What I Got For Christmas!

Hi everyone, just wanted to say before I dive into the post that I'm always a bit cautious of things such as this! I want to make it clear before you continue reading that by doing this post I am in no way bragging about my gifts. I feel extremely lucky to have got these items and the generosity of my family but if you're not a fan of posts like this, I'd recommend skipping this post. Also, I apologize for the lighting - England is dark as anything with the cold weather at the moment. With that being said, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and if you're as nosey as me about other people's presents then I hope you enjoy! :)

Yankee Candles in Sun & Sand, Coastal Waters, Beach Wood and Drift Away

Candles - Anyone who knows me will know that I'm not a huge fan of sweet, sickly scents and more a fan of the beachy or fruitier scents. I love Yankee Candles (can you tell?) and received four I haven't tried before that all smell wonderful.

Clarins freebies, Garnier Body Tonic Scrub, Good Things Face The Day Moisturizer, Origins Never A Dull Moment, Origins Checks & Balances and Clarins Melting Gel Cleanser

Skincare & Bodycare - I really wanted to try some Origins cleansers and after reading reviews, decided these two would work best for my skin type. I was also intrigued by the Clarins melting gel after hearing Adrienne from TheSundayGirl rave about it so much. I won't say too much but so far I am LOVING it. 

Armani Code Perfume, Clarins Instant Smooth Primer, Jessica High Gloss Top Coat, Topshop Innocent Lipstick, YSL Glossy Stain in #10, Ted Baker Makeup Set (Mascara, Eyeliner, Lashes, Rosegold Eyelash Curlers, Tweezers), Rimmel Red Dynamite Lipliner, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, MAC Formidable Nail Varnish, NARS Douceur Blush

Make Up - This is always the most exciting part for me. I received NARS Douceur blush which I've lusted after for ages. This was one of my favourite presents as well as the Clarins Instant Smooth Primer - both of which I haven't stopped wearing since I got them. I was also gifted the YSL Glossy Stain from my wishlist, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, MAC Formidable nail varnish (an unexpected present and my first polish from them) and a Lady Million Rollerball all of which are gorgeous.

Topshop Brown Scarf, Topshop Fairsle Snood, Bright Red/Pink Scarf, Handmade knitted Beanie and Topshop Giftcard

Winter Warmers - I am a self-confessed scarf addict (I must own at least 10!) so scarves are always a welcome gift for me. The Topshop Snood is amazing, my mum loved it so much she got it for herself then hid it when I came home! Another special present is the beanie too, my stepdads mum is amazing at knitting and made this for me after giving me a jumper a similar colour earlier in the year. You can tell it was such a personal gift which meant a lot to me.

Hand Blender, Finlandia Vodka, Haribo Starmix and Supermix, Linwood Barclay 'Trust Your Eyes', Topshop Rose Gold Makeup Bag, One Tree Hill Season 9, S&G Hair Turban, Boofle Mug, Penguin Keyring, Diva Jewellery, Q&A A Day Book, Fruit Sweets, 'K' Notepad and Batiste Dry Shampoo in Tropical

Miscellaneous - I feel there is a lot explaining to do here! The hand blender was exciting because I really want to start homemaking some soup and the huge bottle of vodka I didn't ask for but it's also a welcome addition for any student ;). Although it doesn't really show up in the picture, the  makeup bag is so pretty - I absolutely love anything rosegold. I also asked for the new Linwood Barclay book as he is my favourite author, I love love his books and would recommend them to any fan of mystery/crime books. The One Tree Hill Season 9 I was particularly happy about as I know own the entire boxset, I can now rewatch the whole thing over and over again and pretend it never ended (cry). You may be able to tell that I didn't receive any chocolate, this is due to the fact I'm actually dairy intolerant so my family being as sympathetic as possible buy me sweets to satisfy my sweet cravings :)

Ketchup - This is such an odd present I gave it it's own picture! Every year I receive a bottle of this because my family always joke I'm addicted (..which I am) so it's a tradition in my household! 

So there you have it. I hope you all had a lovely time and take this post lightheartedly, I really feel so lucky for the people I have around me more than for any gift this time and hope you all have a great NYE celebration if I don't post before then :)

What I Bought #1 - Boxing Day Boots Sale

It's known in my family that every year, me, my mum and my sister save up our Boots points and only spend them on Boxing Day when all the sets go down in price. This year, I ended up saving a shameful amount (£102 worth of points, oops!) but managed to restrain myself just buying two giftsets.

