Ted Baker makeup bag and phone case review!

One thing that I lack from my whole collection is a makeup bag. I have seen so many different makeup bags from boots and superdrug and although they do some pretty ones, I wanted to buy one that would last me ages! I don't often take makeup out with me, so this bag is probably going to double as a wash bag for holiday as it is reasonably sized. This bag is usually £29, but I got it from the Ted Baker outlet store in Braintree for £16 which I thought was a really good deal.

It is a black plastic makeup bag with a pale pink bow on the front. I love this little feature as it turns the whole bag really girly and feminine. I also love anything with a bow! There was a bright pink one in the store but I felt that to make the bag last longer, and for me to love it longer going for a classic black would probably be better! I used this the other week when we went to Leicester for my brothers graduation and it fit everything inside including my Naked 3 palette.

I also decided to buy myself a new phone case. Since I got my phone I have been using just a see through case but it had gone all flimsy, so I wanted to buy a sturdy one. I spotted this in the corner of my eye and fell in love with the colours used that I automatically picked it up. This is usually £29 but I got it for £19.

When you look closely you can see that the case has little teapots all over it. I just love everything about this case and it is really 'me'. It also protects the sides and the front of the case as well so it does everything that I need as well as looking gorgeous!

Hope you liked my little review/haul. What phone case do you use?

Major haul part 2

So I did a little splurge in superdrug and boots. Usually I do a long introduction saying how much I have been loving all of these products and that I had my eye on them for ages and finally caved in to buy them, but today I am not going to do that. Although what I just wrote is true, I just didn't need to buy anything makeup related as I have far to much already in my drawer. But I thought that I would treat myself.

Starting with Nails. Superdrug were having a 3 for 2 nail offer with all of their nail varnishes in store. The superdrug in my high street has started to sell Opi varnishes and I fell in love with these two colours. My brothers graduation was last tuesday and my dress was a dark blue colour and that was one colour nail varnish I didn't own! The two colours I got were It's up to you (dark blue) and Take a stand (Pink). The other nail varnish I got was from Sleek. This is the first time I have tried out the Gel  style polishes. I got a pale pink in Sugar coat me, as I thought it would be really pretty for the summer. And if it lasts for a while then I will definitely be investing in them!

When looking at the Sleek nail polishes I saw this face form palette. As it was my brothers graduation  and we were going up the night before and staying in a travel lodge I wanted to try and get a all in one blush, highlighter and bronzer palette. I have tried this out for a couple of days now and I absolutely love it. I am used to using hoola by benefit and this is very similar. The blush is also gorgeous which is always a bonus!

I also popped into the body shop. This is one of the stores which I feel is often overlooked when wanting makeup. The prices are pretty affordable, although not completely high street, and mostly are organic or are better for your skin. I have been using the all in one face base for over 5 years now, which is a very long time when it comes to using a product! (Obviously I bought others!) It was time for a new one so I purchased one. I am in the shade 04. When I finding it on the shelf I found this BB cream. I have read a couple of reviews about this online so kind of understood the whole 'it comes out white then rubs on your hand to blend into your skin tone'. I struggle to find a foundation that works perfectly for me, likewise I struggle to find bb creams that work for me. I tried this out on the back of my hand and am really pleased with the results. I decided that I would give it a little try so will let you know what I think when I have given it a good test run! I got shade 00 in the BB cream. I also got given a eyeliner in a lucky dip which I am also yet to try!

Obviously I can't do a makeup haul without purchasing some kind of eye makeup. I have seen the Kate collection for Rimmel London both in stores and online and wanted to try out the shadow stick. I got the rose gold colour and am yet to try it out! I had planned to wear this shade on my eyes for my brothers graduation but decided to wear a more neutral colour. I got Maxfactor pink gold 24 hour colour tattoo. I absolutely love this colour. I wore it when I was away with my Naked 3 palette.

Finally I went to accessorise and picked up a couple of hairbands. I decided to go shopping on probably the hottest day of the year so far in the UK, so needed to get my hair out of my face. These were the only ones that I could find that were pretty and affordable. They do the job, but are not amazing for people with long hair like me! They look pretty at the end of a plait though!

I hope you enjoyed my makeup haul. I will probably not buy any more makeup bits for a while now which is good! Thankyou for reading!

Major haul part one

I have noticed that the past couple of uploads I have done have all been based on beauty related things. I have got some fashion related bits in the pipeline, but for now I am really enjoying sharing these little hauls and bits that I have been loving.

Since passing my driving test I haven't really done much 'solo' driving. Last thursday I ventured for the first time out on my own to my local town and boy did I splash out! I have decided to split this post into two, skincare and makeup.

