Recent Beauty Buys...

It's been a while since I did a 'Beauty Haul' of some sort and so you know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do for you all today. It's not mahoosive, but there's a good handful (or maybe couple of handfuls) of products in there and I'm super excited to give them all a go...

First up, as always (pretty much) - Makeup. I needed to repurchase both shades of my NYX Micro Brow Pencil as they were both heading to the end of their lives and needed replenishing and so recently I finally got round to doing just that. Since first trying this brow pencil, I have tried various different shades and shade combinations, but the one (or ones, should I say) I have found to work the best for me are 'Ash Brown' and 'Espresso'. The ashy-ness of the former and the deeper tone of the latter just combine to make the ideal shade for my brows and the actual set-up of the product itself is just all kinds of perfect. A small, fine pencil nib makes for super precise, easy application that you can use to create anything from ultra-natural brows all the way up to something that's more full-on (my personal preference) that last all darn day long. Love, love, LOVE. Whilst there, I couldn't resist picking up a few extra bits 'n' bobs from the NYX stand - it would've been rude not to, right? I've eyed up the HD Studio Finishing Powder for a while now and so took the chance to pick it up for myself. I have really gotten into 'baking' recently for special occasions, nights out and that kinda thang and I loved the look of this loose powder for doing just that and so thought I would add it to my stash. It's both translucent and completely colourless, so perfect for baking, especially on paler skin and while I have heard some mixed reviews - with some saying it's great and others warning that while it does work and look good, it flashes back like hell - I guess that only made me eager to try it out even more. There's only one way to find out for sure. And then finally for NYX, I couldn't help but pick up a new lip product - again, it just had to happen. I am a massive fan of the lip offerings from NYX in general - their Liquid Suedes, Lip Lingeries and also their Soft Matte Lip Creams are all awesome and when a new shade from the latter's range caught my eye, I instantly threw it into my basket. I say 'new' as in more new to myself than the range as I'm pretty sure this has been around for a while now, but somehow I only spotted it in my last Boots trip. Where have I been, eh? This is the shade 'Abu Dhabi' and already - I am in love. I admit, when I went over to the NYX stand that day I was fully intent on picking up the infamous colour 'London' - yanno, the nude SMLC shade that everyone and their Nan seems to adore - but when I swatched it, I wasn't as hung up on it as I expected to be. However, I soon moved on to playing around with this shade pretty much next door and I fund it to be much more up my street. This is the perfect warm, light brown-y nude that's warm without coming off as pure orangey and the light, laidback formula gives a matte finish that's not super drying or super uncomfortable ether. Last, but not least makeup-wise, I have gone back to an old favourite - my old faithful, Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara. I used to completely adore this stuff back in the day when it was first released and everyone went cray cray for it - myself included. Since then, I've flitted in and out of using it - mainly due to wanting to try tonnes of other mascaras - but recently, I fancied picking up a brand new tube again and I am fully excited to crack it open and give it a go again. From what I remember, this is one of the best drugstore mascaras out there and just gives everything you could need. Length, volume, lift, thickness (but still separation at the same time) and a formula that layers super well and last all day long with no smudging or flaking.

Moving on nicely from the cosmetics side of things while still kinda in-keeping with it - I picked up a brand new set of one of my favourite false lashes - Ardell's Demi Wispies. These are a classic,. everyone raves about them and having tried them out sometime last year, I count myself in on that one. They're exactly what they claim to be on the tin - full, wispy lashes that create that uber-pretty, flirty, feminine look to your peepers. They're slightly winged-out so create that slight illusion of a cat eye effect and all things considering, are not too hard to apply. The lash band is fairly undetectable and once stuck on, I find them to withstand even the longest, craziest night out. To go alongside that, I found a proper bargain during my last trip to Superdrug. My local store has not set up a little 'Reduced' section and believe it or not, I found this when rummaging around to see what I could find. This is the Ardell Dual Lash Applicator and I cannot tell you how happy I was to find this in there. I have been umming and arring over investing in a false lash applicator for the longest of times and was super happy to be able to pick this one up for a fraction of its original price. Don't get me wrong, I can usually muddle along fairly well without one, but it was curiosity more than anything that lead me to wonder whether it would make any difference to a good ol' pair of tweezers. Again, I will test it out and let you know...

And then, the very last item for this average-sized haul is something for the Body. I love a good body scrub. They're great for smoothing out the skin before fake tanning, shaving your legs and all that kinda stuff and just generally making your skin feels super smooth and look a hell of a lot better than before and with my current one on the way out, I was super keen to pick this one up as its replacement. This is the Zoella Beauty 'Pretty Polished' Body Scrub and if you're a regular round these parts and remember my love for the body scrub from the 'Tutti Fruity' Collection a couple of Summers back, you'll understand why I added this to my basket. While that one is now sadly discontinued, this fairly new addition to the 'Classic' Range is thankfully not and I am so glad to have a new version to move onto. From what I can tell, this body scrub is practicably identical to that of the 'Scrubbing Me Softly', just in the musky fragrance of the 'Classic' Collection and so I have pretty high hopes for it being just as awesome. Let's hope so, eh?