Beauty Spend Report | April 2021

 

It’s been a while since my last spending report because I actually managed to make it through March with a beauty no buy! I know, I am as shocked as you are, but don’t worry, I made up for it last month! Here is a rundown of what I picked up!

 

It all started with a little Boots order to restock my vitamins and some body moisturiser (I don’t include these as they are so basic/necessary) when I thought I would look for a replacement for my Essie Midnight Cami nail polish which I have went through a couple of bottles of and is on its last legs. Unfortunately, this shade seems to be discontinued which is a typical occurrence for me when I find something I love *rolls eyes*. It was a beautiful, unique, twilight blue with a subtle shimmer running through it and the closest I could find was this navy blue in Infinity Cool, it’s pretty bog standard but I like deep shades like this for my toenails so it will do the job! It cost £7.99 and like I said was part of a bigger order so I got £10 worth in points which I will come back to later! I will also receive £1.32 from TopCashback when it clears! 

 

Later in the month I made a Look Fantastic order consisting of repurchases! My beloved Olaplex No.3 for £20.80 instead of £26 (read more about how much I love it here!), the Barry M lip scrub for £3.99 instead of £4.99 and the Anastasia Beverly Hills single shadow in Warm Taupe for £5.94 instead of £12. I have a full review of my custom ABH palette here but this shade is by far my more used and since it was half price I thought I would pick it up as mine is old! The total for this order was £30.73. These all had 20% off and the eyeshadow had up to 35% off so was a few pennies cheaper! Gotta love Look Fantastic for a discount and I used TopCashback too so will get £1.54 cashback from them too!  

 

Towards the end of last month I struggled with deciding to get the Cult Beauty GWP or 15% off my order instead but in the end I decided there was enough I wanted to try in it to justify the extra spend! I picked up a few things that had been on my wish list for a while as well as some newer releases – the Paula’s Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster (£37), Biossance 100% Squalane Oil (£27), Keys Soulcare Reviving Aura Mist (£22), Heritage Store Castor Oil (£6.99), Hello Sunday The Everyday One – Face Moisturiser SPF 30 (£15), Vieve Eye Wand in Camel (£21), Lanolips Fruity Babies (£8.99) and the IT Cosmetics travel size Your Skin But Better CC+ in Light (£14). The grand total of this haul was £151.98. Everything is new to me apart from the Lanolips 101 Ointment in the Fruity Babies set which I LOVE and talked about more in this post all about Lanolips. Coincidentally, my original coconutter balm was from a previous Cult Beauty GWP! I forgot to use TopCashback but I did get 5% cashback through my Santander credit card so £7.60! 

 

Along with a £150 spend came the Tried and Tested goody bag and I am most excited to try the Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil, Medik8 C-Tetra, Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Face Cream and Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen. There are a few products I’m not interested in so I might try sell them on eBay or Instagram! 

 

Finally, my last purchase of the month was the Nars Soft Matte Tinted Lip Balm in Unrestricted while it was on offer with 20% off at Boots. I also bought it with my Boots points as I finally had enough so even better! Now I have 11 points left haha, worth it though as I absolutely love this! It is the most perfect pink nude and the formula is just beautiful! It’s so comfortable to wear and looks so chic as it's matte! I hope they make them permanent! This was £18.40 instead of £23 and like I said I used my points to buy so didn’t actually spend any “real” money!

 

 

 

Unedited swatches l-r: ABH Warm Taupe, Vieve Eye Wand in Camel, NARS Unrestricted, IT Cosmetics CC cream in Light

My total spend for April was £190.70 instead of £225.96 which is a bit ridiculous if I am honest and reminds me of 2016-2018 me when I would spend loads on beauty each month. I have become a lot more selective of what I buy these days and the Cult Beauty order was a big chunk of this and since I hadn’t got the last few as they didn’t interest me I thought it was time for a treat! But it basically makes up for a no spend in the month of March ha! I’ll tell you already that May hasn’t been much better *face palm*

 

If you like this post, check out my January and February spend reports! And if you are in the UK and want my TopCashback referral, drop me a comment or message! 

