Look what came in the post! The NAKED 2 Palette!

I will keep this post brief because I'm sure by now everyone has seen all they need to of this palette on other beauty blogs and YouTube, but I just wanted to share with you my most recent (and probably last for a while) beauty purchase.

My first impressions were that the palette is a lot heavier than I imagined, but heavy in a reassuring, satisfying way.

I haven't used the palette yet, but just going on looks, I have to say that I think I prefer these colours to the original Naked palette. I like my neutrals quite pale and muted and I can see this palette getting even more use than the original!

Have you been tempted by Naked 2? Let me know your thoughts.

Empties from the last few months!

Happy New Year to you all!
I thought it would be fitting that my first post of 2012 was a Out with the Old, In with the New one.

I usually find that I never, ever seem to finish any products, then all at once EVERYTHING runs out! This has been the case in the last two or three months for me so I thought I would show you some of my old empties, before posting about my newest (and last for a while) beauty purchase.

See what I mean?! Rather a lot of things.

From left to right: No.7 Protect & Perfect Hand cream (I was given this by a friend who was going travelling, and wouldn't re-purchase as I think its far too expensive), Garnier Pure A Treatment Moisturiser (a repeat purchase for me as its one of the only moisturisers I have found to be light enough for my oily skin. Its more like a gel texture than a cream), Avon Sleep Therapy Shower Gel (this was a gift and smelled lovely and relaxing), Johnson's Refreshing Cleansing Lotion (I really liked this product and have been missing using it since it ran out, I would definately re-purchase and its very affordable), Body Shop Pomegranate Body Polish (Its taken me AGES to use this up. It smells amazing and lathers up wonderfully for an exfoliating product, the only negative is that if you get it in your mouth *like I always manage to do!* it tastes really, really bitter), Nivea Silk Anti-Perspirant (I think this variety has been discontinued, but this is a shame as I really like the fresh smell of this), Vaseline Body Lotion, Sanctuary mini Body Souffle in Mandelular, No.7 Quick Thinking Face Wipes (I bought these for £2 with a £5 off voucher and can honestly say that I would NEVER re-purchase these, they were some of the worst face-wipes I've ever used and I couldn't wait for them to be used up!), 2True 3-in-1 Concealer (another re-purchase, this is a great day to day under eye concealer and fantastic value at £1.99 from Superdrug, or 3 for £5), No.7 Quick Cover Concealer Stick in 02 Extra Fair (I've re-purchased this again and again and usually pick one up as a back-up when I get a £5 off voucher, its a staple in my make-up bag and is great for oily skins as it is talc-based so has a nice powdery finish), Boots Time Delay Eye Cream, Boots Time Delay Night Serum, Natural Collection Foot Scrub and finally Nivea Pocket Deoderant (have had this for years and the smell had tainted slightly so I thought it best to bin it.

Phew! So there you have it. What products have you used up over the festive period?

Bargain Boots Haul!

Today I popped into town with the intention of using up my £5 off No.7 voucher, and a £2 off Bourjois voucher that had come through the post a while back before they expired this coming Sunday (11/09). Also with Boots having a 3 for 2 offer on across different make-up brands I thought I could possibly get a back-up for my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer for free....little did I know I was going to come away with SIX products all for a bargainous £5.89!

I firstly popped my advantage card in the pink machine as I knew I had some Treat Street points to collect and had a quick browse throught the offers. Firstly was an offer for 1/2 price in the 17 Hide & Chic Eye Brightening Concealer, next was a voucher for a free 17 Eye Dazzle when you purchased any other 17 product, then came another voucher for a free 17 Shine On lipstick with another 17 purchase. I was thinking surely I won't be able to get TWO free products just from buying a half price concealer and unfortunately I couldn't, BUT I did get the two free items when I bought another 17 product as part of my 3 for 2!

I think the poor sales assistant rued the day I turned up at her till armed with FIVE vouchers, but she was very helpful and I still can't believe I managed to get all this so cheaply!

