Poundland brand bargains [makeup haul]

 Hi Sweethearts,

This week I wanna let you in on some super nice bargains that I got whilst visiting my local Poundland.

I took a break from work as my back was starting to give me some problems, and ventured off to Poundland in search of some heat packs to stick to my back.
  As usual the shop was pretty busy, so had to try and wade through the vast crowds of people - but eventually had to just stand and wait (people have a lovely habit of taking up the ENTIRE isle... sheesh.) so I figured I'd just look at the makeup/beauty products around me whilst I wait to get through.

On looking, I quickly noticed some pretty good bargains and couldn't resist picking them up to blog about!

The Haul:

Sooooo....you can see the brands that I've managed to get, all for £1 each!!! How good is that?!?!!

Lets' look a bit closer!

Rimmel Colour Rush colour lip balm shade: 610 Sun-Kissed

RRP: £5.99

If you didn't already guess, I love lip colours at the minute!

This is a lovely warm pinky/orangey/corally type colour in handy pencil form for easy application, and it smells like vanilla! I've tried this already, and it lasts pretty well, and keeps my lips feeling moist and plump.
These come in 14 different shades, however in poundland you'll only have a choice of a couple of shades of each thing. Slightly disappointing, but if the colours they have match you then you're laughing.

Barry M Supersoft Eye Crayon,  Shade: 9 Matt Pink
RRP: £3.99

This is a jumbo eye pencil in a matt pink shade. Like the label says, it is a supersoft formula, and like  Barry M products, it's highly pigmented, for thick bold colour.

The consistency is lovely and thick, and the colour is adorable, however, I find this rubs off pretty easily (on my hand anyway - one smudge with my finger and it was gone), so I'll use this as a base to press another shadow on top.
 I think I could have some fun and get creative with this.

Barry M Dazzle Dust, shade: 1 Ice Pink

Barry M Dazzle Dust, shade: 96 Gold
RRP: £4.59

Ok! Here we have a couple of the Dazzle Dust colours.
 There's a few different ones in Poundland, but these 2 are the ones that stood out the most for me.

I've always liked these as they're super pigmented, lovely shades that give a nice effect. I generally don't buy these unless I get a bargain such as this, as I find that Barry M can be out of my budget beauty price range (aka, as cheap as I can find, but still good) 

Barry M Eyeshadow Trio Shade: Tes2 Pretty Pastels
RRP: £5.99

I couldn't resist picking up this cute pastel coloured eyeshadow trio!

I think I've had a bit of a pink makeup theme in this haul, though everything can work in together to create some cute and cool looks!

There are other versions with different colours available, I think I spotted a more marine type palette which looked pretty sweet. This comes with a double ended shadow applicator. On one side, a (dreaded) sponge tip applicator, then a brush on the other side.
 I generally don't use the brushes that come with the palettes as I prefer to use my own, but this one is o-k. Definitely better than the w7 palette brush, but still not terribly great, but heyho.

Cost & Savings:

Time for a little bit of maths (I hate maths, so bear with me) 

Adding the RRP of each item together, comes to £25.15

Take away the £5 that I paid in total for all of these, (£1 each) and that gives me a total saving of £20.15!!! 
How good is that?!??

Final thoughts:

I definitely suggest that you all take yourselves on a little trip to your local poundland to see what they have in store for you!

If you have been recently, what did you buy? Did you get some great bargains too?

Let me know in the comments below!

Love,
           Kasumi x

Montagne Jeunesse Facemask Review - TeaTree & Spearmint

Hey Sweethearts,

I've been getting some different face masks lately, as I'm trying to take better care of my skin (especially now that I'm in my mid 20's and should be thinking about it more).

At the moment my skin is hit or miss, which is down to a combination of diet, general health and hormones trying to settle back down from restarting the contraceptive pill.
I don't know about the rest of you, but at certain times of the month, my skin tends to be oilier (I do have naturally oily skin anyway) and generally likes to break out - what about you?
Sorry to bring this up for any male readers, but yes, we're having the period chat, because it likes to alter your skins appearance and that's just plain mean & uncalled for!

So, based on my oily, spot prone skin, I picked up a Spearmint and TeaTree face mask from Montagne Jeunesse in my local Asda store, for the grand total of £1.28.
Tea tree has anti bacterial properties and reduces inflammation, whilst spearmint is supposed to fight the oil, and leave your skin feeling tingly.

