July Beauty Haul

I'm still on a mission to use products I have before buying new ones but one or two items have made their way into the empties pile which gave me an opportunity to make some repurchases and of course, one or two other things made their way home with me.

Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Exfoliating Facial Pads

I recently discovered First Aid Beauty's Facial Radiance Pads and really enjoyed using them, so much so that they appeared in my May Favourites and I whizzed through them with some speed. When I reached the end of my small tub I was all set to make a reorder when I received a notification that Superdrug had an offer on the Nip+Fab version. For a steal at just over £5 I couldn't resist giving these a try to see how they compare. I shall report back.

L'Occitane Hand Cream, Vitoria-Regia
This was actually a gift from mum who knows how much I love a hand cream. Also minus the C it's almost named after me. Aquatic Floral notes are how L'Occitane describe this scent and I can't argue with that. It's a nice change from my favoured citrus scents and only Roger & Gallet have come close to  competing with L'Occitane in the hand cream stakes. Whilst the speed with which I go through hand cream these days makes larger tubes more desirable I can't deny enjoy the practicality of these smaller tubes especially for my handbag.

Makeup Revolution Highlighter, Pink Lights
This will be my first foray into Makeup Revolution products and I think I've made a good starting point. With strobing all the rage at the moment and deciding I had a gap in my highlighter I decided to give this a try. I was amazed at the first swatch and whilst yet to dive into using as instructed I'm looking forward to it.

Maybelline BROWdrama
This is my third tube of Maybelline's BROWdrama and it's safe to say I'm a big fan. Another product making it's way to holy grail status I favour this over even the Anastasia Brow Wiz. This product is so quick and easy to use and takes minimal effort. I was even using this on holiday when usually I wouldn't bother worrying about eyebrows whilst lounging round the pool.

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
Was it completely necessary to repurchase this concealer when I have other 'adequate' offerings in my stash? Probably not but continuing the holy grail theme and with an offer on Maybelline products in Superdrug it was thrown into the basket. I don't tend to do much concealer other than dark circles and this works a treat for me. Creamy and easy to blend (adopting Mary Greenwell's patting method of late) this doesn't crease or settle into my fine lines. Hailed as a dupe for the Nars blogger favourite I'm happy with my more affordable offering.

The Wet Brush, Safari Collection

I do love The Wet Brush and this is my third purchase due to them not travelling too well. The delicate bristles can be squashed if you squeeze into a make up bag, you can slightly see some damage already to this one after taking it away for the night last week. Not to self find another brush for travelling but otherwise I have no complaints. I quite enjoy the repurchase of The Wet Brush as it gives me an opportunity to choose a different colour way. As you can see this time I embraced my love of animal prints.

What have you been repurchasing lately?

Repurchases Haul

As you know I've been on something of a spending ban setting myself the challenge of using what I have before buying additional items. As this haul represents there are some items that once they'd made their way into the empties pile and without alternatives I was able to make a few purchases.

COLAB Extreme Volume Rio link
Following my trial of one of the smaller travel sizes of COLAB dry shampoo and being impressed I went straight out and brought the full size can. I have picked the Extreme Volume in Rio as I like to use this product to add some texture to my hair rather than using in it's traditional sense.

L'Oreal Elnett Volume Express Hairspray link
Whilst I still have some Bumble & Bumble Hairspray still to use up I'm just not a fan so instead I returned back to the old faithful Elnett. I actually picked this up in preparation for a night out and intending to curl my hair. That didn't happen (blame the getting ready drinks) and instead I'll be throwing this can into my suitcase for my forthcoming holiday. I'd also like to say I wasn't swayed at all by the leopard print trim but I couldn't lie to you.

V05 Plump It Up Amplifying Blow Dry Lotion link
After one two many lacklustre bad hair days I decided to blame the absence of any V05 Blow Dry Lotion. For a few pounds this is a great product to spritz in hair before blow drying and it gives enough oomph without weighing my hair down and making it greasy.

The Breath Co Fresh Breath Toothpaste link
I loved The Breath Co Fresh Breath Toothpaste when I first used it as it's not too 'minty' and was disappointed when it came to an end. Despite wanting to replace with a tube of your regular toothpaste in the cupboard I stayed true to my challenge. Thankfully that tube came to an end and I was able to replace with my preferred, if not slightly more expensive toothpaste.

Garnier Micellar Water for Sensitive Skin link
A quick search of my blog will bring up many posts featuring the Garnier Micellar Water. I much prefer removing my eye make up with a micellar water before going in for the 'proper' cleanse and find that Garnier is the best for me. I decided to go for the sensitive skin when repurchasing to be a little kinder to my skin, especially on those days when I'm being lazy.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo link
My holy grail skincare item, the love it or hate Effaclar Duo from La Roche Posay. Even though my skin is behaving very well of late I still like to feature this product in my routine at various points throughout the month. When the tube I'm using starts coming to an end I instantly panic and make sure there is another ready to be used.

Ragdale Hall Restful Pillow Mist link
Another holy grail item I love this cheap and affordable pillow mist. I'm currently debating whether to take on holiday with me as a quick spray on the pillow certainly puts me in a relaxed state and ready for bed.

What have you been buying recently?

Favourites Repurchased

I missed out on favourites in January mainly because I was so busy or suffering from a cold for anything to stand out. I did however make a few repurchases.