Soap and Glory 'Smooth Over Darling' Set - Originally £35.00, bought for £17.50

The first thing I knew I wanted to keep my eye out for was this set, which contains the collection of products with the 'Mist You Madly' body spray scent. I've already confessed my love for the scrub here and since after recently trying out Clean Girls, I also adore this product. The whole range smells incredible and can't wait to use them all! The products inside minus the loafer add up to £28.50 so it's definitely a bargain and I'd highly recommend getting if you can find it :)

Stella Set - Originally around £40, bought for £25.33

The second thing I picked up was this Stella gift set. After browsing perfume sets of the scents I already own and either not finding them or deciding they weren't that good of a deal, I went for this one. I love the scent and the bottle so look forward to using this soon.

Finally, my sister rang me today to tell me she'd found me the Britney Spears Radiance gift set for £13.37 when it's usually £20. I was happy about this cos it has two smaller bottles so one will be great for travel and keeping in your hangbag!

So that's all I got. Not quite sure what I'll spend my remaining Boots points on, I'll probably save them for when I run out of my essentials and have no money but I'm proud of myself for not going TOO mad..

What did you pick up in the sales?

Wishlist #1

1. YSL Glossy Stain in #10 - heard so many good things about these stains and after seeing this red shade on FleurDeForce I knew I had to have it!

2. NARS Douceur Blush - I really want a natural, sculpting style blush that I can pair with a more dramatic eye or lip look and this dusty rose shade looks perfect for this

3. Korres Guava Set - One of my all time favourite products are the Korres lip butter so I'd love to venture into their bodycare stuff also as the scents are amazing

4. Revlon Mulled Wine Lipstick - I'm not sure if this is avaliable in the UK as I haven't seen it in any Boots stores near me but it looks like such a lovely red and the formula of their lipsticks are one of my favourites

5. Clarins Instant Smooth Primer - Another product I've heard nothing but good things about. I do like my Laura Mercier primer, but I don't find it's amazing for it's price so would love to try this one

6. Molecule 1 Perfume - A bit gimmicky but all the reviews of this make it sound amazing and it's definitely something that's left me intrigued to see if it has the effect people say it does!

7. Origins Checks and Balances Face Wash - I have yet to find my HG face cleanser and since I love so many Origins products already, it only seems right that I branch into trying some of their cleansers :)


What's top of your wishlist this Christmas?

Review: Origins Eye Doctor

Hi everyone! Bit of a different post to my usual makeup/nail posts because I wanted to tell you all about my holy grail eye cream, Origins Eye Doctor.

Origins Eye Doctor £26/15ml

I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog before, but I have extremely sensitive eyes. They tend to water by the end of the day, creating sore patches of dry skin around them which not only looks horrible but is painful too. I've tried a lot of eye creams, including the more popular Origins Eye Cream Ginzings but for me, that just doesn't compare! 

The cream itself has a light cucumber scent which is refreshing but not overpowering in the slightest for me. It's quite a thick consistancy, so I tend to use a larger amount overnight and dap a smaller amount on my eye area in the mornings. I find this product not only soothes any soreness or dry areas around my eye, but really brightens the area too. On top of this, I suffer slightly from milia and this is the only cream to improve the problem rather than make it worse.

For me, this really is a miracle product that I feel I couldn't live without. I don't think I'll ever have to try another as after working through all my other eye creams before repurchasing I can honestly say I really missed the results it gave me, which I never thought I'd say about a product of this kind of all things!

Barry M Collection

As you might be able to tell from my backlog of posts, I love nail polish. I literally can't go a day with nothing on my nails. The biggest collection from a brand I have are Barry M polishes. I find these last really well on my nails with a good top coat and have a beautiful range of colours. There was actually a time I owned every single Barry M polish on the website but cut it down to my favourites when I started realising I never got to wear half of them!
They are definitely my favourite forumlation and great for the price (usually between £2.99-£3.99 but on offers a lot). With that being said, here's my collection...

From L-R

Raspberry - as the same suggests this is a raspberry red colour with pink undertones.

Red Glitter - again, as the name says this is a red glitter polish. This is definitely a christmas shade for me and I pretty much wear this every year around the festive period.

