Beauty Purchases from London!

If you read my last post, you'll know i spent the past eight days in England and Paris!  I feel like i have SO much to talk about, i just don't know where to begin really.  I had such an amazing time, England is absolutely beautiful, i don't know what i'll do if i don't get the chance to go back!  I'm in love really.  Paris was a bit... odd?  Gorgeous, but we'll get to that another day...

I figured i could start a bit smaller with a wee makeup & hair product haul.  I don't buy makeup too often, but i knew i'd go crazy once i got to London.  I had a mental list of products i wanted to try out & luckily, i found most of them!  I should say i was in a bit of a rush whilst there, so i didn't get to dabble around and really look at all the brands and products recommended to me unfortunately.  :/  I thought i'd stick to brands & products i can't get here in the States, since MAC, Lush, etc. brands i can get here are more expensive overseas anyways.

You may notice i didn't buy a single thing from Paris in this haul, i was running out of money by the time i got there and had to feed myself, haha.

Let us begin!

Hair

I popped into Boots on one of the last nights i was in London & got these products, as well as a few makeup bits & bobs.  From left to right: Charles Worthington Rough & Tousled Salt Spray - £6.29, Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle - £5.61, Tangle Teezer £10.20, James Brown London Photo Fabulous Volumising Shampoo & Conditioner - both £6.99.
It's fantastic that Boots has the 3 for 2 little deal on certain sections, i actually ended up getting the Salt Spray for free, as well as a Barry M Nail Paint.
The only products i've tried so far are the Tangle Teezer, which i'm not sure what my thoughts are on yet, and the James Brown shampoo & conditioner, which smell divine & i actually really like!  If you would like me to do a review on any of these, let me know. :)

Makeup

The first day i was there, i actually had a bit of 'free time' to go shopping - to say i was pleased would be an understatement. ;D  The hotel i stayed at was just a little walk from King's Mall in Hammersmith (can you say shopping addict heaven?!), where there was a Primark, River Island, etc. as well as a Superdrug.  I made a quick stop in there and had a bit of a spree...
From left to right: Sleek iDivine Storm Palette - £6.49, Gosh Velvet Touch Eyeliner in Black Ink (free with purchase of eyeshadow palette), Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light - £6.50, Vaseline Lip Therapy "Rosy Lips" tin £1.73, and Gosh eyeshadow quad in "22 Driftwood" - £7.99.
I was so lucky to get the last Storm palette in stock, i've heard an incredible amount of raves about this, as well as the Contour Kit - so excited to try these two out!  Although they're so pretty, i don't know if i can get myself to mess with them... The Vaseline Rosy Lips was a bit of an impulse buy.  I didn't have it on my mental list, but i saw it & grabbed it!  It smells so lovely.  I haven't heard too much about the Gosh palettes, but i knew i had to get at least one Gosh thing - and it was awesome that the eyeliner came free!

 A little closer peek at the Sleek & Gosh palettes and the Contour Kit.

I totally spaced out as far as blushes and lipsticks go from these brands, i was in such a state of disbelief, all these products and brands i've heard mentioned so many times but didn't have access to, come to life!  It was quite the moment for me, haha.  I'm quite pathetic!

Now, i went a bit crazy when i got to the Barry M sections of Boots & Superdrug (as you may or may not be able to tell by the 'nails' section of this post!).  Again, i didn't get to look around too much while i was shopping, so i just grabbed what i thought i might like.
From left to right: Lip Gloss Wand shade 12 Strawberry Milkshake - £4.49 at Superdrug, Lip Paint in 100 Baby Pink - £4.49 at Boots, Dazzle Dust in 39 Tan - £4.59 from Superdrug, and Dazzle Dust in 53 Chocolate - £4.59 from Boots.
I just about fainted when i saw the Barry M stands, i wanted everything!  The packaging and the shades were all so lovely, and the brand just screams "England" to me, is this weird?  Haha.  I haven't tried these products out since i tried them, but i am SO excited to!  *sigh* Barry M, Y U NO IN UNITED STATES?!

Nails

I had a bit too much fun checking out all the Barry M Nail Paints at Superdrug, you have no idea!  I easily could have just cleared out the entire section, but i had to restrain myself.  I had to throw out quite a bit of stuff in my suitcase to fit all my purchases in.  (And the pathetic-ness continues!)

From left to right - all £2.99: 309 Strawberry Ice Cream, 264 Pink Iridescent Glitter, 318 Peach Melba, 304 Mint Green, 290 Spring Green (free with other purchases at Boots), 308 Berry Ice Cream, 312 Indigo, 293 Grey, 311 Nail Effects in Black.

