Boots 70% Sale Haul including Sanctuary, Soap & Glory, No7 and Champneys

Last Wednesday I headed out bright and early before work to take part in the legendary boots 70% sale where all of their unsold Christmas gifts get discounted! I've been every year for about 6 years and manage to stay stocked up of my favourite beauty products at a fraction of their usual retail price. In previous years the sale was 75% off but still who can pass up 70 % off Brands like soap & glory and sanctuary which never have more than 1/3 off! Clearly It wasn't just me who thought this as by the time I arrived at the store shortly after it opened there were already crowds of people with huge ikea-sized bags full of gift sets! I was lucky that there was at least one of each product I'd wanted following my trip in my lunch break the day before and was done with my little haul in 20 minutes. My mum had also headed out early and between us we got quite a stash! 

The products above are just my part of the haul and two gifts! I've been told by my boyfriend, who had the day off work and was asked to accompany my mum, that he'd never seen her move so fast as she dashed around the store haha! I don't think we bought an excessive amount though I would imagine it should last us a year or so (until the next sale!) and many of the items I would buy full price if I had to anyway, so it makes sense to take advantage of such a bargain! 

So, here are some of my favourite things a bit closer up:

This sanctuary Mande Lular set was reduced from £18 to £5.40 and contains a 500ml bath Creme, travel sized body polish, body soufflé and a body brush. The bath Creme alone retails at £10 and I love sanctuary products, they're not tested on animals and are paraben free. 

This No7 set contains treats for pretty hands and toes! This was reduced from £20 to £6. It was definitely the glitter varnish that drew me to this set, I'm a magpie for glitter varnishes and sequinned cardis! ( I have three grey sequinned cardis that are all very similar....how many becomes too many?!) The colours in this set are great for winter so I might put this set up until then, but the sensible part of me thinks I should return it as I have glitter nail varnish, hand cream and foot cream aplenty....

I've needed a new blusher for a while and although I've seen some gorgeous palettes in the new ss14 make up collections they're all pretty expensive, perhaps one for a birthday wish list. The soap & glory powder trio was reduced from £20 to £6 and each powder retails for £10 or £11 each so that's a huge saving. My only complaint is that they are fixed in the palette so you can't pop it in your make up bag (perhaps the perfect excuse to indulge in one of those aforementioned palettes?!) my other s & g purchase was the face time set which contains a range of skin-care products. This was £7.50 from £25 but I think I might return it as I'm not sure I really need it. 

I probably don't need more nail varnishes but the colours in this Champneys set caught my eye. The sparkly grey is great for evenings and the blue and pink match the colours in all the shops so I think they'll be very en-trend for spring. They were reduced from £12 to £3.60 so at 60 p a varnish you can't go wrong! The little pink box is full of travel sized miniatures which are ideal for taking on holiday. This was also reduced from £12 to £3.60.

I was initially a little sceptical about this bronzer as I don't usually have the right complexion for it, but it's actually very subtle and gives more of a warm glow than a bronzed look, and it's so pretty which may have swayed my decision a bit! This was reduced from £16 to £4.80.

My mum picked up these miniature perfumes for me for £4.50 from £15 and they're handy to pop in your handbag.

I forgot to add these two goodies to my haul above too. The cupcake book is by Rosie's Pantry and has some delicious recipes including banoffee cupcakes and rose water cupcakes. This was reduced from £6.50 to £1.95. The cocoa butter set I originally glanced over, it sounded nice but I knew my mum had already got me the sanctuary treats so I resisted! That evening by chance I came across a beauty blog which raved about this exact kit, so back I trundled the next day in my lunch break in the hope of finding some left. I was in luck and picked up two sets and I can't wait to try it out. I like cocoa butter and sugar scrubs so I have high hopes for this. It was a bargain at £3 from £10.

And finally, I bought the above Champneys bag for my mum. I forgot to add it to the main photo above but it contains three full sized products and three travel sized ones. This was reduced from £50 to £15. And that's all from my mammoth boots haul, phew!

