Haul: The Body Shop Aloe Skincare and More

I have to apologise in advance because I know my photography isn't up to the usual standard that I like to have on my blog but I'm having a few teething problems with my new surroundings! I sort of live in an indent where the halls join onto another building so I get very little light and what does come through is from an awkward angle. I've spent a few days putting this post off and taking photos every day to improve it but this is the best I can do at the moment. Sorry!

The good news is that I have lots of fabulous products to show you!

I've been using the aloe skincare on and off for about a year and a half now and I love it. It's so gentle. It never dries out my skin or causes the redness which I so strive to avoid and I can't recommend it enough for anyone with sensitive skin! These are all stars in their own right and I'll probably put together a more comprehensive post of my current skincare routine in the future to really highlight them. The serum is the newest edition to my regime and so far I've found it to be gorgeous - really smooth and light and perfect for prepping the skin before moisturising.
The absinthe hand cream is stunning! I tried a sample in the Summer and fell in love with it's fresh, herby scent and think it's the ideal alternative to the hemp hand cream if you can't handle the scent of that one! (I know I can't...blech)

The Vineyard Peach is one of my absolute favourite scents so I couldn't resist grabbing this exfoliator to perk up my A/W skin which always gets a bit lack-lustre and dry around this time of year.
I also decided to step out of my comfort zone a bit and try the Moringa body butter. I'm a bit of a body butter addict and have waaay too many at home but I only brought one with me to Uni (the peach, yum) so I thought I'd try something new! I sometimes find floral scents a bit over powering but this one is light, airy and reminds me of jasmine in Summer...ahh.

Must have accessories! In my opinion The Body Shop bath lilies (their name for what I call scrunchies, what do you call them?) are the absolute best on the market and I wouldn't use any other. They always stay nice and tight and the material is super fine but gently exfoliating - can't go wrong. My boyfriend got into the annoying habit of stealing mine so I got him his own in the olive shade and it's already a firm favourite. Mani-pedi accessoriess were bought on a whim but I know I'll get plenty of use out of them. My old nail-buffing block was looking a bit tired but this one is so far looking like a stellar replacement!

The Body Shop always have a startling array of offers on and I snapped all this up with a 50% off voucher.

Absinthe Hand Cream 30ml - £5.00

Aloe Gentle Exfoliator 75ml - £9.00

Aloe Gentle Facial Wash 125ml - £8.00
Aloe Protective Serum 30ml - £11.00

Moringa Body Butter 200ml - £13.00

Nail Buffer - £2.00

Foot Buffer - £4.00
Ultra Fine Bath Lily - £2.00

The vineyard peach stuff isn't available at the moment but you can almost guarantee they'll wheel out the stock again at some point. For now, I recommend the mango body scrub as similar and just as delicious smelling! 

Mango Body Scrub 200ml - £12.50

In the end I got all this for just £30 since the body butters were also half price. Absolute bargain!

Have you tried any of these products? What did you think?

Lauren

P.S. again, sorry for the photography. I will find a way to make it work I promise. 

Sleek Haul

A little while ago Sleek had an offer on their Facebook page where you could get a 25% off voucher in return for a quick opinion poll about the products and their image. I'm forever wanting Sleek products and sadly they're not stocked in my local Superdrug so this seemed like the ideal time to get a few of the things I've been dying to try! There's a couple of other things I bought but they're not for me so I want to keep them a surprise.

Pout Paints in: Cloud 9, Lava, Peek-a-Bloo, Port and Pin-Up £4.99    Face Form in Light £10     Blush by 3 in Lace £10    True Colour Lipstick in Barely There £4.99    Kohl Pencil in Green Ivy £1.99

The Pout Paints have been on my wishlist for months and months and I'm really excited to start custom designing my own shade. I think I picked a nice mix of colours and will get a lot out of them. Barely There was recommended to me on Twitter during a #bblogger chat as a pretty much perfect nude so I'll be putting it through it's paces this Spring (if it ever comes.) The stunning face palettes are going to be perfect for injecting a bit of colour into my lacklustre complexion and I'm thrilled that I'm going to be trying the much hyped Rose Gold. And finally, my new kohl pencil was such a gorgeous colour I couldn't resist it. I remember years ago that my Mother had similar one from Avon called Jungle Green which I wore to death in my early teens. I really hope it lives up to my rose-tinted memories!

