Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

Hope you have all had a great Christmas.  I thought I would do a quick post on the Primark Jewellery Advent Calendars that I bought and blogged about here , to show you what was in them. This one was £10 (£5 in the sale during December).  It has 12 sets of earrings, 4 midi rings, 4 bracelets and 4 necklaces, with a number of them being matching sets. I thought this was a great alternative to a chocolate or beauty advent calendar and it was a great price.  I'll definitely be looking out of them next year. This one was £8 and was a 12 days of Christmas advent Calendar.  This has 4 pairs of earrings, 2 rings, 3 bracelets and 3 necklaces.  Again another great buy and I particularly loved this rings in the one. I thought both of these were a great buy and would definitely purchase a Primark Jewellery Advent Calendar next year if they sell them. What do you think of these Advent Calendars? Leighlee I bought these with my own m...

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone.  Thanks so much for reading my blog and supporting me this year.  I hope that you all have a great Christmas and if you are hitting the sales tomorrow, good luck and Godspeed. Here's a few things that are coming up on the blog soon.  I have a couple of giveaways which will hopefully go live in January and February. I will be posting an update about how I did with my challenges in 2014 and setting myself some new goals for 2015.  There's definitely going to be some hauls (Christmas and sales) to show you and I will continue to bring you bargains as and when I find them.  Let me know what sort of posts you enjoy reading. Merry Christmas Leighlee

I love glitter nail polish, In fact I own about 50 of them, but I hardly ever wear them because they are such a pain to remove.  When I visited Paris this year, I took the opportunity to visit Sephora and picked up  Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover For Glitter .  Its just like a normal nail polish remover pot except for one thing.  This product has an abrasive strip (Sephora calls it a scrubbing sponge) about a centimetre wide inside the pot.  You can use this product to remove normal polish which it does in a flash, but if you are trying to remove glitter polish then you just rub your nail on the abrasive strip and in about 10 seconds all you are left with is a few dots of glitter which you can scrape off yourself.  Its so much faster and easier than the foil method I find. The abrasive strip is not so harsh that it damages your nails, but just enough so it makes light work of the glitter.   Its $9.50 on the US Site here  and it...

I posted about the Harvey Nichols Goody Bag Offer  here .  I took advantage of the offer as I wanted to buy a present for my sister and I also wanted to pick up some Charlotte Tilbury makeup (I will show you what I bought in a separate post).  I just thought I would show you a quick pic of the actual goodies that I received from this offer.  I should say that I did not receive the goody bag when my order was delivered, so I did have to email Harvey Nichols to find out why I had not received it with my order.  They were really quick to respond and I did receive the goody bag 2 days later. There are some great brands included in the goody bag, so I can't wait to try them all out. Leighlee

There are some great free gifts with purchase offers at the moment, so it's a great time to stock up on products on your wishlist or just those staple items that you know you already love.  Boots have a couple of good offers at the moment that I wanted to highlight as I have taken advantage of them myself. Max Factor  is offering a free gift worth £31 when you spend £15 or more on Max Factor Cosmetics. The free gift contains Colour Elixir Lipstick in Cherry Kiss (4g), Glossfinity Nail Polish in Raspberry Blush (11ml), Falsh Lash Effect Mascara in Black/Brown (13.1ml) and Wild Shadow Pot in Golden Amazon (2g). These are all full size products and very wearable.  There is also a coupon to save £2 on any Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer, Flawless 3 in 1 foundation or Skin Luminizer Foundation.   To get the free gift I purchased the Max Factor Excess Shimmers in Bronze and Copper, which I had wanted to buy for a while and I can't wait to try them out. ...

Ojon - Free full size conditioner when you buy the shampoo.  Simply add the shampoo to your bag and choose the conditoner at checkout.  There is also free UK Standard Delivery with any order.  I don't know how long this offer will be available for. In addition, if you spend £20 you can receive a repair holiday damage duo (Rare Blend Infusion Shampoo and Rare Blend Deep Conditioner - 30ml each). You just need to add the code WINTER at checkout. Both these offers seem to work together, so it's a pretty good deal.  This 2nd offer ends at 11.59pm on 14/12/2014.         Makeup Revolution - Free gift worth £10 when you spend £25.  The free gift contains Your Gorgeous Palette, Supersonic and I Woke Up Like This WOW Glosses (offer ends 10:00am GMT on 15th December 2014).  The free items will be added to your cart when you spend £25 excluding postage costs.  I have a wish list as long as my arm when it comes to Makeup Revolution, s...

