Sunday, 8 August 2021

Beauty Spend Report | July 2021

beauty spend report july 2021

I successfully made it through another month with no beauty spend in June so skipping that, here’s what I bought beauty wise in July and I have to say it was very controlled of me! These purchases were both made towards the end of the month so I haven’t had time to test them fully but here are some first impressions!

 

As a huge OUAI fan, I had been eyeing up the Dean Street Eau de Parfum as soon as they released more of the scents! I already have and love North Bondi and Melrose Place and in the past I have had Mercer Street too. I remember smelling Rue St. Honore in Sephora when it was released first time round and decided against it but Dean Street was completely new to me. It’s the same scent as the body wash and curiosity got the better of me so I ordered blind…and it was a mistake. This scent is not for me unfortunately!

 

It’s top notes are mandarin, lemon, grapefruit and apricot, heart notes are rose, magnolia, muguet and violet and base notes are amber, linden, blossom and musk. And in all honestly all of that is gobbledegook to me! I am very hard to please when it comes to scents and could name you the ones I like probably on one hand. To me/on me this is just too “green” and citrusy, I wore it twice and it wasn’t bad enough that I wanted to wash it off (been there with other scents before lol) but it just didn’t feel very me and I didn’t enjoy it! I hope I can sell it as it’s barely used and I will repurchase Melrose Place soon as that is my FAVOURITE scent and I am almost out. Which is what I should have done instead of trying a new one but we live and learn! This is normally £46 but Look Fantastic always have a discount code floating about and I got it for £36.80.

 

look fantastic haul abh brow freeze review

Next up from Look Fantastic is the Anastasia Brow Freeze and I have read so many good reviews on this and it was out of stock everywhere at one point too! I am a huge fan of ABH brow products including the Brow Wiz, Dipbrow and Brow Powder Duo so I couldn’t wait to try this. Again, I have been left wanting. Maybe I am off my game with picking new products to try, who knows. I know people use this for creating a laminated of feathered look but I was more drawn in by the residue and flake free formula claims and the fact it can add more volume to brows. I’ve unfortunately been left a little underwhelmed by this so far! It’s quite awkward to use and get the product on my spoolie evenly first of all. After I take the excess off on the inside of the cap I still sometimes get a little too much on the front of my brow and it doesn’t actually set at all. It feels like lightweight Vaseline in my brows and they don’t stay put all day. I should add that I don’t have unruly brows but the hairs on my arches move throughout the day and while it's marginally better it’s not what I was expecting from this product especially with freeze in the name! I prefer the brow gel from ABH but I go through it so quickly. The Brow Freeze is flake free but has a very slight wet look to it and yeah so far I feel a bit meh about it! It’s £24 normally but I got it for £19.20. 

 

feel unique beauty kit review

Lastly, I picked up the Feel Unique Beauty Kit and this is a promotion they have been doing for a good while now although within the last week it's changed slightly to the Feel Unique Beauty Box with different pricing options depending on if you pick a subscription or one off sample box. Previously, you picked 5 deluxe samples for £12.95 and £3.95 shipping though I got this on offer at £10.95 plus shipping so slightly better but it’s worth picking out bigger sample sizes or more expensive products to make it worth your money! It comes in a little reusable pouch too and you can use the shipping fee as a voucher against your next order. They have loads of products to choose from though it is mostly in the skincare category so be aware of that! I picked out the Sol de Janeiro Bom Dia Bright cream containing fruit AHA’s and Vitamin C as I love the OG Bum Bum cream and wanted to try this scent and exfoliation action. I know Siobhan loves the AHC Essential Real Eye Cream for Face so I grabbed it too and I loved the Cerave Hydrating cleanser so I am excited to try the Hydrating Cream to Foam version! Lastly, a mini of the Farmacy Green Clean which I have had before and remember liking and the Skinceuticals C E Ferulic Antioxidant Vitamin C serum which I hear so much about and at £145 for the full size 30ml bottle, is the best value of the samples. I realise I won’t see much change with a 4ml but Vitamin C is a tricky formulation for me so that’s what I want to try it! I got mine for £14.90 instead of £16.90. They seem to have changed the little bag too which is a pity as its so handy that it's see through! 