Have you picked up anything from Sleek lately? Do you have a favourite Sleek product? Is there anything you'd particularly like reviewed?

Lauren

What I've Been Up To: London and a Mini Haul

Howdy stranger! As it usually is, your slowest blogging months are invariably your busiest "life" months. I was pretty shocked when I looked at the calender and realised it's been almost a week and a half since I last blogged! This is by far my longest break and I've really missed blogging. I could have squished in a couple of posts but to be honest they would have been very lack lustre. This week has been all about University preparation. Last Wednesday I had an interview at Westminster University to try and win a place on their Journalism course. I've always loved writing but blogging has been a total revelation for me; I never imagined myself forging a career in journalism but now I know what I want to do with my life. In a dream world I'll one day be working in the beauty department for a magazine but any kind of writing would be great for now, you never know!

I'm one of those people that always remembers the camera and then totally forgets to take photos. Halfway through my great London journey I suddenly remembered it nestled in my bag and whipped it out to take a few shots in the Natural History Museum. If you get a chance to go exploring around London I wholeheartedly recommend a wander through it, if for nothing but the stunning architecture in the foyer.

Bar the first image which is the foyer, all of these photos were taken in the mammal room. There's something truly awe-inspiring about the sheer size and majesty of these animals. There were a lot of interesting exhibitions but this was one of my favourites (hence I remembered I had a camera!) The museum also housed a mini gallery of works inspired by nature. Animals and plants have always been my favourite things to work from and I'd actually forgotten how much I enjoyed and appreciated art so it was wonderful to see everything. The most bizarre and disturbing thing for me was the human biology exhibit - lots of terrifying massive babies and glowing red "womb" walls. I'm the least maternal person ever and myself and my flatmates were all suitably disturbed.

Just as we were leaving the museum my boyfriend pointed out the sunset and I had to a nab a photo. It was so beautiful and the surrounding buildings were stunning. A very fitting end to the day.

If I sound like a major tourist it's because I really am. I've only been to London once before and it was an awful College trip experience. All I did that day was walk up and down a packed Oxford Street (it was January 3rd and ridiculous) whilst other people tried on clothes in stores that didn't carry my sizes. This second trip has shown me a whole new side to the city and I really want to study there. It's so full of inspiration and colour. It's also full of some seriously stylish women. I remember in particular this one Asian girl in the tube station with a slick, black graduated bob, bare skin and bright red, matte lipstick. She was wearing a big voluminous coat and black tights and I just kept thinking about how incredible she looked. So if you're ever in a style rut, go and people watch in London, you wouldn't ever get bored.

This mine and my boyfriend's ridiculous tower of plates at Yo! Sushi. We'd never been there before but he and my flatmate were adamant that it's where they were eating dinner so off I went. I have to honest, I'm a firm cooked-food eater. The one piece of raw tuna sushi that my boyfriend forced on me was horrific. All I could taste was blood and it had the most repulsive texture; squishy, slimy and jelly-like. I still haven't forgiven him for his enthusiastic offering. I was also rather perplexed at the wait staff's apparent disgust when I asked for tap water. The glasses were tiny so I had to ask for a second and they seemed very stressed about it. Certainly not the best service I've ever had. Regardless, the noodles, prawns and chicken dishes were fantastic and I'd definitely eat there again.

And of course you know me... I couldn't leave without buying some beauty bits!




Clearly I was in an orange mood! Sadly I didn't have time to go for a serious shop at Selfridges or Debenhams so these were actually nabbed at the St. Pancras station Boots. I originally went in on the off chance that they'd have 17's Beehive in stock since I've been searching for it for lord knows how long. Lo and behold, the whole glorious shelf was filled to the brim! I also considered buying the Doll'd Up mascara that everyone has been raving about but decided to try "Belle," another rarely-found lipstick (at least in my local Boots.) The rest were kind of bought on a whim which is a bit unusual for me but they'd all been fully researched so why not?! I've been putting off buying the Tangle Teezer for so long because of the price but I figured since it was a day out I could treat myself. I've also decided that this Summer I'm going to really embrace orange cosmetics so I popped a couple more Revlon products in my basket to add to my collection.

