Pre-Christmas Collective Haul

Post-Birthday & Pre-Christmas Collective Haul | Featuring. Lush, The Body Shop, Soap & Glory, Clarins, Clinique, Avon, Superdrug, Primark, New Look, ASDA, and a couple of gifts. 

 

..That is what I wanted to call this post, but that's just crazy long, so I decided to shorten it down to just Pre-Christmas Collective Haul. Mannn, I have done a lot of shopping in these past 2-3 weeks. I can just hear my poor bank account crying out for me to leave it alone now!




I've had multiple shopping bags sitting in the corner of my room for the past two and a half weeks which was ideally supposed to be full of Christmas presents but when it came to sorting through it all and wrapping up presents last night I discovered that 'gifts for others' vs 'gifts for myself' was quite disproportionate: 22 things for friends, family and boyfriend ..57 for myself. Season for giving?! Slap on the wrist for me this month!

I didn't realise that it had gotten that extreme, but I do love a good shop! It's so difficult to resist things when there's so many good offers on at this time of year and going out shopping for others is something that cannot be avoided. I'll hold my hand up and say that I don't at all enjoy the experience of Christmas shopping; I find it stressful and unpleasant as I hate shopping in busy and crowded environments with cheesy Christmas songs blasting down my ears with chavvy mums ramming their prams into me trying to get past down aisles that are too small, with the added pressure of wanting to find something really special that will truely spoil someone that you care about and will put a big smile on their face Christmas morning! So, to soften the hard task that is shopping for others I pick little treats up for myself along the way :) Everything here obviously wasn't bought all in one go.. I wouldn't have the biceps capable of carrying it all back home again! It was a gradual and accumulative process.

I also had my birthday at the end of November so received lots of birthday spends that were to be used to treat myself, and treat myself I have done!! I'm sure I'll be finding a way to justify everything that I picked up for myself.. read on to find out what I've spoilt myself with and what my excuses are!

Lush
I've already done a whole separate post dedicated to this box of goodies that I ordered online a couple of weeks ago using some of my birthday money. I went all out and ordered 9 little treats and received 1 free sample of 'Fun'. My box includes 4 Christmas limited edition items including Snow Fairy shower gel, Bubblebeard bubble bar, Christmas Eve bubble bar and The Melting Snowman bath melt. I also ordered a hair mask (H'suan Wen Hua), a fresh face mask (Love Lettuce), a massage bar (Soft Coeur), a spot treatment (Grease Lightning), and a solid shampoo bar (New). Safe to say this box smells amaaazing and you can read a little bit more about it here: LINK.


 

The Body Shop
If you didn't already know, this month's issue of Glamour magazine includes a Joy Card inside it which entitles the reader to either a £3, £10, or £100 voucher for The Body Shop but you won't know how much is on it until you take it instore. This months Glamour mag was a special price of £1.50 so I knew that even if I got a £3 voucher it would still be a saving and I'd put it to good use - I looove The Body Shop! Yes, I got a £3.00 voucher and it can only be used on full price items and not in conjunction with any other promotions so I spent it on something that has been on my 'lust list' for a while and even featured on my 'Christmas Wish List' (link) and it was the Almond Hand and Nail Cream (RRP £5.00 for 30ml), so that ended up being a little £2 treat to slip in my bag.

Soap & Glory
I'm quite new to the Soap & Glory fan club and have only tried a couple of bits, but Scrub Your Nose In It is now a staple in my skin care routine and Hand Food has a firm place on my bedside table, along with Mist You Madly being my perfect on-the-go refresher. I wanted to branch out a little bit more and try the Glad Hair Day Shampoo after hearing Corrie (Dizzybrunette3 - link) talk about this in her hair care routine video and she has amazing hair so it can't be bad! Soap & Glory is almost permanently on a 3 for 2 offer in Boots so I thought I may as well throw in the Glad Hair Day Conditioner and Intensive Conditioner too and try out the whole range together.

 

The day that I had nipped to town for a few more Christmas presents happened to be the same day that Boots reduced their price of the Soap and Glory BEST OF ALL Giftset to better than half price. The previous day, lots of bloggers had been hyping this offer up on Twitter, saying how they couldn't wait to get down to Boots early and snap one up before they all sold out, and I wasn't really that fazed or tempted by this hype.. until I was actually in Boots and saw that there was tower piled high with these giftsets and thought, 'oh it's right here infront of me, everyone keeps banging on about it, might as well get one while I can!'. So I did. Happy Christmas Hannah! The set cost £27.00, originally costing £60.00 and contains 9 full size products which individually total over £70.00 - Talk about a bargain! The set includes: The Righteous Butter body butter, Hand Food hand cream, Sugar Crush body scrub, Clean On Me shower gel, Smoothie Star body milk, Heel Genius foot mask, Peaches and Clean cleanser (been on my wishlist for ages!), Sexy Mother Pucker lip plumper, Thick and Fast mascara, plus the great big pink bag that they come in too!

