No Money March: The Magazine freebie!

March has been great for magazine giveaways, feels like I'm a child again when every magazine would do it every month (as well as cereal boxes and comic books). And still being rather immature I can't resist seeing freebies, and being lured in by a hair serum or lipgloss by simply spending a few quid.

I've found that this month there has been some great offers, I personally got hooked by Glamour with the option of 5 different products from Model Cosmetics - that's one way to sell magazines! If Lea Michele's gorgeous face didn't tempt me (sorry guys, I'm a bit of a Gleek!) the price did at only £2 with a product worth up to £16. I'll take 3 please...

Model Cosmetics Shine Ultra Lip Gloss in 'Berry Pink' and 'Striptease'

Found for £12 each on Model Co website, Glamour claims them to be £15.

These lip glosses were the first I picked up, I'm on a bit of a lip thing at the moment, and these looked good. On one side they have a mirror which is dead handy! Although seeming how sheer these glosses are I really doubt you'll need it. Berry Pink is obviously the pink shade, it has a little colour payoff and nicely enhances lipsticks of a similar colour. Striptease is much a peachy nude that it's practically skin coloured, but as you can see, very little payoff. But I don't mind, they both smell beautiful and aren't too sticky. So far I've enjoyed using these.

Model Cosmetics Lip Enhancer Illusion Lip Liner in 'Nude'

Found for £16 on Model Co website, same as Glamour's claim.

I wasn't going to pick anything else up, but once I realised this would make a good post I convinced myself to get one more thing. Seeming I'm a little wary of any old mascaras and I have enough eyeliners to colour my body in, I opted for this. Model Co claim this to be a one shade suits all lip enhancing liner, for fuller looking lips. I didn't think it would match my lips, bit it really is close and dose kind of work! It does look a little freaky if your not used to using lip liners like me, but I'm pretty glad I took the punt on this one.

Overall I spent £6 for £46 worth of product! Nicely done I think. And what's great is that these aren't the only freebies availble this month! 

Company Magazine - Company branded Mascara, with feature from our very own blogging princess Zoella! Only £2.60

Marie Claire - Neal's Yard Remedies lip gloss, 15ml worth £9.50. Also a free Ganier Skin Oil sample on the inside. £3.50 I believe...

Elle - Percy & Reed Wonder Balm for Hair. 75ml, worth £18! And again, a free Ganier Skin Oil sample on the inside. Might get this one myself.. £4.00

Lots of lovely stuff to be bad, but remember we're nearing the end of the month now so it's time to get in there quick. It's great what a couple of quid can get you, and don't forget the magazine itself! Can't put a price on catching up with the latest in fashion and beauty ;) here's to next months magazines!

Anyone know of any other freebies I should know about?

Hannah x

Glossybox: March - The Beauty Blossom box

It's that time of the month again where I expose my Glossybox for you all. This month brings big changes in the way our boxes have been delivered. Some subscribers were complaining about the previous courier (not me, my lady was lovely!) so GB responded by moving to Royal Mail tracked which has, sadly, bumped up the price of P&P. They claim to have taken on a lot of the extra cost, and only passing a small amount of that onto us, but I can't help but feel this might effect our products in the long run. But we shall see! I can only guess that this is the reason dispatch day was 3 days later than last month. This change does make Glossbox more expensive than it's nearest competitor.

On the plus side this was my free box, paid for using Glossdots, the reward points scheme achieved by filling out surveys and inviting friends. And how fortunate it happens to be No Money March! Let's start shall we...

Vita Liberata pHenomenal 2-3 Week Tan Lotion

£37.50 for 150ml. Sample of 6ml worth £1.50

This is the biggest disappointment of the box (sorry for starting on a downer!), two 3ml sachets of fake tanner. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't naturally tan due to being so fair, but I actually like it that way. So this won't get used. Not to mention that 6ml probably won't cover a leg let alone my whole body. This might be the only occasion where I would have preferred the perfume samples, annoyingly from my favorite brand, Juicy Couture. Safe to say these will get passed onto a friend, defiantly not my cup of tea. I've now read that is supposed to be for your face... Yeah. I know. 

Dove Hair Therapy Intensive Repair 60 second Treatmeant Shot

£1.49 for 15ml. Full size

I'm not disappointed as such by this, as I do have dry hair and always looking for the next big fix. However, it's an item I can easily find in my nearest supermarket, so nothing high end or unheard of. That and my last box included shampoo and conditioner samples for dry hair, so a change up would have been nice. I will use this, and if it works that's great, but I haven't discovered anything new from this item.

Mitchell and Peach Body Cream

£36 for 180ml. Sample of 40ml worth £8

Body lotion isn't a great love of mine, if you've read my previous haul you'll know that I've only just started using moisturisers to combat my dry 'pole' skin. This has a typical floral smell, and I'll probably end up using this as a hand cream, if at all. The full size has quite a hefty price tag, so I'm guessing it's a good product and because of that I'll stick this in my handbag and it might get used. It's a great sample size however!

Sleek Makeup Pout Polish in 'Bonaire'

£4.49 for 10g. Full size

This was the spoiler for the month, so we all knew that this would appear in our boxes, but of course, a totally surpise as to which colour. I pulled this out and panicked. It looks bright orange, not a pastel pink or nude that I was hoping, and It's part of the limited edition Caribbean collection (apparently). Luckily it comes out really sheer, which I wasn't expecting seeming the one I brought a few years ago in 'Powder Pink' has a great colour payoff. But for me, it's not a bad thing, I don't think I'm quite ready for orange lips just yet! It's a really nice smooth lip treatment which is super moisturising, it does have quite a strong scent however, which seems to be the same across the range. It's fun and I'll get good use from this!