First up I gave my skin a wee cleanse....so here's a mugshot of a very barefaced, deeply awful looking me, fresh from the bath *hence the towel-hat* 

Let's pop on the cotton mask! Unfortunately, I never seem to be able to have these things fit me properly, either I have a tiny face, or these are made really big - especially at the chin area!

Do these things fit you ok? Let me know!

So, the packet said that this should only stay on for about 5-10 minutes max, and it should leave my skin feeling brighter, fresher and more even.

So, off I went to chill on the sofa for a little bit.

The smell of the spearmint was really strong, and my skin tingled quite a bit - definitely not a mask to have on for longer than 10mins. That aside, I really did enjoy having it on and chilling out for a bit, and felt a lot more awake afterwards!

When I took the mask off, I definitely noticed that my skin looked a bit brighter and didn't look as tired as it did beforehand. It also felt a lot nicer and smoother, and looked a bit more even in tone too. (There are differences in the lighting from the first photo - so difference is more subtle than photos show)

Verdict: 

I quite like this face mask. It's nice to use the cotton masks as opposed to the ones you kinda just slap on your face, and then spend ages trying to get it all off!

I like the effect it's had on my skin, it feels smoother and brighter, though if you're sensitive to any of the ingredients especially the mint, then it's maybe not for you as it's pretty strong!

My skin hasn't really freaked out after having used it, and it's been a few days now, so that's always a plus.

Would I buy it again? For £1.28 I probably will - face masks are a great way to force myself into taking a break & relaxing, so it's a double plus.

Love,

Kasumi x

Makeup Brushes on a budget (under £20)

Hey Sweethearts!

I know a lot of you are hoping that this weeks' post is going to be part 2 of my Etude Haul reviews, but unfortunately I managed to lose my makeup brushes so haven't created any new looks with the Etude Makeup due to this.

However, I figured that having to go brush shopping would be a good opportunity to talk to you all about what makeup brushes I tend to use, as it's been requested quite a bit!

So, I went back to my high street go-to shop, Watt Brothers to see what I could pick up with a budget of no more than £20 to spend on Brushes. 

So this is what I ended up buying! 

All but one of these brushes are by Royal Cosmetic Connections - the other is by BC.
 I really like the quality of the Royal Brushes, having had a few of them before (I'm still upset at losing my brushes *sob*  even if a lot of them did come from Lidl heehee) especially taking the price tag into consideration!

I don't feel like it's necessary to spend a fortune on makeup brushes, when a cheaper option can do the job just as well!

When looking for brushes, I like to take a good look at the materials/fibres and see how soft/hard/synthetic/natural they feel. I don't like overly plastic-y feeling brushes as they tend to be more springy and just push makeup around the palettes as opposed to picking up product and putting them on your face - The brushes I'm showing here all pick up product really easily!

Foundation

This is the foundation brush I've used for the last few years.

For me, I tend to favour liquid foundations, and for photo shoots I tend to use quite a heavy one (Max Factor Colour Adapt), although my daily foundation is a lot lighter (Rimmel Match Perfection) - so this brush works well. I wouldn't recommend it for powder/mineral foundation though.

I like to use this in the same way I would a paint brush, and I find that it blends pretty well and doesn't leave any streaks.

Price: £2.99

This is a new item for me, as I'm not normally a fan of sponge applicators as they tend to soak in more product than they put out, which is a bit counter-productive.
   However, I find that if you slightly dampen these first, then it stops a lot of the product soaking in, whilst still letting you apply product. The sponge on this is nice and soft feeling against your skin, whilst still being firm enough to apply product. It has a flat surface at the front that would suit flatter areas of your skin eg. forehead, whilst the round back will do other areas. The tip is sharp enough to get into corners eg. side of nostril etc, and it blends alright.
 I'm more inclined to use this as more of a blender than a full on applicator - using my other brush to apply, then the sponge to blend in.

 It's pretty much on the same vein as the Beauty Blender that everyone is talking about as of late - I'd like to get my hands on one to test it out at some point!