I recently received Magnifibres Brush-on False Lashes in my November You Discovery Box.  I have now had a chance to use it and wanted to let you know how I got on. The photos below show my natural lashes, with my normal mascara and with Magnifibres . L-R Before, Normal Mascara, Magnifibres Magnifibres is really easy to use, you apply your usual mascara and then immediately apply Magnifibres on top.  You then need to wait 30 - 60 seconds so the fibres can stick to your lashes and then apply a second coat of your usual mascara.  If you want really full on lashes you can repeat the steps above until you get the result you are looking for.  In the photo above I just applied Magnifibres once but if I was going out for the evening I think I would apply it at least once more.   I was happy with the results as I could definitely notice a difference with my lashes. I wish I had curled then before the photos above but never mind.  I found Magnifibre...

Here's a quick post on my top 5 favourite products right now. I just love the smell of Philosophy Pumpkin Icing Shower Gel.  I'm not sure that it actually smells much like a pumpkin (I have no idea what one smells like), but this shower gel is sweet and sugary and comforting.  It is giving Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel a run for its money in my book.  It's £14. The Body Shop Moringa Body Spray is a fresh, floral fragrance and it's perfect to spray on at the start of the day as it's not overpowering.  It's £7.50 here Palmer's Olive Oil Formula Co-Wash Cleansing Conditioner is a new find for me.  I started using it as shampoo is making my hair really knotty and frizzy at the moment.  This cleansing conditioner cleans my hair and also leaves it soft and shiny and easy to brush.  It's £5.99 here . My favourite evening perfume is Victoria's Secret Scandalous Eau de Parfum.  This is a dark, fruity, sexy scent and I just love the bottle with its b...

This offer is only available until 11.59pm today (9th December 2014). Ojon UK are offering a free gift with any order and UK postage is free of charge as well. You can choose between the damage reverse restorative shampoo and conditioner (60ml each) or volume advance volumising shampoo and conditioner (60ml each).  Both sets are worth £15 each.  Simply enter CYBER1 (damage set )or CYBER2 (volume set) at the checkout. The cheapest items I can find to purchase are the Ojon Rare Blend Oil for £12 or the Ojon Rare Blend Tamer for £12.50.  I reviewed the Tamer  here .  There's only a few hours left to take advantage of this offer, so don't delay. Leighlee None of the above links are sponsored.

M&S have discounts up to 50% off beauty gifts online and instore at the moment (until 8th December 2014). I picked up a little haul instore yesterday as the prices were too good to miss.  Here's what I bought: I have been meaning to pick up something from British Beauty Bloggers M&S Beauty range for a while, so what better time than when there is a 50% discount.  This Cheek & Eye Palette cost £7 and includes a nice variety of shimmery shadows that are perfect for Christmas parties.  There's only a couple of items available online , but there were plenty of products available in the Leeds store yesterday. I really love the look of the Stila Glow & Behold Makeup Set and at £20, its pretty good value for money (it's worth £44), but M&S were offering 30% off premium beauty gifts so this was a steal at £14 and I wish I had picked up the other Stila set at the same time which was a brighter berry shade.  The set contains a Convertible Color ...

Just a quick heads up that Harvey Nichols is giving away a free goody bag packed full of beauty products worth £230 when you spend £150 on beauty. You can find the full details of the offer here. This is a great opportunity to finish your Christmas shopping.  Enjoy. Leighlee

This is yet another enabling post highlighting another great value offer.  This time it's from Clinique and is available today only (3rd December 2014).  If you make any purchase today only, you get to choose 5 free samples and postage is free.  Details of the offer can be found here . The samples include the following: Almost Lipstick Black Honey - 1.2g (worth £11.05) High Impact Mascara - 3.5ml (worth £7.65) Clinique for Men Face Scrub - 15ml (worth £2.85) Clinique Smart Custom Serum - 10ml (worth £11) 7 Day Scrub - 30ml (worth £5.70) All About Eyes - 5ml (worth £7) Long Last Lipstick in Creamy Nude - 4g (worth £17.50 as it appears to be a full size lipstick) Happy Fragrance - 4ml (worth £2.16) Repairwear Laser Focus Wrinkle Correcting Eye Cream - 3ml (Worth £6.40) Repairwear Laser Focus - 7ml (worth £6.44) The cheapest items I could find were £13.  The Lash Building Primer , Bottom Lash Mascara  and Makeup Brush Cleaner . The sample...

