Big Haul Post February 2017

Hello you beauties!

I'm sure I'm not the only person who loves shopping but I did actually ban myself from buying more makeup until I had got through some of the stuff I already own. I tried sticking to this and I did a very good job at not spending any money for a while but then... I fell in love with everything I saw. So a lot of the stuff in this post I have had for a while (probably a few weeks or so) and I may have used them quite a bit but I wanted to make this post as big as possible and now because I've used most or all of these products means I can give you all an accurate review of the products. So let's get on with it, because we have a lot to get through!

The beauty items that I bought are all from 6 different stores/websites: Tam Beauty, Tesco, T K Maxx, Wilko, Primark and Boots.

Let's start with what I bought from Tesco.

Sometimes I like being in with the trends but sometimes I try to hold back a bit just so it doesn't seem like I'm copying everyone else. All of you must have heard of people using the Nivea men post shave balm, and many of you probably use it yourself. I've had other primers to use before so I didn't buy this product when all the hype was around it. But then I saw it in Tesco for £3.50 so I decided to buy it and try it. And it definitely is worth it. It's the only primer I use anymore and it is worth the money even more because it is so moisturising. I always end up using too much though because I underestimated how little of it I actually need to use.

From Tesco I also bought myself a new foundation and this one is the L'Oreal Infallible Matte foundation in the shade '10 Porcelain' (because yes, I am very pale). I've heard a lot of people talk about this foundation but I was worried to buy it because I thought with it being a matte product it might not be right for my skin type (which is oily and dry at the same time). However, for just £8, I was very impressed with this foundation and it is probably my favourite foundation now. It works great on my skin and only seems to stand out of the drier areas around my nose. But if I make sure to moisturise properly first then it's not a massive problem. It claims to be a full coverage foundation which I must admit is wrong as it's more of a medium coverage but it certainly offers better coverage than any drugstore foundation that I've used before. If you're looking for an affordable foundation I would definitely recommend this one.

Now let's talk about the one makeup item I bought from Wilko.

I'm running low on my favourite Collection concealer and I couldn't find it in my shade anywhere so I've been in desperate need of a concealer to use until I could repurchase my beloved Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. So I picked up the Essence Matte Concealer from Wilko for only £1 which I thought was quite a bargain. But honestly, now that I've tried it, I would not recommend it. It definitely is matte but it made it really drying and hard to blend out. The colour was a good match though and I think it may have worked if I could actually blend it out. Don't purchase it. I know it's cheap but it's not worth it.

Again I only bought one item from Primark so let's talk about that one now.

I've only ever owned two Primark makeup products before, a face sculpting palette and a red lipstick, which were both okay products but not something that stands out above other makeup I use. However, I've seen Youtubers hyping over the Primark Velvet Matte lip crayons and I bought one a few months ago in the shade 'Ballerina' which is a lovely pink shade. So when I went again a few weeks ago I picked up the shade 'Mushroom' (such a cute name!) which is a gorgeous mauve-y pink shade and totally wearable for during the day. These always last quite a while and are not usually too drying on the lips. If you don't feel like it looks perfect on its own then I would recommend adding a clear lip gloss over the top. Yes, it means it's not matte anymore but it still looks just as good.

Buying just one product at a time seems to be the way I build up my collection gradually, so let's see what I bought in Boots.

Usually I go mad in Boots but there was only one thing that I was actually looking for. I've been looking for a cream contour stick for a while but I didn't want one like the Clinique ones that were more expensive just in case I found out that they didn't work for me. So when I saw the Collection Precision Contouring stick for just £3.99 I immediately bought it. I've always loved Collection makeup so I had a feeling that this one would be good. I chose the shade 'Light' and I'm glad that I didn't go for one any darker as this one is only just the right shade for me. It wasn't the easiest to blend out and was very very subtle but it is definitely worth the money.

Now let's go onto what I bought from T K Maxx, which is honestly probably one of my favourite shops ever.

I love buying makeup from T K Maxx (if I can find something that isn't smashed or been tested by other people) as it has allowed me to add many high end items into my collection for a lot less money than I would've normally had to pay for it. The first thing that I picked up from T K Maxx over a series of visits is the Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Finish eyeshadow in the shade 'Metallic Lavender' (which as you can probably guess is a lilac shade). Normally you'd have to pay £18 for this product but I actually only paid £3.99 for it. I was really impressed with the price and although I haven't actually tried it yet, I already know this product will be amazing as I have never ever had any problems with Stila products.

On my second trip I bought something I had been looking at for a while but never had the chance to buy before. It is the BareMinerals 'The Beauty Upgrade' set in the shade 'Light'. It retails at £56 but I picked it up for £29.99. And amazingly you pay that for £160.50 worth of products! I was amazed when I saw this product in the store a couple of months ago. The only reason I didn't buy this set before was because they usually only had the darker sets such as 'Medium Beige' and 'Tan' which would've been way too dark for me. When I saw this in the right shade for me I didn't hesitate to buy it.

