Lush Boxing Day Sale Haul

Every year I miss out on the LUSH Boxing Day Sale however this year I managed to log on early and catch myself a bargain! As per usual the sale was nothing short of a nightmare, thousands were trying to get onto the site and were either told everything was sold out or were given an error screen, after hours of refreshing and refreshing I finally managed to get through. With a massive 50% off I knew I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

Tried & Tested // H&M Beauty

New in for Autumn 2015 is H&M's gorgeous new beauty line, like most people I had never taken the time to check out their make-up line just because it had never looked appealing to me. However, after seeing shots of their fabulous new packaging and hearing of the supposedly better formula I just had to pick some up for myself to try!

First of all I picked up a small make-up bag,
1. Because I was struggling to hold all the bit and bobs I'd picked up
2. Because I thought it would look perfect/ be handy to have in my university bag
I absolutely love it! Its so classic and minimal, and also I can see all my lovely pieces inside.

First off is eyes; One of the products I was most excited about was the eyeshadow palettes, the 'Smoky Nudes Palette' had sold out online so when I went into store I was so excited to see it stocked on the shelves. This palette is a blend of browns, pinks and a little bit of gold and comes with both shimmer and matte eyeshadow; perfect for multiple looks! In terms of consistency I felt the lighter shades didn't really pack a punch and we're hardly visible unlike the darker colours however when applied with a slightly damp brush or primer this pay off issue quickly resolved itself with some beautiful bold shades. I also love the fact the palettes come with a little 'how-to' leaflet which shows you three looks ready made to try out. Overall a gorgeous palette with a wide range of shades and looks to try.

However the New High Colour Impact Eyeshadows won in terms of both pigmentation and pay off, with only one application resulting in a strong gorgeous wash of colour. I picked up the shades 'Sharp as Mustard' (a warm/golden green shadow - actually my favourite out of the three), 'Ginger Snap' (a golden orangey bronze shade - very similar to M.A.C's Amber Lights) and 'Sahara Dawn' (a beautiful burgundy colour - a brilliant dupe for M.A.C's Cranberry). H&M have a great colour selection and supposedly are made in the same factory as M.A.C products so it doesn't surprise me that several of their single eyeshadows are excellent dupes for M.A.C. I also picked up a cream eyeshadow in 'Sirocco', i've mainly been using it as a brown eyeliner however a wash of this shadow over your eye would create a perfect dark eye unfortunately I haven't had occasion to use it yet.

I have quite a love hate relationship with painting my nails however there was such a wide selection of nail polishes I had to try some out! I picked up 'Science Fiction' (a beautiful aquamarine mix of deep blue and green's) and 'Precious' (a pure gold colour). I quite like the brush for a nail varnish as it fits nicely to the nail (less likelihood of painting the whole of your finger too) and the varnishes only need roughly 1 -2 applications for a nice strong colour. However you can still tell they are only £3.99, they are good for drugstore quality but they are clearly still drugstore products so I wasn't expecting them to be my new favourite nail varnishes. I also picked up a Quick Dry Nail Spray (mainly out of curiosity) which it does exactly what it says on the tin. My nails dried incredibly quickly but it did leave a matte effect of my nails which I wasn't fond of as it made my nails texturised and not glossy how I like them.

Last but not least are lip products! I picked up a cream lipstick in 'Ember Glow' (a warm autumnal red) and a lip crayon in 'When in Rome' (a dark nude colour). Both products are high in consistency but my favourite is definitely 'When in Rome' as its so easy to pop in my bag and as a lip crayon it both moisturises and adds colour to my lips. 

(Smokey Nudes Palette:- R - L /Bottom - Middle - Top)

(Top-Bottom / Sharp as Mustard - Ginger Snap - Sahara Dawn - Sirocco - Fairytale - Ember Glow - When in Rome)

So that's it for my first impressions of the new H&M Beauty, let me know if you have tried any of their new range!

Huge Spring Primark Haul 2015

It's been a while since I "attempted" a Primark Haul on my Youtube channel, nearly 2 years ago in fact! Over these last two years my Primark love has possibly tripled but my confidence to present myself to a camera in my bedroom has not, however I felt a blog post would not do a haul justice.  I have thought of filming/photographing a lookbook with these pieces plus a few more, please do tell me in the comments or on my social media if you would like to see a lookbook .
Anyway here is the video and I hope you enjoy!

Anna
x

Prairie Charms #PrairieXmas

Recently I was contacted by a lovely company called "Prarie Charms" about an opputunity to review their products for #prairiexmas, of course I said YES straight away! A couple of day's later I received the most gorgeous fuchsia parcel in the mail. I had a little fangirl moment (I love letters and parcels to an obsessive point) and opened the parcel to find my delicately wrapped gifts. I received some beautiful products and couldn't wait to try them on.

My favourite piece was the Kaiya Multi Wrap as it had so many uses and looked absolutely stunning! Normally I don't really have much interest in jewellery, but I loved the idea of using the Wrap for multiple uses and I think this might encourage me to start accessorising my outfits!

It can be used as a hairband - a particularly good item for people who have annoyingly long hair like myself.

 As a necklace to add a small simple statement to an outfit.

But by far my favourite is the wrap bracelet as I can pop it on as I'm running out the door and it will instantly jazz up my outfit!

