Superdrug haul (Part One)

Here is part one of my latest Superdrug haul. This lot cost me £45 and I got a nice mixture of makeup, nail polish and hair care.

MUA Nail Polishes x11

Left-right: Bold Blue, Pistachio Ice Cream, All Nude, Lush Lilac, Natural Days, Amaretto Crush, Fever Red, Plum Noir, Deepest Purple, Moody Mink, Stormy Skies

These polishes come in lovely little bottles, which look just like smaller versions of another well-known nail polish brand ;) guess whooo?

The bottle size is 6.2ml which is small but cute. The colour range is great!

The brushes are good but the formula is very thin. All these polishes are 2-3 coaters. 

Most 'cheap' nail polishes smell nasty but these are fine. Although MUA products are affordable they really are great quality!

£1 each

MUA Lip/Eye Liners x4

Left-right: Lipliner shades Softly Lined, Pink Me Up, Brooding Plum, and eyeliner shade Rich Brown

The two pink lip liners contain glitter which I found a bit strange. The 'plum' shade is not plum at all, it's a pinky red. I'd call it raspberry, not plum. I was expecting more of a purple. Not that I don't like it, it goes really well with the  lipstick colours I chose, but I am still on the hunt for a cheap dark purple lipliner :)

They apply really well, good texture, can't comment on how long they last though.

£1 each

MUA Lipsticks x6

Left-right: shades 14, 4, 2, 12, 3 and Matte Wild Berry

I have done a separate blog post on these lipsticks. They are fantastic and an absolute bargain!

£1 each

MUA Powder Blushers x3

Top-bottom: shades Lolly, Cupcake and Candyfloss

Very small blushers but good colour payoff. Lovely range of colours that blend well. Bargain!

£1 each

MUA Mosaic Powder

Shade Sunkissed Glow

This bronzing powder is very shimmery and is a pinky-bronze colour when it's all mixed together. Looks like something I used to use when I was a teen on a night out. I thought it'd be a bit more brown.

Probably too pink-toned and shimmery for bronzer, I may have to use this as a blusher instead.

£2.50

MUA Liquid Eyeliner

Shade 3

A metallic gold liquid eyeliner. I have pretty much every eyeliner colour except gold, and I saw a makeup tutorial where the girl used gold eyeliner in the inner corners of her eyes (with brown and nude eyeshadow) and it looked amazing. Can't wait to try this!

£1

MUA Mascara 

Shade 4

A chocolate brown. I've never used a brown mascara before but because I have blue eyes I've been told I should try it. So just got a cheap one to try out :) 

The brush is very basic but may be decent, I will update when I've tried it.

£1

V05 Shampoos/Conditioner x3

Left-right: Nourish My Shine shampoo, Give Me Moisture conditioner, Plump It Up shampoo

I've never used this range of V05 haircare before until I tried their dry shampoo recently and loved it (it smells really good!). So when I saw the price of these I thought I'd give them a try.

At less than £2 for 500ml you can't go wrong, they will last me ages! I bought two shampoos because I double wash my hair so I go through it a lot faster than I go through conditioner. I'm going to try them tonight :) 

£1.97 each (sale price, usually £3.99)

Barry M Nail Polishes

Left-right: shades Guava, Key Lime, Ridley Road, Huckleberry, Prickly Pear, Blueberry, Papaya, Birthday

These were on 3 for 2 although the offer messed up whilst in my basket and I only paid for four! So it ended up BOGOF :)

Normal price £3.99 each

The order came to just over £50 but there was an Easter discount code floating around for £5 off a £50 spend, so the total came to £45.37.

A few days after I placed this order, I heard about a new brand that has recently launched at Superdrug called Makeup Revolution. With a similar look and pricing structure to MUA - a brand that I already know and love - I had to try them out. Cue another £45 order!

When I receive it, part two of my Superdrug haul will be posted up for you to have a look at :)

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing xx

Love Me Beauty April 2014

Here is a look inside my April 2014 Love Me Beauty box.

This month saw only four items on each shortlist (previous month's boxes had five items). All box options came with a full-sized Neal & Wolf haircare product, a full-sized Model's Own product, a travel-sized Betty Hula oil and a sample-sized Redken conditioner. I just needed to choose which Neal & Wolf and Model's Own product I wanted and that was that :)

I chose option one, purely because I preferred the shade of nail polish! More on that later, here's my box...

              

Box contents:

Betty Hula The Secret Wonder Oil ('On the Go')

I love the presentation of this product! The bottle, the design and the little tag attached with a bow is just lovely. 

This bottle has a roller ball for easy application - which means you don't waste any - plus the rolling motion helps stimulate the circulation. The product size is ideal for use on the go.

The oil itself smells really nice and fresh.