Honourable mention of the day goes to this ridiculous doughnut. They do say everything is bigger in cities. Unbelievably it was only 99p which I think is a very fair price for something that could feed a family of four.

And that's my little trip all summed up! The University was really wonderful and I'm so hoping I get in. If anyone else has a group interview coming up please don't stress too much about it. I almost made myself ill with worrying and it was so unnecessary. Everything was really relaxed and informal and I turned up in black trousers and a red shirt and was completely overdressed. There was even a couple of people in jumpers and leggings and they looked much more at home than I did. So try not to worry and don't be afraid to chat to the other interviewees, they're all feeling the exact same way and you might even connect with someone. I was really lucky and managed to meet another beauty and fashion blogger who was absolutely lovely and happens to be the first blogger I've ever met!

Are you hoping to attend University this year? Do you spend much time in London? Let me know where I should visit when I (hopefully) start studying there!

Lauren

P.S. I know there's been a total palaver over Google Reader (which is being killed soon) and GFC recently. I'm fairly certain that GFC isn't going anywhere in the near future, but just as a little bit of shameless self promotion and precaution, I'd love a follow on Bloglovin'! You can find my profile here.

Haul: Technic from Love Thy Make-Up

Ahh my first haul of February. Feels good. I won a couple of Technic products in a recent giveaway and discovered that they were of surprisingly good quality for a very low price. This led me to Love Thy Make-Up which is a stockist of quite a few low-priced brands. I'll be honest, I hadn't heard of any of the brands or of Love The Make-Up before but I'm definitely more inclined to take the plunge and try something new now that I know it's a stockist I can trust. I actually picked this lot up during a free delivery week so it was a super bargain! Believe it or not I got everything in the picture below for £16.45 which is just jawdroppingly cheap! And even better, delivery only took 2 days which is fantastic since I'm notoriously impatient for internet orders!

Palettes: 

Electric Beauty Eyeshadows in Ultra Violet £1.99 (Review and swatches here)

Electric Beauty Eyeshadows in Electric Eyes £1.99

Eyeshadow Quartet in Set 1 £1.49

Cream Blush:

Whipped Blusher Mousse in Candy Pink 01 £2.99

Whipper Blusher Mousse in Peaches N Cream 07 £2.99

Nail Varnishes:

Party Brights Nail Varnish in Ayia Napa (Green) £1.25

Party Brights Nail Varnish in Koh Phangan (Blue) £1.25

Party Brights Nail Varnish in South Beach Miami (Yellow) £1.25

Nail Varnish in Celebration £1.25

The Ultra Violet Palette isn't actually for me, it's for the lovely Katie from Katie Alyse who is an amazing blogger from across the pond. She loved the colours so I suggested we do a swap since she didn't have access to it, so I have that to look forward to around my birthday! Since I was so blown away by my own Technic Palette, I decided to try another one and see if I could repeat my good luck, here's hoping.

So many gorgeous colours! I love green eye shadow and cream blushes are a current obsession so I really hope these live up to my expectations. I'm hoping I can get some swatches up from the Electric Eyes Palette today or tomorrow so I can showcase it! Also worth noting is that the Nail Varnish Celebration looks like a dupe for Illamasqua's famed Creator. With a saving of over £12 I don't need to tell you which one I'd rather have. I'm looking forward to wearing this so I can compare to some photos online!

What do you think of my picks? Have you ever ordered from Love Thy Make-Up before?

Lauren

Haul: No7, Models Own and much much more!

On Friday morning I woke up to my bank account looking plump and healthy after my very last pay cheque (boo.) I decided that I was going to go out in style. I passed a lot of it onto my boyfriend to cover some bills and to put some into savings. The rest was for me to spend on things that would make me happy. Queue teen movie style shopping. I've grouped the items into purpose.
First up, Skincare:

From L-R: The Body Shop Absinthe Hand Cream (sample), The Body Shop Mango Lip Butter £4, No7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make-Up Remover £8.50, No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask £12.50, No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Balm £9, Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer for Dry & Sensitive Skin £4.99

