Sale hauling!

I had planned on posting this around new year but as some of you may know I ended up with Norovirus and could hardly walk let alone blog so I'm now catching up on blogging!

This is just a quick post to show what I picked up in the sales, some prices I can't remember due to buying them so long ago but I'll try my best! 

 New Look

Studded shoes - £5

Gem shoes - £9

Glitter slippers - £7

Brown bow shoes - £9

ASOS

Pistachio cross over bag - £12.50

Cath Kidston luggage set - £7

POP eyeshadow palettes - £10.50 each

River Island pegasus pendant - £7.50

Fekkai shea butter hair treatment - £9 (was over £30 originally!)

I will review these once I've tried them out properly.

Clinton Cards

Cherries in Snow medium jar candle - £8.49 (I did want a few of these but this was the only one left)

Lush

500ml Snow Fairy shower gels - £5

Next

Stitch bedding - £30

Knee length boots - £20

Topshop

Pauls Boutique bag - £44

I also had a giftcard which had £16 left on it so this was a real bargain as it was originally £66

Boots

Benefit Crescent Row perfumes

Ralph Lauren Big Pony perfumes

Both of these were around £19.99

 Debenhams

Watercolour butterfly duvet set - £34

Philosopy shower gels - £7

Nip & Fab set - around £12.50

Not pictured:

Fogarty duck feather pillows - £20 (was £40)

Snuggledown luxury springbuck duvet - £36 (was £120) 

I did order a few more Philosophy products but when my order was dispatched I got an email saying they were now out of stock. Slightly annoying as there were lots of different shower gels I could have got instead. Also when my Debenhams order arrived two of the packages were open as the bags hadn't been sealed properly.

So that's my huge sale haul! I still have a few things from Next on their way but I was really happy with what I picked up and it was all done online so I didn't even have to brave the sale shoppers!

Link me to your sale hauls and I'll check them out!

My Handmade Christmas

This is another post which was due to be written near new year but yet again due to illness this didn't happen but better late than never!

This christmas I was doing the whole thing, cooking and everything so I decided that the theme would be homemade.

I always try to make something from scratch but this year I had a mental block of what I could do but with a little help from Paperchase I soon created a few homemade pieces.

Crackers

I couldn't find any crackers which I liked but when I saw these in Wilkos for a mere £6 I thought they were really boring but I could work my magic on them so they would fit my theme.

First of all I took the heart motifs off and here is what they ended up like:

I stuck my own wooden shapes on which I had coloured in gold (from the Range) and then with some paper tapes from Paperchase I stuck these round each end.

These took under an hour to complete and cost £10 in total to make.

Gift Bags

I wanted to create something co-ordinating with my crackers to keep my handmade theme going so when I looked on the Paperchase website I was happy that they had plain kraft gift bags.

These bags were so simple to customise. I simply use two sets of decoupage for the rabbit pictures and stuck these on top of three strips of the paper tapes I had left over from the crackers.

Then in a local card shop I found these big red glittery bows which I thought would be perfect as a finishing embellishment. These had ties on the back so I just pushed them through the bag and ties them.

Oh and I also got a pack of kraft gift tags from Paperchase to attach to the side.

Total cost for both bags was around £14. A little pricey but they're something special to keep.

 Table Gifts 

The photos for these are rubbish but you do get the general idea!

These boxes were also from Paperchase and they were £1.75 and were just plain kraft like the gift bags.

The side of the lids were the perfect size for a strip of the paper tape to line them so I alternated patterns on each side and stuck coloured on wooden christmas trees on two sides.

The ribbon and gift tag came with the box and I just stuck a coloured in wooden reindeer onto the tag.

Inside the box I had lots of little goodies and chocolates and I wrapped these in tissue paper which co-ordinated with the paper tapes.

I made 3 of these boxes and in total they cost £13.50 to make.

If you went into some of the more exclusive shops and bought something similar to these they would cost you much much more than buying the raw materials and making them yourself. Somethings I used to make these I used several times such as the paper tapes, these cost £2.50 for the pair but I used them on all three crafting projects here and I have over half left so in fact the cost to make these projects is actually less than I've worked out. I also used the gift tags on other presents as they were in a pack of 5 and the wooden shapes I've stuck on came in packs of 12 or 18 so I also have lots left for next year.

I hope I've inspired you to start getting crafting and making your own gift products!

Baylis & Harding Sweet Gingerbread shower cream

Baylis & Harding is such an affordable brand which gives great results! At christmas I was really excited to see some limited edition scents similar to what Philosophy bring out for the holidays, one of these was the Sweet Gingerbread shower cream.

