A Venture into Burberry

Upon discovering Boots' latest brand arrival; Burberry, I got super excited. As a brand I'd wanted to try since they first came on the scene, they were pretty inaccessible and where only available in the online stores that cost a near fortune on delivery. Face it, Net-a-Porter, if we're going to spend £5+ it isn't going to be on delivery!

I'm 100% aware that Latasha is going to kill me for this post, as she already wants both of these products, but I just had to share them as they are so beautiful, and incredible quality!

I had a near fortune to spend in advantage card points so I decided to treat myself to their Lip Mist in Feather Pink, and their nail polish in Ash Rose. I'm so glad I did as these two are going to become definite staples in my routine, as such neutral, ladylike shades, appropriate for all times of the year. 

The Lip Mist formula is similar to that of a gel, and offers a sheer tint of colour, whilst moisturising to keep the lips looking hydrated and healthy. When applied it lasts a couple of hours, similar to what you'd expect from a lip balm, the colour is the cliche' "your lips but better" shade, and so fades away into a nice tint, which can either be topped up, or left to fade away completely.

The polish formula is quite thin, and requires 3 coats, and the bottle size is also smaller than average, so they don't quite live up to the exceptional quality of Dior polishes, but they are still equally amazing. My nails chip like crazy, and this lasted four days without any chips, until I took it off wanting to go for another colour. It took me 24 hours to put this beautiful nude pink shade with tones of grey back on my nails. I'm obsessed!

A Christmas Gift for *Nearly* Everyone

Don't get too worried, this isn't the beginning of a hundred gift guides. "Gift guides for your cat." NICE. I picked myself this little set up last week and couldn't help but share it. I'm sure there's not many people that wouldn't love receiving it, its elegant, pretty, and simply one of the best mascaras out there. 

This set is priced at the same price as the mascara alone, so the value for money is amazing. With the sleek packaging and bonus product, it will look like a much better (and more expensive) gift than just a mascara. The dinky little palette is a neutral one called Montaigne with both warm coral and brown tones. Pretty much my perfect kind of eye colour.

I confessed my love for Dior's Iconic Overcurl AGES ago, and you can catch that here if you're interested, but don't laugh. 

It's currently available for £22.05 on Debenhams website, including their 10% off. If you're stuck for a gift for any woman, I can guarantee that they will love this! Happy Christmas shopping...

Currently Loving

Without a doubt I've started about 50% of my posts by apologizing for a lack of posting because some form of technology has failed on me. This time? My laptop. I decided that silk bedding and silk leggings was a good idea... It isn't, it's like a slip and slide. Hopefully it will be fixed soon and I can get back to blogging. I miss it.

But in case you hadn't noticed, I'm officially self-hosted! I made the move last week as it was the only thing I could do with my iPad. I'm now lyonnotes.co.uk which will hopefully clear up the is it "Lyon" or "Lyons" confusion. I'm oddly excited, it looks so much more slick without the blogspot.

I managed to get this sneaky one done on my old laptop. It's (incase you hadn't worked out yet) a couple of things I'm absolutely loving recently.

Chanel Les 4 Ombres in #234 La Poesie - If there was ever an eye quad that was my eyeshadow preferences encapsulated, this would be it. It's lovely baked formula gives off an ideal amount of pigment, and as you'd expect from Chanel, there's no glitter in sight, just small flecks of shimmer which look like an incredible satin shade when applied. The shades are a warm tan, ivory, a dark smokey brown/plum and a soft lilac/pink (all are shimmer). This is surprisingly my first Chanel eye quad and I definitely would buy more. Be quick if you want one, these are limited edition.

Diptyque L'Ombre Dans L'Eau EDP - After a nightmare time trying to find a Jo Malone fragrance I liked, I went to the opposite end of the elegant perfume spectrum and went for Diptyque. I had smelled this in store before and refused to admit that I could wear anything other than overly feminine, floral scents. This is much more masculine that what I normally wear, and for that reason I love it. It's an ideal switch up for winter, and it's long-lasting strong scent lingers for just the perfect amount of time. As my first foray into Diptyque I can truly see the beginning of a love affair...

