Christmas Sale Buys

I wasn't planning on picking anything up in the sales, but as these things usually go, bargains were too much to resist. It seems that the post-Christmas sales tend to be the best sales of the year, and there are bargains to be had everywhere! 

So it all started when I went bat-shit crazy in Lush on Boxing Day. I've never been lucky enough to bag any Lush sale bargains before, the site is notoriously buggy on sale days, and I've never been close to a store before, but this year I spent Christmas night at Con's house, a mere 10 minute walk from Lush. I didn't make it down there til after lunch so I missed the Christmas gift sets, but I went a bit nuts on the bath bomb front. I bought three each of Cinders and Yog Nog, which are my absolute favourites, a Holly Golightly Bubble bar, and Candy Mountain Bubble bar. The whole lot came to £16, total bargain.

If you thought I had the self restraint to resist the Starbucks sale, well, you'd be wrong. The coffee addiction is real people. Sadly, I missed out on the reindeer mug I'd been eyeballing, but I managed to grab the gold chevron latte mug I loved, and a pretty red star mug that I just couldn't resist (it was under £2.50 and I'm only human).

Also in the beauty department, I picked up the Urban Decay 24/7 Travel Liner Set in Cosmic for a third off. I love the Urban Decay liners, I very rarely use anything else, so this was the perfect chance to stock up on five very wearable shades. I also bagged the Nails Inc Be Gelous Kit, for £11 instead of £42 which I was pretty impressed with. I love the Nails Inc Gel polishes, and I know I will get a lot of wear out of all six of the shades in this kit.

Moving onto clothes, I couldn't resist this soft tee in the Mint Velvet Sale, emblazoned with the word 'Hygge'. I'm all about embracing the spirit of Hygge this season, so I jumped on this! It's incredibly soft, and it's a really flattering fit too, I know I'll wear this a bunch with my black skinny jeans on a day to day basis. Two more staples from Mango, I picked up a slouchy v neck thinner knit to pair with jeans on normal worky days, and a longer striped knit to pair with leggings. I love the button detail on the back of the longer knit, it adds a little something something!

The Victoria's Secret sale is ALWAYS worth popping into, I picked up another one of my favourite bras in black, it was half price and I love these for every day, they're so cosy! I also picked up a Pink baseball style tee for slouching around in, I love the blue and grey combo!

And finally, I struck gold in Hollister and spotted the sweater I've had my eye on for a while half price. I love these grey Hollister sweaters, they're incredibly soft and slouchy, so cosy and warm, the perfect weekend wardrobes staple! 

Did you find any bargains in the sales? 

A Pre Disney Haul

I'm pretty sad to be home from Disney, it really is the happiest place on earth, I'm sure of it! Before I overload you with photos from my trip, I thought I'd show you the bits I picked up prior to leaving, with a long weekend of Disney in mind!

My parents took me on this trip for my birthday, and originally, they weren't going to tell me until the day we left, but excitement got the better of them. I'm so glad because it meant I got to feel all the pre-Disney anticipation and excitement, and plan my Disney wardrobe! The day they told me we were going to Disney, I headed out shopping with my Sister, and found these Mickey Mouse PJ's in the H&M sale. They were the last pair, they were in my size, and they were a steal at £4, so it was obviously fate, and they came home with me, and went straight into my suitcase ready to be worn at Disney!

Also in the clothing department, I picked up two tshirts from Primark. The first one is this adorable monochrome Mickey Mouse number, that's just perfect for knocking around Disney. It's slightly oversized and incredibly soft! I also picked up this Despicable Me one, because I couldn't resist! I'm normally a ten but I picked both up in a twelve so they'd be slightly oversized, and more comfortable for rushing around a theme park!

I was having a bit of a handbag dilemma, I wanted something small that I could wear across my body, so it wasn't annoying throughout the day, or too heavy, but I also wanted the option to carry my big DSLR camera on some of the days. None of the bags in my wardrobe fit the bill, but then I spotted this number in H&M last week, and it was perfect. The strap is long enough that I can wear it across my body or satchel style, it holds my camera, but it's still incredibly compact! It was also a total steal at £12!

I've been looking for a smaller purse for a while now, my Michael Kors purse doesn't fit into any of my smaller handbags, and I end up just chucking my cards and cash in loose. I wanted to make sure everything was secure for five days at Disney, and I finally stumbled across the perfect purse in Accessorize. It's a gorgeous beige saffiano 'leather' with bright yellow lining, and it says 'lucky pennies' on in gold, so cute! It's got sections for cards, cash and coins, but it's still super compact. 

Not very exciting, but I made sure to stock up on blister plasters before I left, I knew I was in for five long days on my feet, and that I'd end up walking miles, and they definitely came in handy! I love the Compeed ones but they are eye-wateringly expensive. Unfortunately, the Boots own ones fall straight off my feet after five minutes!

I finally managed to track down a tin for my Lush Shampoo bar, just in the nick of time, they've been sold out everywhere! I find it so much more practical to travel with shampoo bars instead of normal shampoo, they take up less room, and this handy tin keeps it compact and perfect for on the go!

I also picked up these Elegant Touch Minnie Mouse nails! Because where else would you wear these?!

Possibly a little excessive but I was excited!

Mini Stationery Haul

There's nothing quite like a little stationery haul to perk up my boring old week. I'm not sure it's normal to get so excited about stationery, but hey, it's the little things, right?

