Okay, okay, so today was my London trip, so I was technically allowed to buy a couple of things, but still! Great second day of the spending ban!

The V&A was lovely; we had tickets to the ‘Treasures of the Courts’ exhibition and it was so interesting to see all the stuff from the Tudor and Stuart period, especially the jewellery! It was also fascinating to discover a bit more about the relationship between the courts of England and Muscovy (Russia) and to see all the treasures loaned to the V&A by Russia. I would highly recommend it if you’re anywhere near London in the next few months! We also saw the Fashion gallery, which of course I loved, and highlights would be the gorgeous couture evening gown by Balenciaga- structured, embroidered, AMAZING- the sequined, evening trouser suit by Coco Chanel, and the Victorian wedding outfit. I want to be amongst the lovely things again!!!

After spending a couple of hours in the museum, my mum and I hitched it over to Selfridge’s for our planned excursion there. We headed straight to the Beauty Hall and to the Illamasqua stall, where I had so much fun swatching all the products I’ve lusted over for so long!

Photographed inside the Selfridge’s Beauty Hall, with flash

The top row, L-R is: Illamasqua Powder Blusher- pretty sure this is either Lover or Excite-, and lipsticks in Sangers, Atomic, Eurydice (though those two may be the other way around, oops!), Over, Flare and Growl. As I was feeling sick, I ran out of time to swatch any more but I wanted to also try Magnetism, Liv, Maneater, Underworld, Kontrol, Apocalips, Disciple and Pristine… Next time! I loved all of the colours I swatched, however, and they are all on my ‘I really want’ list- especially Sangers and Growl. The bottom row is a quick swatch of two powder blushes from Mac- Coppertone and Pinch o’ Peach- which was MUCH pinker than I expected! I was really impressed with both the Illamasqua and Mac blushes, and think they are on my ‘to buy’ list as well.

Photographed inside the Selfridge’s Beauty Hall, with flash

Here are six of the powder eyeshadows- L-R Bronx, Sex, Burst, Fledgling, unsure of which the purpley fushcia one is, I’m sorry! and Hype. These were all swatched with one sweep and I was so impressed by the pigmentation, and the formula. Illamasqua’s shades seemed to be mostly matte, and very good mattes at that. They aren’t as buttery soft as Urban Decay’s, but that could possibly lead to less fall out? Either way, very impressed, and I need to try some more of the colours.

As I am actually pretty ill- I was running on caffeine and treasure-and-fashion-induced joy- we weren’t planning to stay for very long, and so after I bought my allotted two products from the Illamsqua stall (… and fell in love with their ‘Freak’ perfume in the process…) we took a quick dash into the Disney store… where I failed and bought a couple more things. I am SORRY! I was really so restrained and I was feeling so ill and miserable I had to, plus they had the Villains Designer Collection bags behind the counter! My mum was buying stuff for a couple of children we know that have birthdays around this coming month, and she got the Aladdin bag for our Disney bag collection… Yes I am weak but it’s so worth it and I’m proud of myself for spending no more than £20 in the Disney store.

Here is what I got!

I am in love with Maleficent. I love her style, her make up, her ‘Mistress of All Evil’ attitude… seriously. This is the reasonably new ‘Classic doll’ version of her, to go with my plush style Maleficent, and it cost me £12.50. I also picked up this amazingly sized Oz: The Great and Powerful mug to go into my mug collection; it’s got room for SO MUCH tea in there I can’t even tell you. It was £7 and WORTH EVERY PENNY, I TELL YOU!

Illamasqua lipstick and varnish, boxed

So I picked up a lipstick and a nail varnish from Illamasqua. It was so hard to decide between a lipstick and a blush, a lipstick and a shadow, two lipsticks, two varnishes, varnish and shadow etc because EVERYTHING WAS GOOD. But I figured that I would push myself and get a lipstick in a shade I wouldn’t normally go near, and it was such a good choice. This is ‘Over’, a ‘bright coral pink’ and like most Illamasqua lipsticks, is a matte finish. As a matte it feels significantly dryer on your lips but it’s not actually too bad and nothing a little balm under and over the top wouldn’t fix. It will be perfect for summer and I’m so glad I didn’t go down my comfort route of a red, bright fuschia pink or even the shade I both fear and covet- Apocalips (matte teal!). I think before I get Sangers or any of the other ones I swatched up there, my next lipstick investment should be a good nude- there are a few Mac shades I have my eye on for this, but Illamasqua’s Sonnet could be pretty good. I also got a nail varnish in Kink, which is a ‘bottle green’ rubber finish varnish. I loved the shades of varnish I got in my Mystery Box at Christmas- Jan (discontinued, but a pretty pale lilac) and Gamma, a neon orange- and knew that if all of them were the same as Jan, we would have no problems. I wasn’t wrong! Kink was SO quick to dry, and the rubber finish is really pretty, almost a mid point between matte and gloss. It also feels like rubber on my nails, and I can’t stop feeling them! I knew I wanted Kink from the word go- my other main choices were Scarab, a gorgeous metallic ruby or Scorn, their matte black- but it’s so unusual to get a decent green coloured nail varnish. The lipstick cost £16 and the varnish was £13.

Overall I spent just under £50, which is pretty good going and I’m happy with that. I’ve got £60 cash to pay into my account to replace that, so I’m still on track for a saving! I know I’m on a spending ban but as I’ve said before- this was a planned trip and I budgeted for it! You can’t say fairer than that, really 😉

Here’s a quick couple of glances at today’s make up, using my ‘shopping the stash’ selection:

I’m surprised at how ‘not dead’ I look! Seriously, my eyes are mottled red and purple and my whole nose and mouth area is red raw from blowing and wiping my nose all night, so I think I’ve come round to the ELF Studio Complete Coverage Concealer palette! I also used the MUA Undress Your Skin foundation and a light dusting of the Natural Collection SunTint bronzing powder to bring my complexion up a little. I must say that I am very impressed with the Claire’s eyeshadows; I used the two purpley colours today and they lasted with minimal creasing from when I put them on at half past eight, to when we caught the train at around quarter past two. Very good! The ‘Wink’ eyeliner pen is actually proving pretty hard to get a precise line that’s not about an inch thick, but the Bourjois lipstick was a hidden gem! It’s a lovely, slightly pinky, cool red and it lasts reasonably well even through eating and drinking.

I’m sorry I don’t have any photos of my outfit for a ‘Daily Look’, as soon as I came in the door I grabbed a mug of tea, changed into an old t-shirt and went back to bed! I’m supposed to be going for a meal up the pub with my mum and a friend, so if I can drug myself up and drag myself out of bed for that I will put the same outfit on and show you all.

Hope April is treating you well!