Eve Lom Kiss Mix - I have to give the beautiful Latasha credit for this one. She got it as a free birthday gift in Space NK whilst we were shopping and was enough of a babe to give it to me. Ever since I've been obsessed with the menthol type scent, and lightweight, hydrating texture. Take note; a Tasha recommendation is a GOOD recommendation.

Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in #40 La Sensuelle - I caught a glimpse of this online and decided to have a quick nosey in Debenhams at how good it is. I fell in love at first sight. Bit excessive for just a lipstick? No. This matte finish, highly pigmented wine-red shade is ideal for blotting into a stain (my preferred type of application) or layered for a full effect deep winter berry lip. I've had so many compliments when I wear this, and I think I've just become a convert to dark lips and to the Rouge Allure formula - amazing!

Wishing and Wanting #9

1- Acne Jensen Boots 2- Bobbi Brown Smokey Nudes Palette 3- Rosie for M&S Satin Pyjamas 4- Diptyque Mimosa Candle 5- Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate 6- Diptyque L'Ombre Dans L'Eau EDP

Words cannot describe how much I want those ankle boots. They're literally the most perfect boot. The question is, would I actually wear them or be terrified of ruining a pair of £390 boots?

Bobbi Brown have just released their new Smokey Nudes collection and this palette is a stunning little sliding compact with a mix of matte and shimmer shades. It's gorgeous, I seriously want! Keeping to the makeup theme, how luxurious is Tom Ford's Shade and Illuminate? It's one of those things you wouldn't even consider buying for yourself but if the right person just chose to gift you with supermodel cheekbones...

Since winter is coming I may aswell stock up on pretty PJs and candles too, right? I've just ran out of my beloved Neal and Wolf candle so I'm looking for something as pleasant and comforting to fill the void.

Brow 101 with Eylure

Brows are one of those things that when we were growing up, just existed. We plucked them, a lot. And other than that, we just didn't care about them too much. It's only recently that having perfect brows has become one of the things we lust after most. 

Eylure Brow Stencils* - £4.95

These are the thing I got most excited about when Eylure launched their new brow range, the pack of brow stencils. Despite them not seeming too exciting, I have a serious case of wonky brow, and both look like they belong on different people so I'm constantly trying to get a teeny bit more symmetry. I know "brows are sisters, not twins" but what if they were to be twins, just not of the identical variety? And I can't just simply go to a salon, because truthfully I don't trust anyone around my eyebrows where wax is involved.

Each pack provides four stencils, Slim, Medium, High and Full arch, each providing a different arch and thickness. I like to alternate between full and medium to help shape my brows in the way most similar to my natural brow shape. I place the stencils over each brow and shade in heavily with my usual brow powder. When I remove the stencil I'll be left with a terrifyingly uniform slug on my face that means I can get go happy with the tweezers.

These are working so well for me, and I truly recommend them to anyone with fuller brows that's halfway to terrified by the idea of a beautician doing them.

Eylure Brow Nourishing Oil* - £8.45

Slap me if I'm wrong, but I do believe this is one of the first brow growth products from a high-street, popular brand? Given most brow oils and growth promoters are on the costly side of things, the Eylure one makes a nice purse friendly addition to anyone's routine. Rosemary oil is one of the main ingredients, which will help promote blood circulation, thus helping the hair follicles grow healthily and stronger. I have noticed that my brows seem to be growing better than normal since using this, and I've been having to trim them more often. I'm not sure if after using this nightly for about 4 weeks I should be seeing serious results, but I would say they're definitely healthier and much more manageable. Plus, my skin surrounding the brow seems to be getting less irritated by my hair removal methods since starting using this oil. 

Eylure Brow Trio in Dark Brown* - £9.95

Brow palettes are one of those things that I cannot get enough of. As much as I love using MAC eyeshadows and my Anastasia Brow Gel, having everything in one place makes everything seem so much easier. This includes a wax, a coloured powder and a highlighting powder, which is completely new to me, as I've never to this date felt the need to highlight under my brow.