Burgundy - I never really see this shade spoken about but it's a dark purpley red shade with sheen to it. It's really a lovely shade, it definitely deserves more recognition.

Coral - I'd say this is more an orange red shade than a coral but one of my favourites, it's a go to colour when I don't know what colour I want to wear.

Racing Green - Another amazing shade that is never spoken about, a beautiful emerald green I think would look amazing on any skin tone

Navy - This colour goes with anything, a navy with a shimmer running through it

Berry Ice Cream - This is from their pastel range so the name 'berry' may be a little misleading. This colour is a definite favourite for me alongside Topshop Celestial, a light lilacy shade that is especially perfect in the summer.

Boots LE - I don't know if 'boots' is the name of this but it's all it says underneath! I really like this one because I like purple nails a lot, and this one is bright with a pinky tone to it which is really flattering.

Vivid Purple - I spoke about this shade as well as Racing Green and Navy here, this is a deep shimmery plumish purple, great for this time of year

Pink Flamingo - This is my favourite pink polish because it is more of a light coral colour, it really stands out

Neon Pink - speaking of shades that stand out, this colour is lovely! I use this most on a night out because it's such a shocking neon shade with blue reflects when it hits the light, I really recommend this if your looking for a really bright colour.

Silver Pink - This a new one for me (thanks housemates!) and as the name suggests it's a pinky silver glitter. I've only used this once but I love it for an accent nail with a neutral colour.

Gold LE - Again, this annoyingly has no shade name. It's a gold glitter that sort of looks like shimmery foil on the names. It comes free when you spend £6 in Boots at the moment so worth picking some up for the freebie.

Charmeleon - This is the silver/purple one. It's great for doing some simple nail art because you get a different colour when you apply top coat. The only problem I find is I like to wear top coat all over the nail to stop it from chipping so I'm not totally sold on this one yet

Matte White - I have this shade for one reason and one reason alone, which is that my housemates bought me some dotting tools so I really needed a white shade so I can have polka dot nails. I am yet to test this but expect to see a nail post if it goes right!

Phew! Sorry for all the rambling but I hope this was helpful for anyone looking into getting more/some Barry M polishes. What are your favourite shades?

Current Top 5 Blushes

Hi everyone :) 
Today I thought I'd share with you my current 5 favourite blushes. I'm gonna start by being honest here and saying I don't have that many blushes (less than 10 I'm sure) as I tend to only buy colours that are pretty different from eachother!

From L-R: Nars Deep Throat, Nars Sin, MAC Coygirl, Laura Mercier Lush Nectarine, MAC Light Year Msf

Nars Deep Throat - Dodgy name aside, I would probably say this is my all time favourite blush. It's a beautiful warm, light shade of pinky peach with a light shimmer running through that brightens up your face without looking overly shimmery. Although Orgasm is the cult Nars product, I actually much prefer this one, and would definitely repurchase it again and again!

Nars Sin - This is a blush that looks so scary in the pan but once it's applied it is the most perfect plummy colour that looks particularly amazing in the winter. Like Deep Throat, this does have a slight shimmer running through it, but nothing that looks too glitterball on the cheeks. As with all Nars blushes this is super pigmented so if you're fair like me, I'd recommend a light hand.

MAC Coygirl - I have spoken about this before in my MAC favourites so I won't say too much other than this is a lovely matte plummy pink colour and it gives you that perfect flushed look without being overdone. It's such an underrated blush because it is definitely my favourite MAC one I've tried (and I've tried quite a few!)

Laura Mercier Lush Nectarine - I have a confession to make, peachy shades don't often suit me at all. However, thankfully this one has a lot of pink undertones I can just about pull it off. I think this is a shade that would suit a lot of skintones and I would definitely look into more Laura Mercier blushes as they have some lovely shades on offer and this is really pigmented.

MAC Light Year MSF (Limited Edition) - Sorry to be annoying and include a limited edition product but I really do love this msf for a simple sculpting look for the cheeks, especially when I'm wearing an eyeshadow look or a bright lip. It is quite shimmery (being a msf) so I'd avoid highlighter with this one but it is great for days where my skin is looking a little dull as it works great at perking the skin up. If you can find this anyone, I'd highly recommend.

Just as a note, I have to say of all the brands of blush I've tried Nars are definitely my favourite formulations as they are all so pigmented, easy to apply and last longer on me than any other brand :)

Have you tried any of these blushers? What are your favourites?