into a powdery finish on the cheeks I just can't help reaching for them every day. They've become a staple in my everyday makeup routine!

Now I know you're probably shouting at the screen as they were limited edition AND went into the January sales, so they're probably lost to the little shopping heaven in the sky....but, trying out these cream blushers has made me want to try some of the ones that are available as part of Topshops permanent line, and there are colours available which are very similar!

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