primark haul april 2014 // youtube video ♡

Hello there :) so I thought that instead of doing a primark haul in a blogpost, I would do it in video form to see how it goes because in some ways I prefer doing that (despite the fact I mess up my words a lot and had to edit quite a bit out - seriously wow) but if you'd like to watch then click away and enjoy :)

I'm really sorry if you don't like Primark Hauls in the form of the video, if you'd prefer it in the form of a blogpost then please leave a comment saying so and I'll take it into consideration in the future :)

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February Empties ♡

Hello there! So I've used up some products over the space of about 6 - 8 weeks, so these products aren't just from February but I thought I would show you what I've used up because I like reading empties posts as they provide a good insight on what a product is like after using it for a long time.

1. SPAtopia Argan Oil Body Butter

I don't know where this product is from as I was given it for my birthday in November so it has lasted me since then and I still have a tiny bit left, but I really love this product. It's a really thick and creamy texture, just like butter haha, and I like the smell of argan oil and it makes my pyjamas smell of argan oil which is lovely. I use a lot of this because I love it so much, I'm not sure if I'll buy it again because I don't think it's cheap but if it wasn't too expensive I would definitely buy this :)

2. Love Hearts Strawberry Cream Perfume

Another product given to me for my birthday, I really love this perfume and it was quite cheap too as I know where it was from. It was from the Perfume shop for £3.99 and it comes with a body lotion too, I'm not sure if it's still in stock though. Anyway, I really like this perfume because it smells really sweet like artificially sweet but not disgustingly artificially sweet if you understand what I'm saying. I don't think it's for everybody but whenever I wear it I get complimented by someone about it so it can't be too bad :)

3. Garnier Cleansing Lotion

I think I bought this from Savers so it wasn't expensive, I generally like Garnier products, I think they're basic and affordable and that's exactly what this product was. Nothing special but it did the job and I think I got my money worth as I believe it was under £3, not sure if I'd buy it again but if it was the same price I probably would just because it does the job.

4. Garnier Synergie Pure Deep Pore Wash

I'm not sure if this product is still being made because my Mum gave it to me years ago when my skin was too sensitive for it and it used to make my face go all red, then I started using it again this year because I've gotten into face masks but I haven't got any face masks and this exfoliates and makes my skin feel like I've had a face mask on so it's pretty close. It has little microbeads in which is good however I wish it had bigger ones in to exfoliate the skin better, it doesn't smell of anything but it does the job quite well. I use this product 2 -3 times per week. I would repurchase it if I couldn't get my hands on some face masks because as I said before Garnier isn't too expensive and it does the job.

5. Boots Cucumber Skin Freshener (toner)

I think I've used all of the Boots Cucumber skin care and honestly I like them all, I am not sure about the price as I usually buy it off my Mum if she's gone out and bought it on sale so it saves me going out but I have used the cleanser, the moisturiser and this and all the products make my skin feel lovely and fresh, I don't know if it's the actual product or the cucumber sort of scent but something is working and I quite like it so I would repurchase it.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it :)

Collective Haul | Primark, Next, Savers ❤

So today I went out to buy a few necessities today so this is what I bought.

1. Pleather Satchel - Primark (£9)

I really like this satchel and it has enough space for my textbooks and pencil case and all of that, it seems really durable too for pleather. I got the brown one because the black one seemed a bit too formal, and I didn't much care for the patterned ones, not even the floral one interested me.

2. Beatles t-shirt - Next (£10)

I've had my eye on this for a while and it was reduced from £22, to be honest I thought it was £8 because I judged it by the size 6 one I saw so it's more than I would pay. I bought it in size 14 so it's pretty baggy because I'm a size 8 but I love baggy tees, it's quite sheer but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'll probably wear this with a skater skirt, shorts or maybe jeans.

3. Simple Hydrating Moisuriser - Savers (£1.99)

I've needed some moisturiser for a while now, and seeming as winter is coming I'll probably need it more now. I think simple is a nice brand, I got the light moisturiser rather than the rich because I don't want my skin to get greasy haha but that was the same price if you want a nice moisturiser. 

4. Beauty Forever Anti-Aging Makeup Almond - M&M hair and beauty (£2.49)

Honestly I wanted Rimmel Wake me up concealer but their limited shades weren't my skin colour, in fact I learned that most foundations are for 'average skin'. Which annoys me because now I had to use foundation rather than concealer, this is perfect for my skin. I hadn't heard of the brand, but it is the only one I found for my skin colour. Frankly I'm annoyed, shouldn't the mixed race person be able to cover up their spots and grey circles? Ditto pale white people, ditto black people. If I ever start a makeup company, I will make makeup for the 'minority'. I think with this, less is more, I tried it and my face looked a little shiny.

