Shopping Haul

So this is my first "haul" I guess?! It was also my first time shopping on boxing day as usually I just chill out at home and wait for the January sales instead... but Matthew took me over to Nottingham to hunt for bargains :) A few shops (mac included, gutted :( haha) weren't open but quite a few were, and it was pretty busy... with massive queues! We got there for about lunch time, and went straight to Lush, which opened at 11 and the queue was allllll the way around the shop! We were going to wait, but decided to go back later... and it's a good job we did! The queue was gone, and they had re-stocked so we got lucky there! :) Anyway... here are some of the things I picked up :)

This is Vera Wang's new perfume, and the boxset was £33.50 but we got it for £22! So I was really happy with that :) Although, when we went into Boots, the perfume set section was full of people, so we just grabbed the box and went to a till to ask for the price instead of looking for it on the shelf. The lady said it was £33.50 but we weren't convinced as it said there was a sale... and that was the original price... so we took it to another till... who actually added the discount and we got around 1/3 off! So, moral of the story... don't always trust the cashiers haha... Nevertheless, I'm really pleased I got this! I had one of her other perfumes called Princess when I was younger which I loved... and this is so beautiful too!

 

Now for the star of the show... the naked 3 palette!! I'll quickly say before anyone panics thinking it was in the sale... it wasn't! But when I seen it, I just couldn't resist! I also think that it is reasonably priced as you do get 12 eye shadows which would cost £120 minimum from mac... so not too bad for £37 I'd say! I got it from House of Fraser :)

 

 

At first glance, my favourite colours are buzz, dust and mugshot!

 

 

 

I also really like the fact that it comes with a little brush!

 

 

Apologies that flash slightly ruins the photo... but it's the best way I could photograph the glittery ones! I thought the packaging was really pretty to look at, but for me it felt a little bit plastic-y which I was quite surprised at... not to worry though, still amazing looking!

 

 

Slightly irrelevant... but Millie's cookies are amazing! Especially the Jaffa ones!

 

Finally, here is all the stuff I picked up from Lush! It was supposed to come to around £47 but we got it all for £23... sooo pleased with that! 50% off! I got the snow fairy cone for my Mum, and one of the little yellow men, I forget their names? The rest is a present from me to me haha...

Overall I was really pleased with my first boxing day sales shop! Although, next year... I won't be rushing in early as it seemed to quieten down throughout the day and the stock was still in full swing :) If anyone else went shopping yesterday feel free to comment what you picked up? :D Otherwise, hope you enjoyed reading/looking :)

Christmas Highlights 2013!

Merry Christmas everyone... I hope you've had a lovely couple of days!! This post is definitely a more lifestyle/personal kind of thing... I love making blogposts like this one as it's something for me to look back on in years to come, and I find it so nice to just sit back and document days/events in this way :) Here I will show some of my highlights of Christmas this year... so it will probably be a bit picture-heavy! Anyway... enjoy the Christmas-overload-photographs haha :) ...

 

Beautifully wrapped presents from Olivia!!

 

 

 

 Yay! Matthew's in his Christmas jumper hehe!! :D

 

 

Mr. Handsome buried in his presents!!

  

 

Aww, that's my boy haha... instead of using gift tags, just writes my name in the penguin's tummy on each and every present!

 

 

Aww, about to go all teary haha... getting over-excited when I opened my little Mickey Mouse charm from Matthew for my Thomas Sabo bracelet (Disneyland momento) :)

 

Coolest presents from Matthew's dad!! Hello kitty!!

 

 

 The gifts I got from Matthew :D I was so excited when I opened jaws on dvd haha, such a small silly thing but it felt special because he knows how much I love it... definitely better than horror films! The Soap&Co nail set has a funny story behind it involving a really pushy sales man in meadowhall, who managed to persuade Matthew to buy it for me, after testing it on his nails instead of mine haha... don't think he quite knew where to put himself my poor boyfriend haha! I felt SOOO happy when I opened all the things he bought for me, love each and every single thing! Especially my little card :)

 

 

 With all the opening done, I like to gather my presents and put them over my desk/shelves so I can take it all in and look at everything!