Batiste Dry Shampoo, Medium & Brunette link

An old faithful made it's way into the December empties pile and was promptly repurchased. Funnily enough it was this time last year when I repurchased it. Whilst I'm a daily hair washer over the weekends I have been known to rely on just a spray of Batiste to get me through the day. I also find it comes in handy for bad hair days when hair is looking a little lifeless and I need something to provide a bit of oomph. 

Radox Herbal Bath Relax link

Radox has been mentioned many many times on my blog and you'll know I'm a fan. When you can pick up a bubble bath for £1 that fills the bathroom with a wonderful scent then why would you not? I recently tried another brands relax/lavendar scented product and it didn't hit the spot. Radox on the other hand provides the perfect evening bath.

The Wet Brush link
I love my Wet Brush which you can read about in this post but unfortunately it was starting to look a little sorry for itself so I decided to start 2015 with a brand new one. I don't think I would ever use another brush now.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Brunette link
If you read this post you will know that I tried to replace this whilst in the US last year and actually picked up the brow pencil which wasn't discovered till I returned home. Whilst I don't use this product daily due to favouring the speed of the next product I'm going to mention it is always in my make up bag in case I want to go a little heavier with the brows.

Maybelline BROWdrama link
This is my go to lazy girl eyebrow treatment. If it's a 'special occasion' I go all out for brows but day to day a quick sweep of this across my lashes is sufficient to provide a great natural look. You can read my full review of this product here.

So there are some favourite products I've recently repurchased. Have you had to stock up on old favourites recently?

Pay Day Haul & Repurchases

Pay day rolled around once again and it was time to pay a visit to Boots and stock up some items that have recently made their way into my monthly empties post (you can read Octobers here).

My flat is currently filled with multiple nearing the end bottles of hand cream and I've spent the past week dipping into my colleagues drawer to borrow her hand cream so it was time to stock up. Luckily there was a 3 for 2 offer on and so the hand cream was my bonus item.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo is a favourite of mine and this is my second repurchase. You can read my initial review here but in short if my repurchase doesn't tell you this is a holy grail product for me. I find that now it's in regular use I don't have to use it as frequently but sporadic use during the week as part of my skincare regime is now sufficient to keep any blemishes at bay. It's also a lifesaver if I have been slack with my skincare regime and with no one else to blame but myself for any spots that may appear the Effaclar Duo nips them in the bud pretty quickly.

If you haven't already done so I urge you to take yourself to Boots and take a sniff of Soap & Glory's Breakfast Scrub, it's good enough to eat. My first experience with this scrub was about a year ago now and since I've been testing other products but I'm pleased as we hit Autumn to have this back in my possession.

What products have you repurchased recently?

Repurchased | August

There's nothing like making a few repurchases of much loved items to justify a bit of beauty spending. This is the smaller of two recent hauls I made over the past month to stock up on items that I need to have in my life.

VO5 Amplifying Blow Dry Lotion link 
VO5 Weightless Mousse link
I've spoke about both of this products on many occasions. My everyday hair routine consists of both these items. I tried using other products to see if I and more importantly my hair missed them. They did and they were repurchased swiftly. I'm trying to be more sparing with the mousse as I've found with the recent heat (not that will be a problem for much longer) I didn't want to add too much additional weight to my hair but there is certainly more bounce when I do use it.

Erborian BB Creme Au Ginseng link 
My holy grail base product is of course my much loved Erborian BB Cream. I love the lightweight base that can easily be applied on the train with fingers on the way to work. It has been perfect for the warmer months and is still the base I rely most on and the appearance I feel most happiest with. I prefer to buy the smaller tube which at £15 is pricey compared to a lot of foundations but rather that than waste money on others. You can find a full review here.

Vivienne Westwood Boudoir link
This is a slightly cheat addition as I didn't purchase the new bottle myself but rather shopped my stash and opened a bottle I had received for a recent birthday or Christmas gift. That said it would no doubt have been picked up soon enough as it's my go to night out fragrance and whilst trying to finish off my last bottle I'd braved wearing it in the day time. I think it's time to purchase a Travelo as I would love to have this on me when I visit Las Vegas next month but taking the larger bottle isn't travel friendly.

So that is the first of four products I stocked up on the past month, what about you?

Repurchased | January 2014

Sure Maximum Protection link
Batiste Dry Shampoo link

As well as all the new purchases I made in January which you'll see popping up on the blog in the form of reviews I thought it was worth adding a 'repurchased' series. I love doing my 'empties' posts and this way you'll see what items I've used up and remained faithful too - I'm not always very brand loyal!

January's repurchases are items I've talked about on the blog before, such as Sure Maximum Protection which I reviewed here. My first introduction was via a PR Sample but proof that my review was true and fair is evident that I parted with my own pennies for the next bottle. I actually had other deodorants in my stash that I wanted to use up but after a few days of substandard deodorising it was time to rush out and welcome Sure back into my life.

Batiste Dry Shampoo was mentioned in my desk to disco hair heroes post which you can read here. This was to replace my empty the 'at home' can (another is still going strong in my desk draw). This time round I've been using a bit more frequently, spraying in hair when I've finished my blog dry to give a little more volume at the beginning of the day rather than just at the end of a long day.

Nothing groundbreaking, nothing that exciting and more of the essentials but we all need them in our life.

What have you repurchased this month?