Favourite Perfumes ♥

I have been looking for a new perfume for a while to wear every day, as although I love my regular one, Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche, its quite expensive and I seem to be getting through my bottle quite quickly, so I've decided to keep it for wearing in the evenings and days out. I've finally found a perfume to wear every day, quite by chance as I found an old postcard sample which had been sat in my drawer, so here are my favourite perfumes:

1. Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche
    I love this floral, slightly fruity scent. It is sweet and feminine without being overpowering, and features top notes of lemon and cedar, middle notes of jasmine and pink pepper and base notes of amber and iris. The scent is fairly long lasting too.

2. Boss Orange

    Another floral and citrus-y sweet scent, but again a subtle one that isn't overpowering or too sweet, with lovely and distinctively sophisticated warm orange over tones blended seamlessly with vanilla . I think this is ideal for wearing every day especially in Spring/Summer and the scent lasts all day. 

 

3. Amarige Marriage

    Described as "A feminine floral bouquet composed of magnolia, Egyptian jasmine and Ceylon cinnamon bark" and "the scented emotion of the most beautiful day of life", Givenchy have created a perfume dedicated to the Wedding Day. It wasn't a perfume I had previously noticed, thinking the colour suggested perhaps an old-fashioned scent, but decided to try upon seeing it on sale in Boots for just £5 as it was on clearance. I was pleasantly surprised with this perfume, it has a luxurious and uplifting scent that lasts well, but unfortunately it seems harder to find these days as fewer places seem to stock it.

Sale Shopping

Being paid just a couple days after Christmas meant that I could hit the sales and pick up a few bargains, though this year I haven't bought a lot, I must now be used to saving such that I've become less of a spendthrift! Although most of what I have bought has been gifts for upcoming birthdays, I did pick up the following for myself:

I saw this office dress from NEXT a couple of months ago and was pleased to pick it up from the sale on boxing day (though I was not one of the early birds there at 6am!). It has a tweed pattern and a lovely olive green velvet bow on the waist which manages to be quite subtle, so its pretty but professional too. The dress was reduced from £45 to £16 so didn't make too much of an impact on my purse either!

After browsing the shelves of Marks & Spencer and leaving empty handed, I then popped into Boots and picked up a gift set containing my favourite No7 moisturiser that I've previously blogged about. This was half price in the sale at £12.50, and seeing as it contains a bath essence, scrub, and candle too and the moisturiser usually retails for £9 it seemed like a good price.

I've also spotted a nice gift box of beauty goodies by The Sanctuary, but at £20 still I shall be waiting to see if I can pick this up in the 75% sale in a couple of weeks time!

I have also browsed the accessorize winter sale this week, and all sale jewellery is now 70% off, so i picked up a pretty navy crystal beaded bracelet as a birthday present for my mum who had tried it on before Christmas, but it's already wrapped up and waiting to be gifted :)

Happy New Year!

H&M Mid-Season Online Sale picks

H&M have another mid-season sale online, and despite still waiting on my last order I couldn't resist ordering a few things I've been deliberating over, so here are my top picks from the mid-season sale (and don't forget the discount codes!).

1. Cardigan, was £24.99 now £14.99

 2. Sequin Top was £9.99 now £7.99

3. Cardigan was £24.99 now £12.49

4. Boots was £29.99 now £14.99

 

 5. Apron, was £7.99 now £3.99

Poundland Bargains

I only discovered Poundland a few months ago, and have since been trying to make up for lost time! Whilst some of the things aren't quite as good value as they may first seem, I have found a few gems in there! Inconveniently the nearest store is almost an hour away so I don't get to look in often, but here are a couple of the things I've picked up since the summer.

A cake cover and carry case. Ive seen similar ones retailing in HobbyCraft and Lakeland for between £10-£15 and it saves wasting so much clingfilm while keeping your cakes fresh.

A cute London-themed cupcake kit. I actually got this over the summer during the jubilee and olympic celebrations, having seen similar kits in accessorize and lakeland selling for about £8.

Christmas themed LED lights. So it might be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but having paid £8 for similar star-shaped lights last year I decided to get them now and put them up.

Poundland now has a website where you can view their current stock, but unfortunately you can't buy online yet.

My make-up must-haves ♥

Having sorted out my overflowing make-up bag this afternoon, I thought I would post about my essential beauty items. I tend to find my skin is a little dry so to ensure my skin is primed enough before I use foundation I moisturise with No 7 completely quenched moisturising lotion . Although not specifically a facial moisturiser, I find having tried many others that it's the only one which moisturises my skin enough to help prime it. Another essential I would recommend is the 17 Even Tone Corrector Stick . This is a green concealor which neutralises any areas of red, and I find it blends easily and is easily covered under your foundation, and i think it works much better than using a skin-coloured concealor alone.

My all-time favourite beauty item however is the Chanel Vitalumiere Satin Smoothing Foundation. Whilst the most pricey item in my make-up bag, retailing at £34 in the department stores, I really think it's worth it, having tried L'oreal,  No 7 and a few others along the way. So what's so good about it...Firstly it's very easy to apply, I use a foundation brush to help blend it in properly and it gives a good even but natural-looking coverage, which when dusted with a light powder will last all day. Left bare it gives a dewy finish which I like, as i think it gives your skin a healthy glow, but if you prefer a more matte finish, a quick dusting of powder takes it away. It also has an SPF 15, so helps protects your skin from the sun and prevent skin damage, I find this very useful as I always forget to use sun cream on my face. Additionally, although it is expensive a little goes a long way, I find that a bottle generally lasts a full year, and I always wait for either a money-off voucher from boots in the post to combine with extra points from the in-store card machine, or for Debenhams to run their 10% off all beauty products promotion, making it slightly more affordable.

No 7's Great Gatsby Inspired 'Deco Darling' Collection Preview

In a few weeks No 7 will be launching it's AW limited edition collection of make-up, which will be available to purchase in-store until boxing day. This year the collection, designed by Lisa Eldridge, takes inspiration from the upcoming film set in the roaring 20's starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Carey Mulligan, 'The Great Gatsby'.

The range includes 2 nail colours, 'Speakeasy', a shimmering grey, and a glitter top coat in 'Daisy Darling', an Eye pencil, Eye Pallette with smokey greys and dusky bronzes and golds, and a loose powder highlighter. The collection will range in price from £5.50 - £12 and according to Lisa "the No7 Deco Darling Collection will leave you looking and feeling as elegant as scenes from The Great Gatsby".
I'm looking forward to trying the glitter top coat and highlighter when they hit the shelves on 31st October.