Disappointing Products #8 & #9

I purchased these two products together a while back now as they were on the new in page on Superdrug and the claims pulled me in. When I purchased the whole range had some money off so they worked out really cheap products. This is a relatively new range from Superdrug called 'Clearly Youthful' claiming a "unique anti-blemish and youth-boosting solution". As usual the anti-blemish claims pulled me in and I also noticed that both products contained Salicylic Acid which is a great spot fighting ingredient.

Firstly I'll talk about the Blemish Treatment Gel, this is the kind of product that I always have in my stash and I normally chop and change a spot gel to try and find the one for me. The packaging is simple and has a pump to dispense the product. However the pump dispenses way too much product for my liking and I end up wasting so much as there is no way you can control it. I literally only use one pump and still have a load of product left over and you cannot do 'little' pumps, it's either one pump or no product basically. I've also noticed when using this product is that is clumps a lot, which I know sounds weird for a spot gel, but often when I pump the product out I'll get a huge, hard clump of product which again is such a waste, not to mention annoying. Since using this product I haven't noticed any different in my spots at all which is such a shame considering it claims so much. I also noticed that the morning after applying this product, it's still sitting on my face and hasn't really sunk in. For me, it's just a really bad product and does nothing to help my skin/spots.

Onto the Glycolic Peel which I was really looking forward to trying as I haven't used many 'peel off' masks previously. This one has made me want to stay clear of them if I'm honest as this product is just as bad as the spot gel. This product also clumps, it comes in a squeezey tube, and often there are hard clumps in there which I have to get rid of. When this product is on my face it doesn't feel nice and is really sticky/tacky. I can't really explain the feeling but I can't say that it's an enjoyable face mask to put on and relax. Again I haven't noticed any change in my skin/spots after using this product and I have really tried to get on with this product but it's just not happening.

Overall I'm really disappointed with both of these products and will clearly not be repurchasing them or anything from this range in the future. They both have such huge claims and none of them have lived up to any claim Superdrug state. Unfortunately these products do not work for me or my skin type but there is always a chance they will work for you, this is completely just my opinion and experience with these two products.

Disappointing Products #5

I recently ran out of my Clearasil spot pads (not the correct name but I've forgotten!) so whilst in Superdrug I saw these ones, for a fraction of the price, so thought I would give them a go. I do love my Clearasil ones but when you use them twice a day, they do disappear quickly therefore can be expensive to keep repurchasing. Hence why I thought I would give these ones a go due to mainly the price tag but they do claim pretty much the same thing.

The first day I started using these I wasn't impressed, now with only a few pads left, my opinion hasn't changed. I first opened these and the top pad was pretty much dry. These pads are supposed to be soaked in whatever formula is in the tub, I understand the top one may be difficult to keep soaked in, but for it to be dry I was disappointed in. As I carried on using these, they did start to become more wet, therefore soaked in product, but only after using the top few.

I've been using these twice a day ever since I picked them up and can say that I haven't noticed a huge difference in my skin. These are supposed to clear and refresh your complexion, I can't say I haven't noticed any difference but if any it's very slight. The tea tree scent I personally find very refreshing anyway, so I think the scent of these pads more than the formula is what I prefer, especially in the mornings. In terms of a clear complexion, my skin has been relatively clear recently but I'm not entirely convinced that it's down to this product.

Overall I have enjoyed using these more in the morning but I can say that I wouldn't repurchase this product. The Clearasil ones are 10 times better than these so I will definitely stick to what I know next time. Although you know me, I do like to try out a variety of products before settling my decision. Let me know if you've tried this product and your thoughts on it :-)

Superdrug Beauty Haul

I have another haul for you today and this time it's all from Superdrug. There were a couple of reasons for this haul; number 1 I wanted to get my hands on a new Tanya Burr nail polish and two I've been eyeing up the Clearly Youthful range by Superdrug for a long time. Therefore I made an online order and obviously a couple of other things made it into my basket.

Tanya Burr has recently released her nail polish and lip gloss range and I wanted to get my hands on this particular colour. This shade is called "Fairy Godmother" and it's a gorgeous kind of powdery blue shade which I love. This was priced at £4.99 which I think is reasonable. I have an old shade from Tanya Burr's collection previously so wanted to try a new one to see how they differ, if they do at all.