Starting with Skincare. This past couple of weeks I have really got into skincare and face masks and that but haven't really tried out different brands. I have always been aware that there was the one use throw away ones but didn't realise that you could buy one in a tube that is reusable.
I bought three of the peel of masque by montagne jeunesse in the cucumber flavour. I much prefer the peel off masks than the clay ones as I feel that personally with my skin it works so much better. I also bought the Boots own peel off face mask from the tea tree witch hazel range. I love this range so much as it clears up the skin amazingly to the extent that you can feel it tingling. The results are also very clear the next day when you use it.

I didn't know what section to put this in as it is half skincare half makeup. It is the Garnier eye roll on BB cream. The box says it is a 'all in one miracle skin perfector'. Which to me sounds amazing! My under eyes is something that I often forget to moisturise and to have something that will reduce signs of fatigue is something that I need in my life for sure! The only bad thing about this product is that there were few colour selections to choose from. Seeing as this product is supposed to act as a concealer/bb cream you would have thought that there would be other choices. I have used this product a couple of times now and despite the colour options it easily blends in and to an extent hides most of the dark circles.

My next stop was to go to the body shop. I have heard really good things about the tea tree oil blemish gel and wanted to give it a try. Previously I have used the Lush 'grease lightning' spot gel and found that it didn't really have that much of an affect on my skin. I am yet to try out the Body shop version but I feel like I am going to absolutely love it!

Finally I got the Hand Food from soap and glory. This is one of my must have products and one that I continue to buy. This is my 7th bottle. There isn't much to say about this hand cream other than if you want your hands to be moisturised for quite a long period of time then this product is for you.

That is the end of my little skincare haul. I am not sure when I am going to be uploading the makeup section but it will defiantly be within the next week!

What are some of your favourite skincare bits that I need to add to my collection?

My baby!

For the longest time I have been on the hunt for a plain black handbag which will never go out of style for an affordable price. For ages I have loved the Selma Saffiano leather Satchel bag and have been saving up for it for the past year. The price of the bag was always a bit of an annoyance to me as being priced at £280-300 pounds it would be a HUGE spend for somebody like me who is a student.

A couple of weeks ago I was clearing out my bags and noticed there was a gap in the small bag section. I have a variety of larger bags and I was a little worried that if I bought the large bag I was looking at then it would persuade me to carry more rubbish around with me.  I was browsing through the Selfridges site and saw that they did mini versions of the design I loved and I fell in love. But priced at £240 it wasn't something that I could justify spending on a bag still.

Last thursday I took my mum to see Matilda in Covent garden. We got there quite early so browsed around for a little while before we went to the theatre which gave us some time to dream and look at the bag that had taken my fancy. I was showing my mum the bag and as if by a sign the assistant came over to me and whispered the magic words in my ear, 'That bag has just been put into the sale if you are interested'. Of course I was interested! She told me that the bag was £160. This was more of the price that I had intended to spend on a bag and after months of saving I decided to splurge and buy the bag. When I got to the till the lady put it into a special bag to keep it clean and packaged it all up in the gift bag and turned to me and said that the price was £120. I was of course over the moon and knew that it was meant to be!

Anyway.. Getting onto the bag. I bought the Selma Grommet Saffiano Small Leather Satchel in black. I really like the metal detailing on the sides as it makes the bag look a little different and interesting to just being plain black. The whole metal hardware is strong and durable and is really secure. The Michael Kors logo is on the front of the bag and the back is plain. The fabric of the bag is really durable as well and I feel like it is going to be a great use when the weather turns for the worse come october time (bit premature, but looking at the UK weather at the moment you never know when it is going to rain!). The bag has one strap that goes over the shoulder, this strap is adjustable so you can make it smaller/longer to whatever feels comfortable for you. I like this factor to the bag as sometimes its easier to have the bag go across your body than just over the shoulder.

The inside of the bag has a 'MK' logo all over and it looks really smart. There is one pocket on the inside of the bag which has a zip fastening that is handy to keep any important bits. It is also big enough to fit a phone in which is always a handy thing to have! There is also a clip attachment on the inside of the bag that you could attach your keys with so you don't lose them in the bag.

The size of the bag is really handy as it is a bag which I feel I can get so much use out of. I deliberately wanted to buy a black bag as I wanted to have something that would be a staple in my wardrobe and a bag that I could keep forever and for it never to go out of style. As someone who often wears jeans and a comfy shirt, this bag means that any outfit looks stylish and as if I have actually made an effort.

Overall I am glad that I waited to save up and actually find the bag I loved. Buying it in-store rather than online also makes things feel more exciting as I was able to try out the bag to double check that I love it as much as I thought I did. Also being able to have the whole experience of walking into a shop and purchasing a bag with your own earned money and then leaving with a lovely paper bag holding your 'baby' feels great!

Let me know if you have found your perfect bag!