My free drug store make up haul

To start off, I'd like to say happy 2017 and sorry for neglecting my blog. Unsure if I actually have any readers, it would be a positive to actually write again, even if I do it just for myself. My Youtube account is active more than ever at the moment and have gained a decent amount of subscribers toward the beginning of this year, but after feeling inspired, I felt to write a short blog about my free items I obtained today!

So, no, I didn't go dumpster diving or committing any sinister activities. My local Superdrug were celebrating their birthday today, and being a Beauty Card holder, I was treated to a free basket to celebrate. You are eligible every Thursday, I believe, to win a free basket, so you don't just have to catch them on a great day. I put around £18 worth of items in my basket, so not an enormous haul, but enough to brighten up a rainy day!

The first item I got was the MUA Luxe Lip Lacquer in Harmony. I was looking for a warm nude that was both matte on the lips but not flaky or drying. I had been wearing Lime Crime Buffy for the past year or so, but it's time to accept there is not an ounce of product left in that bottle!

I would not say it's a direct dupe of Buffy, but it's a close alternative and very affordable. I have cool toned, very pale skin, so a warm nude is best for my skin tone.




For the past year or so, I've been using Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in Ebony, along with the Morphe E29 angled brow/spoolie brush. I am probably guilty of allowing my pomade to dry out, and wanted to grab something affordable and available to me straight away.

Most brands are doing their own pomades now, but I'm such a fan of Make Up Revolution, this was perfect for me. The pomade advertised coming with a double ended brush which I assumed would have a spoolie, so I picked up the Studio double ended smokey eye brush just for the angled brush end, as it was a longer brush so more controllable.

Neither brushes had a spoolie so I will probably repurchase the E29 Morphe Brush (I am too lazy for brush cleaning, and it's very cheap anyway) to use with the pomade as I was really happy with it. I got shade 'dark brown'.

I am of the era of Dream Matte Mousse, foundation lips and 3 shades darker foundation whilst in high school. Something I have repurchased often has been the Collection Naturally Matte foundation and Sheer Loose Powder. The foundation and powder are both so inexpensive they were on a two for £5 offer. The powder works well for setting concealer and is a great drugstore alternative to higher end setting powders. The foundation is of course no Studio Fluid Fix, but mixed with moisturiser it's great for in the day time to give light coverage. This foundation is notorious for oxidising throughout the day, however it is very matte so great just to avoid an oily shine, which is why I buy the lightest shade in Porcelain and usually wear for a light make up look and mix with a liquid based primer.

Of course, hindsight is beautiful and had I known I was going to get a free basket, I'd have bought the Cleopatra's Kiss palette I have been wanting and had a better look for Freedom's Rainbow highlighter. However, the £18 I saved did mean I could purchase more make up from other places and I am loving Models Own Dare to Bare collection at the moment, as well as lusting over Kylie Cosmetics Valentine's Day collection. Although that glitter graphic on the homepage is reminding me of every year 7's Piczo website in 2006.

Along with the above mentioned products, I used Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour in fair to sculpt, as well as L'Oreal Miss Manga mascara, Rimmel London Glam Eyes and Technic Highlighter in pink, which is a dupe of Benefit's High Beam.

BHF Hair Company Review- Wrap Around Ponytail

I've wanted a wrap around ponytail for so long, but the problem is I just don't like synthetic hair. You can't match it to your own colour and it just doesn't look real. I can't get along with it at all, not even for the price. I've become savvy in my ways with buying hair that I do get good deals so if I needed hair, I would be able to get something substantial for a decent price rather than resorting to buying something that I know will not match the colour or texture of my hair.

I started looking for natural human hair ponytails and because I hated the synthetic wrap around ones or claw clip ones online. The only company that offered different lengths and a wide range of colours were Flipin Hair with their Pasoday Ponytail. I change my hair colour so much however that their prices just weren't achievable to me, since I knew I would have to dye it to match anyway.

This is where aliexpress came to the rescue, there are so many suppliers of natural human hair ponytails in so many different lengths, weights and colours for decent prices. I went with BHF Hair Company and ordered 12" 120g in #27 which cost £26.59 and the shipping was free, and standard so 15-29 days. I'm really unsure what their company is called, it said BHF Hair on the item, but their aliexpress store says 'Ali Real Beauty Hair'. Either way, you are taken to the exact item I was happy with via that link!

 I got an email later that day saying that the colour #27 was out of stock, which I was annoyed about because it's the perfect base to dye red as it's a very warm, single toned blonde. The company offered #27/613 which was the highlighted ginger/blonde I used to wear back in the day. Out of curiosity I asked if they did 14" too, because I knew in a few months I would probably want to order one again and was just interested to know. Straight away, whoever I'd spoken to said yes, we will send this out today with express delivery! This was so kind of them, as it was only a minor inconvenience with the colour and it didn't really matter because I was going to dye it anyway. 

