the belle lumiere

I often see “haul” posts and videos on people’s blogs, and find them fascinating and often inspiring. (which is not always good, especially now when I’m on Project 10 Pan and have spent the afternoon at home sick watching youtube beauty haul videos and I feel the need to SHOP) But in any case, I thought you guys might be interested in seeing some of my recent aquisitions. So here they are. I’ll start with makeup…

First up is Lanolips in the shade apples ‘Apples’. I impulse bought this from Priceline on my way to work one morning (I think you’ll find that this post will make you realise I do that a LOT.) and I am really loving it. Disappointingly it doesn’t actually smell like apples it smells slightly cherry scented but taking into account the fact that it gives me such a pretty rouge pout all scent crimes are forgiven. Next are two Maybelline Shine Seduction Glossy Lip Colours that I also impulse bought recently (sensing a pattern?). I don’t normally buy a lot of drug store brand makeup, but these were $5 a pop so I figured I didn’t have much to lose. The light pink gloss is ‘Candy Desire’ which is a really pretty shimmering pink gloss that smells like watermelon. The dark purple gloss is ‘Fierce Fuscia’ which I haven’t actually tried out yet, so I can’t say much about it. Next is the NARS lipgloss in ‘Strawberry Fields’ that I bought online after seeing it swatched over at Temptalia. It looks AMAZING in the swatches, but I’m just not loving it in person. It is heavily pigmented, and a lot darker than any of the NARS glosses I have owned in the past. I’m going to whip this out later on in the year and see if I can make it work for spring/summer. Finally is the NARS Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Skorpios. I had been lusting after the NARS Soft Touch Eyeshadows since first spotting them in one of the Mecca catalogues and was torn as to which shade I wanted to buy. In the end I opted for Skorpios because I already have the MAC Shadestick in Beige-ing, and it looks quite similar to the NARS STE in Goddess. I am really glad that I bought Skorpios though because I love it. It’s a really beautiful bronzey colour that works well with my green eyes. I prefer the application of the NARS to the MAC (which are apparently being discontinued?) so I would opt for these over any shadesticks in the future.

Next up is skin and body care. First of all is the YSL Cinema perfume, which truthfully I only bought because my first choice Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille had sold out. I’ve been going through a fragrance identity crisis lately, and was really struggling to find something that I liked, but I’ve gone back to the old faithful warm-sweet smells that have never done me wrong. The YSL fits in pretty well to this catagory, as it warms up on my skin and has a nice heady sort of sweetness to it by mid-morning. I love it, but will definitely be attempting to source the Serge Lutens for myself sometime soon! Next is the Ultraceuticals Ultra A Hydration Booster that I was sent for review. I used this for the first time today, so I can’t really say much about it yet but will write up a full review soon. Then we have the Clarins Eau Tranquility Silky-Smooth Body Creme and Dermalogica Active Moist – both products I received for review, and have reviewed on the blog quite recently. Next is the Ole Henriksen Roll-On Blemish Attack that I purchased recently from Adore Beauty. I have been using this since receiving it in the post this week, and I really like it so far. It has a very strong tea-tree smell to it, and reminds me of a product from The Body Shop that I used as a teenager. (how depressing that I am still breaking out, 10 years later…) After that is the Dermalogica Skin Prep Scrub which is a re-purchase, as I recently ran out. I love this product, it’s my favourite manual exfoliator and I use it once a week without fail. After that are two more Clarins products – both of which I received for review. The Beauty Flash Balm (which is a newfound favourite of mine) and the Daily Energizer Cream-Gel which I haven’t had a chance to try out yet. I will review these both properly soon.

Finally, hair products. Most of these were recent impulse purchases at Priceline on my way to work. I was only ever really looking for dry shampoo, but came out with a truckload of stuff I don’t even really need. (but will use up, of course.) First up is in fact a dry shampoo! It’s the Batiste dry shampoo in Tropical. I’ve not used this yet, but the smell is TO DIE FOR. Tropical is the perfect way to sum up the scent, it’s sort of pineapple-coconut smelling and I would love it if anybody out there could direct me to a body lotion that smells the same! I am starting to become hesitant to try this product after hearing quite a few reports that Batiste dry shampoos aren’t that friendly for dark hair, and that there are superior options out there. Despite that I will give this a go soon, because I don’t want the product to go to waste. Next is the Toni & Guy Iron-It Heat Defense Spray that I really bought because I liked that it was travel sized and thought it would come in handy. I am really bad with using heat defence products before straightening my hair, but I’ve been using this quite a bit lately. The smell of all Toni & Guy products is the same to me, and it reminds me of being in hospital a few years ago (as I used Toni & Guy shampoo and conditioner at the time), so that isn’t too pleasant but the quality of products make it worth the while. I also bought the Toni & Guy Boost-It Mousse and Rapid Response Leave-In Conditioner for the superficial reason of the cute little travel sized bottles. I also bought the mousse (and the dry shampoo in fact) with the intention of trying out Holly’s top knot how-to. (I failed dismally as I soon as I realised I don’t have nearly enough hair to create a decent looking knot.) Next is the James Brown London Detangle Leave-In Conditioner which stinks like mens aftershave and doesn’t feel hydrating or conditioning at all to my hair. I wouldn’t bother buying this, it’s not a very good product in my opinion. Finally we have my one true love conditioner the Terax Crema. I have repurchased this countless number of times, and will continue to do so. This is my hair saviour and I find myself returning to it time and time again. (FYI I style stalked Liv Tyler for this product, and we all know she has perfect hair.)