Hello! + Haul.

Hello there everyone!

After a massive blogging break, I'm back with a little haul today. I apologise for the massive gap, with university starting and getting into the swing of it, then Christmas, exams, a few bouts of tonsillitis! (the suckers are coming out in May! Yay!) I'm finally finding myself with time to blog, so I thought why not come back with a haul.

My haul, unboxed! (Sans Lip balm, which had already made it's way into my handbag.

Did you know that some big M&S's have a beauty section? it's full of brands like REN, Nuxe and Murad, but also carries smaller  brands I'd never even heard of! It's given my quite a list of brands I want to try out. As my lovely Mum is an M&S Premium Club member she gets vouchers and promotions quite often, and she had received a 20% voucher. We had intended to just pop into M&S and get the things we were after, and pop into Boots (sick Simone requires lemsips!) and head home. I had gone with the idea in mind of picking up a new bottle of REN's ClearClam Clay Cleanser and REN's micro polish cleanser.  When I got there, I discovered there were none the REN Clay Cleanser left! Of course, like any beauty addict, rather than go home and buy it online, I had to have a look around. I stopped to look at Murad, a brand  I had used one product of a long time ago on Holiday in Florida to clear up the skin on my arms (I tend to suffer with blocked hair follicles) and it worked really well. It was a spur of the moment purchase from Sephora and I used it in the shower and thought nothing of it, I was on holiday! Anyway, I decided to have a look at some of their products and found they sold some pretty decent sized try me kits, and that all Murad products were buy one, get one half price, and I could still use my 20%...so of course, I got two!

Each set contains four products and I look forward to trying them out! I'd wanted to try their products since my boyfriend took me away to Rockliffe Hall (which was amazing) and I had a good look at their products there as it's what they use for facials.  I had intended to get a facial there, but as we only had an over night stay and had other treatments booked, I didn't get time to fit it in! We are planning to go back in April for my Birthday, so maybe I'll get to have one then if I like the products. 

Murad Ban Blemishes starter kit, price £29.50 at Marks and Spencers

First, the 'Ban Belmishes Starter Kit' this contains for products; their Clarifying Cleanser, Exfoliating Blemish Treatment Gel, a moisturiser known as Skin Perfecting Lotion, and a Blemish Spot Treatment. The products are of course not full size, but are generously sized so I should be able to get a good idea of how my skin likes or dislikes these.

Above - Murad Ban Blemishes Starter Kit.

Below - Murad Sun Undone Starter Kit, Priced £29.50 at Marks and Spencers

The second set I bought is their 'Sun Undone' Starter kit. Now, I don't have sun damaged skin, I've only been sunburned once (honestly! live in Saudi Arabia for 10 years = no sunburn, go on holiday to Spain once = Lobster child!) so I didn't buy this for that reason. The reason I chose this one was the fact this one is their 'revel radiance' line. It reminds me a lot of REN in terms of the packaging, it's the same orange shade. This set contains a cleanser as well, this time it's their 'Essential C-Cleanser', a serum called 'Advanced Active Radiance Serum', a moisturiser 'Essential C Day Moisture with SPF 30' and the matching eye cream, with SPF 15. Once again the sizes are generous and should allow me to get a good mix of products to see what suits my skin. The only worry I have with Murad is that some of their prices are not very student purse friendly, but if a product works I'm happy to pay for it. 

Above - Murad Sun Undone Starter Kit

Below - REN Radiance Micro Polish Cleanser, Priced £20 at Marks and Spencers

I also bought the REN Cleanser. I really bought into the idea of chemical exfoliation, however after getting a sample size of this, I realised my skin really does love a gentle, physical exfoliation. This one smells really nice and fresh (The whole radiance line from REN smells fresh and citrusy) and has little, tiny beads that exfoliate, and also contains glycolic and lactic acid. It's gentle and packs a good punch!

NUXE Lip Balm, Priced £6 at Marks and Spencers

I also bought this lip balm from NUXE. Now, everyone in my family has this! I have a pot, my mum is onto her second, my brother has one, and my boyfriend steals mine! Once you use this, it's very difficult to go back to anything else, and I wanted the stick to carry around in my handbag. Nothing else will cut it!

Marks and Spencers isn't really a place I tend to associate with beauty, normally I go there for good food and basics like socks, underwear and tights, but they've really impressed me! Their clothes are actually looking really good too! Next time you're in a big store, check if they have a beauty section, if you're in the North East, I know that M&S Newcastle has one (second floor, where the ladies wear is) and so does the Metrocentre. The staff are really helpful and really know the brands too. 

Have you hauled much lately?

A Skincare Haul

Over the past year, I've become really interested in skincare. I've always known the importance of looking after my skin, but never really found the right products that gave me the results I was after, not since I tried my first set of proper skincare when I was about 14, Clinique 3 Step, which at the time, I loved and now wouldn't touch with a barge pole. I think my interest in skincare has really stemmed from reading the wonderful, no nonsense skincare blog of Caroline Hirons, (you MUST read her blog) and since applying, slowly her tips, tricks and following her product recommendations, my skin has never been better. 

Through Caroline's blog, I discovered the brand REN. Some products skincare products which I lust after are well out of my price range at the moment, but I find REN to be very affordable, and very effective, two things which are my top priority when looking for skincare. At the weekend, my lovely Mum had a 20% of Marks and Spencer voucher, if you didn't know, lots of great skincare brands are available in larger M&S stores and online, so I decided this was the time to stock up on some products, so here's what I got 

Goodies!

First, I decided to repurchase my favourite ever cleanser. Now, I know I've previously raved about my Clarins foaming cleanser, but this blows it out of the water! I still love that cleanser, but I'd choose this one over it. This has a clay base making it feel like a mask each time that you use it. When I'm using this product, my skin is much clearer, brighter and softer. 

REN Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser

Then I chose to buy the Clarifying Toner, now I know some people don't do toner but I definitely do! Toner is NOT for removing the last bits of make up on your skin though! if you need toner to do that, you need to wash your face properly! Nor does it close your pores, this toner balances and lightly exfoliates your face, this one is affordable and easy to get hold of, so I thought I'd give this a try before I think about splashing out on P50.

REN Clarifying Toning Lotion

I also decided to get REN's balm cleanser. This is a balm which you can use you remove your make up, my ClearCalm does not remove make up, and shouldn't be used to do so, so I wanted something that would be suitable for a first cleanse to remove make up and sunscreen, and I decided to go for this one as I've had a sample before and it doesn't hurt my eyes, and I can never be bothered to use a separate eye make up remove before I take off my face make up.

REN No.1 Purity Cleansing Balm

My last purchase wasn't from REN, but instead Nuxe. A brand I'd seen before but never tried, this was sort of an impulse purchase, recently my lips had been so dry they'd been cracking, although I drink my weight in water each day (Okay, maybe not my weight, but I do drink more than 2lt) so I don't think I'm dehydrated. I bought this because I'd heard it mentioned on blogs and thought I'd give it a spin, I liked the texture and my Mum thought it was lovely, so I bought two of them. One for her, and one for me. My Mum is a woman who has, for the past 20 years slathered some vaseline on her lips before bed, and after using this for a few days has told me that she's noticed a big different. 

Nuxe Lip Balm

I think I'm good for skincare for a while now! just need a new moisturiser and a hydrating toner and I think I'm all good! What about you? do you love skincare too?