This Week's Beauty Buys..

After last weeks huge naughty spending spree I was determined to put myself on the spending ban until the end of the month. Two days later I found myself ordering more makeup products online.. Oops. You will be happy/disappointed (I'm a bit of both) to know that this week I spent much, much less. But nevertheless there were a few bits I had to pick up. 

No.7 Beautifully Matte Makeup Base 40ml (Exclusively at Boots - £10.50) Another primer. I'm a primer junkie, I just can't say no. The good news is that this one is a bit of a multi talented primer and can be also used to soak up some of that mid-day shine! I was recently in my local boots store and chatting away to the really lovely No. 7 MUA about being an oily skinned gal and about my quest to have an everyday foundation base that matched my tan well and lasted on my slippery skin when she suggested that I get colour matched and then she could recommend a foundation for me. Low and behold, the colour that I was matched in wasn't available in the Beautifully Matte foundation (Waaaaaaah!) but was available in the Stay Perfect Range. I was a a bit undecided being as oily as I am when she suggested that I could take away a sample of the foundation and a sample of the Beautifully Matte Makeup Base. One thing I just want to say is how refreshing it was to actually be offered a sample without having to drop major hints and coming away feeling judged. I don't know if its just me, but I feel that some store assistants just don't want you to have a sample and I find this really sad. The No. 7 lady gave me a generous amount of each, enough to last me five whole days which really was enough time to tell if I liked the products.  This primer is a really thick and creamy feeling liquid that is quite frankly, a magnet for any makeup that you want to put on the top. Seriously, everything sticks like glue. I have had no breakouts whats so ever and this keeps even my super shiny spots matte all day long. You may be expecting a big ol' price tag with such a wonder product, but in reality £10.50 isn't a lot at all, especially for the huge 40ml that you receive. The packaging is fairly simple and plain but I do love that it consists of a squeezy tube which means you're not going to lose a single splodge. Upon dispensing this product onto the back of your hand you may notice it has an almost iridescent sheen to it, but this is no visible at all when you've smoothed it into your face. If you like the sound of this, go ahead and get a sample from your nearest counter - I'll bet my hat they'll be happy enough to give you one.

No.7 Stay Perfect Foundation in shade Warm Sand (Exclusively at Boots - £14.50) And of course, being so happy with my samples I had to pick up the foundation too. I think I have a serious problem with foundations at the moment. Even being as sneaky as I am at hiding them away, Chris has noticed how many I now own, and when this one arrived his exact words were "Another foundation, come on Gem no one needs this many". But seriously. If you haven't tried this foundation, you need to. I would say its in the same league as Mac Studio Fix Fluid; It has the same medium/buildable coverage, around about the same wear time, the same feel on the skin, very similar shades and the only differences that I can see are the bottle and the price. Mac's offering comes in at a whopping seven pounds dearer - and that's before you've bought a pump! How does one judge a new foundation I hear you cry, well I judge it on this - does it stand the test of time? A 12 hour work day will do perfectly. It does? Check! Does the colour match my skin tone correctly? It does? Check! Does my skin seem to agree with it? Yep? Ding ding ding, we have a winner! The Stay Perfect foundation is completely hypo-allergenic which means that its bloody unlikely you'll have a bad reaction to it, and even contains an SPF 15 for good measure. Again, my only gripe is that the packaging is very plain, but it does the job and considering I always thought No. 7 was for older ladies, I've been pretty impressed so far!

No.7 BB Lips Beauty Balm in Blush Coral 11ml (Exclusively at Boots - £9.00) One thing you have to say about me, if I find a brand I like I give it a fair trial on all categories. Enter BB Lips Beauty Balm. I love a lipgloss with good pigmentation and this seemed to fit the bill for me. I'd heard about these little babies a while ago somewhere and thought they sounded brilliant. Of course, when you're reading blogs you do tend to forget one or two products while you're mentally adding things to your shopping list and that's exactly what happened with these, they just fell off my radar. These lipgloss/lipbalm hybrids cater a whole host of benefits from beautiful colour, soothing nourishment and UV protection. Well, that kind of ticks all my boxes when I'm looking for a lipgloss. I picked up the shade Blush Coral because, as I mentioned in last weeks beauty buys post, pastel orange is having a bit of  a moment with me - I just can't get enough. This feels amazing on the lips, not sticky or gloopy and has a pretty good wear time of about 3 hours until its totally disappeared and you need another slick, quite impressive for a lip gloss huh? Also, I've heard tell that these are a supposed dupe for the Clarins Colour Quench Lip Balm, but I myself haven't tried one of these so I couldn't confirm. The packaging of the No.7 BB Lips is rather cute, with a squeezable tube and molded plastic applicator, which reminds me of the Lancome Juicy Tubes!

No. 7 Set for Summer (Purchase two or more No.7 products and receive this free gift worth £22.00) Another cheeky one guys but I had to include this. How amazing is this for a free gift?! Included is a sample sized BB Lips in Blink Pink, a full sized Nail Colour in Duck Egg Blue, A sample/travel sized Extreme Length Waterproof Mascara in Black and a Stay Perfect Eye Shadow In 'Middle Shade' from Good Earth Trio. I know some people love free gifts like this and I know some hate them. Hey, even if you only get one thing you think you'll use for free surely you're onto a good thing?! I asked and apparently this offer should be on for another few weeks - so if you've had your eye on some No.7 products, now's a good time to go and get them!

Real Techniques Sam's Picks Gift Set (Escentual - Reduced to £25.40) Even though I really didn't need them, I ended up getting some more makeup brushes and you may find it utterly ridiculous that I bought this set just for the Multi Purpose Brush which I have been lusting after for so long now. But I know I'll find a use for all of them anyway, even the ones that are duplicates of ones already in my collection. There are six brushes in this set; Multi Purpose Brush, Buffing Brush, Essential Crease Brush, Setting Brush, Pointed Foundation Brush and Fine Liner Brush which works out at just £4.23 a brush - which ever way you look at it, that's absurdly good value! This brush kit would make a great gift for someone that's new to makeup, or to any beauty love (as well as a brilliant treat to yourself!).

Garnier Micellear Water (Boots - £4.99) A repurchase! And a must have in my cleansing routine. I use this water after using a cleansing lotion/balm/butter to 'double cleanse' which is essentially just making sure everything is off my skin. I find this micellear water to be soothing and cooling, perfect on those warm summer nights. (Yes, I did just have a little sing of Grease - Summer Nights to myself.. Don't judge).

Bare Minerals Quick Change Brush Cleaner (Feel Unique - £8.75 110ml) A makeup lovers essential! This is just the perfect lazy girls cleanser. If you haven't got time for a deep shampoo or are too lazy for it (beauty sinner here) a quick spritz of this will remove colour and bacteria from you brushes while leaving them smelling divine and dry in a couple of minutes! So that's it for beauty buys from my this week guys. Even though I feel guilty, I didn't spend too much did I?! I think I need someone to take away my bank account! What have you been buying this week?

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