Mini Escentual Haul

Escentual have recently had 20% off everything on their website and I finally decided, after much umming and ahhing, that it really would be rude not to take advantage of their offer.

I bought Clarins Sun Wrinkle Control Cream for Face SPF30 and treated myself to the greatly desired Diorskin Nude BB creme.

(Apologies for the awful photos!)
I've wanted to try the Dior BB creme after sooo many other bloggers raved about it and because I'd quite like to have something a bit lighter to wear when on holiday or when its pretty hot here.
The facial SPF was something I must admit I hadn't realised really existed until fairly recently - i've always just used ordinary sun cream (and hated it) or moisturiser/foundation with SPF, which doesn't really seem like enough protection. So once again, Caroline's blog filled me in and provided some good recommendations. I'm hoping this will provide me with a good level of sun protection whilst allowing me to still be able to wear my make-up and not leave me with a horrible greasy, sticky face!
I've only just received this through the post as I only ordered them on the last day of the offer (took me a while to persuade myself it was too good an opportunity to miss so sorry i'm telling you about this after the offer has expired...) so i've not had a chance to use them yet but I will post reviews once I have =)!

Did any of you take advantage of the 20% off offer? What did you buy?

Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10036609/?claim=usc4ffhft4h">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Review: Balance Me pure skin face wash

I'm currently in the process of trying to update my skincare routine as previously it pretty much consisted of a face wipe (bad I know!) and moisturiser... After reading Caroline's blog I realised I really needed to up the ante. She is currently recommending a load of cleansers and one she mentioned was the Balance Me cleanse and smooth face balm, which I quite fancied trying, so when I saw that Cosmo had Balance Me freebies I knew I had to give it a go!

I picked up the pure skin face wash and here's my thoughts on it.
To use this cleanser you're meant to squeeze a small amount into your hands, add warm water, massage together and then over your face. I find you don't need to use much especially as you're adding water to it. At first it has quite a thick consistency but is obviously thinned out when adding water. I then use a face cloth to remove. I found this had quite a strong herby type smell that was pretty overpowering, so much so that it left the bathroom smelling of it for a little while. At first I really didn't like the smell but after a few uses i've started to get more used to it and find it has a slight lemony scent mixed with the herby smell. I don't think this would be for everyone and would probably be very off-putting for a lot of people.
I like using this cleanser, it feels like it's doing a good job of cleaning my skin and works quite well at removing make-up - even eye make-up (although there's usually still some mascara left over). Straight after it's washed off my skin feels quite soft and plump but shortly afterwards it starts to feel dry and quite tight. I've tried not patting dry after washing off and it still ends up feeling like this.
I think i'll keep trying with this but it's not a complete winner and i'm definitely still looking for something new. Perhaps the cleanse and smooth face balm will be better.

What are your favourite cleansers to use?

Xo

Wishlist

I have so many products that I want to try but sadly most are high-end products that I just can't currently justify buying. So here they are:

1)Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme. I quite want to try out the hype that is BB creams and at £30 this obviously isn't the cheapest of options! However, I've seen so many rave reviews (including Lily Pebbles and Anna) about this one and it seems that it would be possible to use to give some coverage without needing to wear foundation - bonus! Another popular, slightly cheaper, BB cream that i've seen a lot of positive comments about is the Ginvera BB cream so maybe I should go for that one first. But something just seems to be pulling me towards the Dior version!

2) M.A.C lipstick. Sadly i've not got around to getting a MAC lipstick yet but I know they're meant to be very popular. There's a few shades I think I want to try including Vegas Volt, Hue and Ruby Woo. Currently my lipstick collection is very limited and I must admit i'm not very adventurous so I'd really love to expand and vary it up a bit.
Have you got an specific recommendations for MAC lipsticks that you just love?

3) La Roche Posay Serozinc. Again I have seen so many rave reviews about this product that I can't help but lust after it. Unfortunately it's sold in France and seems to be very hard to get hold of online, making this a product i'm not likely to be able to get hold of any time soon (that and the always wanted Pixi Glow Tonic). I think after Caroline mentioned this everyone had to get their hands on it - lucky those who have!

Whilst the list goes on and on I think these are my current top 3 products i'm lusting after. What are your must-haves that you're wishing for right now?

Bloggers reccommendations

So after so many beauty blogs my wishlist was starting to grow and grow. Unfortunately quite a few of the products were high end or possibly more expensive than my student budget wanted me to spend. But of course I had to just buy a couple of things! So here is a couple of my budget picks.

Firstly I bought the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in shade 51 - Light Vanilla.
Bourjois claim: "16 hour radiance booster & instant anti-fatigue result! Give your skin a radiance boost and leave it looking flawless for up to 16 hours! Enriched with a fruit therapy formula; Apricot for radiance, Melon for hydration and Apple to protect your youth. It also contains crystalline pigments for an even complexion and healthy glow. "

I had seen so many bloggers trying and recommending this that I just had to try it. Especially as at £9.99 it's a fair bit cheaper than my current go-to foundation (Lancome Teint Miracle foundation £27.50).
I quite liked this foundation, it felt fairly thick and perhaps slightly darker than my natural skin tone but not dark enough to make me look orange. Once applied it gives a pretty good coverage and leaves you with a rather dewy looking complexion. Despite the colour not being perfect I still think it works for me and I do quite like it, but it doesn't beat my Lancome one. I would say they could do with a few more shades in order to work for more people because their range is fairly limited.
I think i'm still looking for my holy-grail foundation so if you have any recommendations please let me know!

Next up was another Bourjois product. This time their Magic Nail Polish Remover costing £4.99.

This claims to remove nail polish in just 1 second per nail. Of course I didn't think it was going to be as quick as that but I had hoped it would speed up the often laborious process of removing nail varnish. The pot has a  sponge type material at the opening that you simply put your finger into and twist your finger around. I'd say you need to twist a couple of times to fully remove all of the nail varnish but it's still a lot quicker than the usual process and no need for cotton wool! I really like this product and am going to be using it a lot!

A third product I ended up buying was Lush's Lip Scrub in Bubblegum. It also comes in Popcorn and Mint Julips but after going and trying (i.e. tasting) them all I knew I wanted Bubblegum.

This lip scrub is essentially flavoured, coloured sugar that you rub onto your lips and then lick off. I love this concept! It smells really nice and tastes good too! I find it works pretty well at smoothing out my lips and removing dead/dry skin but you then need to add a balm after wards really I think and the effect doesn't last for a hugely long time. But seeing as it's so nice/tastey to use I don't mind having to use it a lot! At £5.25 its possibly not the cheapest product but I think it'll last a long time and is lovely to use so I don't really mind.

Finally, I caved in and bought the Real Techniques Core Collection Kit after I found them being sold for just £8.99 on Amazon! Although it appears they've now changed the price to £17.85, which is still a slight discount.

This collection consists of a contour brush, pointed foundation brush, detailer brush and buffing brush and comes in a little carry case. I bought these after everyone seemed to be raving about them, particularly the buffing brush. So far i've only actually used the buffing brush and pointed foundation brush but have very much liked using them! The first couple of times using the buffing brush for applying my foundation I must admit I wasn't a massive fan and couldn't see what everyone was raving about but on the third try I tried to be a bit gentler and found this a much better finish. It gave me good coverage with less product and still left a fairly dewy complexion. It perhaps takes slightly longer to fully buff it all in than using fingers but I think its worth it! I've also been using the foundation brush to apply concealer under my eyes and think it works pretty well to give good coverage and blend well.

So these are my purchases i've bought and reading lots of bloggers reviews of them. Are there any products you're craving after reading beauty blogs?