Recent Purchases

These seem to be a monthly occurrence on this blog. Even when I feel like I haven't bought much, I go and prove myself wrong when I gather it all together!

I bought more pots of Lush's Ultrabland and Ro's Argan the other day. I'm nearly out of my current ones, and couldn't be without them. This is actually the first time I've paid the full £16.50 for Ro's Argan; I had Mystery Shopper store credit for the first pot, and my parents bought me the second for Christmas. I never thought I'd spend this amount on one product, but things change (mostly my income!). There's also nothing that compares to Ro's Argan, so it's worth the price, in my opinion. Ultrabland is also my third pot, and was £11.50, but you can get a smaller pot for £7.25 (this was £10.95/100g and £6.95/45g not too long ago - everything keeps increasing in price!). Although I appreciate their black pot exchange, I'd love for them to bring out a rewards card of some kind.

I bought a £25 Feel Unique voucher through Groupon for £15, so thought I'd buy one of the more expensive items I'd had my eye on; Origins Clean Energy Gentle Cleansing Oil. I've used it a few times so far, but will be sharing my thoughts in a week or two. With this, I received a deluxe sample of the Origins GinZing Brightening Mascara, which works out to be around £6 (£17.50 for the full size). I also added the Figs & Rouge Vanilla Pistachio Hand Cream to my basket to bring the total over £25. I love Figs & Rouge, especially their hand creams, so I'm happy to have another in my routine.

The Aussie shower gels are currently on offer in Boots, so I picked up the large bottle of Shower Smoothie, which has a sweet, bubblegum scent. It was £3.17 down from £4.75, but I also had a 10% off code loaded onto my Advantage Card which I'd forgotten about, making this even cheaper. If you haven't got the Boots app yet, I'd definitely recommend it!

Last month, Burberry were promoting their Burberry Kisses lipstick range by giving out free samples with nominations through Twitter. After being nominated myself, I nominated my sister, and she kindly let me keep hers. I have the shades Military Red and Nude Pink, and I can't get over how cute they are. These work out to be around £7.58 each, which is a lot for a sample.

The majority of the Aussie haircare range is currently better than half price at Superdrug, so I had to stock up. This kind of offer is rare for the brand - It's normally 2 for £7 or 3 for £10. The bottles above were £2.32 instead of £4.69.

I bought the Garnier Ultimate Blends Honey Treasures Strength Restorer products a few weeks ago now, but had to include them because they were such a bargain. They've only just come out, but I think my store received them early and had no space for them on the shelves, so they were put on clearance. They were also on 3 for 2, so I managed to get two treatments and two serums for £3.17. They're £4.69 and £4.99 each full price, so I couldn't believe my luck. I wish I'd bought more now. They smell like creme brulee, and are actually quite good!

I also placed a generous order with Lindt when they had their Easter sale, but there's not much left to show you...

A New Fragrance

When Burberry Body was released a few years ago, I only wore fruity body mists. It's only in the last few months that I've started wearing perfume on a daily basis, actually. So, when I received a sample of this, I was surprised by how much I liked it. It's not light and floral like my Marc Jacobs or Nina Ricci fragrances. It's more sophisticated and has top notes of green absinthe, peach, and freesia, heart notes of natural rose absolute, iris, and sandalwood, and base notes of woody cashmeran, creamy vanilla, sensual amber, and musk. It's warm, slightly sweet, and lasts for hours on the skin. I love it the most when the softer base notes come through because it's quite strong at first. Some have labelled it as an 'old' scent, but I don't think it is, and have read many comments from twenty-somethings sharing my opinion. Although I love my other fragrances, they don't last that long, so I'm definitely going to be looking at eau de parfums over eau de toilettes in the future.

I wanted to buy this perfume when it was first released, but it was a lot of money, and then I forgot about it. Then, about a week ago, I was browsing allbeauty.com when I came across it again. They have the eau de toilettes, eau de parfums, body milk, body spray, limited edition packaging, Intense, and Tender versions. I went for the original eau de parfum 85ml for £36.95 instead of £75 (they've now increased the price to £39.95). It's also available in rose gold packaging, but the bottle is opaque metal rather than glass, and I don't like it as much. I'm happy with the original packaging because it's simply beautiful!

I've bought a couple fragrances and makeup products from All Beauty now (formerly known as Cheap Smells), and I'd definitely recommend them. They've been cheaper than Fragrance Direct for the perfumes I've wanted, so it's worth comparing both sites before purchasing from one!

Have you bought anything from All Beauty before?