What I Got For My Birthday!

Before I start this post I just want to add a disclaimer that I am not bragging about anything that I was brought for my birthday & I was really grateful for everything I received. I wanted to do this post because I love reading them myself and seeing what other people were given and I think most of the stuff I was brought relates to my blog.

 Anyway it was my birthday last Wednesday 30th April, I turned 20! Feels really weird to say I'm 20 and I'm no longer a teenager anymore, it makes me feel pretty old haha. I didn't ask for anything for my birthday I said if anything I would like money to put towards my holiday spending money or vouchers to buy holiday clothes. I was very lucky to get given money from my mum, dad, sister, nan & then I was also given vouchers from friends and my other nan too! Also I was brought some presents so I thought I would show you what I was brought;

One of my oldest closest friends brought me such a lovely gift! She brought my a beautiful Ted Baker wash bag and put it in some of my favourite beauty products. I thought it was such a thoughtful gift and was so kind of her!  She brought me three Barry M nail polishes in the colours princess, ruby glitter & grapefruit. There all from the different Barry M ranges one is from the Gelly Hi Shine, The Textured Nail Effect and the Barry M range. She then brought me a couple of items from Soap & Glory as she knows how much I love it! I got the righteous butter which I now have 4 tubs of this in my cupboard as you can tell I really do love it! The scrub of your life which is a beautiful scrub by Soap & Glory which i love, it is my favourite exfoliator! She also got me the Peaches n Clean Cleanser which I am really pleased with as I have wanted to try this for a while now and I was going to buy this for myself. She then got me a lipgloss from Soap & Glory it was one of there plumping lipgloss, I really love the plumping lipglosses from Soap & Glory. She also got me some Hawaiian Tropic Protection Dry Oil in SPF 15 as she knows I am going to Egypt this year and this is the oil I like to use. She also put in a scrunchy to use in the bath and a impulse.

This is what my Matt (my boyfriend) brought me for my birthday, I normally know what he is going to get me as he is useless with keeping secrets haha. This year I actually had no clue what he was buying me, and I was soo happy & surprised when I opened this. I must be the only Disney lover who hasn't seen Frozen yet! I had been going on and on about how much I needed to watch as I already know all the songs, and he surprised me with buying me it on DVD. He also got me some more Soap & Glory stuff, I got the butter yourself moisture lotion which is one of their moisturisers I haven't tried before, I think it must be linked to the sugar crush range and it smells really similar and doesn't have that signature Soap & Glory smell. I got another righteous butter & a hand food which is the only hand cream I will use! The amount I got on about beauty products to him and the amount of times I have dragged him around Superdrug & Boots I thought he didn't pay much attention anymore, but he must do. After knowing how much I wanted the Real Techniques Powder Brush I was really pleased to see he had brought me it! At least I know he does pay some attention to what I say haha! Then he got me my favourite present out of everything I received and it was these beautiful Vivienne Westwood earrings;


























I absolutely love Vivienne Westwood, I really want a bag of hers and I have been wanting a pair of her earrings for sooo long. The amount of times I have looked at them in the shop and been so tempted to buy them but I never have. I was so shocked to see Matt brought me these. I think they're soo beautiful & classy and just look so nice! I was so happy to get these!

These are the gifts I got from Matt's family, they brought me a Benefit make up set for Christmas where I tried They're Real Mascara and it is my favourite mascara. Matt knew I had ran out and must of told them how much I liked it. Then they got me this beautiful Minnie Mouse mug! I love Minnie Mouse, she is definitely my favourite Disney character, I rarely drink hot drinks but I am thinking that this mug will look so lovely on my dressing table maybe to store big make up brushes in or maybe some mascaras I am not sure yet.

Every birthday and Christmas my nan always gets me a gift and then a bag of useful bits that I will always use. This year she gave me money and then these little gifts. I got two bubble baths as I go through so much bubble bath one is a Raddox moisture soak, Radox are my all time favourite bubble bath brands and the other is a Knights Castle original creme bath. She also got me a shaving foam, hairspray, a little mirror and a really cute shoe nail file! Which are all really useful things that I will use. I love DVDs I have such a big collection and I always want more so she brought me this DVD called In Her Shoes, which I haven't seen before so will be good to watch this. She knows I love Nivea skin products and she uses this cream every morning before putting her make up on and she said she has used it for years and has always been really good so she brought it for me to try.

