It's that time of year again...

It's almost May and its that time of the year again.. Exams are here!
Everyone is stressing about how little they know and how worried they are for every exam!
And this year I'm in the exact same boat, I haven't done an exam since I was 18!

I dropped out of my A levels after my AS's due to personal reasons, and completed a BTEC instead... The BTEC had no exams so this year exam season has came and smacked me right in the face.. I forgot how much preparation was actually needed!

I've made my revision notes and I'm reading every page over and over again, and nothing seems to go in! I'm so glad I've my boyfriend is staying with me in Manchester for the next week to try and keep me sane! I can't wait until next Friday and everything's finished!

Ultimately the only thing you can do in an exam is your best, so the stress really isn't worth it!
Getting a good nights sleep and a good breakfast is essential, and you just have to go in with a positive mental attitude & hope the questions come up in your favour!

So everyone, keep calm and do your best :)
Exams aren't the end of the world, and there are always options if things go wrong!!

I won't be blogging this week due to my busy 4 exams in 5 days!
So I'll see you's all at the other side!

Chat next week lovelies,
Rachel :-) x

Drug-store Beauty!

Helloooooooo! It's a Monday, and it's actually been a gorgeous day! Spring has finally sprung!

I've got a few bits and pieces to show you that I've bought from drugstores and Tesco over the past 2 weeks!

First Tesco!

One of my closest friends is a Team Leader in Tesco and she pointed a new make-up brand they had got in one day that Becca and I went to visit her, and of course being make-up addicts we went for a nosey!

This brand is 'Along Came Betty' and the packaging is slightly similar to those of Soap and Glory! It stocks make-up, skin care, body washes & fake tan. I went for the 'All Concealed Concealer Kit'. 

This is a little duo concealer kit, with a cream concealer on the right for under the eyes, and a concealer for blemishes on the left. Underneath there is also a brightening powder to apply to under the eyes to get rid of any dark circles! 

This set is quite similar to the Laura Mercier Undercover Pot in design, however I've never tried the Laura Mercier pot so I wouldn't be able to say whether this is a dupe product! 

The 'Along Came Betty' kit is currently on offer in Tesco for £4.99 reduced from £6.99!

It's not my favourite concealer I've ever tried, but combined with my MAC studio fix concealer for spots & my Collection Lasting Perfection concealer I can cover myself up pretty well against my stressed exam-time spot prone skin!

I also picked up the Ecotools eyeliner brush in Tesco for £2.50 as I needed a new brush for my eyebrows! Cheap and cheerful, it's a basic little brush that's fulfilling all my eyebrow needs! :)

Next, I may have dandered into Superdrug and quel surpris it racked up a fair dint in my bank balance!

After recently buying the MAC Paint Pot, I wanted a cheaper alternative as it's so easy to use and saves a lot of effort in the morning on eyeshadows!

I went for the Maybelline 24Hr Colour Tattoo's after hearing Estée raving on about 'On and On Bronze' so I decided to purchase it! And obviously Superdrug had a 'Buy One Get One Half Price' offer on, so I picked up 'Permanent Taupe' .. Oops :)

I love them both so much, I have quite a hooded eye (basically I have no eyelid) so these work great for me, one quick slick over the lid and I'm good to go! They stay on well & they don't tend to crease on me which is a shock saying as I have such a small lid! Permanent Taupe is such a lovely day look, not too strong! And On and On Bronze is just my perfect shimmery gold.. I swear I think shimmery gold could be the one eyeshadow shade I wear for the rest of my life and I wouldn't mind! 

They're £4.99 and you can find them here... On and On Bronze & Permanent Taupe :D

I also dandered down to the MUA stand and it's no surprise that I found lots more to buy! There's so many good products and they're all so CHEAP! Perfect for any skint student :) 

My mum had been looking me to find her a lighter colour in a lip stain balm, as the Revlon Kissable Balm Stain she had is too dark for day wear.. So when then I found the MUA Power Pouts me and my mum thought BINGO! :)

These are super-hydrating, pigmented lip crayons with pretty good staying power! They aren't as strong as the Kissable Balm Stains but have more colour than the Revlon lip butters.. They're a great half way point between the two for a low end lip product.. These babies at £3 each!!

They were released about a week ago here in Northern Ireland, and between my mum & me, we already own 5 of the 6... (and thats only because the last one was out of stock!) OOPS!

You can find these babies HERE ...

From left to right, the shades are as follows:

'Crazy in Love', 'Irreplaceable', 'Rendezvous', 'Runway' & 'Justify'

My mum and I are so chuffed, and I definitely think we'll be recommending them to anyone that will stand long enough to listen to us!

Definitely not doing anymore beauty shopping (except my Fragrance Direct order thats on the way... :-S), my bank simply won't allow it!

What's your opinion on Drugstore vs High-end beauty? 

Let me know!

Chat soon lovelies,
Rachel! :) xx

Junction One Cosmetics Store Haul!

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I visited Junction One after hearing from my gorgeous bestie Becca that Northern Ireland had an Outlet store for make-up with brands such as Bobbi Brown, MAC, Clinique and Ojon! I was very excited to visit and after being repaid money I was owed, the money was burning a whole in my pocket!