    

That’s my latest spend report! I got this for £70.90 instead of the full price of £86.90!  I would love to know if you have tried any of the above and what you thought and do let me know if you are on a similar low buy and how it’s going!

 

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.


Danielle xx

 

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Monday, 29 August 2016

Best UK Beauty Sites and how to save money

best online beauty shops site uk boots beauty bay look fantastic space nk feel unique escentual debenhams house of fraser

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone! I've been planning this post for a while and scheduled it last week without realising today was a bank holiday so if you are planning a splurge - now is the time! The majority of my spending is done online because more often than not there will be a discount code flying around or my favourite brands are only sold online but yeah mainly the discount codes, with an expensive beauty habit I need all the money off I can get! I’ve put together a list of my favourite online shops for beauty and skincare and what I like to buy from them! A lot of the brands crossover but some sites have better offers/more frequent offers/a better loyalty card etc. so I’ve tried to make it as detailed as possible without writing a dissertation on it!

boots haul makeup skincare origins liz earle smashbox bondi sands nyx no7 burts bees soap and glory

Probably my most used beauty site and where half my wages seem to disappear every month - good old Boots! As well as shopping frequently in their stores I seem to make orders regularly too as a lot of my local stores don’t stock what I want!

Best time to buy?
Anytime! Boots always have 3 for 2 or buy one get one half price offers on but I also like to wait for a coupon with a points offer like 400 points when you spend £40 (easily done)! The advantage card is my favourite loyalty card and the points add up quickly so you can treat yourself and feel a little less guilty! Oh and they do the best Christmas/Boxing Day sale but you need to get in quick!

Brands to check out?
Soap and Glory, Bondi Sands (their dry tanning oil is amazing and exclusive to Boots), No7 (Perfect Light translucent setting powder in particular), SEVENTEEN, NYX, Smashbox, Origins, Liz Earle…I’ll stop now!

beauty bay haul online shoppping uk morphe makeup geek zoeva spectrum la girl hd brows z palette

Ah Beauty Bay, probably the most controversial of the shops I’ve listed as a lot of people seem to complain about their delivery service. I’ve never had a problem though and they are my favourite place to get my Makeup Geek and Zoeva fix! They don’t usually have many offers on, things go out of stock fast and bear in mind that discount codes don’t work on a lot of items because they are excluded but delivery is quick (for me anyway) and they have a great range of hard to find brands!  

Best time to buy?
Wait until you have a few things in your basket – their deluxe gifts are brilliant, I’ve gotten a High Definition Eye and Brow palette and a deluxe Kevyn Aucoin Flesh Tone lip pencil before and been really impressed with both! The best offer I’ve seen was the half price Makeup Geek sale but as I’ve mentioned, things went out of stock fast and I know people had trouble getting it to apply to their basket (they have also now upped their prices too)! See my Makeup Geek collection here! 

Brands to check out?
Makeup Geek and Zoeva as previously mentioned as well as Morphe LA Girl, Z palette and Spectrum! Gerard Cosmetics are next on my hit list and I may have placed an order on Friday with the money off spend code Beauty Bay have up for the weekend!

escentual haul skincare eucerin vichy la roche posay grown alchemist hylamide

I love Escentual for their skincare offers, they seem to have a new one every week and a great range of products from some of my favourite brands!

Best time to buy?
Wait for a big percentage off – they do them all the time and I think the most I’ve got off was 25% which was applied to everything on site! Their 1/3 off French pharmacy offers are also very regular and great for stocking up on your faves!

Brands to check out? Hylamide, Vichy, Eucerin, La Roche Posay, Bioderma. 

cult beauty haul makeup skincare stila pixi alpha h ouai fairydrops abh moa

A little more luxe and edited, Cult Beauty stock - you guessed it - cult beauty and skincare products!  

