Not So Essentials Boots Haul

I went to Boots about three weeks ago for eye makeup remover and I naturally went a little mad. I haven't had a good look around a Boots in the longest time (well over a month - a lifetime for me!) and when I'm in Liffey Valley that has one of the biggest shops, I love to have a proper spend on a few bits. I always feel like that have the best deals with the best selection of things.

First I got some L'oreal pure colour shampoo and conditioners. Being honest these were a little more expensive then my regular always-on-offer Garnier, but I've watch Fleur talk about the brand so often on her channel that I decided to try them. Normally both €7.99, they were on offer for €3.99 each. I'l totally be putting up a post about these in the next few days. 

The Dove leave in conditioner was grabbed on a whim, but I'm so glad I did get it. Normally €4.99 it was down to €2.49 and I definitely think it gives Aussie a run for its money. If your an Aussie lover like myself but see this on offer, do pick it up. It does the job just as well, smells like Doves lovely shampoo and also has a much better spray disperse then Aussie which kind of squirts a load of product on one piece of hair.

I'll admit that I go through make up removing products like no ones business, I just have to make sure that I remove everything. And lets face it, I do cake on a lot of make up. I got my regular Garnier eye make up remover (which I'm almost all out of again) for €2.99 - its always on offer though, but sometimes it can be €4.49. I might have a look out for an eye make up remover thats in a bigger bottle. No point in having a tiny bottle with all the mascara and eyeliner I wear!

Botanics is a lovely brand that I do use when I'm feeling like a treat, but it can take ages to be on offer at times! Garniers micellar water is the best value for money hands down, but I thought I'd pick up Bontanics that was €6.49 down to €3.24 to try out and also the cream cleanser, €5.99 down to €2.99, as I was running out. To be honest I don't think both are anything special, especially the cleanser. I think Ziaja do a much better one for less then €4.99. 

The V05 give me texture spray was a repurchase and its the best thing since sliced bread. It was also on offer from €5.09 down to €3.81 so I couldn't not be happy with that. I'd highly recommend it for anyone who wants to jazz up their hair a bit, but doesn't want to spend ages curling it or putting loads of styling products in. I haven't noticed that white layer on my hair after using it, like some dry shampoos can have. It smells great too. 

I didn't really need to get a hair spray, but the Tresemme salon finish extra hold was on offer from €4.09 to €2.72 so I got it. Have to say that I'm not at all impressed with it though, I don't think it has an amazing hold at all and I have gone back to using my Aussie hair spray instead as it holds the aul curls much longer. Not one I'd recommend picking up if your looking for heavy duty hold.

So Seventeen had a buy one get one half price on. And I think by now we can all agree that I'm a big fan of the brand. I was in need of a new pressed base €5.09 and I've used this one lots before so I got it - since then I have drunkenly broken it after I grabbed my clutch while it was open. So so sad. I got a repurchase of my much loved stay time foundation €8.19 and then a random spend of their flawless poreless primer that was €7.59 which I'm enjoying so much. I've come to the end of my favourite contour kit by Sleek and decided as the offer was on  I would get the offering from Seventeen which was €7.59. I'll be doing a post about it in the near future as well.

Lastly I picked up a lipstick from Sleek in Exaggerate. It the most beautiful matte deep purple and I couldn't love it more. I've been wearing it non stop since getting it and its that loved that I will be picking up another one in a month or two if I keep using it at the same rate. It was only €5.99 which I think is great value for what you get.

Empties #5

Ah lads, why in the name of god do I manage to leave it so long before I have a look in my empty bag of bottles and realise that its overdue a clearing out and a post about what I've been using up? I don't know at all, but my god, here is yet again another mad long one with lots of photos. So, sorry about that!

