Cheeky BooHoo order...

I may have just placed a sneaky BooHoo order.... 

I fell into the usual trap - I watched a couple of haul videos on YouTube earlier which just made me think 'aaaah clothes, aaaaaah internet shopping', and now here we are. I added over one hundred pounds worth of items to my BooHoo basket before taking a step back and putting my thinking cap on and realising this was a bad idea. Mainly because there's that thing coming up... what's it called??? Oh yeah, CHRISTMAS! Which means I need to be sensible with my monies. So I removed quite a large portion of my basket and stuck with these three:

1. Grace Deep Plunge Velvet Skort Playsuit - I'm thinking this will be perfect for a night out at the weekend. Plus I have some killer new boots which will look awesome with this. I would recommend the old trick of ordering two sizes of playsuits on BooHoo. When I've bought playsuits before I've fit sizes ranging between 8 - 12 on there so it's always good to order an extra just to see.

2. Ellie Pom Pom Trim 3/4 Sleeve Swing Dress - I just love paisley prints, which is my only justification for this. I could do without the pom poms but I suppose you can't win them all.  

3. Anne Embossed Velvet Smock Dress - And this one is sorting me for Christmas day! 

I know I've bought two items in berry red velvet which is normally something I would stop myself from doing, and when I was having my 'basket cleanse' I would've made myself choose just one. BUT in this case I really liked the red velvet and thought that since the playsuit is very much a 'going out' outfit which I would only wear for a proper night out (not just a meal / drinks), it would be ok to get a more casual dress in the same material that could either be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. 

As I said, I had much more in my basket that I got rid of, but two dresses worth an honourable mention are:

1. Penny Peacock Print Smock Dress - Really cute pattern here which I think could be quite versatile and wearable both in and out of work which is always good. The only reason it didn't make it into the final basket was simply that I only wanted one patterned dress (the embossed flowers on the velvet dress don't count!) and I preferred the paisley one above! 

2. Una Fox Print Pleat Front Skater Dress - You know how we talked about my cat collection? Well I also have a pretty significant fox collection too and I can't resist things with foxy patterns on like this adorable dress. However, I feel this would be one of those purchases where it's all fine and dandy and cute until I actually try to wear it. I feel like I would end up looking like a small child. Also, I've just bought a fox print scarf (so that will have to satisfy my fox print needs for the time being).

Until next time :)

Amsterdam haul time!

(L-R - Pimkie black polka make up bag €7, Heineken glass €free!, Monki phone case €6, Six phone case €6, Flormar Matte nail varnishes €3, Hema lasting finish nail varnish €2.50, Van Gough mirror €2.95, Van Gough tray €7.95, Hema Kohl Eyeliner in black €3, Hema Longer Lasting lipstick €4)

(Monki kitty hat €7)

I wanted to show the world the things I bought in Amsterdam (a post about the tip will be up shortly) because I am a essentially, a haul junkie. 

I'd just like to point out, I bloody love shopping on the continent, it is awesome. The clothes shops are great, mainly because we don't have the majority of them over here and it is a refreshing change (although Amsterdam did have about a billion H&M's). And the beauty shops are amazing, they have entire shops dedicated to brands I have never heard of and everything is so reasonably priced! 

The above beauty products were both bought from shops that only stocked that make - why oh why can't they both come to the UK?! The amount of nail varnishes available in Flormar blew my mind, they had everything you could ever want, I could have stayed in there all day but was quite aware that I had already dragged a very patient Nick through numerous beauty shops so I refrained. But then I found Hema and had exactly the same experience! So cheap, so well merchandised, and such a selection. Aaah just thinking about these two shops makes me feel very happy (lame but true).

Six is probably my favourite shop I have discovered in Europe, it is accessory heaven on earth. I first went in Brugge in October and then when I found it in Amsterdam too I thought they must be a really big company (which they are) and was convinced they'd deliver to the UK, but alas, sadly they don't :( they don't even have an online shop! Come on Six, get with the times!!

The mirror and the tray were both bought from the Van Gough gallery, which we went to feeling we should try and be at least a little cultured, but I must admit it was pretty dull. I'm not really "into" art (and neither is Nick) so I'm not really sure why we spent €15 on going to an art gallery?! So anyway, I just bought things in the gift shop instead. These two are my favourite designs from his paintings, the mirror is in 'Butterflies and Poppies' (with a name like that, what's not to love?) and the tray is in 'Almond Blossom', which I actually really enjoy. 

