Collective haulin' :Clothing and accessories

Despite the fact that I know I shouldn't be shopping for clothes etc just before Christmas, I just can't help it when I see an amazing deal on something!  I wanted to share with you a few bits and pieces I picked up over the past few weeks, some of which are from my trip to Manchester last weekend, others from Ebay and also a few items from the Black Friday sales :)

I'd been eyeing up the Whistles sweatshirts for months now, but even with student discount they're ridiculously overpriced for just printed cotton.  I spotted this one on Ebay though, for less than half price, and even better the cute French lettering is not only red and festive - it's also stitched on so should survive the crazy uni laundrette tumble driers much better!  (Just don't tell my mother how much it cost *whoops*)

Another brand on Asos that I recently discovered whilst Xmas shopping was Becksondergaard - a Danish company that makes gorgeous printed scarves.  Full price, they're super duper expensive but I spotted a couple of absoulte bargains that I just couldn't turn down - the starry scarf shown is a wool-silk mix one that I got for myself but I also got a gorgeous snowfall print one for my mum and a super cute peace sign print one for my best friend.  That one in particular was a complete steal - £4 reduced from £30 - so much nicer than the Primark ones and it'll make an awesome stocking filler!

The adorable Christmas pudding leggings shown are from Primark, and are honesttogod the most comfortable things I have ever worn on my legs.  Soft, cosy but not fluff-depositing.  These are gonna be here to stay well after the holidays are over *sod the weird looks I'll get at breakfast* :P

Finally, I spotted these boots in the Topshop sale.  With student discount they were only £18, and arrived the following day with free delivery!  They are the 'Billy Buckle Boot' style, and although I had to loosen the bottom buckle they fit perfectly straight out of the box.  They're also real suede, so a real bargain that I know I'll get masses of use out of!

xxx

Unboxing last week's splurging spree...

Last week - specifically on the evening of results day, I went a little nuts with the online shopping.  I've already chatted about what I purchased in this post (where I get slightly emosh towards the end if you're into that stuff!).  But I also promised to update you when they'd all arrived...so here they all are!

First to arrive was the Sleek blush.  It's everything I thought it would be - the perfect peachy coral that blends in seamlessly with my skintone.  My only gripe with it is the fact that its not the softest blush out there, but it leaves a lovely sheen to the skin.  Also, highly bargainous at a mere £3.89 (including 1st Class delivery!)

Sleek Blush in 'Life's a Peach'
There's something about it that reminds me of Clinique's 'Peach Pop' blusher,
I shall have to swatch them side by side and get back to you on that one.
Also, the name.  You know by now that anything peach related gets a thumbs-up
from me!

Second up is the Laura Mercier palette.  (I must say that I was very impressed with Space.nk's customer service before I tell you all about what happened - they got back to me within the hour and were absolutely lovely.)
Anyway, I opened the box up like a kid would at Christmas and encountered a golden brown, glittery mess...

Understandingly, I was somewhat upset!  In hindsight though, it was rather funny...
all that gold shimmer went everywhere like a poof of icing sugar ahaha!

Space.nk sent out a brand new palette free of charge, and told me to keep the old one.  I decided to try to clean it up as best I could and give the eyeshadows and brushes to my mum (as I knew she would love the shade 'African Violet' in particular.)  I did end up with hands like one of those Bond girls from Goldfinger, but I thought it was a shame to not attempt to salvage at least some of such a beautiful palette!  The replacement arrived in perfect condition, and I am absolutely in love.  I've been using them over the top of my favourite No 7 shadow stick in 'Cool Mink', in particular the shade 'Sable' all over the lid and 'African Violet' in the crease - I'm a purple shadow convert!  The cake eyeliner in 'Ground Espresso' is a little bit of a faff to apply, but oh boy is it worth the extra effort - using it wet means it sticks around all day long.  I could go on and on, but I think you can tell I'm happy with my purchase!

The packaging, although rather bulky feels sturdy (and is oh-so-glamorous!)
Also, can I just talk about the brushes?!  Especially the pony-tail brush - so so soft.

