Danielle's Beauty Blog

Well, I only thought last month was bad in terms of my spending on beauty but I guess May has knocked it off the top spot - two bank holidays will do that! I got sucked into a few really good deals and also picked up some things I’d had my eye on for a while so here is the breakdown! As usual, I haven’t got round to trying everything properly just yet so this isn’t a review of anything just a spending diary!

 

Look Fantastic has great deals on all the time but really ramped it up on the bank holiday so I took the opportunity to pick up the NuFACE Mini Facial Toning Device which I have wanted for a while now. Instead of being £167, I got this for £112.19 and in the same order I repurchased the ColorWow Dream Cocktail Kale Infused for Breakage which is normally £23 but I got it for £15.52 – full review here! We won’t mention that I then saw the NuFACE for £105 on the second bank holiday lol sigh. 

 

Later in the month, I saw the Look Fantastic x Ameliorate Starter Kit which is a brand I have heard so many good things about but have never tried so took the opportunity to pick this set up which was crazy good value – it’s worth over £108 and I got for £30 – it was meant to be £35 but I think their system glitched as I used a code I didn’t think would work but it did! 

 

Then I picked myself up the NYX Banana powder as I like to use a yellow based powder under my eyes and my current one is panned – this is £9 but I got for £7.12. I also grabbed a couple cheaper conducting gel alternatives for my NuFace as the branded one is expensive so chose the Holika Holika Aloe 99% Soothing Gel (£3.15 instead of £3.95) and the Jason Aloe Vera 98% Moisturising Gel Tube (£2.40 instead of £3.99). I’ve been looking to get a new brush for a while too so decided on the Wet Brush Pro Flex Dry (£12.01 instead of £14.99) and finally to get free delivery I added the Holika Holika Mugwort essence sheet mask to my basket which was £1.55 instead of £1.95! Overall this was £26.23 instead of £30.76.

 

Finally (on Look Fantastic at least) I got sucked in again and made my fourth order of the month which included the new Bondi Sands Pure range – the tanning sleep mask (£8.53 instead of £14.99) and gradual tanning milk (£7.39 instead of £12.99). I also needed a new mascara so got the Maybelline Volum’ Express The Falsies (£7.07 instead of £8.99) and the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum (£47.52 instead of £60) which I have wanted forever and I also got a 4 well ABH palette (£4) for my single I got last month! This total was £74.51 instead of £100.97. 

 

Every month ASOS release a beauty box for £12 and every month I miss it as it sells out so quickly. Last month, they released two hair themed boxes and by sheer luck I managed to grab them both before they sold out! The Hair Repair Box had a 69% saving and the Textured Hair Must Haves had a 79% saving. I won’t go through every single product included here but the main reason I picked them up were for the full size Olaplex No.3 (worth £26 alone) and the Frank caffeinated scalp scrub. See how much I love Olaplex here!

 

Another “device” I have been eyeing up this year is the Revlon Salon One Step Volumizer which I got on Amazon for £39.99 (RRP £59.99). I have used this maybe 3 or 4 times now and to be honest I think it’s a bit wasted on me. I can see how it might work on thicker hair but for me with fine and long hair, I am not getting a lot of volume and as the brush blows out air I am getting a lot more frizz on the top section of my hair that I wouldn’t otherwise. It’s also taking much longer to dry and due to the frizz I am still running the straighteners over it! I think this will be heading to my hair tool graveyard soon unfortunately! 

 

I was hoping this month SpaceNK would do their £15 off a £60 spend but unfortunately they did £20 off a £100 spend which doesn’t work out as well. I had a £5 Ndulge reward to use and the expiration was coming up soon so I grabbed a couple things I had wanted for a while – the Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6 and Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless setting spray and decided to add the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Butter hair repair treatment to make my basket up to £100. With the discount and my reward this came to £75 altogether. 

 

For the second bank holiday, Escentual did 25% off everything so I took the opportunity to get my favourite serum back in my routine – the NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum which is usually £60 but I got it for £45 with the discount – Deciem don’t even have that much off it when they do their Christmas offer, it was 22% last year I think so I would always wait for a deal like this as it’s pricey! Read more about how much I love it here!

