Payday Shopping Trip Haul - Superdrug, Lush, Primark, and more!

On Saturday I was in dire need of some retail therapy, so myself and my friend Jade took a little trip to Truro to have a mooch around the shops and grab some lunch. The weather was horrible, as it always is in England, but we still had a nice time having a lovely little coffee and a quick bite to eat in Starbucks, before heading out to New Look, Lush, Superdrug, and more. It's safe to say that I was in a 'treat yo self' kind of mood.

We went to New Look first, and I wasn't overly impressed with the spring selection that was available. I picked up some Shape and Define skinny jeans and I was pretty tempted by the homeware, but I was good and just bought the jeans. Being a slightly bigger person myself, I usually find jeans really hard to find, but New Look's tend to fit me best. I love the shape the jeans give me - it's the second pair I've bought!

We then went to TK Maxx and found so many lovely things that I wanted to grab. Some of the bargains I found included a little candle, a face mask, false lashes, and a super cute mug. My favourite mug got chipped recently so I needed a replacement, and although its nowhere near as nice as my old mug, I still think it's super cute.

The little Tilly Parker candle and the Eylure false lashes were both reduced, and I randomly found the Coop + Daisy face mask in the stock pile of makeup. I was immediately intrigued by the glitter, and then realised it was a watermelon face mask. How could I resist?

After that, we popped over to Lush and I didn't hold back. They have their Valentine's range out which is full of loads of amazing goodies, so I grabbed the Love Boat bath bomb, and the Aubergine bath bomb (I see you with your penis emojis), as well as the Goddess and the Guardian of the Forest bath bomb from the normal selection. I also grabbed 2 bath oils. I love how some of the bath bombs make the water feel, so I thought i'd try the oils on their own (so good for shaving).

Love Boat Bath Bomb

Goddess Bath Bomb

Guardian of the Forest Bath Bomb

Mmmelting Marshmallow Moment and You've Been Mangoed bath oils

Superdrug is probably where I picked up the most - it's so hard to restrain yourself in there! I'm absolutely loving Nip and Fab right now, so I decided to pick up the Glycolic Fix Bubble face masks, which were 2 for £8. I then spotted a Nip and Fab makeup stand and immediately went raiding. I had no idea they did makeup, but if their skincare is anything to go by, I know it will be amazing. I picked up the colour corrector in the shade 02 Banana, and the contour palette in 01 Light.

I also grabbed myself a new foundation. I seem to have a thing with foundation where I can't seem to find any that I really like, so I'm constantly buying new ones. This time I went for the Loreal True Match in the shade Golden Ivory. As you can see, I have used it already, and it's a great match for my skin.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation - Golden Ivory

I also picked up a second set of Eylure lashes, and the Maui Moisture Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner. My friend had really enjoyed using them, and I thought they looked amazing. I decided to pick them up since they were on offer, and my hair is in need of some major TLC.

Next we went to Waterstones and I picked up 2 books - Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig and The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight. I had read Matt Haig's other book, Reasons To Stay Alive, and absolutely loved it, so I've wanted to pick this one up for a while. I've heard really good things about the Sarah Knight book, and I'm definitely in a 'sort yourself out' point in my life right now, so I'm pretty excited to start reading it.

Lastly, we had a little look around Primark. Again, I wasn't overly impressed with the spring fashion, but I did find a cute little bag. I'd been looking for one anyway as all my bags seem to be too big or too small, but this one is the perfect size. It has a simple magnet to keep it closed, and a detachable inside pocket.

So that's it, no more shopping ever again!.. Or until next payday.

I hope you enjoyed my little haul, and I'll see you very soon!

Ciao for now,

Katie x

I Made a Youtube!

After months, weeks, of thinking and umming and ahhing, I finally decided to take the plunge and create a youtube channel. Of course, I suck at editing videos and I don't have any amazing equipment, but hopefully as I make more videos it will start to come more naturally to me. If you wanted to subscribe, that would mean the world to me, and if you have Youtube channels too, comment with the URL below and I'll check them out!