I was so grateful for everything that I was brought, and I can't wait to use everything and maybe review some of the products :)

April Favourites

 

I know every one of these posts seem to start like this but I actually can't believe its the end of April already! & its my birthday today (30th April :D)! This month has gone soo quick, well this year has gone really quick so far. When coming to choosing this months favourites, it was really easy for me as I have been using these products religiously this past month!

L.A. Colours Top Coat Rapid Dry 
This past few months I have really got into painting my nails, I used to be soo lazy when it came to painting them but I seemed to have got into a routine now. As I have been painting my nails more I needed a good top coat, I brought this one ages ago from Beauty Base in Westfield Stratford. I love this top coat! I think it really does what a top coat is supposed to, it prevents chipped nails & gives them a shiny finish! So far this is the only top coat I have found that does exactly what it says it will do.

Nivea Soft Rose
I have always loved this lip balm, but this past month I have been using it a lot more. It lives on my desk at work during the day so I can reapply during the day to keep my lips moisturised. What I love about this is that its not too greasy & shiny as I find some lip balms can be. This is really soft and moisturising & it smells lovely too!

L'Oreal Paris Collection Privee Juliannes Nude
I brought this lipstick a while ago in Tesco when they had a 3 for 2 offer on make up. I cannot describe how how much I love this lipstick! This past month I have been wearing it so much! It is the perfect pinky/nudey colour for me, its so hard to describe the colour & it is the hardest shade to photograph as it never looks how it really does! The lipstick is moisturising and i love the packaging I think it is really simple & elegant. I just love this lipstick haha!

Nivea Daily Essentials Light Moisturising Day Cream
I have been looking for months for a good moisturiser to put on before doing my make up, I have been really liking this one lately. All my moisturisers seem to be Nivea, I seem to always go to their products. This is just a lovely light moisturiser which is perfect for my skin and it also helps my make up to go on a lot smoother and better than usual.

Chloe Perfume
I literally have no clue what the name of this perfume is, as I know Chloe do a number of different perfumes but I am pretty sure its just called Chloe (I could be wrong)! My boyfriend brought me this perfume a while ago and I can't describe how much I love it! The smell is so sophisticated and just gorgeous! I have found myself wearing it more and more this month but I just don't want to use it all up!

Real Techniques Contour Brush
I am normally pretty lazy when it comes to contouring it never seems to go right on me and it always looks silly but for some reason this month I have been contouring a lot more than usual. I find this brush is the best contour brush that I have come across, it is the perfect size/shape. I used to find it quite hard to contour but I think having a good brush is essential & this is definitely a really good brush to use!

Do you like any of these products?

 

Fashion Haul!

My good Friday morning began with me thinking the world was going to end and having a major breakdown that I have no clothes & all i ever wear is the same clothes bla bla bla, i think its a girl thing haha! So after having a mini breakdown to my boyfriend, mum & nan they persuaded me to go shopping and buy some new clothes (which didn't take much persuading) I already had £100 Topshop voucher from christmas left over so I thought I should use that up while I've got the chance.

 As you can see I didn't go too mad, but I am really pleased with everything I brought and I feel like I brought the right things and I got everything I wanted. The majority of what I brought is fashion but I couldn't help but pop into Superdrug and pick up a few things!

I was in desperate need for some new shoes! I am absolutley in love with Jelly Shoes at the moment, I keep seeing loads of people wearing them and I was really unsure weather to get a pair. I am one of them people who cares way too much what everyone else thinks and all my friends don't like Jelly Shoes which made me not sure weather to get them even more. I decided to pluck up the courage to get them! Which I am soo pleased about my mum persuaded me to get them in this gorgeous pink which I LOVE! I think the colour makes me love them 10000 x times more than I already do! I brought these Jelly Shoes for £12 from Linzi's. Also while I was in Linzi I wanted to pick up a new pair of loafer type shoes as I love these shoes I just think they go so well with everything and they look good for work. These were £22.

