Poundland Haul

This post may seem a bit weird considering in my last blog I was talking about a high end brand, but recently I've found myself heading into Poundland to see what they have to offer in their beauty aisle. I only started buying beauty products from Poundland in the last 3 months or so- I've always known they sold beauty stuff but always thought it was the cheaper brands or brands I've never heard of and it put me off. However, after seeing a blogpost (and I have no idea whose blog this is, I read it about 3 months ago as I was just googling stuff) and seeing someone else's Poundland haul, I decided to take a look at what they have to offer.

Everything I have bought has been over the space of a few weeks and has been from 3 different Poundlands. Annoyingly, they never have the same stuff. But here's a quick run through of the goodies you could potentially find if you happen to head into one :)

Skin Care

I always have a pack of baby wipes handy - I use them for everything. If I'm feeling lazy, I will use them to remove my makeup. I even use them when cleaning my room to remove any marks on my floor or to wipe down a shelf. I probably go through a pack a month, so I tend to pick some up in Poundland every few weeks to keep me going.

I picked up this mud mask after wanting something to do one evening, however, it's not very good. I think I have quite tough skin but this made me irritated and sore and I probably won't use it again.

Hair Products

I love looking at the hair stuff in Poundland, you can usually find well known brands, some relatively expensive, like Aussie, and try out some of their stuff. I will say one thing though - Even though the product appears cheap at £1, you should look at the amount of product you get, as some bottles in Poundland are often smaller than if you get them from Boots or Superdrug and it works out more expensive. However, if you simply want to try a product out, they go ahead. I haven't followed my own advice here, as I didn't check whether a product would be cheaper anywhere else before buying it, but as I bought 2 of the products to try out, and 1 because I was in a hurry and had no time to go anywhere else, it doesn't matter too much.

The V05 Volumising Spritz spray was one of the first things I bought. I love my hair to be big and bouncy so I decided to try this. Unfortunately it doesn't really do much, or not that I can tell anyway, so I simply use it like a hair perfume now. So if I've been cooking and want to head out, I'll just give my hair a quick spray with this to make it smell a bit nicer. My hairs naturally curly so spraying my hair allows me to scrunch up my hair to bring the curl back but I get the same effect with water. I was not impressed with this product.

I also got an Argan Oil hair mask, which I actually love. I've got a more expensive sample hair mask which I got free with a magazine a while ago and loved the feeling it gave my hair, so I bought this. Although it doesn't do quite as good a job, for £1, you can't complain. I will definitely buy this again.

The last is a conditioner. I bought the Garnier Fructis shampoo from Savers and I quite like it, so I just picked up another conditioner when I was in Poundland as they are the same price as the Saver's ones.

Nail Polish

One thing I've been getting into recently is nail polish. I'm quite lazy and can never be bother to paint my nails, and there was a period of about 3 months when I couldn't for work, but lately I've been building my polish collection up.

The first one I bought is an OPI Shatter Polish in black. My sister was actually quite shocked that I got this at the quid shop as she's a beauty therapist often uses OPI on her clients. I like the effect this polish gives my nails, it almost reminds me of leopard print.

The next one is a Graffiti polish, and I'm actually unsure of the brand. It may be Poundland's own creation, I'm not sure. Like the shatter polish, this is more for a nail effect than a polish on it's own and I painted this over black and loved it.

I recently bought the Sally Hansen polish and the Rimmel polish. I was just instantly drawn to the colours, although I haven't had a chance to wear them yet.

The last one in this pile is a Miss Sporty polish which actually came with a lip balm and some nail stickers. Yes, three products for £1! To be honest, I only bought this because I wanted the balm and although I haven't used the polish yet, I can't imagine I'll like it. It's a reddish brown colour.

Nail Tools.

I bought these items more because of how they looked rather than desperately needing them, but I think that's the case for most of the stuff I own. The nail files come in a pack of six and I thought they were so cute and quirky, I just had to have them. I love anything vintage/retro looking so these really appealed to me. I'm not a fan of these types of nail files, I prefer metal or glass ones but now I have enough to simply pop one in my bag, another in my dressing table, another by the side of the bed etc...

The second thing I bought was a little manicure kit. I was in desperate need for some nail scissors anyway so this gave me the perfect excuse to buy it. I think this is so adorable! I love the film Breakfast at Tiffany's so I decided I must have this. I think the quote is amazing and the little purse would be perfect for travelling, even if I do swap some of the things inside for slightly better quality items.

Makeup 

I left the best til last. I was surprised by how many brands like Rimmel, Revlon and Maybelline were sold in Poundland. I don't know that much about the products, whether they were discontinued or not, but I think some of the products are lovely all the same. I was also very excited to see that they sold some US brands like Hard Candy and Wet n Wild which you can't buy in the UK (unless of course, you find them in Poundland.)