Firstly, after whining on and on at Reece about how amazing the Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara apparently was, he bought me the little Gift set that was on offer from £30 to £15! Saying as the mascara alone is £11 in store I thought this was a great bargain! Unfortunately my mum threw the box out of this kit so I don't know the full name! She didn't give me time to snap pics, doesn't understand blog life!

It also included a mini High Impact Mascara in Black (£16 full price), a mini Cream Shaper for Eyes in Black Diamond (£14 full price) and a Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Champagne which is £20 full price! 

The lighter shade of the duo is very pale, but a gorgeous shimmery gold colour, while the darker is a warm brown! Think these two are perfect for a easy everyday look, and they come in a handy little case which is mirrored so it's easy to apply anywhere and everywhere! :) 

Thank you Reece for this little pressie!  

Now MAC... *dum dum duuuuuuuum*

I went a litttttle bit crazy! I had money to spend and it was one of those I NEED EVERYTHING moments... But I restricted myself to 5 products and this is what I chose.. :D

1. MAC Paint Pot in 'Treasure Hunt'

2. MAC Double Feature 6 - No names on this :(

3. MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in 'Dollymix'

4. MAC Dazzleglass in 'Dressed to Dazzle' 

5. MAC Matte Lipstick in 'Lady Danger'

This store was meant to sell only discontinued products, but from the links you can still see it's possible to buy Lady Danger & Dollymix, so I just got on the shelf products for cheaper! :) 

I love the paint pot, its so handy for days when you don't have time to do full make-up, just throw a layer of this on and you're good to go! It's quite a light shade of gold which is new to me but I'm adjusting to it.. All about trying new things isn't it? I believe I paid around the £9 mark for this, which is good considering they're £14.50 instore! 

I'm a bit disappointed that the duo eyeshadow don't have actual names, I feel it takes away from the uniqueness of the product slightly. :( again this has a gorgeous shimmery brown and also has a gorgeous taupe/mushroom colour with it, which was slightly hard to get a good photo of! (sorry!)

Again, these are easy peasy colours to throw on whenever you're in a rush! They're actually quite similar to the Clinique shadows, so I'm gonna be good and give my mum one set.. I don't need them all :) I believe I paid between £11 and £14 for this set, which is good when a single MAC eyeshadow is £12!

Dollymix is a gorgeous Candy Pink which completely satisfied my inner Barbie! Its so easy to blend onto the skin and I literally think I've worn it everyday since I bought it! This is a big deal to me, because I really only started wearing blush in about January of this year! Big steps to go for a bright one for me! I'm properly impressed with MAC blushes and I will be buying more.. (shh.. don't tell my mum or my bank balance!) 

I think I paid £14 for this :)

MAC's Lady Danger is a bit of a cult beauty product, everyone, their dog & their auntie's sister has it, and after being bullied/forced into buying it by my boyfriend I now know why! It's gorgeous and so bright, it will literally cheer you up when you're wearing it! I live in a small town and I get a few funny looks from the granny's and granda's, but it's time to realise those funny looks don't matter! :) I always struggled with the dreaded LIPSTICK ON TEETH moments, but after discovering MATTE lipsticks this issue has vanished. I swear I'm such a make-up virgin not knowing these things can be fixed, I thought I was never going to be able to wear lipstick! Lady Danger was one of the dearer lipsticks available at £9.50, but still a steal compared to the £14 instore pricetag!

Finally the Dazzleglass! I heard Fleur talking about how much she loved the MAC Dazzleglasses and I had to treat myself. So shiny, so sticky (but sticky in a nice way) and oh the taste! I'm a sucker for anything vanilla related, and these babies are another item on my vanilla hit list! A sparkly lipgloss with an ever so pinky tone to it.. I love it, layered over a nude lip, on it's own.. Anything. They are PERFECT. Favourite lipglosses ever, I'm in love! <3 

I think 'Dressed to Dazzle' was £11 as it was a limited edition colour!

Well this was a long one, but it was a big haul in my eyes! Altogether we spent £70.. WOW. 

But instore it would have been close to the £120 price mark, so I don't feel just as bad.. Plus one item was a present :D

No more high-end beauty products for a while I think.. However I do have a Drugstore mini-haul to post about soon as well too :) I swear the bank are going to cancel my debit card!

Hope you enjoyed reading :)

Chat soon!

Love, Rachel :) x

New purchase!

Me and my boyfriend went shopping today in Belfast city centre, and after a lot of deliberation over different colour lipsticks.. I decided on a gorgeous purple lipstick from Illamasqua!

The girls on the counter in Debenhams weren't very helpful, so I totally wasn't sure if the colour was going to suit me, but I was brave and took the plunge anyway!

This shade is called 'kontrol' and I absolutely love it! It's a nice bluey purple, which is easily layered up on the lips to make a really deep shade of purple!

It also fades away to a lovely shade.. Some lipsticks I find fade and look like you might have some kind of strange lip disease! But this turns into a nice pinky hue on the lips!

This lipstick was £16, which to me is quite steep! But I've been wanting one for ages and I decided it was time for a treat!

Have you tried any Illamasqua lipsticks? What's your opinion on them? Are they too expensive for what the product is? Let me know!

Chat soon my lovelies!
Rachel xxx