An 'a bit of everything haul'

Oh shopping! How I adore you and love doing but it's a risky business - it cheers one up but can be damaging to the bank accounts.

Anyway, I recently stayed in Birmingham for a few days and stayed at Hotel La Tour a modern and very stylish hotel which is perfectly located right at the heart of Birmingham, within 5 mins walking distance to the famous Bullring shopping centre.  I thought I would break my dear bank by spending a lot on shopping but I'm so pleased I only picked up a few items but exciting stuff that I wanted to share with you.

Of course I had to visit Boots and I picked up three items there.

The No.7 Anti-Ageing Shimmering Lip & Eye Screen (£7.5) that I picked up after watching Lily Pebbles' recently videos.  This multi-purpose lip and eye screen contains SPF 30 which also filters UVA and UVB.  It comes in a golden shimmer packaging which is quite versatile.  When you swatch it on your hands there is a slight shimmer to the finish.  It is quite sticky on the eyelids when applied, it can be worn alone or as a primer.  For my lips I didn't like it quite as much because it's not very hydrating.  Perhaps on days when I tried it on my lips were quite dry but it seemed to cause my lips even more flaky than it would normally.  

I wandered around to the makeup sections and was attracted to this Max Factor Wild Shadow Pencil (£4.99) I picked up the colour caramel rage.  It's a dark brown colour with a hint of shimmer.  It glides on easily on the eyelids and very easy to blend but it isn't the most pigmented product.  For heavy handed people this would suit them as you really need to work the crayon on the eyelids a few more times before you get enough product to work on the lids.

I am a total fan of Barry M nail polishes but with their makeup products I've never tried anything so I thought I would pick up something from it.  Blue seems to be rocking the makeup scenes lately and am sure it will be big this coming A/W.  I picked up the Barry M Bold Eyeliner in Blue (£3.99).  I haven't tried it on properly yet so I shall report on this when I have created a few looks with it but am exciting to using it.

The main purpose for me to go into Boots was to get a new facial cleanser but god knows how I ended up picking up the above 3 items.

I wanted to try something new and when I saw this L'Oreal Skin Perfection Soothing Gel-cream Wash I instantly associated this with my favourite Skin Perfection 3-in-1 Purifying Micellar Solution which made it to my July Favourite.

Because I loved the micellar solution so much I have confidence in this gel-cream product.  The extremely friendly price-tag at £2.99 made this product even more tempting.  I also like the sound of the formulation of it, a creamy wash which sounds hydrating but the gel combo makes it sound like my face will be refreshed after the cleanse.  I will report on how I get on with this.

I also picked up a couple of necklaces from Forever 21.  I have been on the hunt for longer necklaces these days.  I fell in love when I saw these two in the shop.

When I saw this Kissing Couple Necklace (£3.99) I thought it was so cute that it would go with any of my outfit, to dress up or suit a casual style.  The other simple slightly (one part) oval shape gold necklace is something that I have been looking for (sorry I cannot find it on the website).  It was only £3.15.

Have you picked up anything exciting recently?