Then I went into to Topshop to use my voucher and this was the first thing I saw. I have been wanting a nice blazer for soo long but I just haven't come accross one that I really like until today! It is such a nice pinky/beige colour which will will go with so many different things in the Summer. Also this would look great with work outfits too! This blazer is such a good quality material, I can tell it is one of them pieces that I could have for years and it will really last as its such good quality! I have already planned outfits in my head which I am going to wear this with. It is definitly my favourite thing I brought today, I am just so pleased with it! I can't wait to wear it. It was quite an expensive buy for myself it was £48 but I had a voucher and I think it is really worth that price as the quality is so good! The Topshop I went to is one of the really small Topshops, they only had this blazer in this colour but I am hoping in bigger Topshops they might have this in other colours.

 Then in Topshop (yes its on a Marks & Spencer coat hanger but it is from Topshop) also I picked up this dress which looks so unflattering and not very nice in photographs at all! Its so annoying it took me ages to try and get a half decent photo of this dress and it still doesn't look anything like it does face to face. It is a plain dusky pink dress really simple but could be worn casual or dressed up on a night out, thats what I love about pieces like this they can be worn casually, for work or even on a night out just depends what you match it with. Even though it doesn't look like it would it actually goes really well with the blazer I brought, I tried these on together in the changing rooms and they look soo lovely together! This dress was £28.00 which I thought wasn't too bad for a dress especially knowing I will get a lot of wear out of it for many different occasions. They also had this in other pastel colours like blue & green and I am pretty tempted to go back and get some other colours!











One thing I decided I didn't need on this shopping trip was any sort of bottoms but after a trip to Primark I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans! I normally hate Primark jeans! Every pair I have ever owned I really really didn't like at all obviously I know they wouldn't be great quality because of the price but every pair I seem to own I have a problem that the zip constantly undoes itself! I though I would try another pair and when I tried these both on I was really surprised how comfortable and how good quality they seemed! I decided to pick up a dark pair of jeans as I love wearing dark jeans especially on nights out! 7 I have never really liked this acid wash look of jeans but I instantly fell in love with these! When I tried them on they were sooo comfortable! They fit perfectly which I was so surprised about. The dark pair were £13.00 and the acid wash pair were £11.00! Can't go wrong for £24.00 for 2 pairs of jeans!


































The actual reason I went shopping was to get some new tops I tried on a few different tops but these two were the two I decided on. The first one was the one on the left  I picked up from Topshop which was £20.00 and I think will look nice with the acid wash jeans and the jelly shoes! The second one was from Primark and was £4.00! Which I think is such a great price! I have this top in mint green & yellow from last Summer too!

The last thing I picked up in Topshop was this necklace which was on the sale raile which had gone from £8.50 to £3.50 and I had £4.00 left to spend on my voucher so I thought why not! I love gold statement necklaces, and I thought this one is really simple and would look great with a nice blouse.

Then I just popped into Superdrug quickly to have a look and I could of spent hours in there but unfortunatly my mum was in a rush and was rushing me so I just quickly grabbed these two bits. The Biore warming anti blackhead cleanser was a repurchase, and was on offer so I decided to pick this up. I have used this before and I think its such a good cleanser. Then I was paying and this Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Dragon was on the counter so I just picked it up.

Have you brought anything recently?

A Trip To The Zoo!

Over the Easter weekend me and my boyfriend decided to go to the Zoo for the day. We decided to go to Colchester Zoo as it is not too far from where we live. I have been to this Zoo quite a few times, I used to always go when I was younger. This is also actually the first place my boyfriend ever took me on a date haha. I love going to the Zoo when I leave I want to take all the animals home with me or live on a Zoo! It was a really nice day and luckily we had quite nice weather and the rain stayed away! This is a pretty big Zoo and we saw so many different types of animals from ants up to elephants, we watched a show about tigers and a sealion show. There was oppourtunity to feed the giraffes and elephants but the que was ridiculous and I had done it before so we didn't do this. I took so many different photos but here is just a few (be aware this is a very picture heavy post);

I wanted to wear something comfortable as I knew I would be doing a lot of walking and I knew the weather wasn't going to be too hot either. I decided to wear my white converse, acid wash jeans from Primark, white top from Topshop, leather jacket from Topshop and my DKNY handbag from House of Fraser.

My favourite animals are the monkeys & the zebras, I would love to have my own little pet monkey. I think they're sooo cute!

Whats your favourite animal at the Zoo?

