Christmas Haul and Swap Reveal Photos

Happy 2014 everyone!  I am officially on holiday so I'm sitting here in my PJ's in total hibernation mode.  I finally gathered up all my haul and swap items in December and can now do a proper post about all the things that I purchased or swapped for.

I've been working on downsizing my stash and swapping for items that I will use, so I'm very proud that I managed to get all my beauty stash into my makeup unit on my vanity and an IKEA Helmer :)

**Warning: Long post :) and apologies for the iphone pics, my camera is broke**

Let's start with my favourite purchase of the season!
Acne Comet Boots (purchased from Harrods)
I recently posted about this, but they are finally here. I wore them to work for 2 days and they were so comfortable and I received so many compliments ::blush::
My only grievance is that the box is pretty standard and flimsy. For boots that originally cost over £400, I expected a little bit more.

 

Do you see that bright bag in the background? I also treated myself to the 

Vivienne Westwood vs. Cambridge Satchel Company bag  

(purchased from The Cambridge Satchel Company in Covent Garden)

These bags are so sturdy and well constructed. I just fell in love with the energy and vibrancy of this design.  My friend who bought this for me told me to go for this one instead of the brown one that I was initially going to go for.

Continuing with the Vivienne Westwood theme...

Lush x Vivienne Westwood Scarves 

 (purchased from my local Lush shop)

These were very limited and I'm happy to have secured both.

Guerlain Terra Nerolia Highlighter 

(purchased from Debenhams)

I was shocked to see this at 50% off as usually these limited edition products sell out before they can even go on sale.  I love the Guerlain palettes so much. They smell so fresh and fruity and the craftsmanship is so stunning.

 

A few more purchases for the New Years

I didn't want to pay the money for a Louis Vuitton refill in my agenda, so I headed to TK Maxx in hopes to find the Taschen Calendar Diary and Viola! there were tons. Many years ago at Uni, I purchased a Dali one and I loved it. The pages are filled with a lot of graphics and the paper is high gloss and sturdy.  It will last all year and it's worth the £5.99 price tag as well.

Also included in this photo are Muji pens. A co-worker gave these to me and I accepted with a huge smile on my face :)

 

The next item was a bargain find on ebay for only 99p. 

The Ninja Bunny Drawstring bag is very kawaii! I currently use it as my makeup bag.  

The last of my purchases before I move onto my swap reveal...

Lush Shower Gels: Ponche, Rose Jam, and Snow Fairy

My favourite of the three has always been Snow Fairy, but I had to get Rose Jam and Ponche for their unique scents.  Ponche is fresh orange juice and tequila and Rose Jam is a modern take on the traditional Rose smell.  Both are full of zest, freshness, and I love using them!  I had to stock up so I ended up buying 3 large bottles after I bought the travel sizes.

They are indeed limited edition, you can try your luck at your local Lush shop.

 

Ok ladies & gents, onto the swap reveals....

TheFACEShop Fruit Face Mask from Korea

I haven't tried them yet so can't comment, but these are actual cotton mask you put onto your face. They look a bit creepy, but fun ha!

 

(From L-R)

Caudalie Huile Divine OIl

I have only used their moisturisers before, but the oil smells "divine" for real!

 

Lucy Annabella Organics - Argan & Bergamot oil

I never heard of this brand, but the scent is fresh and I'm looking forward to using this on my legs tonight

S5 Purity Serum

This is another brand that I haven't heard of. I'm in love with oils and serums lately, so happy to give this one a try

The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit hand cleanser

Anyone who knows me that I don't support the Body shop since they were recently bought out by L'oreal.  I will say though that this hand sanitizer leaves an orange scent on your hand for a long time.

Escada Cherry In The Air (gift)

If you like sweet and uncomplicated perfumes that borderline body sprays, then this one is for you.

Ren Neroli & Grapefruit body cream 

I love Neroli so much! It is actually moisturising as well. I know Ren had a huge marketing presence when they first launched so I'm excited to finally try this before investing in money

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation (only £2.99 from fragrancedirect.com)

I couldn't believe how inexpensive this was on fragrancedirect as Boots and Superdrugs is selling it far more.  I actually love using this foundation on days where I'm just running to the supermarket.

Clarins Santal Face Treatment Oil 

This was a free tester from my friend at the Clarins counter. The oil is so pure and rich. I put this on my face but wasn't so keen on the heaviest of it, so I will be using this in my hair.

