LEAVING WORK HAUL

You may or may not (but probably don't know) that for the past 11 months I've been working as a healthcare advisor at Boots (and I won't say which one, but it is probably the best Boots out there in the coolest location). Alongside this came the single greatest thing in my life, a discount card. As Sunday was my last day at work, my mum and I did a huge Boots shop before I had to give back my discount (</3), so I thought I'd share some of the things we bought.

Skin Care
I did a stock up on my favourite skin care staples, which are the Boots tea tree and witch hazel foaming face wash and cleansing and toning lotion, the Neutrogena oil-free moisturiser (life saver) and the Quick Fix anti-blemish mud mask. Oldies but goodies, all of them.

Makeup
The first lot of makeup is stuff I bought myself. Firstly, I bought myself a new Natural Collection concealer stick, which is my current favourite concealer, and the Rimmel soft kohl eye liner pencil, as my current one from Body Shop is nearing the end of its life. I also bought, because there was an offer on Rimmel, the Lasting Colour Rush balm in 'Keep Mauving', which I have been lusting after for absolutely ages after buying a different colour a couple of years ago and loving it. The last makeup item I bought was the No.7 extreme length sensitive mascara. I was on the hunt for a good mascara, and I had this one years and years ago and really liked it. I don't need my mascaras to do too many fancy things, just simple length and colour, and I have really, really sensitive eyes, so this one ticks all the boxes for me.

All the other makeup products are Essie nail varnishes that I was given as my leaving present from my colleagues, as they know how much I love Essie nail varnishes. Firstly, I was given 'Chinchilly', which everyone knows is my all-time favourite nail varnish, and I was also given two duo sets. The first one is the 'Anchors Aweigh!' set, which contains two slightly shimmery nail varnishes, 'Naughty Nautical' and the immensely population 'Bikini so Teeny'. The other set is the 'a Sprinkle in Pink' set, which contains the also immensely popular 'Fiji' and the 'a Cut Above' glitter top coat. I am very spoilt and very emotional over this.

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous products, aka the ones that didn't fit into their own category but I wanted to mention. Firstly, a set of three clear wash/makeup bags, always useful; then my favourite Denman hair brush because I haven't had a new one in over ten years. Finally, a new electric toothbrush that I can bring away to uni with me (plus spare heads, not pictured).

Rosie

Significantly poorer than I was before

(ANOTHER) CONCEALER COMPARRISON

In July I posted a 'Concealer Comparrison' post, comparing my long-term Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer, and a new Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer. A couple of week after that, however, I released that the Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer just wasn't right for me and so a new 'Concealer Comparrison' post is being born.

The reason I initially decided to stop using the Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer, after using it for about a year, was because I suspected that it was making my skin very dry. I have fairly dry skin anyway, but the areas where I was using the concealer were more dry than ever. Since changing concealers, my dry skin has become much, much better.

I opted for the Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer as I'd heard nothing but good things about it and swatching it in the shop showed that it was basically an exact match for my skin. I really liked the Rimmel 'Wake Me Up', not only was it a very good match for my skin, but it also felt good on the skin. I liked the fact that it had a slightly more watery consistency and that it didn't look and feel thick, cakey and drying on the face. The only problem with it, that resulted in me having to buy a new concealer, was that it didn't have very good coverage at all. The thin consistency meant that it didn't cover up spots and blemishes very well and it just wasn't suited for my needs. The Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' concealer is suited more to brightening and hiding dark circles under the eyes, etc., but I am hoping to go back to using it when my skin is a bit better and I don't need such heavy duty coverage.

I had a long list of concealers from Boots and Superdrug to try out, but after swatching them all, I decided that the Maybelline 'Fit Me' Concealer was the best match for my skin with the right amount of coverage. Maybelline is a brand that I had never ever considered for concealer before, I've used their 'Colour Tattoo' eyeshadows and 'Baby Lips' lip balm, but I'd never thought of them for anything else. The most notable thing about the 'Fit Me' concealer is how similar the packaging looks to the immensely famous and popular Nars concealer.

I am enjoying using this concealer, it has a thicker consistency so it has good coverage on spots and blemishes. One thing I have found, for my personal skin tone, is that I have to apply it quite lightly and then build it up in light dabs, otherwise it can look quite orangey on my face. Unlike the Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer, the 'Fit Me' concealer doesn't look noticeably thick and cakey on my skin, and it hasn't caused any dryness in the areas of use at all.

I would highly recommend this concealer, it meets all my needs and it's a good product at a reasonable price (between £5-£10). I can't see myself being one to settle on just one concealer, but for now I am very happy with this one and it suits me well.

