America Haul #1 - Beauty//

I'm back from my holibobs, it was so much fun! The weather, ooo the weather, it was so hot, it was perfect, anything from 90-100F depending on the day. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time in the pool, and at the beach... it was great. Now, i'm back in England and its a torrential downpour and cold. Not okay! England has had a mini heatwave since i've been away, and now that i'm back the weather is awful...again. Bloody English summers!  

Whilst I was away I did hit the shopping scene pretty hard, but I couldn't not. American shops are SO different to the ones here so I had to take advantage. When we'd go to Publix for a food shop, i'd go off on my own and just oggle the food..realistically the food in the supermarkets is probably similar, its just the packaging, its so bright and fun! 

But, onto the good stuff..I thought because I did buy rather a lot (my bank account is not okay) that I'd split the haul into two blog posts, starting with my beauty related items.

Lets start with these EOS lipbalms, I bought the "Summer Berry" and "Mint Vanilla" one. Now, you can buy these in England but the price of them here is just ridiculous especially when in America they're anything from $2-$4..Not okay UK...Not Okay! I also picked up the hand cream for my Momma, and some other scents for my best friend. 

I've seen these in some drugstores here, but again the price is just on a whole new level of not okay, so when I saw these on offer in Walgreens it was a no brainer. I wen't for the shade "Birthday Suit" which is a very light nude pink. The shine when used with the top coat is beautiful, although you do have to make sure you do use the topcoat sparsely as i've found it helps it to last that much longer. 

Needless to say, I LOVE sephora! Why they're not in England I will never know. It is literally heaven on earth with everything any make-up enthusiast would ever want under one roof..really puts Boots to shame if i'm honest. America 1- England - 0.  These bobbles are amazing, they don't get caught in my hair, they don't leave a mark, and on top of all of that they look quite cute just on my wrist.. 6 for $9..bargain!

I've been in Florida for 3 and half weeks so I am a lot darker than when I arrived, so I got myself colour matched in Sephora. I tried a couple of bb creams/lightweight foundations before deciding on this Bobbi Brown BB cream in "Medium to Dark". Its got quite the price tag at $46 but so far I would say that it's 100% worth it. I have never really liked BB/CC creams I felt as if they were more aimed at people with dry skin, but the mattifying power of this product is insane. It lasts me all day, literally ALL DAY with just enough coverage to hide any imperfections..I am in love! 

I've heard so much about NYX products from watching YouTube, and reading blogs so I decided I had to give it a go. I was slightly overwhelmed by the selection they had but I remembered that my girl Nicole Guerriero uses the NYX Butter Glosses a lot and they always look amazing on her, on that I bought the shade "Tiramisu." It is a gorgeous gloss, that isn't overly sticky and again has quite some staying power. I've been wearing it over my MAC lip pencil in "Stripdown"

You can't go to America and not pick up some Crest Whitestrips! Their teeth whitening game is seriously on point, and I had to get me in on it. My teeth have always been quite white naturally and I just wanted to boost the whiteness a little. I am so happy with these strips, and i'm so glad I stocked myself up with these babies before I came back home!

Have you even tried any of these products? What do you recommend me buying next time!?

Keep your eyes posted for part 2 of my America Haul.

Until Next time... 

Well That Was A Mistake - #1

Shamelessly, I'm the kind of person who more often than not, gets sucked in by the hype of product. I buy it, I try it, and sometimes well to put it plainly they suck, and since I've managed to accumulate my far share of 'regret that buy.' I thought why not make a series of it, so here is number one my beauty 'Well that was a mistake'

I'll start with the genre that makes two appearances in the post - Primer! I really feel getting a good primer that suits your skin type is a case of trial and error and trust me, I've certainly had my fair share of errors. I have super oily skin, which seems to breakdown even the matte'est of foundations unless paired with a just as tough primer. So we start with No7 - Beautifully Matte Primer, it claims 'Keep shiny skin under-control all day long with this mattifying oil-free base.' The lady at the till promised me it was just as good if not better than Smashbox, so on that premise I was sold...

Upon application I realised the sheer shit-ness of this product, not only did it smell like gone off sudacrem, the texture was unbearably slime like, and when applying my foundation the primer began peeling off into little balls which continued to happen throughout the day which really isn't what you'd expect. Overall - Pissed out Chloe!