 

Clarins and Clinique
It's pretty rare for me to ever buy myself high end products; I can't ever seem to justify such a large amount of money for just one product, so these two items were a real indulgence for me that I splurged on whilst Debenhams had a 15% sale on beauty and fragrance. I got the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and the Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in 05 Plushest Punch, a vibrant hot pink. I am cherishing these two very dearly and would easily say they're my favourite things in this entire haul, they just feel so luxurious and I wish that everything I own could be from Clarins and Clinique!

 

Avon
I ordered more than this from my Avon representative but returned most of them and was left with just these three products, which were part of a '3 for £10' deal which is a pretty great bargain. All I really wanted was the Supershock Mascara (this one has limited edition Christmas packaging), and the incredibly vibrant blue Nailwear Pro+ Nail Varnish in 'Cosmic Blue', but when the mascara costs £8 and the nail varnish is £6 is seemed crazy not to get a third product and only pay £10 for all three! I wasn't sure what to get and just gambled with a mineral powder foundation as I've never tried one before.

Superdrug and Body Care
MUA clear mascara - £1. Technic highlighter - 99p. Who's a bargain shopper? Me, but only sometimes. I've been wanting a little something to fix my eyebrows in place better and have been lusting after a Mac Brow Set but I didn't want to part with £12.50 for something that is a reported 'love/hate' product so played it safe with a £1 clear mascara that I actually paid for using my Superdrug points! I've heard fantastic things about this super cheap highlighter from Body Care and it is an apparent dupe for Benefit's ..Highbeam? (I think?) so I wanted to give it a little try out for myself.



Primark
Just a few cheap and simple bits from Primark; it's been too busy to have a decent rummage recently. I am absolutely loving their bargainous mega cheap but on trend jewellery that can be found in other high street shops for up to five times the price!! My friend got these Primark earrings for her birthday and when I saw that they were only £1 I just said 'Sorry, I'm going to have to copy and get some for myself'! Then I found this shirt reduced from £12 to £5 but I don't know why it's reduced? It isn't damaged and there was a whole rail full of them reduced too, in all sizes from 6-20 (or whatever it goes up to), so perhaps it's 'past season' or something? But anyway, it's pretty and thought it would be something nice to wear out to an evening meal somewhere. And then I got some tights, because who doesn't need super cosy warm thick tights in December??

New Look
My excuse for this one is that I had a credit note from last December when I returned something after Christmas but didn't have the receipt, and these credit notes expire after 12 months so I desperately didn't want almost £40.00 to go to waste by it expiring! I'm not so much a huge fan of New Look clothes, there's the odd good thing but I never have the energy to search through the tacky stuff but I was very happy with this quilted jacket that I found for £34.99. It's pretty casual, easy to wear, fitted style, light but really warm too - better than a wasted credit note anyway!

 
 

ASDA
These are what you could regard as 'essentials', except Glamour.. but it was cheaper than usual and I wanted the Joy Card for The Body Shop! I was shopping for presents in ASDA as it's great for stocking fillers and the likes of alcohol, chocolate, DVDs etc so I couldn't resist stocking up on some everyday bits while I was there; cleanser, mini deodrant, face wipes and lip balm!

 

Gifts

These were all gifts that I was extremely lucky to receive these past few weeks! Firstly is my 'International Beauty Bloggers Secret Santa' gift that was organised by the lovely Sandra at The Puzzle of Sandra's Life (link) and my gift was from the host herself - Thank you Sandra! All the way from Slovenia I was sent a Christmas hand cream from the brand Essence as well as three nail varnishes, a L'Oreal Caresse Lipstick and some chocolate - yummy! Secondly, I've been a moody/hormonal little bitch the last week and in an attempt to put a smile back on my grumpy little face my boyfriend bought me a present.. Topshop Green Room! It definitely made me smile; the boy knows the way to my heart that's for sure. And then, as if I didn't already have enough nail varnish my Nanna rolled up with a little bag and said that she'd cleared out her collection and was donating some nail varnishes to me that she no longer wants. None of the colours struck me as too exciting, but when someone is offering to give you the likes of OPI and Leighton Denny it isn't something you turn your nose up at!

 

Aaaand that's it! Finally! Well done if you made it to the end - haha!

