Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

As I look back over 2013, there have been some highs and lows, but overall its been a pretty good year. Here are a few of the highs: Holiday in LA.  This really was an interesting place and I can't wait to go back as soon as possible as I didn't even scratch the surface during my 5 day stay. The Viper Room Rodeo Drive Starting my blog.  I had been umming and ahhing about starting a blog for a long time, but didn't think I had enough to say and couldn't think of a decent name.  Driving down the A1 one day with my sister, we were talking about writing a blog and during the 2 hour journey, thought of a name and the rest is history.  Its been a steep learning curve over the last 6 months, but I want to improve the blog in 2014, so keep reading to see what happens. Ollie - I took on a rescue kitten, who I named Ollie (or Oliver when he is naughty).  He is such a live wire and I am so pleased to have him.  He is so cute. Ollie doing w

Well here it is my final Sephora haul.  Its taken me ages to write them all but hopefully you have enjoyed reading about them.  This one is about the freebies that I received from Sephora.  Basically you get points for each purchase you make and then depending on how many you have you can swap them for freebies.  The freebies can be different between stores and some are really good and some aren't that great.  I was lucky to get a few things I really wanted to try. Clarins  Beauty Flash Balm 15ml.   A balm that instantly moisturises, brightens, and tightens facial contours so skin looks rested and relaxed.   Clinque Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ 15ml.   A luxurious moisturiser that promotes smooth, healthy looking skin. Jack Black Double Duty Face Moisturizer SPF 20 14ml. A lightweight daily moisturiser that acts as a broad-spectrum sunscreen and an advanced facial treatment in one easy product. TOCCA Eau de Parfum Graciella 5ml

Have you entered my Marc Jacobs Nail Polish Giveaway yet?  Time is running out it ends tonight. Please enter here Leighlee

Here's part 3 of my Sephora haul.  Whilst most of my purchases were gift sets I couldn't resist buying these individual items as well. Nails Inc Nail Polish in Baker Street  10ml $9.50.  I've been wanting this polish for ages but never got around to buying it, so I'm pleased I finally got it as its a lovely colour.  Sephora Collection  Fishnet Hair ties set of 8 $8.50 .  I love these hair ties and have bought them from Birchbox before where they are £10 for 6  (I got them for free by using my Birchbox points).  I hadn't seen this style before so I thought I would buy them. Sephora Outrageous Prisma Chrome Sparkling Metallic Eyeshadows in Outrageous Metallic Beige and Grey .  These were in the sale for $7 each. They are gorgeous metallic colours and I cant wait to try them out. Sephora Makeup Brush Shampoo and Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner  both 60ml and $7 each.  The daily one is for a light clean and the shampoo is for a deeper clean once a

I am one of those crazy people that head out early on Boxing Day to hit the sales, although I am not crazy enough to queue out for hours before the shops open.  I got there about 7.30am after some stores had already opened. There were some great bargains to be had and I managed to get most of the items that I couldn't get during the online sales.  Here's what I bought: Perfumes & Victoria's Secret Gift Sets Everything I bought in the photo below was half price.  The Victoria's Secret gift boxes were £9 and £13.  Marc Jacobs Dot EDP 50ml was £26.50 from Debenhams and La Petite Robe Noire Eau de Parfum 30ml was £17.64 (I used Boots Advantage card points for this) and Eau de Toilette 30ml was £15.09. Lush I did have to queue for about half an hour outside Lush, but it was worth it to get these babies (I am sharing these with my sister as we bought quite a lot). I also bought one of the Candy Box sets for my other sister. All the Christmas items in Lush

I recently bought 6 Deborah Lippmann nail polishes at TK Maxx for the grand total of £16.  That's £2.67 per polish.  Amazeballs.  They were in the reduced section, marked down to £8 for a set of 3, so of course I had to buy both sets. Here's a list of the polishes I bought: From left to right: Nefertiti - Shimmery golden frost (this goes on nicely with 1 coat) Like a Virgin - this is a bright white polish.  This is the only one out of the bunch that I am not a fan of as I don't like really pale colours, as I find them hard to apply without loads of streaks showing (at least 3 coats are required) Some Enchanted Evening - pink salmon shimmer glitter.  This is a top coat. Good Girl Gone Bad - Shimmery purple (1 coat) Whatever Lola Wants - sheer, sparkling lilac/lavender (2 coats) Stop and Stare - Bright Red (2 coats) Rather than take photos of swatches in the winter light, which don't accurately reflect the true colour, heres a link to Deborah Lippma

