Video: ASOS Fashion Haul

I did a little bit of shopping recently, so I thought I'd do a little video to show you my buys! It's all fashion and I really love every piece, they feel like they're just what my wardrobe was missing and they've slotted in effortlessly!

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette

URBAN DECAY NAKED FLUSHED PALETTE*: £22.00

Usually the word 'bronzer' makes me break out in a bit of a panic; before this, I was a complete bronzer virgin and I was convinced it would look ridiculous and muddy on my pale skin. That said, I've had my eye on this bronzer, blush and highlight trio palette for quite a while, and fell a little bit in love when it landed on my doorstep.

BATTLE OF THE SCRUBS

For quite a few years now, a good cleansing scrub has been an essential part of my skincare routine. I don't use it too often, but used once or twice a week I notice a big difference in the overall appearance of my skin when I keep up with it. Scrubs are probably something that are overlooked in favour of other cleansers, but they provide quite a few benefits for all sorts of skin types, whether you're cursed with blemishes or dry skin. I've been using Soap & Glory's Scrub your nose in it for quite a while, but felt like a bit of an upgrade so thought I'd compare Vichy Normaderm Exfoliating Gel.

HAIRCARE HEROES

I've never really been too precious about my hair. I've grown it half way down my back only to get bored and cut it into a short pixie crop more than once and not batted an eyelid, whilst the hair stylists around me gawked and gushed about 'how brave' I was. That said, I do start to hate it just a little bit when it turns into the dry, frizzy mess that comes after weeks of neglect, so over the past few months I've discovered some products that really make my hair happy.

BENEFIT LOLLITINT

BENEFIT LOLLITINT CHEEK & LIP STAIN*: £24.50

Benefit Lollitint is the latest product from Benefit doing the rounds on the beauty blogs, and it's one of those that made it's way to the top of my wishlist as soon as I saw it. I've used a couple of the tints from Benefit before, my favourite being Cha Cha Tint that regularly sits in my bag always being reached for come summer. 

NEOM SUMPTUOUS CANDLE

NEOM SUMPTUOUS ORGANIC TREATMENT CANDLE*: £15 

Accuse me of being middle aged or old before my time, but I just don't care, I'm throwing it out there.. I bloomin' love scented candles. I'm sat in my living room writing this where there is four in that room alone. I usually stick to the good ol' Yankee Candle, but recently the likes of Diptyque and Neom have been catching my eye. The price is of course a tiny bit of an issue, so I thought getting one of the mini 'travel versions' would be a good way to try them out.

A WINNING DUO

It was only back in October when primers played absolutely no part in my beauty regime, until a make-up artist gave me a good kick up the bum. I bought Clarins Instant Smooth and immediately noticed the difference in quite a few ways. I never would have even considered using more than one until reading a great post by Kate of Ghostparties (aka, my gospel) and discovered a beautiful little duo working wonders for my make-up.

KORRES JASMINE BODY MILK

KORRES JASMINE BODY MILK: £10

If you've been reading my blog for longer than week, the chances are you'll have heard I'm not much of a fan of body moisturisers. It's not the product, but more the process; I'm lazy, it's fussy, and without fail one of my cats will always come and rub themselves all over my legs immediately afterwards. So it really does take quite a bit for me to fall in love with a moisturiser, although Korres have somehow succeeded..

SPRING NAILS WITH MODELS OWN

Last month Models Own had another of their infamous 50% off sales, which I took full advantage of, naturally. I thought it was a good chance to pick up a couple shades I've had my eye on for quite a while, as well as adding to my pastel collection.

BESPOKE OFFERS GIVEAWAY: BIBA PURSE

I was recently contacted by Bespoke Offers, a new site from Barclaycard offering great online discounts across a wide range of stores, from homewares, fashion, beauty or even food. They're very kindly offering one of you the chance to win this beautiful Biba Ruby purse, from House of Fraser! I picked this myself for one of you to win; I absolutely love the colour, and of course I love Biba. To win you just need to enter the Rafflecopter form below!

The only two mandatory options (please make sure you do both) are to follow my blog, either by GFC or Bloglovin', and to visit the Bespoke Offers site, have a little look at their offers and leave me a comment below telling me what your favourite is! I'd also appreciate it if you could leave your twitter handle or email so we can contact you if you win. The giveaway is running until the 2nd March.

THE SKINCARE SHAKE-UP

One of my new years resolutions was to attempt to improve my skin; I'm 23 yet my blemish prone complexion is that of my fourteen year old self. The problem is I have hormonal cystic acne, which means come the time of the month I end up with spots covering my chin, and scarring that takes months to fade. I've been using the Clinique Clarifying lotion 3 which has helped, but I feel like I need to step it up a gear to see some real improvements.