 

I'm not sure why some of the picture quality is really clear on some pictures and a bit crummy and fuzzy on others but I'm still trying to learn my way around the settings on my new camera; one day I'll learn when the 'close up' option is appropriate and when it isn't. I would love some kind of photography training course one day, just to get me up to speed with the basics, I feel a little useless with my snaps.

 

But anyway, thank you for reading, hope you've enjoyed!

♥

 

Review: Avon Moroccan Argan Oil

Hello to my beautiful readers, for the third post in a row I'm going to bring you a product review and don't worry if you're super bored of my reviews by now because the next few posts I have lined up are a nail post, an outfit post, a haul post and some storage too, to stay tuned all next week.

Today I'm going to talk about one of Avon's new products - their Moroccan Argan Hair Oil.

I wrote a little post a few weeks ago just outlining which bits and bobs I ordered my new Avon representative and you can see the other items that I picked up in the post HERE. This 30ml bottle has a standard RRP of £5.50 but at the time I picked it up it was part of a special introductory offer of £2.99 and now on Avon's website it costs £3.50. Across different blogs that I have seen this featured on I have seen a variation between the three prices that have been paid for it but regardless of the price that you find it for; £5.50, £3.50 or £2.99; I would still definitely recommend that you pick one of these up without hesitation.

Avon actually chop and change between describing this as an 'oil treatment' and a 'styling serum' - two quite different things in my eyes. What I expected when buying this argan oil and vitamin E enriched product would be long term healing results on my damaged ends; why I had that idea I'm not so sure because that is nothing that Avon advertises about the product. It is however very nourishing and does add incredible shine to my hair. What I like about this is that it can be used on wet or dry hair and the pump dispenser makes it incredibly easy to avoid wasting product and dispensing the right amount. As with most products it is trial and error to see how much you personally need for you hair but I have medium length, extremely thick hair and I find that two pumps is appropriate. I like to apply one pump throughout my ends when it is wet and then a second pump through when it is dry and my ends feel so silky smooth and look shiny but not greasy!

This never, ever makes my hair feel greasier any quicker than usual so the claim of 'no residue' is true and I feel the need to mention the smell of this is absolutely beautiful. I'm not sure if there is going to be any long term benefits to my hair using this although I'm not too concerned about that because for the incredibly cheap price it does a brilliant job of a quick fix to smooth frizz and add shine. Considering other oils similar to this can cost £20-£30 and above this is great and I would definitely repurchase it when I run out.

 

 

♥

Huge Collective September Haul

Ooops. My spending ban failed. 

Here are the many, many items that slipped through the net....

Haul posts are actually my favourite posts to read, along with mini reviews such as monthly favourites and empties, but I know that they may not be to everybody's preference. So, instead of boring my readers and overloading everybody's dashboards with first an Avon haul, then a Superdrug haul, then a Topshop one, then an Asos one, then an eBay and miscellaneous one, etc etc, I thought I would combine them all into one quite lengthy collective haul.

Avon
Yesterday's haul post was all about the bits and bobs that I ordered from my new Avon representative a few weeks ago. They were an absolute bargain and I got 8 products for less than £15! If you want to see in more detail which bits I picked up then you can see the full post here: link.

Superdrug
When I arrived back at uni at the start of this month ready for a fortnight of 'freshers' antics, I realised that one of the things I had forgotten to pack up in my make-up etc was false eyelashes! For me, these are a must have for a night out to complete the glamorous look. I'd heard that Superdrug were having a 3 for £10 deal on Eyelure lashes but when I got there this offer was nowhere to be seen and must have finished. What I did find instead was this packet of 116's with a free extra pair inside. These cost £5.25 and I got 10% student discount too.

Topshop

A few weeks ago Topshop had free delivery on all orders to celebrate London Fashion Week and being a student who gets 10% off too, it was too hard to resist putting in an order. I was very well restrained with my order and all I wanted was a top that I'd had my eye on for a while and wanted to wear to a 21st party at the weekend paired with a maxi skirt. I got this black, printed cross cropped top* which costs £12.00 and by Topshop's prices that's pretty reasonable. The quality is very good and it's a flattering fit too. I like it because it's pretty basic so can be worn on a casual day, e.g. to lectures with a pair of jeans or can be glammed up and worn on a night out. I actually ended up being too ill to attend the 21st party at the weekend so instead I am planning on wearing this top on an upcoming night out in Manchester - stay tuned for an OOTN! I also got a pair of skeleton socks* for £3.50 because they're different, a bit quirky and I thought they'd be fun for Halloween. Topshop also threw me in some freebies of their magazine and a tote bag - thanks guys. 

