Pamper Yourself For Less Than £5

I love a good pamper.

Especially after the gym on a Friday night to mark the end of the week and to get refreshed for the weekend.

You don't have to spend a fortune either to put a basic pampering kit together so yesterday lunchtime, armed with my last £5 in the world, I challenged myself to find the essential beauty basics on a very limited budget.

This is what I decided on:

Radox Moisture Soak - 99p; Mudd Sea Mask - £1.01;

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner - 99p; Coconut & Shea Butter Body Butter - £1. 

All from Superdrug.

I also treated myself to an MUA lipstick in shade 4 - £1.

It looks shockingly pink in the tube but it is actually very sheer and wearable. It applies like a dream and is incredibly creamy and moisturising.

This brings the grand total to...£4.99!

Clearly they are not the most luxurious items available but I just wanted to show that you can buy everything you need for a relaxing makeshift spa evening without breaking the bank!

Samples and travel sized items are a great buy if you are looking to try something new or you are simply on a tight budget.

I hope you all have a lovely Friday night; I'm off to soak in a hot Radox bath while my face and hair masks do their work!

What Is Your Must Have Basic Beauty Item?

Mine is cotton wool pads!

These basic, cheap little round pads are a constant must have for me; I use them for everything! Removing makeup, applying toner, taking off nail polish, creating make-shift eye masks...I can easily get through 100 in a month, they're so handy and so much better than cotton wool balls.

What is your must have, can't live without, most basic beauty item?

Dirty Works Pore-fect Face Scrub

Dirty Work Pore-fect Face Scrub 125ml

£3.32 - normally £4.99

Dirty Works is a brand of scrubs, moisturisers, bath products, facial products and the odd bit of make-up made exclusively for Sainsbury's. It's basically a blatant rip off of Soap and Glory at knock-down prices!

I found this brand a few days ago when I was perusing the aisles for shampoo and the cute kitsch packaging instantly caught my eye. I've just about come to the end of my Soap and Glory Scrub Your Nose In It, and while I did really like it, £7.40 is a bit steep for a cleanser. I already had a Garnier scrub in my hand, and I did spend a few minutes umming and ahhing whether or not to buy the Dirty Works - would it work? Is it just a below par supermarket brand wrapped up in pretty packaging?

In the end I threw caution to the wind and decided to just try it - all their products are on offer with 33% off, and £3.32 is hardly breaking the bank. I was tempted to get a few other bits but I thought I'd see what the quality of this product was like before I committed to buying more.

They Say: "Reveal your inner beauty with this softening and smoothing facial scrub. Bursting with fruit extracts, it will tingle your senses with excitement and leave your skin refreshed and ready for further action!"

I Say: I am mightily impressed with this scrub! 

You only need to use a small amount as, despite being a scrub, it also foams and lathers up really well. It's incredibly menthol-y, more so than Scrub Your Nose In It, but not in an unpleasant way. My skin literally feels minty fresh and super clean after I've used this; it also leaves my skin so soft and smooth and doesn't dry it out at all, nor does it encourage my face to create excess oil throughout the day which is something I'm wary of when trying new cleansers.

I was fully expecting this to be rubbish if I'm honest, so for it to actually work as it claims to has really made my day!

Of course I'm now going to have to fill my basket with other yummy goodies from their selection next time I'm in Sainsbury's!

Have you tried any products from this brand? What do you think of them?

Superdrug MUA Lipstick - My Perfect Pink

I never thought my perfect lipstick would be cheaper than Heat magazine!

Superdrug MUA Lipstick 3.8g in Shade 12

£1.00

I bought this sooo long ago and just sort of forgot about it! But yesterday morning I was rooting around my make-up while I was putting my 'work face' on and I found this!

I've never been great at wearing lipstick, I always prefer a gloss or plain old Vaseline. I do tend to wear quite a bit of make-up to work these days but I always keep my eyes quite neutral so I decided to try this lippy out - and I love it!

The cute pink colour is so wearable for everyday; it's not so bright that I get self conscious, but it's just the right amount to be noticed and if you look closely there are tiny little flecks of sparkle that make it lovely and shimmery.

I find it goes well with my Bourjois blush in Rose D'or - they are quite a similar shade.

I applied this at 8:30am yesterday morning and it lasted up until lunch, around 1.30pm before I felt the need to reapply. It's very easy to apply and not drying at all.

I think I could wear this day and night and I can see it fast becoming part of my daily make-up routine.

The only bad thing I can say is that the actual lipstick is a little wobbly inside the tube but as long as you're careful with it, this shouldn't be a problem!

Next time I'm near a Superdrug I think it's only fair that I try out some of their other colours - there are 13 shades in total - £13 for 13 lipsticks - can't get much better than that!

4 and a half out of 5 monkeys easy!

Thanks Superdrug!

P.S.

My giveaway ends on Monday - stop by and enter if you haven't already!

Fragrance Direct

Click here to visit the site.

I meant to blog about this website a few weeks ago but other things kept getting in the way! I came across this site when I was ill over the New Year period and online shopping is a good way to pass the time when you're stuck in bed.

Anyway, this site sells perfume, cosmetics, skin care, bath and body products, hair products and gifts. I was surprised at the amount of brands they sell - some of them I've never heard of, but a lot of them are brands I use on a regular basis such as Bourjois, Rimmel, Maybelline and Max Factor. There is even a little bit of Benefit and Urban Decay.

After a quick look around the site I decided that buying some Bourjois products would definitely make me feel better so I set about filling my basket up. The savings you can make on the products are pretty phenomenal, for example I purchased a 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation for £3.99, saving £5.50 on the RRP.

All together I purchased:

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation 30ml £9.49 £3.99

Bourjois Sweet Kiss Lipstick 3g £7.99 £1.99

Bourjois Complexion Enhancer Apricot 20ml £5.99 £1.50

Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush in Lune Dor 2.5g £7.49 £1.50

Total Saving: £21.98!

I like the overall look and layout of the site and was very impressed with delivery - only £1.95 per order and it arrived two days later perfectly packed and sealed.

I did feel a bit guilty after shopping here, but then I thought I spend enough money on cosmetics and a bargain is a bargain - and this is much better than buying makeup from Ebay and risking fakes or used products.

I wanted to do this post now especially because Valentines Day is coming up! Perfume makes a lovely gift and they are selling lovely ones from Calvin Klein, Nina Ricci, Vera Wang (got my eye on that one) and DKNY - you really can't go wrong...start dropping hints now ladies!

I really recommend this website if you are a bit short on cash but still want a makeup fix - have you ever used this site before?

http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/