Bellápierre Cosmetics Shimmer Powder in 'Coral Reef'

£12.99 for 2.35g. Full size

I'm pretty tired of creams, lotions and hair products so getting two makeup products in a box is always great. This is very shimmery loose powder pigment, designed to do anything you want it to, from being used like a normal eyeshadow to mixing in with a lipgloss to create a new shade. I love this colour, it's a metallic bronze which will look great with some similar coloured neautral shadows. They remind me of Barry M's dazzle dust, but somewhat more grow up.

Overall my total box value was £28.47. Which isn't bad. However, some people received a terribly expensive facial serum (selected for those interested in anti aging products, fair enough!), which I think is a little unfair as we all pay the same but get a different overall value. I'm not too bummed out by this box, I will use most of it... Eventually. But after January's drama I thought GB might have upped their game more than this. I do think that the products did fit the theme well however!

I sound pretty moans today, sorry everyone! What did you get in yours?

Hannah x

No Money March: The £10 MUA haul

So I thought I would start the month with a haul. I know your probably thinking "it's no money month Hannah, what are you doing?!" But it's fine, it's a £10 only haul, enough to get my fix and be satisfied for the rest of the month instead of blowing upwards of £60 on my usual hauls! I decided to dedicate this challenge to Makeup Acadamy (MUA) as I've been meaning to check them out recently after hearing they had upped their game. That and it's beautifully cheap! 

Sadly the Superdrug Store I visited had an MUA display which looked like it had been ramraided, which was a shame as there wasn't all the testers and many products out of stock. But I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to another store before closing time, so I did the best with what was there.

MUA Pressed Powder in Shade 4

£1

There was only the 2 darker shades of the 4 in the range left, so I thought 4 would make a good contour shade. As I'm really pale most bronzers look like dirt on my face, so I thought this light and blendable powder might work well. And at only a pound, it's a risk I'm willing to take! It's got a really nice texture, not chalky at all, so I imagine it would be great as an all over face powder.

MUA Blusher in 'Candyfloss'

£1

I thought it would be rude not to try out the £1 blushers, but as there was only a few shades left I didn't have much choice. However this pink is really beautiful! Similar texture to the pressed powder, but not as much pigmentation. It is buildable though, and I prefer subtle blush anyway. Such a steal at only a pound.

MUA Power Pout Tint and Balm in 'Broken Hearted'

£3

I've got a slight 'chubby stick' obsession at the moment, so I couldn't help myself when it came to choosing some lip products. This has a similar minty scent to the Revlon balm stain, but doesn't tingle. I only swatched this in the store on my hand so when I put it on today I was pretty shocked by how crazy pink it is! But I'm quite enjoying the bold lip look though, maybe this is a turning point for me. It applied really nicely and I'm happy with this! 

MUA Lipstick in Shade 13

£1

This. Is. Gorgeous!! Such a beautiful colour, I'm so glad I picked it up. There was a very limited selection of the £1 lipsticks, and I nearly picked up a nude shade. However the colour range is lacking mid tones, so some of the colours are quite varied. If that makes sense... I would have liked to have seen some more natural pinks. This colour however swatches quite brown, but there are pink tones that lift it and it's translates so beautifully on my lips. I was really annoyed to find I had picked up a used product, even though it did have un removed packaging. But thinking back it was slightly open, so I assume someone had done it carefully to make it look like it was still new. So I've had to take the top off, and waste some product. Bummer. But it's fine, for £1 I can repurchase whenever!

MUA Undress Your Skin Illuminating Foundation in Porcelain

£5 for 35ml

I've heard really good things about this foundation, and at £5 it's not a big deal if it doesn't work. But quite surprisingly the lightest shade 'porcelain' is such a good match for me. I've only just used it today so I don't feel like I can make many more comments on it, but I really don't like the tube. It's quite big, and hard to control the amount of product dispensed. Knowing me, this will end up on my bedroom carpet. Give me a pump any day! But there is more product than a usual 30ml foundation and it's half the price. Winner! 

MUA Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tint in Diamonds

Free! Usually £3

This I'm well happy with! It happened to be the last day of an offer which gives you a free eyeshadow tint when you spend £6 or more. Awesome! But, again most of them had gone. I was lucky that this was the last sealed one of its shade, and it's so beautiful! A rose gold pink, which is right up my alley at the moment. Will work as a nice base for some Naked 3 shades. 

If your adding up my total as you go along, you may have realised this all comes to £11. However! I had £2 in super drug rewards which I used, so I only really spent £9! Should have picked up another lipstick.. So the lesson here is that you can curb your cosmetic cravings and get good quality items for very little cash. Has anyone else found MUA products that have surprised you?

Hannah x

No Money March

Most tough months for normal people are January or February. For me it's march this year! Due to certain reasons it can be different every year but where I'm still studying I have a mixture of jobs some of which are seasonal. It sounds odd but I can't wait to have a full time job!

But anyway, No Money Month is my way of trying to spend as little as possible to try and survive the month! I plan to post little ideas on how to save rather than splurge. Some people give up chocolate for lent, but I'm giving up splurging!! I don't think I can go a whole month without getting my makeup fix, so I'm just going to find cheaper ways to satisfy my addiction, and I'm bringing you all along with me. 

I hope to do a couple of posts a week for this blog series, so make sure you follow me with bloglovin to keep up!

Hannah x