Primark Haul;

I've said it before, but I think Primark is my favourite store. Last weekend I took a trip to Plymouth to see Busted and visited a 3 floor Primark store. I've been trying to save up for my holiday in March and I'd resisted buying anything else the whole shopping trip. I only just managed not to buy half of the shop so I thought I'd share with you the few things I did come away with.

My mum is forever telling me that I need new pyjamas, I think the last time I bought any I was in college, and since then I've pretty much survived on any I'm bought for Christmas. Pyjamas just don't seem like a fun thing to buy myself... usually.

I'm a massive Pokemon fan, and the only good thing about the worst Pokemon game ever (i.e. Pokemon Go), is the increase in Pokemon merch. I couldn't resist these adorable bottoms covered with Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu heads. I don't think my legs have ever looked better than when I am wearing these, and they're really soft too!

I also picked up a set up of silky, button-up Tinkerbell pyjamas. The pattern on these was also too cute for me to walk away from. Again these are super soft and comfy, I will say that these are pretty long, so if you're 5'1" like me expect the bottoms to get dirty if you wear them into the back garden with just your slippers!

Pretty much everything in this haul is fandom related and the next two things I picked up I just couldn't resist because I'm a total Potterhead. The first is this maroon long-sleeved shirt, with the Hogwarts crest embroidered on the right side. I really like this shirt because I think its subtle and not too cheesy. Its a nice casual shirt that looks great with jeans and the Hogwarts crest just makes it amazing.
I also picked up this gorgeous Gryffindor blanket/throw. I spent forever oggling over the (very extensive) collection of blankets that Primark have because they are all so extremely soft! I had convinced myself that I really don't need a blanket and then I came across this one... I've taken the Pottermore quiz and its official that I belong in Gryffindor house, so I justified buying this one as I need to show my house pride! They also have these for all of the rest of the houses, and I really love the design with the Gryffindor crest, stars, moons and the word Hogwarts. I think its so detailed for a blanket from Primark and it is literally the softest blanket ever.

Another thing I picked up was this Alice in Wonderland makeup bag that I absolutely love. Whenever I go away I tend to use a vanity case, so I definitely didn't need another makeup bag but this was too gorgeous to walk away from. Its made of a kind of pleather material that feels really durable. On one side this is black with silver glitter that is exposed, but doesn't come off (or atleast not yet), with the quote 'Curiouser and Curiouser' in a pink flourished font that I totally love. The other side has a collection of stills from the Disney movie in triangles. Its really colourful and reminds me of a kaleidoscope. Although you can't see it in the pictures there's also a purple keyring attached to the zip in the shape on the Cheshire Cat. The makeup bag is a really good size to fit in enough makeup for a night or weekend away. If I don't use this atleast I know it will make a lovely blog prop.

The last thing I picked up was this jar candle in the scent Raspberry and Vanilla. I pick up a candle nearly every time I'm in Primark, these candles aren't the strongest smelling, but I think their really great for the price, this one was just £5. I really don't see the point in spending a lot of money on candles, because its literally like burning money. The scent of this fruity, sweet, but fresh which I think will be perfect for Spring. I also love the pink of the jar, its a lovely Spring update for my bedside table.

Have you found any great bargains in Primark lately?

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Project 10 Pan 2017;-

I've been totally obsessed with panning Youtubers and blogs. Its almost a guilty pleasure of mine to watch people using up all of their makeup. I think most of us have more makeup than we will ever use, and a lot of our makeup products sit in the back of a drawer unloved while we accumulate more. Panning or using up a product makes you focus on getting the most of your makeup. I've even tried my own Project 10 Pan back in 2015, and while I finished 9 out of 10 products eventually, I was pretty rubbish about recording. I've picked another 10 products from my collection and I'd like to finish all of these before I buy any more makeup.

My first product is a perfume, called 'Be Kissable'. This was my signature scent back in school and it was discontinued by Avon quite some years ago, but a friend of mine's mum was an Avon representative so he saved me a few bottles and I've been working my way through them for literally years. I still have a whole bottle left, so I definitely need to use the rest of this one. Although there isn't a lot left I flit around from perfume to perfume, and forget to put it on most mornings while I'm rushing to get ready for work. But I think if I get in the routine of putting it on, this will be gone in no time.

Next up is a sample size of the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. I have had this in my collection for quite a while, but for the longest time I didn't use it at all. Its not my favourite primer, as I have oily skin and it isn't the most mattifying. The first time I wore this I looked even more oily by midday and I felt like my foundation was sliding around. However I pulled it out this winter when I was struggling with dry patches and it did a really good job at keeping my face from looking dry. When paired with a matte foundation, it tends not to work well. There looks to be just over a third left so hopefully it won't take too long to use up. 