The Monki buys were so good, that shop is just great. I know we have them in the UK but as far as I'm aware, there are none anywhere in the vicinity of where I live so I only go when I'm in London. I love cats and when I saw the phone case I totally had to have it! The top kitty reminds me so much of Buddy (mine and Nick's little fluff ball) that it made my heart hurt with cuteness and love so I couldn't leave it. Plus I am a sucker for phone cases. The hat I don't even think needs an explanation. It is quite possibly the best thing I have ever bought. Ever. So lets end this post on a picture of me wearing it in all its glory.

Until next time :)

Oh Boots, how I love thee! - Another mini haul

So remember when I started this blog and I was all like 'oh I'm going to blog at least once every week', well, it appears I lied. I have no real excuse other than when I get home from work and the gym (when I make it there), I tend to completely veg out and usually just watch a film with my boyfriend. And the past couple of weekends I have been pretty busy. But still, they're both pretty lame reasons, I guess this blog isn't yet a solid enough fixture in my life for me to remember to post!

Anyway, here I am, with another small haul type affair.

Today, I was meant to go shopping with my friend (we were destined for Primark) but I have hurt my toe quite badly and had to cancel because I can't walk more than two meters without being in pain :( so to appease my inner shopaholic, I nipped up to the local Boots (convinced myself I NEEDED tissues, but alas, I had some spare ones in my drawer all along) and accidentally bought these bad boys.

(L-R, B-F: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory £8.99, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation in 52 Vanilla £10.99, Bourjois Liner Feutre Ultra Black £6.99, Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro Primer £6.99, Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer in Light £10, Soap and Glory Trick and Treatment £9, Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Bashful£8)

The Rimmel foundation is an absolute staple of mine and this is a repurchase. I recently bought the Dream Matte Mouse by Maybelline as I thought that with it being winter, the shimmer the WMU foundation gives sometimes looks a bit over the top. However, I wish I hadn't bothered as there is really only one way to describe the Dream Matte Mouse - major disappointment. It sounded so promising and I was uber excited but no, it is rubbish and clings to all the dry skin I have, and more. And is actually really hard to apply, maybe that's just me but every morning when I go to put it on I am faced with the same confusion as to whether to dap my brush in the pot, use my fingers or think of another intuitive way to apply foundation. It's all far too much to think about on a morning! So I really wish I'd had spent my hard earned dollar on another bottle of this beauty instead. The Rimmel primer came free when you spend over X amount (can't remember how much) on anything else Rimmel so I haven't got much to say on that, as I said in my last post, I am relatively new to the world of primer ( - but have used my Maybelline Baby Skin primer now, so far so good).

Now, I wouldn't normally buy another foundation as I am a bit tight and don't really wear much foundation as my skin is quite good (touch wood) but I had heard so many good things about the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum (mainly from Estée), my feeling sorry for myself gene kicked in and I picked it up and chucked it in the basket. I am excited to try it and see if it really is as good as the hype. I went for the gel based formula purely because it was £1 more and if you spent over £10 you got a free eyeliner (easily swayed), and I needed a new black liner. I have tried a few of the "felt tip" style liners and have never been overly impressed but it was free so it doesn't matter too much if it ends up at the back of my make up drawer.

So after picking up the above, my eyes turned towards the Soap and Glory stand. I have recently rediscovered the Sexy Mother Pucker lip gloss I got free with the massively amazing gift set they always do at Christmas and I'm loving it! This coupled with the fact that I know the Kick Ass Concealer is pretty similar to a Virgin Vie product that I used to looooove, and also is a well known dupe for a Laura Mercier product, drew me in. All S&G make up was on 3 for 2 so I thought it would be rude not to (again I blame the feeling sorry for myself gene) and I picked up the Kick Ass Concealer, which I've seen get good reviews from beauty blogging world. I also got the Trick and Treatment concealer for under the eyes as I'm seriously always on the look out for a good under eye concealer to hide my hideous dark circles. I've not heard/seen much about this before but hopefully it'll be good'un. Finally, I got a pink Gloss Stick. I love these Chubby Stick dupes and have some from Bourjois and Revlon which I use all the time. I'm still loving the whole English Rose look so thought a nice baby pink colour would be a good addition to my collection.

My next post won't be a haul (or even a 'mini-haul'), I promise... although I have just placed a BooHoo order.

Until next time :)