Collective Beauty Haul ~ Autumn 2014

This is a little round up of some recent beauty items that I have purchased over the last few shopping trips that I thought I would share with you. Even though I have this blog and I try to post regularly, I don't all that often buy lots of beauty items together.
I'll start with my most recent lipstick which is by MAC in Naked Bud.  This was part of the Fantasy of Flowers collection and I purchased this as new from Depop. It's a lovely nude shade with buildable colour application. A very natural lipstick which I'm wearing mostly everyday.
When it comes to mascara I'm a bit of a whore. I have so many that I often forget what I have if I don't keep them in once place. My newest addition is the Wonder'full by Rimmel London. This formula contains Argan Oil for smooth clump free lashes and this is exactly what it does as I use this daily at present.
I haven't bought any single eye shadows for a while, as I tend to use my palettes but at two recent stops at The Body Shop I picked up these; Steel My heart which is a silver pearlescent and Melt My Heart a gold/brown pearlescent, both I've yet to use. The colours looked quite pigmented when I swatted them in store, so we'll have to see.
The other eye shadow is from Lancome which I bought from a sale shelf in Debenhams. I wasn't able to swatch it but I thought I would take a chance at £4.20. It looks a smokey green/grey shade. It says G20 underneath so this could have been a display only one, but was in new condition.
I was going to purchase the Clinique cleansing brush, but at almost £80 I thought this was way overpriced when I looked at it. As I'm a huge fan of the No7 range at Boots, I decided to purchase their version at £24.95. I'm using it everyday so I'll you know later on how I'm getting on with it.
Lastly is a product I've been wanting to get for quite a while as I've read/watched many beauty bloggers talk about how good the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector is. This was an online purchase from Space:NK. As with the cleansing brush, I'm using this daily so will let you know my thoughts on it.
Please feel free to leave your comments on my recent haul and if you have any questions about any of the products I've bought.

Rachel xx

The Body Shop Christmas Shower Gel Range 2014

Continuing with my festive shopping is my recent stop at The Body Shop to view this years Christmas goodies. I was hoping to repurchase the Gingerbread Sparkle range this year as I used last years goodies quite quickly, but sadly it hasn't been re-released for 2014. However The Body Shop never disappoint so I picked up three shower gels in this years festive scents.

Glazed Apple
For a Christmas scent this is quite sweet but not in a sickly way, It's actually quite crisp, fresh and mouth watering when I smell it from the bottle, so I'm hoping it will leave me feeling ready for the day when used. This is a clear/green consistency.

Frosted Cranberry
This is a subtle twist on the annual cranberry scent that is launched and again, I find this sweet but not over powering. This, like the Glazed Apple is a clear consistency in red.

Vanilla Brulee
This shower gel is creamy and looks more moisturising than the previous two. Very sweet scent with vanilla and a hint of caramel.

For 250ml the gels cost £4 which is good value on a limited edition range. As well as the shower gels there are complimentary products such as body butters, lip glosses, hand cream and shimmer lotion. There are also gift sets in beautiful packaging.

Will anything be on your Christmas list this year?

Rachel xx

I Went Shopping - Boots Haul

I recently uploaded a picture to my Instagram @HeartOceanSecrets of my Boots shopping basket, and I had quite a few likes, so I thought I would do a little blogpost about the things I bought.

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with Philosophy. 1) The price, 2) the sickly smell. Some of the body washes are too over powering but having said that, they smell EXACTLY like what they're called. The gift set I picked up was half price at £11 and has vanilla cake mix 3 in 1, cranberry body lotion and candied pecan salt body scrub. I was able to smell the testers and thought they weren't too bad.

I've heard loads of good things about Soap & Glory, No Clogs Allowed so I decided to see for myself. It is a self heating mask, which I haven't tried for years and claims to detox pores. This was on offer for £7.67 instead of £11.50. Click here to read about it.
Bic Soleil Travel Shaving Gel is perfect for the shower as it fits nicely on the shelf. Cost £1.89.
Stila Baked Duo in Pink Glow is ideal for creating that sun kissed glow as a highlighter/soft blusher on the cheeks. Bit pricey at £15 but had to have it! I will do a more detailed review and swatch at some point.

Oral B 3D White in Brillance. Claims to reduce staining on the teeth in two weeks. £3.49. My teeth aren't bad but I'd like to give this a try.
Original Source Cranberry and Honey Daily Scrub is one I haven't tried before as I normally buy the Tea Tree and Mint. This was on offer for half price. £1.32.
Vital Baby Hand and Face Wipes are essential as a mother. My daughter is 3 and gets sticky hands, so these are always in my bag. Plus they're great to wipe off make up after loads of swatching! £1.99
I also bought an Essie Nail Polish in Fiji but I couldn't find it when I was taking picture. A beautiful nude pink and one of their best sellers. £7.99.

So that's what I bought. Boots is a deadly place. I go in for one item but always end up with a basket full. Anyone else the same?

Rachel xx

Nyx Cosmetics Haul & Review

Wow, it's been a fair few days since my last post due to working a nine day stretch, and also things going on at home. So, apologies for that guys. 

About two weeks ago I ordered some products from Nyx. I've never bought any of their products before due to the fact that there isn't a Nyx shop/counter near me. (Actually, has anyone ever been to one?)

I think the reason that I've never bought their products is the problem with purchasing make up online, as it's hard to tell if the swatches they show are actually the same colour in the flesh.

I was browsing their website and decided to get a few items from the sale section to try out first and one full price blusher.

I decided to play it safe and buy a blusher in shade PB 07 Natural. I'm very pleased with this due to it gliding on the brush very easily and blending really well on the face giving a lovely pink glow, that can be built up for a more striking pink.

I bought two single eyeshadows in the sale in shades ES153A Ballerina Dream and ES147A Sweet Oleander. Now these are beautiful glitter shades and again apply easily, but they are similar in colour with one being darker than the other. Nevermind ~ that's the chance you take.

Ballerina Dream

Sweet Oleander

With my cheeks and eyes sorted, it was only natural to add a lip product to my order so I chose two Mega Shine Lip glosses in Vixen and Maroon.

Erm, well..I was a bit disappointed in my colour choices. Vixen is just too dark for me but Maroon is ok if I was going for the vampire Bella look ~ I'm too pale for it to be honest; but that aside the lip glosses themselves are lovely and they do spread evenly on to the lips. I do think the tube is cute too and the brush is very soft.

I think I should have continued to play it safe here too and bought something neutral or pink as I can never go wrong with pink.

It just goes to show that buying make up online is a bit risky, but it hasn't put me off, I just need to Google swatches before I add to my basket....oops

Rachel xx