Beauty Buying Ban - Day 28 - Weekly Wishing - LUSH

I've not been into a LUSH store in forever...I can't go in there and just buy one thing, the sales assistants always tell me if I spend a certain amount I'll get free things (which I probably don't need) or they try out new products on me and I feel bad for not buying them.


There are a few things from LUSH which I'm hoping to pick up in the near future, though:

Porridge Soap - £2.95 for 100g

I love the smell of this! I always want all the Lush soaps but find some of them very drying; this one is nice and moisturising.

You've Been Mangoed Luxury Bath Melt - £2.85

I've never tried this before so want to give it a whirl!

The Comforter Bubble Bar - £3.99 for 200g

I've never tried this either but I've heard lots of good things so I want to try it. I've been having baths much more since I moved to my new flat. I was living with four other girls last year so I showered all the time but now I just live with my boyfriend so there's no queue for the bathroom!

I also need to pick up another shampoo bar as they've been working really well for me. I'm not sure which one I'll go for just yet.

What are your favourite LUSH products?

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 23 - No Models Own for me!

I'm going to be good and not purchase anything in the sale. I did have my heart set on In The Navy, Raspberry Crush and Lemon Meringue.

If you want to take advantage of the offer, the code is FIFTYFIFTY and is valid for use on orders over £20 (before discount). The sale will end on the 29th of August.

It seems as though the website is going crazy and people aren't sure if their orders are going through. Lots of people are talking about it on their Facebook page. 

Let me know if you buy anything!

Stace xx

Can I Break My No-Buy For The Models Own Sale?!

So they've reached 50,000 likes on their Facebook page so the 50% off code will be announced soon (they're making sure the website can handle the traffic at the moment!)

I was hoping my no-buy would be over by the time they reached 50k :(

I don't *need* new nail polishes but it's such a good chance to try some at a low price!

What to do?!

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 21 - Weekly Wishing: Liz Earle

I already use a few Liz Earle products and I really like them. Here are a few other products I'd like to try...

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser - 100ml Pump £11.75

I'm going to start using the No 7 Radiance Boosting hot cloth cleanser very soon and if I like it I'd love to try the Liz Earle version. I'm always skeptical about using water in my cleansing regime as I find it dries out my skin. 

Deep Cleansing Mask - 75ml Tube Starter Kit - £12.75

I've used two of Liz Earle's other masks and love them so this one is the next I want to try!

Hands & Feet Try Me Kit - £17.40

I've heard some good reviews on the foot products; I'd love to try those but I'm also looking for a decent hand cream so this would be a good way to try the Orange Flower Hand Wash and Hand Repair.

Do you own any of these? What do you think of them?

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 14 - Weekly Wishing - Illamasqua

I've been playing around with Illamasqua's cream blush in Dixie quite a bit recently and it's made me want to pick up some more!

I really have my eye on Rude. It's a scrummy looking peachy orange shade.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude - £16.50

I would also love to pick up a couple of the cream pigments from the Toxic Nature collection. They're down to £10.50 in the Asos sale (see previous post).

I've heard mixed reviews about the Skin Base foundation but I'd still like to give it a try.

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation - £25

What do you think? Have you tried either of these?

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 11 - This Is NOT A Haul!

Okay, well it sort of is but I don't think I'm breaking my buying ban so here goes...

I placed an order on Superdrug for the MUA Professional Heaven & Earth Palette. It arrived at the end of last week. Delivery was super speedy and it was free! Although I think the free delivery on all orders promotion ended on the 8th, unfortunately. I've got a comparison between this and the Urban Decay Naked Palette coming up. It was £4.




I went home for a few days and my granny, who always has a lot of Avon in the house, gave me a lovely bubble bath. The scent is White Lily so it's a nice, clean floral scent. I'm looking forward to using this as my current bubble bath has almost run out and I didn't want to be without bubble bath for the whole month!




I picked up Marie Claire because I'm a bit of a magazine addict. I hope this doesn't break my beauty buying ban but I don't think it does as the products I got were technically freebies. The first freebie is a 50ml tube of Dove Express Treatment Conditioner. The second is a Ciate Paint Pot polish in Wait Until Dark. Watch out for a NOTD post with this very soon! The magazine is £3.60 and the freebies are supposedly worth £18.




