Collective haul

This is a haul of things I've purchased from about 3 months ago approx. I've been trying not to spend so much money on clothes or makeup lately, I haven't bought any clothes! Which is a good thing because I really have too much. I've also been saving for this trip so have been good with spending. 


The first two things I got when Debenhams were having a 10% off promotion (I think it was 10% anyways) 


I'd been looking at purchasing the Estee Lauder Double Wear for a while and after trying a sample finally decided to buy it. I chose the colour bone and will be doing a review on this soon. 

Another thing I've wanted for a while was the Rouge Volupte lipstick by YSL, this is an expensive lipstick so took me a while to finally purchase it but I'm glad I did. Will also be doing a review of this soon-ish.

I purchased two more things from Debenhams while they had their promotion going, That Gal by Benefit in the special edition packaging for the Olympics and the Coralista blush. Both I've had my eye on for a while.

I bought this Bikini at a shop in Santa Barbara over the weekend, I wanted a new one for when I go to Vegas this weekend but I wasn't expecting to spend... $80!! on one. But I fell in love with it and Roxy is never cheap, so I paid $40 a piece for it. I love the bright orange shade and betting over the top.

I also visited CVS with a 25% off voucher, I tried not to go crazy in there though lol. Usually I'll spend about $80 on makeup. While I was there I got some moisturiser. 

Brulee eyeshadow by Wet 'n' Wild that I hear so much about.

Wet 'n' Wild magnetic nail varnish, this was $4.99 and a cheap alternative to the Sally Hansen or Nails Inc polishes. I wanted to try this out for myself without paying a lot.

I also got this Milani Highlighter, I just think it's packaged so nicely.

And in a small corner of the store I managed to find this OPI polish which I've been after for a while. It's Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry Collection but has been discontinued as it was released a while ago. 

Also sorry for the quality of these pics, I'm taking them on a regular camera as I don't have my DSLR with me.


Hopefully I can get some time to do some reviews and more posts soon, either before or after my Vegas trip.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer xxx

The Orgasm Dupe

I know there's probably a lot of posts out there similar to this but after looking at my blush collection a few days ago, I realised they all looked the same! There's obviously a certain colour I gravitate towards and I also prefer shimmer. But I never chose any of these blushes with Nars Orgasm in mind. This is probably why I wasn't so impressed with it when I finally did buy it. I even went onto the Temptalia dupe list to check out what else is similar. I kept seeing Luminous by Milani popping up, and this just happens to be the only Milani blush I own! I've also heard that Rose Gold by Sleek is supposed to be a good dupe too which I was going to buy a few months back but it was out of stock, it would probably be a waste of money for me to buy it now. Although it's a great alternative if you don't want to splash out the money for Nars which, I wouldn't recommend for this colour simply because there are SO many around. 

So the dupe's that I've found in my own collection are:

Milani Luminous blush

This blush is very similar to Orgasm but the finish is quite different, where as Orgasm has a pink blush with gold shimmer particles the gold in luminous is much more subtle and has no particles, the two colours blend together. It's much less glittery and the colour has more orange undertones.

Benefit Bella Bamba

I love Bella Bamba because it is such a pigmented colour and has such a soft texture which I love. The shimmer particles in this are a little more subtle than that of orgasm and while it has a slight golden glow it's not as obvious. It seems pinker in colour too.

Philosophy Healthy/Happy duo 

While this colour may look similar in the pan it's much different when swatched, I would say this is more of a burnt orange shade. This doesn't have shimmer particles in it, it's much more of a sheer subtle sheen, more similar to milani luminous than orgasm

 Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Glisten

I would say this colour is just a tad darker pink than orgasm, the finish is very similar with less gold. Again with the shimmer particles, although they can be seen up close they are much less obvious.

Too Faced Who's Your Poppy? blush which I got in a duo with last year's holiday collection

This is the most similar from all the blushes, looks exactly the same when swatched. The same pink tone and the same finish with the right amount of gold shimmer. Although this has the same texture as Bella Bamba the finish overall is the best dupe for Orgasm.

L-R Orgasm, Luminous, Bella Bamba, Philosophy, Glisten, Who's your poppy?

I really think I need to be a bit more adventurous when picking blush shades from now now on! Any Recommendations? Do you have any good dupes for higher end products?
 

Whats in my travel makeup bag?

I've finally arrived in California and getting the urge to blog while I have some free time. Will be leaving tomorrow morning to drive down the coast to San Francisco, so won't be blogging whilst there but I'm gonna try write up a few today so then I can just post them :) Thought I'd do a quick post on what's in my travel makeup bag as I haven't written a proper post for a few days now.

Boujois Healthy Mix Foundation

Revlon Colorstay Foundation

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Sample 

Benefit High Beam

Rimmel Fix and Protect Primer

Benefit The Porefessional

Urbn Decay All Nighter Spray

Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder

Milani Mineral Blush

Bourjois Bronzing Powder

Urban Decay Supercurl Mascara x2

Paul and Joe Cat Eyeshadows

Maybelline Line Stylist Eye Liner

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (travel size)

Urban Decay Primer Potion (travel size)

Rouge Dior - Rare Amber

Rouge Coco Shine - Rivage

Maybelline Lip Gloss - Born With It

Usually I'd take a lot more makeup than this with me but I knew I'd be buying makeup whilst here so kept it to a minimum but no I look at it it looks like quite a lot lol I really like that I can take small travel size pieces with me because I know that with thing's like primer and mascara I don't use that much. The Paul & Joe cat palette is my new fave at the moment, the eyeshadows are really good quality. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful week, will get another post up as soon a I can :)