Dresslink haul

Dresslink is a website I came across through watching beauty gurus on Youtube, and after seeing mixed reviews I decided to try the website out for myself. I buy a lot of clothing that is despatched from parts of Asia on eBay and Wish and this website is basically a haven in which everything you can find on eBay, you can find on here but in the same place. The reviews I saw on Youtube really were mixed, with Channon Rose saying the package she received from Dresslink having such a strong chemical smell that even after airing the package outside, the garments were still unusable and she was probably going to throw them out because she couldn't really donate them in that state. However, SuperMaryFace had done so many positive reviews on the website, I decided to try it. 

I placed my order on the 9th February 2016 and received it on 29th February 2016, 20 days for standard shipping is fair enough however I did pay a lot because this was during Chinese New Year and DHL/EMS were not operating at this time. Shipping cost me £12.46 and I think I would have been able to get express shipping for a similar price had it been available to me. I had 12 items coming to £24.79 so averaging around £2 an item, that's pretty cheap! I thought I'd write my review now after having all the items for a month and worn them all. 

You can click all the images to enlarge them. Prices are estimations because the conversion of pounds to dollars changes all the time. I'll list all the sizes I bought the item in because buying Asian clothing can be hard when you're above a size UK 8. I am a size 10 on top and a size 12 on the bottom, I have a C cup chest and my waist is very small in comparison to my hips/stomach, if that sheds a bit of light on the situation. If your size/shape is similar to mine this may be of some help to you!

 The first item I got was a studded headband. This is actually three headbands stacked together but I liked the statement look of the three together but even one or two on their own looks cute. They were £1.05 each. Nothing really to write home about, they're a little tight and hurt behind the ears but I can say every headband in the world feels like that. Some of the studs feel a little loose and I've only worn them 2-3 times so far, I get compliments on them though and they go well with my newly vibrant red hair.

Rechoo Hair Company review

Through one of my favourite Youtubers, Super Mary Face, I found a company called 'Rechoo', who manufacture hair to your needs, e.g you can pick the length and weight. This is convenient for me because I only wear at least 22" hair extensions and 300 grams is the minimal thickness, because my hair is so thick it is physically impossible for anything less to look believable! I went to their website and found their actual store was through aliexpress, which makes sense: they can access more people who want to buy hair (I don't know many people who use aliexpress for anything else) and as a buyer, you get more protection.

I purchased two packs of their 22" sets in 160grams, so coming to 320grams in total. my hair at the moment is about 12" long from the top of my head downwards, so in some places it is quite short so having such a long length, thickness is important to fill out my hair cut and of course I have to layer it from quite high up. My order total came to £67.26 which is more than affordable for this sort of length and weight, I placed my order on the 24th March and received it on the 6th April. It took 13 days with standard registered shipping from China, which is great as the free option. I'm a little bit unclear about if they make each set for their customers or if they have them in stock already, considering they have a million different colour, length and weigh options, I assumed that would be the case because their aliexpress store doesn't have that many orders nor did I find many reviews on Youtube.

The postman bought me a fairly small parcel so when I signed for it I considered maybe it wasn't my hair, or there had been a mistake with the length or packs I'd been sent. When I opened the package, the hair was inside a really nice bag with the companies name, it's nice that they made such an effort to make it look nice.

W7 Colour Ways review: at-home affordable bleaching kit

Since 2011 I have been using bleach at home to lighten my medium brown hair. In the beginning I made a lot of mistakes but now I'm quite experienced in it. I was going to write a blog on how I bleach hair extensions at home but then I considered that at a beginner level, using cream peroxide and powder bleach is difficult. I know that, as in the beginning I relied on bleaching kits that included brushes gloves.

Best cheap products for hair extensions

After wearing hair extensions for around three years I've acquired a list of products I will always repurchase and some that are no good and wouldn't recommend. I've found using oils, paddle brushes and strong shampoos are not good for hair that doesn't grow from the scalp and hair extensions, whether semi permanent or clip-ins it can be expensive to replace them if they're not taken care of correctly.

I've compiled a list of the affordable products I absolutely wouldn't be without!

£3 House of Holland dupes

I recently saw celebrities like Kesha and Rita Ora sporting sunglasses with 'Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye' arranged around each lens. After intense research, I found out they were 'On a Promise', by House of Holland and would set you back a pretty £150. As this to me is unachievable, I found dupes on eBay and Amazon from between £15-20. I added a few to my wish lists and thought I would buy them on payday.


When I was browsing through the Wish app on my iPhone, a shopping app tailored to the things you like, the exact same dupe sunglasses came up for £3 and £1 postage and packaging. I ordered them March 1st 2016, and received them on the 24th March 2016. They of course came from overseas, China I imagine, like most items on Wish do and 20 working days is about the average for items from there to the UK.

Obviously, for £3 I am not expecting a direct replica.