Beauty Shopping Haul

Hello there!  As the cold weather rolls in I've been cheering myself up with little purchases.  These were brought on by a big sale in our local department store.  Anyway, without further ado here they are :)

I bought the Max Factor Colour Elixir Lip gloss, Art Deco Perfect Teint Concealer, The Balm Hot Mama Blusher and the L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara.

 I bought the Max Factor lip gloss because I spotted the glosses on sale and they looked pretty!  Then I tested them out and they seemed quite pigmented.  I wanted something that wasn't too bright so that I could wear it all the time.  This seemed the perfect compromise between colour and wear-ability.
The Art Deco concealer is something I own already and have gotten a lot of use out of.  It's a pretty good brightening concealer and the sale price was really good so I decided to repurchase this as I think my old one has nearly run out.

I wanted to by the Cindy Lou Manizer Highlighing powder from the The Balm but by the time I had arrived at the shop they were all gone *sniff(!).  However I have been intrigued by this blusher as well and it was cheaper than the Manizer powders so I bought this as consolation.
The False Lash Telescopic mascara is something I've been interested in trying for a while and picking it up in the sale was as a good a time as any!

I bought these body products in the sale as well.  The Nurme Seep soap I had planned to buy in advance as they are great.  They are super natural, gentle on the skin and smell great to boot.  The Joik Green Apple body lotion was a random purchase.  I decided to test it out because it was on sale.  It smelt really nice so I bought a couple.  I will probably give one of them as a present!

I can't wait to test out all these new purchases and blog about them!  I hope you are having a good start to your week :)

Twirlybirdie :)

February Favourites: Make-up

Hello!

I hope you enjoyed my February favourite's for body care.  Here are the make-up products I've been enjoying recently.

On my lips I have been using the Joik red wine lip balm.  It's super light packaging makes it great to cart around in my bag.  I like it on it's own as a really smoothing balm or as a moisturising prep for lipstick.

The Lumene Natural Code lipstick in Crystal Rose I bought because it was really cheap in a sale.  It's turned out to be really useful as it's a pretty semi-sheer light pink colour which seems to work with any make-up look.  Many lipstick shades make me look drained but this seems to perk up my face in a subtle and easily wearable way.

The Balm Stainiac in Prom Queen has been neglected for a while but I recently re-discovered it when I was wanting a natural looking flush of colour to my cheeks or lips which be long lasting.  This does the job really well and the colour is very natural looking on me as long as I don't over do it.

Another pretty blush I've been using a lot is this pink blush from my Too Faced Glamour to Go palette.  It's a subtle blush with a hint of gold.  The shade is not too pink and when lightly applied is very natural looking .

So those are my February favourite's for make-up.  No eye make-up products but I've been experimenting using different eye shadows on most days so that's probably why I haven't narrowed down any favourites.

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Twirlybirdie :)

Joik haul

Hello!  I hope you are having a nice Sunday evening.  I am attempting to bake a cake, so I will probably let you know how that turns out later!
A few weeks ago I bought a small haul of products from an Estonian brand called Joik.  They have a nice range of products, many of which are made from 100% natural ingredients which is reassuring if you are worried about added chemicals.  I've never tried anything of there's before I did my little online order so I was excited to test out the brand.  I bought a lip balm, body oil and face mask.

The silky lipgloss in Red Wine I was disappointed with at first as I was expecting the colour to be a bit stronger.  It has a very subtle red tint to it which really didn't show very much on my lips.  It is a waxy texture more than a cream one, which forms a soft protective barrier on the lips.  I was surprised to find myself reaching for this frequently in my hand bag to add some moisture to my lips.  It is a very dinky and light to carry around and I have found it useful to have with me.

The moisturising lemon and bergamot body-oil has a light citrusy scent.  It comes in an easy to use spray pump bottle.  I like this oil although I would prefer it to have a stronger scent.  I also wouldn't mind being able to get more oil out at a time although this is just a personal preference.  It is very moisturising and light on the skin.  I find my skin drinks it up pretty fast however I think I prefer the Body Shop sweet lemon beautifying oil because of it's stronger scent and I find it's a bit richer which suits my dryer skin type.

Finally I got the Chocolate facial mask for tired and stressed skin. I love this face mask.  It contains cocoa powder, maroccan lava clay, whole milk powder and mel powder.  It comes as a powder so you have to mix it yourself with milk or water.until it makes a soft paste consistency.

Then you spread it on dry skin avoiding the delicate skin around your eyes and lips and leave it for 10-15 minutes to dry.  It does dry really quite tight.  Then you remove it with warm water.  I really like how my skin feels after I use it.  Considering how dry the mask gets my skin doesn't feel dry at all after I've used it.  My skin looks matte but feels soft.
I've been really enjoying using this once a week to relax whilst in the bath.  The chocolate mask can be a bit messy so it's probably best to use it in the bath where all the mess will be self contained when you wash it off.

I'd really like to try other products from this brand, especially maybe another facial mask.  It's mid-range price wise so I'll have to save up a bit first.

My cake should be done in a few minutes.  Till next time!

Twirlybirdie