Next is the Vanessa Retro Hairband. I've always liked the look of these hairband's, but been scared to try them as I was sure they would show off my rather large forehead (not good!). However I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by this beautiful vintage floral piece. 

The wire inside the material also meant I could style it into a cute bow shape!

Normally I love bows, unfortunately the Limited Edition Tartan Bow I was sent didn't quite make the grade. The material wasn't the correct length which made the bow's shape look a bit distorted. However I love the colours and the idea of the (much sturdier) crocodile clip keeping this beauty in your hair.

And last but not least are the Vivenne Knot Ties. These are lifesavers! Brilliant for quickly tying up your hair without leaving kinks in your barnet and they even look pretty cool on your wrist too.

Everyone who participated in the blogger event also received a discount code, and I've already decided what I'm going to spend my pocket money on! 

The Harper Glitter Bow in Poppy Red looks so pretty and I can't resist!

A massive thank you goes out to Prairie Charms and owner Stephanie for providing all these beautiful items for me to review and keep. Another amazing fact is that 10% of profits made from this project have been donated to the charity GOSH, which makes me feel much happier about spending my pocket money. I also want to mention how lovely and helpful customer service has been, helping me along the way via Twitter and email.

Why don't you give them a visit at Prairie Charms?

Or their Twitter Page?

Did you take part in #PrairieXmas?

Comment your link and tell me what you think!

Talk to you later,

AnnieMAC

xxx

GlossyBox Review || July 2013

I bought my first ever GlossyBOX in july and I must say I was mightly impressed! The products came in a little turquoise box with little coral images on it (very suitable for the month). 

I wanted to start off with my favorite product from the July box, the "Bamboo Style Boho Waves Tousled Hair Mist". Normally on a day-to-day basis I dont like doing anything fancy with my hair, it takes way too much time and effort for the 5 minutes I get in the morning before college (I confess I am that person who will skip doing their hair occasionally in the mornings), but spritzing a couple of pumps of this each morning gave my natural waves a boost and transformed them into cute curls instead of frizz. I've been dying to get some sea salt spray for months and now I can't live without it!

For those of you living in or visiting hot countries this summer staying cool is essential and so is this facial spritz by antamologie. One thing I want to highlight is that it has a very unique smell as the product also contains lavender! I honestly don't know how to explain it except by using the word "fresh". I would of preferred this as body spritz instead of facial spritz.

One product I didn't enjoy was the "Sleek Pout Paint", it was a very big disappointment. Supposedly "Lip Paint" is meant to provide you with long lasting and full colour however when I tried it it actually felt like I was applying acrylic paint to my lips (not a nice experience). Apperence-wise it looked like a young child had drawn all over my lips in windows paint, definitely would not recommend this.

I didn't have much use for this "Coola Mineral Suncream" as I live in the UK (it rains A LOT). However my new NARS foundation (as you may have seen on my youtube channel) doesn't contain SPF, which being a "pale freckled red head" was my worst nightmare! People with fair skin have to take extra precautions to protect their skin as we get sunburnt easily which causes skin damage, wrinkles and could leave us with a high risk of skin cancer (so for extra protection I used it under my everyday make-up). It's scent is almost a combination of plastic and suncream, but it left my skin soft and protected, which made me feel good inside and out.

Last but not least is the "Essie Sleek Stick" which I had high hopes for after reading rave reviews about "Essie's" nail products. They come in a range of different patterns which all look lovely however most of the nail stickers said to have been "designed to fit perfectly for my nail" really didn't and only covered up about half of my nail. Also I found that I the nail stickers were very delicate and would bend on themselves if brushed against something slightly making them very impractical. In the end they were half-peeling off my nails by a few hours so I decided to take them off. I liked the look of this product however these beauties were not long-lasting!

All together I was very happy with my first beauty box, and I am looking forward to trying out and reviewing even more unique products in the future.

What beauty boxes have you tried and tested? and which one is your favourite?

Tweet me at @AnnieeeMAC

♥

HUGE Primark Haul!

This week I visited Primark in London (one of the largest in the UK) and went a little crazy shopping for summer essentials! I ended spending just over £162 in the store, which I know is a lot, but hear me out? So over the Christmas period I got my first job working in a Debenhams restaurant; because it was my first job they didn't have my details, so they insisted on making me pay emergency tax (the highest tax you could have to pay). But recently they reviewed my case and refunded me £124!!! 

(which to a unemployed teenager is the equivalent of winning the lottery). 

Waffling over, I took my left-over birthday money and my tax refund and headed off to my nearest "Super" Primark. I recently filmed his "Haul" video on my Youtube channel, and wanted to post it here for those of you who may not have seen  it or are interested in finding out what my "Summer 2013 Primark Picks" are.

A lot of you requested the price of each item so here is the list : 

Red poppy print dress : £13

Cream/blue floral dress : £17

Turquoise jelly sandals: £3.50

Taupe HighTops : £18

Tie-dye tshirt : £12

Cross earrings : £1.50

Strawberry parka Iin a pocket : £9

White butterfly top : £10

Style your own necklace : £2.50

Navy/black purse : £3.00

Pink/cream bag : £10

Glitter jelly wedges : £12

(If ive got any of these wrong please comment or tweet me the correct prices and ill change them immediately), Let me know if you found this helpful and tweet me pictures of your summer picks!

@annieeemac

♥