Haul #4 Primark + Lush

I'm home for Christmas early as I came down with a bad case of tonsillitis, but I'm feeling a lot better already and have missed the Primark at home so much so couldn't wait to spend some of my birthday money!! Plus,  the A/W stuff is always nicer than S/S! Also, we got a kitten!!!! Sorry about the snapchat haha we didn't have any other selfies!

 I first picked up these fleecey, Christmassy pyjama bottoms with a cuffed ankle for £3!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw them on the sale rail and was immediately drawn to them, pretty sure I'll live in them over my Christmas break! I also got some of the footlets they do for £2.50 and they're tartan and so so snuggley. I'm wearing them now and they have little pompoms on and everything! I bought some for my mum too but shh! I also got one of the thermo-cup things because I thought it was cute and Christmassy and I probably won't use it but just in case, this was £2.50 as well. I got these little crocodile clips because I wear them all the time to pin my hair back and I always lose them, I thought £1 for 8 was a pretty good deal too! And then I picked up a pack of midi rings which I thought were nice because there are gold, silver and black metals and I don't have any midi rings yet so thought these would look quite good. I imagine they'd turn your fingers green though after a day!!

I then picked up this cute burgundy long sleeved crop top with a white heart print on it for £2!!!!! and this brown/grey (it looks different in different lights) thick knit bobble hat which I found in the mens section for £4.

Cheeky kitty!! Lastly, I picked up some disco pants. To be honest, I wasn't aware Primark did disco pants, but these were £5 for the blue ones and £10 for the grey ones. That's £15 for  two pairs!! I also tried them on and they fit really nicely and are pretty tight but not quite tight enough to cut off your circulation which is perfect in my eyes! They're fairly structured too and quite thick so they don't even look cheap. I have some black disco pants from Topshop which were £30 and have gone all bobbly on the top but if these do that I won't mind too much because they're such a good deal!

I then went to Lush which I only seem to go in at this time of year, partly because I rarely have baths but these are just so cute! I got the snowman bath ballistic, the star light, star bright bath melt and the melting snowman bath melt.

 

I've missed going shopping at home, Reading is really good for shopping but their Primark is rubbish and only one floor! It always seems to be last to get the new stock in too so I went a bit wild today. I was hoping to pick up the £5 tartan scarf that they used to do but I haven't been able to find it!!

Hope you've all been enjoying the Christmas spirit so far anyway and you've all finished/finishing school or uni soon!

 

Em x

Florida Haul

Haha, this photo looks so distorted from the angle, but I'm back from Florida and before I fill you in on what we did for the rest of our time there following on from this post, I thought I'd do a haul.

I didn't end up buying any clothes or souvenirs from Florida as I couldn't find any that I liked and souvenir-wise, I was happy with just photos- however, I did want to build my make up collection partly because the exchange rates mean that make up is so much cheaper in America. So I got some make up.............

 

First, I bought these from Walmart. I'd wanted the Real Techniques Core Collection for ages, but thought I'd wait til America to get it slightly cheaper. However, they only had the 2.0 version which comes without the detailers brush and the case/stand. I must say I was a bit disappointed, but the remaining three brushes are the ones I would have used most anyway and I guess I can let the stand go. I also decided I needed some waterproof mascaras for any water parks/water rides at the theme parks in Florida. I picked up Revlon's Lash Potion in black and Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof mascara in brown/black. I then wanted both a Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle and a Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in Tough as Taupe. I actually picked this shade up by accident as I wanted the bronze one, but I still like this one. I don't think I paid more than $5 for each item except the brush set!

 

At a later date, I picked up this NYC Cheek Glow in Riverside Rose as I'm still just getting into make up and wanted to try out an inexpensive blush- this was $2.
The eyeliner I got free with a magazine from Heathrow!

 

I also tracked down a couple of MAC stores as you may have gathered. From the one in the Florida Mall, I bought a cremesheen lipstick in Crème Cup as I know a lot of people have it and it's very easy to wear.

And then from the Orlando Premium Outlets I got an eyeshadow in Woodwinked and another lipstick called Kinda Sexy in a matte finish.

 

I did plan on more MAC purchases at the airport in New York but $16 for an eyeshadow was too much but I bought my other one for $10.50!

 

Finally, as a complete surprise, Alex bought me some real Ray Bans from the Florida Mall! I had no idea he was going to, and I didn't approve of him spending that much on me, but they're so nice!

 

A successful trip's shopping I think!

What do you buy when you're on holiday? Also, if you have any other MAC purchase suggestions, let me know! Always keen to expand my collection!

