Collective Haul: Skincare, High Waisted Shorts & More

Hello Hello! I've done quite a bit of shopping over the past week or two so I thought I'd show you a few of the things I purchased.

In ASDA last week I found myself down the cosmetics isle and some of the skincare products were on a 3 for £6 deal. I picked up the Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser, Kind to Skin Foaming Cleanser and the Refreshing Face Wash Gel. I really needed a new light moisturiser that didn't take too long to soak in for when I'm rushing around in the morning. The foaming cleanser was something I'd never really used before and I was ready for a new face wash so for £6 I was pretty pleased. The mini Loreal Elnett Satin hairspray is an essential for me when I do my hair for nights out and in the bag I take - I love this one because it adds volume to my fine hair! I couldn't resist as it was on offer for £2.50.

I went to Sallys for the first time and picked up some nail polishes. I don't see China Glaze and OPI too often but I fell in love with 'Fade into Hue' by China Glaze which as £6.98. On the right is 'My Private Jet' which is brown with some really tiny specks of glitter running through it. This one was on sale for £3.75 - bargain! 

I was in Newcastle last weekend and spotted a little vintage stall run by a lovely geordie guy on the gateshead quays. These vintage high waisted Levis were only £20 and fit like a glove. I've been looking for some vintage high waisted shorts for ages so couldn't leave these frayed light wash ones behind.

Aaaand in Topshop I found another pair of high waisted shorts! I'll need a few pair of shorts for my holiday soon and seen as I had student discount and £20 worth of vouchers I only had to pay £5.20 for these instead of their original price of £28. These are more figure fitting than the ones above and are rolled up rather than frayed giving a neater look compared to my others.

So there we have it! I was really pleased with my finds over the past week or so and even got really good deals on a lot of it which made it so much better! I can't wait to wear the shorts for the rest of summer and on my holiday and you better believe that as soon as I hit publish on this post I'll be whipping one of those nail polishes out, ha!

Thanks for reading,

Ellen x

Review: EOS Lipbalms

Hello Lovelys!

If like me you watch a lot of American beauty vloggers/gurus on YouTube then you may be familiar with the EOS (Evolution of Smooth) lip balms that a lot of them rave about. They're like little colourful eggs with a dome of lip balm inside - pretty unusual compared to the average lip product. They looked so intriguing and I was eager to try one, and now I can say that I'm very glad I did.

I have to admit I wondered if they were just a novelty product but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they work. Unlike a lot of lip balms I found them to all absorb into the lips quickly without leaving that greasy residue that seems to just sit on your lips without doing much. I also noticed that my lips were far less chapped than usual especially in the winter months, which didn't happen when I was using Vaseline lip balms or other drugstore favourites.

It's now a bit of a tradition for me to buy a new one of these every time I visit the USA. They come in a variety of scents/flavours and every now and again they bring out some exclusives or limited edition balms. I currently have Summer Fruit (red packaging), Sweet Mint (blue packaging) and Strawberry Sorbet (pink packaging). I love them all and as you can see the Summer Fruit I have is on its last legs but is still going after almost 2 years of regular use! If I had to recommend one I'd suggest Sweet Mint, this feels so soothing on the lips and really refreshing, not to mention it tastes divine! Other varieties include Tangerine, Honeysuckle and Lemon Drop (this one has SPF15!).

Unfortunately these aren't widely available in the UK and I picked all mine up from US drugstores. However, I did a bit of online research and if you really want to try one of these you could order one from Amazon. They're a little pricey compared to some other lip balms at around £5-£6 including delivery (they're $3.99 in the US so there isn't too much difference) but they're definitely worth it in my opinion. Here's the link if you fancy a browse!

Thanks for reading, 

Ellen x