I applied this in the same way I would normally (with my usual brushes, instead of the one included) with an angled brush and brushed through with a spoolie to soften any harsh lines. I then went in with the highlighting powder on the angled brush provided and blended out with a fluffy brush. This made a HUGE difference, and it really made my brows look much more defined, and it seemed to cover up any of the fine "baby" type hairs under my brow. To finish off, I slicked some of the wax on lightly to set my brows and brush upwards. After this my brows stayed defined from morning to night and never strayed, because face it, eyebrows sliding to your cheekbones isn't a good look.

Eylure Permanent Tint for Brows (Single Application)* - £9.95

Ok, confession... I haven't used this. Last time I used an Eylure dye I had a really bad reaction so I decided not to risk it. My Aunt soon swiped this off my hands and slicked it on her brows, using the teeniest amount of product and finding it went way further than anticipated. So despite the single use claims, if you're careful when squeezing out the product you should get at least 3 applications (but don't hold me to it). I'm usually her brow guru, and she usually goes for a black tint which can look unnatural, so leaving on a dark brown for a minute longer develops into a beautiful deep brown/black which helps to give the appearance of thicker and more defined brows.

And there's just what can only be described as a snippet of my high-maintenance eyebrows, if you're interested in knowing the rest; the tweezing, trimming and shaping, let me know!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Lots of love.

NEW IN : Iconemesis Phone Cover

iPhone cases are one of those accessories that really should be as pretty as your handbag, but I seem to only ever buy one every few months when the previous one falls apart. Why should all my other accessories get so much attention, when the one thing I always carry around is my phone? Truthfully, I don't know but when Iconemesis offered to send me a new case over I squealed in excitement at the opportunity to throw away my old and battered Giovanna Battaglia case.

I chose this incredible illustrated skull design on a white background to match my white phone...  

Skull case - Iconemesis

The case itself is a thick sturdy plastic that's thick enough to feel like it offers protection for your phone, but not that thick that you look like you work on a building site. Much unlike some of the other more outrageous cases I've had, I would be very happy to pull this out of my pocket (I had a case with bunny ears and a tail not so long ago). I can't recommend this brand enough for good quality cases, and equally incredible designs.

Now, to go and watch some old episodes of The Vampire Diaries. Started rewatching these as I was sick, now I'm obsessed again. Thank God for DVD boxsets...

Lighten Hair Minus the Dye - John Frieda Lightening Spray Review

You know one of those things that just crops up every now and then and you become completely obsessed with it and talk about it that much that everyone around you notices and gets reasonably fed up with you? THAT. I'm so obsessed with the John Frieda Go Blonder spray that I've been practically screaming it's praises from the rooftops. Here's why... 

You all know by now that I went from being the darkest brown to a blonde in almost one swoop, right? Well, I've been a blonde for over two years now, and I'm still not sure if blondes do have more fun, but I'm sure of one thing; roots are a pain in the arse. Excuse my French, but they are, right? They look dreadful, and with my hair being a really warm toned blonde my roots always look extra mousy, and just all-round horrible. So upkeep can be quite the pain.

I've spent so many hours scouring the internet to find a product or natural way of lightening my hair, and all of them are either ridiculous or don't sound very sanitary. As I was beginning to give up, I came across John Frieda's Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray. It has a small amount of peroxide to help send your hair in the right direction when it comes to lightening. It's activated by heat, so the blow-drying and straightening we usually do to look pretty has its benefits where this spray is concerned. 

I apply this in different ways, depending on what parts of my hair need brightening. To blend my roots in; I wash my hair then section off my hair, spray directly to my roots then use a fine-toothed comb to distribute the product further down the hair to avoid any patchy areas. To apply all over, I wash my hair (this product should only be used on wet hair) and brush it carefully, parting where I usually part my hair, and holding about 30cm away before brushing my hair through again.  

You can use this in numerous ways, for root touch up, highlights or all-over lightening, giving you the versatility that you want when it comes to your hair. This would be ideal for people like me, wanting their roots to blend in, or for people wanting to freshen up (or make) an ombre or balayage effect on their hair.