Price: £2.99

Powder/Blush:

This is a lovely soft big powder brush (I like to use this for powder blusher too) that does exactly what it says on the tin! It's got enough firmness to effectively pick up product, but is soft enough to blend & buff your face without wiping off your foundation.

Depending on your face, you may be able to get away with using this for your contour (I can - obviously not for nose contour though!) but some of you will find it too big. One of the only brushes I didn't manage to lose is a slightly smaller version of this, which is my preference for contouring.

Price: £2.99

Eyes: 

I have to add a little disclaimer here: I like to buy eyeshadow brushes!  
First up is the biggest of the eyeshadow brushes. Again, this is a lovely soft brush (but not too soft until it becomes flimsy) that picks up product with great ease.
 I like to use this bigger brush for applying shadow from my browbone to my crease.

Price: £1.49

This is another new brush for me, which is from Body Collection (BC) - it's another large shadow brush, but it's slightly smaller than the one above. The fibres are pretty much the same as the Royal, so easy to apply and blend with.
 This brush for me will be more of a general eyeshadow brush for bigger areas eg. lids/crease. 

Price: £0.99

       

So this is the smallest of the eyeshadow brushes that I bought.

Again, it's of the same quality as the previous, though slightly smaller for more delicate areas eg. under eye, or for looks with more depth/detail.

Price: £1.49

This brush is slightly different to the brushes above - the other eyeshadow brushes are flat with curved tips, whereas this brush is completely round, making it great for contouring places like eye sockets. I also like to use this for nose contouring along side a bigger shadow brush to blend further.
 I think these are good for working on cut crease or smokey eye looks,

Price: £1.49

 

Last up for my eye brushes is the eye shading brush. This is another different brush for me, but one I quite like.

Unfortunately, somehow I forgot to take an individual photo of it in the packaging, but this is by Royal (you can see it in the packaging at the top of the post in the shot of all the items together)

 This is, again, a slightly different brush. The fibres are shorter, and a bit stiffer than the other brushes. This is more the kind of brush that I'd use for creating a defined cut crease look - which is a look that I do quite a lot. I also find this pretty good for smudging pencil eyeliner for smokey effects as it's that little bit stiffer.

Price: £1.99

Brows:

My beloved Angled brush! This is probably my favourite brush, because I'm a bit eyebrow obsessed!

This is a lovely thin brush, with just the right amount of stiffness to create sharp, defined brows! I also use angled brushes to create sharp lined eyeshadow, occasionally defining a cut crease further, and also for gel eyeliner (for the rare occasions I use Gel)
 Any sort of thing that requires a sharp line - this is my go-to brush!

Price: £0.99

The Bill

Now for the not-so-fun part....parting with your hard earned cash! >.<
Here is a copy of my receipt: As you can see, in Scotland we have a carrier bag charge, and I also topped up on my concealer. Taking off the price of the concealer and bag, my total brush purchase came to £17.41!

I know there are complete brush sets that you can buy online, some of them may also be worth checking out (let me know in the comments box!), but I much prefer to pick and mix my brushes separately, and I like to be able to check them out in person to make sure that they're the ones I want. (I have a bad habit of procrastinating with online shopping and ending up buying the wrong thing!)  

I'm very happy with my purchases, and being within my budget - I can't wait to get back to creating different looks for you all! Hopefully this is helpful to those that were wondering what I'm using!

You can buy Royal products on Amazon, for those who don't have a Watt Brothers Store close by:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=bl_sr_beauty?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=Royal+Cosmetics&index=beauty&search-type=ss

You can also find BC items on Amazon too! 

What kind of makeup brushes do you use? Do you use them? Do you have a favourite brand or type of brush?
Let me know in the comments below!

Love,
           Kasumi x

Fashion find and experimenting with Kogal

Hey Sweethearts!

I hope you're doing well?

Couple of things I want to share with you this week, with the first one being my new poncho!

When I spied this in my local shopping centre, I completely fell in love with it, and it was on sale for £20! I'm a big big fan of ponchos, and was on the lookout for a more outdoor one, as it's still pretty chilly outside here in Scotland!

I have a few ideas for outfits using this, though here I just layered it on top of my Kogal inspired look, but I think it looks pretty good!