Best time to buy?
Wait for the gift with purchase offer! I always splurge on things I’ve been wanting for a while when this offer comes round then feel a little less guilty because the GWP is always filled with loads of new products to try from amazing brands! I am hoping they have another one soon because I have my eye on quite a few things!

Brands to check out? Pixi, Becca, Huda Beauty, Beauty Blender, Anastasia Beverly Hills, OUAI, MOA, Stila.

feel unique haul makeup urban decay estee lauder giorgio armani the balm

Another great site that stocks loads of brands and always seems to have an offer on or 10% off! They also have a new Pick ‘n’ mix service where you can try five samples of products out for £3.95 shipping then get the money back on your next order!

Best time to buy?
Wait for 10% off site wide or a save on spend offer and have a splurge!  They also do 10% off for students if you have an account with something like Unidays (but this can’t be used with other offers!)

Brands to check out? Urban Decay, Estee Lauder, Giorgio Armani.

look fantastic haul skincare makeup trilogy rosehip oil niod shiseido illamasqua

I literally get an email from this site every day, it’s a pity most of their discount codes have a lot of excluded items but like all the websites I’ve mentioned, they have a good range of brands and other offers like free gifts on constantly! They also do a monthly beauty box which you don’t have to subscribe to for £15. I like to check any reviews at the start of the month for spoilers to see if I want it – I haven’t bought one in ages but it can include products from brands off their site so NUXE, Caudalie and Ren pop up quite a bit!

Best time to buy?
They do timed offered like the first 200 people to checkout get 20% off quite often though see above note about excluded items!

Brands to check out? Illamasqua, Deciem, Trilogy, Shiseido.

space nk haul makeup nars kevyn aucoin grown alchemist

Like Cult Beauty, Space NK to me is a little more luxe and on the expensive side of things! I have managed to get a few good things from the sale but you have to be quick as things sell out so quickly!

Best time to buy?
Wait for a £15 off £60 spend offer, the sale, or until you have enough N.centive points to get some money off!

Brands to check out? NARS, Kevyn Aucoin, Hourglass, Grown Alchemist.

debenhams haul makeup too faced mac

Debenhams
I thought it was worth mentioning Debenhams too as they often have 10% off beauty and do a loyalty card. I never get much use out of mine but I suspect this will all change as Kat Von D is coming next month! Exciting times!

Best time to buy?
A 10% off beauty offer, they do them regularly and they last for a good few days!

Brands to check out? Too Faced, MAC, Urban Decay, Benefit, Kat Von D.

house of fraser haul makeup charlotte tilbury laura geller

Very similar to Debenhams in my opinion and I am just realising they do a loyalty card too, I don't order off these two websites as much as the ones at the start of this post so I think my points expire before I get a chance to use them! They do student discount like Feel Unique so you can get 10% off!

Best time to buy?
They do 10% off beauty offers too and a regular £10 off £50 spend when you buy one of their favourite beauty products but if you are a student, any time really!

Brands to check out? Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Geller.

Special mention also goes to ASOS who have a pretty good beauty section with brands like NARS and Illamasqua and regularly have offers on (as well as doing student discount). Marks and Spencer are great for Pixi and Emma Hardie, Cloud 10 Beauty for The Balm, The Body Shop for their 30% and 40% off codes and Superdrug for most things that Boots does as well (I just don’t have one near me so rarely shop in it!).

I’m signed up to all of these sites email newsletters and while some can be a bit overkill with how often they send them out most are great informing you of offers or new arrivals to the site! I also always google discount codes before I buy something in case I've missed an email so it’s good to check before you hit buy!

Like I said, I’ve added a brands to check out list under each online site but obviously a few of these crossover into different stores, I’ve just went with where I’ve found the best deal!

I may have also made a few orders this weekend as it was payday on Friday and there were some offers on that I couldn't resist! I post a lot of my hauls to Instagram so follow me there if that’s the type of thing you like to see!

Let me know if you bought anything this weekend! What’s your favourite online beauty site?

Danielle xx


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