Meadow Haul

Okay, okay, so the "Meadow Haul" title is incredibly corny, but it was just too easy, and I couldn't resist :) I don't do haul posts very often, but I thought I'd pop this one up, because I can't believe that I bought so much stuff. I really don't do it very often!

According to my Goodreads account, I haven't read (well, I haven't completed) a book since February, when I read The Time Traveller's Wife. It hasn't been for a want of trying, I've attempted to read a few things that I've picked up in Charity Shops over the past few months, but I either get bored, or they just became so ridiculously "as if" and cliched, that I generally can't be bothered.

In the end, I found myself in the Young Adult section and picked up two books that I'd heard a lot about (I am Number Four" and "Hunger Games", and a book that sounded interesting in "Gone".

I'm currently reading "Gone", whilst the boyfriend is reading "I am Number Four". 

I am Number Four: £7.99

Hunger Games: £7.99

Gone: £6.99

Offer: 3 for 2

Anyone who has ever stayed in a Travelodge Hotel, knows that they don't supply shampoo or shower gel, so although I'd taken a few samples that I'd collected from magazines, there wasn't enough for the two of us, so I decided to pick up a couple of travel products from Superdrug, and since they were 4 for the price of 3, I thought I'd give the Dentyl Active mouthwash a try, since it's apparently all "innovative".

Prices: Range from 50p to £1.99

Offer: 4 for 3

I really don't do face masks enough, but the boyfriend used the self heating Apricot, Peach and Mango one, whilst I chose the yummy smelling Strawberry Exfoliating face mask :)

I wish someone would tell me why exactly a pack of four nose strips are so bloomin' expensive?

These were the cheapest I could find in Superdrug, and they were around the £2.50 mark, although they had an offer on these, hence the purchase of two boxes.

 I'm still very new to doing anything with my nails, but I'm really loving these 4 Way Nail Buffers, and my nails seem to be appreciating it :)

Whilst I was in Superdrug, I had a quick look through the beauty counters, and there were a couple of things that I wanted to say:

You might remember that the last time I visited Superdrug in Meadowhall, I was appalled by how poorly maintained the Sleek stand was, well, I can say that it looked neater on the surface, but I decided to have a look at the tester palettes, and nearly all of them were empty. I'm going to assume that people had been pushing the colours out and stealing them, but if that's the case, what is the point of leaving the empty palettes on the stand??

Second, you might also remember that I was trying to find anywhere that sold MUA Quake polishes, and I can confirm that as of my visit, the Meadowhall Superdrug was not selling them!!

I think that I am physically incapable of walking past a Paperchase without buying anything, and yup, I didn't manage it this time either. 

Pen: £1.25

Mini Emery Boards: £1

Lip Balms: £2.50

What can I say about The Big Bang Theory? It's potentially one of the very few decent comedic imports from America at the minute, and I absolutely love it!

Complete First Season: £8 (HMV)

Oh, and here's something that I thought you might like .....

Have you had any super duper finds recently? 

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The Lure of Loyalty Cards

When I first heard that Superdrug was bringing out a loyalty card, I was absolutely ecstatic. Why? C'mon, we all like to be rewarded for spending money and being "loyal" to a company. But, to be fair, I have quite a rocky relationship with the notion of loyalty cards.

The Very Bad (in my opinion)

For example, I think that the PureHMV card is a complete waste of time. You gain loads of points per transaction, which, on the surface, makes it look like a really great scheme. Nevertheless, in the grand scheme of things (sorry, bad joke!), whilst it looks like you have a lot of points, you need even more to get anything of any real value (gig tickets, magazine subscriptions etc).

Image by HMV

I'm also a little anti any apparent "loyalty" card that rewards you in things that you don't want, or need. I know that there are a lot of items on offer, through PureHMV, but unless you are interested in practically everything, it's hard to find something that really matches your tastes.