Fresh Mangosteen Soap (gift)

I am happy to see that Fresh is still up and running. It's very difficult to get Fresh here in the UK, so a friend sent this to me as a gift. I currently have so much soap that I'm not sure when I'm going to use this one, but soon for sure.

Jo Malone Lime Basil & Mandarin perfume (gift)

Jo Malone is one of those brands that keeps growing. I'm not sure if they are growing too fast or not as their scents are becoming far too predictable; however, this one is very different and unique.  Just my kind of perfume.

MAC muscle tone nail polish (gift)

I always forget about MAC products, especially MAC nail polish.  This one takes 4 coats to make opaque

Perfume Guide from Luca Turin and Tanya Sanchez
I swapped for this book and I'm so happy to have it. The book goes over both high street and niche perfumes with humour, great insight, and knowledge. I've enjoyed reading this and feel very inspired to grow my perfume collection

MAC 217 Blending Brush was a gift. It's such a great blending brush. It's soft and blends shadow without striping the colour.

Bare Minerals Original Foundation in Medium Beige 

I swapped for this as it's one of my HG foundations.  I love using this on it's own in the summer or on top of my liquid foundation during the winter.  This is honestly an amazing foundation that highlights skin that is maturing (aka my skin now :(  )

Well that's all folks! These are the products that I will be working through along with my stash.  I'm really making an effort not to purchase too much but purchase quality products that I can enjoy using all year. 

I'd love to know what your fav purchase was in 2013? and Happy New Years to new and old readers.  May 2014 be filled with lovely products and happiness x

Nail Polish Exchange Haul

I don't know what it is about mail, but it's just so exciting.  A huge part of why I join these online gift exchanges is purely for the joy of opening up a mystery package.  I present to you a package that I got yesterday :)

Love the wrapping!

 

My secret exchange buddy hooked me up with my favourite american candy! Oh god the inner kid in me jumped for joy lol

 

So happy to have a back up of the Bourjois magic nail polish remover!

 

China Glaze Luxe n Lush

My favourite out of this whole lot had to be the China Glaze Luxe n Lush. 

Thank you kezza30! really had a good time opening up my box and playing with the polishes xx

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

You guys have no idea what hurdles I had to go through to get this!  I went to my local boots everyday during lunch and after work to buy this, but it was always sold out.  A fellow co worker actually opened the drawers and took the ones that the sales people were hiding.  The cheek!?! Well, she graciously gave me one and I've been using it this week.

The excellent reviews made me really want this (me and thousands of other girls).  So here is my take on this 1 second instant polish remover through pros and cons.

PRO's:

* Contains nourishing sweet almond oil, so it is not as dry as the acetone that I have been using

* The scent is slightly fruity (red fruit & vanilla fragrance), so it's not as harsh as other nail polish removers

* For cremes, jellies, and other non glitter polishes, it really does take 1 second to remove.  It's simple: insert, twist, and pull out.

* Very travel friendly

* No need for cotton balls

* So easy to remove one finger at a time.  I'm sure you understand this situation if you are a girl.  You finish your manicure, and you smudge one finger and you struggle with a cotton ball to try to get start over on that one finger without smudging the rest hehe.  It NEVER works, does it? Now you can fix that one smudged finger without having to start all over again.

CON's:

* Hard to find

* Bourjois increased the price to £4.99 (from £3.99)

* Does not remove glitter polishes in 1 second, or 10, or 30 lol

Overall, I like the product, but I'm not going crazy over it like some people are hahaha

Rants, Raves, Lemmings & Reveals

**Disclaimer, I'm in a chatty mood, so this post is going to reflect that and be a bit long winded***

I'm one of those people that has to write everything down! Not just once on paper, but then as an alert on my iphone.  I am going mad this morning looking for my notebook.  This is where I write down all my telephone conversations for my business, and I can not find it.  I am just floored, it literally grew legs and walked out of my room..not cool lol. Anyways......

* Behold, Chanel Blue Boy.  This nail polish took over 4 months to get here from the states.  She was held up in customs since the end of January, and I finally got her in my hands and I'm never letting her go! I'll get some proper notd posts up again.

* Next, I wanted to talk about the Ciate caviar manicure that is just out of this world.  I don't know about you, but this one is killing me. My ban lasts all year, and I am so tempted by this...I need to focus and NOT buy this, but I urge you all to buy it as it's just hot hot hot!  It's a 2 step manicure nail art kit where you apply micro beads over the base colour coat.  I absolutely love the 3D effect to this.  My favourite is the black beads (shocker lol).