This was £5 for a 250ml bottle which is reasonable compared to around £14 for a Philosophy shower gel! I couldn't wait to try this out as I had really high hopes for it but unfortunately I was left bitterly disappointed. 

The scent was synthetic and it smelt a little off. I expected a strong ginger scent which lingered in the bathroom but instead I got a weak smell which didn't smell of gingerbread at all.

I used this twice and both times I got the same result.

What makes things worse is that I've got 2 bottle of this to use up, I've decided to use it when soaking my feet so it won't go to waste.

Did you try this at christmas? What did you think? 

Revlon Photo Ready Primer

A couple of years ago I tried the Revlon Photo Ready foundation and didn't like it, it was far too glittery for my liking but now the range has extended to powders, mascara, blushers and primers I decided I should give the range a second chance. I chose the primer to try.

You can use the primer alone to even put skin tone or as I do under foundation to create a smoother complexion. I generally use a pump and a little bit to cover the whole of my face, don't know if this is too much but it's what I prefer. It dries quickly and my face is left feeling smooth and ready for make up. My foundation glides on and sets nicely. I have found that it does make my make up last longer and I don't need to reapply as often. 

My favourite rimer is by Witch but this one is a close second, I will certainly be repurchasing.

This is £11.99 an available from Boots and Superdrug.

Review - Bourjois brush concealer

I'm not a big fan of brush on concealers after doing my little blog post on how uneconomical they are way back in January 2011, read that one here.

But one thing that did sway me with this one was that it was free! You can't turn down a freebie can you? I didn't expect too much from it but I actually really like it.

The formation is quite thick and gives good coverage. The colour is a little dark for me but when I use with a certain foundation I have it works perfectly.

It also had staying power, I didn't have to reapply and it really did banish my dark circles.

I couldn't find a price for this online which does make me think it may be discontinued but if it is I'm sure you'll be able to find it in a discount cosmetic store but I'd have thought it would be around £8.

New Maybelline Fit Me cosmetics

The new Maybelline Fit Me cosmetic range is Maybellines first customised make up system which contains no wax or fillers and the foundation is a gel based formulation.

The range is meant to make it easy to chose a foundation and a corresponding powder and concealer to match up.

My local Boots store didn't have too many shades so I picked a foundation in a shade closest to what I used in Rimmel ones but it is still a little too dark for me.

I have to admit I did chose the concealer and powder myself and didn't get what Maybelline recommended and they are much better suited to my skin colour. 

The powder is light weight but gives great coverage and the concealer isn't as heavy as I'd like. I'd maybe use my referred concealer first and then use this one to reapply but I would use this one on it's own.

Overall I do like this range, the formulations are good, even though the concealer could be a little thicker in consistency but everything is workable.

Have you tried this range? What did you think?

The foundation is £7.99 and the power and concealer are both £5.99. I find it a little hard to believe that you get so much more product in the foundation for just a couple of pounds more, I would have expected it to be around the £10 mark but I'm not going to complain!

The year that was...2012

2012. Not much has changed this year. I am still living back at home and still have too many toiletries. The only mega change happened back in June when I left my job and was unemployed for 5 weeks before getting my current job which is doing admin for a telesales company in the town that I live in. The 5 minute commute is much better than the old hour and half one.



2012 goals and aims
Last year I set myself a few goals to complete during 2012, so did I actually complete them?

• Complete as many Day Zero goals as possible - Last year I completed 6 goals and this year I have finished a grand total of 22 goals! I have now also finished my 101 goals so this coming year I will crack on with completing them
• Go on holiday - this didn't happen but I did book a holiday for March 2013
• Save 10% of my wages - I did start really well with this one but when I left my job it threw me off course a little but I am getting back on to saving in 2013
• Keep losing weight - Nope, but I didn't put any on!
• Start crafting again - Nope, did even less than last year! But I do still dabble when I have a specific project to do
• Paint my nails at least twice a month - YES! I did this one religiously and here is the proof!

A few photos from the last year

 Pop Tarts in Januay

Snow in February

 Sunrise and emptying my piggy bank in March

Rainy day in April

Jubilee goodies in June

Kopparberg Cider in June

Redecorating in August

Handmade Burger Company in October

Festive Costa Coffee in December

Goals for 2013

I have a few goals which I want to work towards and achieve during 2013 including:

• Saving some of my wages every month
• Wear nail polish at least twice a month
• Complete 20 Day Zero goals by June
• Cut my toiletries stash in half by the end of the year
• Exercise regularly 

I hope you'll all continue reading Beauty and Beyond in 2013 and I hope you all have a great new year :-)