But, my biggest grievance with PureHMV, is the idea that points "expire". Unless, you buy expensive products such as Playstation 3's or very regularly buy video games as soon as they come out (noting that a typical "new" game costs between £25 and £40, from HMV), very few people are ever going to get any real opportunity of bagging the really big "treats" through PureHMV.

In fact, when I was told that "some" of my points were about to expire (apparently they expire after two years!), I had accumulated just over 34,000 points, which sounds a lot, but really isn't. In order to spend a few, before they expired (I could hardly let them go to waste), I spent a very long time trawling through the crap of key rings and posters, that, let's face it, anyone older than 16, or anyone without a really strong "fandom" towards a film/band etc just wouldn't be interested.

In the end, I think I've just resolved to collect points, on the very rare occasion that I'm in HMV these days, and when they're due to expire, maybe get something. HMV certainly isn't top of my list of places to shop though, as I tend to buy video games from Game or Gamestation.

The Very Good

I love my Boots Advantage card, because I seem to gain the most out of it. For me, saving up the points is really handy, for those times when I suddenly run out of an essential, such as Sanitary Towels, Shampoo or Cotton Buds, and I don't have enough free money to buy them, at that time. So, I'll use my points to buy them.

That might seem quite boring, but it's useful.

Image by Boots

Plus, living in a very small, rural town where the only "major" shops are Co-Op, Tesco and a teeny, tiny, minuscule Boots, often Boots is the only place that I can buy my essentials, so it is very nice to be rewarded for that. Although, I should just say that living two minutes away from a Boots, I often go without my purse, instead just opting to take the cash, and very often forget my Boots card...d'oh!!

With the Advantage card, you collect 4 points for every £1 that you spend, and there are plenty of opportunities, throughout the year, to collect bonus or double points on everyday essentials, as well as the luxury items, which is another bonus for me. And, each points translates into 1p off anything you want to buy.

And, that is where I feel that loyalty cards such as Boots, will always win out over schemes like PureHMV. Of course, it's nice to save up for something luxurious, but we as human beings, like choice. And not the kind of restrictive choice "offered" by HMV. Yes, sometimes, it is nice to save up for something of novelty or "once-in-a-lifetime", but in the real world, more times, I'll need the essentials, and an essential is not a Despicable Me keyring, no matter how cute it might look!!

Plus, let us not forget, that Boots points do not expire!! And, with the Boots Advantage card you can take up the opportunity to register as an organ donor, which I personally think is really great.

My only issue with the Boots Advantage card is that my card is starting to look a bit raggedy through popular usage, so I'd really like a new one :D Although, I have had it around ten years hehe!

The Indifferent.

And finally, of course, we come to Superdrug's brand new BeautyCard. As I already stated, initially, I was excited about news of this loyalty card, but as details started to leak out about Superdrug only offering 1 point for every £1, well, compared to the Boots 4 per £1, I have to say that I was incredibly disappointed. For a company to not even appear to try and thwart the obvious competition seems "weak", almost as if they are afraid to challenge Boots.

Image by Superdrug

But, at least the Superdrug card offers me the opportunity to buy things I want and need, unlike PureHMV, which is an absolute definite plus side!

One thing that I may have changed my mind on, was my original thought that the fact that the card is a mirror, seemed really gimmicky and pointless, but having only had my card since Tuesday, I have already used it, and as long as you don't bend the card, it isn't that bad a mirror as you might expect. Personally, I was expecting one of those cheap mirrors that you used to get in kids make up sets that were more fun house effect, than anything else!

So, will the BeautyCard encourage me to shop in Superdrug more? No. I opt to shop in Boots, primarily because they have more things that I want, but there are a lot of things, such as own brand Hair Dye, that I will always head to Superdug for.