Top row L-R: Morning Dew, Coffee Ground, African Violet, Ballerina Pink
Bottom row L-R: Crystal Beige, Sable, Dusk, Deep Night

I have yet to use the bronzer for its intended purpose, as it's a
little too dark for my skin.  The blushes though - oh my.
Underneath, is the cake liner in Ground Espresso (applied wet)
and the pencil liner which literally stayed on for a shower and a day!

Last of all was the scarf from Kate Moss' Topshop collection.  It's a lot more of a dark cream, almost with a little green mixed in than it looks on the website - but looks perfect with a plain grey tee and jeans.  And although it's rather thin and gauzy, it works a treat at keeping the wind off your neck if the weather is a bit chilly!

And here it is, in natural light.  The colours are pretty much true to
 life here - I love the way the light blue pops through!

xxx

What happened post results...oops!

Yesterday, results rolled around and I spent most of the day grinning like a loon.  It was such a relief to know I'd got the grades for uni - waiting all summer is rather stressful (and it's always at the back of your mind!)

Regardless, the wait was worth it and I'm already firing up the uni shopping lists (hell yeah!)
I'll probably chat about the things I'm getting for uni when it's closer to the time (or do a review once I've used them a while), but I thought I'd share the couple of little 'present to self' items I picked up last night...

It's listed as £10, but here's
the 10% off code I used:
000110204242314

(N.B: Since they're all online purchases, I'll do some proper little reviews of them once they've arrived.  Hopefully all the offers will still be on!)



Kate Moss for Topshop scarf £9 originally £45 

I already tweeted earlier this week that I'd popped one in my basket - but decided to hold off until Thursday to see if it would be a 'congratulations' or 'commiserations' purchase.
It's a gorgeous vintage-y coloured lightweight scarf, that I feel will mute down any outfit you pair it with.  This should be great to take brightly coloured summer clothes through into autumn, and it was such a bargain.  It's made of a polyester chiffon, not silk - but definitely worth the money.  And c'mon, how could you resist an 80% discount?!

Sadly, I saw this go out of stock
 as I was typing up this post - but
 there's still a few available on ebay
 for about the same price.

Laura Mercier Colour Wardrobe for Eyes and Cheeks £30 originally £78 (holy moly!)

This was more than a little bit of a splurge.  It's one of those things that you don't really need, but is such good value that you have to snap it up!  I was taken in though by the eyeshadow shades - as I'm in love with cool toned shadows (and nearly all of these fell in that category!)  The brushes also get great reviews, and I'm hoping this will be a fab option for when I'm travelling back and forth from uni and don't want to carry much.  Overall, you get 8 shadows and 3 blush/bronzer shades, 3 brushes (one double ended) and 3 liners (plus a pencil form brown liner!) - working out at about £1.50 per 'item' :O




Sleek Blush in 'Life's a Peach' £3.89 

I'd been hankering after an orange toned blush for a while, and was on the verge of purchasing Stila's 'Gladiola'.  I wasn't quite sure though that it would suit, so was looking for a more budget-friendly option to try out.  I was also still kicking myself for not picking up a similar shade at the Essence counter (mini haul to come there) when I was in Wilko, so really was searching for something around the £3-4 mark.  Then this morning, I saw a post featuring Sleek's blush in 'Life's a Peach' and though why not give it a go?  I got it from Ebay as it was about 50p cheaper than Boots (and I was also feeling stingy after the aforementioned Space.nk accident) - fingers crossed it arrives soon!



There we go.  That's my little results day haul complete.  Of course, there's more to life than chucking stuff in your shopping basket - this past summer has for sure been a special time to spend with family and friends.  It's really starting to hit home how much I'll miss them, and it's times like these where you're all celebrating together that you realise how much you love them all and are so grateful for everything *cries a bit*.

But anyway, enough of the emosh-ness!  There's going to be a lot of stuff to do over the next few weeks, and it's all going to get very busy very quickly - but I can't wait for it all to start!!
Here's to the next year :D

xxx