Next I picked up two items from their Clearly Youthful range which is aimed at spot prone skin which is also dehydrated. I've been eyeing this range up for a long time and I don't know why but I seem to of only just got round to getting my hands on some products. I picked up the Blemish Treatment Gel and the Retexturising Glycolic Peel Off Mask. I needed a new spot gel as my current one is nearly all gone hence why I picked up this product. The mask attracted me just by reading the name of the product. It sounded really interesting and I don't think I've ever tried a peel off mask so I wanted to give it a whirl. They both sound really good and I have both spot prone and dry skin so these products should work great for my skin.

Finally I picked up two Rimmel products as they were on offer for 2 for £10. The Wake Me Up Foundation is a fairly new favourite of mine and I've been without it for a couple of months now. I haven't found another foundation in my collection that lives up to this hence why I repurchased it. I then picked up the Kate Moss lip balm which I've also had my eyes on for a while since the new nude lipstick range was released. My lips have been super dry recently so a new lip balm is always a necessity.

That's my Superdrug haul for you! I hope you've found something that may interest you and as always if you've tried something I purchased, let me know what you thought of it! I'm excited to try all of these products I purchased and full reviews will be coming soon I'm sure :-)

Simply Pure Hydrating Serum

I picked this up randomly in Superdrug recently whilst browsing for something else actually but this really caught my attention. As if I haven't rabbited on about it enough but my skin has turned much more dry in areas recently so I'm always on the hunt now for products to help that. This was a new in product from Superdrug and was on offer for around £2 so I couldn't resist. This is their Simply Pure range which is aimed at sensitive skin which I loved the sound of. Also as I suffer from blemishes products for sensitive skin I find can help that aspect too.

Superdrug claim this product nourishes and replenishes skin which is dehydrated. I've been using this every morning ever since I purchased it, before my moisturiser as an extra boost, and I can honestly say I have really been enjoying using it. I really think this helps locks in my moisture and puts the moisture back into my really dry areas. I find that this doesn't effect my normal skin care routine and fits in perfectly. My current moisturiser works really well over the top of this product and doesn't counteract with it which is a plus. The consistency of this product isn't too thick or too watery which is perfect as it doesn't take too long to sink into the skin. Therefore even when I am in a rush for work I can still apply this product without having to wait for it to dry.

Not only does this work super well with my dry skin but I also have an oily t zone and was slightly worried what this product would do to that area. But I can say that it doesn't really effect those areas at all. I simply just make sure that I powder my face once I've applied all my make up to ensure that it's not shiny as that is the only ever so slight down side - that my t zone is slightly more shiny than normal. I don't particularly see this as a down side though as the product is actually really good and I'm super impressed.

Overall I didn't initially think this product was going to be as good as it has turned out to be so therefore I am really impressed. I would really recommend this product as a starter if you haven't tried a serum before and have dehydrated skin. I think I will definitely repurchase this product and you can check it out here on the Superdrug website. Let me know your favourite serums for dry skin below :-)

Tanya Burr lips & nails: Exotic Island & Penguin Chic

Feeling slightly sleepy already due to waking around 6:45am on a Saturday when I don't start work until this afternoon.. annoying or what! So having done most of the lazy things you tend to do on a weekend morning I thought I would now share a new post with you, one that I've been meaning to share for a very long time. The gorgeous Tanya Burr launched her own lip gloss and nail polish range a while back and I picked up one of each to test out.

When these first launched they were pretty darn hard to get hold of. I ordered mine from Feel Unique and due to the high demand delivery did take rather a long time. But I did finally get my hands on these and I'm super excited about both and love them both - bonus! There are such a wide range of both lip glosses and nail polishes including your bright bolds, hot pinks and neutrals. This made it super hard to decide which shades to choose from (all of which also have super cute names making it even harder). But in the end I opted for a bright lip gloss in Exotic Island and a neutral nail polish in Penguin Chic.