I wanted to do just a quick paragraph here to talk about concealer application. For applying concealer, I personally like to actually use a fluffy eyeshadow brush, though I do sometimes use a concealer brush. I tend to prefer the eyeshadow brushes as they are much larger and so I find it easier to blend the concealer into the surrounding area. I know it's wrong, but I do sometimes prefer to use a finger to just dab the concealer in, I find that it sometimes covers spots much better than blending in with a brush. Though I find that using a finger gives the best results, I try to use a brush so as not to risk my skin getting worse from the bacteria on fingers. If you look at the picture below of my current makeup brush set (the whole set, including the case, is from Cath Kidston), you can see that I normally use the brush three from the right for my concealer, which is actually an eyeshadow brush, though I do occasionally use the proper concealer brush to the left of it.

Rosie 

SUPER SKIN

In honour of our Baby Lips throwback to September 2013 at the end of September 2014, I thought we'd do another throwback to October 2013- the aforementioned 'Skin Month'. So as a celebration of a month dedicated to talking about skin products this time last year, I am doing my current skin care routine.
I don't know if this is because of simply getting older, but my skin has got a million times better in the past six months, and it's only fair that I share my skin secrets (the main one being that I secretly really enoy washing my face).

Morning:
I wash my face twice a day (as everyone should) using the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel foaming face wash, and the cleansing and toning lotion of the same range. I occasionally use the Body Shop Tea Tree facial toner, but personally I prefer Boots' one. It should be noted here that Boots normally have a three-for-two offer on their Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range. Next I moisturise my face using my trusty Neutrogena moisturiser; the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range and the Neutrogena moistuiser are the only products that I have been constantly repurchasing for about the last 6 years.

Evening:
In the evening I wash my face again, though this time I don't moisturise. Before I wash my face, I take off my eyeliner and concealer (just general everyday makeup) using the Body Shop Vitamin E gentle facial cleansing wipes; though these wipes are quite expensive, I am actually allergic to Simple wipes so I have to use them. Personally though, I think that they work better than Simple wipes, and the packet actually lasts a very long time. In the evening I also use the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel spot wand, which, despite having a 'Day' and a 'Night' side at either end (something which I personally love), I am bad and sometimes don't bother with it in the mornings. As it is part of my nighttime routine, I thought I'd add that I use the Body Shop Lip Butter in Shea every night before I go to bed and it is probably one of my most favourite lip products ever, it keeps my lips super soft and smooth and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Extras:
These are things which I am trying to make part of my weekly routine, but I am bad and neglect them, and most of the time I also forget to use them. It is recommened that you use a face mask and exfoliate your face at least once a week (I never do them on the same day), and I am trying really hard to make this happen. I have never been all that keen on exfoliating scrubs as I never used to like the gritty, sandy feel of them, but I do quite like the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel exfoliating face scrub. You can read my post from 'Skin Month' last October to see how I got on with a Body Shop exfoliating face mask but I warn you, it is not good at all. However, the Body Shop face mask that I have always loved and can always see myself loving is their Tea Tree face mask, which I would highly recommend. I would also suggest getting some of the sample packet version of this mask as it comes in little sachets for £1 each and you can get at least three face masks out of each one, depending on the size of your head.

GETTING SKINNY WITH IT

I've had one of those 'ohmygod it's nearly summer I need to look nice all over' moments, and I am starting with my skin; I'm also branching out more into the world of makeup and experimenting more.

Body Shop Tea Tree Blemish Gel:
It is a known fact that my mother and I are *slighty* obsessed with the Body Shop and their tea tree collection is no exception. Tea tree is very, very good for teenage or combination (oily and dry) skin and it is a range I have been sticking to successfully for many, many years. I was more than slightly horrified at the price and size of this product, it costs £6 and is absolutely tiny but I have heard so many good things about this that I paid the ridiculous price regardless (if you can't tell I am not a fan of forking over massive amounts of money for any products in general); I have heard that this product not only gets rid of spots but also gets rid of the blemishes or scars from previous spots and I am willing to try anything that claims that.

This might just have been my skin at that moment in time, but when I first tried this product I felt that it almost made the under-skin-lurking-spots seem more prominent and actually made them come up on the surface. And, to be honest with you, I'm pretty sure that it does make the tiny unnoticeable blemishes seem like more prominent spots (no one else notices it on my skin, though, it's just me).

While this is a good product, it is more or less the same as Boot's Tea Tree Blemish Stick and I would recommend getting the Boots one as it is larger, cheaper and you get more for your money.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer:
I have been using a Body Shop concealer in stick form for years and years and, while it does it's job, it's not brilliant and you can still see where the spots are. My best friend gave me the most amazing set of Cath Kidston makeup brushes for my birthday (confessional time: I have no idea what most of the brushes are meant for) and that has motivated me to experiment more with makeup. My first step has been buying a liquid concealer and using a brush to blend it in (another confessional time: sometimes I still just rub it in with my hands); the concealer I chose is the Collection Lasting Perfection as I am unoriginal and jumping on the bandwagon/ I have heard a lot of good things about this. I was surprised at how cheap this was- £4.19 is a price I like.