I tried out the Absinthe hand cream in store and really liked it. It has a light nettle scent that's really refreshing. It's thick and smooth and also comes in a hand butter which I'm quite curious about. I'm glad the assistant gave me this because I'm going to try and collect the little pots and one day mix Sleek Pout Paints in them (I WILL HAVE THEM ONE DAY!) The Lip Butter is my Holy Grail. I just finished up my Dragon Fruit one and it's lasted me absolutely ages and smells divine but I really wanted to try something new. It has a slight shimmer and more of a neutral tone to it which means I'll probably be able to wear this during the day more than my other one. Here's hoping. No7 Eye Make Up Remover is to serve as a replacement for the body shop cucumber cleansing milk which I find leaves a residue behind on my skin. Ick. I'm really excited to try the Hydration Mask. I've read some reviews and they all sound really promising. I suffer from dry patches of skin so this should help. Cleansing Balm is again to try and help my dry skin. I currently use the body shop aloe foaming facial wash, which I do love and recommend to anyone with sensitive skin, but I'm hoping this will give my skin the extra push it needs for moisture. I asked the #bbloggers a week or two ago during the chat to recommend a primer and the Nivea Express Hydration cropped up a lot. Since it was only £4.99 in Superdrug I couldn't really say no.

Nails:

From L-R: Models Own 3 in 1 (clear,) Golden Peach, Blooming Pink, In the Navy, Juicy Jules, Blizzard £5 each, Revlon Liquid Quick Dry £6.49

So I went a little crazy on the Models Own offers in Boots. I've never tried them before but they seem to be really highly rated by a lot of bloggers and I absolutely love the colours I picked up! The only one I've used so far is Blizzard which you can see here with Illamasqua's Caress. I've been a bit nail varnish mad recently and I think I'll be doing some collection posts soon which I'm excited about! Revlon Liquid Quick Dry is a product that goes on after the top coat to speed up drying time. It contains oils and vitamins which (apparently) help your nails stay healthy. I saw this and I was like omg if this works it will change my life. I'm one of those people that is just terrible for getting smudges and indents in my manicure. I've tried this once today and so far I'm pretty impressed. it definitely helped give me a rock solid mani. I'll give it a few more tries and review soon!

Hair:

Colour B4 Hair Colour Remover in Extra Strength £11.99 each

Eye wateringly expensive. I resent paying full price for anything so this was a struggle for me. I've been thinking about doing this for over a year now and I've finally decided to buy the stuff and take the plunge. The issue is that I'm currently trying to grow out my chemical-laden coloured hair and I can't deal with the bizarre colouring any more. It's dark blonde/light brown at the top, dyed brown in the middle, and auburn at the bottom. It could look a lot worse but I'm very aware of it and that's all that matters to me. By no stretch of the imagination do I think I'm gonna be blonde again afterwards but I'm hoping that this will make the divides less noticeable. I will definitely let you know what happens!

Miscellaneous:

The Body Shop Amazonian Wild Lily EDT 50ml £15, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light £4.19

I'm always on the hunt for another perfume that I like and I gave Amazonian Lily a spritz on a whim and fell in love. It's very fresh and light and the floral notes aren't overly strong. I dislike exptremely sweet/floral perfumes and I wasn't expecting to like this. Perfume scents are very personal but if your tastes are anything like mine I urge you to give it a try! I bought this with 40% off. £9 for a perfume! Bargain. Believe it or not I've never tried the Collection Concealer.  I have the illuminating touch version and I really like it, but I needed something a bit heavier for pigmentation issues. I swatched the fair shade but it is very very pale. I think Light will do nicely!

So that's everything! I did also snag a couple of the Apocalips today but it was after dark so no photos I'm afraid! I'm sure you'll see them here soon enough.

Have you tried any of the products I bought? What do you think to them?

Lauren

Illamasqua Sale Haul

I predict a lot of these posts popping up in the next few days! The Illamasqua sale is amazing. I literally could have bought triple what I did but I tried really really hard and restrained myself to just six beautiful items. Technically these could be considered my very first high end products and the best thing is, I got them with a drugstore price tag!

I never intended to take a photo of the box but when I saw how divine and luxurious this looked I couldn't resist! The delivery was really fast (3 working days) and I was sent an email telling me the exact hour that my beautiful goodies were due to arrive. It doesn't really get any better than that!