First off there are all the Garnier Ultimate Blends shampoos, conditioners and masks. Out of these three there is not one I wouldn't pick up again or recommend to anyone and they have been cropping up in my monthly favourites for a while now. They all left my hair softer and in better condition, they smell lovely and I'm a big big fan of their one minute leave in conditioners. If I was going to pick up one of these again I would say it would be the brown bottles of sleek restorer as they smell divine and they are the last ones I used, so naturally still fresh in my mind. Bonus points that this brand is always on sale in Boots, half off and some lovely advantage card points? Yeah I'll take them all thank you!

As always this kind of post wouldn't be complete without a few Aussie products in there somewhere. I have one shampoo and two conditioners, but I have to admit after using so much of the lovely Ultimate Blends things I might be more inclined to pick them over Aussie. However nothing can beat the Aussie 3 minute miracle conditioner for soft makings AND a lovely smelling head. Tiny bit on the pricey side if you don't get them in an offer though. 

  

Kerastase shampoo is something I have had in my drawer for well over a year. I remember getting it at a blogger meet up and all the girls going mad over it, I was delighted (and clueless) a little bit too. After trying it out a few times I just didn't get what the hype was all about. Nor did I get the price tag of €20, say whhaa?! I finished it up when I was on a use up half finished products binge, but I am still scratching my head. 

H'suan Wen Hua was something I tried a while ago in the hope that it would help me get the birds net of a head sorted out a little more. You can read my review of it here.  

Who doesn't go through a bundle of deodorants and dry shampoo? I love these small bottles to throw in my handbag and they are normally on offer too. I also picked up one for €1.49 in Dealz the other day, so you really can't go wrong! Impulse hint of musk has to be my favourite body spray of all time and I am forever stocking up on them. Has anyone else noticed the price of Impulse creep up in the past few months or is it just me? Sneaky!

I have banged on aboout Batiste more then is possible so I'll not say too much. My only regret is that Boots doesn't stock Timotei dry shampoo as well. I think this is one of the best I have ever used and was really sad when it came to an end. I picked it up in Tesco on offer one day and haven't seen it since. It doesn't leave a layer of white powder across your hair like Batiste seems to always do. Its just magic stuff. If you see it make sure and pick one up, its so worth it. Oh and please please tweet me too, I need it back in my life!

Two of these scrubs were in my top 3 body scrub post thats over here. I really love Soap&Glory, it has to be one of my favourite brands for body scrubs and moisturisers. But on the other end of the scale there is the Amatomicals scrubs and the easy to pick up Flower Pharh that you can get in most Tesco's. I go through body scrubs like its the end of the world, so I always look for ones that might be on the cheaper end of the scale! Although the breakfast scrub lasted especially long. And oh, oh the smell! Om, nom nom nom.

Since I finished my Botanics all bright eye make up remover I have been trying out lots of other ones with no luck at all. This is by far my most favourite of the lot , easy on the eyes and takes anything stubborn off in no time. Its also on offer in Boots a lot, but in the past few weeks I haven't been keeping an eye. Now that I'm reminded its off to Boots tomorrow for me! I did a review of it way back when, over here.

Three bath/shower gels now, and two are from Lush. I've slowly but surely been making my way through all my Lush booty and my ban is nearly up! I can't begin to talk about the list of things I want from that shop, my god. This is my second bottle of The Olive Branch is a gorgeous fresh shower gel that smells like olives (well, duh) and quite, savory? Its hard to explain but it wakes me up in the morning and I was sad to see it all gone. The other is Snow Fairy, a cult product that smells like all the sweetest sweets in one little bottle. I didn't use this one up, it was given to himself who loves rock star soap and snow fairy. However it does smell quite nice from afar.

Last in this pile is a massive bottle of bubble bath in chocolate cupcake from Beauticology. I was expecting way more from this product if I'm honest. I used it up quickly as the bubbles it made quickly disappeared in the bath. It did have a lovely chocolate smell but didn't do much else for me. I think it was from a set I got in the Christmas sales and if I remember right the set itself was a lovely presentation, but I might skip these products when buying gifts this year. 

