In June I Hit The Shops.... - H&M, Primark, Superdrug and Lidl?

Well only in part you know me I love shopping online. Whatever way I did it I certainly shopped my socks off in June. I probably spent a little more than I intended to but I did make most of it  back this month through ebays and blog sales so yeah that's my way of justifying my spends ;) I've already showed you a few bits the fabulous Mummy Lou bought me (here and here) but it's time to show you what I treated myself to in June x

We'll start off with magazines - wow oh wow June was a fabulous month for magazine freebies so I bought a few magazines this month - Mummy Lou also bought me a couple when I was having a spoonless day ;) So what freebies did I amass ? well this little lot : )

First up Glamour - this was the annual Benefit freebies month, and this year I was good and bought just one magazine, I went for one with the Porefessional pore treatment / primer :) I also picked up Red which featured a free Jemma Kidd I Glamour Mascara in 01 Black and Marie Claire which featured a free Ciate Nail Polish in Purple Sherbet - I'm not a huge fan of Ciate polishes but I loved this colour. As I say Mummy Lou also bought me couple of magazines too she got Instyle which came with a free The Body Shop Big and Curvy Mascara in 01 and Harpers Bazaar which came with a full sized Leighton Denny Nail Polish, the colour she picked for me was Coral Reef which will perfect for the summer :)

Unusually for me I did manage a few trips out this month including a trip to the Metro Centre.. I was remarkably restrained in Primark and only picked a few bits up including these caramel over the knee socks for only £1.00, Mummy Lou also bought herself the cream version :)

This Smurfs t-shirt which was only £6.00. I'm totally addicted to Smurfs Village at the moment and I love Grouchy :) I really wanted the other variant too which said " I came, I saw,I smurfed" but they only had a size 8 left :(

I also bought these pretty floral bow earrings which were only £1.50 - I have so many pairs of bow earrings but these were very different to anything I own.

Finally by the tills I saw a huge rack of nail polishes by a brand called Angelica, they had loads of different shades, crackles and glitters for £2.50 each - I just got the one to try this purple / pink shade 21 Holiday Fun

I also made 2 trips in the one day to Superdrug, I'll explain why in a moment ;) At the time all of the cosmetics were on 3 for 2, and that included nail polish, so I picked up two nail polishes and got another one free :) First of all I got the Barry M Magnetic polish in 326 Dark Silver

I also got two of the Beauty UK Posh Polishes. The previous night I'd been watching a Nails Inc show on QVC and these were very similar to some of the colours and texture in the Champagne Bubbles collection. The shades I went for were No 3 Sunstone - a sort of shimmery pink, bronze, champagne

and No5 Moonstone a sparkly pale blue

At the same time as I was picking up goodies for myself I also wanted to buy a few things for a friend including some make up, but me being tempted by an offer I wanted to wait till I could do the 3 for 2. As it happened I was still  looking for the Barry M Magnetic Violet which never seemed to be in stock. I asked the super helpful assistant and she told me that they had just had a delivery and if I could come back in about an hour she would see if some had came in, so me and Mummy Lou popped to Starbucks to try out the Cookies and Cream Frappuccinos and to rest our weary legs.

About an hour later we headed back to Superdrug to see a restocked Barry M stand complete with several Magnetic Violet polishes, so I picked one up, the item for my friend, and a Look Beauty Nail Pop in Shade 3 Flares - the most amazing lilac, purple, not only did I get them on 3 for 2 I also paid with my Supedrug points that I've been collecting since Christmas - free nail polish wahey:) I did buy one other thing at Superdrug - this cute earring set. - I love the little rings with the pink crystal stones, so cute :)

So that was the Metro Centre part of my haul - as is customary after the Metro Centre me and the parental usually pop into Lidl to do a bit of shopping, and yes I made another purchase, no it wasn't chocolate or their amazing potato salad it was in fact this.

Yes I bought a perfume from Lidl - the rather oddly named Suddenly Madame Glamour! I'd seen it a few times but I'd never tried it until recently. I read a post from the lovely Ray on this perfume and it's similarity to Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

It was only £3.99 for a 50ml EDP spray, so I thought I'd give it a go. Since then I've several people comment on how much they love Chanel fragrances when I've worn it - result I think :)

The rest of this month purchases have been predictably online and via catalogue and mostly from H&M. I've had a love / hate relationship with H&M since they launched online - at first they were horrendous slow delivery, bad customer service, the works but they seem to be sorting themselves out slowly but surely, anyways have you ever tried looking for a size L or XL in their stores, not fun and nearly impossible to find. Yes delivery can still be a bit slow, refunds take forever, and they are prone to checking an item out and then declaring it to be sold out, but as needs must. I placed 3 separate orders with them in June, thanks to new drops and the sale and 90% of the stuff was sent back, I kept 4 things including this dress.