This first video did not come naturally to me at all. I kept looking at the screen rather than the actual camera, and there are a few silly bloopers at the end. I'm not usually a camera shy person and I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself, so it will definitely be a lot less weird for me once I know what I'm doing a bit more.

If you guys have any requests for videos, comment on my Lush Haul video, or on this post and I'll be sure to write it in my planner! I really hope you like it guys!

TTFN!
Katie xo

Recent Beauty Buys

Yesterday I went for a little venture into town and ended up coming home with a few new bits and bobs of makeup, none of which I have used yet, but I thought I would show you guys anyway!

The only high end makeup I own is a Benefit Foundation, so I was really excited to pick up a few of my first ever MAC pieces. Firstly, a MAC eyeshadow in Chrome Yellow. This shadow is a gorgeous golden yellow colour which will look amazing all year round, and I really love wearing gold on my eyes as it makes them stand out a bit more, so I'm super excited to use this. MAC eyeshadows are really pigmented and finely milled so they're amazing for blending, bring it on!

I also picked up the Haute and Naughty Lash/Mascara Double Effect, which is a double wanded mascara. I've seen a lot of mixed reviews on this so I'm interested to see how it will work out. 

The last MAC piece I got was a Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Ruby Woo, a gorgeous pink toned red. My lipstick collection is ever growing and this is the first high end lipstick in that collection, so it had better be good!

I picked up 4 little drugstore makeup items, including another mascara - the Rimmel Wake Me Up mascara. I have actually tried this one and was quite impressed with it. It separates my lashes and makes them look really long, just what you need in a mascara!

Also from Rimmel, I picked up the Brow This Way brow gel. I'm not going to lie, I have never used a brow gel in my life. However, I am going to get my eyebrows shaped today and I'm hoping my eyebrows will look fabulous. I have actually tried to find something other than a pencil to fill my eyebrows in, but everything I come across is too dark. If you have any recommendations for lighter eyebrows, let me know!

The last two items are from Collection. I picked up another Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade fair 1, as my current tube is coming to it's end. I am in love with the concealer and thoroughly recommend it to everyone!

Last, but not least, the Little Mix All About the Eyes palette. This palette features 6 different shadows,in a gorgeous range of golds and browns, right up my street! I have heard good things about this palette, and it was only £2.99, so I'm not complaining!

What have you been buying recently?

TTFN!
Katie xo

What I Got For My 17th Birthday

It's been over a month since my birthday now (only 11 months until I turn 18, woo) and it's been a long time since my last blog post. I lost my mojo for a little while but now that it's back, I have a good few blog posts stirring away excitedly in my head.

I wanted to show you a few of the things I got for my birthday, however, I know a lot of people don't like posts like this, but I would just like to point out that I am in no way bragging. I was spoilt a lot this year by my friends and family and simply wish to appreciate that on my blog. 

I got lots of things this year, including some lovely candles, chocolate, a hair dryer and all sorts. A lot of what I got is homeware related so they will be featured in another post that I plan to do shortly.

Ghost Sweetheart is my favourite perfume by far, and has been ever since my big brother bought it for me years ago for my birthday. He's good with his girly presents, I'm telling you! My mum got me this as she knows it's my favourite, and I'm cherishing it so much that I haven't even used it yet. It's a very light, sweet fragrance that makes summer much more bearable (I'm definitely an autumn/winter person, I've been looking at Christmas on Pinterest - don't judge me!).

