Christmas Beauty Buys

For Christmas, this year I was lucky enough to get a Boots gift card (although I’m a Superdrug girl at heart) for the first time ever! Of course I was eager to use this, so went out straight away! The Soap and Glory “glamorise” gift set, featuring highlighter, eyeshadows, eyeliner, mascara and a lip product was reduced to an amazing £10, but unfortunately it was out of stock online and in the stores near me by the time I had a chance to use the voucher. While I was disappointed to miss out on dramatically expanding my soap and glory collection at such a good price, I still managed to put the voucher to good use.

I purchased three items: Nyx hot singles eyeshadow in ‘heart chaleur’ (£3.50), Barry M nail paint in ‘diamond glitter’ (£2.99) and Barry M ‘extra volume’ showgirl mascara (£4.99).

The nyx eyeshadow is the perfect shade! I have been looking for a deep red/burgundy shade for so long, but didn’t want to buy another palette for just one shade. This eyeshadow is my first ever nyx product (!!) but definitely not the last, as a nyx counter just opened at my local Boots. The eyeshadow is so pigmented and the perfect shade for both dramatic and everyday looks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barry M nail paint is always really good quality, so I was impressed as normal, however the mascara is so disappointing. The packaging is amazing and the mascara is very black and elongating, but it provides no extra volume to my lashes, and most of the reviews on the Boots website (which I wish I’d read first) were quite bad. Oh well, at least I have a new pretty product in my collection!

The same day that I went to Boots, I also picked up some colour correcting products from Primark, using a voucher I got for Christmas. I had hoped to get the green (especially) and yellow correctors from MUA but when I went to Superdrug, they didn’t have the green one. They had one palette left containing all four shades, but as I didn’t need the lilac and peach shades I decided to go to Primark. Their ever expanding “Ps…pro” range of advanced products made me think they would have colour correctors.

Luckily they do! At first I was going to buy one for £3 from the “Ps..pro” range which I think, out of the box, would have been just like a tube of green concealer. However, I then noticed the pencil/crayon colour correctors in green and yellow for £1.50 each (less than the MUA products at £2 each) so I went with these!

I love these products! They are super affordable and are so smooth to apply. The yellow one provides great overage and really brightens the purple areas under my eyes, and the green one effectively covers redness. I would say the yellow corrector is slightly more blendable, and can be topped up over foundation without looking patchy, but I would recommend both products if you are looking for a cheap but effective colour corrector.

Finally, after scouring my local B&M to no avail, I ordered two w7 products from Amazon. I got the mega matte lip cream in the shade ‘two bob’ (£1.98) after seeing it in Sophdoesnails’ “testing w7 makeup” video, and it has quickly become one of my favourite lip products. It is very pigmented and the perfect matte nude colour. I also ordered the w7 Glowcomotion highlighter (£2.47!!) as it has been hailed as a low cost dupe for The Balm’s Mary Loumanizer. Although I can’t compare it to Mary Loumanizer, I LOVE this highlighter! It is the perfect champagne shade which provides a brilliant alternative to my more intense, gold toned highlighters.

I feel like I should take a break from buying beauty products now we have entered the New Year, but I have a feeling that is not going to happen!

xo