Since using this my hair has been in a much better condition from not constantly applying dyes to upkeep the colour. I've lost counts of how many times I've been complimented, and my family have asked whether I've lightened my hair. I'd say the proof is in the pudding, but I didn't take any before pictures, because I truly didn't think that it would work. I was completely incorrect and for fellow blondes, this is a game-changer.

Monday Moodboard #2

Currently surviving (not very well, might I add) off about two hours sleep, and frankly, I'm outrageously tired. I've a sore throat and would like to just complain all day and feel sorry for myself. Instead I thought I would scour the pages of Pinterest and Tumblr and make another Monday Moodboard. Except its Tuesday, so this will go live next Monday. It's all so confusing for a simple mind like mine.

(None of these pictures are my own. All are sourced from Pinterest)

An All-Natural Hair Miracle - Lani Hair Oil

Hola! Seems like forever since I posted, but now I have a new camera it's all about getting back into blogging. As of now I've a huge pile of products needing photographing and it's SO overwhelming. I need a little photography elf.

I thought I'd come back with a review of one of my current favourite products. And yes, it's another hair oil. I am completely obsessed but for good reason...

The ingredients used in Lani Tropical Hair Treatment (£10.95) are simply; virgin coconut, kukui nut, macadamia nut and camellia seed oils, so it is completely 100% natural and suitable for vegans. When combined these oils all have antioxidant and vitamin packed benefits for looking after the condition of your hair for both long and short term results. The coconut oil (which I'm pretty sure we're all obsessed with now?) means Lani smells heavenly, and completely reminiscent of beach holidays, meaning you get "Beach babe hair in a bottle."

On their website they suggest that every 100ml bottle will last 6-12 uses, which of course depends on how much product you use on your hair. I'm about half way through, use it relatively sparingly and have done about 8 applications so far.

My preferred method of using Lani is to slather the ends of my hair in product, put my hair up in what I call a "Pineapple bun" on the top of my head and let it do it's thing whilst I sleep. And I can pretty much guarantee when I wake up my room will smell like heaven, and my hair will look well, greasy until it's washed off... But that is when the magic happens. My hair looks shiny, feels deeply conditioned and the frizz is non-existent. Being such a wonder product, styling my hair afterwards is made so much easier and quicker thanks to the need for less tools and styling products.

Honestly, my hair has never looked so good and soon as I reach the bottom of this bottle I'll be repurchasing. I can't get enough of this stuff!

Sephora Haul

Like the rest of the beauty-obsessed world, I got SUPER excited when Sephora started to ship to the UK, and after a small amount of scouring I was left underwhelmed. Most of the brands weren't available for UK shipping, and not to mention the £75 spend to qualify for the £10 flat rate shipping. Then there's the tax... But finding out the delivery rate had been lowered; I caved. Yes, I do have very little willpower.

Being someone that reads a lot of American blogs and beauty sites I feel like I'd heard an absolute ton about this Japanese wonder-brand and the huge cult following in numerous countries. The Koh Gen Do Aqua Foundation is something that boasts a lightweight, "aqua" formula, with light-medium coverage and still allows the skin to breathe. Think Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua but in a fancier bottle and much harder to get hold of. This foundation really is a thing of wonder and offers very lightweight coverage whilst staying put all day and not looking like you're caked in makeup. Not that I'd suggest buying foundation online and from America, I spent a good hour looking at colour swatches and definitely got lucky.

Being faithful to my Nars Pro Prime eyeshadow base, I felt like I was cheating a little buying Tarte's eye primer. I haven't actually used this yet, as for once I'm waiting till I've finished one before starting another. There's a first time for everything, right?

The LipSurgence lip pencils by Tarte dragged me in straight away given they have a matte finish, and how much I love applying lipstick in a pencil applicator. I bought the shade flush which is a highly-pigmented, deep berry pink that can be worn heavily or blotted down to a natural flush (no pun intended.) And stays put for a good 5-6 hours before needing reapplication. If you eat a ton of burgers however I'd give it a much shorter lifespan.

How sweet is the packaging on these pencils? Definitely want more! 