 What do you think? ^_^

This week I finally got around to experimenting with another style, this time Kogal! (コギャル)

Unfortunately, I can't really afford to buy brand items, so made do with a little Primark haul and found items in my flat to creating a Kogal inspired look.

I really wanted to try this style for a while, though I've always been put off my closed cardigans and higher necklines, incase it didn't really suit me.

For this look, I kept it pretty basic (basic bitch?)-  it's based from School outfits, so I didn't want to try and add my own spin on it as I wasn't too confident.

For my hair, I went for a simple high ponytail using a tie on extension that I got from Ebay for 5.99 - I haven't fully experimented with hairstyles for this look, but I'm really loving ponytails at the moment so thought it would fit quite well.

Outfit: Plain white shirt from New Look, that I've had in my cupboard for a few years (I'm a hoader, and when things still fit, I don't like to throw them away)

Bowtie - Stolen from the Bfs' mother - spare from work outfit. I do want to make/buy a different type of bow/necktie for this look, but couldn't find anything to fit in time.

Cardigan & Skirt - Primark. Cardie was £8, and skirt was £6.

I'm really loving the range Primark has in at the moment, a lot of it is really my thing! When I went in, they also still had some sale rails, so I picked up another couple of bargains whilst I was there.

Tights: I just went with tights that look like stockings, as I struggle so badly with knee high/overknee socks. I have chronic thunder thighs, so they always ALWAYS either roll down, or are too tight and make me look super bumpy with flab spilling out over the top. I think these also came from Primark.

Although you can't see my shoes, I used a little pair of black dolly shoes with a little bow on the front (also from Primark) to complete the look.

Here is a little shot of my makeup, although I wasn't happy with how my nose looked in the shots so covered it up T_T
I picked a brown pair of circle lenses for this look, as I'm naturally blue eyed, but love how cute brown eyes look! I also kind of think in a strange way, I look more German like my mother (I'm half German) with brown eyes. I think that's maybe just me, though. XD

                                 

That's all from me this week, as usual, please leave me comments under the post letting me know what you think, and how I can improve on this look!

Kasumi x

99p store find: Witch Tinted Moisturiser (Review)

Hey Sweethearts!

So this week I went for a little look in my local 99p store, to see if there were any bargains to be had.
Usually I tend to get some great hair products, but this time something else caught my eye.


I've been looking for a bb cream or tinted moisturiser for a while, but could never find anything light enough, or if I did, then it was out of my price range.

I happened to spot the Witch anti-blemish tinted moisturiser when browsing, and for 99p I figured that I may as well give it a go. It's formulated for those like me with oily or combination skin, and comes in 3 shades. Light, Medium & Dark.

For those of you that can't find it in your local 99p store, you can grab it on amazon. 

I picked light 01 shade which looks like this.

(Stock photo) 

I tend to use the Witch face wipes as they tend to deal with my problem skin quite well, so with this in mind I picked it up, though ever the sceptic, I had my doubts.



When I first opened the bottle and put some on the back of my hand, it looked pretty dark.

This prompted my usual thoughts of "ahh another bb cream/tinted moisturiser that claims to be light, but I end up looking orange anyway." but never-the-less, I figured that if anything, I could laugh if I ended up looking much like David Dickinson!

When applying it, I found that it blended pretty ok - it wasn't thick or heavy, which is a plus for my oily skin.
 My fears for becoming orange were completely washed away upon blending it onto my face, as I found that despite being dark in the bottle, it blended really light and disappeared into my skin quite well to give a light/medium coverage.
Like the bottle claims, it does mattify the skin well, and it lasted the whole day which was a major plus.

The only things that I wasn't too fond of, is that my skin felt a little tight initially once it had set on my face - I think that may come from the antibacterial properties mind you. It's not terribly moisturising either, it is really more of a light moisturiser, which for me right now is ok.

I like to apply a little powder over the top to give it a little extra staying power, due to my skin right now.

At the moment, I've only been wearing it for a few days, so can't fully comment on just how anti-blemish it is, but it's looking pretty promising so far!

Verdict: I'm pretty happy to wear this at the moment as an alternative to having to wear foundation, as it's a lot lighter and nice & easy to apply, especially if you're in a rush leaving the house in the mornings (like me). With a 99p price tag in my local store, it's a pretty good bargain if you're looking for something lighter.


love,

Kasumi x