MAC, Gilly Hicks, Boots and Superdrug Haul!!

Yesterday was my last day of exams, so one of my friends and I went for a bit of retail therapy and lunch to celebrate! We were shopping in Stratford, mainly at Westfield, but we did also stop off at the rather downtrodden looking Stratford Centre too on our way back from uni.

The first place we visited was actually Superdrug in the Stratford Centre (which is accross the road from Westfield Stratford City) as it is much bigger and usually has a much wider selection of brands than the branch in Westfield. I picked up a few things, taking advantage of their current 3 for 2 on all cosmetics offer. I got the 2 new Sleek Ultra Matte palettes, brights and darks, and from what I have seen so far they are lovely, nice and pigmented, as we have come to expect from Sleek.

They have stopped pressing the criss-cross pattern into the shadows, which I don't love, I thought they looked more high end with it, but its hardly a massive change!

Sleek Ultra Matte Brights Palette

Sleek Ultra Matte Darks Palette

While at the Sleek stand, I also spotted their (relatively) new Eau La Liners, which I picked up in Nutcracker and Bullion. These liners are really soft, though Nutcrackerwas much smoother than Bullion, I geuss thats the price you pay for shimmery formulas! They seem pretty long lasting too, I haven't actually tried these on my eyes yet, but the swatch was really difficult to remove, they definitely wouldn't slide off.

Left; Bullion  Right; Nutcracker

Next up, we headed over to the Barry M stand where I found 2 polishes that I fell in love with, they had to be mine! I got the shades Blue Glitter and Raspberry. I also got a Maybelline Forever Strong polish in Rose Poudre, which is a really pretty lilacy nude colour.

 Lastly I got a couple of lip products. I read about the new Alexandra Burke with MUA Lip Booms recently, and when I saw them in store I really wanted to try them out. They are a similar idea to the Max Factor or Covergirl Flipsticks, with a pigmented lipstick at one end, and a 'highlight' at the other, which is a shimmery pink gloss. There is also a little pot of pigmented colour at the bottom of the lipstick, but I don't really rate this bit of the product. Though at £3, you can hardly go wrong! I got the shade 'Bring it'.

I also picked up one of the new Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks. I loved all of the original ones, and she has just brought out some new colours, I got number 19.

After Superdrug we headed over to Westfield where we had lunch at Pizza Express, and then went to check out MAC. I go to the MAC store quite a lot, but I don't normally buy anything because it's usually heaving, and absolutely boiling! yesterday it was a bit quieter than normal, and I actually felt inspired by all the products for once, so I ended up getting a Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade and a blush in Fleur Power.

The MSF is completely beautiful. I'm in love with it! I kept looking at it, and then telling myself I couldn't have it, and then going back to gaze at it for a bit longer.... it had to be mine! In the pan it looks a sort of champagne colour with cool blue viens and lots of other colours running through it. (click to enlarge the photo) when you blend it all together it makes such a pretty highlight colour, much lighter than it appears in the pan and just SO pretty. I'm in danger of becoming a bit obsessed with this!

Fleur Power is really pretty too. It's quite a bright, slightly coral toned pink. It doesn't have any shimmer as I prefer matte blushes, and the colour payoff is really nice, pigmented enough that it shows, but not so much that you get clown cheeks!

After MAC we wandered off to Gilly Hicks, the very newly opened store which has a half naked man stationed outside for you to be photographed with. We weren't really up for that, and sneaked in without getting snapped, but hey, whatever floats your boat! Gilly Hicks is owned by Abercrombie and Fitch (they also own Hollister) they mainly sell underwear, but they also do the standard hoodies and joggers too, with the odd handbag or dress thrown in for good measure. I got some blue Cropped Banded Sweatpants, which are really comfy and will be good for the gym. You can see them in the top picture.

Lastly I got some concealer in Boots. Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer is my absolute HG concealer, the coverage is awsome and the shades go light enough even for me. I usually get shade 1 fair, but that comes up a tiny bit light on me (which is useful in lots of circumstances!) so I got a ne one in that shade but I also went for the next shade darker, 2 light, for when I want something a bit darker, though the difference is really very slight. I'm also I hoping I might get a bit of a tan this summer, when it finally arrives!

Top; Fair, 1, Bottom; Light, 2.