It's ideal for use on stretch marks/scarring, sunburn, dry skin, psoriasis, eczema, wrinkles and pigmentation. Wow.

Contains lovely natural oils such as grapeseed, avocado, hemp and jojoba and also contains Vitamin E.

Suitable for all skin types.

10ml travel size RRP £6.25

Models Own 'Coral Reef'

Ok, when I chose my box, the polish was the main deciding factor. It was between box one and three and I wasn't as keen on the polish shade in box three, so I went for box one.

However, when I received my box and swatched this polish, I realised I already have an identical colour from another brand :( and now I kind of wish I'd gone for box three. Never mind! These polishes are cheap and cheerful so I can buy the other shade if I really want it.

Coral Reef is a deep coral pinky red, if that makes sense! This polish is opaque in two coats and has an average drying time. The formula is the same as other Models Own polishes, as is the bottle which contains a generous 14ml. 

I do like Models Own polishes. Some of them are quite unique, and you can usually find them on a 3 for 2 offer at Boots/Superdrug etc which is great value.

14ml (full size) RRP £5

Neal & Wolf Smoothing Blow-Dry Balm

This blow-dry balm claims to put an end to tangles and frizz (which I have a fair bit of!). It provides moisture, balance and manageability.

I've heard good things about this range of hair care. I also wanted to try their shampoo, which was in box option three, but I wasn't too keen on the nail polish colour in that box.

Note: A bit of background about my hair.

It's naturally curly - but mostly looser curls with a lot of frizz. I used to have golden blonde ringlets when I was little but my hair went darker and less curly as I got older.

I blow dry and straighten it every time I style it, but even after all that it's still a bit fluffy and kinky, until the next day when it settles down. I don't wash my hair every day because I don't want to damage it! 

Speaking of damage, I used to bleach it (very regularly) at home. I was platinum blonde for a long time until my hair started breaking off left right and centre. I ruined it!

Because of this I went brunette for a few years to give it a rest, but I missed being blonde as that was my natural colour. So I went to the hairdressers and they added blonde highlights more and more each time until I was mostly blonde again.

Since then, hair dye hasn't touched my hair for two whole years! I've grown my light blonde out and I have very long dark blonde roots which creates an ombre effect - which is rather fashionable and I'm not ruining my hair/emptying my purse in the process. So it's all good!

Anyway, back to the product.

It smells gorgeous and comes in a nice big bottle. I have fine-ish hair so I will use it sparingly, which means this will last ages!

I've used it twice so far. My hair does feel different when using this - a little smoother but mostly I can just feel that there is product on my hair, like I feel with most products. It's really hard to describe! My hair is a pain and most products make it feel somewhat heavy, that's why I try to avoid using using them and prefer a good shampoo and conditioner. 

I did notice that my hair was slightly less tangled and easier to comb through but I also get that effect from hair oil when I put it on the ends of my hair, so nothing really unique there. Perhaps I need to incorporate the whole Neal & Wolf range into my haircare routine to see a more noticeable difference. Or perhaps my hair is just awkward! 

200ml (full size) RRP £12.50

Redken Colour Extend Conditioner

I think this is like the conditioner you usually get inside a box of hair dye. Now, as I said earier, I haven't dyed my hair for nearly two years so this isn't particularly relevant to me. This product was in every box option so even though I didn't really want it, I couldn't avoid it.

However, it's conditioner so I'll still use it. Hopefully it'll make my hair softer!

25ml (sample size) worth 99p

Weleda Stretch Mark Massage Oil

These were an extra, so a nice little surprise. Although these are meant for during pregnancy and just after giving birth to prevent stretch marks (neither of whch apply to me!) it's good to keep your skin moisturised.

I have a three-year-old and was lucky enough not to get any stretch marks whilst pregnant with her, however I did get a little bit of scarring around where my belly piercing used to be... caused by my growing tummy!

I don't think this oil will do anything to fade existing stretch marks but I'll keep hold of it for child number two (if I'm lucky enough to have another!).

Cost and value

Box cost: £10.00 + £2.95 P&P

Box value: £24.75

Verdict:

I'll be honest, I would have preferred something else instead of the Redken conditioner. I haven't used it yet so I might end up loving it but it's not something I really need and I can't see how it could be much different to one of the Clairol Nice & Easy hair dye conditioners that you can pick up from Asda for £1. I would've rather had something different in there but I'm really happy with the fact that there is two full sized products in this box, and nail polish is always a winner with me. It's just such a shame that the Models Own is a dupe for a polish I already have, albeit a better formula.

Value-wise, I find the Love Me Beauty boxes are often roughly the same value. Most of this box's value is in the Neal & Wolf product so I think if anyone didn't like that particular item then this box would mostly be poor value for them.