Even more Lush things - I swear these are really old! Cupcake is my go-to face mask. I never buy masks from Lush, instead waiting until I have 5 empty pots to bring back so its a special treat! Cupcake is a chocolate mask that targets impurities and spots, so its perfect for me. I never notice a huge difference in my skin from using this, but sometimes its just nice to put a face mask on and enjoy the little things in life. On the other end of the scale is the Rudolph face mask that was out at Christmas time. Don't worry, this has been used months ago and was just lurking empty in the back of my drawers. I hated this one with a passion.. I just realised that I blogged about this in my last empties post! I must have put it back in my drawer by accident! Oh well, you can't always be on the ball. At least everyone can be aware to stay clear of it if it comes back this Christmas!

Another Lush product is my much loved and missed (until the ban ends!) aqua marina cleanser. It smells awful if your not used to it, like a day at the beach when the tide has gone out. All seaweed and ugh. But it makes my skin feel really lovely and I find it clears up the bigger, redder spots that can crop up. I can't wait to get my hands on this again and it lasts so long. I had that pot for nearly 2 months.

A product that I don't go through fast is the antiseptic cream that can be used for burns, cuts and also on spots. I really love this stuff, it drys out spots over night and I always notice a huge difference in the morning after using it for just one night. A holy grail in terms of spot fighting treatments. It also lasts for ages and I love that its a multi purpose product. 

Something that I've had for I don't know how long is my Soap&Glory The Greatest Scrub Of All facial exfoliator. I liked this and would buy it again but since I started buying more face scrubs I have found loads that I really like. In other words, this is on the list of good ones, but along with a lot of others. 

I think by now its safe to say I've gone through about 10-12 bottle of True Match foundation by Rimmel. My god is that stuff good and a lot of the time its on offer. Half of the reason I always pick it up is because I know it works for my skin tone and I'm afraid to fork out for something that might not work as well. I must expand on the foundation buying and try out more! But I do like this one, its really easy to build up too.

Two more continuous repurchases for me are the Natural Collection pressed powder and Essence black liquid eyeliner. Again I have easily gone through about 15 of both of these. Every time I walk by the stands I pick both of these up. They are both under €3, both easy to use and stay put all day. Just what I'm looking for. 

Lastly my mini tube of They're Real Benefit mascara. I am a massive fan of this mascara and already have a brand new full sized one waiting to be opened after I finish trying out a few other mascaras. This is my holy grail mascara - and thats saying something considering the totally crazy price. 

Sorry this was crazy long! Anything catch your eye?

Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover All Bright

1: Bottle 2: liquid before its shaken 3: After its mixed together

From getting overly excited about trying my new toner, I thought I would keep branching out and try Botanics soothing eye make up remover instead of just using whatever cleanser I had at the time and kind of burning the eyes out of myself - as you do. So lazy arse here decided to try the Botanics range again as their cleanser was to die for and I really loved it, also this was on sale at €4.19 when I got it so it was even better! (normally retailing at €6.29.)

The Botanics All Bright line is for brightening up your skin as it has hibisus, which is a natural brightness booster. It also has natural AHA's from the flower that acts as a mild exfoliator as well so you can have smoother, brighter looking skin. This comes for several other different skin types that I would be well tempted to try out like ones for oily skin. This particular one smells lovely, just like the matching cleaner did. This claims to remove even waterproof make, helps to soothe the eye area, condition the lashes and is for all types of skin, lovely stuff. As with all the Botanics range it has clean, bright and fresh looking packaging that has simple and easy to read font on the labels - something I really like seeing. The little colourdy flower at the bottom is cute too. 

Once you give it a good shake so the water and oil mix together, a few awkward don't spill it, don't spill it dabs onto a cotton wool pad and your done. It is very gentle on the eyes but I have to kind of press it onto my eyes for a few seconds otherwise I am left nearly scrubbing the make up off them. So while this is gentle and doesn't sting or hurt my eyes, its almost a little too gentle. But if you soak the cotton wool really well it tends to work much better and your make up is off in no time. Depending on how much make up your wearing of course, I tend to find that mine comes off with one cotton pad for each eye. It also tells no lies, waterproof make up is no harder to get off then normal make up, so thats a definite plus in my books. 

