Boots Haul.

“Let me get this straight. So you left the Dauntless compound to get ready for war… and took your makeup bag with you?”
“Yep. Figured it would be harder for anyone to shoot me if they saw how devastatingly attractive I was…” – Insurgent by Veronica Roth.

I know I did a beauty haul last month, but last week was my final week as an employee of Boots, so obviously I had to take advantage of having my employee discount. Throughout the week I did lots of buying and ordering and now that it has all arrived I can show you all what I have purchased.

This post is going to be split into three parts because a chunk of it was bought on Monday, another chunk on Tuesday and on Wednesday I both bought and ordered another chunk.

The most exciting thing in this first bundle of products is definitely that big Ciate Christmas tree of nail polishes. This triangular package includes six mini nail polishes in some very Christmassy shades, although I’m sure I’ll find a way to make them work all year round. Half of the colours are glitter, therefore they are ideal for any party and the remaining three are a more neutral shade and two bright ones.

From left to right (top row first) these nail polishes are:

• London Baby
• Snow Globe
• Carousel
• Pillow Fight
• Ditch the Heels
• Mistress.

So far I have only used Carousel, but I can report that I am very happy with these nail polishes as in just one stroke I had so much lovely gold glitter on my nails which lasted well.

Next I bought some Soap and Glory products. I have never really ventured into the world of Soap and Glory, so this is a rather new brand for me. Last month I also tried their Supercat eyeliner for the first time and I love it. I asked some fellow beauty bloggers on Twitter about their favourite products from this brand and I decided to buy a few of the ones which were recommended to me and these were:

• Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub (I’ve used this already and absolutely love it. It smells absolutely gorgeous and delicious – like maple syrup – and does a very good job; my skin was so soft after one use.)
• Hand Dream (working in Boots made my hands very dry, plus it’s winter, so I needed a new hand cream which I will be starting very soon.)
• The Righteous Butter Body Lotion (always an essential, plus the body lotion was the same price as the body butter, but contained an extra 200 ml).

I did end up buying even more nail polish later that day, but as someone who does nail art, you can never have enough black and white nail polishes. Because I do get through them quite quickly, I also go for cheaper brands, although I’ve never tried Seventeen‘s Gel Colour ones. I have used this collection of nail polishes before and been impressed by them, so hopefully the black and white live up to that standard.

My final purchases from the photo at the top are all by Rimmel (hey, they were on a 3 for 2 offer).

Firstly, is an eyeshadow quad in Smokey Brun full of lovely shimmery brown and gold shades. Next we have two lipsticks (surprise, surprise). The first one is the classic 107 which I do already own, but as my oldest lipstick I am getting low on it, so now I have a spare. The second one is from their new collection The Only 1 (I have reviewed these lipsticks here) in shade 800 Under My Spell. Here are swatches of the eyeshadow and lipsticks:

I apologise for the terrible lighting; it has been a very rainy day. All swatches are in the order in which they are mentioned. Since Under My Spell, the bottom swatch, is the one you’re likely to know least about and is less visible in the image, it is a purple lipstick with a pink undertone. It is not as opaque as 107, nor is it matte, but if it is like the other two shades of this range I own, it will prove to be long lasting and not drying on the lips.

We’re now onto the second load of products. The store I was working in didn’t actually sell Essie nail polishes, but someone returned this collection and I snapped it up instantly as I have been eager for more of their nail polishes for ages. Also, the value is very good as they’re usually £7.99 each, but the set was £24.99, plus I had my discount, so I was very pleased.

Listed in the same order as they are displayed above, the shades included are:

• Licorice
• Bahama Mama
• Fiji (currently wearing and I actually really love it.)
• Fishnet Stockings
• Cocktail Bling (already worn and loved, even after a single coat).

Next I bought a couple of No7 products. Now this isn’t exactly my favourite brand, but I do quite like their lipsticks and I did have vouchers so I couldn’t resist. I bought some face wipes since they were just so cheap with vouchers and discount applied (in fact, I bought about four packs) and I bought one of their Stay Perfect Lipsticks in the shade 505 Auburn Whisper (it’s brighter than the photo suggests).

Finally, load number three. I’m going to start with nail polish again (I cannot believe how much of it I’ve bought in one week) since I wanted to talk about the Barry M nail polish from the last load with the one from this one.

Here we have their Matte top coat. I’ve recently started to love matte nail polishes, but I only have a couple, so instead of buying loads I decided to go for a top coat. I haven’t heard anything about this one before so I am curious to give it a try.

The second nail polish is one of their Gelly Hi Shine nail paints in Chilli which I have been after for a while. This is a rather dirty red shade, in fact it seems quite similar to the Auburn Whisper lipstick (how coordinated of me).

Next I have a couple of Benefit purchases. I absolutely love their Roller Lash mascara and was in need of a new one, so there was no way I was leaving Boots without another one last week. I actually have quite a few mascaras to use up at the moment, so as much as I love this mascara, I’m going to use my other ones up first since I don’t want to waste them.

My second Benefit product is the Rockateur blusher. I was very much tempted towards their Hoola bronzer, but I have three bronzers to use at the moment, so I pulled myself away. Blush, however, it definitely something I lack. Since I have naturally rosy cheeks I’ve never really bothered with it, but I would like to, especially now that my cheeks aren’t as red as they used to be, so I am excited to give this product to try; it’s so pretty! (Unfortunately, due to lighting I couldn’t get a good enough photo to show you guys.)

I mentioned this earlier, but last month I discovered the Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner, so last week I had to buy myself a spare one for when it dries out which will inevitably happen, but hopefully, not for a while. It’s always good to be prepared, right? What I love about this eyeliner is that it is so black and extremely easy to use. In fact, whenever I use it I can’t help but do a little flick with my eyeliner which I love. It also lasts very well throughout the day.

Back to lipsticks! That’s right, I bought eight lipsticks in one week. I’m not sure I have room for them all, especially the reds!

The first two are Bourjois‘ Rouge Edition Velvet liquid lipsticks, both with a matte finish. The shade on the left is 08 Grand Cru and the one of the right is 01 Personne ne rouge!, both of which are gorgeous shades of red, though the first one is darker and latter has a slight orange undertone.

The third is a NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi. The scent of these lipsticks are incredibly sweet, arguably sickly sweet. This is a lovely brown-y nude which I expect I’ll be getting a lot of use out of.

Lastly, we have an Elizabeth Arden lipstick. I have been after one of these for an awfully long time, but they’re expensive, plus I needed to decide which shade I wanted, but I eventually settled on 03 Scarlet as I already have a shade similar to Arden’s classic Red Door Red.

In the best lighting  I could muster I swatched these lipsticks for you all in the order that they are listed:

Except for a repurchase of the foundation I use (Rimmel’s Match Perfection which I completely forgot about) that is everything I bought in Boots last week. It may be a lot, but it should keep be going for a while…

What have you been buying in Boots recently?

Have you tried any of these products? What do you think of them?

-driftinglexi

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