What I bought.. Haul!

Evening you lovely lot!

Last Sunday I decided I needed to treat myself, so I popped off into Crawley and visited the County Mall. Now, when you're used to the Arndale and the Trafford Centre this is a bit of a downgrade! I would even say that the Buttercrane at home in Newry is better, but I couldn't be bothered going to London so it was my only choice! I'm trying to pick up a few more 'exciting' things for work now I've settled in and seen what other people are wearing! At the start I was playing it very safe with pencil skirts and blouses, but I've kind of learnt it's okay to have a little bit of fun with what I wear!

So, let's get on with the fashion show then!

Primark

'Hang In There' 10 Non-Slip Hangers - £4.00

These are my favourite hangers ever (how sad do I sound?!) but honestly, I love the furry material on these! They keep all my clothes actually on the hanger rather than at the bottom of my wardrobe! Definitely worth the pricetag! I chose the mint green & grey option this time! I already have about 20 pink ones of these so I thought I should switch it up a little bit!

Angel Sleeve Dress - £13.00

I love the print of this dress! That's what attracted me to it! The colours are so bright as well! It's actually got split sleeves as well so you can flash a little bit of skin without flashing a whole bingo wing! It's a decent length, about an inch and a half above the knee so still appropriate to wear to work without tights! Result in this heatwave we're experiencing at the minute!

Weave Peeptoe Pumps - £8.00

I desperately needed a shoe update, all of my pumps are falling to pieces! How cute are these both? The brown ones are perfect for wearing with the above dress, really cute! You needa make sure your toes are in tip top condition with that peeptoe though! ;-)

Chain Moccasin Loafers - £8.00

I've seen a lot of people rocking a good moccasin lately and I wanted to join in, they are super expensive though so when I seen these I was all over it! These are from the Wide Fit section, but they're really not Wide Fit! I'd be fearful of the normal version! They're a suedey type material so keep away from any puddles that might appear after a midnight storm!

3 Chain Necklace - £4.00 - £2.00

I haven't bought any jewellery in a while, which has been tough for me I can't lie. I'm like a magpie I LOVE SHINY THINGS. I do have a cheeky order coming from Blacktied that you'll see soon though I hope! But anyway I thought this necklace was pretty edgy but still understated 'coz all the chains are so small! So I'll still be able to wear it into work without looking like 2 Chainz. Plus it was in the sale for £2.00!! That's like basically free. 

River Island

Floral Peplum Top - £30.00 - £15.00

Another little sale purchase! This was reduced to £15.00 in River Island and I had to nab it! The floral design is gorgeous, white background, navy detailing and then really black bordering (which doesn't show up very well on camera!)! Everyone says don't mix navy and black but I love it! This will be getting worn with my black pencil skirt for work, and a black mini and leather jacket at night!

Debenhams

Red Herring Floral Print Dress - £30.00 - £9.00

Now I know this isn't gonna be everyones cup of tea, but let me firstly justify it as it was £9.00, you don't even get dresses in Primark for that price, never mind a decent quality dress from Debs! This isn't your typical 21 year old style dress, but they actually suit me so well, little bit of cleavage, in at the waist and a nice length! It's perfect for work, it'll probably never get worn anywhere else other than work but that's fine.. for £9.00 I don't blinkin' care! 

Boots

No 7 Beautiful Skin Quick Thinking Wipes - £7.00

My holy grail wipes! Worth every penny, but I always wait until Boots do the £5 off vouchers, so they only cost me £2.00! Bargain!

Nivea Invisible Anti-Perspirant - £1.07

The only deodorant I've ever used that actually doesn't stain any clothes. The best I've ever used. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo 'Blush' - £2.99

I always seem to buy this when it's NOT on offer, but I don't even care it's so worth it. The best out there. Holy grail!

Collection Eye Brow Definer - £2.79 

I wanted to buy Soap & Glory's Triumph but it was all sold out! This was the best I could find! Let's see how it goes :) 

Boots Essential Toothbrush - £0.79

So that's all I bought on my little adventure to Crawley's County Mall! 

What do you think of my purchases?

Has anyone tried the Collection Eye Brow Definer? If so, what did you think of it?

Let me know! 

mwah xxx

My first Glossybox experience - part one!

Hi! Hello! Bonjour! Hola!

It's the 7th of September and today it is officially COLD! Say goodbye to summer clothes and prepare for an influx of autumn clothes, umbrellas and random animal hats and scarves over the next few weeks!

I've been reading about Glossybox for so long and always wanted to try it, bu for a poor student £9.99 per box (plus p&p) was a bit of too much commitment! Glossybox had been running an offer that you could purchase 2 boxes for £12.00! I thought this was a bargain and went for it! 

I received the Glossybox 2nd birthday box for May and the Seaside Splash box which was released for July 2013!

I'll talk about the boxes in two separate posts! First the 2nd Birthday box!