Firstly the lip gloss.. The colour is just oh my, so beautiful. I really was hoping this would be as pigmented and bold as it looks and I can tell you it definitely is. It glides on effortlessly, not sticking to any dry patches which I tend to suffer from. It's a lovely hot purple toned pink which I think is perfect for the coming summer months and nights out. As I said it's super pigmented meaning you can afford to just wear it on it's own but you've also got the option to put it over the top of lipstick maybe for a night out. The packaging is simple which I love and I have to tell you about the smell. These lip glosses just smell absolutely incredible, literally like strawberries and cream or something sweet! I'm never normally a huge lip gloss fan but this one has definitely won me over, it's not too tacky/sticky and gives the perfect amount of colour. All in all this is a great product and definitely worth the £6.99 price tag.

Next the nail polish, I picked up the shade Penguin Chic which is a gorgeous brown/purple/grey, nice and neutral for everyday/every season wear. The formula is lovely, I would recommend more than one coat to achieve the super glossy look which I love. These are easy to apply and dry relatively quickly. They do leave your nails looking nice and glossy although I also apply a top coat to prolong the wear. I absolutely love the packaging again, very chic and simplistic which I think makes the product look a lot more up market. At only £5.99 these nail polishes are affordable and worth it. Again the colour range includes all of the must have colours for each different season which is perfect.

Overall I definitely recommend getting yours hand on either a lip gloss or nail varnish or even both if you feel like splashing out. They're both amazing quality for the prices you pay and in my eyes worth it. Tanya Burr's collection is now available in Superdrug which is a lot easier and means you can really see what all the shades are like. So pop down to your local and see what takes your fancy (also give the lip glosses a whiff!) Enjoy your weekend :-)

MUA Lipstick Shade 2

Where has the sun gone? It's a completely dreary day out there and windy (I hate wind!) It seems to have gone from one extreme to the other, and typical UK people here I am talking about the weather. So I'm going to brighten up the day with this gorgeous lipstick shade, what better way to do it hey?

Let me just get this out there.. I have never really been a lipstick kinda girl. Breathe. I took to asking a load of bloggers in the blogger chat on Twitter a few weeks back how you decide which colours to go for and which high street brands do the best lipsticks. I had a reply from a lovely girl saying that she opted for MUA lipsticks due to the price to then decide which colours suited her best so if she wasn't keen on one she hasn't wasted any money, well £1. I thought this was a brilliant idea as a starter point for myself so I took to my local Superdrug MUA counter and found myself purchasing this one which is Shade 2.

As every blogger would agree I came out with a hand full of swatches from different lipsticks but found myself loving this one the best. I have at the moment only purchased this one colour (I was being naughty as I am trying not to spend any money - woops!) Anyway I picked up shade 2 which is a lovely magenta colour and if you don't already know then MUA lipsticks are only £1, yes you heard correctly. You cannot really go too far wrong when only paying £1 for a lipstick and I was surprisingly impressed! I am absolutely loving the shade of this lipstick on me, I find the colour really buildable as well which is nice if you're wanting to go for a more dramatic, night time look. I prefer more of the subtle look as I'm still getting used to looking at myself in the mirror with lipstick on!

The lasting power of this lipstick isn't great but I really cannot complain due to the price tag, it's so easy to just chuck in your handbag and reapply when needed, so who's moaning? I am definitely (when payday comes, no spending here) going to be picking up more shades from the MUA range simply to hopefully find more shades which I love.

Have you tried any lipsticks from MUA? What shades are your favourite?

Review: MUA Undress Me Too Palette

Happy Friday! It's nearly the weekend and although I'm working all weekend I've had the past two days off which have been... relaxing. I've literally slouched in front of the tv with food. I'm knackered. Anyway today's an exciting post for me, look at the fancy text I've added to the swatch pictures, there's a first time for everything hey! Onto the review...

I purchased this MUA palette in my last haul, I'd been after this palette for so long but my local Superdrug just did not have it in stock so every time I was walking out empty handed, which we all know is a hard thing to do. Anyway one day when my hope had pretty much given in, I was walking past and headed in and to my surprise it was sat there!! A full stack of them, I was gobsmacked. Anyway I quickly snatched one up, along with many other items that I couldn't resist and I was over the moon. Another bonus it was only £3 reduced from £4, not a great saving but a bargain nonetheless.