Seriously, believe the hype on this one. Anastasia Beverly Hills throws it out the ballpark once again with this stay-put formula. I bought one of the newest shades, Medium Brown, as all the others were too dark, and this is an ideal match for my brows, being not too dark or red. This dinky little pot packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation, and I find it best used with an angled brush once the excess has been wiped off. The best part? It completely stays put, like doesn't budge at all. They should have contemplated calling it Bulletproof pomade. Because it sets so quickly, you do have to work a lot quicker than you usually would with brow products. Something you can overlook for perfectly defined brows.

Hope you guys enjoyed a little nosey at what I bought. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my camera will be back within the next week and I can get busy on new posts. iPhone photography is definitely NOT my thing.

Guest Post | The Pyjama'd Traveller

I came across Ellie on Twitter via this article she did for Your Zen Life; I found her to be completely inspiring, and most definitely wise beyond her years. When I asked for guest posters on Twitter and Ellie replied I just knew she'd come up with something amazing. Instead of asking her to do a beauty post, I asked that she shine some of that amazing positivity over here, and she definitely delivered...

The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that do that. UTA Hagen once said, “Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary.” 

You don’t have to follow suit or conform to anything that you don’t want to be, to conform kills your creativity, that spark of who you are. Who is anyone else to judge you for what you want in life. Don’t put your self-esteem in the hands of strangers. Likelihood is that they’re just jealous that you have the courage to be real and go for your ambitions with a determination like no other.

Think about it like this, where would you rather be in ten years’ time; sat at home thinking of the ‘what ifs’ or be out doing something incredible? It’s okay to make mistakes along the way to figuring ourselves out but we live in a culture where our every move is under a microscope, every event goes onto Facebook and pictures are uploaded within seconds of anything happening. It makes life seem suffocating and like we have no room to mess up. But we learn so much from our mistakes, they teach us about ourselves and they tell us what we really want out of life so do the courageous thing and go for it anyway. You just have to be brave enough to know that other people’s opinions don’t matter and they shouldn’t affect us. Our journey through life and the mishaps along the way are our business and our business alone. Everyone always wants to be there during your successes but look around and take a note of those who are there when you fall flat down, they’re the ones you want to surround yourself with.

It’s not immodest to know who you are and know what you can do, once you believe in yourself you become unstoppable. Never limit yourself as to what you can achieve because you feel pressured by the world around you to be a certain way. Go for something and if it doesn’t work out, present your mistake to the world in all its glory because we’re humans and that’s just what we do, we make mistakes! Society has made us think we need to be 100% perfect beings who never screw up but that’s just not possible because that’s not how we’re made! Don’t be afraid to be a dreamer, a do-er or a try-er.

Be out there, be spectacular, be courageous, be inspiring, be different. 

You can follow Ellie on Twitter, here. And find her blog, here. 

Hope you all loved this post! 

Giving Moroccanoil Competition - Redken Shatterproof Shine

How did every body's long weekend go? Mine was hectic to say the least. To put it this way, I'm glad to be sat down at my laptop watching Despicable Me with some cake and lemonade. Rock and Roll...

Without a doubt, when I think of hair oils, Moroccanoil is the first thing I think of. With it being my first foray into oils on my hair (well, all oils for that matter) and being one of the greatest things to ever happen to my hair, I truly thought it would never have any competition. But after voicing my opinions on being in a beauty rut, and coming across a silicone free formula by Redken, I ventured out into the land of hair oil, and was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, how gorgeous is that diamond inspired bottle? It isn't completely opaque though, if you hold it to the light you can see how much product is left - genius! Much unlike Moroccanoil, Redken's Shatterproof Shine has a dropper in the lid to get it out the bottle, and I have to admit, this is the one thing I don't like about this. Given its very runny texture, it has a tendency to get a little messy at this point. Pumps are much friendlier for hair oils. Companies, take note. 