 

Have you made many beauty purchases recently? Let me know in the comments!

 

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Haircare | Philip Kingsley Review

I was kindly sent a super generous haircare bundle from Philip Kingsley two months ago and now I have had ample time to properly test, here are my thoughts! I will start this by saying at the minute my hair is on the normal/dry side due to Roaccutane though I don’t experience dandruff or flaking and I have been washing a maximum of twice a week over the last 6 months. Normally, my roots are greasy and I wash every two days so that has been heaven for me! I also have long, fine, non-coloured hair and find my ends are dry and break easily. OK onto the review! 

 

The cult Elasticizer Therapies Egyptian Jasmine and Mandarin* RRP £37 has been the standout for me which I thought it would! I have tried a couple of minis of this years ago and always thought it was a nice deep conditioner but I didn’t really get the fuss, however, this is one you need to be using consistently to see the difference with. It is a pre shampoo treatment and I love leaving this on overnight so it really sinks in. It contains hydrolyzed elastin which helps reduce breakage by providing stretch and strength and castor oil and olive oil rehydrate hair making it look shiny and healthy. I dampen my hair then apply a generous amount of this all over and wrap in a microfibre towel to sleep in overnight (the heat helps open your hair’s cuticles so they can properly absorb the nutrients).  

 

After washing out and styling I am left with much more manageable bouncy hair and most importantly, my dry ends are hydrated! For me, this means I am noticing far less breakage and also less hair falling out when I am brushing. The Egyptian jasmine and mandarin scent is limited edition and not overpowering at all and the design on the packaging is beautiful! I do use Olaplex No 3 regularly as well so the condition of my hair isn’t just down to this but they really have been a dream team of treatments for me and I can’t wait to see long term results with continued use! I talked about it in my Roaccutane Diaries post too! 

 

Next up, the Daily Damage Defence Leave In Conditioner* RRP £19.50, this protects hair from UV damage and heat damage from styling tools. Another product with my name all over it as a serial hair dryer and straightener user! This is a really lightweight spray that doesn’t weigh my hair down. Like the Elasticizer, it contains hydrolyzed elastin to add strength and elasticity, in turn reducing breakage. Sweet Almond Seedcake Extract strengthens and smooths hair strands, and Pro Vitamin B5 (Panthenol) regulates moisture and plumps your hair shafts, leaving hair shiny. You can use on wet or dry hair but I tend to use on wet hair and this also detangles making it easier to brush! I think it’s so important to have a heat defence spray so I’m glad to have this in my collection!

 

Sticking with the Elasticizer range (you can tell by the colour coding!) the Elasti-styler 5-in-1 treatment* RRP £35 is a leave in serum that contains phytolastin which helps to retain moisture, babassu oil to nourishes hair and olive oil which helps hair look shiny, smooth and healthy. It also contains dimethicone, a silicone, which is a love/hate ingredient for me – love because it adds shine and tames frizz, hate because it does tend to weigh my hair down after a few days, makes it need washed more frequently and it builds up a coating on hair requiring a wash with a shampoo containing sulphates where I try to be SLS free.

 

This can be used on wet or dry hair but I have been using more on dry hair closer to wash day when I don’t want to use heat but my hair could do with a little smoothing and extra shine and it also works well to tame flyaways and make me look a more put together! The serum feels lightweight and this one doesn’t make my hair look greasy or limp but I will be interested to see if this continues when my hair goes back to its normal oily type!

