Boots Haul #7

It's been a very long time since I've posted a Boots haul. And tbh I probably have bought other Boots/drugstore stuff before now but I've just outright forgotten to post about it, whoopsies! :o

Anyways, my recent haul is a bit of a mish mash of things so let's get onto it! 

Doing my nails often mean I obviously need to have hand cream nearby at all times, I did have the new garnier ones that claim 24 hour moisture but they felt far too silicone-y (which provides the 24 "moisture" I'm assuming) so I decided for something new/better. There wasn't much in offer in terms of what I knew for sure was actually moisturising and had a nice scent and was practical to carry about so I went for this good old Nivea one. I adore the scent and it sinks in fairly quickly, and I can also use it for other dry areas that I randomly notice if I'm out and about. I'm also going away on holiday soon to Chamonix, so the 75ml is great for carrying onto the plane. 

My boyfriend is currently in Perth, scotland, for a work placement so I've been travelling between Perth, edinburgh and glasgow, so a few travel sized bits were needed so I wouldn't break my back carrying even more stuff than usual. Batiste doesn't need any explanation, other than even though I chopped my hair to belter shoulder length I still can't be bothered washing and drying my hair lol! The halo eye wipes I'm sure I got in superdrug, but it's still drugstore so I'll leave it in ;) these are very good at taking off waterproof mascara (more on that in this post!) and are in a handy dinky little packet too. They're textured but not too chemical-y so it doesn't burn your eyes or anything. I'm very bad at using body lotion, but with the sun shining and more shaving of leg needed, I need to step up my lotioning! This is a very good lotion, it sinks in well and leaves my legs and arms soft. Might even get the normal size of this! 

I've been using the Good Things range quite a lot lately, so I've been keeping an eye out for any new offerings they have especially concerning spot control. This gel mask is VERY mentholated when you first put it on, it's practically like running airwaves chewing gum on to your face, but it gradually settles down and it feels like nothing at all. It dries to a slightly tacky/dry finish but you don't get that mask like "I can't move my face" feeling since it's a gel mask. It leaves your skin nice and soft and calms down any sore spots you might have. I haven't used it long enough to gauge long term benefits but I really like it so far! 

Any Asian girl (or guy!) will understand my predicament of finding a good mascara that  holds up my short stubborn lashes. I usually always have toget a waterproof formula but even then, not all waterproof formulas are good enough. However this is a god send, recommend by leighannsays on YouTube! It thickens my lashes, keeps my curl and even lengthens them a bit. It makes my eyelashes actually visible to the naked eye and I adore it! Highly recommend if you have trouble with mascaras like Ido! 

As much as I have mascara issues, I have lip balm issues. I'm allergic to some lip balms, which makes finding a good one difficult. I used to use Carmex but i broke out in a reaction after returning to it's use after using blistex for a while. I also have a reaction to Chapstick and eos balms! Anyways, I pretty much rely on the medicated blue blistex or the little metal tube one. Neither are hygienic though, so I was trying to find a stick balm that didn't cause my a reaction. I was a bit wary of using a flavoured balm in case that broke me out, but I had enough points toget this on my card so I figured I wouldn't lose out much if I did break out. And hurrah, I am reaction free after a week of using this! It's moisturises really well and it tastes amazing! 

I mentioned myself and my boyfriend are away to chamonix for a holiday with his parents and brothers and sisters and cousins etc etc. they're away a week before us so we had to pack a bag for them to take with them since they're driving down. Anyways long story short I only have one eyeliner/eyebrow brush so I had to get another one to use whilst my good one is travelling to france. There wasn't much to offer other than this ecotools flat eyeliner brush which seems too wide to use for my eyebrows. However, I've managed to figure out how to use this and it works really well for an eyebrow brush. 

