Good Karma, Hervana

A moment of weakness whilst perusing Boots at Waterloo late at night, led to the acquisition of a blush I've been coveting for quite some time.  I think my Benefit Sugarbomb blush might just be my most worn blusher ever, nicely pigmented but natural looking, long lasting formula, gorgeous smell, and extremely flattering. A couple of months ago, I added a miniature of Coralista to my collection and it's been very loved too. Hervana has been on my hitlist for a few months now, the pretty mix of colours in the box was probably the main draw (that and the heavenly packaging)!

Benefit blushers are a pricey investment at £23.50, but I've been reaching for Sugarbomb at least four or five times a week for the last six months and I've barely made a dent in it, so it's an investment I'm happy to make.

Like all Benefit blushes, it comes with a little blush. This one is different to the one that came with Sugarbomb, it's angled, which makes it better for blush application, and the bristles feel softer too. Not sure if Benefit have changed the brushes or if each blush just has a different one. I'm probably more likely to use this one than the other one, particularly when travelling, but for the most part I do generally reach for my Real Techniques blush brush.

In terms of colour, when it's all swirled together it creates a beautiful, purple toned pale pink on the cheeks, that looks like a very natural flush. The beauty of this blush though is that you can use the brush to pick up specific segments, to create slightly different colours every time. There's a pink champagne colour, a peach, a dusky pink and a purple in there, and they all look great on the cheeks alone or mixed.

I really love Benefit blushers and I'm so glad I picked this up! Have you tried any Benefit blushers and have any recommendations? What are your favourite high end blushes?

A Bit Of A Haul...

So this week, my little sister came to visit me, armed with her very first paycheck from her new job, and a pair of comfy shoes ready to pound the London pavements. What ensued was a bit lot of reckless spending, and me picking up a few things that I've had my eye on for a while.

Now, some of these bits I did get the week before she came up, since I got a little carried away with online shopping, but it all arrived this week, so I thought I'd show you the lot.

I'll address the elephant in the room first, the last purchase of the bunch. I finally got my hands on that Paul and Joe makeup bag. There's a long winded story behind this bag, I clapped eyes on it at the Harvey Nics Beauty Mart a few days after it's release, before everyone and their mother fell head over heels for it. Now having just blown pretty much my entire month's treat money at the YSL counter (this was the day incidentally, that the lovely YSL ladies encouraged me to apply for a job there), I decided that, although it was love, it wasn't meant to be, and I would wait. Because I didn't need another makeup bag. I did however encourage Melisa to pick one up (cue three months of jealousy whenever she pulled it out of her handbag). Then, when I had an unexpected cash windfall a few weeks later, I marched back up to the Beauty Mart (it took a while, I can never find it, I walk in circles round the damn floor for ages before I find where it's hiding), only to be told it was sold out. I then spent every trip out of the house nipping in to Selfridges and Harvey Nics, every spare minute refreshing the ASOS website amongst others, to see if it had come back in stock. Literally, I was a woman possessed. But can you blame me? It's a makeup bag that's like a Filofax. Don't you understand? I gave up my search a few weeks ago, accepting that it was probably never going to happen. Anyway, whilst perusing Harrods with my sister, I spotted one out on the Paul and Joe counter, and I thought, well, no harm in asking. And thank god I did because there was one left and I had no hesitations in popping my card into the machine, and felt a surge of happiness carrying around that green Harrods bag. You'll get a proper tour round it later this week.

Topshop wasn't looking overly appealing but I did get some new over the knee black socks, can you tell I'm itching for it to be winter again? 

ANYWAY. Two Lily Pebbles inspired purchases that slipped into my possession after a late shift at work (my willpower is a lot weaker late at night), I was after a new moisturiser so it seemed like the perfect time to put the Origins Ginzing Moisturiser to the test. Coming home as well was Essie's Watermelon. I love the colour but I think I may have gotten a dud in the formula, as it's super gritty.

Two more polishes, I've fallen out of love with my Seche Vite a bit, so I picked up the Rimmel Nail Nurse 5in1 base and top coat. I've also been after a matte top coat for a while and when I saw this one in & Other Stories, I bit the bullet and went for it, since I've always been impressed with their nail polish formulas in the past.

A couple of weeks ago a lovely lady on the Dior counter at work gave me a sample of the coveted BB cream to try. I'm not a major fan of BB creams but I fell in love with this instantly, it's so unlike any other  BB cream I've ever tried, with really good coverage. So I popped straight onto Escentual and ordered it whilst it had 20% off. It's love.

A late night stroll of Waterloo station led to me finally picking up Benefit's Hervana Blush. I've only wanted this since, like, forever, and I was actually feeling a little upset when I was in Boots so I bought this to boost my mood! I also got taken in in the til line by the three for two minis, and decided to pick up Soap and Glory's Scrub em and Leave em Body Buff, since it's the only scrub of theirs I haven't tried. 

Also in the 3 for 2 minis baskets were a few products from Hoof, which is a brand I haven't heard of before. I ended up grabbing their Lavender and Vanilla Foot Pumice, and the Apricot and Mint Foot Mask to try. 

Two more & Other Stories purchases, I love my eyelash brush from there so I picked up another one for the brows, they are really good and only two pounds. I also spotted the Artist's Brush, which is pretty much identical to the MAC 217 and is £10 cheaper, so that's come home too.

A peruse of the MAC counter in Fenwicks led to me fall in love with their new lip tint's, I ended up buying Glorious Intent which is a gorgeous deep plum, Rebel-esque colour. Again, please be winter soon.

Finally on the beauty front, I picked up the Vaseline Spray and Go body Moisturiser. I've had my eye on this since it came out, I find it really intriguing, so we will see how that goes!

There are a few more fashion bits I picked up, a skirt, plain dress and a couple of jumpers in H&M but other than that, that's it!

Have you tried any of these products?