I'll start with the US makeup first. I have 2 eye crayons and a baked eyeshadow by Hard Candy. I actually used the eyeshadow yesterday and I loved it. It reminds me of a Bourjois one I own, but obviously cheaper. I wasn't so impressed with the eye crayons. I found them difficult to use and they weren't very pigmented. Although I did use the darker purple one for a base so it wasn't a complete waste of money. The eye crayons were 2 for £1.

I also got a Wet n Wild blush which I'm also very happy with. It only takes one sweep of a brush to enough blush on there, in fact, sometimes there's too much so I have to tap it off. It's very pigmented and for £1, I couldn't be more pleased with it.

I have yet to use the Rimmel lip liner but I don't own many lip liners so thought I would buy this to try it out. It's a lot darker outside the packaging; it's more of a brown than a red.

The mascara is a Maybelline one and I was intrigued as I have never seen it before. To be honest, it's not a bad mascara, but it's not amazing either. It's brown rather than black so I would perhaps wear it at work if I didn't want a thick mascara look but I wouldn't pick it up for everyday wear.

Lip Balms

The last two products are lip balms. I love my Miss Sporty Dr Balm, in fact I think it's better than Baby Lips. The taste brings back some nostalgia for me as it reminds me of the first lipstick my mum ever bought me. The lip balm is orange and I think it tints my lips slightly, though doesn't stain them. If you're a fan of Maybelline Baby Lips or just love lip balms in general, I recommend heading over to Poundland to get one of these. In Superdrug they are £1.99 so you're saving money.

The second one I included in my February favourites and it is the Carmex lip balm. This stays on the table next to my bed and I was so happy to find it in the quid shop as I've been wanting to try this for ages.

So there's my haul :) Have you picked up any gems from Poundland recently?

February Favourite's

So, I know it’s a few days late but I have never done one of these and really wanted to. At the moment, I’m really busy trying to write two essays due in for Friday, but I didn’t want to get behind on blogging now I’m getting into a routing of posting once or twice a week. Anyway, back to the subject of my blog post. These are my top five beauty products I used or discovered in February.

Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean - £8

I actually purchased this Soap and Glory cleanser mid January but it took me a few weeks to decide whether I liked it or not. At first I wasn’t sure on the smell; it’s a mix between peach and mint which a lot of people adore, but it took me a couple of weeks to decide whether I liked it or not. I wouldn’t say it’s the nicest smelling S&G product, but I can see why people like it.

Like the smell, it took me a while to figure out how to use the product in a way that suited me. It says to use every evening (and morning if you’ve slept with makeup on) to melt away makeup. I currently do this, but I was simply squeezing the cleanser onto a flannel to scrub the makeup from my eyes. As you can imagine, my face got a bit sore doing this. So I eventually bought makeup remover and cotton pads to take my eye makeup off, and then I cleanse my face by massaging the product onto my skin with my finger tips. I don’t know if that’s how you’re suppose to use it but it works for me. I’ve noticed my skin is a lot softer and I don’t get dry skin as often. Before I exfoliated twice a day and I think this is what caused random dry patches.

Smashbox Try It Kit - £19

I’m going to write a more detailed review of the Smashbox Try It Kit but I absolutely love it. Five high end mini products for less than £20 is great value to me. And I’ve found a couple of gems that I will purchase in full size in the future.

Revlon ColorBurst Matte Balm in shade Audacious - £7.99

My boyfriend actually bought me this to say well done for getting a first on one my uni modules. I’ve wanted an orange lipstick for ages, and thought I bought one in my Fragrance direct haul, a couple of posts back. Unfortunately, it was just a gloss. I kept walking past these ColorBurst Matte Balm’s in Boots and really wanted the shade. After I got my results, my boyfriend said I could take advantage of the three for two offer and this was the first thing I picked up. It’s such a gorgeous colour and so easy to apply and I will definitely be buying more ColorBurst Matte Balms in the future.

EcoTools Bamboo 6 Piece Brush Set - £14.99

I really wanted some more makeup brushes to add to my collection and after reading a lot of reviews on these brushes, I decided to buy both these brushes and the face set as it was buy one, get the second half price. Although I love both sets of brushes, I definitely use the eye ones a lot more. I eventually want to invest in some more expensive brushes like Real Techniques, but for now, these do the job perfectly.

Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm - £1

Recently, I’ve been getting really dry lips and I’m probably noticing them more because I’ve been wearing a lot of matte lipsticks. I came across a review where someone said they preferred Carmex to the Maybelline Baby Lips. I love the Baby Lips, so when I came across this in Poundland for, you guessed it, a pound, I couldn’t resist buying it to test it. It’s not the nicest tasting thing in the world, but it actually has really helped my lips. And for a quid, you can’t really go wrong.