Christmas 2012 & Gifts

 

Hello!

I hope you've all had a really wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the overload of festivity over the past couple of days - I know I have! I have definitely consumed enough alcohol, chocolate, turkey and pigs in blankets to be able to last me until Christmas 2013. I've been carrying a little food baby around with me all day today and had a total of 4 outfit changes last night in order to find something that hid my super bloated tummy! Damn all those Christmas puddings and fruit ciders.

 

I've been totally in two minds about the 'What I Got For Christmas' posts and was originally really keen to write one up myself . I have read every single one that I've seen so far and had a huge nosy on Instagram on Christmas afternoon of all the uploaded opened present pictures; I just find them really interesting to look at! But when I heard people saying it's bragging and nothing more than showing off how spoilt you are and that put me right off doing one! I don't want to be a braggy show off :( I doubt anybody intends it that way at all, and that's not the way I see it either, it's just any other haul post really isn't it? But little old me worries about judgement from others (even though I shouldn't) and thought that maybe instead I should just not mention anything at all and individually review each of the beauty items over time. In the end I settled on a compromise and I've just combined a quick Christmas recap and a really brief mention of the presents because most are beauty related and girly but I'll still be doing full reviews of all of them so keep your eyes peeled because there'll be exciting stuff coming up in future posts!

 

Christmas was a little different for our family this year and I was apprehensive in the run up to it all, fearing that as we weren't sticking to our usual traditions that it wouldn't feel like Christmas at all - but all my worrying was for nothing and Christmas Day and all of the surrounding days were just as lovely as usual! Christmas Eve was spent cosy infront of the fire watching The Grinch and Prince Caspian and eating chinese takeaway after I had pampered myself to the absolute extreme, before lying in bed for hours and hours being too excited to sleep (seriously, how old?!) and it felt like I'd only had my eyes closed for a second before my sister came bounding in dragging me up to open our presents at quarter past 7! After all presents had been opened and 'thank you's had been exchanged then the preparation for Christmas dinner began and this year we were hosting the family dinner at our house - it is usually at my grandparent's house and they have 14 of us round for dinner but they just didn't feel up to the stress of it this year!

 

It's rubbish quality but here's a picture of my mum's idea of funny.. dressing the four of us in matching Christmas jumpers from Primark! I kept mine on all day but nobody else did :(

 

..And my mum clearly gets her sense of humour from her own mother because here is the family Christmas present from our Gran.. make of it what you will!

 

I don't want to ramble on too much about my Christmas Day but after our yummy three course meal we wound down with cups of tea and plenty of family laughs and a couple more present exchanges and a dip in the hot tub! My boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend both came around in the evening and we had a buffet style tea and then even more present exchanges! Followed by more stuffing our faces with sweets and cider before lying in bed watching The Dark Knight Rises feeling 3 stone heavier!! Boxing Day.. same again! Huuge family meal but this time followed by a girls night out in town and I really enjoyed myself - today is recovery day though.

 

My 'main present' from my parents was a laptop that I got early because my old one died a slow and painful death back in October, and mostly from my relatives I received money and cheques which I've used for just one treat in the sales and that's a new YSL Touche Eclat, and all of the rest of the money will be put towards a 2013 summer holiday! The pictures below are my 'stocking fillers' and the presents I received from my sister, boyfriend and boyfriend's mum - Of course I'm a very lucky girl to have received all of these really lovely things and I'm very grateful and appreciate them all!

 

Zip Hoodie (Topshop) from John, Christmas Jumper (Primark) from my mum, Embellished Jumper (Dorothy Perkins) from John's family, Studded lace body (Primark) from my mum, Dress (Republic) from my sister.

Nail Varnishes - High Voltage and Razmatazz (Topshop) and Studded Phone Clutch (Urban Outfitters) from John, Lock and Key Charm (Pandora) from John, Desperate Housewives Season 8 from John, Lady Million EDP from John, Perfume Set from Grandma, Pandora Mirror from my mum, Next Jewellery from a friend of the family. 

