<3 Beauty Haul Essentials <3

So, I have been bad and not posted in a while! However, this means I have more time to shop so it's not all bad. And I have been working hard elsewhere which makes me feel less guilty! This is just a teeny tiny haul of a few of my fave recent purchases in the beauty side of things! ENJOY! 

Say hello to my new best friend... yes, I am talking about my new Mac Pro Longwear foundation. This is my one true love and just in time for Valentine's day, too! My shade in this is NC15. (Yes, I am as pale as a ghost.) I am always on the search for a new foundation that is 'the one'. I have read so many varied reviews on Mac foundations. It seems that people either love love love them or find that they break them out or irritate their skin. This caused me to panic a bit so I popped into Selfridges and asked for a couple of samples as I didn't fancy paying £24.50 on something that didn't do the job for me! However, this is my new all-time favourite foundation (at the moment.) Out of all the ones I have tried this is by far the best. At this price, it isn't the cheapest but definitely isn't enough to quite break the bank and it is also very worth the money in my case. I have very oily skin and find that throughout the day I have to keep blotting my skin and then by the time I get home my makeup has already ran halfway down my face anyway! BUT this foundation seems to do the trick and really lives up to its 'longwear' title! Definitely worth a purchase or even just picking up a little sample at your nearest Mac counter.

My next beauty crush is this Topshop Lipstick in 'Secret Admirer'. I have wanted to buy a nice, soft, pinky lipstick for a while now. I have also wanted to try a Topshop lippy as I have never bought one before. I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and impulsed by this while waiting in the Topshop queue. It is so soft and really matches up to the quality of my Bobbi Brown Lipsticks. It only costs £8, so at the fraction of the price of higher end lippies but near-enough the same quality I will definitely be looking into wider variety of shades in the future! 

Next in line is my Bare Minerals eyelid primer. I bought this near Christmas time as it came in a set which was on sale. I didn't really even notice it a first but when I got it home I thought I'd give it a try! Usually, when I don't use an eyelid primer, I find my eyeshadow to be really dry on my eyes and even turn a bit flakey (not attractive, I know.) When I use this, it sets a nice base for my eyeshadow or if I leave it on alone it leaves my eyelids with a nice, natural shimmer that lasts all day. Such a nifty little thing!

Another impulse till buy here. I had no idea Primark even did face wipes... up until now that is. These wiped come in scented, unscented and oil balancing versions. I picked up the scented ones because I thought the packet was pretty. These a such a bargain as it is a twin pack with a total of 50 wipes! They don't do anything spectacular but are perfect for sleepovers, weekends away or even just to throw in your bag at a festival!

 Hope you enjoyed reading!

What are you latest beauty essentials?

xxx Katie xxx

<3 Mini Shopping/present Haul <3

  Montagne Jeunesse face masks are my absolute fave. The bright packaging and incredible fruity variety of scents are great! My auntie got my mum a pack of five as part of her birthday present, early in December. She saw how much I loved them and bough a pack for me too! I had never seen this cute little multi-pack before but it is so useful, cute and makes a lovely gift for any beauty fan. The actual face mask go on like a dream and my personal favourite is the apricot one! Give them a try if you already haven't!





 These two soaps were a gift off a family friend. One is 'Lemon Meringue' and the other, quite odd but, is  called 'Jack The Rippler'. Names aside, these soaps are to die for and smell divine  So gorgeous and well made!

 Woooooo, this is my Lush fairy wand bubble bar which was half price in the Lush post-xmas sale! Sounds a bit childish, but I love just before my baths waving this wand around and waiting for bubbles to magically appear. The wand lasts ages and just a little wave can make your bath smell magical!

I am a big fan of Elemis despite the steep cost! These Cellular Recovery Skin Capsules are so dinky and cute. The minty one goes on at night and the rosey one in the morning. The aim of them is to fight signs of ageing and recover your skin from all the day-to-day pollution it has to endure. These make my skin feel so soft at night, I really love them!

<3 Thanks for reading <3

 So the 6th of November is my birthday, I am now 17!! I thought I'd share with you a few of the bits I got and also threw in a few of the things of been buying myself lately so you can get an idea of what I'll be reviewing the up and coming weeks! 

This is the Volume Million Lashes Mascara by L'oreal. I've not used it enough yet to have much of an opinion but I absolutely love the container it comes in, so chic! 

Next is the Out of This World Lush bath set. I really cannot wait to use this as I'm sure it will not disappoint as lush always exceeds my expectations. Review coming soon. :)

This is the L'oreal black Contour Kohl Eyeliner. I'm not big on black eyeliners but I shall give it a go!














