Secret Beauty Blog -

Happy Chinese new year! To revel in the celebrations, the boy and I took a trip to the west end thinking we would indulge in a cheeky Chinese feast and see what was going on. EVERY restaurant was packed, so unfortunately we didn’t end up having Chinese but I did manage to make a few pit stops in Boots, John Lewis & Illamasqua to pick up these beauties!

I had nearly £100 in Boots Advantage card points so skipped over to the Chanel counter to pick up the Ombres Perlees de Chanel palette but of course, they were out of stock! I didn’t realise how much I wanted it until I swatched it, the colours are absolutely beautiful and are soo smooth and creamy. I gulped at the £39 price tag but I really fell in love with it, in the end I got it from John Lewis (where they have stock of everything, FYI). In the end I just got the Black Pearl polish and Benefit’s Bella Bamba from Boots, I still have quite a few points left so I’ll save them for a rainy day..
Some of you may know I like to dress up as zombie in …

I don’t know why but I’ve never actually purchased anything from Benefit before make-up wise. I’ve had the Maybe Baby perfume and the freebie Bad Gal eye liner, and a mini Bad Gal mascara (that came free with magazines) but I’ve never handed over my hard earned cash on a Benefit make-up item. I think it was always the high prices and bad reviews that put me off, I wasn’t impressed the ‘cult’ Bad Gal mascara & liner and everything else just seemed like a gimmick? Anyway, browsing the Debenhams online sale I spotted this beauty for just £16 .67 and as I was going to buy Coralista anyway I thought this was a right bargain, seeing as the RRP is £25 and I get to sample the infamous Dallas which I was also keen to try.
The ‘Powder Time Lover’ blush palette features a cute mini version of Benefit classics – Dallas, Coralista & Dandelion all housed in a sturdy cardboard palette with a mini blush brush. The powders are 3g each, which is a perfect to sample seeing as the full size powders are 11g. Who gets through a whole blusher anyway? Not me =)

Swatched L-R Coralista …

Interest in this collection has been a bit poor, not many seem to like the packaging – me included! After seeing swatch photos and collection imagery my new found blush obsession definately had me interested in the cheek products especially as I LOVE peach cheeks! I wasn’t too interested in the eyeshadows, especially after MAC blatently lied about the plaid pattern being not just as overspray, but new technology crap that meant it went all the way through to the pan. British Beauty Blogger exposed this to be a porky pie, but my boyfriend said it wasn’t possible anyway and he’s a smart dude.
Anyway, obviously my spending ban has hit the skids (didn’t see that one coming, did ya) I indulged in a little haulage as I’m a MAC fiend and can’t resist the LE colours. Nothing tartan found itself in my basket, not for no reason but I wouldn’t use one of the kits. Here’s what I picked up -

From L-R
Her Blooming Cheek blush £16.50
My Highland Honey blush £16.50
The Faerie Glen lipstick £12.50
Golden Crown eyeshadow £15.00
MAC also threw in a sample, never had one of them before! Prep & Prime Face seems interesting, I’ll probobly end up …