You'll have to excuse me in the mirror. I tried to get out of it to no avail. 

I have to immediately mention the utterly stunning packaging. I love the distinctive, signature shape of Illamasqua products and find the black and white colour scheme simple and beautiful. As you can see I decided on some stand out brights since originality is, afterall, what Illamasqua are famed for.

I chose:

Precision Ink in Havoc A beautiful aubergine/plum shade liquid liner
Powder Eyeshadow in Angst Classic matte red

Liquid Metal Palette in Art of Darkness Contains metallic cream pigments in Stoic, Solstice, Superior and Resolute

Illuminator in Slay Pearlescent white liquid highlighter

Nail Varnish in Caress Pastel blue

Nail Varnish in Blow Pastel yellow

Art of Darkness Palette 

Angst Powder Eyeshadow

These are such beautiful items and I can't wait to start reviewing them! I'm actually already wearing Caress and will be featuring it in tomorrows NOTD so stay tuned for that. I only paid £35 for all of this and got free delivery which is amazing since the palette alone was originally £34!

Has anything caught your eye in the Illamasqua Sale? What do you think to my picks?

Lauren

Recent Purchases Haul

Head's up: this is gonna be quite picture heavy!
I've been doing quite a bit of purchasing here and there for various things. Mainly because of all the awesome deals on at the moment, plus I've been buying things for my giveaway! You'll see a couple of the pieces in these pictures. It's not going to be massive, it's just a few bits that I really like and wanted to pass on to one of my lovely followers. Hopefully I'll have that up today or tomorrow so everyone can enter then.
First up:

Masses of beauty booty.

1. Yankee Sampler Candles  

Wild Passion Fruit  

 Pink Dragon Fruit

My very first Yankee candles! I went into Clintons with the intention of having a look at the 50% off Christmas candles but the shelves had been raided and nothing there took my fancy. I started circling the stand and spotted these babies. I love fresh fruity scents and these are utterly divine. I'm going to try and keep them for Spring/Summer and use up the more Wintery themed candles I have in the mean time. Wish me luck.

2. Kiss Me Quick Nice Ice Lip Balm Set

I actually got these as part of my Secret Santa but I think they're so adorable I just wanted to show them off! I'll do a more detailed post on them soon because they're really lovely.

3. MUA

Lip Boom in It's A Situation
Undressed Palette*

The Artiste Collection Palette*

Eye Liner Pencil in Snow White

Have you seen the colour of It's A Situation?! Stunning deep plum. I'm not a massive fan of glittery lipglosses but I'll try it nonetheless. The palettes are for you lovely people! I love my Undressed Palette and the Artiste Collection came free with it so I thought I'd pass on the love. 

4. Collection

Lock 'n' Hold Lip Gloss in Break Dance

24hr Felt Liner in Teal

Bedazzled Nail Effects in Tea at the Glitz*

5. Maybelline

Master Smokey Eye Liner in Smokey Violet

I've read a lot of negative reviews about the product but I don't know what it is... I just wanted it so bad! Luckily the girl working in Superdrug offered me this one for just £1 because it was missing the lid on the smudger. For a £5 saving, I didn't really mind and snapped this up with minimal thought!

6. Soap and Glory

Arch de Triumph in Buff

I b*tch about my brows constantly and never do anything about it. UNTIL NOW! Here's hoping this will give me the definition my heart desires.

7. James Brown

Photo Fabulous High Shine Spray

8. The Body Shop Body Butter

Satsuma

Vineyard Peach

(just seen since I missed them out of my big picture) I used up my 50ml of the Satsuma so fast I had to get another one! Also, if you like the Peach, get it now whilst it's on half price. It's sadly being discontinued since it was only a limited edition scent.

9. Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy

Joli Cherry

Radiant Plum

Pretty Berry

Bright Rose

I know. I went and bought the whole collection! I adore these Poundland bargain gems and was thinking of including a couple in the giveaway, providing they're in stock still. If they are, which colours would you most like? Or do you want them all?

