Cosmetic, haircare and perfume mini haul!

Bonjour mon amie,

As my Primark/Matalan haul posts (and my video on my YouTube) proved to be so popular, I thought i'd do a quick post on some bits I picked up from Superdrug, Boots etc last weekend.
I'm not going to go into too much detail, as I'm hoping to do a review on most of them at some point!

MeMeMe "Beat the Blues" highlighter in "Moonbeam" - £5.25 from Superdrug.

Benefit Highbeam dupe or what?!

Miss Sporty Liquid Eyeshadow in 200 "Sublime" - £1.99 from Boots (also stocked at Superdrug)

This is a beautiful golden colour which I am currently wearing all over the lid with MAC Wedge in the crease for a beautiful and simple daytime look!

Miss Sport Liquid Eyeshadow (as above) in 400 "Prime Time"

Really cute pale baby pink colour with a metallic finish

Miss Sporty Liquid Eyeshadow (as above) in 600 "Eye Jewel"

Metallic Silver colour which i've been wearing in the inner corner to waken up my eyes!

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain in "Twilight" - £5.99 from Superdrug (currently on offer)

I have been dying to try this ever since Lollipop26 mentioned it on her Twitter, and being the Twilight groupie that I am I had to have this aptly-named one! I thought it would be a colour quite similar to my natural lip colour, but it comes out very dark and dramatic - like you've been drinking blood mwah ha ha

Boots Essentials Curl Creme - £1.32 from Boots

Can't believe how cheap this is for how huge (250ml) a tub! I decided to get this after hearing about it on the MoneySavingExpert Forum, as many people have said it has helped tame their curls. I've used it once, and so far it has helped give a bit more definition to my otherwise unruly hair!

Ok this isn't necessarily a "haul" as such, as my Mum and Dad got me it as a present from the Duty Free! Jean Paul Gaultier perfume in "Classque" - a summer take on the classic fragrance!

I also purchased this from Superdrug, but had to leave it at Lee's as it was over the 100ml mark and thus I couldn't take it on the plane!

Superdrug Simply Pure Gentle Eye Make-up Remover - £2.59 from Superdrug

As well as being suitable for vegetarians/Vegans (Superdrug do not test any of their own-brand products on animals, hurrah), this make-up remover is paraben and fragrance free, hypoallergenic and is dermatologically tested, as well as being enriched with glycerine and Soothex.

What have you been buying lately?

Melanie x

Review: Maybelline SuperStay 24H Lip Colour

I have many guilty pleasures in life: DVD buying, chocolate scoffing, illicitly reading blogs whilst at work, and also watching trashy TV; most recently The Only Way is Essex (for those of you who have been living on the moon over the past few months, or more realistically, don't come from Britain, TOWIE is a British reality television show based in Essex which shows "real people in modified situations." It's jaw-dropping, can-this-be-real? stuff - check it out if you haven't already!).

Anyways, one of the more fashion-savvy characters/actresses/call-her-what-you-will, Lydia Bright (who coincidentally has her own blog, The Runway Towards the Glamourous Spotlights), was wearing a BEAUTIFUL shade of red lipstick in one of the episodes (a still from the episode can be found here on Lydia's blog), and luckily in one of her blog posts she noted down where she got most of her outfits/cosmetics/accessories etc from. The aforementioned lipstick turned out to be....

...Maybelline Superstay 24H Lip Colour in shade 538 Crimson Crystal

I was so excited I was off down to my local Boots before you could say TOWIE, as I was sure it was going to be a designer make-up brand of lippie, but the Superstay, with it's RRP of £8.99 is a bit more realistic for my budget!

Similar to others on the market, such as Maxfactor's Lipfinity, the Superstay is a two-step, double-ended lipstick: Step one = Intensive colour and Step two = Conditioning balm, and (according to the Maybelline website) there are THIRTY colour varieties available, although I would imagine the number would vary according to stockists, as my local supermarket only stocks about five shades, and my local branch Boots about ten.

So what do Maybelline say?

No other longwear lasts longer. Period. Our micro-flex formula glides on and looks gorgeous all day.

No crumbling, no caking, no fading, no feathering, no transferring. The 24-hour lipcolour that stretches the limits of long wear.

And what do I say? Well I decided to keep a little lipstick diary of how the lipcolour faired during a typical day for me:

- 8am: Applied lip colour (**love** the colour!), waited until I (thought) it was dry, and applied balm. Looked fab!

- 9am: Cup of tea. Couple of red spots on mug, although nothing like the usual colour ring associated with normal lipstick!

- 10am: reapplied balm as my lips felt a bit tight and dry. Had a glass of water. Again, red spots on glass.

- 10:20am: ate a banana. (by this point I was running to the nearest mirror. Colour still looked fresh hurrah).

- 10:50am: another cup of tea.

- 12:30pm: Had a sandwich, some carrot sticks and another cup of tea (yes I am tea obsessed). Lips feeling a bit dry and flakey.