The foundation that I pair my primer with is the L'oReal Infallible 24H-Matte. This is my favourite foundation ever, and I reach for it most often anyway (I even reviewed it here). As suggested by the name this foundation has a matte finish which is great for my oiler skin, and this does it without making your skin look flat. But I really want to use this up so I can move onto using some of my older unloved foundations. I'd say there is just under a third of this left, but it seems to be one of those never-ending products.

My last face product is actually the Rimmel Stay Matte powder, if you can't tell that's because I smashed it some time ago and I now use it as a loose powder from this tiny pot. I have had this for an amount of time that probably isn't healthy, because I really don't like wearing powder. Every powder I've tried had made my face feel dry and cakey, so I only tend to use it if I'm home and during the day if I look oily or to set my concealer. I really want to use this up because I don't like it, but now I've gone to the effort to put it in the pot I feel like I have to. I'm going to try to pop this in my hand bag for midday touch ups and hope that uses this up quickly.

Onto eyes I have this very worn Rimmel White Eyeliner. I actually had this in my first project, but since I used the rest of the products I lost interest in this. I really like using white liner in my water line to brighten up tired eyes, but that seems to take forever to use up and eye liner just using it there. I used to use white eyeliner as a sort-of makeshift highlight under my foundation when I was younger, and I have seen people use it as a base for eyeshadows to make the colours stand out. So I'm thinking of trying a few new things to finally clear this from my makeup collection.
I really like brown eyeliner, I think its really good way to line your eyes without looking too harsh and you can always smudge it in if you're crap at it so for that reason I have about 4. This one by Avon is one of my favourites as it stays in place all day, and it really easy to smudge into your lash line. I want to focus on this one so to get my numbers of brown eyeliner down. I don't use it every day as I usually wear quite subtle makeup to work (mostly because I never get in time to put on a full face of makeup), but I want to incorporate this into my daily makeup so that I can use the very little that is left.
My last product is this Arch & Shape by Makeup Revolution, this is a product that has a pen side and a pencil. I finished up the pen side quite some time ago but the pencil side has been hanging around. I actually really like the pencil as its not waxy or hard to blend, but its super dark. It usually only matches my hair when its dyed really dark, which at the moment it isn't, so this has been put on the back burner. There is probably only enough product left in this for two or three uses, so I want to work with it even if it is slightly too dark for me just to get the last little bit used!

Lastly onto lips I have chosen this Body Shop lip balm, in the scent Passionberry I think but I'm not sure seeing as most of the label has rubbed off. I'm a real lip balm fiend I have pots and pots of the stuff. There's one in every handbag I own, and one at my work desk, but this is the one I will keep in the front of my lip drawer to use at home. I usually use lip balm twice a day anyway so I'm sure it won't take long to use up and then I'll be able to move onto the next pot...
Next is this Rimmel Exaggerate lip liner in Eastend Snob. This lipliner was really talked about on blogs and Youtube for quite sometime so of course I had to have it for myself. I really like the colour because I love cool-toned pinks so much I have another 3 lip products in virtually the same shade, which is so unnecessary so this one needs to go. As you can see from the photo there is virtually nothing left of this, which is because when I was thinking of putting this in a project pan I began using it and it snapped for at least the third time (I swear I'm not winding it up too much), which is another reason I need it gone because it really irritated me. Luckily I really like just wearing this alone so I'm sure this will be all used up very soon.
My last product is this Revlon Lip Butter in Macaroon, I really like the formula of the Revlon Lip Butters as they are moisturising and still provide a nice amount of colour. This shade is pretty much the colour of candy apples, and its really nice red that is wearable for everyday. However I don't think this shade is an essential one in my collection, so I'd like to see this all gone. There is maybe half a centimetre of product left in the tube and I like wearing this to work so I think I can use this up in the next couple of weeks.

As I said in my little intro, I'm aiming to finish up all of these products before I buy anymore. I've gone pretty easy on myself so I don't get bored and splash out. I think it will be a challenge because I do love makeup, but I think it will be a good challenge because I'll have time to think about whether I really want or need the newest 'it' product while I work on my project.

I think that's everything, so I'll see you in my first update. In the meanwhile, leave me a comment and let me know if there are any products in your collection that you want to finish up entirely, and if you're doing your own project because I love reading them!

Update 1 >>

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My #ProArtist Palette

There hasn't been a makeup product that has got me so entirely excited as Freedom's #ProArtist refillable palette in the longest time! I spent so long perusing the shades and filled up several baskets of shades before I actually bit the bullet and clicked proceed to checkout.

A custom palette from a budget beauty brand is something I've been looking for ever since the Fashionista palettes, and these are miles above this. I've spent ours perusing Mac's shades for a palette that is all mine, but I could never face spending that money. Freedom offer the perfect solution. There are a range of face and eyeshadows (I of course needed both in my palette), the face products being £3 and the eyeshadow shades at £2 each. Along with the palette itself, this cost me £38.00, which does rival the prices of higher end brands but I was more than willing to pay that for a palette full of my perfect shades.

