Summer Haul

I didn’t really expect to be writing a haul post anytime soon; since we decided to go travelling Russell and I have been leading a very budget conscious lifestyle, but I decided that everyone needs a bit of a splurge every once in a while and here is mine!

The haul mentally started when I got home from work to find that Russell had ordered me this gorgeous dress from River Island.

As soon as I saw it, I started putting an outfit together and it seemed to conveniently consist of items I didn’t already own. I had also almost run out of moisturiser and I had had my eye on a few new skincare products for a while so what better excuse!

 

River Island Navy Floral Jacquard Bodycon Dress £28

This is such a flattering bodycon dress and it has a gorgeous low back (that's not low enough to show your bra, yay!).

River Island Amelie Superskinny Jeans £40

I usually really struggle to find jeans that fit perfectly but these are an amazing fit. They are from the '4 Way Stretch Fabric' range which I think makes such a difference to the fit and makes them so easy to move in despite being superskinny!

New Look Double Zip Padded Sleeve Biker Jacket £39.99

I wanted a biker jacket to go with the yellow floral dress and I love how this one has a slightly feminine twist with not having a collar. I also think it was an amazing price.

JuJu Jellies Seven £16

I do like the idea of jelly shoes but I don't feel quite ready to dive into the fully jelly shoe trend so I think these are a great compromise of the jelly shoe comfort and a more subtle style.

Invisibobble Traceless Hair Ring Brown £3.75
I have quite long and thick hair and having it up usually means that it needs to stay up until it's washed thanks to the massive kink that won't budge. I was a bit dubious about whether the Invisibobble would hold my hair but I’ve read some great reviews. I’m hoping I lose the kink as well as pony-tail induced headaches.

Soap & Glory PuffyEye Attack £12.50
I was attracted to the Soap and Glory Puffy Eye Attack thanks to its amazing claims (anti-dark circle and anti-puff), as I’m more concerned about puffy eyes than wrinkles. I also really like that this is a gel formula, I’m just hoping it lives up to the claims!

La Roche-Posay EffaclarMat £14
I loved Effaclar Duo so I’m looking forward to trying this moisturiser. I don’t have particularly sensitive skin but I do like the idea of using gentle products so I find myself drawn to La Roche-Posay, Vichy and the likes. I don’t have as oily skin as I used to but I still find that my nose gets shiny throughout the day so I hope that this will moisturise and mattify without being too harsh.

  

Nip + Fab GlycolicFix Serum £14.95
I’ve been eyeing this up for a while so when I saw Megan (at Megan Roisinn) mention this in a post when I was scrolling through her blog, it gave me the final push to give it a go. Effaclar Duo was a Godsend when I was going through a particularly spotty stage but the spots have now calmed and I am looking forward to trying something different. The range aims to fight fine wrinkles as well as enlarged pores which is perfect for me since I’ve suddenly started worrying about getting wrinkles!

Lush Cupcake Face Mask £6.25

I had five black pots to return to Lush so I picked this face mask to have free. I was also given a sample of the Love Lettuce fask mask as I couldn't decide which would be best for my oily skin.

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 50ml Pump Starter Kit £9.25

This was another freebie thanks to the John Lewis 150th Anniversary voucher. I was surprised to get such a good size product to trial and I was really impressed at how helpful the lady at the Liz Earle counter was without trying to sell me anything. I am so excited to try this, as both my sister and step-mum are devout users.

What do you think of these products?

Jade Rebecca
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August Empties

I have to admit, I'm not generally one for using things up, it's rare that I find a product that I really love and when I don't I tend to flit between different products.

This month I have actually managed to use up a grand total of... (drum roll please!)... three products! This is actually quite an achievement for me, I was helped by the increasing number of things on my mental wishlist that blogging has introduced me to. Using up one product means it's compulsory to find a replacement right?

Boots Dry Shampoo Paradise Island
I try not to wash my hair more often than once every other day so I regularly use dry shampoo to freshen my hair, I've generally used Batiste in the past but I don't find it to be amazing and it's not particularly cheap. I saw the new Boots dry shampoo that, at £2.29 for 200ml, is slightly cheaper than Batiste, at £2.99, and decided to give it a go.

The Boots Paradise Island Dry Shampoo is a good dupe for the Bastiste range and I actually think it smells a lot better than some of the Batiste dry shampoos. If you love Batiste, I'd definitely recommend giving the Boots version a try. As I was looking for something a bit better than Batiste, that would make my hair look generally fresher and not just less oily, I'm still on my quest to find my perfect dry shampoo.

Would I repurchase? No, I'm sure there are much better products out there and I'm currently enjoying trying out the Lee Stafford Dry Shampoo.

Remove It Benefit Makeup Remover
This was a bit of a spontaneous purchase when I was picking up some bits from a Benefit counter a while ago. For the price I expected something amazing, I'm not sure what but I definitely thought I would use it and have a 'wow' moment. Unfortunately it did its job, removed makeup and waterproof mascara well, but nothing extra.