Overall, I'm happy with this box as I will use everything in it, but nothing is a particularly "wow!" product for me.

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing :) xx

YouBeauty Discovery box April 2014

Here's a look at my April YouBeauty boxes which I received today. I say boxes because I was greedy this month and ordered two because there were too many things I wanted! I actually wanted three but thought that was pushing it a little ;)

Whether I keep two subscriptions or not remains to be seen, but every box I have had so far has been incredible value and I've wanted at least four things from each monthly shortlist!

This is the April shortlist. The theme this month is 'Natural and Organic', so all products are of natural and organic origin.

As usual you get to choose two products and you also get an edible treat and sample thrown in.

From this month's shortlist I already had the SteamCream, the Inika mineral eyeshadow and the Dr Organic eye rollerball (from the YouBeauty advent calendar, all unused so far) so obviously I didn't choose any of those.

I was really intrigued by the ClaySprays (I have been advised to try a clay mask and these ones have good reviews) and I have heard great things about the Melvita skincare range. I was originally going to order both Melvita products and both Clayspray masks, but I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket so to speak, just in case I didn't like the masks.

Here's both my boxes:

And a closer look at what's inside:

Box one contents:

Melvita Ultra-Nourishing cream 

Melvita skincare has great reviews. I've seen reviews online and heard through word of mouth. Their skincare is made from organic and high quality ingredients.

Containing Royal Jelly, Argan Oil and Melvita's patented '3 Honeys' complex, it provides essential nutrients to nourish and protect the skin.

This particular skin cream is aimed towards dry to very dry skin so it may be too rich for some. I have both dry and oily areas on my face so when I get around to using this I will probably use it on the dry bits only.

15ml sample worth £10.50

Melvita Moisture-Replenishing Night Nectar

I know I obsess about smells but I don't like using products that don't have a pleasant smell, and I'm not keen on the smell of this. I can't really tell you what it smells like, it's just not very pleasant! Again it might just be me being fussy. It contains Rose floral water and Rose petal extract but I can't really smell the roses, so to speak!

As for the effect of this product, it made no noticeable different to my skin except I woke up the next morning with a group of spots that I didn't have before. This could be totally unrelated but I will let my skin rest then try it again just to see what happens. I've heard great reviews for this product so I'd love to get good results too!

15ml sample worth £10.50

Value for money?

Box cost: £6.95

Box value: £21 (before extras)

Box two contents:

The Green People Vita Min Fix 24-hour cream

I haven't actually used this yet as I feel like I'm bombarding my face with too many different skincare products! When I do get around to using it I will update this post :)

It smells nice and the texture feels just right. From what I've read this is a good skin cream so I'm looking forward to trying it.

25ml sample, worth approx. £7.50

Clayspray 'Glow' Red Clay Face Mask

I was originally going to order both Clayspray masks in this box, and I kind of wish I had as they sold out the same day that the shortlist went live so were obviously very popular!

This clay mask comes in a handy pump bottle (not really a spray!). The consistency is a little more liquid that I was expecting, it went everywhere when I first used it! The mask is a deep brown colour and has the potential to makes a bit of a mess. It doesn't stain the bathroom or anything but I'd be careful around fabrics just in case.

Now I'm far from a face mask expert, I have used them about 4 times in my whole life, and I have never tried clay masks before. But.. I do not like the smell of this product.

It smells of clay and chocolate (which I should have expected really given the ingredients) and that is not a nice mixture! I am really weird with smells and I don't seem to be able to tolerate a lot of smells that other people can. I have to try not to breathe through my nose when using this!

After one use I didn't notice any difference but I've been using so many different skincare products lately it's hard to know what's doing what for my skin. Plus, I did use this in the shower which meant the mask didn't fully dry on my face because of the steam, so next time I will use it out of the shower and hopefully I'll get the benefit of it.

30ml RRP £15.00

Value for money?

Box cost: £6.95

Box value: approx. £22.50 (before extras)

Extras

Both boxes also contained a fruity 9Bar (40g, worth approx. 80p) and a skincare sample from The Organic Pharmacy (3ml, worth approx. £2.40).

Out of a possible three types - Antioxidant Face Gel, Cream or Serum - I received two of the face creams. I would assume that the gel is for oily skin, the cream is for dry-combination and the serum is for anti-ageing so the cream is best suited to my skin type.

Verdict

For £13.90 I received just under £50 worth of product. High-quality products at that. The people at YouBeauty box have done it again! Fantastic value. I love this beauty box <3

I'm interested to hear what items other people chose for their boxes, let me know in the comments section.

Also, if you are really fussy about smells let me know, it'd be nice to hear that I'm not alone :)

Love, Sarah NailsfromNothing xx