Monday 26 November 2012

Beauty Bargains

 
 
Hello there guys ! I hope everyone is well ? I'm feeling quite chilled this evening as I've spent most of the day wandering around Lytham St.Annes picking out Christmas decorations for my humongous tree. I don't quite know why my Mum and Dad felt the need to buy a 7ft snow frosted Christmas tree but I'm having fun selecting all the sparkly baubles to go with it! Whilst in Lytham I naturally drifted toward the make-up/skincare/haircare counters throughout each shop and I found myself getting progressively angry at the ridiculous prices of some certain brands, I mean I love a good highlighter but I'm not going to pay £44 for it ! With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to show you a few beauty bargains that can match up to the big name brands in hope of saving everyone a little money over the festive season, so here it goes....Enjoy!

 
 
 

 
17 Dazzle The Night Shimmer Rocks- Okay so I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a make-up snob and I wouldn't normally go over to the 17 range in Boots but in the past couple of years I've noticed that it's upped its game and produced some surprisingly nice products. After browsing the range I opted to buy the beautiful Shimmer Rocks, I've owned the L'oreal Bronze Mineral Pearls in the past and I've been looking for something similar but in a highlighter, so I thought this would be a good alternative. Once home and armed with my trusty make-up brush, I applied a little to my cheeks to see if the rocks would look as good on my skin as they did in the pot and with a couple of applications either side there was no denying its shimmery brilliance ! The Shimmer Rocks leave a cool silvery pigment with a slight plumy coloured base that almost works as a light weight blush... not bad eh? As for the texture it's super soft and the rocks seemed to hold their shape nicely with no crumble insight, however, it can be a bit messy as the powder tends to fly away from the brush a little, so make sure you have a towel or some tissue to protect your clothing. I've used the Shimmer Rocks a few times over the past couple of weeks and I've loved the festive glow it gives my cheeks, they're even nice to use over your arms and shoulders on a night out to add beautiful accents to your skin plus they stay put through the wind and rain as I experienced today and that can only be a good thing ! 17 Dazzle The Night Shimmer Rocks are a cheap as chips £4.99 so there's no doubt there buy worthy, 17 also offer Bronzing Rocks and I can only imagine they're of the same standard as my beloved Shimmer Rocks, so I'll be snapping them up soon too.
 
 
 
 
 
 
V05 Smoothly Does It Frizz Free Creme 100ml- Seen as it's winter and the weather is well ... HORRENDOUS ! It's really hard to keep your hair in control throughout the wind,rain,hail and snow so with the crappy weather that lies ahead of us I went on a little mission to find a frizz free product that would keep my locks at bay. Generally, I'm quite lucky as my hair is pretty much straight and I don't have to bother about it that much but as any girl knows a bit of frizz is inevitable in the winter and especially whilst styling it. Over the past 3 years I've used Bed Head Control Freak but at £21 a pop I really can't bring myself to spend that again so I decided to buy V05's Frizz Free Creme as I've heard some decent reviews on it dotted around the blogging world. Now, this product pretty much guaranteed frizz free hair and I was blissfully anticipating a smooth shiny fly-away free hair after one use ! So whilst at home after a shower I applied a small amount of the Frizz Free Creme into the palm of my hand then smoothed it through my damp ends, I tend to avoid my root area when using creamy products as they usually make the top half of my hair quite limp, however, if you think your fro' can hack it by all means work it in. I have to say the creme smells lovely and the texture isn't sticky or runny like some other serums, after a few minutes the product had sank into my locks so I grabbed my hair dryer and a brush then proceeded to dry my hair on a cool heat for around 5 minutes. The first thing I noticed was the way my hair felt, It definitely seemed smoother and the very ends of my hair where straighter... brill ! After my hair was sufficiently dry I brushed it through and heated up my straighteners, as it says on the tube the Frizz Free Creme supposedly protects your hair from high heat so I was guessing the best way to test it was to apply 200 degree heat right ? I sectioned my hair and worked the straighteners through and non surprisingly, my hair didn't singe or dry out, the creme left a glossy finish with no greasy residue, so impressed ! Next, I really put V05 to the test and let my hair embrace the elements, after maybe 5 hours my hair was still under control and there wasn't a fly away in sight, it still felt smooth to touch and the shine was even holding out, all this without an ounce of hairspray... it's a Christmas miracle ! The V05 Smoothly Does It Frizz Free Creme is a low cost £3.89 from Superdrug and it's a handy hand bag size that you can grab at anytime for a touch up on dry hair, V05 offer a whole Straight and Smooth range so there's an abundance of products that work along side it and at such a low prices, I won't hesitate to return for more.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades Blushalicious Blusher- I have to say I'm quite a big fan of Collection 2000 and I particularly like their pressed powders and blushers, so when in search of something to brighten up my cheeks I found the fabulous Shimmer Shades, there's something about a quad blusher that really appeals to me, I feel like I'm getting a bit more for my money if that makes sense. As you can see from the pictures above Shimmer Shades offer four beautiful pastel like shades that you can use individually or mixed together to add a flush of colour to your cheeks, I've shown how each colour looks swatched on the skin and considering the colours aren't that bright the pigment is gorgeous and the palest pinks have a beautiful sheen to them too. After sweeping my brush across the Shimmer Shades I applied it to the apple of my cheeks and worked upwards, all four shades complimented each other nicely but overall the colour came out as a shimmering candy pink which worked fine for me. Texture wise the blusher is quite smooth not grainy or rough, it settles nicely on the skin and doesn't leave any unwanted fly away powder, there's nothing worse then noticing pink powdery blotches all over your clothing after finishing your look, so no worries with this one. I used the Shimmer Shades the day before last whilst out shopping and the colour lasted pretty much all day, I only touched up once after the rain attacked me so I was quite impressed ! Collection 2000 offer the Shimmer Shades in 'Blushalicious Blusher' and 'Way To Go' which is the exact same thing but a golden bronzer palette instead, they both come in at £4.19 at Boots Cosmetics but I'm pretty sure you can get your hands on any of the Collection 2000 range at the larger supermarket stores such as Asda or Sanisburys. So if your in need of some low cost blush with a bit of an edge you know exactly where to head too, I'm thinking of offering the Shimmer Shades in my 100 followers giveaway so keep an eye out guys !
 
 
 
Whats been your best beauty bargain this month ?
 
 
XXXX
 
El Mac
 
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Love the look of the shimmer rocks! Don't think I've ever bought anything from 17... My favourite beauty bargain this month was discovering the Collection (used to be 2000) concealers and finally purchasing a Beauty Blender which totally lives up to the hype!

    Jo x amomentwithjo

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    1. that sounds interesting ! I need to get my hands on it :) xx

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