No 7 BB Cream Review

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my Boots Haul,which included a No7 BB Cream. I'm an extreme latecomer to the BB cream party, it didn't particularly appeal to me as I have a reliable foundation which gives good even coverage, so what else could a BB cream offer? Having now tried No7's BB cream I realise that the two are pretty much completely different products. The BB cream has a light moisturising formula, yet provides a noticeable even coverage.The best thing about it is how easy and quick it is to apply, there's no need for a brush or sponge, simply blend in with your fingertips and in seconds you have a more even skin tone; it's great for days when you're in a rush or don't want to overload your skin with products. The other benefit is that it is long lasting so with its light-weight formula it's great for summer (and it has SPF 15 to protect your skin in the sun). Unfortunately I often need a medium-full coverage foundation to fully disguise imperfections, so the No 7 BB cream won't be replacing my foundation, but it has become a firm fixture in my make-up bag for the summer months.

Boots No 7, Sanctuary and Champneys Bargain Beauty Haul!

I called in to Boots yesterday and as I was passing through I noticed lots of big reductions on their luxury brands including Sanctuary, Soap & Glory, Champneys, Burts Bees and National Trust, some with 75% off. I am quite keen on Sanctuary (their products are paraben free too which is a plus) so I was pleased to spot a few items on sale (two of which I had already had my eye on, but didn't buy as my beauty box is already quite full following a successful visit to the Boots Christmas sale in January!) And it is the perfect chance to try new Sanctuary products that I otherwise wouldn't have; whilst I don't mind paying a premium for products that I know work and are reliable, with limited money in my account for non-essential purchases I'm not keen to spend over £10 on one product without knowing it won't be tried once and then stuck in the back of the cupboard.
So, on to the small haul I picked up!

The first thing I picked up was the Sanctuary "Dream time sleep in-a-box" which contains everything you need to send you off to a relaxing sleep. I can't wait to try this out later, it has a soothing bath float, 4 in 1 body elixir, smoothing silk scrub and comforting night butter. This had 1/3 off and was reduced to £8.38. I also spotted a box of skin conditioning oils, (which I'd also wanted to try before), and you can either use these as an intensive moisturiser on your skin or add to a bath to leave your skin soft and smooth. I'm a big fan of hair oil treatments so I'm hoping that these will work just as well! These were down to £2.30-ish from about £10. The third product I bought was a micro-dermabrasion body renewal scrub. I hadn't actually seen this before but I'm really keen to give it a go as I have an uneven skin tone and according to the scrub 9 out of 10 women noticed a visible difference to the appearance of their skin...so this has high expectations to live up to! This was also about £2.40-ish from about £10. Boots is also running a promotion where if you spend £10 on sanctuary you get a free creme souffle worth £11, so obviously I added this to my basket too! I've tried this out already and I really wasn't expecting much as I have quite a lot of moisturiser that I need to use up and didn't think it would be particularly different, but I soon changed my opinion. It is so rich it absorbs very well and quickly unlike some body lotions which seem to take ages to absorb, and it leaves skin feeling soft, supple and smooth and with a lovely fragrance.

Just when I thought I was done with my sanctuary haul I spotted the Champneys hand scrubs (far left in the picture) which were down to £1.50 and buy-one-get-one half price. I picked up two as I used to have a Sanctuary hand scrub which was lovely so I thought I'd give this a go. And even better I had enough points on my Boots card to pay, so effectively my bag full of goodies didn't cost me anything! There were also plenty of bargains to be had on the Soap & Glory shelves, Burt's Bees and National Trust aisles (including gift sets which would be good for birthdays or Christmas if you want to prepare early!), so if you're passing by it might be worth calling in and seeing what bargains you can spot!

As you can see in the picture I also picked up a couple of bargain No7 products. I'll keep it brief but currently boots are giving out vouchers at their self-service tills for £8 off a purchase of both No7 skin care and make up, and I already had a £5 off skin-care and £3 off make-up voucher from a till from my last trip to Boots, so I purchased a No7 BB cream (which is £13) and No7 eye illuminator pen (also £13) and was able to use all of my vouchers which gave £16 off, and as make up is on buy one get one half price this just left a few pounds to pay. I also used my mums vouchers to get her a BB cream and top coat nail varnish. I think that the reason all of the vouchers work and you still get the buy one get one half price promotion at the till is because BB cream is classed as both skincare and make-up, so if you want to purchase a few items yourself you'd need something in both categories like the BB cream or Bronzing pearls/palettes.

