first impressions

Candy Coat Haul and First Impressions

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I’ve had my eye on some of the products from Candy Coat, a company who make gel nail varnishes and accessories and have just launched a beauty line, for a while. They have such a range of colours and finishes and the pastel colours in particular really caught my eye. They do kits which save money with the amount of nail varnishes in them and they include a base and top coat so you have everything (even the lamp if you pick that option) to start out and try the company. They also claim to last from three to ten weeks so I’m hoping these will last well and won’t peel off like some of the others I’ve tried.

As I got a bit overwhelmed with the different colours, there are so many to choose from, I decided to go for one of the kits. The Beginner Kit costs £60 for ten nail varnishes including the base and top coats and is a great value box to get started. I also picked one of the Hard Candy Builder Gels, these cost £15 so they’re more expensive but they can be used to extend your nails or build up your nails for added depth and nail art. I’ve always wanted to try one and as I was doing an order anyway I decided to get one to try.

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DIY Beauty: Cocoa Face Mask

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DIY-beauty-home-made-cocoa-face-mask-1.jpgI’ve always been interested in trying some DIY beauty products but have never got round to it, either because I didn’t have the right ingredients when it came to making them or I didn’t know what ones to try. Last weekend we had a couple of avocados that needed using up so I tried a face mask and a hair mask.

There are so many face masks out there I didn’t know which to try but I found a chocolate face mask that seemed like it’d work for what I want and we had all the ingredients in the cupboards, it seemed an obvious choice for a first attempt. This recipe is from the Marie Claire website, you can find it here along with five other easy face masks so if this doesn’t seem right for your skin type there are others to choose from instead.

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Marks and Spencer’s Summer Beauty Box

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I did have another post planned but as the Marks and Spencer’s Summer Beauty Box arrived in the post today I couldn’t wait to do a post on the products in it. Similar to their beauty advent calendar these boxes have a much higher value than this price, this one is around £135 of products they say on the site, but you have to spend £40 in Marks and Spencer’s to get it for the discounted price of £15. Since I wanted curtains from there anyway I just added this to the basket as it’s such a bargain and there are a few products in here I was planning on getting anyway.

There’s quite a good range of different products in the box. Some are full sized and others are travel sized or deluxe samples but they cover the spectrum of beauty pretty well. There’s a couple of makeup bits with mascara and liquid lipstick, some summer products like after sun and SPF lip balms and quite a few hair and body products. It’s actually pretty evenly spread out and a great way to try some of these brands as the full sized products of some would cost more than the box and any that aren’t full sized are still a decent sample size.

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A Mini Discworld Emporium Haul

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This is only a small haul but I love the things I got so much I think it deserves a post. For a long time I’ve been a fan of Terry Pratchett’s books, I think I read the first one when I was ten or eleven and since then I’ve reread them and the whole Discworld universe is one I love. If you don’t know the Discworld then this haul may seem slightly odd but hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

I was originally only getting something as a birthday present for someone, who I hope isn’t reading this but I’m not going to mention that thing just in case. When I was on the Discworld Emporium website I had a bit of a look around and found some things I wanted to get for myself, I was actually quite good as I could have spent a lot more with all the figures and things they do. I only got three things but I will be buying more from them in the future.

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Sleek Makeup Mini Haul

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It feels a bit like most of my posts recently have been hauls but this is probably the last for a while and one I’ve had planned for ages. I’ve had my eye on a few of the Sleek I-Divine eyeshadow palettes for a while and did plan on buying four, but the main one I actually wanted (Peach Perfect) was out of stock and off the website so I wanted to do this order before the rest disappeared too as they’re all limited editions. There will be proper reviews of these in the fairly near future when I’ve had a chance to play around with them but I wanted to show you guys how pretty they are in case they do a disappearing act too before I have a chance!

In a recent declutter I realised that, although I have many palettes and more than I actually need, I did have some gaps in the colours I had. Last spring I was loving their All the Fun of the Fair palette full of shimmery pastels and I really wanted some more pastels to add to my collection. The Nordic Skies palette was around last year and I thought I’d missed it but it appeared back in stock so I got it along with the Spirit Animal and Dream a Little Dream palettes. I also ended up buying their light eyebrow kit so now I’ve gone from having no eyebrow colour product to two. I’ll have to give it a go and see how it compares to the NYX one I got in my recent HQ Hair Haul and get back to you guys with what I find.