ASOS

I'm such a sucker for an ASOS order on a rainy day. I can always rely on their reliable service, speedy free delivery, hassle free returns, reasonable prices and not to mention the student discount. It's the student discount that gets me everrrry time! For a limited time (48hours I think it was) ASOS were holding 25% student discount on everything on their site. I managed to ignore the temptation for this 48 hours but then fell into the trap when the discount was extended for an extra day and I placed an order. Only a little one though so that makes it okay. I only got 3 things and they had all been in my 'save for later' list for quite a long time. I got a holdall bag* to use when travelling between university and home and for any long weekend trips that I might take in the future. It's plenty big enough to hold everything that I need; good sturdy quality; nice and basic with plenty of pockets and compartments; and best of all it's pink and girly. This costs £17.50 in the sale reduced from £35 (link). I got two basic clothing items that can be worn again and again in different ways: a coral strapless skater dress* reduced to £8 from £14 in their sale (link) and a grey long sleeved crop jumper* that cost £15. 

TK Maxx

You can see my post from a few days ago here (link) of a couple of hair and nails bits and pieces that I found amongst the mess of TK Maxx. I've already talked quite a bit about them in the post that I did on them so won't talk about them again here!

eBay

I ordered three things from eBay this month, one of them (my favourite) I am still waiting to arrive and was warned that it can take up to 25 working days(!) to arrive as it is coming all the way from China. The other two are both related to nail art and will feature in upcoming nail posts when I have experimented with them. I've seen sets of nail art dotting tools on a few blogs before and can be used to create multiple effects on the nails - I ordered mine from this seller here (link) for just £1.18. I also just got a little pack of nail stickers to try out, nothing mind-blowing though - I ordered mine from this seller here (link) for 99p.

Miscellaneous 

Wilkinsons - Again, something that I have already done a post on this month was some cheap and cheerful 'home decor' bits that I got from Wilkinsons to perk up my uni bedroom and wrote a post called 'Make A House A Home'. What I didn't mention in this post though was a pair of concealers that I got myself from their beauty section. I got the coveted Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer as I have never tried it before and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I've thrown away the receipt now but I think this cost £4.19 and I definitely understand the hype now that I've tried it! Super easy application and extremely high coverage that lasts nearly all day for a bargain price - love it. I also got the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer as my beloved YSL Touche Eclat is coming to a finish and I need to find myself a cheaper dupe so thought I'd start with this. I've been using this for a few days as an under-eye brightening concealer and so far so good. This cost £6.98.

Nouveau Beauty - As I have a huge girl crush on Millie Mackintosh I decided I would try out some of her false eyelashes that she has recently released. I got the thickest and fullest of the 8 pairs and they're called Shoreditch. You can order them yourself here (link) for £8.95 each with free delivery, or you can see my full post on them here (link).

Pure Naturals - I saw this Healing Scars Face Scrub* on somebody's else blog after they had been sent it and reviewed it. I wrote down the blog that I saw it on to give some credit for influencing my life but when I went searching for it again to link the post it was no where to be seen! Not sure what happened there. But anyway, I read a glowing review on how this all natural face scrub helps to fade away scarring and also speed up the healing process of damaged skin. I like the sound of it containing all natural ingredients and I have scarring on my face so I was up for giving this a try. Pure Naturals has all sorts of natural products on their site to help with body, hair and face problems such as acne, eczema and psoriasis as well as scarring, so if you're troubled with any of these then maybe it's a site worth checking out. My scrub cost £6.95 and you can find it here: (link).

 

I think that's everything!

There might be something that I have forgotten to include but I think that this post is long enough.

Nobody let me buy anything else now!!

♥

*I know that some people are against bloggers using stock photos instead of their own, but I've lost my lead to connect to my laptop so could not upload my own pictures, sorry. I've marked items with stock photos used with (*) and they are all pictures taken from the website that I ordered from.

Splashing Out At Avon | Haul

Once upon a time, I used to be Avon representative. 

It wasn't a very fun job at all and I certainly didn't reap all of the benefits that they promise to you. Working on 11% commission only on sales over £75 is hardly a big earner and a lot more time and effort goes into the process than is originally advertised. You must go essentially go door to door around your neighbourhood, or pester the other females in your life, delivering and handing out brochures in hope that someone will flick through and place an order. A few days later you must then trek back out again to collect these brochures from every house and people are supposed to leave them on the doorstep with their orders filled in but many people do not do this and you must pester them for it. Then, online you must order each of the products ordered by your customers and they are delivered to you, to your house. Here comes the bad part: you must then go out again to each customers house, this time with their products, and deliver them but also collect the money in cash there and then from the person. What happens if you go all the way to a persons house with their order and they aren't in? You can't leave it on the doorstep and walk away, then you haven't collected the money for it. So that is the tricky part of actually making sure that people are in and have cash available to pay to you when you arrive. By the time you have stopped pestering your customers, handed out their products and collected payment, you must then send away all of the money you collected and send it off to Avon. If you are short on the amount of money collected for some reason, maybe you couldn't get hold of somebody or maybe they changed their mind, then the money must come out of your own pocket to make up for it. Also, each customer is entitled to a refund too if they so wish and this must come out of your own pocket. All in all, not a simple process! 