I feel so spoilt by my lovely family and friends (Louise, Vincent, Loucie, Olivia, Matthew... thank you for everything all of you!)... really happy with all my gifts, they're so perfect!! ... and I even won £5 on a scratch card in my stocking (massive OMG, I never win anything on them!)

  

 

 

 I can't quite remember how long I've been lusting after this... but I can't believe it's sitting in my room!!! Thank you thank you thank you Mumsy!! :)

  

 

 

I got this bath oil from my Mum/Dad (santa ;) haha) and the candle from Matthew... both of which I am literally in love with the smell of!!! In my stocking there was also a little free sample along with some other beauty samples which I thought was really cute! Another reason why my mum is far more thoughtful than I think even she knows!

 

 

I've never tried any of the Laura Mercier body range, so this little set is perfect it has a body soufflé (moisturiser) along with a body scrub, a bath oil (with a cute little honey stick to use to put it into the bath water) and a candle... they all smell amazing!!

 

 

I must quickly point out that every single origins skincare boxset that I seen this Christmas was so worth the money! Loads of discount! (and there will be even more off them during the sales I expect) My mum told me she managed to get this for £28 (excuse the whole "don't tell someone the price of their gift" rule here... but this was an exception we were just discussing how amazing their deals were!) 

 

 

Awww!! Here's my beautiful little charm that will remind me of the most happiest, special memories every time I look at it... such a perfect present... thanks buby!! 

 

 

Now for the best part of Christmas... the dinner! Yum yum yummmm... my favourite parts are mashed potato, gravy and the cranberry sauce!!

 

Andrew's usual Wallace&Grommit smile haha

 

 

Aww, my amazing family! Looking at this makes me feel sooo thankful... for the family I have, for my house, my special things... yummy food! Just everything... I think Christmas definitely reminds you of what's important and how lucky you are!

By the way I didn't crop my brother out... he finished before us and left the table to go and explore all his Christmas presents haha :)

  

 

Oup... twins! haha I was way too hot in my Christmas jumper so I quickly shoved a different top on... only to find my mum had on the same one!! haha neither of us could be bothered to change, thankfully we were just eating at home :D

 

 

Me and my little brother :) Lovely to have him home, so proud of him... always! (For any readers who don't know, Andrew has autism and stays at a residential school specifically for people with Autism... which he's doing soooo well at! :D)

 

Well, I can't believe how quickly Christmas goes! But I had a really lovely day, spending time with family (matthew included) :) and eating the yummiest food!! Absolutely love all my presents... thank you to my friends and family for the gorgeous gifts and cards (if some of you are reading this? haha) ... I think if I loved you all any more, I would burst! :)

 

I hope everybody enjoyed their Christmas and is looking forward to the new year... hopefully it doesn't go as fast as 2013 has... so scary!! Anyway... Happy holidays! :D

 

 

Lush's So White Bath Bomb

 

 Two blog posts in one day!? To be honest I've had lots of photos for my blog done on my camera for the past couple of days but it wasn't until today that I uploaded them to my laptop... so I decided to get them done :) Anyway, at Christmas time I'm sure many will agree that Lush is even more exciting than usual! haha... so I went in and picked up a selection from their Christmas range but I've only had chance to use up one so far... and it's called So White (I always call it "Snow White"... hence the title in the photo above... but technically it's called So White... oops haha) and I think they only bring it out in December, which is a real shame as after one use it's definitely up there in my top 3! So, this post is a little review of how I got on using it :)

 

I'm never usually one to ask for labels on the things I buy from Lush but this time I had quite a collection, including some gifts so I ended up with labels...