Just a quick post to thank you all for supporting my blog in its first 6 months, I really appreciate it. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Remember if you haven't already entered my giveaway that it ends in 7 days. You can enter here.  If you already follow me on Bloglovin remember to leave your Bloglovin name and your email address to enter.   Sorry this is for the UK only as its a nail polish which I can't post overseas, but I will be doing an international giveaway in 2014.  Leighlee

Its nearly that time again, when we start the new year with good intentions and talk about all the resolutions that we are going to make, which usually get forgotten about sometime around mid January (or if you are like me sometimes even earlier).  Since I now have my blog I thought this year rather than writing down my resolutions I would instead set myself some challenges to complete in 2014.  There's no time limit as such, just the hope that they are all finished by the end of 2014.   I will do updates on my blog, so that I can keep track and also I hope that it will motivate me to complete them all.  One of the themes of my challenges is decluttering.  I have bought so much stuff this year, mainly because of all the great offers that have been available, so come 2014 I want to stop spending on things that I don't need and start using up the things that I already have.  If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you will see by the amount of hauls that

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from the December Birchbox, after seeing some posts on Facebook from people who were disappointed. Since my expectations were so low, I have to say that I was pretty happy with the products I received.  Granted, its not the best beauty box Birchbox have ever done, but its nowhere near the worst beauty box I have received. They have managed to pack the box with brands that I have never tried and products that I will definitely find a use for.  Here's what I received: Number 4 Non Aerosol Hair Spray 43ml - This botanical-rich formula provides flexible hold (full size costs £18.50) Nail Rock Nail Velvet nail polish - This is a full size polish and costs £6.99.  I am interested to try this as I have never tried a velvet polish before.  The colour is navy. Sin-Care Booster Serums Party Girl Serum 5ml - activates the skins detoxification process, reduces dark circles, plus it de-stresses and brightens your complexion (£46.50 f

I can't believe its taken me so long, but here is part 2 of my Sephora Haul from my LA trip back in October.  Sorry its taken so long, but I think it's because there have been so many good beauty offers over here that all my hauls in LA have had to take a back seat.  Anyway, here are a few of the other items that I bought in Sephora.  I must admit this shop is 'like my own personal brand of heroin' I'm so addicted to it. Sephora Favorites Glitz & Glam Party Sampler - $45 worth $159.   This day to night makeup collection contains 8 of Sephoras most dazzling products plus a chic clutch (including 4 full-size products).   This set includes: Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee - 5.1g Lancome Hypnose Star in Noir Midnight Mascara - 4ml Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Gel Effect Plumping Top Coat - 5ml Nars Lip Gloss in Gold Digger - 3.5ml Sephora Collection False Eye Lashes in Celebrity - 1 pair Stila Stay All Day 10 in 1 HD Illuminating Beauty B

I picked up a couple of bargains recently at Topshop and Primark. The berry coloured flats were only £4 at Primark. These pretty silver sandals were reduced from £28 to £7 at Topshop.  They are still available here, but only in sizes 39, 40 & 42 (please note this is subject to change). Leighlee I paid for these shoes with my own money and no links are sponsored

Last Saturday, I managed to get hold of 3 full size bottles of Seche Vite dry fast top coat at TK Maxx for £4.99 each. This is approximately half the normal price.  There were 5 bottles in total in the Leeds branch, so check out your local branch to see if there are any available. Remember to check out my Marc Jacobs giveaway is  here .  Only 21 days left to enter. Leighlee