Thanks for reading, a mini-haul I know but I wanted to share what I bought with you.

Review | Johnson's Face Care Refreshing Cleansing Lotion

So I bought this product because I was out of cleanser, and I'm not faithful to any brand. I buy what's low priced but looks good for my skin, and my skin is extremely sensitive so I thought this cleanser looked appropriate. It was £2.49 from Savers, but on the website it says that its RRP is £3.05.

The bottle is 200ml, and it's for normal skin. I didn't even see a bottle for dry skin but according to the website they have it.  I used it with cotton wool, I took a blob and applied a thin layer around my face, you can do a bit more if you want but I use toner as well (Garnier) in case I miss anywhere, and then I left it on for about 30 seconds and wiped it off with cotton wool. I used to apply cleanser, then brush my teeth for 3 minutes, then wash off the cleanser but I'm not sure whether it made much of a difference but if you want to do that then go right ahead. I applied it after make up remover, and then finished with toner so whether it is as effective without that I couldn't be 100% sure.

Pros:  

• leaves my skin feeling soft
• good value for money
• basically does the job
• not a cheap looking bottle

Cons: 

• weird smell (this could just be me, it wasn't as pleasant as my old cleanser but it wasn't exactly unpleasant)
• not the cheapest, good quality cleanser out there

So overall this is a decent product, there are cheaper cleansers out there that also do the job but I don't feel this was a waste of money. It's not harsh which I like, I've had cleansers in the past that have been harsh and felt like they were burning my skin so I immediately washed them off and shunned them to the corner.. of my bathroom.. sorry to ramble, you get the idea.

My questions to you:

1. What cleanser do you use? 
2. What is your cleansing regime?
3. Are you loyal to any  brand?

Thanks for reading, leave a comment below answering the questions or whatever, and leave a link to your blog because I am always looking for new reading material and more blogs to follow because my dashboard is pretty dead, so bye :-)

What I bought today

I went shopping with my mum just to stock up on essentials, this is all affordable stuff because I'm poor so beauty on a budget??

1. Johnson's Face Care Refreshing Cleansing Lotion from Savers (£2.49)

I think this will be a good product for my skin, I have sensitive skin and this is a product for baby's so I doubt it will give me a rash, not a bad price. There were cheaper ones but this is a brand I feel I won't have a problem with.

 

2. Doughnut Bun from Savers (£1)

I wanted to start doing my hair up in a bun to keep it out of my face, but to get a doughnut bun in other places it can be £4.99 (cough cough Claire's!) why would I pay nearly £4 extra for something as simple as this, it's ridiculous. I haven't tried it out yet but when I do I'll do before and after pictures maybe.

3. Constance Caroll Liquid Eyeliner (£1.99)

I got this from a cheap outlet near my house, this brand is cheap but works and I used another of their liquid liners and it comes out pretty well, just needed more to be honest. I don't think it's waterproof though which sucks but ah well.

4. Constance Caroll Mega Volume Mascara (£1.99)

I bought this from the same cheap store, I don't think this will be as good as the miss sporty one but I don't know maybe I'll be surprised.

Thanks for reading!

USA haul!

So I bought quite a bit while I was in the USA (New York and Washington D.C), so I decided just to post what I bought because I like watching and reading blog posts on other people's hauls to get an idea of their sense of style and so I know what to look for when I go out, I do this especially with primark hauls. Anyway, on with the show.

1. Lucky Charms (don't remember the price sorry, I think it was $3 - $4?)
I loooooove American food, I haven't actually tried these before and I don't usually like marshmallows but these marshmallows are supposedly not as soft as normal ones so I might like it. Zoe (Zoella) seems to love them and I love her and so I hope I love these, she won't be reading this but I LOVE YOU ZOE K BYE

2. Black Converses ($25)
WHAT A FIND. I said I wanted to buy converses in the USA because I thought they'd be cheaper there, I went to T.J Maxx (US version of T.K Maxx) and omg $25 that's like under £20! They only had this size so they're a bit big because in US sizes I think I'm like a 7-7.5, I've already worn these so much already.

3. Cookies and Cream Pop Tarts
I love pop tarts. That is all.

4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups ($1.99?)
Three words - nom nom nom. I don't usually like peanut butter but Reese's peanut butter is sweeter and has chocolate too, we stayed in the centre of New York so there were like no supermarkets so these ones were expensive. I didn't get to a supermarket until I was staying with family where I bought more though, so if you're going to Manhattan be prepared to be bombarded with high prices.

