Collective beauty haul: Mica Beauty, Olaz, Primark, Pieces & Kruidvat

So... I'm a bit of a slack this year when it comes to my blog and I get frustrated about that more than you can imagine, but I also am aware that I'm the only person who can change that around. I still love beauty (although, aren't we getting a bit too serious about it sometimes?), so that's not the issue here. I already took many pictures of things I like to share with you and I have enough ideas for articles, but it's just that I find it hard to get in the right mood or mind set to actually put a blog post together. Well, whining about it ain't gonna help nobody but I know I can do better, although I'm not gonna promise you anything yet.

Anyway, I shopped at some places lately and that's what I want to share with you right now!

In the high end category I discovered the Mica Beauty store in the Passage, Den Haag (The Hague). I was sort of lured into the shop while I was waiting for my father who had some other business to take care of. I had a skin care consult (also known as a commercial talk through :)) with one of the employees for almost half an hour and I couldn't resist bying something by the end of that. Luckily I was given a good discount, because otherwise this Vita-C Exfoliating Peeling Gel was a bit out of reach for my budget. I hope it's worth it! It better be!

As much as I like luxury cosmetics I like cheap ass gems even more! That being said, shops like Primark keep me coming back for more even though you get hits one time and misses the next time. Maybe that's the only gambling I'm into... Last week at Primark I bought some of their cosmetics that go by their sub brand P.S. Love... I bought a stippling brush, a matte lipstick in the color Whisper, a lip pencil (color 01) and a loofah pad.

Like a Whisper on my lips ;p

The color Whisper is a nice matte soft rose that's a bit on the cool side of the pink color spectrum. The only crazy thing about it? It has silver shimmer in it! Why??? Luckily, the shimmers are hardly noticeable because who wants shimmer in a supposedly matte lipstick? Overall I like the color!

At Pieces I bought a nail polish that's called Hushed Violet. This was just an impulse buy because nail polish is the last thing I need. At the Dutch drug store Kruidvat I bought silver shampoo (actually violet, again!) because my hair is looking so brassy and I have to tone that down. I hope this will do the job.

Kruidvat had their best beauty offer of the year: Cosmetics at buy one and get one free! I bought two mascara's by L'Oréal, a quick dry top coat by Catrice, a compact foundation by NYC, MUA Pro-Base prime&conceal powder, MUA mosaic bronzer Sunkissed Glow, single matt eye shadow 010 Vanillaty Fair by Catrice and MUA lipstick shade 14 Bare.

The mosaic bronzer from MUA will be used by me as a blush, because it's a perfect neutral shade on fair skin. The MUA lipstick in shade 14 Bare looks a bit on the brown side but it's actually a really nice nude color for fair complexions.You know how some nudes can make you look like you just stepped out of your grave, which no one wants to look like unless it's Halloween, but this one doesn't make you look like that but instead healthy and alive because of the nice peachy sheen to it.

Swatches L-R: Sunkissed Glow mosaic bronzer by MUA, P.S. Love lip liner pencil 01 from Primark and MUA lipstick in shade 14 Bare.

Last but not least I got my first face brush. Woohoo! I know these kind of brushes are around for quite a while now but I never felt the need to spend around 120-150 EUR on a Clarisonic or Visa Pure. This one from Olaz (the brand's being also known as Olay in some countries) didn't break my bank account as it was on introduction sale for only two 'tenners'. Yep, 20 EUR that is, as where the regular price will be 35 EUR, but that's still affordable. So far I like the brush, but I only used it a couple of times so I'll have to test it over a period of time for a more reliable opinion.

I hope you enjoyed this shoplog! If you follow me on Bloglovin' you'll be noticed when I put a new post online so that you don't just visit my blog by chance and possibly may be disappointed that I didn't upload anything. You'll also find Laura's Beautyblog on Twitter and Facebook. Thank you for your support!

Ps. Voor mijn Nederlandstalige lezers: Vinden jullie artikelen in het Engels oké of hebben jullie liever ook gewoon Nederlandse tekst erbij? Laat het me weten in de reacties zodat ik daarmee rekening kan houden.