Beauty Shopping and Patriotic Pastels NOTD!

Yesterday I finally made it into town for a spot of retail therapy!  I ended up with a rather beauty-heavy spree and was really excited that I finally managed to get my paws on some Essie nail polish in Boots.  I was hoping to find Mint Candy Apple but unfortunately they had sold out!  Sob!

I also picked up No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser.  Stress is one of the main causes of breakouts for me, and the past few months of deadlines and late nights have really taken their toll on my complexion.  I decided to give this cleanser a go after reading Florence's recommendations for simple and gentle skincare.  I'll be doing a full review in a few weeks but I used it last night and was really impressed!  

I also picked up The Body Shop's Warming Mineral Mask.  I'm on a mission to really improve my skin and used this mask a couple of years ago after I received a free sample.  It's one of the best skincare products I've used and left my face looking brighter and generally in better condition, so thought I'd give it a go again.  I also picked up their Facial Buffer, to see if light daily exfoliation has any effect on my skin's appearance.

The nail polishes I chose were Essie's Turquoise & Caicos and Muchi Muchi.  From Topshop, I also got Parma Violet and Razzzmatazz.  I'm currently wearing the first three in a kind-of-homage to the Queen and her outfit colour choices (inspired by the May edition of UK Vogue)!  I've used Topshop nail polishes before and with Parma Violet continue to be impressed by them!  As for the Essie shades, I was a little nervous from reading other people's reviews that the formula would be streaky.  At first I was a bit concerned about how runny the polishes were but actually really like working with them.  I found that three thin coats resulted in perfect coverage and each coat dried really quickly too.  All of the polishes have a nice shine to them, which I really like.  I think Muchi Muchi is soon going to become a firm favourite!

What have you treated yourself to recently?