High Street Beauty Haul & Review

Hey guys! So if you snoop around this blog regularly, you'll know that I'm very a much a luxury brand make up gal' and don't tend to dip into high street brands very often. However, over the past few months I have accumulated bits and bobs of high street products that I have put to the test and either used them up completely or thrown them to the side in disappointment. So this post is a bit of an empties/review/haul - some of the products I've used up and some of them I haven't. I purchased the majority of these products either with my Boots Advantage Points or on a whim in panic mode when my usual go-to product for the job has ran out.

So let's start off on a high note with the Garnier Simply Essential Cleansing Lotion. I bought this in a bit of a panic when my Clarins Cleanser ran out and it dawned on me that if I didn't purchase something on the day I wouldn't have had anything to remove my make up with that evening. I think I actually picked up this product in Wilkinsons and at the cheap and cheerful price of £2.39 I thought I'd give it a whirl. Garnier is a fairly creditable brand so I knew the product would be of decent quality. To be honest, it did the job - it removed my make up and that's all you require from a Cleanser! As you probably know, until about 6 months ago, maybe even less, I was very guilty of reaching for Face Wipes more often than I like to admit. As a bit of a background story for you all, I started off a proper skincare routine by using Clarins. Some of the products I got from Clarins were amazing and I have since repurchased products. However Cleansers were never something I thought were here nor there - they do the job and that's that. So after using my first lot of Clarins Cleanser, I moved onto this and I don't think it made a difference to my skin which product I use to remove my make up as long as it actually does what it says on the tin. So in conclusion, at present there's no Cleanser I favour over another. I would definitely re-purchase the Garnier Cleansing Milk again. However for the time being I have actually ordered the Garnier Micellar Water - a liquid Cleanser that I've heard a lot of good things about. I know that many people liken the Garnier Micellar Water to Bioderma  (which is also supposedly very good!). Anyways, enough of my spiel, I'll let you know how I get on with the Micellar Water and as I explained the Garnier Simple Essentials Cleansing Lotion is definitely worth the purchase in my opinion - it doesn't break the bank and it does what it's supposed to.

I will just briefly brush over the Rimmel London Brow This Way as I've already written a full review which you can view HERE. Essentially it's a tinted brow gel that volumes, tints and sets your brows in place, it's adequate but not amazing, if you know what I mean?

Next up is another product from Garnier, it's the Ultimate Blends Sleek Perfector Oil with Coconut Oil. So for a high street purchase I actually thought this was pretty pricey (£9.99). However, I saw Gabriella Lindley praise this product in one of her favourite videos saying how uttering amazing it was so I thought 'I'm gonna need some of that'. Basically, from years of dyeing my hair, the ends are in an awful condition, if you saw my Throwback Thursday post on all the different hair colours I've had, you'll understand why. Note - Bleach is not your hair's best friend, like seriously. These days the majority of my hair is in great condition, it's just the ends that are suffering from previous mistakes. I can confirm however that this Perfector Oil is amazing. It has actually saved my hair. It is so nourishing to your hair and unlike a lot of other Oil's it doesn't make your hair look greasy or anything. It is expensive but it's most definitely worth it.

So anyone who has ever been to my house will know I always have a stash of Body Shop Cocoa Body Butters lying around my bedroom. I use them every single day so you can imagine how excited I was when I received a Vanilla Brulee set for Christmas. The Body Shop Body Butters are so soothing and moisturizing. I like to apply it all over my body after a shower or bath or sometimes if my face is in dire need of some moisture, I will pop some of this on over night. The Vanilla Brulee one smells amazing, it's a very subtle Vanilla and is just one of them you could keep dipping your nose into to have a little sniff.

I don't want to end my post on a negative rant but there is one product in this Haul that I am bitterly disappointed with and it's the Bourjois Delice De Poudre Bronzing Powder & Highlighter. It's not very often I come across a product that really dislike but unfortunately this time round, it just wasn't meant to be. I had so many people talk about this product and thought it would be really good so was really looking forward to receiving this Bronzing Powder & Highlighting Duo. Unfortunately the pigmentation of this product doesn't have much pay off and it isn't very long lasting. I thought it would have been a great high street alternative for something like the Filmstar Bronze & Glow but the powder just isn't good quality.

Last but not least is the Real Techniques Blush Brush. I've been wanting to add to my Make Up Brush collection for a while now and was in need of a multi-tasking brush, so I ended up going for this one. After losing my Real Techniques Contouring Brush on a night out and also being in dire need of a good quality blusher brush I thought this would be perfect. Real Techniques never fail to disappoint me when it comes to the quality of their brushes. The bristles are so soft, therefore making application super easy and fuss free. I would totally recommend this Brush as an all rounder!

What high street products have you bought recently?

Highstreet vs Luxury: Brow Gels

Hey guys so today I wanted to discuss the Brows!

Back in June (I think it was) last year I discovered the Benefit Gimme Brow, a product that has 1000% sealed the 'holy grail' status, I mean I even buy back ups of this product these days as I literally don't think I could live without it. I use it every single day and even pop it on my brows on no make up days. My brows are so light and fair naturally but have a good shape to them and Gimme Brow just transforms them by tinting them and adding volume whilst keeping them set in place. Admittedly it is pretty expensive - at £17.50 a pop and it only lasts me a month, meaning I have to purchase one every single month. I get the shade Medium/Dark by the way and I reviewed it HERE for you to take a peak at.

Until a couple of months ago I wasn't aware of any other products that were up to the job and finish I was after and then I discovered the Rimmel London - Brow This Way. A cheaper alternative to the Benefit Gimme Brow Gel and at only £3.99 it was impossible for me to give it a miss. Luckily for me I had totted up enough Boots Advantage Points to be able to buy the product that way and I went for the shade 'Mid Brown'.

So there are two significant differences about the appearance of the two products, one of obvious being that the Brow This Way comes in larger packaging than Gimme Brow and the second is that the wand on Brow This Way is also a lot bigger to the Gimme Brow Wand, I would go so far as to say the Wand on the Rimmel product is far too big. I like to size of the Gimme Brow Wand as it allows you to maneuver around the sparse hairs at the end of your brows and shape them with precision. Brow This Way is great for adding colour and volume to the areas of my brows that are more bushy however I am reluctant to use it around the sparser areas as it just smudges onto my skin because of the wand being too big. Another slight note is that I have noticed the Rimmel London product gives your brows more a red/brown tint whereas the Benefit product is more towards the dark brown end of the spectrum. However due to the significant different in price I have now compromised and try to reach for the Rimmel product where possible on the larger areas of my brows and then just using the Benefit product for the sparser area's of my brows as I feel this combination works well together and despite the issues  on the Rimmel product with the packaging and the wand, the formula does actually deliver a pretty similar finish to Gimme Brow - just a slight difference in colour. Due to the price difference between the two products, I am trying to reserve the Benefit product for weekend occasions more and just for filling in the sparse brow area's on week days.

If I could choose just one of the two, it would undoubtedly be the Benefit Gimme Brow purely because it scores a 10 in all area's where as I would rate the Rimmel London product as a 6 out of 10.

Below I have added pictures of the result of the Rimmel London Brow This Way, Benefit Gimme Brow and another with a combination of the two.

I hope this helps you if you're trying to make a decision on which one to go for!