I love, love, love it - It's a really soft jersey maxi dress, with elasticated smocking a the bust, I love blue and white and those toile de jour style prints so this fits the bill perfectly it was £14.99, and I'm really praying we get some sunshine so I can wear it :)

The only other full price item I ordered was this vest which was £12.99, it's just a plain nude vest with a raw edge ribbon trim and stud detailing

The website described the studs as gold tone but as you can hopefully see they are in fact multi coloured, it does matter though it's a really easy top to wear with leggings or even jeans.

From the sale section I picked up this navy blue vest, it's quite plain apart from the crochet / lace trim around the neckline which really makes it stand out - this was just £3.99

Finally from H&M I got this white blouse / top, being a curvy girl I like how it only buttons halfway down, I don't know about you but gapey buttons are the bane of my life, This is a really smart top for any occasion and it was only £6.49.

As well as H&M, in the spirit of being a good neighbour I also placed an Avon order, I only ordered 3 things including 2 more of the Nailwear Pro + Nail Polishes - on the left Lemon Sugar and on the right Starry Sky

I love Starry Sky but I'm really not sure about Lemon Sugar, I think it's going to turn out to be one of those horribly streaky creams but we'll see. One things I did love from my Avon order though is this

The Avon Footworks Anti Rub Stick. What you do it rub the waxy stick on areas where your shoes normally rub such as on the heels and the toes and it stops the rubbing and chaffing. I've only tried it once but so far so good I wore a pair of brand new shoes for 5 hours with no rubbing or blisters! very unusual for me!

It wouldn't be a haul without an ebay purchase and this month was no exception -  it's very dangerous having money in your paypal account - first up a couple of jewellery pieces which are "influenced" by House Of Harlow

The first necklace is in the sort of sunflower, sunburst design in black enamel, crystal and gold tone, the chain also is super long, which makes it a great layering piece. This wasn't quite as nice as I'd hoped but it was only £1.78 including postage and I'll still wear it lots so I can't really say anything. I bought it from this seller.

I also got this piece which shares the same influences as the first - I have to say I love this necklace, it's in a gold tone with black enamel shapes. I believe you can also get this in white but I personally think the black looks better. It was only £2.37 including postage from this seller x

My next ebay purchase in June was these super cute earrings

As you know I love daisies and they really remind me of the Marc Jacobs Daisy bottle, they are made of metal which I wasn't expecting, I thought they were going to be plastic, and they come in a wide variety of shades including some nude ones which are next on my list x They were only 99p including postage from this seller x

Since I was so impressed with the scarf I got from ebay last month I decided to get another one this month, the majority of sellers seem to market this as the begonia patterned scarf. There are several colours available but I just went for a random since I liked all of them. The one I got is a sort of lilac / grey with dark purple and green.

It's a bit more sheer than the last one I got but I still love it and I'm definitely going to be picking up a few for Christmas gifts. It was only £1.62 including postage from this seller x

My final purchase of the month was something I've wanted to try for sometime

Compressed paper masks, these tablets are made of compressed paper, all you do is soak them in liquid for example skin tonic or witch hazel and they expand into a paper face mask. I really wanted to try these after reading they can be used with the SBC gels. I love to do an occasional collagen mask with my SBC Gel and one of the sellers said these worked a treat with it for a real salon feel facial. You can get these cheaper on ebay but I'm a sucker and loved the Hello Kitty packaging I paid £1.09 including postage from this seller x

So that was June's haulage, yes I bought quite a few things but I'm sure you'll agree that a lot of them were pretty bargainous? Have you bought anything nice in June or do you have any questions on anything I've bought? If so leave me a comment xx

Smoking It Up With GOSH

One of the hardest things to do make up wise has to be the smokey eye. Do it right and it looks amazing, do it wrong and you can look as though somebody has punched you in the face.

I have to admit I avoid doing smokey eyes where at all possible I'm pretty simple, ok I'm lazy when it comes to eye make up, one or two colours maximum is about the best that I can manage on a daily basis. This year I've decided to step out of my comfort zone and be a bit braver when it comes to my make up, as well as experimenting with brighter lips, I've also being having a play with using 3 or more shades on my eyes.

If your still a bit scared of using more than one colour on your eyes, the fabulous people at GOSH have came up with a solution. Earlier this year they introduced 3 fabulous eyeshadow quads each designed to help you create the perfect smokey eye.

I was kindly sent two of the Smokey Eyes Palettes in 01 Black and 02 Brown.

Packaged in a clear and black magnet closure compact both of the quads come complete with a clear acetate insert which numbers the shadows, and gives you a diagram of exactly where to put each colour in order to achieve the perfect smokey eye.

The black palette (01) helps you to create the more traditional dark grey, smokey eye. It contains four shades -a white, a pale grey, a slightly darker grey, and an almost black shade.