 

Priced at £18 a set, it's a bit of a splurge, but extravagant things usually come with a hefty price tag.

I wonder if you can purchase these micro beads from a craft shop and do it yourself...hmmmm...

* Also, did you all know that TK Maxx online has a Gold Label department?  We are talking about Stella McCartney, Alexander Mcqueen and more. It's very affordable too! 

http://www.tkmaxx.com/women/gold-label-clothing/icat/3092

* Just to catch you all up, my downsizing of nail polish is going successfully.  I am now down to 127 polishes.  I'm trying to think "quality over quantity" as space is an issue since moving here.

* Rant - Don't you hate it when you email someone and they can't email you back, even when you know that they are online lol

* Another topic that I wanted to talk about is charities and donating to charities.  I recently learned how imperative donations are for the operations of charities. I know this sounds really obvious, but did you know...

a. We need loads and loads of carrier bags? So if you are inundated, please drop it off at your local charity shop

b.  We even take clothes that is unsellable.  Just because it can't be sold, it doesn't mean we can't sell it as a "rag" and make money off of it.  Most charities sell the unsellable clothes in large bags to a 3rd party who pays for it.  This company basically buys and distributes to third world countries.

c.  Donating office supplies is a great help for us.  We use it, and it's less money we have to spend out of our daily sales, so donating office supplies is always appreciated

d. and last but not least - donating your time is the greatest help to us.  

*  I'm really excited about trying this product.  If it actually works, then this will be my new favourite drugstore product :)  We'll see how you hold up against my layers and layers of glitter! lol.

 

* Here is my awesome reveal from my secret easter swap.  This forum swap is awesome, because we had to stash "shop".  The purpose of the thread is to actually use what we have instead of hoarding, and it's really great, because we get to swap out items that are sitting there.  I was very happy as L'occitane is one of my favourite brands. The shea butter hand cream travel size is not pictured, because I used it all in one day :)

So I think I should close this post, as it took me 2 days to finish it. Clearly, I can not come up with a congruent post, so this is what you guys get. Sorry :) Off I go to enjoy the sun.

Until next time, take care lovelies.

******************

TUNE OF THE DAY

NOTD and AOTD plus other ramblings

Do you have one of those days when you wish you never woke up? Today is THAT day for me.  So I'm attempting to blog and get my mind off of things.  I'm so happy that I have this blog to just vent, rant, and ramble on and on about god knows what.  I really am thankful to have this outlet.

So yeah, things just kept piling on and on, and I have been doing my best to keep my cool.  So far so good!  Here's to hoping that tomorrow is a better day :)

This post is a compilation of several things: Nail of The Day, Accessory of the Day, and some small hauls.

First...remember a few days ago I blogged about getting some free pigments from Coke rewards program? Well can you believe they arrived today? Talk about fast dispatch. WOW!

 

They are pretty, just not sure if it's colours I will use.  But the size of the pot is pretty generous, and I can see these being really great side gifts.

So next up, I was not feeling so great, so I picked this polish that's a tad vampy, murky, and matte.  I guess that's my mood today???? lol

George's Troll is the polish, and I wanted to show you all my awesome awesome awesome duster ring that I got from Topman for £2 on sale.  I'm in LOVE with topman jewellery these days, especially the rings.  There is something just very sterile, edgy, and modern about their rings.

 

LOVE IT!

Did I tell you I love it? haha!

So yes, something so simple as a ring is making my mood slightly better.

I think it's time for a cocktail tonight - yes I told you it's just one of those days.

Tonight's cocktail will be vodka, apple juice, and some Cinnamon to top it off with.  If I write something crazy after this, you know not to hold it against me :p

Goodnight lovelies xx

Bourjois Freebies with Coke Rewards

My husband loves Coke.  When I say loves Coke, I mean it.  Of course I'm always b*tching at him to stop drinking so much soda, but he doesn't listen lol.  So I figure if he won't listen to me then at least I need to benefit from all his coke drinking.

Certain bottles contain codes that you enter onto their website over at www.cokezone.co.uk.

You get points and then can exchange those points for prizes.  Coke UK really needs to up their prizes especially in their "fashion" section, which include makeup.  

The Bourjois lipstick that I wanted (100 points) was out of stock, and has been for months now, so I went ahead and grabbed these two eyeshadow pigments.

 

They have them in Silver and Voile.

They also had these travel size lipglosses as well

 

In Beige & Transparent

So they aren't the best freebies, but at least they are "free".  So if you haven't joined coke rewards, then it's worth it.  I'm just hoping they give better prizes.  I know a few months ago they had Bourjois nail varnishes.  I hope that returns!