Boots Haul #2

I managed to sneak a visit mid November and early Dec to my beloved drugstore/high stree shop, and here's the post for the stuff I bought, and with a few mini review/thoughts since I've had a chance to test out any new products I'd bought. Even thought it's technically two lots products, I didn't buy too much either time, so I've put them into the one post :)

I'd been using the Tea Tree collection from The Body Shop to help combat my combination/spot prone skin, but I found it a bit meh and a bit overpriced for the amount of product you got with certain items, for example the moisturiser. So I ventured to Boots to see what products where available for spot prone skin and I cam across the Simple Spotless Skin range, next to the Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel range. I was more inclined to go for the Simple range, as the tea tree moisturiser didn't really moisturise my skin much, and the Simple collection contained zinc and chamomile rather than tea tree/witch hazel. But the problem with this range is, is that it didn't have all the products needed for a standard cleansing routine, like a toner or a night time moisturiser. So I decided to go for a mix of the Simple range and the Tea Tree/Witch Hazel range!

After a few weeks of testing the facial wash and the moisturiser, I really like the wash. It's gentle enough to use twice a day, and doesn't dry out your skin too much. It has little...bits in it though, which I'm not too sure are for what as they're too sparse to be exfoliating beads, but they don't bother me too much.. I use this with a Botanics facial brush in the evening to properly scrub the make up and grime of the day off my face, and I just use my fingers in the morning to gently massage my face as I feel that using the brush twice a day would be too harsh and irritate my skin more. The moisturiser however, its a bit hit and miss for me. I feel that it'd be a nice one for using in the summer, but it's not too good for the winter as it doesn't combat the dryness that can occur from the cold weather. It's really good for keeping your skin matte and shine free, so I feel that this is best used for summer when your skin isn't as dry.

I tend to use wipes in the morning when I'm too lazy too wash my face, or when I'm wearing a lot of make up and I want to take some of it off to not use so much facial wash. These ones are nice and moist, and don't drag the skin which I found the Primark ones to do. I wouldn't necessarily rely on these, or any wipes for that matter, for a good facial cleansing but they're good to have around, and they're gentle on your eyes too. The cleansing lotion is good for cleansing any excess facial wash or cleaning your face in the morning but not for heavy make up, plus it really stings your eyes if you get too close to them :/ The night time treatment gel isn't something that I particularly enjoyed either, it kept my skin matte and shine free throughout the night, but I'm not sure how necessary it is. All in all, I guess the Tea tree and Witch Hazel range is good if you're needing to buy stuff last minute, like if you forgot your face products when you're going away on holiday or you're a bit skint, but I wouldn't repurchase any of these unless I was skint and on a budget. 

A lot of people assume I have a cold sore when I whap this out of my bag, but I actually use it as a lip balm for when my lips are chapped from the cold weather. The packaging is a bit more hygienic than the little tub of Blistex, however it's a bit hard to control when you've accidently dented the tube and it keeps oozing out :/ This is a constant repurchase of mine, and I couldn't recommend it enough.

After realising the Simple moisturiser wasn't doing well in the cold climates, I decided to look for one that just combats oily skin, as most spot fighting products will dry out your skin to some degree to dry out the spots. I cam across this in the aisles, and as I've heard a lot about the Botanics range, I thought I'd give the Shine Away moisturiser a go since it was on deal. This has been THE best thing I've bought! It keeps my skin shine free all day, and I've noticed my skin has gotten a lot less red after using this for only a few days. It can do this weird thing of rubbing off in little bits if your using your hands to put on foundation, but using a foundation brush combats this. It has a nice scent, and the gel cream formula sinks into your skin so quickly. It's in a tub so it's a tad unhygenic to keep dipping your fingers in, but I always wash my hands before I touch my face anyways. After the success of this, I'm going to buy some more from the Botanics range. Like the Simple Spotless range, the Botanics Shine Away range doesn't carry all the products needed for a face routine, but a lot of their other products a for all skin type so I may give them a bash :)

You will most likely to be familiar with if you're a blog/youtube follower so I shan't say much. If not, try it, it's amazing for under £5.

Of course I couldn't resist buying at least one polish when I went to Boots, and this time it was Sugared Almond from the Lasting Colour range at the Collection stand. This is the loveliest lilacy dusty pink I've came across. It lasted for a good week without any major chipping too! 

Pantene was buy one get one free at the time so I thought I'd give this range a go since I was running out. I didn't actually mean to buy two different types, but I guess theres no harm in mixing and matching right? I've only used this once so far since I don't wash my hair too often since it's so long. But it did make my hair a smidgen softer then usual, however I must add that the ends of my hair are ombred and my ends have been really dry lately.