10. Revlon

Lip Butters in:

Raspberry Pie

Macaroon

Peach Parfait 

Berry Smoothie

Balm Stains in:
Honey

Crush

Nail Varnish in:

Sequins

It's the big one. I've gone Revlon crazy recently because they're all on offer and there's so many products I wanted! I got sequins for free with a 3 for 2 offer and then I went back again and the lip butters were £5 each so I bought 3 more. I'm utterly thrilled with these. Here's some close ups to wet your whistle:

Next up is the Soap and Glory Best of All. Everyone and their dog knows about how amazing these are. Particularly when you get them for £27!

Heel Genius, Clean On Me, Smoothie Star (my new favourite, it smells like sweet popcorn!) Peach and Clean, Sugar Crush Body Scrub, The Righteous Butter* Hand Food* Thick and Fast Mascara, Sexy Mother Pucker in Punchbowl. All full size, all fabulous.

And finally something a little bit different...

BOOKS!

I was lucky enough to receive a Waterstones voucher for Christmas so I put it towards these gorgeous specimens. There's quite a bit of variety here and I'm tempted to start doing the occasional book review in 2013 for a bit of variety. Plus I love hearing about books that other people love and can talk for hours about my favourites. And besides, everyone know that smart girls equal sexy girls and girls reading equals smart girls. It's basic beauty math.

So that's my mahoosive beauty booty recent purchases. I hope you liked it! It took me blimmin' ages. Sorry about the bizarre lighting changes. It's so dark that I had to use flash for some pictures.

If there's anything particular you want reviewing quickly, leave me a comment.

Let me know if you'd like any Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy's in my giveaway!

* indicates that it's going to be in the giveaway

Lauren

Boxing Day Sales Haul

I was feeling very brave on Boxing Day and decided to battle my way through the sea of people in such of some bargains! Sadly the only thing that I desperately wanted was the only thing I couldn't get - The Clinique Whole Lotta Colour set. Literally sold out EVERYWHERE. If you chat to me on Twitter you will have seen my pitiful moans about finding one. No success yet. Maybe there'll be a few about in January? Here's hoping. Here's what I did manage to find:

I picked up these ten W7 polishes from my new favourite nail varnish store - TKMaxx. I've had some fantastic luck in there recently, as you can see from this recent haul. I've never used W7 before but I just couldn't pass up this fantastic set of pastels for just £10! They are screaming SPRING at me and I can't wait for the daffodils that will be the backdrop to these ice cream shades. I can only hope that the formula will be up to scratch for me! Let me know if you've tried this brand before. Also, there's a massive amount of product in them, I've never seen 15ml nail polishes before! The only negative is that they don't come with names, only numbers. I love pretty names for products and I won't lie, I've spent some time fantasising about what I would name these. I won't tell you what I've named them because it's sad and embarrassing... how about Pina Colada for the yellow though?!

I also took a trip into one of my favourite shops - The Body Shop. They have an amazing selection of body butters in there for half price at the moment. I spent a while holding Cherry, Blueberry, Raspberry and Passion Fruit before I finally reasoned with myself that I should only take one. As you can see, I walked away with Passion Fruit but my heart is telling me that I'll have Raspberry by the end of the week. Oops. I adore the Green Apple shower gel and this is my second bottle. I recently drained my last one and it's going to be in my 2012 favourites. It's so fresh and not too sickly sweet. I'm gutted that it's been discontinued and I urge you to pick one up if you can find it, particularly for only £2 (or £1.80 with the loyalty card)! I'm in love with the Ginger Sparkle Christmas Range and recently reviewed quite a few pieces of it here. It was a no-brainer for me to grab this adorable little half price hand cream since my Soap and Glory Hand Food is on the way out. The three cosmetic bits were all in the sale AND on 3 for 2! I paid £4.05 (including my 10% discount) for two eye shadows in pretty green colours and a Delipscious Sheer Lip Colour in Pomegranate. I'd never heard of the Delipscious range before and I'm excited to try this one!

This Soap and Glory lip palette was £6 in the Boots sale and contains 6 pretty colours. I haven't tried any yet but I like the slightly brown/pink tones in some of these colours and I haven't got anything like them in my current collection. It also comes with a double ended applicator - I'm not sure about the quality of it yet but I'll let you know!