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Next Outlet Clothes Haul

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After a recent declutter of my wardrobe I had a list of things I was looking for and I’ve got better at not buying things in sales just because they’re cheap but I did end up getting some things I didn’t have planned on a couple of recent trips to the McArthur Glen Outlet shopping centre in Bridgend. Everything I bought ended up being from the Next Outlet, they have had such good bargains recently, £2 for a good quality top or £10 for some jeans is such a good price if they’re what you want. For years I didn’t get that much from Next but it feels a bit like half of my go to wardrobe comes from there.

The Next Outlet stores often have extra reductions, which is what happened with most of the things I’ve bought, beyond the reductions in the normal sales. They also have older stock in lots of sizes sometimes as well as a range of clothes that are exclusive to the Outlet stores in the Special Purchase range. I know some people have said they aren’t the same quality as the standard line, they’re definitely cheaper than equivalents at full price, but I’ve bought quite a few things from them and they last just as well for me.

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HQ Hair Mini Haul

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I’ve been doing some decluttering recently, will be doing some posts on that when I’ve given some of the maybes more of a go, and it showed some things I didn’t have that I wanted. It’s one of the dangers of decluttering; it makes you want more! This is only a small haul and I had a 20% off discount because I hadn’t shopped with HQ Hair for a while so I don’t feel so bad.

One of the things I’ve had my eye on since they appeared everywhere last year was a red based eyeshadow palette. The Balm Nude Beach eyeshadow palette may not have quite the same colours as the ABH Modern Renaissance but I love the warm tones and had to get it when I saw it was in the offer. I also was lacking blues and greens in my gel polish collection so got two from Red Carpet Manicure, along with a Real Techniques Face Brush and a mini eyebrow kit from NYX as it really is time I tried to do something with them, even if it’s just to find out I don’t get on with these type products.

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Review: Eyeko Black Magic Mascara

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Mascara is not something I am low on at the moment, especially black mascara, so I’m going through the ones I have and trying them all to see which to keep and which to get rid of. Most of these are sample sizes and this Eyeko Black Magic Mascara is what I’d call a travel size at 4ml so useful for a handbag and big enough to get quite a few uses from. It came in the Marks and Spencer beauty advent calendar last year and you can see my first impressions post here. I’ve not tried much from Eyeko but I’m a fan of their liquid eyeliner pen so I was looking forward to seeing how this mascara compared.

One thing I’ve noticed about this when looking for it online is that there seem to be different brush versions. Some may be bad photographs when showing the shape but they’re available in a skinny and normal brush, both the same price. The full 8ml tube is £16 on QVC UK or £19 from the Marks and Spencer’s website, which seems to be the standard price. It claims to be waterproof and add drama and curl and the standard wand has a curved shape that’s supposed to match the shape of your lashes, which I think is a nice touch but does mean you can only really use it one way.

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Korean Beauty Haul

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I recently made another order from the F2plus1 eBay store for Korean beauty products, I think it seems to be this time of year that I make these orders. A couple of these products were ones I’ve had my eye on for a while and I may have bought some more sheet masks. I already have enough to last months but these ingredients sounded unusual and I do love anything lychee or mangosteen so they ended up in my basket.

I’m always a bit wary about ordering from eBay, especially when it comes to cosmetics as there are so many fakes out there and I think a fake plastic figure is one thing but something you put on your skin is another. But I trust the f2plus1 store as I’ve bought from them before. They also have an online store away from eBay, BeautynetKorea, which I haven’t used but think it’d be as trustworthy. It does take a while to get here, two or three weeks in general, but considering it’s all the way from South Korea that’s pretty quick.

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Lush Boxing Day Sale Haul Part 2

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I may have ended up spending more than I originally planned in the Lush Boxing Day Sale. I only went into be one day but I’d originally planned on getting the 12 Days of Christmas gift box and decided against it when I saw it. I ended up regretting that decision and as my mum.and sister were going in the next day asked them to get it so here’s everything that came in that gift set.

The Twelve Days of Christmas hat box is always one of the big ones from Lush, they bring out a version every year, as it has twelve of their Christmas products in it. I think it was £35 in the half price sale and was one that there were quite a few left of so there may be some in some of the lush stores. This year it has a wide range of different product types as well as scents so could be a good introduction to Lush if it’s in your budget.

As some of these things may be still available in your local Lush I thought I’d do a bit of a mini review of each of them in case you manage to find any to pick up. They also sometimes seem to pop up in the kitchen throughout the year do if there’s something you’re interested in it may return at some point. Don’t quote me on that, I don’t know what’s coming or how Lush decides what’s going up, it’s just going by past experience.

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