Would I repurchase? No, for £16.50 for less than 200ml (177.4ml to be exact...) I'm sure there are much better/cheaper products out there.

No7 Stay Perfect Liquid Foundation - Calico
I'm rather in love with my Smashbox foundation but I like to have a cheaper brand to hand for less special occassions (like when I'm working a five hour shift and amazing staying power and a flawless look isn't essential). I actually really like the No7 Stay Perfect, it has a good coverage and lasted well even on my combination skin.

Would I repurchase? Definitely, in fact I already have. It's a great everyday foundation and I think £14 is a really reasonable price.

Have you tried any of these products?

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My First Haul!

I've been wanting to revamp my skincare everything routine for a while, I decided that I deserved a mini shopping spree as I've been doing loads of overtime and not much spending!

Bodycare

Soap and Glory -The Daily Smooth - £2.50 - I saw this in the clearance when I was working yesterday, at £2.50 I knew I had to get one! I've tried a few Soap and Glory products but never a lotion/moisturiser, I always had the opinion that they were a 'gimmicky/gifty' brand but from the great reviews I've seen I'm starting to leave that opinion behind!

I probably won't do a full review on this as it's being discontinued, fingers crossed for them rebranding and bringing out some new products like they did with their facial skincare!

Vaseline - Spray and Go - When this was first launched I was convinced it was a 'look what we can do different' products, after all how can a 'spray' be that moisturising?! Apparently I was wrong, I've heard and read great things so I thought I'd give it a go, after all I am quite lazy in the body moisturising area!

Carex - Cola Bottles - My mum brought me Strawberry Laces Carex when she last came to visit, I loved the smell and how cute it looked in the kitchen, when I saw Cola Bottle 'flavour' I couldn't resist giving it a try (half price in Boots too!). There's not too much to say about this apart from it smells amazing!

Haircare

Umberto Giannini - Frizzi Extreme Taming Spray - £5.99 - I love my hair, but hate it's frizziness, I thought I'd found the perfect solution when I bought Moroccan Oil from my hairdresser but my sister soon discovered it and it subsequently 'disappeared'. Reluctant to spend a lot on a replacement I thought I'd give something cheaper a go, I haven't read any reviews so I'll see how it goes!

Umberto Giannini - Plump Up Volumising Mask - £5.61 - My hair is long, wavy/curly but incredibly flat so I'm hoping this will at least help me out a little (and Umberto Giannini was 2 for £8!).

Cosmetics

Barry M - Nail Paint Spring Green - £2.99 - This wasn't particularly my choice, we've got to wear green to work tomorrow so this is my contribution in the nail department. But... I haven't actually ever owned a Barry M Nail Paint (I know right!) so I'm excited to see what it's like.

Models Own - 5 Piece Brush Set - £10.00 - Theses are meant to be travel brushes but I desperately needed a lip brush and there was very minimal choice unless I wanted to spend a fortune. I needed to get a blusher brush too so I treated myself, I'll do a review when I've had a go at using them.

Facial Skincare

Boots Botanics - All Bright Refreshing Eye Roll On - £8.99 - I've suffered from dark circles under my eyes for as long as I can remember, for as long as I can remember I've also used Benefit Erase Paste. I really wanted to try something to actually get rid of the problem, not just hide it!

Eucerin - DermoPurifier Concentrate - £9.50 & Eucerin - DermoPurifier Cleanser - £9.18 - I intended to buy La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo but ended up chatting to the Eucerin Consultant. Usually I'm not swayed by people promoting a product but she really did seem to know what she was talking about and with a money-back guarantee and a two for £15 promotion I decided to try these two products out. I was also given two testers from the same range, a review will follow when I've had chance to test the range out.]


I hope you enjoyed my first haul, I tried to make it as easy to read as possible.

Have you tried any of these products?

Jade Rebecca
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Flexitol Hand Balm

I wanted my first post to be about something I love that hasn't been written about hundreds of times before. So here's the most super amazing fabulous "insert more adjectives here" (yes I really love it that much) Flexitol Hand Balm For Very Dry Skin.

It's name is a mouthful and the tube will never be the most attractive thing in your hand bag, but the contents more than makes up for its appearance.

I've had awfully dry hands for as long as I can remember. My mum suffers the same and had allergy tests to find out that she's allergic to nichol, she works in a bank so her horribly cracked and dry skin makes sense, unfortunately I don't handle thousands of coins a day so I'm still not sure what my problem is!

My hands are always worse in the winter so in January, out of desparation after trying tens of other counter and prescription creams I bought this Flexitol beauty.

The balm is quite thick but is absorbed well, it leaves my hands a little shiny but it doesn't look 'bad'.

The smell's nothing exciting, if anything it has a slight medicinal smell.

I used the balm as recommended 2-3 times a day, I did this for a few weeks and, when I started to use it less often my hands stayed lovely and soft. I now use the balm once a day and my hands are better than they have ever been.

In case you're still wondering, I would definitely recommend this! If you're after a beautiful smell you could use this balm morning and night and use something 'prettier' in the day time.

Jade Rebecca
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