There were 5 products with 2 other small additions in the box!

The products were:

1. Headline Colors Nail Polish - 'Gunmetal'

2. Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara

3. Awapuhi Wild Ginger Shine Spray

4. Collection Fast Stroke Eyeliner - 'Black 1'

5. Beautiful Movements Cosmetics Prime & Create Mixing Medium

There was also a packet of Glossybox mini nailfiles and a Green & Blacks chocolate! 

This nail polish is fullsize and costs £9 per 10ml! It looks gorgeous in the bottle but it looks even better on the nails! You are advised to apply two coats of polish to the nails, the first to apply the polish to the nails, and the second to provide a glossy top coat! I followed this advise and didn't even need a topcoat on top to make it shiny! This polish has UV absorbers to reduce chipping and flaking of the polish! From this I'm really impressed with Headline Colors and would be interested in trying another colour from them! The colours on their website (here!) look really vibrant and glossy!

Jelly Pong Pong's Fairy Lashes was the next present to be discovered! This has an RRP of £15 and there was a full size sample in the box! This mascara is said to be "non-clumping, lengthening and volumising".. I would agree that the mascara is non-clumping but I didn't really thing it did much for my lashes! In fairness to the product I have a mascara combination that really works for me at the minute so it probably was a little disadvantaged! Mind you the mascara is £15 for a tube, I'd rather splash out a few extra pounds and repurchase Benefit's They're Real or Lancome Drama mascara!!

Awaphui Wild Ginger is a brand I've never heard of before so it was good that the box would introduce you to products you maybe wouldn't have found before!! This Shine Spray retails £18.95 per 125ml can, and thats what you received in the box! 

The ingredients of this product are meant to condition and illuminate hair! It provides shine to hair and also protects your lovely locks from daily wear and tear! When I opened the box I presumed I wouldn't use it as my hair is generally quite silky and shine, but when I read into it I thought it would be good to give it a go as my hair needs a bit more protection since I began my transition to blonde! It smells like hairspray infused with ginger (which I suppose is obvious from the brands name!!) but it's quite refreshing on your hair because it makes it smell fresh! I don't know if I would repurchase as my hair routine is pretty simple but I'll certainly make sure I use up the can!

I was glad to see the Collection eyeliner in the box, I love their products and its always nice to see what eyeliner works best for you to create the cat eye look! This eyeliner has a really fine nib and a long handle which I love on a liquid eyeliner! It's a really black black which is great especially considering the liner is only £2.99! Happy with this product and I'm definitely gonna use it up! There's a blue version as well which I'm now tempted to try... ;-)

The product in the middle of this photo is a strange one! It's a clear Aloe Vera multi-use gel that can be used to create cream blushes, liquid eyeliners and help that last drop of foundation go a little bit further! I have to be honest I haven't really tried to use this yet! I'm a little afraid of it but I do plan to use it to turn some of my favourite eye shadows into eyeliners! My best friend is a make-up artist so this might go her direction as she'll probably have more of a clue what to use it for! You received a fullsize version of this gel which retails for £20 per 20g. It's pricey in my opinion!

The wee square of dark chocolate was a nice treat as well ;-)

I've been really impressed with my first Glossybox experience and my review of the Seaside Splash box will be up during the week! It's got some goodies hiding in there too so come and check it out!
Unfortunately this 2 for £12 offer is now over but I still think Glossyboxes are a nice wee investment! £10 a month (+ p&p) to get a present delivered to yourself for products that equate to waaaay more than £10! I'm thinking of asking for a years subscription for my birthday! :-)

Talk soon lovelies! xxx

Quick FOTD!

Getting a call from your mother at 8.30am to say you've to take your little brother to the doctors for half9 is not the best start to any day, especially after a bad nights sleep! My priorities were to stay in bed as long as possible and sacrificing any chance of looking nicely made up! 

With only 10 mins to get ready, I stuck on a little concealer on my blemishes (which there are a lot of recently!!) and under my eyes to hide any dark circles! I filled in my eyebrows with just the powder of Benefit's Browzings to save time! A few coats of Rimmel London's Endless Lash Accelerator and a coating of MUA's Power Pout I'm 'Crazy in Love' on my lips! 

My hair was a mess, the only downside to short hair is that when you wake up it generally resembles a crow's nest, so I stuck on a beanie.. A comfy tee and a black skater shirt (because it's still warm in Northern Ireland!) and I was ready to go!!

Not the greatest look but easy for running about being Big Sis Taxi's and doing any messages that I had.. How grown up do I sound?? ;-) it actually felt nice to let my skin breathe in the nice weather without layers of makeup clogging up my skin!

Do you have any quick-fix makeup tricks? Let me know in the comments, or drop me a tweet @RachelVennard :-) I'd love to hear from you! 

Until next time! Mwahhhh xx