On my first attempt I made sales of £32, so received no commission. On my second attempt I made sales of £45. But still received zero commission because I hadn't reached the £75 sales threshold. By this time I decided to give up as I had badgered my neighbours, family, and my mum's work colleagues for 2 months and had put in a lot of my own time to deliver their products to receive nothing in return for it. 

So, one day last month when an Avon brochure landed up on my doorstep for the first time since I moved house, I realised that some poor soul must be trying their hardest to make a few sales so I had sympathy and put in an order to help them out! Avon has never really been a brand that has appealed to me and for some reason I think it's always had the stigmata that it is for older people. I had a good flick through and saw a lot of things that caught my eye - here is what I ordered:

(I haven't tried a single one of these products yet so there will be reviews to come, I just want to show everybody what is out there and the range of products that are available; there is more than just nail varnish and foundation sold by Avon!)

Morroccan Argon Oil Leave In Treatment 30ml - £2.99
This was going to be a sure order for me. It's currently Avon's featured product with an introductory price of just £2.99 (usually £5.00). I've seen this pop up on blogs time and time again and each time the review on it was positive. I'm a huge fan of using oil on the ends of my hair and I am looking forward to trying out a super cheap alternative to others on the market and seeing how it lives up to the other leading brands.

Morcoccan Argan Oil Shampoo 250ml - £1.50

Moroccan Argan Oil Conditioner 250ml - £1.50
If I was getting the leave in oil treatment I thought that I might as well go all out and get a matching set of shampoo and conditioner to reap the full benefits and get the advertised '360 nourishment'. At £1.50 for a 250ml bottle that's an absolute steal and it isn't going to be the end of the world if I don't love it.

Acai Berry & Shea Oil Hair Souffle 125ml - £1.25
Ever the lover of deep conditioning masks and leave-in treatments to help out my damaged hair I couldn't resist ordering a hair 'souffle'. I've never heard of a mask be called a souffle before so I don't know if there's an actually difference or if it's just Avon trying to be different. The directions say to distribute evenly throughout wet hair after shampooing, leave for 5 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. It smells absolutely GORGEOUS and I love that there is a warning on the tub that the product is not edible! The tub isn't very big so I'm not sure how long this will last but I am looking forward to rotating this into my shower routine and hope it will nourish my hair a bit.

Strawberry and White Chocolate Shower Gel 200ml - £1.30
I don't need another shower gel at all, I have a cupboard full of bottles waiting to be used! I was attracted to the idea of a strawberry and white chocolate scent though and it won me over by being so cheap too. This is something a bit different to the usual scented shower gels that you find and I thought that I would enjoy it and at least give it a try.

Blemish Clearing 3-in-1 Cleanser/Scrub/Mask 125ml - £5.00

Blackhead Clearing Daily Cleanser 125ml - £4.50

Pore Penetrating Invigorating Scrub 75ml - £4.00
I've been looking to try out a new skin care regime for quite a long time as mine is a bit all over the place at the moment. I do use a cleanser, exfoliator, toner and moisturiser but each one is from a different brand and I feel that if they were all from the same brand or range then they would work in harmony with each other and the results would be stronger. If my thoughts on this are true or false could somebody let me know??
Anyway, Avon stocked three different ranges in their skincare: Blemish Clearing, Blackhead Clearing and Pore Penetrating and across all of the ranges there was an offer of 3 for £6. I couldn't decide which range I wanted to go for as I could do with benefits from all three, so opted for one thing from each range to give them a try and see what I think. I was originally just going to go with the 3-in-1 Cleanser for £5, but if I could get another 2 products for an extra £1 it would be silly not to! I made a fantastic saving of £7.50 with this offer and got almost two products for free.

Total: £14.54

I think that's such a bargain price for 8 products, including a shampoo, conditioner, oil treatment, deep conditioner, shower gel and full skin care set! All of the items appear to be good quality too so the quality isn't compromised with the price.

Do you ever order from Avon? Have you ever been a representative too?

♥