Elf Haul

I had only ever ordered from ELF once before, which was probably nearly 2 years ago and I wasn't pleased at all with any of the products I ordered but I thought I would give ELF another go as I always see people writing really good things about ELF. I had been meaning to order some products from ELF for a while but I just never seemed to get round to it until I got an email from them saying if you spend £25 or more you got £10.00 so I thought this was a great time to place an order! Also throughout April if you spend £15.00 or more you get 2 free gifts from ELF! So I thought this was a perfect time to place an order.

 There wasn't anything in particular that I needed so I thought I would just try out a couple of things and see how I get on with them. My order came to £28.10 and then I got the £10.00 off so this all came to £18.10! Which for how much I got I think is such a bargain! I find online shopping for products really hard as usually the colours don't look anything like they do when you receive them, but I thought I would be brave haha!

The first thing I decided to get was some brushes as I am one of them people that tend to find one brush that I really like and don't use any others. I am trying to find reasonable priced brushes at the moment as I really don't like spending lots of money on a brush so I thought I would try the elf brushes out. I was on the look out for a new foundation brush as I would like another apart from my Eco Tools one which I use everyday and I love the way it applies my make up! So I went for the Studio range stipple brush £3.95, when I opened this brush I was kind of disappointed at first it seems that the brush was very thin and had hardly any hairs in it at all. I could imagine already that they would shed and soon be nothing! My opinion has been changed after using it a couple of times, I couldn't believe how good this brush was and how it allows you have a light coverage and build right up to a full coverage! So far I am loving this brush! Then I brought a Blending eye brush £1.95 and a Eye shadow brush £1.95 I have only used the blending brush so far and so far so good!

Then I decided to purchase some lip products (no surprise there)! I tend to always go to lip products when buying make up. First of all I decided to order the Super glossy lip shine in pink kiss £1.95 and then the Super glossy lip shine in Ice Latte was one of the two free gifts I received from ELF, I never tend normally to go for a brown lip gloss but I can't complain when it was a free gift and its another one to add to the collection! I then decided to try one of the Moisturizing lipsticks in wink pink £3.95, I wasn't sure weather this colour would really suit me as the colour I originally wanted they didn't have in stock so I went for this one. I wore this colour for the first time today and so far I really like it! It is really long lasting for a lipstick and it is really moisturizing. Then I decided to go for the Plumping lip glaze in fire coral, I haven't tried this yet but I usually really like plumping lip glosses so I am hoping that this one will be the same and the colour looks really pretty too!

I have heard before that their blushes are really good quality!  I decided to go for this blush in the colour shy £2.50ch is a lovely dark pink, I tend to always use pink blushes. I have swatched this and on my hand t is a lot lighter than what it looks but I am hoping I can build this up, it also comes with a small brush that seems pretty good but I doubt I will use this. I am really trying at the moment to build my eyeshadow collection up after have a clear out the other day I have realised I don't have that many good eyeshadows that I actually like. I thought I would try this Brightening eye colour in brownstone £1.95 these colours are the look I usually go for and for the price I couldn't really go wrong! I have swatched these and they seem soo lovely, I can't wait to create some natural looks with these! The other eyeshadow is the other gift I received which I was really please with, I have a few loose eyeshadow pots like this and I have always like to use them this Mineral eyeshadow is in temptress which is a dark pink/brown colour.

Lastly I ordered two nail polishes one in mint cream and one in lilac, I am loving the pastel colours this Spring/Summer and I have been looking for a lovely mint green and a lilac so I thought I would try these. They aren't as pastel as I would of liked and they are a lot darker than they seem which is a
shame but I haven't tried them out yet so maybe I will be surprised!

Overall I am really happy with all my purchases especially for the price I paid & everything so far seems good!

Have you ever used any of these products or purchased anything from ELF?



My River Island Wish List

I have been looking for new items for spring/summer as the weather is finally getting warmer in the UK! I have been loving River Island at the moment, they have some gorgeous items that I really want to purchase!

Pink Bikini Top & Bottoms | Denim Hotpants | Floral Print Collar Top | Cream Floral Cami Top | White Daisy Bracelet | White Wedges | White Gem Stone Embellished Sandals | Cream Clutch Bag

 

What fashion items are you loving this spring?