Lee Stafford Argan Oil Gift Set from my mum, Ojon Rare Blend Oil from my mum, Moroccanoil from John, Philip Kingsley Conditioner and Elasticizer from my Nanna.
How exciting!! Beauty lovers dream!!

More stocking fillers; some from my mum and some from my sister. Chocolate and sweets, beauty bits; deodrant, moisturiser, eyelashes, candles, socks and PJs!

 Every year it seems the build up to Christmas is so huge and the day can sometimes not live up to it's enormous hype, but this year I didn't feel too excited in the countdown to the big day but I enjoyed myself 10x more - or atleast that's what it felt like but I'm sure I say that it was my 'best Christmas ever' every single year!

 

I've well and truly indulged myself in an excessive amount of food and drink, spent quality time with all of my family and had lots of fun nights out with my friends, and been spoilt with beautiful gifts!

I hope that Christmas was as good for all of you as it was for me!

♥ ♥ ♥

Topshop Nails | Glimmer

 

I am yet to find disappointment with a Topshop nail varnish. Every single one that I have tried and tested has lived up to and exceeded my expectations. The shade range is fantastic and the colours in the bottle match up to how they look on the nail so you definitely know what to expect with each one. With a variety of mattes that range from pastels, brights and darks to metallics, glitters and crackle effects, you can be spoilt for choice when making a decision of which bottle to choose.

 

This is the first metallic shade that I have bought from Topshop and although they cost a little more than the regular matte shades (£6.00 instead of £5.00), they are more than worth the money. For 8ml of product £6.00 is a fair price for exceptional quality, beautiful colour and long lasting wear time. ‘Glimmer’ is a subtle and light, yellow toned metallic gold shade that is full of shimmer and catches the light beautifully. The consistency of this one was a little different to others from Topshop that I have tried and seemed to be a lot thinner and applied quite sheer – but fear not because with just two coats you can achieve all the opacity that is required for a beautiful, seasonally appropriate, shiny gold sheen to your nails. Really smooth application, very fast drying, and from past experience these have lasted more than just a few days before chipping. So far I have had my nails painted this colour for four days and there’s not a chip in sight and I have had quite a few compliments on them too. I’d like to point out that I felt there was no need for a top coat with this polish as it gave quite a high shine finish already and I knew that they were pretty chip resistant.

Metallic shades are ones that I shy away from normally which is just down to personal preference, but after ‘Glimmer’ catching my eye in store I felt I needed to try it and I am really glad that I did. This is bad news for the shopping addict inside of me though, because now not only do I feel the need to extend my collection of Topshop mattes; starting with Milkshake and Green Room, I also want to branch out and try more metallic variations.

What are your views on Topshop nails?

♥

Topshop, Superdrug and Yankee Candle Haul

Hi.. My name's Hannah and I have a problem.

I used all the willpower that I have inside of me and it was still no use in helping me to resist going for a little shop and buying lots of new things. I've been feeling a little down recently and the one thing that cheers me up better than anything else, yes, even better than Ben and Jerrys and a cup of tea ..is shopping! I had a little splurge on Topshop make up, picked up a few skin and hair care items in Superdrug, placed an online order with Yankee Direct, and also one with Models Own (eep!).

Topshop

 

I got myself two new nail varnishes (not that I need any more), one metallic shade 'Glimmer' (£6.00) and a matte shade 'Celestial' (£5.00). The shade 'Celestial' was chosen by my giveaway winner so I picked up one for her and liked the look of it so much that I got one for myself too. After much swatching and a handful of pink streaks down the back of my hand I decided on a bright pink matte lipstick in the shade 'All About Me' (£8.00). Finally, after eyeing up the 'Sunbeam' highlighter for about a year I saw Kayleigh's review on the 'Crescent Moon' one a couple of days ago and decided that one looked like a far nicer shade so changed my intentions and headed straight for 'Crescent Moon' (£10.00) instead. I held them side by side each other in the shop and there is quite a considerable colour difference between the two, and even the description on the packaging; 'Crescent Moon' is listed as 'white' and 'Sunbeam' is listed as 'yellow'.