 

Haul #2

As I've already mentioned, I went away on a music tour to France last week and while we were busy performing a lot of the time, the one thing I was desperate to do while I was there was go to a French pharmacy and stock up on their world famous skincare. Another thing I've been wanting to do for ages is go to  a car boot sale. I've never been before (that I can remember) so the day before I went away, my boyfriend and I went to the biggest one in our area and I managed to find a couple of make up stalls- one being my beloved Mac.

So I bought 2 lipsticks at the car boot sale, one from Avon in Noble Nude which retails for £8.50 and I got it for £2- yay! It's a really nice orange-toned nude with pink shimmer and good colour pay off. I also got Mac Milan Mode for £5 which I was super pleased with since they've now gone up to £15 at Mac counters and it is a nice true pink, not too bright, not too shimmery. It's quite sheer but can be built up I really like this one.

In France, I went to every pharmacy I saw, a lot of them were closed but I did manage to get some Bioderma- must be the only person who hasn't tried it yet!

I got 2 big bottles and one smaller one which I'll probably take to Florida when I go. I just thought it was really cute and I know I'll use it.

I also got a couple of things from La Roche-Posay.

I know you can get this in some of the larger Boots and I've had my eye on these two products for a while now and decided to wait until I was in France because I thought they might be cheaper. I can't remember how much it ended up being but I don't think it was much different to the prices here. I got the Effaclar Duo to use as a spot treatment all over my skin and to use as a make up base and I also picked up the Effaclar A.I. to use as a targeted spot treatment as I've read such good reviews on both of these.

The last thing I bought (aside from lots of pain au chocolats) was the Caudalie Beauty Elixir.

I wanted this to set my make up before using powder, particularly for when it's really hot and also to use when my skin feels in need of refreshing. I only got a 30ml since that's all I could find but  I'm still keen to try it out along with everything else I bought.

I'm planning on reviewing some of these products separately once I've tried them out properly, have you used any of these yet? How did you get on?

Hope you're all having a lovely summer.

(Mainly) Sales Haul!

I am a self confessed sales hoarder, bargain hunter and discount buyer. Very rarely do I ever pay full price for something, unless it is completely spontaneous. So when I finally finished my A levels this week and on the same day found out The Body Shop were doing massive discounts I wanted to go asap! (Be warned, this is a long one!)

The first things I bought were the infamous body butters.

Body Butters- £5-13 The Body Shop

 

These were super cheap at £3 for 200ml (normally £13), the passion fruit one is for me and it smells so good! I also like the pink grapefruit and mango flavour ones and I love how rich these are.

 

 

The Sweet Lemon one is for my mum as she's never tried these before and always loves the smell of any that I've had before. 

 

Also from The Body Shop, I picked up some hair butter which I've never seen anything like before.

 

Rainforest Moisture Hair Butter- £3 The Body Shop

 

As I said before, I have really dry hair so I'm hoping this will help to hydrate it a bit more but for £3 you can't really go wrong!

 

The last thing from the body shop that I wanted to try was a lip butter.

 

Sweet Lemon Lip Butter - £4 The Body Shop

 

I love citrus-y scents and my lips are always so dry so I just fancied this, went a bit overboard with the butters!

 

I also bought this Travel Bottle Set for when I go on holiday so I don't have to take great big bottles of shower gels or shampoos with me.

 

Travel Bottle Set - £1 Poundland

 

Next I nipped to Superdrug to get something that has been on my To Buy list for a while.

 

Solait Face Sun Fluid - £2.48 Superdrug

 

I hatehatehate wearing sun cream on my face but I know how important it is so I recently found this online in SPF 50 and thought it would be perfect, especially as it's mattifying so it won't be greasy.

 

Then I went very naughtily into the Topshop sale where I had to heavily restrain myself but I did see this purple/maroon vest top which I thought looked light and casual enough to wear with shorts on holiday.

 

 

My last purchase today was from the glorious MAC counter in Debenhams and as it is 10% all beauty I thought this could be justified.

 

 MAC Frost Lipstick in Costa Chic - £14 Debenhams

 

This is my first ever MAC purchase so I am suuuper excited about it. I was looking for either a nude or a coral/orange/pink colour as I have lots of deep reds and a whole range of  pinks so I wanted something a bit different.

 

 

 

And when I saw the name, my boyfriend said I have to get it as Costa is my favourite place ever! So I'm really excited to wear this, but I feel like I have to be so careful with it and not ruin it because it's so pretty!

 

That's everything I bought today, I like to think I found some pretty good deals and I'm so happy with everything I bought.

 

Have you tried anything new recently?