If you participate in coke rewards, let me know what products you have redeemed your points for, OR just comment about anything below...weather, recent hauls, new loves, etc. etc. xx

September Favourites

This month has been an odd month. I have definitely been busy testing out new products, and haven't really had much repeat in my makeup routine; however, there are a few that I have grown to love, and a few products that I have fallen in love with again.

Here are my September Favourites:

 

Urban Decay's Naked Palette

This has been a cult favourite for a long long time, and rightfully so.  I've had this palette for over a year, and this month I have pulled it back out, and I'm in love with it.  Sure I'm not crazy about all the colours, but as a palette, it is a wonderful selection of neutral colours.  This can easily go from day-time to night-time and that is another great aspect of this palette.

The colours are on point for this season, and the texture is awesome beans!

Bourjois Healthy Mix in Shade 52

This is a new purchase this month, and I have raved about it in a previous review.  I love this foundation for it's lightness, great dewy coverage, and wonderful wonderful fresh scent!

It's been my go to foundation all month long.

Benefit lipstick in lady's choice Lana

This is just slightly pinker than my natural shade, so it works on my skin tone as that nude with a slight pink day time colour.  It is quite smooth and silky, and I really love it.

I've been pulling it out the most, and I'm so glad that I found a full size one, because I had the deluxe sample forever!

 

Julep's Nail Therapy

I recently got this in a raok package, and I love it!

This is going to sound weird, but it smells good!!! It's a nourishing base coat (I think), and not only does it dry instantly, but there is this lovely slightly sweet scent left over.   Since using this for roughly a week, my nails are not looking as dry as before :) 

Have I found my new favourite base coat?

Last but not least

Yes you will probably be tired of hearing me talk about it..

Chanel Illusions d'ombress in Illusoire

The creamy eye shadow is just AMAZING!!! Chanel - you guys did GOOD! real good!

The shimmer is so mature, exquisite, and just breathtaking.

I love this, and I need must somehow get every single colour. 

I am so happy this is not a limited edition product, because I need this in my life forever.

So these are my favourites,

What are yours this month???

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation Review

Ladies! I am so excited to share with you this foundation. I am new to Bourjois in general, and it's been about 18+ years since I wore chemist/drugstore brand foundation.  Despite that, I am so happy that the first drugstore foundation I tried was this one.  I can't even begin to tell you how pleased I am with this.  

The smell is so pleasant.  It almost reminds me of Physicians Formula's Happy Booster.   When a product makes such big claims as this one, I immediately get skeptical.  16 hours of perfectly glowing complexion and toned skin ??? Could it be possible? Well I will tell you that I didn't get 16 hours, but I got about 10, which is actually amazing in my book.  I loved my glowing dewy looking skin.  I felt that my skin could breathe and I really loved the sheer coverage as well.  I wore my BB cream first and then layered this on, and I had a very natural coverage.  

 

Shade #52

This is how much product you get from 1 pump, and the best part is that all you need is one pump to cover your entire face. It immediately soaks into the skin and leaves a glow instead of an oily film that sits on top of your skin.

This foundation retails for £9.99 at Boots and Superdrugs.

Review: Bourjois Perfect Harmony Shadow & Contour 11 Miss Spirit

I found this tiny little eyeshadow book at my local pound shop and I figured for only a pound it was worth a go.

Bourjois Perfect Harmony Shadow & Contour comes with:

1. 2 eyeshadows

2. A travel duo ended brush

3. A small mirror

I didn't really expect much considering it was from the pound shop, but Bourjois  seems to be quite popular and I have seen it in all the high street chemists like Boots and such, so I decided it was a good deal then for £1.

The pink shadow which is used as an all over lid color was quite soft and gave me good pigmentation.  The Green eyeshadow is used as an accent/defining colour.  It was not as pigmented however as the pink eye colour and therefore it took couple of swipes to get the amount of colour as seen below.

Can I really complain for a £1...sure I can :)

Luckily it wasn't old stock, because I smelled the palette and it was fine and the pink eyeshadow seems to be in tip top shape. The green color is a bust, so I may just end up depotting the pink shadow into my palettes and recycle the rest of the book.

Apparently this can also be used wet for more intensity, so I may try that before depotting and chucking it.

I do however love the name of this palette.

Miss Spirit, if it said Mrs. Spirit it would even be funnier. Those who know me, know why this is a huge coincidence.