My wonderful boyfriend got me a little box full of Lush and The Body Shop goodies. I received a Smoky Poppy fragrance, a Strawberry and Pink Grapefruit Soap, and a Satsuma Body Puree from The Body Shop, and the Happy Hippy Shower Gel, Charity Pot Hand and Body Lotion, Bohemian Soap and Green Fun (which isn't pictured) from Lush. The Smoky Poppy fragrance smells absolutely divine, however I do think it's a little too heavy for the summer months, so I'm going to end up using this religiously come autumn. The soaps smell amazing too, my favourite being the strawberry one. You just can't beat the smell of strawberries! The satsuma scent is by far my favourite from the Body Shop, and I've been absolute loving the puree! The Charity Pot from Lush is so handy to throw in my handbag because it's so small and is perfect for when my skin is feeling a little dry. The soap and shower gel smell good enough to eat, and the green fun looks a little intimidating but I'm excited to try that out at some point. Extra points for the boyfriend for being such a sweetie!

I bought this necklace for myself as an early birthday present as I loved it so much. I'm really into elephants right now, anything elephant patterned will be in my basket! The chain is quite long so the charm comes right down to my chest which is my favourite length for necklaces, and I literally haven't taken this off since I bought it! This was from Accessorize if you guys are interested.

The Soap & Glory Supercat eyeliner was a present from my friend Eanna (hey babe!) along with a few other Soap & Glory products below. I own quite a few different eyeliners but this is the best one of the lot. It's so easy to use and is really pigmented so it comes out black as opposed to a weird grey colour you have to draw over and over again. Super cute packaging too!

I also got the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream and Body Scrub from Eanna. These smell like lime which is absolutely heavenly, and is such a good scent for summer. It's a burst of freshness in the mornings and makes you feel wide awake. The Body Scrub (top right) is so good at removing dead skin cells and dirt from your skin and leaves your skin feeling amazing and healthy. The Buttercream (bottom right) finishes off your skin perfectly and leaves it feeling silky smooth and smelling amazing. Fave body skincare at the moment!

Lastly from Eanna, the Hand Dream Super Cream. Not going to lie, this stuff is amazing. It makes my hands feel so soft and fresh, and really picks me up when I'm not feeling quite right - bad skin day maybe). I always have this in my handbag and find myself using it even when I don't need it just because I love it so much!

Similarly to Soap & Glory, my mum bought me the Along Came Betty One Pot of Polish, which is really similar to the body scrub by S&G. This stuff smells like apricot which I find is much nicer in the evenings as it's not such a fierce scent like the lime, so it's better for winding down with. I also find it's got smaller particles in it so it's less harsh on the skin, which again I find nicer in the evenings as it feels nice rather than something I have to do.

Another thing from Along Came Betty I received is the Pure Pores Face Mask. I haven't actually tried this yet, but I'm really excited to - I plan to have a facemask tonight while I watch Desperate Housewives, so we shall see!

The Glam Guide by Fleur De Force was probably my favourite present out of the lot! I've been wanting this for ages and mum took notice! I absolutely love this book, it's so handy for little hints and tricks, and is written so beautifully. Definitely go and buy it if you haven't already!

I got the Made In Chelsea perfume from my dad. This perfume smells really lovely and I've been wearing it a lot, even though I've never seen Made In Chelsea! The bottle is so cute too. The only thing I find is it doesn't last very long so it's more like a body mist, but other than that, I love it!

Lastly, I got the Lush Comforter Bubble Bar and the Brightside Bubble Bar, which is bright orange. I haven't used either yet but I'm really excited to!

I got all sorts for my birthday this year. I got a gorgeous notepad, a hairdryer off my brother, my ear pierced off my other brother, lunch out and lots more, and my mum made my day really special, so a huge shout out to my mum for some amazing presents, a delicious cake, and some balloons that say "Happy 6th Birthday!" on them.

I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you have used any of these things before!

See you soon!

Katie xo

Lush & Superdrug Haul

So recently, I went shopping with my friend and spent my entire weeks wages on niceness. I went to Lush, Superdrug, Shoe Zone and New Look, as well Costa for lunch. Here's what I bought, along with some mini reviews of each thing.