In this set there is the Flawless Face Brush (RRP. £19) which is actually a pretty good brush for applying powder foundation, the Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush (RRP. £14) which is very soft and nice to use.

There is also the Lash Domination Volumising Mascara Petite Precision Brush in 'Intense Black' (RRP. £19) which is a product I haven't actually used yet as I have so many mascaras on the go at the moment but the little skinny brush is so cute.

Then there is the Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balm in the shade 'Blushing Passion' (RRP. £17) which is described as a pink but it is more of a beige nude, basically your lips but better and is very moisturising and easy to apply.

Then there is the Prep Step Moisture Set Radiant Prep Cream (RRP £24) which is a brilliant primer which is very moisturising and not at all sticky.

Also in this set there is the Hydrating Mineral Veil Finishing Powder (RRP. £21) which I have always heard amazing things about and I will admit that it definitely is as amazing as people say it is! It's one of the best powders I have used, though because of the price I think I will just stick to my Rimmel Stay Matte powder rather than repurchasing this one.

The penultimate item in this BareMinerals set is the SPF 20 Concealer in the shade 'Bisque' (RRP. £20) which I think is one of the lightest shades they do. This product is slightly strange to use as it is a powder and I am actually only used to using liquid concealers and I am not used to applying concealer before foundation. But this concealer is surprisingly easy to use and offers great coverage. I wouldn't want this any darker though... as it is only just the right shade for me.

The final product in this BareMinerals set is their Original Foundation SPF 15 in the shade 'Light' (RRP. £26.50) which is definitely my favourite product in this whole set. It's a slightly darker foundation than what I would usually go for but it still is a decent shade and great for everyday wear. It was confusing working out how to use it as I have never used a powder foundation before but once I used it for the first time I was impressed with the coverage it gave, seeing as it is only powder. It's not completely full coverage but it's a lot better than I expected. The greatest thing too is that you really don't feel like you're wearing foundation. which is what you want with every foundation.

So overall I was really impressed with the BareMinerals set that I bought from T K Maxx and I am glad I finally bought it.

The final trip to T K Maxx was one where I surprisingly didn't buy any makeup. Instead I purchased Justin Bieber's Girlfriend perfume. It is retailed at £29 but I managed to save quite a bit of money on it and only had to pay £12.99! I own his 'Someday' perfume but have almost ran out of it because I used to use it all the time. I wanted to buy this quite a while ago but did not want to spend so much money on it. I knew I had to buy it as soon as I saw it at such an amazing price. It is 50ml too so a really nice size and smells great. I can see this becoming my everyday scent.

The final place I bought makeup from was the Tam Beauty, home to brands such as Makeup Revolution and Freedom. I only actually intended to buy 1 of these products but they had a sale on and also free delivery on orders over £30 so I just had to take advantage of this.

So the item that I actually intended to buy is the I Heart Makeup Unicorns Heart highlighter which only cost £5. I've been wanting this for a while as it is a beautiful rainbow highlighter but it's always out of stock on the Superdrug website. I was very excited to see it in stock on the Tam Beauty website and I am really impressed with the product. I mix all of the shades together and it does give you a blue-ish tinted highlight and it is very intense. I've been using this a lot since I bought it.

The next item I ordered from Tam Beauty is the Freedom Makeup London Pro Lipstick Palette 24 shades in the shades 'Naked'. I only paid £10 for this palette which is amazing considering the fact that you get 24 different lip shades in it - 14 are a glossy finish and 10 are a matte finish. These are very easy to apply too, are insanely pigmented and last for ages. They rarely transfer either.

I also bought another lipstick and this one is the Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro Lipstick in the shade 'Looking Ahead'. This is supposedly a dupe for MAC's 'Twig' and is a massive fraction of the price at just £2.49. I have used this lipstick multiple times since I bought it and I really do love it. It's a darker brown lipstick than what I would usually go for but is definitely very wearable for me. It is very easy to apply as well and is very creamy and lasts ages. I am really impressed with this lipstick.

I also purchased the Makeup Revolution Ultimate Matte Eyeshadow Collection 2017 palette and the Makeup Revolution Ultimate Eyeshadow Collection 2017 palette. I am obsessed with both of these eyeshadow palettes. The first palette contains 144 matte eyeshadow shades and the second one contains 144 shimmer eyeshadow shades. And both palettes only cost me £10 each (they were on sale - they should've been £20 each). I've always loved Makeup Revolution eyeshadows and these ones haven't failed to impress me. You could make any look with these eyeshadows as there is basically every colour of the rainbow in these. They're insanely pigmented too which makes everything even better.

So that's the end of my very very long haul. If you're still here at the end of this post then I am very impressed with you as I know this has been a massive post compared to usual. Most things in this post are things I would definitely recommend you all buy and I feel like some of these may be making it into a favourites post very soon.

Have you bought anything recently? Anything you would recommend? Anything we should steer clear of?

I'll be back on Saturday with another post for you all.

I hope you all liked this very long post. If you did, be sure to subscribe/follow, comment and share with friends.
Byeeeee!