5. Nirvana Shirt ($9.99 from J.C Penneys)
This shirt was reduced from $12 which still would have been about £8 which is reasonable for a band shirt, but when it was reduced further I knew I had to get it because it would've been silly not to. I really like Nirvana and they're one of my favourite bands.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A HIPSTER WEARING BAND SHIRTS TO LOOK COOL WHEN I'VE NOT HEARD ANY OF THE BAND SONGS.
I bought it in a medium size because it was a men's shirt, so hopefully it'll be baggy so I can tuck it into shorts or a skirt.

6. SWEETS ($54)
Spent a lot of money on sweets, hopefully it should last a while. I LOVE THE SWEETS IN THE USA! English sweets are so boring, except Cadbury's. Cadbury's is amazeballs but Hershey's smells like cheese and tastes like plastic, sorry Americans.

7. Banana Split Oreos
I bought these for my friends because one of them wanted different types of oreos, and I wanted to bring all my friends something to try but none of my other friends specified what they wanted so I brought these. Awaiting their responses..

 8. Martin Luther King/Trayvon Martin ($5)
This is like an unofficial shirt which I bought at the march at Washington D.C, I really like it and the messages of MLK. 3 words - let freedom ring.

9. Denim blouse from Macy's brand Guess ($47.40)

Don't get me wrong, I would never pay this much even though it was 40% off, my Aunt saw I liked it and bought it for me while I was looking at something else. That being said, it's nice quality and can be worn with a lot of things, not double denim though sorry no. I think this goes with dresses, more tight fitting shirts, shorts, could go with anything really, but it's not really a good buy if you're on a budget.

10.  Skinny jeans from Forever 21 ($7.90)

These are skinny but they look baggy on this picture, very cheap but nice quality jeans I think. As winter is appropriate I need to start wearing jeans again so woo winter wear. Can't wait to buy winter jumpers again, yes!

11. Hair Slides ($1.80)

Pretty decent price for a pretty decent product, I thought these are cute and might look nice if I start wearing my hair in a bun to add some accessories.

12. Freebies from hotels! (FREE)

So I picked up some body lotion and moisturiser from my hotels, I haven't used them yet but I want giving up the opportunity of free skin care!

Thanks for reading, I will stop posting about my holiday now!

Products I've used up

So I don't know if other people do this but I tend to nearly finish a product, buy a new one and start using that but I don't finish the other one so I've decided to share the products that I've found which have not been finished but now I've thrown a couple away tonight.

1. Boots Cucumber Moisturiser Lotion

I really like this product, it's inexpensive and leaves my skin feeling velvety smooth, plus it smells of cucumber so I feel fresh and clean afterwards, would recommend. I have sensitive skin and it seems to work fine on my skin, so if you're a fellow person with skin that can't handle harsh products then buy this :)

 

2. Boots Cucumber Cleansing Lotion (notice a pattern?)

Again, this is a nice product. It's not harsh on my skin, and even though it's not a moisturiser it does leave my skin feeling smooth and fresh, it's also inexpensive. I apologise now for not knowing the price exactly because my mum bought it and it was a while ago, but I'm pretty certain it was under £3.

3. Fade Out White Original Moisturising Cream

Now here's a product that was quite expensive, my mum actually used most of it and gave me the remains because I was in need of something to fade my spot scars. Honestly it didn't work too well, I think you need a large amount and to use it consistently. I'm glad my Mum paid for it and not me because I would be peeved that it didn't work, my mum thought it was good for 'melting' spots though so maybe it works for some and not others. It has a weird smell, it's not unpleasant but it's strange like kind of disinfectant with something else, I don't know how to describe it, if you ever smell it you'll know what I mean. 

4. No. 7 soft and soothed gentle cleanser

This is a good cleanser, it came in a box set with a toner and a make up remover but I threw out the toner a long time ago and the makeup remover still has quite a lot in it. It's an expensive brand so you expect quality, it's not harsh and it makes my skin feel soft. It's for normal/dry skin so I assume it has similar ingredients to moisturiser in it for that.

5. Rimmel Exaggerate waterproof eye definer

This is your basic run of the mill eyeliner I think, unless I'm an idiot and don't know what a definer is. I thought it worked quite well, didn't smudge and stayed on for a whole school day. Unlike a pencil it swivels so you can swivel as much of the eyeliner out as you want which is pretty cool. This was £2.99 I think so a pretty decent price, it lasted a few months for me because I wear eyeliner everyday for school and I only go 'natural' at home.

6. Simple Soothing Facial Toner

What I really like about this toner is how compact it is, perfect for holidays (it's a shame I came to the end of this one when I go on holiday tomorrow but ah well), this clears the dirt out of your pores and leaves you with a lovely clean feeling. It doesn't have a specific scent, it's just a bit like alcohol, like a normal toner haha. I think you can get this in big bottles but I haven't, I think I bought this from savers so it would've been cheap anyway but savers reduces it further so I think it was a bargain, can't remember the price though.

 

Thanks for reading!