 

Since I gave myself a segue into SLS free shampoo there, let’s talk about the No Scent No Colour Gentle Shampoo* RRP £20.50. This is a gentle, fragrance and sulphate free formula that cleans hair leaving it looking shiny and smooth and is suitable for daily use as well as use on sensitive scalps. Like I mentioned before, if using dimethicone in haircare it is important to use either a cleansing shampoo or one containing SLS as they are the only thing that can strip the dimethicone back out so it doesn’t build up and dry out hair. I am a double washer so have been using a shampoo containing SLS as my first wash then following with this to make sure I am removing any dimethicone build-up! Overall, this is a lovely, gentle shampoo that leaves my hair feeling hydrated!

 

The Body Building Weightless Conditioner* RRP £20.50 is my least favourite of the products I was sent. It contains wheat protein to help strengthen, volumize and plump hair strands, behentrimonium chloride to helps to smooth cuticles, add gloss and detangle and silicone to help add shine and reduce static. As I mentioned, silicone is a difficult ingredient for me and one I prefer to use on dry hair towards wash day! While I find the formula itself lightweight, I don’t notice much in the way of thickening but I do notice my ends drying out quicker when I use this. I think this would be better suited to someone with shorter hair or less damaged ends!

 

Also from the body building range is the Maximiser Root Boosting Spray RRP* £19.50. Containing surface resins to add volume and hold for styling, protein and conditioning agents to smooth and protect hair and UV protectors to help to shield hair from sun damage this spray works to volumize and lift fine, flat, flyaway hair. It is heat activated and I spray onto my roots when my hair is towel dried before blow drying. Although my hair is long and prone to looking flat, I have noticed a nice amount of volume at the roots since using this and it is residue free!

 

The Maximiser Strand Plumping Cream* RRP £22.50 is another lightweight formula that contains wheat protein for volume and a multi-vitamin complex to leave your hair smooth, shiny, and easy to control. It also contains dimethicone PEG-8 meadowfoamate, a silicone that is easier to wash out than just dimethicone. My hair definitely feels smoother when using this but I don’t notice much in the way of volume unfortunately! 

 

Please note that I am not a scientist and my thoughts on silicones and SLS come from personal use (and some googling!) - some people love dimethicone/silicones in their haircare! I have found for me, buildup can lead to my hair getting greasier quicker and my ends looking dull and dry so I try to minimise its use or use closer to wash day. That way, I have already got my “clean” hair days then can maximise the taming and smoothing benefits of it  The elasticizer contains amodimethicone but I find it doesn’t weigh down or dry my hair out at all, probably due to me washing it out yet I still get the benefits of it softening my hair!

 

Overall, the PK range is lovely and my favourites are the Elasticiser, leave in conditioner and root boosting spray! Aside from the No Scent shampoo which is obviously unscented, the products have a lovely subtle scent that don’t overpower! Philip Kingsley products can be purchased directly from Philip Kingsley as well as Look Fantastic, Boots and Cult Beauty and many other retailers!

 

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Skincare Review | K Beauty Favourites

Over the last year, my collection of K Beauty skincare products has grown significantly so I thought now would be a good time to talk about some favourites! I am so happy more brands and products are easily available in the UK now through the likes of Tonic15 as well as moving into LookFantastic and Cult Beauty and I have a wishlist as long as my arm of products I want to try!

  

I recently did a whole post on my current toners which included these three so I will keep this brief but I love all three of these and am already on my second bottle of the Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner! This was one of my favourite skincare discoveries of last year and a staple for me while on Roaccutane as my skin was so dry. It is cooling, soothing and hydrating and very similar to the Dear Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner! Another gel like toner, this one is also perfect for dehydrated skin. Finally, the I’m From Rice Toner, a milky, hydrating toner that brightens and evens out my skintone. It feels calming and balancing and rounds off a trio of impressive toners! I actually have a couple of others in my stash that I haven’t had the chance to test properly yet but I finished my Roaccutane tablets last week so it won’t be too long before I get them into rotation! If you want to read a more detailed review of these three toners see my Current Skincare | Toners post here! 