These are just too cute, i can't even stand it!  They're all lined up/hidden in my desk/vanity drawer, so my sister doesn't steal them... I tried the Nail Effect nail paint over a lilac nail polish i already had on, and i'm in love!  It looks so awesome, i've gotten so many 'in awe' comments on them already.

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I feel like all my upcoming posts are going to be about England & France - i have yet to show you all what i picked up clothes-wise, as well as photos from my actual trip!  I think i'll do my trip photos first, since i'm going to try and film my clothes haul, as trying to take photos of all the clothes may actually be disastrous!  I took an insane amount of photos whilst traveling, over 1000, and they took me about 20 minutes to load them to the computer!  Really excited to share everything with you lovelies though, i really did have the time of my life *tear*. ♥♥

Thanks for reading & stay tuned everyone!

P.S. Congratulations William & Catherine!  You two are beautiful together.

♥

skincare purchases

As those of you may know (if you follow me on Twitter ;), i woke up at the crack of dawn to stop by the DMV and get my temps this morning!  If you don't know what a temps is, it's basically saying you're legal to drive as long as you have a parent or guardian in the car, someone whose 21+ years old, or an instructor in the car.  You also can only have relatives in the car, or up to one non-relative.  If all goes well, i should have my driver's license by the end of July :).  My dad's taking me out driving tomorrow (in a vacant parking lot, of course!) for the first time, quite excited actually!  Fingers crossed i don't run into any poles....

Anyway, on the way home, my mom decided to stop by Target to treat me to a few things & pick up a few goodies for herself.  I have to say she is terrible at saying no to me putting things in the cart!

This 'haul' might be a bit boring to those of you who aren't to interested in skincare, but i thought i'd share with you all what i got anyway.

♥ Boots Botanics Organic Face Rosewater Toner, $7.99 - This is the main reason we went to Target.  I was running low on this toner & needed to pick up another bottle.  I swear by this stuff!

♥ St. Ives "Timeless Skin" Apricot Scrub, $2.99 - I was running out of exfoliator as well & thought i'd try something new.  I've been using St Ives Sensitive Skin Apricot Scrub, but didn't feel like it was really exfoliating my skin too much.  And anything that claims to "renew and firm" my skin sounds good to me :).  We'll see how this stuff goes...

♥ Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes - 30 count, $5.99 - I've been using baby wipes to take my makeup off for a while now & noticed that my skin gets a bit irritated (ironic, huh?) or that it doesn't really remove my makeup too well.  I've heard many good things about this brand so i thought i'd give these a go!  Cute packaging + lovely ingredients = muy bueno :)

♥ Yes to Tomatoes Skin Clearing Facial Mask, $14.99 - This was my splurge (well, my mom's :/) for the day & the product i'm most excited to try out.  Again, i've been hearing a lot of good things around the beauty community about this brand (same brand as the Yes to Cucumbers range), so i have high hopes!  My skin has been acting up lately so i've been looking to up the amp in my skincare routine.  Really hope this does my skin some good.

♥ Sleeping mask & mini hand sanitizer, both $1 - Picked these up in the clearance section!  It's super bright in my room in the morning to i figured a sleeping mask might help, and how cute is it? :)  Also picked up a mini hand sanitizer for my purse by the same brand that's supposed to be "strawberry champagne" scented - i'd say more like strawberry smoothie spiked with strawberry Smirnoff, but hand sanitizer is hand sanitizer right? ;)

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Need to go to the mall soon to Back to MAC for a lipstick (i'm thinking Creme Cup maybe?), pick up more Studio Finish concealer, stop by the Clinique counter, and spend the rest of the money on my Forever 21 card!

Hope you're all having a splendid Monday <3

♥

June Faves :)

Another month has gone by my lovelies...2010 is more than half over now - weren't we just celebrating the new year a couple weeks ago?!  Goodness!

Here's another June Favorites post, i'm sure your dashboards are blowing up with them right now, but i thought i'd share with you all what i've been loving this month :)

Herbal Essences Hydralicious Reconditioning Shampoo for Dry/Damaged Hair ♥

I already did a post including this product with a bit of a rave (link here), but i have been totally loving this product this month!  It has a thick consistency and creates the most rich, luscious lather which leaves my hair feeling super soft.  It also doesn't leave my hair feeling dried out like other shampoos seem to do.  Love!