The palette is pretty large and will fit 18 eyeshadows or 8 face products, so its pretty large. It comes in shiny, sturdy black packaging. I will say that it does scratch easily and I don't really like the white writing on the top of it, but that's only a small complaint when I love everything inside. The entire lid is a mirror, so when filled with your favourite shades this is the perfect palette to travel with. The whole bottom of the palette is magnetic like a Z Palette, and at £5 it's a fraction of the price. This would be a perfect alternative for the Z Palette for anything that likes depotting all of their favourite panned products, or wants to store their custom shades from other brands all in one place.

Onto the products inside I'm going to start with the face products because I love the eyeshadows a tiny bit more. I wanted to include some face products in my palette because I wanted to try everything in the range, and I wanted to make this the perfect all rounder palette for trying.

I picked up the contour shade #3 as it was the palest of the bunch. I usually have to use a really light hand with contour because of my pale skin, but with this one I don't have to be as careful. I have also been using this as an eyeshadow as its the perfect transition colour, and I also really like it over the lid with the red eyeshadows in the crease.

I also chose the banana powder in 01 as I've been using a yellow concealer under my eyes, I really like the effect and I wanted to add to that with this powder. I have to say that I don't think this does much for colour correction, but it is a nice, light powder that is great for setting my under-eye area.

I really struggled to chose from the 3 highlight options as they are all gorgeous, I finally decided upon the shade 03. This is a gold toned highlight that is super shimmery, but not full of chunky glitter. This would be a great highlight for someone that wants a really eye-catching highlight that packs punch. I personally like a more subtle highlight and with my pale skin I think I should have chose a more pink toned shade. I really want to have a bit more of a play with this so I can find a way to work with it, but I do love an in-your-face highlighter when I'm going on nights out and I'll be sure to reach for this.

To finish of the face shades I got the blush in shade 01. This is the lightest blush colour, and so it looks great on my pale skin. Its a candyfloss pink shade that I think will look great as a spring blush colour,

Finally onto the eyeshadows I chose for my palette. I decided instead of picking an entirely neutral selection like so many palettes I already owned, I'd use this palette to fill in the spots that were more sparse in my collection. I want to start out by saying that as with all of Freedom's eyeshadows these are super pigmented and I haven't noticed any fall out from any of the shadows!

The first shade is a light shimmery pink in Shimmer 03, I picked this shade as I thought it would be the perfect inner corner highlight for the pink and purple shades, which it totally is!

 Shimmer #09 is a light shimmery brown, which I think will go with any of the other shades in this palette and in my collection. I've used this one most since I bought this palette because its a great all over shadow, that makes your eyes look 'done' with minimal effort.

I'm a big lover of smokey eyes, so 08 was a shade I needed in my palette. This is a shimmery steel grey that would look great blended with a matte black shadow and looks amazing with the darker purples that I picked.

I love pink eyeshadows especially in the summer, so I was drawn to 02 when I saw it. This is a bright but light shimmery pink. I've been wearing this all over the lid, with just the lighter pink on my inner corner. It makes a subtle, daytime look which I've found a nice change from neutrals.

The next two shades are 09 which is a brick red, and matte 10 a burgundy red. I've been seeing these kind of shades everywhere for the past year, but I really didn't have any my collection. I've nearly bought a few palettes just for shades like these, finding these shades saved me from buying an entire palette for only a couple of shadows (just another thing I found great about this custom palette). I tend to use 10 as an outer corner and crease colour and then 09 to blend the colour out as a transition shade. This is a nice change from brown without using crazy colours.

The next colour looks a little crazy, this 05 and its actually a shade I have been looking for some time.  This is a bright shimmery purple, which reminds be of a pencil we had in primary school that was dubbed 'special purple' (please someone say you know what this is). I like wearing purple in the crease with cool taupe shades, so I tend to focus on my outer V and then blend it out with a little of this shade to lighten up the colour.

The next shade is another I've been hunting down, this 01. I really like using dark purple as an alternative to a smokey eye, but I have bought so many that look purple in the pan and then transfer onto the eyes as a muddy dark colour. This doesn't do this, its dark enough that it is almost black, but the gorgeous purple shimmer shines through.

The last shade I chose is matte 04, this is a dark matte purple, which is lightly lighter that 01. I've been using this in the outer V along with the lighter purple and to sort of blend out 01 when I'm wearing it on the lid. I really like it as its a true purple, which I think is gorgeous.

I should also add that each of the individual pans have the shade number on the bottom, which I think is really handy and has been a total god-send while I've been writing this post.

Let me know if you have your own Freedom #ProArtist Palette or what shades you'd pick if you had one?

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