 

The K Beauty product I have been using for the longest is the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask and I went through a couple of minis of these in Canada and bought the big one just before I left and it has lasted a lifetime! I know people either love this or hate it but I am firmly in the love it category. It is so nourishing, gently exfoliates lips making them feel smooth and it keeps them from drying out overnight which is a must for me! I am so happy Laneige are about to be stocked at Cult Beauty too!

 

The I’m From Mugwort Essence also made its way into my daily routine last year and as with the toners, it was bought as a soothing, calming addition to my skincare collection! It’s a watery consistency and I press onto my skin with my palms after toner. This contains 100% Mugwort which is rich in antioxidants and really helps to calm redness in my skin leaving it smooth and helping with any irritation. It feels hydrating and though the most expensive of the products here at £37 it is well worth it, a bottle lasts forever and my skin loves it! I want to they their Fig Boosting Essence next! Read more about it in this Five Things I’m Loving post or my Roaccutane Diaries! 

 

As I loved the essence so much I decided to pick up the I’m From Mugwort Mask to match! It’s a gorgeous gentle, wash off mask perfect for sensitive and irritated skin like mine has been! It instantly calms angry skin down and takes any redness out. It has a very earthy, textured gel consistency but the mugwort pieces are not abrasive at all and the slight scent is fine! It only needs to be on for 5-10 minutes to be effective and my skin always feels so soothed and calm after!

 

Lastly, the Huxley Good Night Sleep Mask is another favourite! It contains Pricky pear seed oil, hyaluronic acid and centella asiatica and though it’s an overnight mask, it’s a super lightweight gel and absorbs quickly. The first time I used this I thought I would wake up with my skin feeling parched but even though it does sink in quickly, my skin doesn’t dry out overnight. I wake up with hydrated, smooth and plump skin so this is a winner for me! It’s so cooling and soothing and it also featured in my Best Beauty Discoveries of 2020!

 

Like I said, I have a few other K Beauty items in my stash I haven’t had a chance to test properly as well as a huge wishlist so there may well be a part two to this post! In the meantime I would love to know what your favourite K Beauty products are! 

 

Get up to 5% off at YESSTYLE with my code DANIELLESBB5

 

If you like this post you may also like my French Pharmacy Favourites! 

 

*There are no PR samples in this post. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used. See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

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Roaccutane Diaries | Month Six | Makeup and Haircare

I can’t believe it’s been six months on Roaccutane already, the time seems to have flown! I have a couple of days worth of tablets to take then a check-up in 6 weeks time and hopefully this round of medication sticks (third time lucky and all that) and I will continue to be acne free! I will link my previous two updates at the bottom of this post if you want to read them but for this final instalment I thought I would focus on the makeup and haircare that has been working well for me while on the tablets! 

 

My favourite side effect of Roaccutane aside from clear skin is a drier scalp meaning my normal every 2 day hair wash has gone down to once a week. What a dream! I’ve been lucky not to suffer with a flaky scalp but I still like to use my Nature Lab Tokyo Perfect Shine Clarifying Scalp Scrub (10% off with code Danielle10 on Nature Lab website). It has such a great SLS free formula and contains sugar crystals to exfoliate. It’s easy to get worked into my scalp and does a great job of getting rid of build-up leaving my hair shiny and feeling hydrated but not weighed down. Read more here in this Five Things I’m Loving post!

 

Next up, my old favourite Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector. I‘m sure you are sick of hearing me talk about this but it really is one of my favourite hair products and I have repurchased it countless times over the last 3 years! It is a bond rebuilder and I like to leave it on as long as possible before washing out and it has made my hair so much stronger and healthier. I notice far less breakage with this which is much appreciated as someone with dry ends no matter if I am on Roaccutane or not! I pick my split ends far less when I use this regularly and it’s been a life saver over the last year when the hairdressers have been out of action for so long! See more of my haircare essentials here! 