I picked up a few items from a blog sale before the beginning of my buying ban. First up is an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencil in Rehab. I love this! I had tried Midnight Cowboy and found it too glittery but this one is excellent! Secondly, I picked up a Models Own polish in Fuzzy Peach. I've already done a NOTD for this one and whilst I initially wasn't overly impressed, I did grow to like it a bit more once I'd worn it for a few days.




I'm waiting on a few swap parcels too so this buying ban is going well so far! There are a few essentials that I'm running out of (nail polish top coat!) but I'm going to try really hard to make them last until the end of the month to avoid having to go into Boots or Superdrug!

Have I broken the rules? Let me know what you think!

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 7 - Weekly Wishing: MAC Brushes

Documenting this no-buy business is working pretty well for me! I think I'd feel really bad if I had to type 'I've failed' so this blog is providing some nice motivation! I've decided that *if* I manage to make it to the end of the month without spending a penny on beauty products (unless they're essentials which are necessary for good personal hygiene - i.e. I will be purchasing deodorant when I run out!) I can treat myself to something. One thing.

I already have a wishlist on Makeupalley so it will probably be something from on there. I've already detailed my NARS wishlist in a previous post so one of those items could be a contender.

There are two MAC brushes which have been on my wish list for a very long time and they are the 109 and the 217.

MAC 109 - £26

MAC 217 - £16

I'm not sure which I want more. I don't do a lot with my eye shadow so want the 217 to help me be more adventurous with the shadows I do have. I like to use blush and highlighter pretty much every day so I feel I'd get more use out the the 109. 

The price difference could be a big deciding factor in the end!

Do you have either of these brushes? Which do you think I should choose?

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban - Day 2 - Empties #1

I'm going to try and keep track of the products I manage to use up this month. I don't have a lot of 'almost finished' products at the moment as I finished up quite a few last month but today I used the last of these two:

L-R: BeneFit POREFessional, Revlon PhotoReady in 005 Natural Beige

Swatches (the last remaining drops of both products - it look me ages to get the PhotoReady out!)

BeneFit POREFessional - £23.50 for 22ml from any BeneFit Stockist

I've had this since before Christmas so I've tried it in cold weather and warm weather. I find in the warm weather, it doesn't do much for my pores and sometimes makes me even oilier in the areas where my pores are larger. In the winter time, this product works much better; I definitely noticed that my pores were looking smaller when I was wearing this. I think it's quite expensive at over £1 per ml and it's not something I'll be repurchasing anytime soon (because I've put myself on a flipping ban...!). I have mixed feelings about this primer; it's not amazing but it's not awful either. I'd suggest trying a sample before buying and only applying the teeniest bit to the parts of your face which have enlarged pores.

Revlon PhotoReady in 005 Natural Beige - £12.99  for 30ml from any Revlon Stockists

I have mixed feelings about this too. I've had it since January but I got it in a swap and it was about 90% full. I used it a lot initially before it started looking cakey on me when I applied it with a brush. It was also a touch too dark for me. I moved on to something else and this was left to flounder in my make up drawer. However in the last month I've been using it mixed with a little Estee Lauder Nutritious in Intensity 2.0. I actually love the combination! The Nutritious makes the PhotoReady a better colour match and stops it from looking cakey. I apply it with my fingers now too which helps. I don't notice a huge amount of sparkle so that's not a problem for me. I probably would repurchase this either in the lighter shade however, I might consider repurchasing this shade too to use on my legs (I'm not kidding, the teeniest bit makes them look so much better!).

So there we go! Do you love/hate either of these products?

Stace xx

Beauty Buying Ban! Day 1

I've decided to ban myself from buying any make up for myself for the month of August. I know that might not sound like a very long time but recently we moved next to a Superdrug so I've been popping in there far too much. Also, I've been addicted to blog sales and buying online which is rubbish because I think I'm not really spending anything because I'm not handing over my card and typing in my pin. 


I've tried Project 10 Pan so many times and always failed because I'm rubbish at finishing products under pressure! I might see if I can keep track of what I manage to use up over the month.


Today I've been going through my stash and picking out some more things to go up for swap (I'm hoping the fact I'll still be swapping will put me off buying anything) so there should be a post up soon about the things I've rediscovered. 


I've also put a lot of new things I've bought or swapped for recently into a separate bag and plan on trying out one or two of those items as I go along. It'll be like shopping...only in my bedroom. 


Wish me luck! I'll need it.

Have you ever done P10P or gone on a No Buy? Let me know how you did!

Stace xx