The oil itself has a gorgeous scent, (which my non-technical nose would suggest to be apricot) and luckily, it disappears as soon as the oil has soaked into the hair, meaning you're still left with the clean, fresh scent of your shampoo. Whether it's used on damp or dry hair, this soaks in instantly and leaves behind tame, frizz-free locks with a beautiful, natural shine. I tend to use one dropper pre-blow dry, and two droppers post-blow dry and have found that my hair requires little/no styling afterwards, which is where Redken wins in the hair oil stakes. Whenever I've applied a lot of Moroccanoil, I have to wait overnight for it to soak in, Redken's is much less high-maintenance, and will leave hair looking healthy and conditioned immediately.

If we overlook the poor applicator it's very very possible I just went and found a new favourite hair oil. I would truly recommend this to anyone in the market for a new hair oil, and given it's only £23.95 at the moment on FeelUnique, it would be wrong to say no, right?

Have a great week guys! Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon as that camera of mine starts working again.

Getting Rid of Dark Circles? - Strivection Dark Circle Corrector

Eye-bags and dark circles don't make eye shopping easy, do they? Buying a cream to moisturise the area usually does just that, moisturise. Then what happens to the dark circles and anti-ageing? I'm 110% sure that I hate shopping for new eye creams, it's too difficult to decide what I want, and to find the perfect one without spending a near fortune. So I usually source an article online about eye-creams and see which one gets the best reviews, it's not scientific, but it sure does work for a lazy soul like me. This time, I found Strivectin coming out on top... 

This is a brand I know very little of, I've never tried anything by them before, and I honestly had no clue where even stocks their products. A little scouring on the net had me finding the Get Even Dark Circle Corrector on a site called "Salon Skincare" and with them having it discounted, I stuck this little pot in my basket quicker than I knew humanly possible.

It is the NIA-114 chemical which apparently does the brightening. And I definitely will not be getting all scientific on you, as I simply have no idea what I'm talking about. But I've had this since about March now, and have been using it twice daily to some results. I feel like my overall eye area has definitely been brightened, but not as much as I'd like it to be, and much unlike other eye creams I've used as a treatment, this one does have moisturising properties, so still keeps the delicate skin around the eye area looking soft and supple.

The texture of the cream is very silky and lightweight, meaning its the ideal cream for me. In the past I've used thicker creams, and they tend to feel tacky on my skin, at what point they usually get thrown away, as I hate my skin feeling sticky. This is perfect for day use, given it's so light, this doesn't make concealer sit funny around the eye area, is meshes with the skin as if you haven't just doused your eye area in dark-circle cream. A little goes a long way, and I'm only just about to run this down after using continuously for nearly 5 months.

I'm still unsure as to whether this will be a repurchase for me immediately, the results from using this weren't spectacular, but the texture was. I'm sure I'll decide to try something new then regret it and return to a brand new tub of this. I guess we'll see...

What are your favourite eye creams? New recommendations for these are ALWAYS welcome.

Glowing Skin - Eucerin Even Brighter Range

It's very much starting to feel like I talk a lot about glowing skin and how to achieve a beautiful complexion recently. So who am I to mess with my current streak? Here's my current moisturiser duo that's helping me on my way to perfect skin, minus the make-up... 

Honestly, I'd never tried Eucerin before these products. I knew very little of them as a brand and stuck to brands like Kiehl's and Bioderma cause I was too damn lazy to branch out. So I decided to suck it up and try something new a few months ago, and since then, I haven't looked back. The Even Brighter range is designed to even skintone and reduce any hyperpigmentation in the skin. 

The moisturisers themselves, are as you can see, very thick. Despite this they apply like a dream and don't sit heavily on the skin, and they're usually quickly absorbed, leaving behind a natural looking sheen to the skin. The day cream especially, has immediate effect, hydrating and plumping the skin to look perfectly dewy, and almost good enough to get away with zero foundation. When used together these are a force to be reckoned with. These will keep skin moisturised and the skin-tone even, whilst the day cream works extra hard, having an SPF of 30, this is the ideal moisturiser for sun protection and preparing skin for make-up.