I was browsing in Primark (as you do) and came across a stand with some lovely nail polishes called Candie's. They caught my eye as they are in a really pretty bottle with a rose gold top.   I haven't seen this brand before, so I thought I would pick a couple up while I was in Meadowhall Shopping Centre. There were a good range of colours but I ended up buying two: White Noise - a clear polish with iridescent bar glitter and smaller glitter.  It will look great as a top coat. Dream Pink - a pink glitter with clear base which again will look great as a top coat. They are 10ml and were priced on the stand at £2.50 which I didn't think was bad, but when I got to the till they wouldn't scan and when I checked my bill the manager had put them through manually at £1 so they were a definite bargain. I would be tempted to buy more if I hadn't just tidied up my nail polishes and realised just how many I have.  I didn't count my nail polish stash, but

I have just received my 2nd YOU BEAUTY Discovery Box and I have to say that this is becoming my favourite beauty box (sorry Birchbox).  Its cheap (£6.95 including postage), you get to choose the 2 main products that you are going to receive (there were 10 options) and the value of the products far out way the cost of the box.  Whats not to love. Here's the box that I received: I have to say I could have ordered 2 or 3 boxes, because it was a struggle to choose which products to put in my box as there were so many great options. In the end I chose: Magnifibres Brush on False Lashes.   When mascara alone isn't enough, Magnifibres Brush-on False Lashes give an instant false lash effect without the fuss.  I can't wait to try this as I have really short lashes. This is a full size product that is worth £20.  You can buy them from www.lookfantastic.com I also picked Ancienne Ambiance Lavendula Bath & Body Oil.   Made with finest quality lavender grown w

There have been lots of great offers around lately and this Kiehls offer was one of the best (sadly its no longer available).  For £8.50 I got all of this. The offer was buy 1 item and receive 5 deluxe samples for free, plus postage was free on all orders and you could also pick 3 normal samples as well.   As Kiehls is one of my favourite brands this offer was a no brainer for me so I snapped it up.  This is what I received: I purchased the Ultra Facial Toner (75ml) for £8.50.  I love the Ultra Facial Moisturizer, so I have been meaning to get the toner as well. These are the 5 deluxe samples: Ultra Facial Moisturizer (30ml) - worth approx £5.76 (based on full size prices) Creme de Corps (30ml) -  worth approx £3.40 Midnight Recovery Concentrate (4ml) -  worth approx £4.80 Bath and Shower Liquid Body Cleanser Grapefruit (65ml) -  worth approx £3.90 Ultimate Strength Hand Salve (30ml) -  worth approx £3.80 These are the 3 normal samples that I picked:

This year my family and I decided to donate £10 from the money we would normally spend on each other to charity.  There are 4 of us, so we have £30 each to donate to our chosen charities. I have just found a great way to support one of my favourite charities, the Cats Protection branch where I got 2 rescue cats.  The great thing is that it involves shopping, which is always good for a self confessed shopaholic like me. My chosen charity has set up a wish list on Amazon.  You can buy any of the items on the list (cat food, cat litter, cat toys and scratch mats etc).  These range in price from £4.49 to £50+.  The only difference is that after you pay, the items are sent directly to the charity.  I think that it is a great way to support charities this Christmas and I know that my money is going directly to help the cats in the care of the Cats Protection .  In addition I know that the charity is getting things that they really need. I think we will start doing this every yea

Boots had an event night last week in Meadowhall where if you spent £50 you received £12 worth of advantage points. This was an offer I couldn't resist especially as there were a couple of good makeup freebies to be had if you spent £15 or more. My first purchase was Max Factor Lashfinity 3 day Mascara.  I have been wanting to try this for awhile as I want to see if it really works, as mascara is the one makeup item I use on a daily basis and if this lasts for 3 days than its a good time saver (I'm trying to justify my purchases here).  This cost £18.99 which is steep so I will definitely review it here once I have a chance to try it out.  It better work for that price.  Anyway the reason that I justified this purchase is that it came with a free gift if you spent £15 or more which is worth £28.  The free gift included: False Lash Effect Mascara Black Brown Waterproof 13.1ml Glossfinity Nail Polish in Cobalt blue 11ml Lipfinity Lip Colour in Essential Natural £3