Beauty & Lifestyle| Shop The Stash!

The time of Lent is upon us and like many other hopefuls out there I've set myself a challenge that I have to obey until Easter finally comes as a blessing. Being an avid Cosmetics lover as well as a self-confessed shopaholic I thought it was time to pack in the pounds, put away the card and go on a dreaded spending ban. So far so good, yes I know it's only been a couple of weeks but usually by now I would of racked up a steep bill on FeelUnique or have my eye on a couple of (hundred) things on Cult Beauty, so to be honest I should be given a medal for my incredible willpower. 

As much as this spending ban has left a deep, dark void in my life it has also inspired me to suck it up and 'Shop My Stash'. As some of you may or may not know 'Shop My Stash' is a catchy, prettier if slightly simpler term for rediscovering your Cosmetic items that used to get a lot of love but have recently been pushed out of the limelight and have instead been MIA along with your missing bobby pins. I, for one, am very guilty at buying products that I don't necessarily need meaning a lot of my then current beauty favourite get easily forgotten about. That's why I thought it was time to rifle through my cosmetics drawers and the bottom of my bag, get together all my products and re-incooperate them back into my everyday routine. Then I felt it was an excellent idea to photograph said items and put them in a blog post so I could then inspire you to do the same! So here's my chosen few...

Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation

As many of you are probably aware, Estée Lauder Double Wear is my all time favourite foundation and I've found little competitors that have ever been able to steal the lime light. Yet, being a  shopaholic and cosmetics hoarder, I find it really hard to not to wonder astray and dabble in other neighbouring brands foundations (ahem Chanel) and admittedly, recently this little glass bottle of liquid heaven has undoubtedly been pushed out the picture. This has come to an end though and as I shop my stash I plan to get a hell of a lot more use out of this bottle and re-kindle my love with the almighty Double Wear. 

Benefit Watts Up Highlighter

Probably one of the first highlighters I owned, if not the first and as soon as I welcomed this into my cosmetic stash, it was most definitely love at first. Yet not long after my eyes were graced by the likes of Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle and Watts Up was soon forgotten about. Luckily I have rediscoverd this and upon using this I realised why I loved it in the first place. Being in a stick structure it can be hard to work with but with the help of a buffing brush it applies beautifully and gives me the healthy glow and slightly more prominent cheek bones that I crave. 

Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint & Precision Shaping Pencil

A quick, easy eyebrow pencil with a sheer brown crayon and handy felt tip end, perfect for tinting your eyebrows a natural brown and filling in the gaps with ultimate precision. I loved the Archery Brow from Soap & Glory but being a lover of powders and pomade's it swiftly got pushed out of the lime light and ended up at the bottom of the pile with my 'two shades too dark' Rimmel eyebrow Pencil. Whilst I've been shopping my stash, I decided to give this another go and instantly fell in love with the clean, brushed up effect it created, a benefit I surely can not live without. 

Benefit Benetint

A Rose coloured stain perfect for a rosy-red cheek look or a 'your lips but better' tint on the mouth. The first Benefit product to ever have graced my cosmetic stash. I've had this for so many years and as you can quite plainly see from the picture, it's not too far off from being finished. Unfortunately, I was introduced to the delights of the Clarin's Mosaic blushers and pearlescent pink pans from the Accessorize range, therefore this little pot of red had taken second place and has not been used since Christmas...2012 (oops). That is going to change nevertheless and I'm excited to give this another go. Especially with the launch of Benefit's Lollitint,  a candy-coloured pink, perfect for the S\S season has flown onto the shelves and maybe, possibly, could end up in my makeup bag come Summer. 

Zara Woman Perfume

I can throw my hands up and admit I am a snob when it comes too a few things: Foundation, Skincare and of course Fragrance. Give me a decent smelling scent with a pretty bottle and a well known name and it will be mine. Luckily, this quality I possess was broken and I managed to find one of my all time favourite scents for a bargain price of £12 in Zara. Admittedly the first thing that really attracted to me to this perfume was the tiny glitter particles in the liquid, as you have probably guessed I have awfully bad Magpie like tendencies. Yet, the smell is light and sweet and completely unique to any of the other sweet smelling fragrances in my collection! I plan to give this a lot more use these brighter months and hopefully will finish the bottle come fall.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold 

I have a number of these in my collection and one at a time they've all became a staple in my make up routine. Then entered the Naked 2, then the Naked 3 and finally my Mac pro palette and these drugstore babies soon sank to the back of my Muji drawers. Luckily, I stumbled upon this particular shade again whilst shopping my stash and found it to be a beautiful multi-purpose shadow, either in a wash all over the lid, a base for other pink-hued eyeshadows (ahem Naked 3) or a an ever so slightly subtle crease colour. Although it's pink toned, it's so easily wearable and with the slight shimmer, I'll definitely be sporting this on my lids on slightly more 'au natural' days especially when the sun is shining. 

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Have you Shopped Your Stash recently?