Superdrug

I was disappointed when I got to Boots and found that their 3 for 2 offer isn't on anymore because I had a big long mental list of things that I wanted to get! However, I hadn't been browsing long when quite a scummy looking pregnant lady started causing a scene in the middle of the store. At first there was just a few raised voices and as I couldn't quite see where the commotion was coming from I just assumed it was a woman telling off her child.. but then the shouting continued and when I heard the line 'f**king touch me again and I'll kill you' I knew this was more than a mother and child incident! It continued to 'get your hands off me, I'm waiting until the police get here' and 'I'm pregnant, you've assaulted my baby' and because the voices were so, so loud the entire store had stopped what they were doing and were engrossed in watching this argument. Human nature prevailed and I peeked around the ailses to find the source of the trouble and it was infact between a woman and a security guard! I have no idea how this whole situation started off but I popped my head around the corner just in time to see her swing an almighty punch right in the security guard's face!! This is most certainly not something I am used to seeing at 1pm on a Friday in the middle of Boots! The security guard kept his cool the best he could while another guard ran to help the situation and the woman started angrily thrashing her arms around to get away and started pushing and kicking all of the surrounding stands! It really was quite an experience to see - Benefit and Clarins products flying through the air, lipsticks scattered everywhere, skin care smashing across the floor - wow! As curious as I was I thought it was best I scooted myself out of the store before it went any further as it was pretty certain she was about to be arrested and I didn't want to be one of those gawping members of the public that just stands and watches it all go down, so I quickly escaped and ran to Superdrug instead!

That was nothing to do with my shopping, I just wanted to tell the story! But incase you didn't know Superdrug is now running a 3 for 2 offer instead, only on cosmetics/make up though. I picked up three Nivea items; a raspberry lip butter (£1.25), a rich moisturiser to combat the dry skin that winter brings (£3.00), and their newly released moisturiser/primer that every girl and their grandma seems to be talking about recently (£3.99). I also picked up the VO5 moisture soak elixir (£4.25) that is regularly raved about by Lily - I did think it seemed a little pricey for what it is so I hope that it works! On a complete whim I picked up something I have never seen before and that is the Tresemme Liquid Gold Restorative Treatment (£3.45) and I only really got it because it was on offer and I liked the name 'liquid gold' *big sigh*.

Models Own

Following my ridiculous splurge during the Models Own 50% Summer Sale I have found a new favourite brand of nail varnish. I think they’re spot on with the quality and the price is great – plus their shade range seems to be never ending. It feels like only a week ago Models Own brought out the Mirrorball collection, a collection that didn’t really tempt me, but now they’ve brought out the Wonderland collection for winter and oh my. I. am. in. LOVE! The collection consists of five different types of glitter polishes and I wanted to exercise at least some restraint by not buying the entire set and only selecting two. After trawling the Internet for good quality swatches I settled for Jack Frost and Northern Lights. I am extremely happy with my choice and I just cannot stop staring at the beauty in a bottle. I don’t think that Northern Lights comes across as well as it could do in the pictures, but trust me it is beautiful! (£5.00 each).

Yankee Candle

Whilst in a spontaneously festive mood I ordered 11 Yankee Candle tarts from Yankee Direct which are predominately Christmas scented - it's never too early! The scents include 'Christmas Tree', 'Christmas Cookie', 'Christmas Cupcake', and 'Christmas Eve' - Christmas Eve has a smell? Really? I also picked up some others that are just generally seasonal appropriate: 'Cinnamon Stick', 'Spiced Orange', 'Sugared Apple'.. and the list goes on. (£0.90 - £1.10).