I've never shopped in Internacionale before but I decided to have a quick look on a whim and fell in love with these little pieces from the jewellery section. They were buy one get one half price (including sale stuff, yay!) so I picked these up for £3.49. Serious bargain. The cross is a lovely rose gold colour but I'm afraid the lighting was so bad it's impossible to tell from the picture. I wore the earrings yesterday and got a lot of compliments! People couldn't believe I'd got them for less than £2. They're not too heavy but look much more expensive than they are and I know I'm going to be wearing them a lot in the months to come.

So that's my little sales haul! Did you brave the shops on Boxing Day? Leave some links to show me what you picked up!

Lauren

e.l.f Haul

I'm so excited that my elf cosmetics have finally arrived! I placed my order at night on their 50% off Birthday (the site traffic was just too crazy to do anything during the day) on December 2nd and it arrived yesterday. I don't think a week is too bad at all considering the amount of orders they must have had. I've never used elf products before and I've always thought of them as a distinctly American brand so I'm really happy that I'm getting the chance to try them.

Everything was really well packed and sturdy but the cardboard packing stuff had left a lot of dusty residue all over the products. It's not really an issue for me to dust them off though.

 From top left going clockwise: Lipstick in Posh, Sociable and Flirtatious £1.50 each, Eyelid Primer in Sheer £1.50, High Definition Powder in Translucent £6, Blush in Twinkle Pink and Matte Lip Color in Rich Red £3.75

I also picked up the 100 Eye Shadow Palette £15 because for £7.50, I wouldn't mind if I only loved a quarter of them! Upon opening this palette I was a little surprised to see that the majority of the colours are warm toned and there are no true blues. Every blue toned shadow was more green or purple. This confused me really because for 100 shadows, would it have been that hard to pop in a few blues? Or even a nice golden yellow for that matter! Despite that, I'm still really looking forward to trying these out and finding the ones with the best pigmentation. Hopefully my new primer can help me get the best of them!

I haven't touched a single one of these products yet but I'm really excited to start reviewing them tomorrow! I hope you liked my little haul and choices. What is your favourite elf product?


Lauren

Nail Varnish Haul: Nails Inc and Essie

TK Maxx is bargain heaven. I have only today fully embraced this amazing fact and spent an eye-watering £40 on nail varnish. BUT. It's Nails Inc and Essie, and it was worth £149. So I can't feel too guilty. I'm trying to but I can't. Here's my lovely little haul of 14 fantastic varnishes:

Fear or Desire, Bikini So Teeny, Navigate Her and bizarrely, Fear or Desire again. To be honest I don't think I'll ever get through one large bottle of neon orange, let alone two, so I'm considering selling this or if I hit a fun milestone soon, popping it in a giveaway. (Maybe an orange themed giveaway to celebrate the colour of 2012? Let me know if you like the sound of that!) This little collection set me back £9.99 which is amazing considering you can expect to pay £7.99 for a single bottle. Bikini So Teeny is the stand out for me here, a beautiful pale cornflower with a light shimmer. Hello Spring!

Great Putney Street, Putney Bridge, Kensington, Sheralton Place, Bridle Lane, Hampstead Gardens, Westminster, Holland Park Avenue, Porchester Place, Fenchurch Street. Phew! Seriously, wow, what an amazing collection! When I first saw this I wasn't too sure on Hampstead Gardens (rich mustard, bottom left) or Fenchurch Street (caramel/terracotta bottom right) but the more I look at them the more I love them. I cannot get over how much I saved here. I bought this lovely lot for £29.99 and of course, with each bottle coming in at a hefty £11 each, saved over £80. Part of me is hoping I can part with a couple of these to sell them on and justify the spend to my long suffering boyfriend, but I'm not sure it's gonna happen! My favourite here is probably Kensington, a dark dark teal/green shade. (How very 2013.) With the fabulous neutral Holland Park Avenue as a close second.

Overall I'm absolutely ecstatic with this purchase, but not ecstatic with the tumble weeds rolling through my bank account. Particularly when I should be buying Christmas presents. Oops. Roll on payday!

What do you think of my most recent haul? Which is your favourite colour?

Lauren

P.S. Sorry there was no eye challenge today. I have a bit of a cold and my eyes don't look great. It'll be up either tomorrow or you'll get a double feature on Tuesday. Sorry!