It isn't the most exciting haul by any stretch of the imagination, three of the items are concealers, but I just wanted to share it with you so you can maybe pop to your local Boots and snap up some freebies too!

The first item in the haul was the 17 Hide and Chic concealer which should have been £4.99, but was half price with voucher.

For my 3 for 2 I bought the Bourjois Powder Brush £4.99, No.7 Quick Cover Concealer in Extra Fair (this is my go-to concealer that I usually pick up if I have a £5 off voucher and has gone up to £8) and 17 Hide Away Concealer Stick in Extra Fair £3.89 which was my free item.

With my two other vouchers from the Advantage Point I got a free 17 Dazzle Eye in Big Smoke (£3.99) AND a free 17 Shine on Lipstick in the shade Bon Bon (£4.29).

So altogether the items I bought should have come to £30.15, but with a canny bit of couponing I managed to save a WHOPPING £24.26!

My advice is get yourselves down to Boots quick!

UPDATE: After mulling it over in my head that night, I realised that I was actually undercharged. The items should have come to a lot more, I think what happened is the shop assistant ran the 1/2 price concealer voucher through twice so it was effectively free. I just thought I should say because the total should really have been £2.49 more.

Genre-o-rama!

So yes, I have been absent for some while now (coughs-*a year*!)so I thought I would get back in to the swing by giving a quick overview of my favourite films genre-by-genre. So without further a-do....
* HORROR - I'll start with possibly the most difficult category for me, my taste in horror films is varied to put it mildly! My numero uno? The Haunting (1963) The original and (obviously) best even terrifies me to think about it! An incredibly accomplished and underrated film in my humble opinion.

* Chick-Flick - A somewhat easier choice, as this category is not my favourite, but the hopeless romantic and eternal child in me has to choose Dirty Dancing. I'm yet to meet a woman who doesn't go weak at the knees in the final sequence.

* Comedy - Blazing Saddles. A film I saw years before I should have, but my Dad is cool and this was before the picture rating system was introduced. Still makes me laugh to this day.

Stay tuned for part two where I'll be covering Childrens films, Musicals and Science Fiction!

Haul-ier than thou!

So I've finally succombed, well when I say succombed I mean bought another heap of make-up.
I mean it's January, VAT's just gone up to 20% and everyone is tightening their belts; and me? I have so far this month bought two eyeshadow palettes, two foundations, and four lipsticks!
So I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised if I said I was giving up the purchase of make-up for a while right?!
Well it was technically still January when I made my order with www.love-makeup.co.uk so maybe I should try and ban all make-up related expenditures from now on! (Yeah right!) I have ordered two NYX palettes and a NYX jumbo pencil in milk, and I am extremely excited about the arrival of said cosmetics!

I'll be sure to include pictures when my package arrives-yay!

Innocent When You Dream

What a fitting title! Well last night I had my third dream in as many months about Tom Waits. This time I was part of his band and we were touring around Europe (Paris I think). I think I was actually one of his backing band and we fell madly in love as we toured. Hmmm....think my subconscious is trying to tell me something! I think I need to run away and join a band. Anyone know if Mr. Waits is auditioning for backing singers???
Photo is from tomwaits.com by Anton Corbijn.

Just call me Vidal Part Two

So I bet you're all itching to know what happened(?) Did I butcher my friends hair? I hear you cry! Well, fortunately no I didn't and by some not so small miracle, said friend actually loved the job I did which involed me cutting about an inch and a half off the length, cutting in a fringe and feathering the front and back so it didn't look too heavy. So basically a restyle.

I don't think I've ever been so terrified, I could hardly speak as my increasingly nervous friend tried to engage me in chit-chat, I could do little to hide the tremor in my voice. Once I had finished, and I watched my mate making her tea and could see the hair swishing around I relaxed slightly-I had done a bloody good job! Was it luck? A small miracle? I like to think it was down to the fact I'm just a natural whizz with the scissors, but I think I'll be waiting rather a long while to find out!