Random

I picked up Glamour magazine for £2.00 because of the free Nails Inc nail polishes that come with this months edition and these full size bottles retail at £11.00 a pop so it’s great deal, especially when Glamour is my fave mag to read anyway – it always makes me feel like a strong and independent woman after reading it. None of the four shades available particularly tempted me but in the end I went for ‘Glitter Glamour’ because you can’t go wrong with a glitter! I found this great post here: link that contains swatches of all four of the shades if you need help deciding. I also got two bars of the new Dairy Milk with Oreo because these seem to be like gold dust – I can’t find them anywhere! I don’t know why Tesco and Co-op don’t stock these. I found these bars for £1.00 each in Poundland.
 

 

My little student overdraft won't be able to withstand this addiction for much longer - get me to shopping rehab asap!

♥ 

NOTD: Topshop Nails | AWOL

Hi, I just wanted to share with you all today one of my all time favourite nail polishes that I own; Topshop 'AWOL'. Before I purchased this I had never before owned, or worn, a blue nail varnish. It's not a particularly common colour to wear on the nails and I tend to stick more to pinks and reds. This is an incredibly bright blue and a very bold colour to wear on finger nails. It certainly makes a statement and brightens up a whole outfit. I wore this colour quite a bit through the summer but have since been wearing it more on my toes. As cobalt blue is set to be huge for the A/W season I felt the need to pull this back out of my collection and start wearing it once again. 

Also, just a heads up that Topshop are running a 20% discount for students over the next couple of days, so if you have a student card then you can get these nail polishes for £4 instead of the usual £5!

Don't forget that I am currently running a celebratory 200 followers GIVEAWAY that ends at the end of this month.

Enter now for your chance to win!

CLICK HERE

♥

(2-in-1 Post) eBay Bargain: Shamballa Bracelet and Topshop Nails 'War Paint'

Hello, I've got 2 mini posts wrapped up in 1 for you all today.

eBay Bargain: Grey Shamballa Style Bracelet

These Shamballa bracelets have been rocking around on people's wrists for quite a long time now and I've been lusting after one for months but have always been a bit confused why some of these bracelets retail for up to £150, i.e. the Tresor Paris ones, and some are selling in other good quality jewellery retailers 'on sale' for around £20-30. It wasn't until somebody explained to me that the 'original' shamballa bracelets are the Tresor Paris ones that are the extortionate price and the others are just 'shamballa style', not exactly rip offs, just cheaper imitations but are still legitimate. My bracelet, however, is from eBay and cost me just £4.99 with free p&p! It ticks all the boxes for the 'real' bracelets; it has 9 balls, it is heavy, and the end balls are even magnetic - something that I did not expect from just a cheap knock off. If you hadn't have read this blog post then you would never have known how much this cost me. The only thing about this that is probably different from the Tresor Paris bracelets is the level of sparkle, as my bracelet isn't incredibly sparkly. I will link the seller I bought mine from here: link. There is a range of different colours to choose from and this arrived super quick. Definitely recommend. 

Topshop Nail Varnish 'War Paint'

I absolutely love, love, LOVE Topshop's Nail Varnishes.. I want them all! I cannot sing their praises enough and at just £5 (£4.50 if you get student discount like me) each they are a bargain too. I am willing to pay more than this for a good quality nail varnish as OPI and Essie are amongst my favourite brands, but Topshop more than meets their standards. The pigmentation is great, I got full coverage from just one coat (but put on two just out of habit), it applies smoothly and evenly, the colour choice is amazing; ranging from the prettiest of pastels to the most dazzling of brights with the occasional special editions being brought out along with the glitter and metallic colours too. Plus, I've had this polish on for four days now; 2 of these days I was at work and I had one night out before I took these pictures and you can see how minimal the chipping is on them. Other polishes I've had from Topshop have been the same great quality so I'll definitely keep going back for more. I love the shade of 'War Paint' it's a really bright pinky-red with the slightest of hints of neon to it too. Great for summer and looks fab with a tan.

♥