Every once in a while, everything runs out at once and you need a good Visa blowout down the shops, well this just happened for me as I needed to stock up on bits for my personal makeup & skincare collection and more importantly my pro makeup kit needed a fresh burst of colour & products. There’s quite a big mass of products here, so I’ve just picked a handful to talk about below.
Lanolips M.A.N.I.A.
I purchased just one lip balm at Christmas from just my local Waitrose back home, and I was pretty blown away by it. (features on my favourite lip balms & treatments here) So much so I then went the next week and picked up the Rose intense hand balm. This, also, was absolutely outstanding! 2/2 is a big thumbs up from me so I did a little stockpiling of some of there other bits: 2 more of the lipbalms (1 for me and one for my kit), another Rose hand balm intense (this is actually me THIRD tube now – the best) and then I also got the Triple Buttermilk body balm for my kit and also the Golden Ointment which I am yet to try but it’s a 60% Lanolin balm with manuka honey and I’m assuming this will be the Lanolips version of 8-hr cream. Will report back. Aside from the products I have so far tried being very good, I also love the cute, girly packaging of the products and also the price is reasonable. New Lanolips superfan right here.
MAC.
Mainly for my kit, I got some new lip colours, an empty pro palette for my exhisting eyeshadows, and a few others bits. My Instagram went a bit crazy when I posted these lip colours – lots of MAC lippy fans out there!!
Pssss with the Pro palette… I just get it empty (no dividers/inserts) then you can fill it with whatever the hell you like and no restrictions on how much you can put in it, think of it like a Z palette, but it’s more sturdy. I have 6 Z palettes and 4 of the old MAC pro palettes for carrying eyeshadows, blushers, concealers etc in my kit, but I think these new MAC ones are the way forward. Z palettes are good as they are also covered with a see-through window bit on top but it’s a little flimsy and they get a bit battered in your kit, the MAC ones are hard plastic all over so a lot safer for carrying makeup in.
Balance Me : Face wash.
I got sent a few of their products last year, and now I am a fan of their products. I purchased the balancing moisturiser a few months ago which I use pretty much daily and was interested to try this cleanser as I didn;t get on that well with their Cleanse & Smoothe oil-based one : I found it at little too thick and oily and harder than others to remove. I’m yet to try my new pure skin face wash but wil lreport back. I had a glance at the ingredients list and saw some firm favourites including Moringa, Grapefruit and Ylang Ylang so into the basket it went.
Dior & Lancome mascaras.
RE-purchased for my makeup kit. I usually buy a new/fresh mascara for my kit every 4 months or so. I tend to use cheaper mascaras on myself or whatever I have lying around, but usually I will get high-end for my pro kit.
YSL foundation.
I usually tend to go for slightly niche/ non-mainstream brands for my foundation/bases for myself (think Kevyn Aucoin, Hourglass,Becca etc) but the Touche Eclat foundation has always appealed to me. My friend purchased some and the SA gave me a generous sample of it in a which I tried on my face that evening. SOLD ! This reminds me a bit of the old Chanel Prolumiere (RIP, bless your soul) which I used to use and love and I think it’s a brilliant foundation..medium coverage, hydrating and gives lovely radiance and comfort to my skin. Full review-a-coming-soon. My shade is BR 50 Beige Rose.
KIKO.
I am a huge fan of this brand, as you can tell from my blog posts. I just love the price of the makeup for the quality you are receiving. I went into the shop just to get the brow ink, but obvs came away from with a few other bits…the most STUNNING eye pencil I think I’ve ever seen: The ‘Glamorous’ eye pencil in shade 403 which is a very red coppery brown. I have another type of kohl pencil from KIKO, no idea what the difference but it is very soft and easy to blend and an absolutely stunning colour. I also got a ‘smart’ lipstick in shade 923 which is a beautiful violet/fuchsia shade and a semi-sheer formula. All for me.
Eeeek in hindsight that was a big old haul, but if we minus off all the bits for my makeup kit, then actually not so self-indulgent. Have you got anything on your beauty shopping list from this lot? I am really keen to buy some more O.C.C lip tars for my kit & also the new Illamasqua liquid lips.