I bought the  Memebox Special #19 Cleansing Kit a while back and thought I would let you know what was in it.  It cost $23 (I did use some discount codes, which meant it cost less but I can't remember the exact amount it cost) but it's unfortunately sold out now.    Secret Key Oil-Free Lip & Eye Makeup Remover – 100ml ($9) This works to thoroughly remove even the most stubborn waterproof makeup. Free of parabens, phonoxyethanol, benzophenone, ethanol and artificial colours, this formula is infused with papaya, strawberry, pumpkin, aloe vera, green tea and rosemary extracts and is extremely gentle and nourishing on the skin. D’Ran Wonder Pure Cleansing Lotion – 150ml ($25) This lotion cleanser gently melts away all makeup, excess sebum, dead skin cells and impurities from your face. The snail mucus extracts (yuk!), fermented bean extracts and centella asiatica extracts deliver abundant nutrition and give a soft non irritating a...

There is a great offer on the Origins website right now (better hurry if you want to take advantage as there's no telling when it will disappear).  With any skincare purchase you will receive a free Out of Trouble 10 Minute Mask (75ml worth £17.25). The cheapest product that I could find to buy is the Limited Edition Masks To Go  which costs £8. Postage and packing is free and you also receive 2 free samples (out of a choice of 4). One of the available samples is a 5ml GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream which is worth £7.66.  You don't need a code as the item is automatically added to your basket with any skincare purchase.  Let me know of any other good deals that you come across. Leighlee The links in this post are not sponsored.

Here's another Beauty Haul.  This time I went to the York Designer Outlet and popped into The Cosmetics Company Store.  When I've visited in the past the shelves always looked a little bare but this time they had plenty of products and I was like a kid in a candy store, I could have bought loads.  I managed to control myself (a wee bit) and only buy the following items. Ojon Rare Blend Tamer  (see my review of this product here ) - £9.50 (RRP £12.50).  This is an instant frizz fix that I can't live without.  It tames my frizz for most of the day even when I go to the gym.  Ojon Rare Harvest - £11.25 (RRP £15). Fortifying Hair Juice (sounds abit weird!!) which protects fragile hair against future breakage.  I thought I would try this out as my hair does tend to break quite easily when I brush it even with The Wet Brush or Tangle Teezer so I thought it was worth a try.  I haven't used it yet but will report back when I do. ...

Cult Beauty are giving away a free goody bag worth £175 when you spend £100. That's a great deal if you are looking to buy some Christmas presents, or maybe just treat yourself to some of the things on your wish list. The goody bag contains the following: Kai Perfume Oil Vial (0.7ml) Earthen Instant Peel Ying Yu Jade Eye Roller Studio 10 Liquid Lipstick (full size) Therapie Himalayan Detox Salts (100g) Neom Travel Candle £10 Gift Card Alpha-H Liquid Gold (50ml) REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask (15ml) Jouer Lip Enhancer Resultime by Collin Regenerating Collagen Gel (5ml) Sunday Riley Start Over Eye Cream (10ml) Make up Bag Cult 51 Night Cream (10ml) Anastasia Beverley Hills Brow Primer (full size) There's a great mix of brands that I really want to try out and some that I have never heard of, so I think this is a great way to try out all these brands. The goody bag will automatically be added to your basket with a qualifying spend and it's ...

I love animals and I have 3 rescue cats of my own.  I thought I would write this post for those of you that love animals too, but maybe can't afford a pet, or you don't have the time or space to accommodate a pet.  If that's the case, you could always consider sponsoring or adopting a rescued animal that cannot be adopted and will remain at the rescue centre for life.  Here are some of the animal charities that you can support in this way: Cats Protection Sponsor - You can sponsor a cat pen at Cats Protection for as little as £6 a month.  By sponsoring a cat pen, you will be helping Cats Protection to give vulnerable cats somewhere safe to live until they find a new home.  You will receive a welcome pack and regular updates on the cats that have stayed in your pen.  You can also log onto the website at anytime to see more of the cats that have stayed in your pen. If you are not into cats, then what about sponsoring a dog at the Dogs Trust . For £1 a w...