I bought this concealer in Shade 2 Cool Medium as in Superdrug it looked the right shade and Shade 1 looked too light; however, a couple of days later I was happily blending it in with my brush when I looked in the mirror and realised I was orange. But not just orange, orange and splotchy as I hadn't covered my whole face and only a few areas, attractive that. I did go back and buy the concealer in Shade 1 Fair as in the UK you can't return makeup, I am not broken hearted about this as the product was quite cheap, but damn you super bright Superdrug lights. Since having written that last bit, it has been very sunny and I'm actually quite tanned on my face now; in hindsight it is actually a good thing that I have both Shades 1 and 2 in my collection as Shade 1 is the right shade of me in the winter/spring/colder months, but in the summer I am more suited to Shade 2. Happy is me

If you browse the Cath Kidston website and find their 'Button Rose Makeup Brush Set', I use the third largest brush to blend my concealer, and then the Body Shop 'Face and Body Brush' to just make sure it's all blended in properly and spread (is that the right word) it around my face so everything is even. Occasionally (a lot) I have been known the use my fingers to rub it in thought I don't think it does such a good job as brushes. (I also use the Body Shop 'Face and Body Brush' for powder).

This concealer had been raved about by everyone and their mum so I had high expectations for it, I am not disappointed, I would highly recommend this product.

THE PERFECT PALETTE

So I haven't been wearing eye shadow for all that long and I'm a bit new at the whole thing bit I am completely in love with basic and nude palettes so I have got together a collection of my favourites. All of these palettes are under £10 as what is the point in splashing out on a Naked Palette costing £36 when you can get something a lot cheaper that has basically the same colours on the high street?

This is an awful photo but I couldn't get a decent one to show what the packaging looks like

1. Boots own palette (roughly £6)- I was given this for Christmas 2012 so sadly it is not available anymore but every year Boots bring out their own cheap makeup range with are all small and adorable and make the best gifts. I absolutely love this palette, it has six great colours that all have a slight glitter effect to them without being too overpowering.
It is definitely worth having a look at the Boots own makeup range every Christmas as last year's was really good, you can find it online in the Christmas section under 'teen beauty gifts' or in stores.

This is my favourite palette by far- you can't see well but all apart from the black are matte, the black is sparkly, and the one in the bottom right is a pale pink

2. Accessorize palette in Exposed (£8.95)- This is the most expensive palette I am going to review but it still comes to under £10 which I personally think is great for how many colours you get (32). This palette probably has every brown, pink, gold, copper or nude colour you will ever want or need in it, plus a couple of blues and a black as well. I saw this reviewed online but then couldn't find it on either the Accessorize or the Superdrug websites and had a bit of a freak that I could never have it and I wanted it, much to my great joy though they were selling it in my local Superdrug. A lot of these colours are shimmery or very VERY shimmery and I would much prefer a more matte selection for everyday use but they are great for going out or for special occasions. This palette is lovely but it is too shimmery for my taste, Accessorize have gone a little too over the top in their use of glitter here.

3. MUA (Make Up Academy) palette in Shade 12 Heaven and Earth (£4.00)- I was a bit wary of using MUA eye shadows as I have very sensitive eyes and I didn't know if cheap eye shadow would aggravate it like cheap eyeliner and mascara does but I couldn't resist this palette at £4.00 with such lovely colours. Heaven and Earth is MUA's best selling palette, and I must say it looks so much nicer in person than it does online; I was not as keen on this palette when I saw it online but now that I own it I am completely in love with it. It has the most beautiful colours that can be put together to make the prettiest eye lid ever and I just love love love this palette so much.
Another MUA palette that I wanted was Undress Me Too (also £4.00) but it was very similar to Heaven and Earth (which was my first choice) and it was always sold out in my local Superdrug so I decided to see how I got on with Heaven and Earth before I got another one; Undress Me Too is a beautiful palette though and it was an almost impossible choice deciding which one to get.

You can't easily see what some of the colours are here (sorry for natural lighting) but the top row first on the left is a creamy colour, top row third from the left is a goldy colour, and bottom row third from the left is a light beige colour.