- 2:30pm: (guess what) another cup of tea and an apple. Applied more balm as lips feel tight and "bitty" - like they're flaking. Colour still largely intact, although starting to come away from inside "rim" of lips, and I feel like it is emphasising the lines in my lips, rather than making my lips look smooth

-3:45pm: cup of tea and yoghurt. Loads of transfer on mug!

- 5pm: Ended up having to reapply colour as I got  the fright of my life: looked in the mirror and most of the colour had faded leaving me with a horrendous clown-like line of colour round the edge of my lips! Lips still dry.

So what's my verdict?

I have to say i'm a bit disappointed. I had such high hopes for this product: on Lydia the colour looked stunning and uber-glossy (although I have a feeling she might have applied her own gloss on top), and i've read so many positive reviews. I am thinking however that possibly I didn't let the colour dry for the instructed two minutes I was meant to, and therefore i've possibly ruined the results from the start!

I do plan to wear it again as it is such a beautiful colour, and I suppose I don't really mind re-applying the product if I had to, but suffice to say it is NOT a 24 hour product, and I hate feeling paranoid that my lippy's worn off to leave me with some dodgy-looking liner!

In term's of Maybelline's claims of No crumbling, no caking, no fading, no feathering, no transferring, I have to argue and say that it does fade/crumble/cake, and rather than make my lips look smooth I felt you could see every little line on them. I would agree however that generally it doesn't transfer (i.e. I could press my finger to my lips and the colour wouldn't come off), and the colour when first applied is beautiful.

Have you tried the Superstay 24H or anything similar that actually lives up to the claim?

Melanie x



Style Crush of the Week...Emma Watson

Best known as Hermione Norris in Harry Potter (whom I have often been likened to due to my, ahem, bushy hair), the lovely Emma Watson is rapidly become some what of a style icon. She has been the face of Chanel, has recently been signed as an ambassador for Lancome, and has featured in ad campaigns for Burberry, as well as regularly gracing the pages of glossy mags such as Vogue - and she's still only 21!



I much preferred the long locks to the pixie cut!

Eek how beautiful is this dress?!

Who's style have you been loving?

Melanie x

Matalan Haul

(Get me, splashing the cash this weekend!)
I realise I am meant to be trying to save some money at the mo, but considering I got a gigantic bag full of stuff yesterday at Primark for around £60, and a fair few bits today in the half-price sale at Matalan, I don't feel so guilty!

Matalan has definitely had a revamp in the last few years, and is becoming more accessible/appealing to the younger market - I used to think it was a bit mumsy!
They've introduced fresher, funkier ranges such as Be Beau and they offer some really lovely items at very reasonable prices.

Sandals - £8.00

Wide leg trousers (no they're not jammies!) - £10.00 (down from £20.00)

(Close-up of trouser print)

Boot cut trousers - both £8.00 (down from £16.00)

Cotton dress - £9.00 (down from £16.00)

Fitted shirt - £8.00

Necklace - £4.00 (down from £7.00)

Necklace - £4.00 (down from £7.00)

And this one I didn't get from Matalan, but couldn't resist as it was on offer...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) - £10.00 Asda

Melanie x

Primark Haul

Evening Ladies,

I treated myself to a trip to my local primark at the weekend, so for those of you who haven't seen my YouTube haul video, I thought i'd let you see what I purchased!

Sandals (top) - £6.00, Espadrilles - £5.00

Turquoise earrings - £3.00, Mango earrings - £3.00, Lindt roller - £1.00, Pack of 6 different pairs of studs (see below for detailed pic) - £1.50, Mirrored Aviator Sunglasses - £2.00

Stripey maxi dress - £9.00, plain black maxi dress - £9.00

Printed top - £10.00

Leggings - £3.00

Blazer (LOVE the shoulder pads!) - £17.00 on tag but I got it for £10.00!

Ring - £2.00

Have you picked up any Primark bargains recently?

Melanie x

(The video is below for anyone interested!)

NOTD: Revlon 044 Blue Lagoon

Hello chicas, happy saturday :)

I never thought blue nails would appeal to me, but after seeing a beautiful baby blue gracing the nails of Lisa Eldridge, i decided to take the plunge (pardon the pun) and buy Blue Lagoon by Revlon.

Like Sunshine Sparkle there is a faint sparkle to it when looked at close up (i've since discovered "sparkle" nail polishes are a NIGHTMARE to remove!) but it actually looks quite matt-ish on its own (I have Seche Vite over the top).

Another fab summary colour to add to the collection!

Melanie x

NOTD: Revlon 042 Sunshine Sparkle

Hurrah for summer slowly getting here at last, and it being reflected in the new products for this season.

Revlon have released some FABULOUS nailpolishes, my favourite being Mad about Mango, Sunshine Sparkle (below) and Blue Lagoon.

Sunshine Sparkle is a beautiful lemon colour, with a slight sparkle (as the name suggests) through it (which i've tried to show in the above pic but failed!)
It does go on slightly streaky, and I had to put on 3 coats to get the desired effect, but the colour pay off is stunning and it definitely helps cheer me up!
Boots are doing a 3 for 2 across all their ranges at the moment so get down there and nab some for yourself!

Melanie x