THE SUNDAY POST: THE SHIFT DRESS

BLUE COCOON SHIFT DRESS* - Warehouse

Let me start this off by saying, I am not at all a dress person. I so wish I was, but it's just not really me, unless it's summer and so hot I can't wear anything else. I think it's down to my shape; I'm a typical hourglass with a large bust, meaning I should really wear fitted dresses that show it off. That's just not my style though, and I'd much rather wear a shift, although the majority of those make me look two stone heavier. That said, I couldn't resist picking out this blue number from Warehouse in the hope it might look okay.. just maybe.

KORRES 'ROSE' MANDARIN LIP BUTTER

KORRES MANDARIN LIP BUTTER STICK: £8

I've always been a big fan of the Korres lip butters, but the little pots have put me off buying more than the one I own. I know they're pretty and all, but everytime I apply I'm left with a bright pink mess on my finger as the one I have is fairly pigmented. So when I spotted the Korres Flower Power set with a stick version rather than a pot, I jumped at the chance. The Mandarin lip butters come in four different shades, or a colourless version is also available.

CAUDALIE DIVINE OIL

CAUDALIE DIVINE OIL: £17.50

Despite the hype around Caudalie that started a year or so ago, I'm pretty new to the party on this one. I usually have a few hair oils on the go, and having had all of those run out and not particularly fancied repurchasing any, I thought I'd treat myself to a new and slightly more luxe one. I regularly use a Caudalie cleanser and of course the Beauty Elixir, but I'm new to the body side of the brand.

BEDSIDE BEAUTY

There was a time when my bedtime beauty routine would be the bane of my life. I'd end up that tired I wanted to hop straight into bed and fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Nowadays, it's an essential, and I actually find it incredibly relaxing, almost like I can't drift off without it. There's just a few products that make it to bedside status, all of which work incredibly well together to help work some magic on my skin whilst I snooze away.

RED? FOR VALENTINES... GROUNDBREAKING

Yep, I know it certainly isn't too original, but I just can't help but go red with full force on Valentines day. I am the weird one sat in the restaurant with a red dress, red lips and red nails. Okay, perhaps I'm not that extreme, but I do like to match it up beauty wise on the 14th. I've been wearing a lot of red anyway recently, down to a purchase of a couple absolute loves and the rediscovery of a few old favourites.

CURRENT LOVES #2

The horrendous weather has had me reaching for very Spring - like products, and a couple items to perk myself up and almost give myself a rejuvenation. I've also had a little hair cut this week, nothing major (my mum said she couldn't tell the difference!) but it's made me feel so much fresher and ready for s/s now.

THE SUNDAY POST: THE VEGAN KIND

I'd been vegetarian for over half my life when last year I decided to take the step forward and go vegan. I've done it before, but always failed a little; I'm a big lover of anything sweet (chocolate, cake, cookies, doughnuts, the list goes on..) and I've always put that first. It didn't go too smoothly and I slipped up a few times, but since the new year I've been 100% vegan and I feel so much healthier and happier for it. I had no idea anything like this existed until I joined in with the 'Vegan Hour' chat on twitter, and discovered The Vegan Kind. 

WEEKEND WISHLIST #2

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

01. I've been dreaming about Spring so much this week, but we're still so far away! The shops are full of gingham which I absolutely love, and these trousers from Topshop really caught my eye the most. The problem is, blue or black (or both?!)

A COUPLE OF NEW ADDITIONS

SOAP & GLORY PULP FRICTION AND WHIPPED CLEAN

I had originally only popped into Boots to pick up the rest of my giveaway prizes, but then I spotted Soap and Glory on 3 for 2. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can resist those offers, and I thought it would be the perfect time to pick up a couple of new products that I'd had my eye on for quite a while. I've been a fan of every bath product I've used from Soap & Glory, and I was sure these would be no different.

FEBRUARY HAPPY LIST

(source)

Aaaah, February, you're a cute month! It's pretty tiny, meaning rent and bills seem to come around a lot quicker, but there's still quite a lot of reasons why we should be happy it's here and we've said goodbye to January!

01. It's getting brighter! I'm writing this at 4.30 in the afternoon and it's still light outside! A month or so ago it would be dark over an hour ago, so it's a sign spring is on it's way!

VIDEO: A COLLECTIVE HAUL

I tweeted last week that my Mum and I had gone on our first real shopping trip since I was about 16, so 7 years ago, and we did quite a bit of damage around the shops of the Trafford Centre. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to add another video to my youtube channel, and film a collective haul!

1000 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY

Last week I hit the big 1000 followers on GFC, so I thought I'd brighten up everyone's Monday by getting my giveaway up! I've been collecting little bits for a while, but I added the last few bits to the prize yesterday! To enter you just need to use the Rafflecopter form below, and it's open internationally! The only mandatory entries are to follow via GFC or Bloglovin' and to leave your email in a comment - please make sure you do both!

NARS FINAL CUT

Until recently, NARS and I have had a rather distant relationship. I say distant, it's actually been tiny, or.. non-existant. Yep, until this Wednesday I was a NARS virgin when I was treated to a blush from the Final Cut collection. I decided to go for something limited edition, and 'Final Cut' really stood out to me.