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 #1

Boots it's one of my greatest problems in life. It just steals all my money. They have SO many that I rarely come out with nothing, especially since i have a lip balm and nail polish obsession :p So this is my latest haul :) Not sure if this will become a regular thing, but hopefully these posts fill in the gaps I tend to leave between nail posts :(

First off is one of the new Nivea lip butters, in Raspberry Rose. You HAVE to try this out, it smells of raspberry ripple, and feels so good on your lips. It lasts a long time on your lips considering butters tend to be more greasy?...feeling, and you can feel it nourishing your lips against the cold autumn days. Despite being a Body Shop hoarder, I don't get on well with the infamous Lip Butters. They just sit on my lips,not really moisturising or nourishing them. Does nourish and moisturise mean the same thing? :p

Despite it being a milky pink, the colour barely transfers to your lips. If you're an avid balm applier like me, it does make your lips eeeever so slightly pale pinkish but nothing too disgusting. From what I could see, the other flavours are original, vanilla & macademia and caramel cream, HOW amazing to the last 2 sound? They're around the £2.50 mark, so you can easily pick up one or two, with a spare fiver ;)

Boots currently have a buy one, get one half price on selected beauty products, so I obviously picked up some polishes (the nivea butters weren't in the deal unfortunately). I had a wee look in the maybelline stand as they have a few great colours in their selection. However, most of the colours I wanted weren't stocked yet, so I picked up Extreme Blackcurrant and a fast dry topcoat.

I recently tried the Extreme Blackcurrant, and it applies opaque in 2 coats, but I applied 3 as per usual. It's an almost black purple, with slight red tinges to it, definitely lives up to it's name! The top coat semi-sucks though. It streaks like hell, on designs AND plain colours, but it did dry in a pretty average time for a fast dry topcoat.


I've been wanting these pair of tights for ages, but I always forgot to pick them up. Theyre just standard grey wooly tights with white polka dots, but I thought they were pretty cute and would be nice for this cold weather.

I have ridiculously long hair (just to the bottom of my ribcage) so brushing my hair is a necessity, a necessity that I find long, boring and quite painful at times. I did invest in a tangle teezer but I left it in edinburgh when i went back to my Mr Lacquerised's home, so I picked up a  random cheapy brush. I didn't realise till now how good the tangle teezer was. This brush really drags through my hair, but I guess it gets the job done and it was cheap. And it's orange, one of my favourite colours :)

 

Nontheless this cheapy brush is quite decent on my thick and long hair, so chances are that it should be okay on standard hair. The bristles are cushioned and the ends are covered, so it's a comfortable experience for the scalp! :)

Being Chinese and having typical Asian hooded eyelids, eye make up doesn't really factor into my daily make up routine or make up stash, other than standard foundation/concealer/powder/mascara. But I use a Botanics facial brush/scrubber thingy to cleanse my face which I obviously don't want to use near my already damaged eyes (very strong glasses prescription!), so I bought some standard cheapy eye make up remover stuff to take off my base make up. I previously used the little pot of eye make up remover wipes, which were good as they're oil based (also good for removing some of Revlon Colourstay foundation before proper cleansing btw!), but they hadn't had any left in stock when i went :(

Given this is Boots basic brand, I expected it to be sucky, and it pretty much is for mascara, but that could be due to me using waterproof mascara. It's a clear, gel formula, with not much of a scent. It basically feels like water, and it does require a few swipes to get off the base make up around my eyes, but it does the job and not even that expensive, around the £1.50-ish mark.

I rarely tie my hair up in public - usually only at night when I braid it to prevent me or my boyfriend being strangled in our sleep, or if I don't want my hair in  my face when I'm studying at home. So I bought some of those elastic-y non-snag hair bands that come in a hand y box, since I am notorious for leaving my hair grips and bobbles to be sucked up by the hoover...

When I first started using these kinds of hair bands, they kept snapping on me as I used to tie my hair SO tightly as I was sure they'd just slip out of my hair, but I slowly realised that they don't need tied round that much to be secure, around 2 times to tie up a braid.

My boyfriend's slightly crazy, yet lovely aunt bought me a cheeky present the other week, and it was quite a good pick despite me not actually talking about polish brands with her (I've done her nails once or twice). I've been admiring the Hed Kandi range by Models Own for a long while (especially the orange!) but I still haven't gotten round to buying anything yet.

Disco Heaven is a gloriously glittery gold polish with random sparse flecks of blue glitter. LOVE.


Another hair thing again. I really should've bunched these together. Meh. Anyways, having long hair, I find washing and drying my hair a chore, and the ends of my hair weigh down my roots so my hair looks rather limp at the top, but overly thick at the bottom, which isn't the hottest look. So I use this voluminising Tresemme dry shampoo to help keep my hair on balance.

Despite most people being a Batiste fan, I find it too chalky and white against my black hair, whereas Tresemme isn't quite as chalky, and generally comes out transparent with a few random moments of white. not sure if this si something to do with shaking the can before spraying or whatnot though.

Out of all these products, the dry shampoo is the only repurchase, but I'm forseeing that I may try and grab all of the Nivea Lip Butters at some point :)

I hope you enjoyed my first Boots post :D