Apart from a brief dinner date, all my outfits this week have been nothing special. I’ve had a week off work so have indulged in fail-safe dresses, ripped jeans and all that other off duty jazz. The only thing outfit-wise that’s been worth talking about is this week’s manicure.

A few weeks ago I bought (another) red nail varnish and a lovely soft lilac-y one from a brand that I had never heard of. Truth be told I’d only popped into the shop because it had replaced the local Superdrug so I thought I’d finally have a nosey. All in all, the shop was a bit naff; but these gems might tempt me to venture back in the future.

Essence is a cheap brand, and although the name suggests it intends on jumping on the Essie bandwagon, the bottles have a distinctive shape and a mammoth brush. The brush is so wide and the consistency is bloody brilliant. One swipe was nearly enough to cover a full nail, so perfect if you are in a rush.

The red is a true pillar box red with a high shine. Over the years I have bought a lot of so called ‘gel finish’ nail polishes, but this one is the only convincing one I have encountered. It’s oh so shiny. The aforementioned brush also means you get a nice even coverage and it dries pretty darn quick too.

Weirdly however, the red version does chip a lot more than the lilac. That is not to say it chips a lot; you don’t have to worry about big chunks being absent from after work drinks, the chips are fairly minimal.

Hands up if you’re a nail art fan! Just kidding, I know you can’t risk the smudges. To say the polish is quite smooth and quick drying if you run out of nail glue and decide to just stick things on willy-nilly anyway, you’re in luck. When I did my nails, I was apparently feeling a bit fruity as I reached out for my wheel of fruity nail art. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I don’t know what fruit this is meant to represent, but I like the way the zesty coloured clashed with the red. Whatever the fruit, it has lasted through three shampoos, a hair mask and multiple bouts of washing up, which is great when you think it’s just the polish holding it on.

So there you have it, this week’s outfit is nothing more than a cheap nail varnish, which is just as well. As I type this I’m sat in an old cotton t-shirt, with wet hair– and let’s face it, that’s a photo not worth sharing.

When it comes to beauty, I’m in two minds. Part of me believes that the pricier the product the better quality the ingredients and research behind it… because that makes sense doesn’t it?

The other part of me wants to believe that the pricier ones just have more money spent on marketing campaigns. This is what my bank account wants to believe too. So, with the house-fund (me and the boyf are currently saving for a mortgage deposit) and other projects in mind, I decided to turn a blind eye to all the glossy adverts with scientific sounding phrases and go budget.

Just popping into town for a budget buy turned into a budget beauty haul… If it costs less, that means you can buy more, doesn’t it?

The foundation and lipsticks were from Poundland. When Poundland announced that it was bringing out its own brand make-up line, it created a huge buzz and gained positive reviews overall. Part of me thought that it would probably turn out to be a bit overhyped, but at a quid a piece, it’s not a big deal if it is naff.

The foundation didn’t inspire confidence when I squeezed it out of the bottle. Rather than a normal liquid foundation, this one had a stodgier, almost mouse-like thickness; however it went on and blended like a dream. The coverage is OK, it’s not brilliant, but it’s better than some of the some foundations I’ve paid twenty-odd pounds for.

It also lasted really well. I applied it about 9 hours before the photo of me was taken and didn’t feel the need to re-apply once. As you can see, it didn’t cover my massive bags paticularly well, so if your a bit sleep deprived like I was on Sunday you may want to hunt out an under-eye concealer.

The lipsticks are possibly my new favourite things. I’ve let everyone know just how utterly amazing they are, even blokes who aren’t really interested; but I just cannot stop raving about them. I was worried about how these would apply, I hadn’t used lipbalm for a day or two so thought they might dry out my lips and look all cracked and horrible.

I just applied the lipstick directly, it was Sunday and I couldn’t be bothered messing about with a brush. I swear I could feel my lips being instantly moisturised. The range has some great shades, but just a heads up they do transfer quite easily. I’ve so far found lipstick on my hand, on my chin (classy) and on numerous mugs, so yeah, just be careful about that. Weirdly, the colour lasts quite well, it does fade slightly, but it does so evenly – none of that accidental lipliner look going on. The darker one did last better than the Barbie pink; however the Barbie pink is more of a soft, shimmery shade when its on. The next time I do dramatic eye make-up I’ll be using this on the lips.

The eyeliner is a gel one for about £4.99 from Collection. I was a bit worried about gel, but found this easier to apply than others I’ve had in pen-form. The colour is intense and again, it can last a long, drunken night (as Valentine’s day proved.) I should have taken a photo of this when it was all nice and new, but I just couldn’t wait to get into it. Besides, showing it like this kinda shows the thickness of the gel… right?

The contouring kit is from Sleek and is about £6.49. It does look a bit dog-eared here, but just take that as a good sign… I use this every-day without fail. It can cling to dry skin, but the tones (I’m using the light version) are enough to make a difference but not overpower. The highlighter alone makes it worth buying the palette.

The mascara is the most expensive thing here, at a whopping £7.99 – I know, last of the big spenders on this blog. I’m wearing the flared version, but to be honest, it’s not any more flared than the rest of the Maybelline Falsies range. What I love about this range is that it doesn’t clump, even when you get down to the dregs because you forgot to buy another when it first started to run out. If anything it gets better as it goes on.

Confession time now, I totally forgot to buy anything for the brows; I’m currently using a product from Mii (you can read about it here) but I wouldn’t really class that as budget, so sorry about that. From desperate experience though, I can tell you a Rimmel brown eyeliner works fairly well, as long as you’re careful.