What I Got For Christmas 2013!

Merry Christmas everyone! Well actually, I suppose I should be saying Happy St.Stephen's Day, as Christmas is now over... Anyway I hope you've all had a lovely holiday and ate lots of lovely food and spent time with the ones you love. I had a lovely day. Now, of course Christmas is not about the gifts but who doesn't like seeing what everyone else received? I know I do, and if you're a tad nosey like me, hopefully you'll enjoy this post. Before I start, I guess I'll have to include the mandatory disclaimer that I am of course not showing off and this is simply a fun little post! If you don't enjoy these sorts of posts, feel free to exit right now. It goes without saying that I am genuinely extremely grateful for everything I received and for all the amazing people in my life. Here are most of the gifts I received this year...

Above, I have all of my Santa pressies. I honestly received alot more than I could have ever imagined. My main gift was a gorgeous embellished parka from Free People that I didn't include in the above photo, but if you fancy seeing a pic click here. The biggest surprise I received was the beats pill speakers. It is a tiny wireless bluetooth speaker and I love it! The sound is great and it's perfect for blasting music everywhere and anywhere! My stocking stuffers (which are my favourite bit!) included some MAC makeup, chocolates, Real Techniques brush sets, a Paris Street Style book and a fabulous vintage-style eiffel tower mirror. I also got a Babyliss curling wand- I can't wait to try and recreate some Kardashian waves!

Below, is a bracelet I also received in my stocking. It was a total surprise and I absolutely love it! It's from Ti Siento and it's a simple and delicate silver chained bracelet with a diamond in the middle. I love dainty jewellery such as this and I haven't taken it off since I opened it! On the right are a few gifts I received from my family members. I mostly received money this year but I also got a Benefit makeup kit, short grey Uggs and a Wildfox jumper.

Well there are my gifts this year, let me know what you received in the comments! I've had a lovely Christmas, relaxed and hanging out with family. Just how it should be. 

Mini Primark Haul!

I've been seeing lots of Primark hauls around lately and thought I needed to make a trip to the land of bargains myself. Primark is actually called Penneys here in Ireland, just incase you get a bit confused! 

Most of my shopping recently is Summer oriented. I'm off to France for 3 weeks from the 1st of June and then I head to Florida straight after that so I'm doing my Summer shopping now and getting all those essentials, but I'm also trying to save aaaagh! Anyway, on with what I bought. 

I firstly headed to the swimwear section of the store, as Penneys always carry tons of swimsuits, all well priced. I don't know about you, but I find it very difficult to justify purchasing super expensive swimsuits (which most seem to be!). This bright floral two-piece caught my eye and at just €5 for both the top and the bottoms, I knew I had to have it. I then went to the accessories, to take a look at their bags on offer. As I'll be doing lots of activities in France (it's an exchange type of trip) I need a bag I can carry a lot in. I went for this denim acid-wash backpack (€10) because it's cute, a perfect size and will go with any outfit.

Of course, I couldn't leave the store without checking out some of their makeup. Penneys carries the best range of essence makeup I've ever seen, their nail range in particular is amazing! I decided to try out this nail art stampy set (€3.50) because it looked interesting and, as you probably know, I do have a love for nail art! Unfortunately, after trying the set out, it doesn't really work. Maybe it's just me doing something wrong, but the designs didn't come out on my nails. I wouldn't recommend it. 

I would, however, recommend the XXL Shine gel-look topcoat. A friend recommended this to me and, as I did need a new topcoat, I decided to pick it up. It adds a gorgeous shine to the nails and does have a gel-look effect. I will say that it can cause nail polish to peel, if you tend to try and pick polish off. Otherwise, it prevents chipping and is overall a great topcoat. I can't remember the exact price but it's somewhere around the €2 mark.

The last item I picked up is the HASK Argan oil hair treatment. I have seen this floating around the web, with pretty good reviews. I'm always looking for products to add shine and prevent split ends so I thought I'd give it a go. Also, at €2.50, it's a much more affordable alternative to the likes of Moroccan Oil. I haven't really had a proper go with this product yet but look out for a review of this soon.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few bits I picked up in Primark/Penneys. I only bought these items a few days ago so they should all still be available in-store! 

Have you bought any bargains in Primark recently?

HAUL!

Hey Dolls,

These are just a few things I picked up today in town. If you want any reviews on the products please let me know in the comment section below :)

Overview of the items

This sleeveless tee from Topshop is so cute and perfect for Valentines Day too! Even though I didn't even consider that when buying it. Simply just a coincidence. It reminds of a top version of the Wildfox Couture Jumper :

http://www.wildfoxcouture.co.uk/store/wildfox-red-sparkle-heart-baggy-beach-jumper.html

This top is €27.00 and perfect for anytime of year. The camera doesn't really pick up the heart too well. It's gold and sparkly and fades as it gets lower down the top.

This is a close-up of the gorgeous scarf I purchased in River Island for €17. Again the camera really doesn't do it justice. It's a vibrant blend of colours; blues, yellows, pinks and perfect for Spring and Summer! It feels very silky but is actually made of Polyester. I'm really excited about this purchase. 

<---- Here is The Fab Pore by Soap&Glory. This is an intensive-action pore-refining facial peel. It contains some fancy ingredients such as fomes officinalis extract, salicylic acid, kaolin and vitamins E & C. It basically claims to reduce pore size. This was €9.14 from Boots.  

This is an eyeshadow (duh!) from Benefit in the colour Blushing Bride. It's a pretty pale pink. I bought this in a discount makeup store so it was only a mere €4.50. Such a bargain!

 This is the Urban Decay Pigment in Baked. I love their pigments their gorgeous. Very pigmented (of course!) and lovely and sparkly. This again was bought in the discount makeup store and was a very little €3.50. What a steal :)

Above are swatches of Baked (left) and Blushing Bride (right)

Well that is my haul for you all. Hope you enjoyed. I also bought some boring stationery and a magazine but nothing too exciting unfortunately! 

Have a fabulous day dolls

Mini Beauty Haul!

Hey Everyone! So this is just a mini beauty haul. Everything purchased by me :) The O.P.I. is a gift from me to a friend but thought I should just add it in anyway cause it's really pretty.

 Above is the Sleek Brows Kit in the shade light. It comes with eyebrow wax (right) and powder (left). It also comes with a mini angled brush for the wax and another mini shadow brush. The brushes really remind me of the mini Benefit concealer brushes that come in their kits! A mini tweezer also comes in the kit. The kit was €9.10 on beautyemporium.ie.

 This product I am so super excited about I can barely contain myself! This was also purchase from Beautyemporium.ie and cost €5.75. I have never seen EOS lip balms anywhere else in Ireland, in stores or online so was very excited when I found this. They have a variety of flavours but this was the only one in stock. I am still delighted with it though. It is the flavour lemon drop and contains SPF15 which is always a plus!

 This is the O.P.I nail polish in Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry for O.P.I collection. I purchased this from beautyfeatures.ie at €8.50. This is a gift for a friend of mine so I obviously haven't tried it out but it looks gorgeous and is packed with silver,aqua and blue glitter. I am so tempted to buy one for myself!

For more detail and product review of the NAKED2 Palette by Urban Decay stay tuned for a second blog post that is a comparison/review of the original NAKED compared to the NAKED2!

If you are interested in a review in any of the products (bar the nail polish!) please feel free to comment below and let me know! Any requests can be left in the comments section :)

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!

*please note prices stated do not include P&P