Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

I tried to do a February no spend I really did and then I made the mistake of having a wander around Primark, put loads of things in my basket, paid for them and as I was walking out of the shop conveniently remembered my no spend ban which I had just FAILED.    It seems to slip my mind that I'm on a ban at the most convenient times.  Anyway here's what I bought (can it be justified because some of it is for keeping or in my case getting fit). Workout leggings £5  - Reduced from £10 Blister Resist Trainer Socks £3.50 Water Bottle £2.50 Yoga Block £3  - I'm currently doing Yoga with Adriene on YouTube so this will be handy Intempo Smart Watch £15  - I'm not sure if this will be any good but thought it was worth a shot for the price.  I will do a post on it if its any good Hair Wrap £2.50  - Its 100% cotton so I wanted to give it a try as I have curly hair and want to try anything that might help me keep my curls under contr...

The Beautylish Original Lucky Bag cost $75 (including tax and delivery to the UK the total was $108, which was approximately £85) and the lucky bag promises to include at least $150 worth of products. Here's what I got in my box: Natasha Denona Zendo Eyeshadow Palette $65 YANO SERIES By Beautylish Make Up Brush 05 $65 Good Molecules Gentle Retinol Cream 30ml $8 DM Colorfix Mattes Waterproof Matte Liquid Pigment in Shade Plum Wine $18 Wayne Goss The Luxury Cream Lipstick in Shade Macadamia $28 Slip Pure Silk Skinny Scrunchie $10 (estimated as I can't find individual ones for sale) The overall value of the items in the box was approximately £145. Contents of my Beautylish Original Lucky Bag 2022 Natasha Denona Zendo Eyeshadow Palette My favourite item was the Natasha Denona palette as I have heard a lot of good things about this brand, but have not tried any of the palettes. This palette has a nice selection of neutrals and greens, blues & coral shades which I cant wait to tr...

I posted recently about the Kiehl's Family Rewards loyalty scheme  here .  One of the benefits is that you receive a birthday gift.  Depending on your tier (amount of points you have collected) there are 3 different birthday gift options - Fan, Friend or family treat.  My sister and I received different gifts as I have enough points for the Friend tier and she is on the Fan tier. Fan Tier Birthday Gift Includes the following: - Midnight Recovery Concentrate Sample 4ml - Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate Sample 5ml - Ultra Facial Cream Sample 7ml Friend Tier Birthday Gift Includes the following: - Powerful Strength Line Reducing Concentrate Sample 5ml - Ultra Light Daily UV Defence Aqua Gel Sample  5ml - Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Whipped Body Butter 15ml - Ultra Facial Cream Sample 7ml - Facial Fuel Energizing Moisture Treatment For Men Sample 15ml I think both of these birthday gifts make joining Kiehl's Family Rewards well worth it.  If...

I occasionally visit the The York Designer Outlet   to grab a few bargains.  Here's a recent haul from The Cosmetics Company Store. Clinique ID Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly (includes the hydrating jelly base 115ml and the active cartridge concentrate for uneven skin tone) 10ml - RRP £38 usual price in store £28.50 I bought it on offer for £15.  Bargain. Clinique ID Dramatically Different Moisturising BB-Gel (includes the moisturising BB-gel 115ml and the active cartridge concentrate for pores and uneven texture) 10ml - RRP £38 paid £28.50 (there was an offer on in store, I think it was if you spent over a certain amount on Clinique that you received a free product I can't remember if it was spend over £30 or £40). Clinique Moisture Surge 72-hour Auto-Replenishing Hydrator 30ml.  I received this free for purchasing the 2 items above. I couldn't find an exact match but there was something similar costing £25 on Boots website (I'm presuming the item I r...

Since my last post about my purchases from small businesses on Esty ( here ), I have made a couple more purchases (I had forgotten how much I love to shop).   I am currently planning my outfit for my sisters wedding later in the year (hopefully it will happen this time as it's the 3rd time she's rearranged the date in the last year).  I am trying to decide how to wear my hair as I don't really wear it down very often as it's curly and I worry about getting the frizzes. I thought I would try a headband to at least keep it out of my face so I don't keep touching it and making it frizzy (I worry it's frizzy so I touch it to check if it's frizzy and low and behold because I keep touching it to check, it gets frizzy).  Anyway I decided to buy a couple of headbands with faux gemstones which I thought were really pretty. I bought the Fluorite chipped gemstone headband for £8.50 and the Blue electroplated glass bead headband for £8 (plus £1.75 postage) and I l...

Another step in being more sustainable is moving to reusable straws.  I wouldn't say I use straws loads as I wouldn't use a straw for a hot drink and I usually drink from cans but I should try to use them more as I want to try and protect my teeth from damage as I do drink a lot of Pepsi Max (but that's a whole other story).   I saw these stainless steel and glass reusable straws at Poundland for £1 each (obviously) and thought they were worth a try. The stainless steel ones are all identical with the bend at the top.   They come in packs of 4 and they can be used with hot or cold drinks and a cleaning brush is included.  Cleaning them is easy, you just hand wash them using the cleaning brush which takes a couple of minutes max.  They are hand wash only so can't be put in the dishwasher.  It does advise you to take care using it with hot drinks as the straw may become hot but as I mentioned before I don't really ...

Guys, I just wanted to let you know that TK Maxx are selling some Real Techniques brushes at bargain prices. Here's what I picked up: PowderBleu Collection Soft Complexion Brush & Soft Finishing Brush - £5.99. I was so pleased to get my hands on these as I really wanted to try out some brushes from this collection. I think these brushes originally retailed at over £24.99. I also picked up the Bold Metals Collection Tapered Shadow brush for £4.99 and the MultiTech Collection Point XL brush for full face application and blending for £5.99 both originally retailed at £14.99 . Finally, I also bought the Brush Crush Diamond Sponge for £3.99 (originally retailed at £12.99). Really happy with my purchases and these additions to my brush and sponge collection. It's always worth popping into TK Maxx to see what bargains they have in store (I managed to pick up some Chanel nail polishes for £7.99 not long ago (check out my post here ). If you can't find the brush...

I wanted to do a really quick post to let you know that there are some bargain Elegant Touch Express 3 Minute Manicure False Nails available in Superdrug stores right now (none of the cheap ones are available online).  I bought 4 different styles for 80p or 90p each (£3.40 in total for all 4 products).  I really like these nails as they are quick and easy to apply due to the fact that they are pre-glued. The 4 that I bought were - Deep Navy, Cornflower Blue, Neon Roses & Pink Foil.  They are currently on the Elegant Touch website for £7.99 each.  If you want to grab a bargain, hurry down to Superdrug to see if they have any left. Leigh I bought these products with my own money

I went into Leeds city centre on Black Friday to check out if there were any beauty bargains to be had and I was very happy with my purchases.  Hopefully they will still be available this weekend if you want to pick them up for yourselves.  They would make great Christmas presents, but I have to admit that I bought them all for me.  Here's what I bought: Victoria's Secret Scandalous Dare Eau de Parfum - 50ml.  This was £48 down to £25.  All the 50ml perfumes where reduced to £25 instore on Black Friday, so it's definitely a great time to pick one up if there are any on your wish list. Pixi Gift of Glow - was £72 now £30 at Marks & Spencer.  I had this on my wish list , so I was thrilled that there was such a great discount on this box set (I bought one for my sister as well).  There are 4 full size products included - Glow Tonic (250ml), Makeup Melting Cleansing Cloths (40 cloths), Glow Mud Cleanser (135ml) & Rose Oil Blend...