I've never really been one for eyeshadow, it's not the product that I go into a high street store for but when all the hype was up over the Naked 2 palette I can't tell you how many dupe reviews I saw comparing that palette to this one. That's when this palette first caught my eyes, the colours included all seemed day to night colours which is what I loved. Included are 12 neutral shades which can be worn and blended to make the perfect eye using so many different looks.

Since purchasing this palette I've loved using it! Now since not really knowing much about eyeshadow I took to reviews and pinterest to try and find looks which I thought I would be able to recreate myself. I've just been using more toned down looks and when in a rush for work even just quickly patting a matte colour all over for that extra little kick. This palette comes with both matte and metallic shades which is great as it gives you the balance, the best of both worlds.

The colours I've mainly been loving are Lavish, I've simply been putting this all over my eyelid, Obsessed for the outer corner and the look of eyeliner and Shy for the inner corners of my eyes. The lasting power of these eyeshadows are pretty good, I don't have much to compare them too but they do have some staying power. I think I may need to invest in an eyelid primer to help the staying power of these in the future (any recommendations?? hehe)

I would definitely recommend this palette to anyone looking for a neutral eye palette that has wearable colours. Although you may not wear all the colours, I know there's at least one I'm not keen on (probably too 'out there' for me) but at £4 you cannot complain!

Have you tried this MUA palette? Or any other eyeshadows from MUA?

I'd love to know your thoughts :)

Review: Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum

You know me, here I am again with another skin care product to help with those pesky blemishes that we all suffer from (unless you're super duper lucky). If you didn't know already then I am always keeping my eye out for new skin care products that help keep my skin calm and as spot free as possible. The search seems never ending and although I've found some lovely products I still don't believe that I have found THE product that solves all my problems. So hence why my search continues...

Recently in all the magazines scattered across the staff room table I had seen endless adverts for this particular product. I had searched the internet, my local Boots and Superdrug stores but nothing. Until one day when I had pretty much forgotten about it, I went to my sisters local Superdrug and found it! And it was also on offer, yes it's the Freederm Overnight Clearing Serum. I believe the original price for this is around £7, when I picked it up it was around £4 so a bargain.

I've been using this religiously now ever since I purchased it around 3 weeks ago now and have absolutely been loving it. It claims to 'help reduce spot size and restore healthy skin texture while visibly reducing redness' and it works whilst you sleep. So I've been keeping this on my bedside table and been applying it just before I doze off. It also says for best results apply in small light upward motions so that's what I've been doing and I can say that I have noticed a difference in my skin.

The consistency of this product isn't thick, but can take a few moments so settle into the skin so there's no applying and then losing your head in the pillow straight away but it doesn't take too long. There is a pump which is always a winner so there's no over doing the amount you need for your face. It feels moisturising on the skin and unlike most other blemish products it doesn't make your skin feel tight. The first night I used this I remember getting up the next morning and heading straight for the mirror to see the results and I was pleasantly surprised! The spots I had had reduced in size and the redness had nearly completely disappeared. As much as a spot is just a pain in the back side to begin with I find the redness the hardest part to then cover up and venture out of my bedroom (unless you have a mahusive zit that's just not workable) so the fact that this really helped with redness I was pretty much instantly in love.

I've been using this for around 3 weeks now every night and I can say that I still love it. I also find that some blemish products start off working amazingly and then after many uses it drops and they just seem to not work anymore. But this product doesn't have that and, although this product doesn't stop spots from appearing, when they decide to pop up I know that night at least the redness of the spot will go down.

I definitely recommend this product and all others within the Freederm range as they are aimed at blemish prone skin and have some other amazing products! And I believe I will definitely be repurchasing this product in the future :)

Have you tried anything from Freederm? What were your thoughts?

Beauty Haul

A couple of days ago I went into Boots knowingly that they had a 3 for 2 offer on make up and also knowingly which three make up items I wanted to pick up. I arrived early to work so thought it would be easier to go in the morning, it was around 8:30am, rather than on my lunch as it's the dreaded Easter holidays meaning little kids galore. It was lovely and peaceful BUT two of the three items I wanted to collect were out of stock BUT I somehow still managed to do a 3 for 2 (us beauty bloggers seem to have that knack) so I thought I would show you the bits I picked up.