 

A more recent addition to my haircare arsenal is the Philip Kingsley Elasticizer* RRP £37 (10% off with code PKARAW). Now, this is a product I have tried a mini of before and thought it was a nice deep conditioner but never really paid much attention to. Like the Olaplex No.3 it also needs to be used regularly in order to see the benefits and I have been taking turns using one or the other each time I wash my hair. The sweet spot for me with this is an overnight session, my hair seems to drink it up and after washing out and drying, it looks shiny, my ends don’t feel dry or crispy and when I brush, I can visibly see the ‘elastic’ bounce on tangles that before would have broken. My hair doesn’t feel weighed down and I can’t wait to see more improvement with continued use! This is the limited edition Egyptian Jasmine and Mandarin scent which if I am honest I don’t love but it’s not overpowering at all and I don’t find it lingers! How beautiful is the packaging too!

 

Moving onto makeup and I treated myself to a few new bits more suited to dry skin as most of my current stuff was very much geared to my oily/combo skin though to be honest apart from month one, I would class my skin as more normal right now than very dry! The Fenty Beauty PRO FILT’R Hydrating foundation (shade 150) is absolutely beautiful! I was already a big fan of the matte version but this really brings the glow! It’s medium/full coverage, doesn’t feel heavy or settle into fine lines and lasts really well on my skin without flaking or wearing off. I resisted the NARS Soft Matte Concealer (shade Light 2 Vanilla) for a long time thinking it would be too drying but how wrong I was. It has been perfect for covering up some stubborn pigmentation I have, doesn’t disturb the makeup I put on top and a little goes a long way! It also made my Best Beauty Discoveries of last year! I also recently picked up the NARS Soft Matte Foundation (shade Deauville) which is another full coverage foundation (the only type I am interested in lol) and though the name obviously says matte it isn’t drying at all and again lasts well for me throughout a full day at work with my mask on and off. Full review here!

 

As well as those newer products I did have a few old favourites that have also risen to the occasion for me! The Becca Backlight Priming Filter is a primer I love to mix with foundations to add a little somethin’ somethin’, it feels hydrating and creates a soft focus and I am devastated the brand is ceasing trade later this year! Pick this up while you can! I chatted more about it in this Forever Repurchased post! NARS Sheer Glow foundation (shade Deauville) is an old favourite that even my oily skin loves though the longevity is better for me right now! It’s another medium/full coverage base that feels so lightweight and gives the most natural but perfected finish! Lastly for base, the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder, another product I have went through countless pots of. It’s never cakey, adds a little extra coverage and while my skin is more normal, towards the end of the day with makeup on it can start to feel dry but it never looks flaky or flat when I use this. I prefer to use with a fluffy brush than a puff and a pot lasts ages so worth the investment in my opinion! Talked more about it here! 

 

Finally, some lip products I love! The NARS Afterglow Lip Balms (Dolce Vita, Fast Lane and Orgasm) and Charlotte Tilbury Superstar lips (Pillowtalk) have been my go to’s. Although my face isn’t too bad, my lips are DRY. These are my favourite long-lasting tinted lip balms (I haven’t worn lipstick in over a year more so due to lockdown/mask wearing than Roaccutane), these are hydrating, they give my lips a great my lips but better colour and the lasting power is great on them too! Spoke more about them in this lip balm post here!

 

So that’s it for my Roaccutane hair and makeup favourites - I have a check-up in 6 weeks once the medication is out of my system but I’m not sure if I will have any other posts about it! I’m just really hoping it doesn’t come back so keep your fingers crossed for me! Did you see any of your favourites mentioned?

 

If you want to read the other instalments in this series see below!

 

Roaccutane Diaries | Month 1 | Skincare

Roaccutane Diaries | Month 3 | Bodycare

 

*denotes a PR sample that was sent to me.

All opinions are my own. Affiliate links used.

See my full disclosure here.

 

Danielle xx

 

If you want to keep up to date with my posts, don’t forget to follow me on

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