In a sense, I feel like Superdrug has leveled the playing ground when it comes to choosing between Boots and Superdrug, because they both offer some kind of loyalty scheme. So, whereas I might have deliberately headed to Boots, for something that both offer, purely because I'd be rewarded for it, now it'll probably be a case of, whichever one I get to first. It's nice, as well, to feel rewarded for buying the things that I can only get from Superdrug. Going back to their own brand hair dye, I often felt cheated that this would be the product that I always wanted to buy, but never felt obliged to, because I honestly wanted to reward points. So, now I feel more obliged to buy it from where I'd really want to, as I do genuinely prefer to use that brand of product.

Have you all picked up your Superdrug BeautyCard? Do you think it's worth it, or do you think Superdrug could have done much more? And, which store brands (beauty-related or not) do you think offer the best and worst loyalty schemes?

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Debate: Price or Reward

I was just reading Hannah's blog over at Betwixt Beauty, and a comment made about her post started making me think about what motivates me to buy products, and where I buy them from. So, I thought I'd start a couple of debates going:

One. Retailers - Boots or Superdrug

First of all, which retailer do you predominantly shop at? Do you choose Superdrug, who are cheap. Or do you choose Boots, who are generally more expensive, but offer the incentive of having a rewards scheme? In this case which is more important, price or reward?

My Opinion:  At first, I thought to myself, well, of course I'd take the cheaper option, but then I really sat down and thought about it, and I realised that in the real world, I actually find myself heading to Boots more often than Superdrug. Why? Because whatever I buy from Boots is going to give me points on my Boots Card. And we all know what points make right...?

Your Opinion: Which would you choose: Boots (Rewards) or Superdrug (Cheap)? Leave your thoughts below...

Two. Products - Cheap or Reward

Our Second debate looks at actual products. There are two items for sale. They're both pretty much the same product, and they're a product that you genuinely need. One is reasonably priced, whilst the other is  more expensive. However, the more expensive one comes with a money-off voucher. Do you choose the cheaper option, or the most expensive one and happily take the reward?

My Opinion: This is a toughy. If the "reward" was a free gift that wasn't too bad, this would be easy, I'd take the expensive one, because we all love the idea of a freebie. But, when it comes to a money-off voucher, it's harder to decide.  Ultimately, I have to think that I'd take the cheaper option, purely because, as a rule, money-off vouchers tend to be for products that I wouldn't want in the first place. But, then their often for money off products that I wouldn't alternatively try, so it really is tough!

Your Opinion: Again, which would you choose? Nice and cheap, or expensive but a reward in the shape of a voucher. Join the debate in the comments below :)

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Diet Coke? Erm, No Thanks! *Rant Coming*

Like most bloggers, I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs. Partially because I'm a nosey little bugger (shush you at the back!), partially because I want to make myself extremely jealous of all the stuff I can't afford (no Violins today please!) and also because it's a great way of finding out about offers and such, that I might have missed.

On Monday and Tuesday, I started noticing a lot of people blogging about Diet Coke's latest offer of Buy Two Bottles and get a free gift, which after last years Diet Coke and Nails Inc expedition, I was interested to see how this nail polish would pan out, because like Nails Inc, I've never heard of MUA.

So, I trundled off to Superdrug yesterday, with my mum, to see what all the fuss was about, and two things annoyed me:

1. I managed to find the Diet Cokes, with the label telling me that if I bought two bottles of Diet Coke, I could get a MUA Nail Duo Set (or something along those line) for free. Okay, that's nice, but where exactly are these MUA sets? Hmm...when Boots did their Nails Inc offer last year, the nail varnishes were on the same stand, but nowhere in the entire shop could I find what was described on the advert in front of the Diet Cokes.

2. Although I didn't find what was actually on offer, I did manage to find the actual MUA stand, and I have to say that I was a little bit disgusted at the fact that the MUA cosmetic range is only £1 anyway!

So, let me get this straight. You want me to buy two bottles of a drink that I don't particularly like, at an extortionate price, just to get a free product, from a range that is only worth £1 in the first place??