Firstly I was stood staring at the Revlon stand at these gorgeous nail art duos. I picked up the one called 'Moon Candy'. Now the idea of these nail varnishes are you use the solid colour, in my case black, as the under coat and then apply the glitter top coat. So I needed a new black nail varnish and I love glitter polishes, they are my two reasons for picking this item up, oh and the fact that it's totally awesome. There were so many different colour combinations to choose from I could have gone crazy! Also I had never seen these before so I was totally intrigued to try one myself.

I jumped on the lip butter bandwagon. I'm never usually a girl who wears lipstick in any form but since reading sooo many reviews and hearing people rave about these lip butters I just thought I had to try one. I swatched so many on my hand it was covered but I went for the shade 'Pink Lemonade'. It's a lovely pink shade and relatively sheer, to be honest when I swatched it, it seemed more pigmented than it is on the lips but I didn't want a fully pigmented colour as like I said I never wear lipstick so need to get used to myself wearing it. With that in mind I thought this colour would do the job, only time will tell.

In the same trip I think I also jumped on a different bandwagon, the Barry M gelly nail varnishes. Now I'm a lover of nail varnishes so I couldn't believe I hadn't already picked one of these up but whenever I went to the Barry M counter there only ever seemed to be the colours left that I didn't want to try. Now when I went this time there still were barely any on the shelves but I managed to find myself this colour, which I love. It's in the colour 'Lychee' which is a lovely beige nude and I simply wanted this colour because I don't have any others like it in my collection (that I can remember)

Finally from Boots, just as a small additional product, I picked up the Witch blemish stick. The night before I read a really good review on this product and I'm always on the look out for a new blemish treatment to fight pesky spots so when I read that this one was only £2 odd then I definitely wanted to try it myself. The packaging is rather sweet and easy to carry around for applications throughout the day, I've already started using this so fingers crossed for good results!

Whoops....So after going to Boots the next day I then went into Superdrug and ended up with another bag full. So I thought it might be nice to make this post slightly larger and do more of a beauty haul.  I only really went into Superdrug for one thing but ended up with four and I just want to express how many different offers they had on in there!! Omg literally nearly everything had money off and all the things I got were £3 and under! I definitely suggest you head down if you're interested in anything.

Anyway literally for the past week or so every now and then I've popped into my local Superdrug to see if they have the MUA Undress Me Too palette in stock and every time until yesterday they hadn't. But yesterday they were fully restocked and I couldn't have been happier. The colours in it look amazing and it's only really recently that I've been getting into eyeshadow and the real way to apply it, thank god for Pinterest! Ha ha, the colours in this palette just seemed like your everyday favourites but then a few added in for more going out colours which I love. I honestly cannot wait to try this out :)

I then got the Superdrug brightening hot cloth cleanser, I have never tried a hot cloth cleanser but have always seen raves about the Liz Earle one so instead of taking the plunge with that one I thought this one would be a great starting point to see if I get on well with it. It comes with it's own muslin cloth and the cleanser is actually a pretty large sized bottle.

Then I picked up the Clearasil rapid action pads which I have reviewed fully here. Before I picked them up for around £4 which I thought was good then as they were still on offer from around £5 but then I saw them in Superdrug for only around £2.50 which I thought was a steal so just had to have them. I think they're really handy for those pesky spots so can't wait to start using these again.

Finally I got some coconut oil, I again only saw this reviewed the other day but they said they loved it and I had also seen it in a magazine so I thought it would be worth a try. As much as I try not to put any heat on my hair other than hair drying these days the ends of my hair still feel dry and I've heard that coconut oil can help that. I believe there are many different ways in which coconut oil can be used so I may just have to have a little more of an in depth read but I'm excited to see the outcome!

So my 'small' beauty haul turned into a rather large one and I apologise for the pictures not being taken together, I had originally taken the pictures just from Boots and uploaded those then thought I'd add on Superdrug as well! I hope you enjoy reading and I'm sure I will do some more in depth reviews as time goes on and I've fully used the products. Hope you're all having a good week! xp