The colours have a satin finish, with only minimal shimmer in the paler shades. They are very soft and very pigmented.

I had a little play with the shades, and did an eyeshadow look "loosely" following the diagram. The pictures aren't the best thanks to the fabulous weather at moment (check out my You Tube video from yesterday !) but hopefully you'll get the idea :)

I was also sent Smokey Eyes Palette 02 Brown. Whilst not as traditional as the black, I personally favour a more natural look smokey eye, using browns, taupes and nudes. This palette again contains 4 shades - a pale creamy beige with a tiny bit of shimmer, a more of a golden beige again with a slight shimmer, a light brown and finally a rich dark chocolate brown.

Again the shades feel silky soft, and again the pigmentation is superb

Like with the first palette I've done a few eye shots for you - the bad lighting though means that the colours aren't as obvious as they are in real life

I have to say I really like these palettes, the quality is superb and if your new to make up or you want to experiment with something a bit different these are ideal. Yes they are a little bit more expensive than some of the other neutral palettes on the market but the numbered guide and diagram is really useful if you've ever suffered from the where do I put which colour dilemma that we often get with smokey eyes. Gosh Smokey Eyes Palettes come in 3 shades, 01 Black, 02 Brown, and 03 Plum (plum and lilac tones) and retail for £7.99 each from Superdrug. What do you think of these palettes, and do you have any tips on how to do the perfect smokey eye? leave me a comment and let me know xx


(GOSH Smokey Eyes Palettes 01 Black and 02 Brown Were Provided By PR For Review Purposes)

Cheap and Chic - Nails Of The Day

A little while ago I posted a nails of the day post featuring Chanel Antilope. As I said at the time I had mixed feelings towards the shade, but the feedback from you guys was largely positive - you nearly all liked it. Alas the shade was a limited edition but I received a polish for my birthday that's pretty similar.

OK it's not identical but Make Up Academy MUA Shade 10 is definitely in the same colour family, the MUA shade is a tiny bit darker and a tiny bit more pink toned. I'm still not sure of the colour on my skin tone but at a push I'd say I prefer this shade to the Chanel. As per usual this is two coats, application was decent but again the brush strokes were evident which can't be helped when it comes to metallics and shimmers.

For just £1.00 this polish really isn't bad, What do you think of MUA Shade 10?

A Budget Beauty Series Special - The Leopard Eye Palette By Famous x

I've always said that my lovely Mummy is an angel and she's proved it again over the last few weeks. I have to be honest and say I'm having a pretty rough time health wise at the moment and as per usual she's always there for me with a hug and a lovely cup of tea :) We've been bonding by watching the football, watching Cats 101 on Animal Planet and she's even been watching a few You Tube videos with me. One video that we watched was from the lovely Sarah aka Found On Film, I love Sarah's haul videos, every time I watch one of her or one of Zoella's videos I want to go shopping! One of Sarah's recent hauls featured some products from the relaunched Famous x line, which was previously named Famous By Sue Moxley. One product in particular caught my eye and the angel that is Mummy Lou as well as loving Sarah's amazing red hair offered to buy me the object of my affection to help cheer me up- The Leopard Eye Palette

I am a sucker for a bit of animal print, and I needed this palette in my life after seeing it on twitter a few weeks. Containing 16 eyeshadow colours, the zip up leopard print pouch contains a mirror, a small double ended brush and liner brush, and a double ended sponge applicator, as well as a shade guide.

The palette contains a wide variety of colours including neutrals, some green shades, some pinks and some grey tone, in matte, pearl and glitter finishes. 

From left to right - Bare, Role Model, Flash and Lavish 

Pretty Green Eyes and Guilty

and again from left to right - Tango, Topaz, Wealthy and Amber

Icon and Inspiration  

and finally from left to right - Dream, Popular, Gleam and Show-Off

All of the colours including the mattes are soft and pigmented. I would imagine that you would get a little bit of fallout from some of the more glittery shades but the colours are great and you can't fault the smooth feel. 

I have to say I'm really pleased to have this palette in my collection, the quality is good and the colours are really wearable. It would make a great palette for when your on the move due to the case and construction, but at the same time it would look just as good on your dressing table. Another great thing about this palette is the price - It's currently on special offer at just £4.99 from the Famous x website or selected Superdrug stores for a limited time only - the palette should normally be £8.99 which I still think is great value. If the colours in this palette aren't for you, they all do The Big Cat Eyeshadow which features a lot cooler toned shades including more blues and  purples which is also just £4.99 at the moment. I only owned a couple of items from the line in it's previous incarnation but if this any indication of the quality after the relaunch I definitely want a few more bits from the line - the Baked Bronzer in the palest shade, and the Merged Eyeshadows in particular are calling my name. Have you tried anything from the Famous x line ? or do you share my love of all things animal print? leave me a comment and let me know xx