February beauty bargains

If you’re sick of the rain, ready for the Spring to make a proper appearance, and in need of a little pick-me-up, here are a few beauty bargains that have recently caught my eye. They include pound shop bargains, low-cost dupes, new product launches, and special offers. First up, the heavy discount shop picks.

Products moving from left to right:

• The biggest bargain of the last few days is the Sen stress-relief sandalwood shower gel – it’s currently in 99p Stores, is SLS-free, comes in a very pretty gift box, and has lots of aromatherapy oils in it.
• Pound World: some of the multi-packs of Miss Sporty cosmetics contain their Dr Balm tinted lip balm in 03 ‘Gossip Kiss SOS’ – a rather nice coral tinted product with a bit of watermelon fragrance. Perfect for rocking this season’s orange lip without getting a bad case of clown mouth.
• Also in Pound World, Soft & Gentle Kind to Skin deodorant in soft jasmine & coco milk, an effective product with a light scent. Pound shop deodorants are often disappointing, but this one is great.
• In Poundland, keep an eye out for the Imperial Leather shower creams in Grapefuit & Pomegranate (if this doesn’t wake you up in the morning then even a quadruple espresso isn’t going to do it) or Coconut & Tiare Flower (far better fragrance than most similar coconut products). They’re the pick of the range.
• Mellor & Russell Miracle Moisture hair repair mask with argan oil. These are in and out of stock regularly at most Poundland branches, and they’re a nice little treat for parched hair.
• Family Bargains is selling Simple Kind to Skin Replenishing Rich Moisturiser for £1.50. This is the one that does really well in blind testings, including one by Which? Magazine where it beat loads of expensive products more than ten times the price (RRP is about £3.80). While it can’t do things like help repair sun damage, it is a nicely-formulated fragrance-free lotion that’s good for improving moisture levels in wintery skin.

Cult product dupe

If you are a fan of the pretty Bourjois cream-to-powder blushes (10g, RRP £7.99), you might like to know that e.l.f. Cosmetics UK has some very similar products in the form of their Studio Cream Blush (15g, currently £3.25 with their special offer – use code 50022014 at checkout for 50% off your order until 17th February 2014). The ingredients and performance are very similar between the products, although e.l.f. has a wider range of colours and bigger pots, and I think it’s slightly easier to apply.

In particular, e.l.f. Studio Blush in Tease is very similar to the popular 01 Nude Velvet in the Bourjois (the colour swatches on the e.l.f. site aren’t always to be trusted). Studio Blush in Flirt is a pretty good match for Bourjois 03 Rose Tender, and Studio Blush in Vixen is a good dupe for Bourjois 04 Sweet Cherry. The only drawback is the bulky e.l.f. packaging, but as the blush lasts for hours on the skin without fading you can probably get away without needing to reapply it.

Another rather nice designer dupe

Rimmel has recently brought out a new range of chunky lip pencils called Colour Rush Balm, priced £5.99 each. They’re very similar to Clinique Chubby Sticks (RRP £17.00, pic below), and I absolutely love them. Strong pigments but a nice sheer semi-gloss finish, no OTT menthol unlike some other cheap brands, and a lovely range of colours.

My favourite one is Not An Illusion, a really flattering rosey-nude colour that would work for both off-duty chic and an evening nude lip to balance a smokey eye. By the way, Not An Illusion is almost a dead ringer for the best-selling Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist by Soap & Glory (RRP £8.00).

And finally…

There are some VERY attractive deals in the high street chemist shops right now, including 3-for-2s on all Revlon makeup at Boots (stock up on their excellent Nearly Naked range). See all the Boots big brand offers here, including Botanics, Simple, and lots more.

And if you fancy a Spring fling then get over to Superdrug pronto. Their B. products are all on double offer (£2 off loads of cosmetics PLUS buy one get one half price), so you could treat yourself to some beautifully-made cruelty-free goodies like these lipsticks and glosses – check out those colours. While you’re at Superdrug, I also recommend having a look at their Barry M offer, which applies to nearly everything, including these gorgeous new season silk-finish nail paints (my favourite is the one in Truffle).

Happy shopping, bargain hunters! Have you spotted any other dupes among the new releases? Please let me know.