Gloves, gloves, gloves... Needless to say they are essential if, like me, you have to endure the freezing cold temperatires that come with living in the UK. Anyway, Primark have a wide range of different coloured and different material gloves in store now and all at really cheap prices too! So, I picked up a double pack of two plain black gloves for £1 to last me through the winter months that lie ahead. Brrrrr....













These are my new flatform shoes from River Island. I've wanted a nice smart pair of black shoes that still have a youthful edge and I think these are perfect  they have a lacey lining on the outside, a faux suede flatform and a slightly pointed toe. LOVE!

p.s just an update, I returned these shoes. After some thought, as much as I love them, the backs are really hard and I don't think they will be too comfy. :(

These socks were £2.50 which I view to be quite pricey for Primark. However, these are such cute socks with speckles of glitter in and will look adorable with cropped jeans, disco pants or a nice pair of shoes.











Last, but by no means least, my glittery velvet Topshop dress. I have wanted this for a while and finally got it today! The fit is really flattering and the skater skirt bottom is super girly. However, the glitter is a bit annoying and keeps flaking off everywhere  BUT I still love it and for around £41 (with student discount) I think I found a good bargain.

Thanks for reading!! <3

MUA Mini Make-up Haul

Again, apologies for the poor camera quality!

MUA Makeup Academy, which you can delve into more detail right here, is a recent new makeup brand I have found. Pretty much all of their makeup is under £4... that's right, I didn't make a typo. That includes primers, foundations and palettes

The other day when I was in Superdrug and stumbled across MUA I decided to pick up a few things from their collection.

 1. This is the MUA Shade 1 Bronzer (£1.00). I particularly like the shimmer in this bronzer which you can see on the image to the left. I find that I have to be careful with this bronzer and really have to try to not make myself look a tad too orange. I really like it though! The colour isn't too dark for my skin tone and it looks great instead of using blusher. In my opinion it is just as good as any other bronzer I have ever used.

 2. This is the Intense Colour Snow White Eye Liner. I've been wanting to try a white eyeliner to make my eyes look bigger and more bright and was even planning on spending around £20 on one from Selfridges. Luckily, I found this one for £1.00. It's great. Does the job just fine and goes on really smoothly. Plus, it comes with it's own sharpener on the lid which is even more convenient. I'll do a solo review of this once I get my camera up and running again!

 3. These are the MUA Lispticks in Shade 1 and Shade 2. Both are rather wintery colours and are very warming on the face.

Shade 1 is a bright red berry kind of colour. Shade 2 is more of a gothic purple (which I love). Both come in at only £1.00. The texture of the lipsticks isn't as nice and as soft as brands like Rimmel and Bobbi Brown but the result in my opinion isn't anything bad. Great if you just want a random wild colour for just one night.

Top - Shade 2
Bottom - Shade 1

Thanks for reading!

Today I bought...

Today (actually yesterday, but only just published... oops!) I went shoppinggggg in Manchester and picked up a few little nice things! I love everything I picked out today and only chose my favourite four as I also bought a bath bomb from Lush and a beaded bolero from Primark but as gifts! You can see how much of an "exciting" day I had from the look on my face... ahaha

Primark Studded Clutch Bag (£6)
I recently bought a very similar leather purse version of this from Topshop for £22, but when I saw the clutch version in Primark I just had to go get it! Even better when I found out that Topshop do a clutch for about £38 that looks identical! This bag is a really practical size and has a mini wrist strap too. Love love love it!

Topshop High Neck Green Top (£10)
I adore the colour of this top and finally decided to buy it after much deliberation... and now I want it in all four colours as it also comes in white, black and a burgundy. The shape and fit of the top is really flattering for your shoulders and neck and it is really comfy too. Looks like something from American Apparel, but at the fraction of the price!

 Primark Glitter Leggings (£7)
These are heaven! I thought, being from Primark, they would be thin and see through. Surprisingly they are nice and thick, but not so thick that they make you look tubsy. Last year, I bought a similar pair from Urban Outfitters for £28 and then returned them because I thought they weren't worth the money. I am glad I returned them and waited it out for a cheaper and, in my opinion, better quality, glitter legging.

L'oreal Sublime Bronze Gel (£6.19)
This product has been recommended to be by so many people and I've wanted to try it for a while. It's usual price is around £13 and I didn't want to pay that for it incase I didn't like it. However, it has been marked down to half price at Superdrug. So I bought it... once I try it out I will be sure to review it!

I am very happy with my goodies!

Thanks for reading! <3