 

 

 

When I seen this in the shop, it's one of the much less exciting bath bombs to look at, but I often find these to be some of my favourite ones to use! I think it's because I really like the soapy, fresh and clean smell they have as opposed to the more candy-like ones. This one looks pretty similar to Dragon's Egg, but feels a lot more smooth.

 

 

Once in the bath, it starts by fizzing around showing just white bubbles, but as it dissolves you start to see lots of pink which was a nice surprise! :D It smells really clean... kind of like the zingy, fruity smells of cleaning materials (apple in particular). I realise that description probably makes you think hmm? but I promise, it smells much better than the way I have attempted to explain! The way it looks is really soft and girly, not too extravagant... just nice and pretty :) Another little bonus is that because it's not too colourful means that it doesn't stain the bath in the way some of the others do!

 

I think this one is definitely one of the most luxurious ones (feeling-wise) I've tried. When I got in the bath there were a few bits that hadn't dissolved so I went to crumble them together and they went all foamy/creamy, almost like a soap and it made my skin feel SO soft!

I thought I'd finish with this picture, as it began to look like a little jelly-fish to me haha... it looked like it had eyes and the way the pink bits were dissolving looked like the little tentacle things haha... definitely been staring at it too long to have noticed this I think!

 

So, I hope everyone is as excited for the Lush boxing day sale as I am!? haha

Giftwrap!

 

Tomorrow is Christmas eve!!! I still can't believe how quickly it's come... so I've been trying to get most of my wrapping done so that any last bits tomorrow can be the only things left to wrap up! Talk about last minute shopping haha! Anyway, I thought I'd create a blog post showing some of my wrapping this Christmas so that any last-minute-shoppers (like me) might find a little inspiration... or just enjoy looking at pretty, Christmassy pictures! :)

 

 

This little area on the floor in my bedroom is like a little elf station! I get everything ready (wrapping paper, bows, ribbons etc) and have presents to one side of me ready to be wrapped (almost like a conveyer belt haha) and put under the tree when they're all nicely done! As you can see... I probably get a little carried away but hey ho... it's Christmas!! :D

 

This year, I picked up most of my wrapping supplies from Wilkinson... but there were a few little bits came from other places too so I'll let you know where they're from here...

 

• red paper - ikea
• big red bow - Clintons
• brown/white string - paperchase
• sharpie pens - boots (can you believe it? haha)
• red circle gift tags - Clintons
• merry Christmas gift tags - (i'm not sure where they're from as my mum picked them up for me but they say "east of india" on the packet so they'll be available online somewhere I guess)
• white/cream bows - john lewis
• white/cream thin ribbon - john lewis

 

You might not be able to see all the things I mentioned in the picture above but you'll see them in some of the pictures to come :)

 

These come in really handy when writing on tags or cards that aren't white... they show up much better than biro pens and they also look pretty :) although, it'd be nicer if they were a little thinner as my writing does begin to look like a 3 year old was let loose with a felt tip!

 

I'm sure most people would agree that tape dispensers are a great invention! haha

 

 

Quick tip to stop ribbon from fraying at the edge, or to keep knots from coming undone... use some clear nail varnish to secure them :) However, be careful when using silky ribbon as it may leave a stain! I found it more useful to secure the knot when I used string.

MATTHEW'S LITTLE STOCKING : £1 FROM WILKINSON :)

 

 

Here's some of the finished products! Unfortunately I had a little more to wrap than this to the point where my fingers were soar (the not-so-fun part of wrapping like an elf haha) but these ones show most of the different ways I choose to wrap them :) I realise some people would prefer a little more traditional colours but I opted for a little change this year and just threw a mixture of colours together haha :) I'll quickly point out that I didn't wrap the black/cream/blue present somewhere in the middle... I'm sure many can guess that was the (amazing) work of Jo Malone haha!

 

 

After all that hard work... it was definitely the perfect time to tuck into some Christmas sweeties!! :) 

 

Merry Christmas everyone... I hope you're all a little more organised than me whilst getting excited for the next few days :D