Mini Boots Haul - What I Brought from Boots

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo | Boots | £13

Wahoo, after trying the little mini version I was sent through the post, I finally managed to get my hands on this as a clearance item at my local Boots? No idea why it was reduced, but I think it was around £8.50 a tube, so I picked up two.

Umberto Giannini Instant Beauty Leave-in conditioner | Boots | £5.61 (odd price?!)

I'm in need of a replacement for my Ojon Revitalising Mist which is getting way too expensive.

No 7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make Up Remover | Boots | £8.50

Picked up another of these which my £5 off No 7 skincare voucher.

No 7 Protect and Perfect Intense Day Hand Cream | Boots | £10.50

My hands are in dire need of some nourishment, so I'm hoping this may help. The winter weather has taken its toll on them.

Head and Shoulders 2 in 1 Itchy Scalp Shampoo | Boots | £4.99

The weather has also taken its toll on my hair and scalp. I have no idea what's happened, but my scalp is flakey, extremely itchy but really oily?! I didn't know where else to turn except Head and Shoulders. I didn't want the 2 in 1, but they didn't have any of the normal shampoo left.

Botanics Facial Oil | Boots | Can't locate it on their website

Smashbox HD Concealer in Fair/Light | Boots | £17 

Laura xx

     

Manchester Mega Shopping Haul

A few months ago, my friend and I planned a shopping trip to Manchester for 17th December, so last week, we jumped on the train (£17 return from Nottingham!) and stayed in at the Premier Inn Manchester Central for £29.

I spent wayyyy too much money, but I have been working so hard over the year that I felt like I deserved it, even if I did feel a tad guilty! I pretty much worked all summer and only had a few days off and the same over my Christmas break. I have Christmas Eve (today), Christmas day and Boxing day off and then the fun begins again - back to working!

Everyone in the blogger world seems to love seeing and reading about shopping hauls (and I love showing you what I brought!), so here are a larger number of photos showing you what I spent my money on:

Gorgeous printed top, looks really nice and flattering on. 

£32 | Oasis

I love the sparkle to this top and it helps to jazz up a pair of blue jeans for dinner/wine with friends. 

£30 | Oasis

A bargain from H&M | £12.99

I love the colour and zip feature of this jumper, it's something a bit different

H&M | £14.99

Another Oasis purchase, I spent quite a lot of money in here! Although I think it's gone down to £25 in the sale in stores.

Oasis | £32

I thought this was a little expensive for a lace vest, but loved the style and fit when I tried it on.

Oasis | £28

I wanted a pair of boots that would be ideal for day and evening and I think these fit perfectly. I've seen these boots worn by quite a few other bloggers. 

Black scalloped mid chelsea boots | Faith, Debenhams | £75

This necklace was in the sale for £10 which I thought was quite good. It's simple and will go with most outfits, although I'm not very good with necklaces and really struggle to match them up!

Box Chain and Spike Necklace | Warehouse | £10

I absolutely love this stuff. Conditioner often makes my hair lank and greasy, so I use this as an alternative. It really helps me to brush through my hair after showering and makes it lovely and smooth but without weighing it down.

Ojon Revitalizing Mist | Boots | £20.50

I've never tried this before but liked the sound of it. It smells very unusual, herbal and quite heavily scented. I will review fully once I've used it a few times.

Ojon Full Detox Rub-Out Dry Cleansing Spray | Boots | £19

In need of a new scrub, I picked up this. Although apparently it's for oily skin? Not sure whether this will be too drying on me. I'm almost out on my MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator but wanted to try something else.

Clinique Exfoliating Scrub | Boots | £18.50

I've been eyeing this up for sometime now so decided to purchase it. It's very strong and sensuous, hence the name! I don't think it would be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. It's very vampy and overwhelming, perfect for winter.

Estee Lauder Sensuous Noir | Boots | £48.50

Three Estee Lauder Foundations | Double Wear Ecru | Double Wear Light Intensity 2 | Resilience Lift in Nude

I love this ultra dark and vampy lipstick from Smashbox in Black Plum. I will swatch it soon and write a review.

Boots | £15.50

I think this is from a discontinued collection, but I thought it was gorgeous and I'm a real sucker for highlighters.

MAC In The Abstract Highlighter

I'm really loving dark vampy lipsticks at the moment in berry shades and deep purples. I think this lipstick is discontinued or was limited edition.

There are some really, really good swatches of Black Cassis on beautyswatch.com 

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Velvet Lipstick in Black Cassis Matte

This is a very summery me colour. It goes on beautifully and is really sheer and hydrating with a nice pop of colour. You can put it straight on dry winter lips and it still looks lovely, there's no need to prime your lips beforehand.

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Sheer Rush Lipshine | Boots | £19.50

Again, I think this is another discontinued product, but I love the colours. I've never tried a Mineralised eyeshadow from MAC, so can't wait to try this out.

