Recent Purchases

I've been picking up beauty bits each time I go out to do my Christmas shopping and so I've built up a bit of a collection of purchases, from drugstore to high end; I've been on quite the spree!

 Over the last few weeks I've picked up a few bits from Urban Decay, the first thing I got was the Naked2 Basics (£22); this eye shadow palette of 6 matte shades is more cool toned than the original which I prefer. These eye shadows are of the high quality we've come to expect from Urban Decay and the shade selection is beautiful. To go with this new addition I decided to pick up the 24/7 glide on eye pencil in perversion, this is a matte black eye liner that stays all day; at £15 they aren't cheap but they're definitely worth it. Next up I purchased the Full Frontal Lipstick Stash (£29); a collection of 6 mini lipsticks and the 24/7 glide on lip pencil in Ozone. This is something I bought on a whim that I wish I hadn't, although it's a good deal the colour selection of this set isn't really "me". My final Urban Decay purchase was the Subversion Lash Primer, this is reminiscent of the two step mascaras of the early 2000s; except this stuff actually works. This gives the lashes volume without clumps and there's no white left in site once you've applied your regular mascara.

I was in need of a new primer and had been eyeing up the Stila One Step Correct (£24) for a while so when I saw one lonely bottle in my local Boots I felt obliged to pick it up, I've not had a real chance to give this a go but I'm liking the effect it has so far; this covers any redness in my skin while blurring pores. This is working especially well with the latest addition to my foundation collection; MAC Matchmaster foundation in 1.0 (£29), this is a medium coverage foundation that gives a satin finish and lasts really well. Next up from MAC was a lipstick in Brave, a satin finish pinky nude that I had picked up a few times but never actually purchased until now.

Whilst killing time I took a trip to Blush Beauty Box in Loughborough where a lovely sales assistant helped me to pick out a new Bare Minerals foundation to suit my skin type and then helpfully colour matched me. I ended up with the Bare Minerals Matte foundation in Fair and I have to say it's the perfect match, a rarety with most "matches" I get. I like to put a light dusting of this over a sheer foundation for a more natural look and the matte finish means I can skip powder!

I also did some budget shopping and picked up the MUA Pro Base Prime & Conceal (£3.50) which has 4 corrector shades and a highlighter shade, the green shade is helpful when covering redness and the orangey shade covers dark circles well. I also picked up the Make Up Revolution The One Concealer (£1) in the lightest shade, this is super moisturising for under the eyes and I like to use this as a base before applying any colour corrector or concealer over the top. I saw someone on YouTube rave about the new L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper (£5.99) and had to have it, this is everything I dreamed Benefits Gimme Brow would be but cheaper and dark enough for my brows!

Next up I added a few new lip products to my stash i the form of 2 Sleek lipsticks in the shades Cherry and Liqueur along with a Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Nude-ist. The Sleek lipsticks are creamy and moisturising teamed with a long lasting power, these are on par with MAC lipsticks for quality and only £4.95! The Rouge Edition Velvet has been hyped up and I can see why, these are a velvet lip product that are moisturising while still matte.

Lastly I purchased some of  the Superdrug Naturally Radiant line, I got the Hot Cloth Cleanser and the Glycolic Overnight Peel. The hot cloth cleanser is a great cleanser that removes  make up and leaves the skin feeling fresh while the Glycolic Overnight Peel is a wonderful overnight treatment that leaves the skin feeling fresh and glowing the next morning.