 

 

March Favourites

Even though I am a bit late here is my March favourites! During March I was trying to save money so I didn't purchase that many new products but I started re using old products. Here are the products I've been loving this month..

Basically every blogger has done a review about the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, so I'm sure we all know what it is about, but basically it is a cleansing water that removes all make up and cleanses your skin aswell. I absolutley love this product! I can't see myself using any other product to remove my make up again. It removes all my make up and leaves my skin feeling so fresh & clean! Another skincare product that I have been loving in March was the Balance Me Treatments Radiance Face Mask, I was looking through my skincare products for a new facial scrub when I came accross this. I think I might have received this in a Glossybox and never used it. I squeeze a small amount onto my finger and massage over my face and focus more on round the nose and chin area as this is where I am most likely to break out. I then leave it on my face for around 5 minutes and then wash it off. It leaves my skin feeling sooo soft & clear! It doesn't cause me to break out or leave my skin feeling dry. The last skin product I have been loving is the No7 Essential Moisture Day Fluid, I forgot I even had this product. This moisturiser I used to always use this product, and I thought I would go back and try it. I can't remember why I stoppped using this product but I don't know why i did! I have been using this every morning as a primer before applying my make up, it has made my skin feel so moisturised and helps my make up go on a lot smoother than before.

This month I have been using a lot of the i love ... Strawberries & Cream Bubble Bath & Shower Creme. I have used a few products in the past from this range and the best thing about this range has got to be the beautiful smells! These products just smell amazing! I love using a bubble bath when having a bath but some of them aren't all that to be honest. I really like this one at the moment though, its creates really big bubbles, which i love! & you can smell the strawberry smell while your in the bath.

The last two products are both MUA products the first one is a blusher I brought around a month ago it is in the shade cupcake. I have been loving this blusher this past month, ever since I brought it I have used it nearly every day, I am also featuring this product in my GIVEAWAY  which is running until the 29th April 2014. I think this blusher is such a beautiful colour, it applies perfectly for me and it blends beautifully. Also for £1 you can't really go wrong! The next one is a eyeshadow in shade 11 Pearl (sorry about the bad photography was a awful day for lighting, I will try insert a good swatch of the colour soon) I am not sure if they sell this shade anymore in Superdrug as I got it so long ago. The name Pearl doesn't really relate to the colour of the eye shadow as it is a browny/bronze colour. I used to use this quite a lot and then I stopped but this month I have started to re use this eyeshadow. It is a great base colour, and it is the perfect every day shade.

What products have you been loving this month?

Argan Oil Hydrating Hair Mask

This product was in a haul I did about a month ago you can see it here.  I brought this hair mask in my local Savers for £1! I didn't have very high expectations for this product because the price was so cheap I thought it wouldn't be all that, I was pleasantly surprised!

I have been using this product on my hair normally once a week for the past month. I normally find hair masks make my hair pretty greasy, because I have greasy hair anyway I never think these help and they just make my hair greasier quicker! This one didn't! If anything I found that this made my hair not get as greasy as quickly as it normally does. The way I use his is, I wash my hair with a shampoo I am currently using and then instead of using conditioner I put a small amount of this on the ends of my hair and then using a comb I comb through from root to end of hair. I find using a comb is a good way to ensure that all of my hair is covered evenly and there isn't more product in some areas than others (this could make it greasy!) I then leave this on for around 10 minutes and then wash it off. It leaves my hair feeling soo soft & I love the smell of it, I love products which have strong smells and this definitely does, I can smell it still the next morning.

Also for £1, I think this is a bargain! Its a big sized pot and it will last me a couple of months. I would definitely recommend this product to someone who is looking for a good hair mask that doesn't make their hair greasy and smells amazing! I really want to try more products from this range, I am currently using the Argan Oil Heat Defence Spray, but I am not too sure on it at the moment. I can't really see it making much different at the moment but I am going to give it a bit longer before I make a decision.

Have you tried any products from this range?

CLOSED - 100 Follower Giveaway!

I recently got to 100 followers on Bloglovin, which I am so greatful for! Considering I have only been using Bloglovin for around a month or two now, I am so pleased that 100 people are interested in reading my blog! I decided to give away a selection of small products which I love using!