MAC Mineralised Eyeshadow Duo, Thunder and Rain

This is limited edition and now out of stock on the Aveda website. I like the sound of this mascara as it's conditioning and contains Iceland moss. Not sure what that's supposed to do, but I'm looking forward to trying it.

Aveda Black Forest Mosscara | Aveda | £15.50

Have you been on any shopping hauls recently? Leave me a link to your blog in the comments as I'd love to take a look!

Laura xx

Ann Summers LBD

I always love a good competition, and this isn't just a good competition, it's an amazing one, so I really couldn't pass. You can win £900 worth of Love2Shop vouchers plus a £100 Ann Summers voucher! Wow, that would certainly kit my wardrobe up with some lovely winter clothes. The prize is in conjunction with Ann Summers and you can find out more HERE.

I can't say I've really thought much recently about Ann Summers, but after browsing their site, it seems they have expanded the sizes in their lingerie range which is great considering I usually wear a 30/32 back.

So, here is my mood-board containing a beautiful little black dress and an Ann Summers lingerie set. I have chosen this set as I think it will look beautiful under the strapless dress and I love the burst of red. To me, this sets it apart and gives it something different as most of my expensive/luxury bras are plain black.

Lipsy Dress | Ann Summers Underwear - Bra, Thong | Shuphoric Gold Clutch | Tesco Shoes | Pandora Earrings | Pandora Bracelet 

You too can enter by completing the following steps:

• Create a mood-board of your perfect Christmas party outfit to include images of both Ann Summers lingerie and a lust-worthy little black dress
• Publish your outfit mood-board within a post on your blog, linking to this page so your readers can find out more about the competition
• E-mail your entry to competitions@annsummers.com

Deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday 16 December 2013 and full competition terms and conditions can be found here.

Let me know if you create your own mood-board so I can have a look.

Good luck!

Laura xx

June's Primark Haul - Nottingham

I'm a little later posting this, but last weekend I went on a bit of a crazy shopping haul in Primark and spent over £55!! I started a new job on Monday, so needed some new cheap t-shirts which I could throw on with some jeans and chuck away at the end of the 9 week role, or recycle as rags in my dad's garage!

So here goes the Primark haul...

Belt - £2.50

I have some of those silly jeans that always fall down, so a cheap belt was what I needed. I brought one from Next the other week for £16.50, but took it back because it was too big.

Jumper - £8

I thought this jumper looked like quite good quality for a Primark jumper. In the flesh, it's very well made and feels nice too. They had it in a white/cream and a bright blue (sort of a bright navy), but I thought this looked the best and most expensive out of the three colours. I'm stocking up on jumpers now ready for the winter. I always think there's less need for them in the summer so they're always in the sale, or they have plenty left in my size.

T-shirt - £2.50

I've started my new summer job now, so need some tshirts to throw on under a jumper or cardigan that are cheap and that I can throw away after the nine weeks on working. These were an absolute bargain and have the cute pocket detailing on them. I went for a 12 as the 10 looked really small and I hate t-shirts clinging around my stomach. These are from the 'Love my pocket tee' range.

T-shirt £2.50

As above.

T-Shirt - £2.50

As above

T-Shirt - £2.50

As above.

T-Shirt - £4.00

I have no idea why the speckled t-shirt was £1.50 more expensive. It's pretty much the same as the I love my pocket tee but the sizes seemed a lot bigger, so I opted for a size 10. This is from the 'Love my speckled tee' range.

Jumper Top - £5

This looks like a fine knitted jumper. The photo doesn't show the material so well. This is nice just to throw on with a pair of black jeans to nip into town for a coffee or for a pub lunch with my friend.

Pumps/Trainers - £6

For my new job, I was also told to wear trainers. I'm not a trainer wearing person, even though I do quite like some of the new Nike trainers/pumps (I have no idea what these are called?!) My brother has a pair, but his feet are around a size 11, too big for me to steal! I didn't want to spend £40-£60 on a pair of trainers before I'd got my first pay cheque through, so £6 was all I could really afford. They'll probably get thrown away after the nine weeks of working anyway.

Ultra Soft Super Skinny Jeans in Black - £11

This is the 3rd pair of these I have brought! I now own two pairs of the black and one grey pair. I'm obsessed with comfortable fitting jeans that you don't need a belt with that stay in place and wash well. These are the answer to all my jean related prayers! (Other than the Leigh jeans from Topshop).

Ultra Soft Super Skinny Jeans in khaki green - £11

I've been desperate for a pair of khaki green skinny jeans for around a year now. I love the jeggings too from Dorothy Perkins and tried to get my hands on a pair of their khaki green ones, but they sold out. I did buy two pairs of their black ones though as again, they're so comfortable. I was browsing (and shopping) in Primark and saw these at the back of the rack behind some other jeans. My goodness, I couldn't believe I'd finally found a pair of khaki green jeans and in a fit and style that I love. Amazing!

What do you think of the items I purchased? Have you brought anything from Primark recently?

Laura xx