Compulsive Shopping at Boots and Superdrugs

I put my hands up, when it comes to Boots and Superdrugs I become a compulsive shopper.  I go in for one thing and come out somewhat poorer after I do a crazy 'supermarket sweep' and buy all sorts of things that I probably don't need but WANT!

These brightly lit shops highlight all the nice things that are out there that I want to try out, and then there are the offers which suck you in and then proceed to suck your wallet dry!

I went to Boots yesterday for some hair dye.  I had a mantra in my head as I went in: "Just the hair dye" that I repeated in my head over and over again, alas it didn't help and the hair dye purchase that should have only cost approximately £7 became a shop of around £50. Why???

In the basket this time:

1. Garnier Olia Permanent Hair Colour in 4 Dark Brown - £6.99
I usually get this dye in  Iced Chocolate but decided that this looks like a warmer shade and I need warming up this winter!

2. Garnier Ultimate Beauty Oil Skin Perfector - £7.99
Since coming back from Malaysia and Thailand  my skin has been really dry due to all the sun and sea as well as the central heating in the house since I got back.  I saw the advert for this product in a magazine and liked the fact that it has so many different types of oil in it and promises to nourish and illuminate my skin.  Can't go wrong!  First impressions are good, the smell isn't overpowering and the oil itself feels really light on but seems to make my skin feel lovely.

3. Tangle Teezer in Purple - £10.99
I did think initially that this was a glorified horse hair brush, however, I used a friend's Tangle Teezer on holiday and wow, was really impressed on how gently it gets those knots out of your hair.  Move over paddle brush, there's a new boss in town.

4. Benefit They're Real Mascara - £18.50
Now, I really didn't need this, but I REALLY REALLY wanted it.  At the moment I have 4 mascaras on the go and even I know that this is excessive.  But... I really couldn't stop my hand from reaching out on to the special display that Boots had put up and chucking one in my basket :(

5. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 040 Rendezvous Rendez-vous - £5.00
I want it, no I don't want it, pick it up and then put it down and then pick it up! I did a lot of tooing and froing in front of the Revlon display yesterday and all because of this baby.  I've used Clinique chubby sticks in the past and have liked them but as I don't wear a lot of lip colour I don't like to spend a lot on lipsticks etc.  However, Boots have reduced a lot of Revlon products down to £5.00.  The Just Bitten sticks are usually £7.99 and I thought that I might as well try it.  As you can see from the picture I got a bright corrally orange (primarily because I don't own anything in this colour and fancied a change) and was pleasantly surprised on how pigmented the colour is when you put it on your lips.  Another positive is that it made my lips feel lovely and on the plus side it smells of peppermint, yum.


News Years Resolution: Only go into Boots/Superdrugs once a month!

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Real Techniques Make-up Brushes

I'm in love, aww... so romantic, until you realise that I'm in love with my new make-up brushes.  Like a lot of people I dip in and out of YouTube watching videos of talented people putting make up (OK, sometimes not so talented) and I saw a bit of a pattern emerging.  A lot of people were raving about Real Techniques Make-up Brushes.  So, off I trotted to my local Boots and had a look at what was on offer.  I bought two brushes - the stippling brush (£11.99) and the blush brush (£9.99).  I've been looking for a decent blush brush for a while, my last one decided to die ungracefully and the bristles fell out.  I ended up making do with a travel Mac blush brush but just didn't find it effective as the bristles were just too open and loose for me.  Well, personally the Real Tecniques blush brush turned out not to be right for me for blusher but boy did it work for me for loose powder and in anycase the stippling brush turned out to be perfect for blusher so it was smiles all around.

Anyway, back to Real Techniques.  These are a range of brushes developed by Sam Chapman of Pixwoo fame.  All the brushes in the range have synthetic Taklon bristles, making them 100% cruelty free which is great.  The brushes themselves feel light and are comfortable in the hand.  They are not too long which is great (I've had issues with Millie and Ruby make-up brushes in the past due the brushes being too long and therefore making it difficult to get close to a mirror) and most of them have a flat base and so stand up on their own if needed.

Overall, I liked my two new brushes enough to go back to Boots and buy the Core Collection (£21.99) and the Starter Set (£21.99) bringing my Real Tecniques collection to 11 brushes.  I don't feel too guilty though as the prices are more than reasonable in my opinion.  I already had a mixed bag of make-up brushes in my collection, ranging for expensive Mac and Dior brushes and cheaper Body Shop brushes, however, I have to say that some of these have fallen to the side as the Real Techniques brushes have scrambled to my make-up brush top list.

The only (very slight) issue I had was with the Deluxe Crease Brush which I had to trim a little as it had a couple of 'loose hairs', but apart from this, these brushes are just amazing.

(Note: Prices for the brushes are from Boots as of 31st August 2012)