Okay, so maybe the free gift was worth more than that (I wouldn't have a clue, I still haven't seen it), but I really can't figure out the motivation for anyone, unless you're intending to buy two bottles of Diet Coke in the first place!

Please tell me, if I got this wrong somewhere, but I honestly do not think that this is any kind of "bargain" at all!

Aaaand, my rant is over!

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Gentle Shampoo Review: Part Two

On Monday, I wrote Part One of my Gentle Shampoo Series, and without further ado, here is Part Two!

I'll admit that when I came across the Pantene Aqua Light range, I wasn't really looking for it because I hadn't long ago bought Simple's Gentle Shampoo. However, the words "aqua light" and "virtually no weight" just slapped me in the face and I was a sucker for the hard sell!

Where to Purchase: Unlike Simple, Pantene can be found practically anywhere that sells shampoo, so Boots, Superdrug, Savers, all the major supermarkets.

Pricing: I bought the Shampoo and Conditioner together from Boots, where they are still (I checked this morning) being sold two bottles for the price of one, at £3.99. Now, this sounds like a good offer. But, I skipped over to Superdrug today, and discovered that they are selling them at £1.75 each, although admittedly, I'm not sure how big the bottles were in Superdrug, but I do know the ones in Boots were 500ml.

What the bottles profess: Unlike other Pantene products, Aqua Light claims to give you "beautifully nourished [hair] with virtually no weight". I have to admit that I was incredibly sceptical about Pantene's claim that the shampoo wouldn't weigh my hair down, do I decided to do a little pre-usage research, to find out why exactly this is claimed to add weight. And this is what the official Pantene "science" had to say:

"Unlike other shampoos and conditioners, Aqua Light products contain highly water-soluble beads that clean hair gently and rinse away fast. The lightweight formulation nourishes without weighing it down.

Conventional conditioners mostly feature tightly packed inner structures that appear creamy and dense and eventually drag hair down. Aqua Light's loose, fluid composition delivers just the right amount of nourishment before rinsing away and leaving you with gorgeous, swishable hair."

Personally, this didn't feel much like real science to me, so I was still a little dubious! But,at least the shampoo does actually look like water!!

Using:  The Pantene shampoo was very similar to Simple's Gentle Shampoo,in the sense that it was genuinely light to the touch and in my hair.When applied to my hair, it was so light it was a little weird, and when I washed it out, the shampoo had practically all washed away as soon as the water touched it. My hair is getting quite long at the minute, which usually results in my hair getting really tangled up, meaning that I need to use more conditioner, however, after shampooing, it was virtually (although not completely) free of knots. However, I did use the conditioner, and unlike other Pantene conditioners that are thick and difficult to wash out, this was so light and again washed out almost instantly. It's almost as if the product dissolves when mixed with water. Incredible.

Afterwards: Typically, when my hair is this long,getting a comb through it after washing it is a complete "haha, as if", and I have to spray my hair with heat protection spray to get the tangles out (genuinely this typically works!). However,with the Aqua Light shampoo, I got the comb through my hair with only a few hassles from knots, which is such a big deal for me, because I usually spend a good five minutes "hacking" at my poo hair to get the knots out, which is really not good for my already weak hair.

After the first wash, my hair felt nicer, but it wasn't until about four or five washes that I could tell that my hair looked "fluffier" on top, I'm assuming because nothing was weighing the strands down, and after a week of using them, I honestly believe that my hair is looking so much healthier, than I think I've seen it in years. I can not believe how amazing this shampoo is.

I've never been able to find a shampoo that didn't wrigh my hair down, made it look healthy (rather than dull), and got rid of tangles, so I am so pleased with this product. I just wish Pantene had realised that weightless was the future a very long time ago!

I still like Simple's shampoo, but Pantene beats it hands down without a helmet on!

Perfect for: Anyone with fine hair, that hates being weighed down by unnecessarily heavy hair products.

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