New season, new (ish) products, the drugstore edit

Holy moly was it chilly last night; it’s the first night that I’ve felt a real autumnal frostiness in the air and I have to admit, it made me oh so excited for the coming months. Out came my blanket and my brand new Sweater Weather candle and on went a pair of wooly slippers and my cosiest PJs. Delightful.

My other favourite part about the changing seasons – particularly around this time of year – is the influx of new beauty products that hit the shelves. The drugstores are suddenly full of exciting new launches so I thought it seemed only fair that I road test a good group of ‘em and share my thoughts with you. Right?

We’ll kick off with hair and body first of all – two of my favourite products of the bunch. The first is the Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Shampoo and Conditioner (£2.35 and £3.99). Formulated without any parabens, colourants or silicones – basically any nasties of any kind – these haircare products are designed to be nothing but nourishing for your locks, providing your hair with total goodness and nothing nasty. And they really do work. Post-wash my hair felt light, silky smooth and smelled ruddy lovely.

Similarly, the Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Rapid Moisture Spray Lotion (£5.49) is another amazingly scented product – provided you like cocoa butter, of course. It’s basically a bit of a richer, slightly more nourishing version of the Vaseline spray moisturisers and I for one think it’s great. I always found the Vaseline products didn’t quite provide my skin with enough hydration but this bad boy gives the full whack. Takes a few microseconds more to sink in as a result, but oh boy is that time worth your while.

Moving on to lips and tips and one of the most talked-about launches of the season, the Rimmel Apocalips Matte Lip Velvets (£6.49). After the original formula Apocalips proved such a success with lip lovers the world over, it seemed only right that Rimmel extend the range – and I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the results. I’m not actually a big lover of matte lips – shocker – but these are genuinely quite lovely to use and well worth a try if you’re looking to delve into the matte lip world for the first time. I’ll report back later when I’ve tested ‘em out in full but they’re certainly one to keep an eye on.

Now I’ve talked about the Maybelline Color Elixirs (£6.99) before, after I managed to lay my hands on a few while in the US. But at last these brilliant things have landed on our fair shores and I can’t recommend them more. Think smooth formula, good colour range and long-lasting colour, all with a nourishing finish on the lips. Just ace.

In the nail category, the Essie Autumn 2014 Collection (£7.99) is a strong contender for tip top tips launch – the purply grey toned Take Me Outside is just beautiful – but I think that award has to go to the House of Ho Ho Ho Elegant Touch Nails (£8.99). I know it’s really early to be thinking about your Crimbo nails just yet but when I saw these in the shop I just couldn’t resist. Just look at how amazing they are!

Last up in my autumnal shopping basket were two of the Maybelline Color Show Mono Eyeshadows (£4.99). Now I’m not sure if they’ve just repackaged their old eyeshadow formulas and added a whole heap of new shades but I’m sure I’ve never seen these in stores before. Or maybe I just missed them? Either way these bad boys are new to me, so in the basket they went. Formula-wise, you have to make a bit of a trade off with these shadows; while the colour pay-off isn’t amazing – they’re quite sheer – the staying power is just awesome, particularly when you pair them with a primer. I’ve been wearing them all day, pretty much every day and have yet to see a single crease. If you ask me that’s a pretty impressive claim for such a budget friendly shadow… Needless to say I’ll be picking up a few more shades in the near future. For research purposes of course!

So what do you guys think of these latest launches? Are there any that tickle your fancy?