I popped to Hobby Craft this week, on the hunt for a pen to cheat calligraphy. I love beautiful inky handwriting, which is something I definitely don't have. I'm left handed and my teacher in primary school basically though left handed people weren't worth teaching handwriting, so my chicken scrawl leaves a little to be desired. I found this pen in the calligraphy aisle, it's a flat tipped felt tip essentially, which means it gives the effect of pretty calligraphy without any effort. It was only a pound, and I want to use it in my Project Life scrapbook!

I also picked up this pretty mint sketchbook, for practicing different calligraphy styles too, it's pretty, got gorgeous thick pages, and was a steal at £1.80! I also picked up this pretty starry notebook in the sale, for keeping in my handbag for on the go notes!

I managed to resist buying a ton of Project Life bits, but I did pick up these little sticky notes from the SmashBook section. I figured they'd be cute for my scrapbook, but also in my planner.

I popped into Home Sense after, which is normally my downfall, but I actually only picked up one thing that I needed, a little set of cute notecards! I love the pastel pink and the gold foil, these will be perfect for sending to my friends, and to use as thank you cards!

New In: Home Things

 Finding new bits for my flat in London is one of my new favourite pasttimes, I'm enjoying trying to make it feel more homely, which is no mean feat considering we can't paint or hang anything on the walls. I've picked up a few new flat bits over the last month that are definitely helping though!

First off, during my last Tesco shop I stumbled across this Tesco Graperfruit + Lime Leaf Awake Candle, which oh my god smells totally amazing. It's in a cute plain clay jar with the word 'Awake' embossed on the front, so it looks really minimal and cute in the flat, but the smell is what I'm obsessed with, it's so clean and refreshing, perfect for keeping on my desk for early mornings! It's around the same size as a Diptyque candle, and it was a steal at £6.

I finally picked up a lamp for my desk, we don't get a ton of light in our flat, so I wanted a lamp to help brighten up the area when I'm working late. It's a simple glass pillar that was a bargain £4.50 in Ikea, it's not the most exciting looking, but it's small and it's discreet, and my god is it bright. Total bargain! Also for my desk I found this cute Orla-Kiely-esque tin in Home Sense (I think it's meant to be a coffee tin), and it's perfect for keeping all the odds and sods I have on my desk, things like batteries and stamps, spare cables and post its! It makes everything much more tidy and organised!

I've been struggling with the pillows on my bed recently, I keep waking up with a trapped nerve in my neck, so I decided to replace the lot, and after looking at loads of pillows, I settled for the Ikea Akag Firm Pillows, they were only £4 each, but they are so supportive and incredibly comfortable, I'm so pleased I got around to it! Although now I want to get out of bed even less...

I've picked up a couple of small plates recently, the dark grey one is from H&M Home (link here) and the blue and white one is from Ikea. I've got candles on them at the moment, but I basically bought them to use as props for my blog photos, just to mix things up a bit!

And lastly, I've started to collect a few different postcards to put on the wall above my desk, most recently the bright yellow Hello Sunshine one, which was 60p in Paperchase. It's a cute, inexpensive way to make the place feel more homely, when you can't hang anything up!

Next on my list is a full sized mirror!

The Tami Made Me Do It, Festive Haul

Every now and then you've just got to go shopping. So when Tami messaged me saying she was going to be in London and did I fancy touring all the Christmas halls on Oxford Street with her, I was all for it. It's never too early to get festive, is it?

I was moderately restrained (I know, woah) and even managed not to buy any makeup (cough cough, Tami bought six lipsticks, cough), and most of the things I bought had a festive theme, so I thought I'd spread the Christmas cheer early, and show you what I got.

First up, the only beauty-related thing I got, I finally got my hands on the Lush Northern Lights Bath Bomb, which has been sold out literally EVERYWHERE. The scent isn't my favourite but have you seen what it does to your bath?! Excited to try this out this week!

After that, a pilgramage to the Tottenham Court Road Paperchase was a must, since Tami had never been and that place is like STATIONERY MECCA. I was very restrained and only picked up these adorable festive robin stickers to go in my Erin Condren Life Planner, because who can resist a glittery robin wearing a festive hat. Not me, that's who. I did manage not to buy seventy notebooks, but my receipt had a voucher for five pound off a £20 spend so that might happen soon.

We then accidentally on purpose fell into Tiger, where I proceeded to buy ALL THE FESTIVE STATIONERY. We've got post it notes with mummy and baby polar bears and penguins. They were a pound, how was I supposed to leave them behind?! I also bought festive washi tape. Because reasons. All of this is going in the Erin Condren, because to do lists are much nicer when they're festive, right? 

Also from Tiger, I picked up two teeny tiny, itsy bitsy, festive candle holders. I feel like these make the room feel a bit more christmassy, but they could still be used year round and not look like I forgot to put them away. Also they were a pound each, so I couldn't really leave them, could I? 

And lastly, a few festive additions from the Hell that is Primark on Oxford street, on a Friday evening. Just no, don't go if you can help it. I finally found the perfect festive bedding that combines the three most important factors - 1, it's festive, 2, it's brushed cotton, and 3, it's neutral enough that the boyfriend won't reject it. I want to put this on the bed right now, but The Boy says I have to wait until at least the second half of November. Boring.

Also from Primark, bargain festive fairy lights, to put on the TV stand in our living room, or possibly over our headboard. £1.50, you can't really go wrong can you? Also in the queue (AKA AISLE OF DEATH, where I usually buy ten packs of sweets and more socks than I could wear in a year), I found this little set of fairisle false nails, that I thought, for a pound, I might as well try out. They actually look like a good size, and they were quite cute. I'll report back on my Beauty Blog how they are!

Okay, be honest, is it too soon to be this festive?