Now I just have to fit it all in my beauty box....!

Seventeen Off the Wall Graffiti nail effects in "bluetone" Review

My nail varnish collection has suddenly doubled in size in recent weeks, and the latest additions to my collection are two blue varnishes from Boots (where all make-up is currently on a buy-one-get-one-half price offer, and they're giving out £3 off No7 make-up with purchases of £5 or more). The first is a deep french blue with a hint of metallic shine called "Betty Blues" by No7, and is the base coat in the picture below. The second is the nail varnish I'll be reviewing, a translucent blue polish by Seventeen densely packed with silver and black glitter pieces. It's part of their new "Off the Wall Graffiti Nail Effects" range and available in two shades, "bluetone", which is shown below, and "monochrome", which has black and white glitter.

I applied two coats of the No7 stay perfect varnish for the base, then a layer of Seventeen's glitter polish. If you shake the bottle well then one coat is enough to give an even coverage of glitter across the nails, but for the one or two that were left a little sparse I just let them dry and then added a second coat to make it more even. I really liked the overall look of the varnishes together, and although it is not very clear in the picture, the glitter reflected light to give a really pretty sparkle to my nails and it would be ideal for evenings out.

No 7 Speed Dry Nail Colour "Afternoon Tea" Review

The last time Boots ran their £5 off No7 voucher promotion I decided to treat myself to a new nail varnish to add to my collection. At just £2 it's an affordable little treat but I didn't realise how rapidly my nail polish collection had expanded, they have outgrown their box and now I have a collection growing on my dresser.
So anyway back to boots, and I decided to opt for a pretty neutral beige shade with a pearlescent finish titled "Afternoon Tea".

I really like this nail polish as it applies easily with  no streaks and builds up an opaque colour in just 2 coats. It doesn't take long to dry so I didn't have a problem with any smudges and it lasted several days without chipping. The colour is subtle but pretty, so I think it would work well both in the day time and evening and is an ideal shade for Spring through to Autumn.

Nails of the day...très beau!

Today I made my first proper attempt at nail art, and all in all I don't think it was too unsuccessful!
For the base I used a Barry M nail varnish in shade 'Berry', a pretty lilac colour that reminds me of spring time, (which you could easily forget is meant to be nearly here with the high winds and snow flurries we're having today!) For the bow I used a No7 nail colour in 'vivid violet' and placed a little nail gem in the center.

They are still a little messy in the picture as I wanted to take a picture before I had chance to smudge them so didn't remove the excess polish from the edges until after! But overall I'm quite pleased with them : )

Nails of the Day...Pretty in Pink

Seeing as it's the 1st of March and (almost) the official start of Spring, I thought a bright and cheerful nail colour was in order today. On my thumbs I used a No7 polish in shade 'Milan' which I have previously blogged about, and used two coats of a pink glitter nail varnish over it (a new purchase, it was only 99p from Savers), and for the other nails I used a pretty shimmery pink nail polish from the Barbara Daly range at Tesco.

I can't wait for the weather to improve a little, I have two climbing rose sticks that need planting out but it's just too cold at the moment! I had also been hoping to plan a picnic for Mothers' Day next weekend, but unless we get an unexpected burst of sunshine maybe an indoor afternoon tea would be better?!

Sale Shopping

Being paid just a couple days after Christmas meant that I could hit the sales and pick up a few bargains, though this year I haven't bought a lot, I must now be used to saving such that I've become less of a spendthrift! Although most of what I have bought has been gifts for upcoming birthdays, I did pick up the following for myself:

I saw this office dress from NEXT a couple of months ago and was pleased to pick it up from the sale on boxing day (though I was not one of the early birds there at 6am!). It has a tweed pattern and a lovely olive green velvet bow on the waist which manages to be quite subtle, so its pretty but professional too. The dress was reduced from £45 to £16 so didn't make too much of an impact on my purse either!