    

Next is Benefit Stay Flawless 15-Hour Primer, I'm not gonna lie which when compared to the No7 is great, It's just a few things that bring this product down a few. To begin with this was a great primer, had no qualms what so ever. Until one day it snapped in two (as seen in the picture) which obviously you do not expect from a high end retailer. The primer is designed in a way that you apply the product straight to the face using the stick, which in my mind being someone who is spot prone it is a little unhygienic therefore I did find myself breaking out a lot. Although it did what it said on the tin, the cons to this product certainly outweigh the pros.  

I really not at all an eyelashes kinda girl, but after being inspired by some gorgeous Mancunian ladies I met a Uni, I thought 'hey what not', after what felt like endless gluing, cutting and sticking I got them in place, and tbh I looked like a total pratt..My golly they did not look good. I thought I'd get the thick ones thinking I'd look like some super beyonce'esq diva walking around town on a Saturday night, but the reality couldn't be further away from that image! Maybe If I feel brave enough for another attempt to go for a more natural looking lash may be the way forward.

I was so gutted that really didn't like this product, I had heard such good things about the Rimmel Apocalips, I'd heard that they were lost lasting and super wear-able but it just didn't turn out that way for me. I went for this super gorgeous fushia shade ( 303 )  which looks lovely against a tan but upon application it just would not settle. It'd be all over my teeth, in my hair, up my face and has the annoying sticky lipgloss feeling, totally bummed out. The colour range this collection has is beautiful but I just wish it was a little less 'loose.'

Next we're on to my attempted cheaper alternative to Primer potion, its Soap & Glory's Its about Prime.. again its not the worse eye primer I have used it  has great longevity and doubles up as a champagne coloured based, but my  golly did it dry my eyes out. I Never EVER get dry skin and then to get it on my eyes was bit of a shock to the system, it took me a good month to get my eyes looking back to normal..Now I don't know if that has happened to any of you guys to or whether it was something in the formula my skin just didn't like, either way, such a shame!

I'm usually a huge lover of everything to do with MUA's eye shaddow palettes but this one - nono. The formulation is so chalk like with little pigmentation in the lighter shades, when applied you can barely tell they're there. It also comes with 2 blushes, a brozer and highlight, but on application they don't blend well and take me back to my early make-up days of you can never have enough blush - not a good look. 

It totally kills me to have this in my regrets, with such beautiful packaging and such amazing hype I was SOO disappointed. Its the Bobbi Brown - Creamy Concealer in Beige. I suffer with dark circles and was promised that this would be a life saving product in my make-up collection, but unfortunately I can't' say it is. It barely had any effect on my dark circles and even on a particularly tired day it highlighted them with a horrid cakey effect!! Luckily I took it straight back to the stores and got my money back but urgh so sad. :( 

Sadly,I'm a sucker for a celebrity endorsed product, and this MUA LIP BOOM had Alexandra Burke splashed all over the packaging and with lure of lip plumping effects and thinking my lips could look a juicy as Alexandra's too I took the plunge - I picked it up in the lack luster pink, It takes about 7 applications for any colour to apply which isn't really what you want from a lip colour, and when applying the lipgloss included on top of the colour half the lipstick applied came off onto the lipgloss wand. I wouldn't want to put all MUA lipsticks into the same category but needless to say it has put me off buying any more since. 

Have you had any disappointed buys, let me know!?

Chloe xx

My Payday Wish List..TopShop, H&M, Bobbi Brown, and L'oreal.

Ok..Maybe this is a little early and just a hint of wishful thinking, but I've compiled a wishlist of items that I may just have to purchase when payday finally shows it's face.

With Summer just around the corner, my wardrobe is in need of a quick Winter to Summer change-around..'soo long thick knit jumper, and hello shorts.' 

As you may or may not have gathered I'm quite the H&M fiend, my go-to shop..so naturally a few goodies feature from there! 

Here's the full list :

H&M

Jacquard Weave Skirt - Link

Jersey Jacket - Link

Sandles With Stones - Link

Topshop

Black Lazercut Shorts - Link

Striped Daisy Organza Tee - Link

Bobbi Brown 

SPF 15 Tinted Moisturiser Oil Free - Link

L'Oreal

Colour Riche Collection - Cheryl - Link

In the near future I'm also hoping to get myself a decent camera, I'm currently looking at a Nikon D3100. I'd love to know if you guys have any recommendations camera wise?

See ya soon, 

Chloe xx