I'm pointing to the shadow i'm talking about - it's the brown matte one :)

Lancome Eyeshadow in "Mochaccino" ♥

I have loved this shadow for the longest time, long before i got my Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows!  It's a very lovely light brown color that is quite buildable.  I usually do a light shimmery color (most likely Urban Decay's "Sin") all over, and then place this in the crease & build it up in the outer corner, with a black liquid liner, mascara, & a bit of black liner on the waterline - it's such a simple, but pretty look :)

Bare Minerals All-Over Face Color in "Warmth" ♥

Since it's summer, i've totally embraced the whole 'bronze-y' type of look :).  I use Warmth as a bronzer & a subtle contour and i love it!  It's really easy to work with and looks really natural - although it looks orangey in the pot.  You also need to smallest amount, so this sample-size container will last for a long, long time!

Maybelline Eyelash Curler ♥

I'll be the first to admit that i'm a lash fanatic.  I love my mascara, and i love my eyelash curlers!  Something as simple as curling your lashes can really help your lashes look longer and help you appear more awake - & i personally think it just looks really pretty :).  I curl my lashes before i put on mascara & in the middle of the day, i re-curl them as they can droop a bit :).

Up & Up Women's Daily Multivitamin Dietary Supplement ♥

My doctor suggested i go on a multivitamin, so of course i didddddd.  Up & Up is just Target's brand, and this bottle was only a couple of dollars & really has the same vitamins & minerals as the more popular & costly brands.  The only thing about these is that they smell kind of bad, but i just hold my breath :) - it also took a couple days to get used to swallowing that massive pill haha.

Boots Botanics Organic Face Rosewater Toner ♥

I bought this after i heard a lot of positive reviews on it, and i've had this for a couple weeks now.  I absolutely love this stuff!  I used it with a cotton ball after cleansing my face & it removes any makeup & soap that may still be on my face.  It's also gentle, unlike other toners i've used (*Clinique*...ahem).  I love that it's organic & as very few ingredients as well :).  I honestly noticed a difference in my skin just a few days after starting using this!  Lovelovelove.  (Boots brand is available at Target in the US if anyone was wondering :)

This was a blush-bronzer duo, hence the other pan :)

Clinique Powder Blush in "Iced Lotus" ♥

As you can all probably tell, this blush has been well-loved.  It's a very pretty light-medium pink (if that makes sense :), with a little bit of shimmer.  I don't usually like blushes with shimmer in them, as i have quite oily skin, but i feel in summer i can pull it off a bit more :).

What have you been loving this month? ♥

♥

A Few Target Goodies :)

I went to Target last weekend with my mom & she spoiled me a bit :)

I didn't get many things, but i still thought i'd share what i did get with you all!

Also, i'm sorry for all the recent haul-type posts, i promise i'll stop soon!

I also did get a dress, but i'm pretty sure i'm going to return it if i'm able.

On with the post!

The main reason i went to Target was to get a watch.  For some reason, my parents approve of me spending money a watch - i think it's because watches are so classic & timeless (haha, i spot a pun) that it's alright to spend that extra bit of money to get a really nice one.

This Merona watch was only $14.99 - can you believe it?!  It's big & gold, my dad actually says it's a masculine - but i love it!  I'm going to have to get a few links removed since it is quite loose and this watch probably won't last a while because it'll tarnish, it's already kind of breaking, and the three middle dials don't even work (meh =/) but i really love it, and for $14.99?!  I'll deal :)

I saw an ad in the weekly Target ad for a big sale on dresses and rompers, which looked fantastic, so of course i had to check it out!  I tried on several dresses & rompers and either i didn't like them as much in person or they didn't quite fit me correctly or really suit me.

I ended up just getting a black romper with little white stars on the for $19.99 and a really cute floral tank top with a sweetheart neckline that looks absolutely gorgeous on for $15.00 - both are by the brand Xhilaration.

At first i didn't like the romper, i thought the pattern was quite tacky, but it looks super cute on, i just had to get it!

The last thing i got was the Boots Botanics Rosewater Toner for $7.99.  I have been interested in this for a few months now ever since i heard so many positive reviews by a lot of UK beauty bloggers - Boots is an England-based brand - but i just put off buying it for a long time.

I am so sooo pleased with this product so far - i have genuinely noticed a difference in my skin & it doesn't sting my face at all like my Clinique 3-Step Toner does - i also love that it's organic!

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By the way, i'm officially done with school for the summer!  Eeeeee :)
Also, best of luck to everyone who is still taking exams!  You can do ittttt! :D

♥