The rules for the giveaway;

1. If you are under 16 years of age you must have parental permission
2. You must live in the UK as this giveaway isn't international
3. If you don't respond to me for 48 hours after I have contacted you another winner will be chosen

Good luck everyone! xx


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Part of my Soap & Glory collection

I love Soap & Glory soo much! It is a brand that I have loved for years and my collection has grown and grown. I wanted to do a Soap & Glory collection post but I didn't realise how many products I had until I got all of them out. I couldn't decide my favourite products cos I just love them all. So I decided to a do a post on part of my collection. 

The Scrub Of Your Life
Soap & Glory are the only body scrubs I really use, I love them so much that I have never decided to purchase a different one. I have recently just finished using the Soap & Glory Pulp Friction body scrub, I loved using this scrub I thought it was really gentle on the skin. Now after using The Scrub Of Your Life I can't believe how soft and gentle on the skin this is! It doesn't even feel like a scrub at all but it still exfoliates the skin soo well. It has the signature Soap & Glory smell to it which I absolutely love! You can buy this scrub in boots here, for £7.00.

Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel
This is my all time favourite shower gel, I normally just pick up any shower gel that's on offer as I feel like they all do the same job. Its different with this shower gel, I feel this shower gel leaves my skin smelling great all day and it has a built in body lotion in it which leaves your skin feeling soo soft! The bottles so big as well it lasts me months so I think it is really worth the money, you can buy it in boots here, for £6.00.

Heel Genius Amazing Foot Cream
I never really been a person to use foot creams I never really felt like I needed to as I never had any dry hard skin. I got given this one christmas years ago and since I have always repurchased. I put this on my feet every so often and it leaves them feel soo smooth! I feel like I've just had a pedicure done, also this bottle lasts me for so long probably around 8 months to a year, you don't need to use much product. I usually get lots of Soap & Glory sets for christmas and birthdays, this product is normally always in these sets so I always have spares i think at the moment I have another bottle or two in my cupboard. You can buy this at boots here, for £5.50.

Hand Food
Hand Food is Soap & Glorys hand cream, I normally hate using hand cream I think it leaves my hands feeling greasy and it just out right annoys me to be honest, its just never been a product that I've ever loved. Until I found Hand Food, this is the only hand cream I have found that I have actually liked and hasn't left me feeling greasy. Also I think that it has that beautiful Soap & Glory smell is a bonus! I like the bottle this comes in as well, It sits on my bathroom sink with Wash Hands Of It, as I always use this cream after washing my hands. You can buy this from Boots here, for £7.00.

Hand Wash
I had never tried this before I got this in a set with Hand Food, I love this soap though it leaves my hand smelling lovely and they feel soft & smooth afterwards. Also another good thing is because the packaging of this product is beautiful I think it looks lovely in the bathroom. When people use this in my bathroom they always comment about how nice it smells etc. You can buy this from Boots here, for £5.00.

Return To Slender Body Contouring Gel
This gel from Soap & Glory is formulated for upper arm, tummy & thigh firming. Your meant to use this product twice a day on the area of your body you feel needs firming or if you have some cellulite this is meant to be able to help. It says you start to notice a difference after 56 days. I haven't actually tried this product myself yet, I got it gifted to me one christmas and its just been sitting in my cupboard but I think now summer is coming I am definitely going to use this to help get rid of them wobbly bits! I don't think you can get this product anymore as its not on the Boots or Soap & Glory site but I have seen it on Amazon and Ebay.

The Daily Smooth Body Butter
This and The Righteous Butter are my favourite Soap & Glory body butters. The smell of this one is beautiful, it smells the same as Soap & glory Mist You Madly's body spray which is my all time favourite scent! This is a really good body butter it leaves my skin feeling soft & really moisturised. You can buy this body butter from Boots here, for £9.00.

The Righteous Butter
I used this body butter every time I get out of the bath/shower, I apply a large amount onto my damp skin and it really soaks into my skin so well. I love how this leaves my skin feeling, I never get dry patches or dry elbows and I can still smell it on my skin hours later. You can buy this at Boots here, for £10.50.

This is just a part of my Soap & Glory collection, I love the brand and I don't think theres a product I have come across that I don't like yet. I think they are great priced and really long lasting.

Have you tried any of these products or what are your favourite Soap & Glory products?