After browsing the shelves of Marks & Spencer and leaving empty handed, I then popped into Boots and picked up a gift set containing my favourite No7 moisturiser that I've previously blogged about. This was half price in the sale at £12.50, and seeing as it contains a bath essence, scrub, and candle too and the moisturiser usually retails for £9 it seemed like a good price.

I've also spotted a nice gift box of beauty goodies by The Sanctuary, but at £20 still I shall be waiting to see if I can pick this up in the 75% sale in a couple of weeks time!

I have also browsed the accessorize winter sale this week, and all sale jewellery is now 70% off, so i picked up a pretty navy crystal beaded bracelet as a birthday present for my mum who had tried it on before Christmas, but it's already wrapped up and waiting to be gifted :)

My make-up must-haves ♥

Having sorted out my overflowing make-up bag this afternoon, I thought I would post about my essential beauty items. I tend to find my skin is a little dry so to ensure my skin is primed enough before I use foundation I moisturise with No 7 completely quenched moisturising lotion . Although not specifically a facial moisturiser, I find having tried many others that it's the only one which moisturises my skin enough to help prime it. Another essential I would recommend is the 17 Even Tone Corrector Stick . This is a green concealor which neutralises any areas of red, and I find it blends easily and is easily covered under your foundation, and i think it works much better than using a skin-coloured concealor alone.

My all-time favourite beauty item however is the Chanel Vitalumiere Satin Smoothing Foundation. Whilst the most pricey item in my make-up bag, retailing at £34 in the department stores, I really think it's worth it, having tried L'oreal,  No 7 and a few others along the way. So what's so good about it...Firstly it's very easy to apply, I use a foundation brush to help blend it in properly and it gives a good even but natural-looking coverage, which when dusted with a light powder will last all day. Left bare it gives a dewy finish which I like, as i think it gives your skin a healthy glow, but if you prefer a more matte finish, a quick dusting of powder takes it away. It also has an SPF 15, so helps protects your skin from the sun and prevent skin damage, I find this very useful as I always forget to use sun cream on my face. Additionally, although it is expensive a little goes a long way, I find that a bottle generally lasts a full year, and I always wait for either a money-off voucher from boots in the post to combine with extra points from the in-store card machine, or for Debenhams to run their 10% off all beauty products promotion, making it slightly more affordable.

No 7's Great Gatsby Inspired 'Deco Darling' Collection Preview

In a few weeks No 7 will be launching it's AW limited edition collection of make-up, which will be available to purchase in-store until boxing day. This year the collection, designed by Lisa Eldridge, takes inspiration from the upcoming film set in the roaring 20's starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Carey Mulligan, 'The Great Gatsby'.

The range includes 2 nail colours, 'Speakeasy', a shimmering grey, and a glitter top coat in 'Daisy Darling', an Eye pencil, Eye Pallette with smokey greys and dusky bronzes and golds, and a loose powder highlighter. The collection will range in price from £5.50 - £12 and according to Lisa "the No7 Deco Darling Collection will leave you looking and feeling as elegant as scenes from The Great Gatsby".
I'm looking forward to trying the glitter top coat and highlighter when they hit the shelves on 31st October.

No 7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour "Milan" Review

In the January sales I treated myself to a No 7 gift set from Boots, which among a few other pieces of make-up included a sparkly pink nail varnish. I  have finally got round to trying it out, and I'm still a bit undecided on this one. It applied very easily, streak-free and dried really quickly, and only needed two coats to achieve the colour in the bottle. However the finish was a bit more metallic than I'd expected so it's a bit too shiny for day-time wear and I'm not sure it goes with many of my evening outfits. I think I might keep this one to wear on my toes in the summer.

No 7 Stay Perfect Nail Colour "Star Shower" Review

Boots are currently giving out £3 off No. 7 make-up vouchers when you spend £5 or more instore, so I decided to treat myself to a new colour for only £2.50. I chose the shade "star shower" which is a charcoal base with lots of gold shimmer, perfect for nights out. I did find it took quite a while to dry and was easily smudged until it had set, but i love the finished colour after applying 3 coats and think it is ideal for the upcoming party season!