I just wanted to let you all know about a great Gift With Purchase offer that Marks and Spencer has on at the moment.  If you spend £45 or more on nightwear you receive a Box of Beauty containing REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial 40ml and NUXE Huile Prodigieuse 50ml together worth £38.  This offer is available in store and online while stocks last.  I wish I needed some new nightwear as it's a great offer, but to be honest my mum buys me some PJs every year at Xmas so I really can't justify getting anything at the moment as I have loads.  Details of the offer can be found here .   Let me know of any other good gift with purchase offers. Leighlee   This post is not sponsored. .

I posted earlier this month about the Primark Jewellery Advent Calendars I bought here .  I hadn't seen them in-store recently, but I've been to Leeds and the Metro Centre in Newcastle this week and they have a few left and even better, they are now reduced to £5.  If you haven't been lucky enough to get hold of one I am holding a giveaway  to win one. Unfortunately, this is only open to people living in the UK this time as I want to make sure you get it before the start of December.  To enter just follow the instructions on Rafflecopter.  This giveaway will only run until Tuesday 25th  November in order for me to post it out, so you receive it (fingers crossed) before the 1st December.   Good Luck Leighlee   a Rafflecopter giveaway

I recently had a couple of shopping binges and what's a shopping binge without abit of a Primark Haul (it's not just me is it?).  Anyway it's been a while since I posted a Primark haul so here it is. I bought this black lightweight jacket to wear when I go to the gym.  This cost £10.    These black shoes are for work and cost £5. I already have these in navy and they are a nice addition to my shoe collection (if only I had a walk in wardrobe to display them all in).  These cost £6. I loved these navy flats. As I'm quite tall I don't really wear heels that much (even though I still buy them go figure) and I thought these would be great to wear on a night out and no one would ever know how cheap they were (unless they also shop at Primark!!).  These cost £8.  I loved these Christmas nails and at £1 each I couldn't resist them. I love love love these PJ's as they totally reflect my mood on a morning :). These were a bargain at £4 fo...

Foryou Skincare is a brand that I have just become aware of and I recently received a travel sized pot of the M4 Anti-Ageing Moisturiser to try out and review. I have combination skin which is dry on the forehead and cheeks and oily on the t-zone (although not very oily) and this moisturiser has definitely managed to keep the dry parts of my face lovely and moisturised, even with the cold weather setting in and after turning on the central heating. This product is nice and creamy, but not so thick that it sits on the skin and it absorbs pretty quickly. It has an SPF of 25 which I think is essential in a daily moisturiser. My makeup applies perfectly once I have used this moisturiser as it makes a nice base and I don't need to use a primer. It doesn't have a fragrance which is another plus. This is a brand that is cruelty-free and this product does not contain PEGS, parabens or perfumes. Overall I really like this moisturiser and I have just placed an order ...

Here's a quick look at what I received in the November 2014 Birchbox (I didn't write about the October box as I didn't receive it until the end of October as the original box went missing in transit).  I have to say this box is impressive with 2 full size products included. I received the following: A full size OPI Nail Polish Turn on The Haute Light (worth £11.95) A full size Dr Jart+ Pore Refine Tight Effect Toner (140ml worth £18.00) Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Oil (10ml worth £1.60) Jane Iredale Purelash Lash Extender & Conditioner Beauty Protector Protect & Treat Hair Masks (2x 14g) Drinkwel (6 vegetarian capsules food supplement for people who drink) This is a great box and the products are spot on for my needs and the value is brilliant.  If you are interested in signing up, here is my referral link  (I will receive 50 Birchbox points if you sign up using this link).  You can also enter this code VC5OFF to receive £5 off your first b...

The winner of the Beauty Box of Prizes Giveaway has been announced here . Congratulations if you are the winner, please look out for my email. Watch out for my next giveaway coming soon. Leighlee

Here's a quick review of the November 2014 You Beauty Discovery Box.  I picked the Magnifibres Brush-on False Lashes (this is full size and RRP is £21) and Skin & Tonic London Steam Clean Cleansing Balm (15ml worth £8.10).  I can't wait to try both of these products and will post a review when I have used them.  I also received a couple of sachet samples of Merumaya products and a sachet of Aduna Baobab Superfruit Powder. The other options available were: Rituals Hammam Delight Shower Foam Himalayan Detox Salts by Therapie Roques O'Neil Argan Organics Regeneration Anti Wrinkle Cream Bourjois Cream Blush Green People Pencil Eyeliner Invisibobble The Traceless Hair Ring Once again I think You Beauty Discovery  offered some good choices considering the box only costs £6.95 including postage.  You can read my review of last months You Beauty Discovery Box here . Leighlee I bought this box with my own money