Much unlike the moisturisers, the little pigmentation stick is nothing short of a huge disappointment and a pain in the a*s. It's doe foot applicator means you can apply precisely to darker areas, but it also means it makes your skincare routine take much longer, and smells completely gross. It ran out after about a month of day and night use, and had done nothing to my skin despite reportedly being a stronger concentration than the moisturisers. Huh? Not for me, Eucerin.

Street Style on Sundays #7

Totally obsessed with complete Minimal Animal style at the moment. Not the whole "Normcore" boring style, the chic, clean-lines minimal style. (The "animal" was just me thinking I'm funny.)

You've had the slouch variety... Now the structured...

Hope you're all having a great weekend. I'm off to indulge as much as humanly possible. Champagne counts, right?!

Images are all off Pinterest.

A Haul of the Large Variety

As I write this, I sit angrily staring at my camera, that has temporarily decided to go kaput. Of course I'm not actually sitting giving a Canon camera stink-eye, I just do every time I'm stuck for words. I did promise quite a while ago to share another haul, which I just managed to shoot before my camera went to sleep. So there is some good news to accompany the bad.

Here's some of the things I've bought recently... (And pretty please do note, that some of these were birthday gifts, some bought with birthday money, a couple were gifted by companies, and some were bought with various reward cards). 

Naturally, there's a good dose of Chanel. I'm obsessed with the Destiny cream blush and the mascara, so they will be popping up here on ze blog, and on my face much more! Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Utopia was something I felt completely smitten with, and it's pretty much the lavender version of Emerveille, but the purple tones are much more brightening on the eye area (apparently lilac lids are something we associate with children, hence the anti-ageing. Smart!)

I caved. After buying my first Charlotte Tilbury bits a few months ago, I had to jump on the Filmstar Bronze and Glow bandwagon, and BOY is it amazing. (I'll be reviewing all my CT bits on The Beauty Corner soon.) When you think Dior can't make even better nail polishes, they go ahead and reformulate to a gel-finish and release beautiful vintage red shades like Rouge 999 - I'm in love! And needless to say, I just NEEDED two more lip balms. 

I'm blaming the purchase of this wonderful bottle of Lani hair treatment on Steph, cause it's always much easier blaming it on someone else. This is an all-natural hair oil treatment, that smells like holidays, and does incredible things to your hair. I insist you try it. And as I found a LookFantastic discount code, and kept hearing about Shu Uemura's Art of Hair products, I am a bad person that doesn't need this many hair products had to make a purchase.

More hair products? I have a problem. Another oil? Yes. Neal and Wolf were darling enough to send me the blow dry balm to help me along the way whilst I'm introducing my hair to cleansing conditioner. FYI, the first stage isn't pretty, but when you get used to it, you feel like you're living a shampoo commercial. The lightening spray is 110% justified, if you could see my roots you'd be trying this too. My hairdresser is on maternity leave, so I wanted something to keep me going until she got back. Unfortunately I chickened out, and I'm still waiting on her return, just this time with about 2 inches of roots instead of 1cm. 

No haul is complete without a couple bits from Space NK. After running down my second bottle of REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal I was impatiently trying to replace it - I love this stuff! I wish I could say the same for the He-Shit tan (That was HONESTLY a typo. It seems pretty darn relevant though.) which is the worst fake tan I've ever used. It soaks through mitts, smells of biscuits, and has zero benefits, whatsoever. BOO, what a waste of money.

This beautiful necklace was my Birthday present from my Nanna and Grandad. I love it so much. Dogeared has lots of jewellery with meaning, and the packaging helps make it so much more personal. I can see this becoming attached to my neck like no necklaces have done before.

What does anyone that's obsessed with fashion do with their birthday money? Ray-Bans of course! These are the small Clubmasters, and they're the perfect mix of classic styling, hippy influences, and the ideal amount of me in the reflection. Hey!

With my Waterstones card collecting money like there's no tomorrow, I went a tad book crazy. I love reading, so I like having a good selection to choose from when I'm due a new read. I'm currently reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and it really isn't the best book to read in bed, but it's definitely peculiar...

Hope you're not all wasting away by the time you've reached the bottom of this post. Congratulations though, you've made it, you can go and get a cuppa now and go back to the real world.

Lots of love.