 

And so concludes my beauty spend in May. Yikes. My total this month was an eye watering £442.44 :| I haven’t fully worked out the value but I think its £600+ so I definitely got some good deals and instant gratification but I am ready for a slow couple of months shopping my stash for sure! Not every month is like this for me and I will say that I also started my new job this month so was very much in treat yo self/congratulations to me mode. I hope to go on a “try not to buy” now for the rest of summer at least – calling it a full ban would make it too difficult!

 

I picked up a lot of things I had been eyeing up for quite some time so don’t have a lot on my wishlist right now apart from the Anastasia Brow Freeze and the Alpha H Liquid Gold Midnight Reboot serum so if you have either of those do tell me if I need to break my low buy for them! Let me know if there is anything in particular you want to see a review of and I will get working on it! See January, February and April instalments of this series – March was a no buy so it can be done!

 

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Morning all! I was having a nosy through my mums makeup the other day and thought I would do an updated version of this post from a few years ago (based on one Jasmine did)! Not much has changed but here’s a little look into a fifty somethings makeup bag! 

Like myself, my mum’s two favourite foundations are Estee Lauder Double Wear in Desert Beige and Revlon Colourstay Combination/Oily in Sand Beige. She has been reaching for the Colourstay more often these days as she’s not going too far and its obviously more affordable than the EL. Both are long lasting, full coverage and staples in both our makeup bags! When I discovered the Laura Mercier Translucent loose setting powder a few years ago I told my mum about it and lo and behold she bought a pot and loves it too! Its mattifying without being cakey and even though its expensive, a pot lasts a long time! 

 

Her bronzer which you can see is well loved it a cast off from me from longer ago than I care to remember! It’s the Loreal Glam Bronze in 06 Golden Bronze which seems to be discontinued (my mum said typical when I told her this which we will get to in a minute) or renamed as Back to Bronze now! She likes it as it’s not too in your face and the light shade means she can build it up! I’m one part impressed one part embarrassed my mum is still using this mini NARS Orgasm blush, she likes a project empty more than me! This is another hand me down from me as I already have the shade and while my mum said she likes the colour she found it too sparkly so it’s not going to be one she repurchases! She also uses an Estee Lauder compact she got as a GWP (shades are Signature Silky Powder Bush Nude Rose 11, Bronze Goddess Soft Matte bronzer 01 and Signature Shimmer powder Gold Pearl 01). Clearly the matte blush and bronzer shade are more loved than the shimmer but she says she mixes these as a blush. 

 

The NYX Retractable waterproof eye liner in Grey is the best eye liner my mum has found in recent years as it doesn’t smudge and stays put all day and as luck would have it NYX seem to have discontinued it! My mum currently has five backups as she noticed it was out of stock everywhere but the NYX website and I just went to see if I could link it and it’s not there anymore! She is not impressed! For her brows she uses Gimme Brow in shade 1 as it’s so quick and easy and she’s just asked me to get her a new one for Christmas too! Although she has tried the Charlotte Tilbury lip cheat in Pillowtalk she find she goes through it too quickly for what it’s worth so she is back to the No7 Precision Lips pencil in Nude as its much more affordable and does the job! Bobbi Brown lip colour in Brown has been my mums signature lipstick for as long as I can remember and the only one she used until I sent her a mini MAC Velvet Teddy for Christmas one year! The MAC is more matte but both last well and are similar shades, classic nudes!

 

With the amount of pan going on in this picture I asked what back-ups she has and similarly to last time we have Benefit Hoola Bronzer as well as NYX Blush in Mauve (another recommendation from moi and another one that is discontinued and she bought back ups of lol).

Like last time there is no primer, concealer, highlighter, eyeshadow or mascara here because my mum doesn’t use them! She wears glasses and gets her lashes tinted so just misses the mascara step and doesn’t see the point in the others! Do you recognise any of these products from your makeup bag? What do you do when your favourite makeup products get discontinued? 

 

Danielle xx

 

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