Overall this is a nice soft eye make up remover, but I don't think it will be my first choice to repurchase again. You never know, I might use it a little longer and then fall in love with it. I will keep you all up to date! But I will keep an eye out for another eye make up remover to compare it to. Perhaps even two, just for science sake mind you...

Make sure and come back soon, I'm going to be holding a Halloween giveaway!

Things I've Used Up #1

These posts are all over the place and I also love watching them on YouTube. There is something so satisfying about finishing a product and being able to replace it with new and exciting things. I have been trying to be very good and not buy anything until I have used up bits of half used products and bottles of fun. So now that I am going use-up-old-things mad, expect more of these types of posts in the near future! You'll have noticed I went a bit wild with taking photos outside while the few days of sun shine graced us, unlike the rain I'm looking out at now..

First off is my new favourite cleanser, Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream. It smells wonderful and is really soft and gentle on my skin without drying it out at the same time. It has hibiscus which is a brightness booster and natural AHA's from the flower act as mild exfoiliators that leave your skin feeling very loved. It has no nasty parabens, basically does what it says in the bottle! I will definitely be repurchasing this little beauty again really soon once I finish using up one or two half bottles of cleansers I have floating about. Normally it costs a little over €6 but right now Boots is having a 3 for 2 1/3 off sale, so grab one for a bargain! 

My lovely 500ml bottle of Aussie Miracle Moist Shampoo for dry and damaged hair that has lasted me nearly 3 months! I wash my hair everyday and I really loved the smell of this shampoo, so I picked it up just to try it out. I have used Aussies conditioners before and have always noticed how shiny and soft they left my hair. This shampoo was no different. Its €7.59 but sometimes you can get these on offer, right now in Boots they are doing a 3 for €13 on selected Aussie products. I'll get this again for sure, but first I want to try out some other brands to see if they are as good.

I think its fair to say I am a lover of Nivea deodorants in general (see here) so I got a massive 250ml Nivea Invisible Black and White Pure 48hr Anti-Perspiration . It smells nice, works well and the best part is that there are no marks left on clothes at all. I always have a little bottle of this kept in my handbag too for when I'm out and about just in case. Nivea can do no wrong in my books.

Picture on the right is not my own. Source: lush.co.uk

Hmm, LUSH's The Joy Of Jelly shower jelly. I wasn't mad about this scent by the end of the pot, but it did make an amazing bubbly bath for me several times and was fun to play with and poke at too! It kind of reminds me of the sex bomb bath bomb smell, but a little stronger. Its a lovely purple colour that has rose, jasmine and ylang ylang packed into it. Like all shower jellies can be broken up and frozen or used all at once. You can use this in the shower on your body and hair or in the bath. Not sure if I will be getting this again and it doesn't seem available on their site anymore. Here are some other jellies instead. At least its one more pot to add to my pile of pots to return and get a free face mask from! Read my Love Lettuce Face Mask review if you don't know about the LUSH recycle programme. 

Next comes Rimmels Hide The Blemish Concealer in Ivory. I have gone through tonnes of these little sticks and still think they are the best long lasting concealer out there. It has such amazing coverage that really hides both blemishes and dark circles. I couldn't ask for more. This costs just over €5. You can find it on the Rimmel stand in Boots, but they don't seem to have it online. Oh dear. You can also see it here in my whats in my makeup bag post.

And lastly my go to colour of the summer was Barry M's Blueberry. Its a gorgeous light blue that just screams sunshine and ice cream! Its all used up and you wont be seeing that colour on my nails again this year since were now in Autum, but you can be sure I will be getting this again in time for next summer. You can read my full NOTD review here.