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?

Wishlist #1

At the moment, I'm craving new things. Maybe this is to do with starting university so I'm feeling an element of 'new academic year, new season, new start' (Gosh, I hate it when people say that!) and I just want to start a fresh with some of my beauty and skincare products, so here's a wish list!

1. Clarisonic Deep Pore Cleansing Brush Head £21

I'm in dire need of a new brush head for my clarisonic, I don't use mine too regularlly but I'm starting too, and after watching Suzy from Simply Suzy I decided that I needed this one, having only used the sensitive one and as Suzy uses the same cleanser as me, I really want to try out her combo of cleanser and brush head. I think I'm also going to do an in depth review of my Clarisonic as it's one of those love it or hate it, is it worth the money products.

2. Origins Drink Up Mask £22

I've heard loads about this mask and my friend Lisa from bought this and mentioned it in her blog post on 'The Triple Threat Face Mask' I really want it! I think I'm going to try track down the smaller size of this and see how I get on with it. I have combination skin but I find the oily, spotty side of my skin much easier to deal with than the dehydration!

3. Tom Ford Shape and Illuminate £55

After hearing much about this product I just SO want to try it! I love to contour and prefer creams and I'm yet to find the perfect highlight but this product looks pretty much perfect. I wonder, that opening the door to Tom Ford Beauty is going to be an dangerous idea, especially considering I could walk from uni to the counter, as the metro station is in Fenwicks...oh dear!

4. Alpha H Liquid Gold £31.50

I think I just need this! after feeling like I've pretty much perfected my basic skincare, but I still feel like I need a few extras to get my skin in tip top condition and my main issue with my skin is the texture, and this promises to help! After hearing about this for months, I think I'm ready to take the plunge!

5. Illamasqua Nail Polish in 'Facet' £14.50

I love nail polish, but I'm a nail biter and useless at painting my nails. After recently getting gel nails and loving them (my nails are so strong and lovely underneath too!) I'm starting to love painting my nails, I love colours like this, OPI Metro Chic is my all time favourite polish and I think this polish looks just as beautiful! 

So here it is, these are some of the things I'm craving at the moment, what things are you currently lusting after?

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? 

The Need For Something New

Now, I don't know about you, but I constantly crave new products. Even when I'm happy with what I'm using I always want new. I always think there must be better out there! So here's my list of what I'm lusting after right now

REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask

My skin, although is often now free of blemishes, always seems clogged and bumpy, with a  horrible texture that never seems to go away and it looks horrible! I've heard this mask mentioned a few times and for the price of £30, it may soon be mine! I've heard great things about REN, so I really want to give this a go.

Illamasqua Powder Blush in 'Katie'

This was actually one of my first ever Illamasqua purchases, I think I got this for Christmas in 2010. I used it almost every time I wore make up, until I hit pan, the remaining product then crumbled and I couldn't use it anymore, but since we parted ways earlier this year I really miss it! nothing quite gives me that glow and lasts as long as this does. It costs £18 (Does anyone else remember when Illamasqua blushes were £15!)

Hydraluron 

Hydraluron needs no introduction. After hearing Caroline Hirons rave about this product back in August, I've wanted it! My skin is chronically dehydrated and I don't know why, but this product promises to help! I'm up for anything that could improve the texture of my skin, and more hydration can hardly hurt can it? this is priced at a reasonable £24.99

Chantecaille Just Skin 

This tinted moisturiser has nothing but rave reviews, it promises good coverage and a light feel, I've looked at it and felt the texture many times in SpaceNK but I'm yet to try it out, partly because I'm scared I'll love it, and at a whopping £57 it may just be way to much money for me to ever justify, even to myself! Maybe a Christmas present...

Kerastase Ciment Thermique

After running out of my beloved Necter Thermique in July, I've struggled on with different products but none are quite as good, nor seem to be as good for my hair, as my hair is starting to get much longer, and I have plans to change the colour in December (I know, I plan ahead!) I need to look after my hair much better than I am now. This is supposed to strengthen your hair from the inside out and protect it from heat styling, while making it smooth and soft to the touch, which all sounds pretty good to me! This costs around the £18 mark.

So that's what I'm currently wishing for, what are you currently after?