Other beautiful palettes that I have found but won't be looking at here are:
-Soap and Glory Lid Stuff (£10)- Comes in three different choices which are all beautiful
-Flutter Pretty Purple Eye Palette (£4)- (available from Superdrug online) beautiful selection of purples, appealing even to me who is not a great fan of bright colours on my eyelids.
-The Lolita by Marc Jacobs (around £40 I believe but don't take my word on it)- Very pretty but you can still get great dupes on the high street for a much more reasonable price.
-Nude Tude Eyeshadow Palette by The Balm (£26)- I love this but (as you may already know) I am not a fan of spending overly large amounts of money on things like this; absolutely adorable packaging though.

I am thinking of starting a MAC palette in pinks, browns, neutrals and maybe a white, but as they are super expensive (£10 each) I am currently unsure. Much to my great joy though, MAC do palettes in a smaller size to fit only four eye shadows pans; still expensive but much cheaper than a full palette, and also perfect for holiday-ing as it is small and light.

HALLOWEEN NAILS

This Halloween was an interesting one, a bunch of us went to my best friend's house and about an hour in she sliced through her hand in the gap between her thumb and first finger when carving pumpkins- typical. I'm not exagerting when I say you could see the flesh inside her hand but she ended up having to go to hospital and sit in A&E for two hours. She ended up with three stitches and can never give a thumbs up properly again whilst we all had to hang out in her house without her. It was a surreal event but typical for her.

Last Halloween (2012- party on) was the first time I'd celebrated (is that the right word?) Halloween properly for quite a few years. Last year was the traditional all-black look but this year I decided to mix it up a bit more.

Part of my look this year was nails. Nails are fun, you can paint them different colours fitting for every season and I was sadly overly pleased with mine this year. I decided to go for the alternating colours which I haven't done in a very long time (alternating nails were the bomb in year 8).
My Halloween look was an obvious choice, a mix of my new Barry M black matte and an old one- from the Boots own brand range from last Christmas in Emerald green. The green comes out much lighter than in the bottle and is also very thin so you need a good few coats before it will work properly. Matte black and glittery green are perfect for mixing up your nails a bit and making them look a bit more interesting and unusual.
There's not much to say really apart from I painted them alternating and it was very Halloween-y but I'd only done one coat so it lasted about a day and they were not looking good five days later. Nails are a quick-ish (depending on if you don't smudge them or not) and easy look and you can always find something to go with every outfit.

SKIN MONTH | EVERYDAY ROUTINE

So this post isn't going to be very interesting but as it's Skin Month I thought it was only right that I addressed by daily skin routine...

(Apologises for the half-used products) 

1. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash- tea tree is super good for your skin, I use this twice daily and then wash it off using Boots cotton wool pads.
2. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Cleansing and Toning Lotion- it is always good to use toner on your skin, I use this once every morning and dab a couple of drops of it onto a cotton wool pad.
3. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Exfoliating Face Scrub- (yes there is a trend going on) as I wrote here, I am not a great fan off exfoliating products for your face so I only use this about once a month but exfoliation is good and you should not run away from it just because it feels weird.
4. (A new one) Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes- I use these in the evening to take off my eye makeup and then give my face a quick wipe before I wash it properly, I love these wipes so much.
5. Neutrogena moisturiser- favourite moisturiser, not much else to say about that really.
6. Burt's Bees lip balm- I just have the normal, original, no extra stuff, whatever you want to call it one and I lovelovelovelove it sososososo much, I use it every night before I go to bed so I have super smoothy lips when I wake up. I also use it as a base if I'm going to be wearing lip gloss because I find that some lip glosses dry your lips out a bit and this just prevents it.

 The Boots tea tree and witch hazel range

Personal favourites

Available at Boots or Waitrose- I love these

 

 

Now moving onto make up, I don't wear all that much to school because I have no time if I actually want to sleep in the morning.

The bare minimum

1. Body Shop concealer- I have spoken about this before but it's really good and does not cause excess breakouts like some concealers do.
2. Body Shop black eyeliner pencil- Just on the lower lash line and water line, I have super sensitive eyes and this is a good quality eyeliner without being overpriced like many other sensitive eyes products (COUGH No7 COUGH).
3. Mascara- I don't often wear mascara but when I do I wear No7 sensitive eyes in black, the one thing I hate about mascara is you can never seen when you're nearly running out.
4. Maybelline Baby Lip in Peach Kiss- perfect everyday lip balm, tastes good and has a teeny tiny shimmer to it in certain lights.
5. Body Shop Born Lippy in Guava- I absolutely love these but I have so many and never manage to finish them (my friend gets through a whole pot in about three months which is quite impressive considering how much is in there and how little you need at a time). Guava has got to be by far the nicest Born Lippy (I have about three pots of the strawberry one, however- yummy) but I find that they dry my lips out so I just whack on a layer of Burt's Bees and it works like a dream team.

Looks amazing and smells amazing I absolutely love this product (guava flavoured)