Okay, so first off is Lush! Now, I'm going to be honest, before this shopping trip, I was a complete Lush virgin. I had never tried a bath bomb or a lip scrub or a bubble bar or anything, but I always wanted to just go in there and really have a look and pick some things up that I think I'd like - so that's what I did! I bought 6 bath bombs and a lip scrub. I absolutely love relaxing in the bath with my laptop watching youtube videos and reading blogs, so I was in desperate need of bath bombs.

The first bath bomb was the Twilight bath bomb. It's a gorgeous pink colour with tiny little stars in it and cost £3.35. This was by far my favourite one. It made the water a gorgeous deep purple colour with light shimmer in it, and was really twilighty. It smelt like a comfort smell which was quite floral and sweety like, and it produced lots of bubbles! The water was so moisturising, I couldn't stop feeling my legs! Definitely going to get this one again.

The next bath bomb was the Dragons Egg bath bomb. I was so excited to find this one because I absolutely love gold and I was told it makes your bath a golden orangey colour. It cost me £3.35 and I think it was worth it. My bath turned a gorgeous sunset orange colour with lots of glittery goodness. It smelt really lovely and fresh and found it left the water feeling smooth and quite moisturising. 

I also picked up the Big Blue bath bomb, which is an absolutely gorgeous blue. It retails for £3.35 and smells divine. It had lots of arame seaweed in it (which is rich in vitamins minerals including iodine which help to regulate the metabolis) which was kind of gross at first, but I got used to it and it made my bath a bit of a novely! I felt like I was sat in the sea on a warm summer morning. Pure bliss. The smell was quite subtle but still strong enough for it to make a difference and make my nose tingle with delight. It didn't stain my bath or my skin, which I was quite scared it would do, although there was lots of seaweed left at the bottom of my bath after the water had drained, not that that's not easy to get rid of. I felt like it made the water really smooth and quite moisturising and my skin felt amazing when I stepped out the bath.

Butterball was another I picked up at £2.65. I've heard a lot of people really liked this one, but honestly, it scared me a little bit. It didn't change the colour of the water, but it left like an oily residue in the bath which was quite moisturising but made me feel a little.. dirty? I don't know. I know oil is good for your skin but it was just a little strange. It smelt really light and fresh which I liked, and it was quite nice to have a break from all the colour explosions! I think I will buy this again, but not very regularly.

Think Pink was an absolutely gorgeous bath bomb at £2.65. It made my bath literally bright pink and smelt really florally and yummy. It felt really moisturising on my skin which is always helpful, and it had tiny confetti hearts inside which made my bath very cute. I will definitely buy this again, just because it's pink to be honest!

Space Girl was one that I've wanted to try for ages, and at £2.35 I couldn't resist. I was really excited to try this one but was actually quite disappointed with it. It made my bath a light purple and it wasn't very glittery at all. It also made me feel quite itchy. I think the only good thing about this was the smell as it reminded me of Palma Violets, but im not too bothered as it was only £2.35

Lastly, I picked up the Bubblegum Lip Scrub for £5.50. My lips are always really dry and quite flaky which makes applying lipstick a tedious job which ends up looking horrible, and a lip balm alone just doesn't work, so I asked about the lip scrubs and was hooked. I didn't like the price very much, but considering everything from Lush isn't tested on animals and is natural, it's worth it. They had two other flavours but I absolutely loved the smell of the bubblegum one so picked it up. I've only actually used this once, but it made my lips so soft that I haven't needed to use it regularly. Everyone says the taste is addicting, but I think the smell is definitely the best bit. You can't use this on the go though because you will look like a loon who has had one-too-many doughnuts.

We then went into New Look as I was in dire need of some new jeans because my last pair had died, so I picked up two pairs of black jeans (I look weird in blue). I got the high waisted super skinny jeans which have rips in the knees. I hadn't really seen the hype in the new ripped jeans trend but I thought I may as well hop of board, and I actually really like them. I feel very confident in them as they're high waisted so they sort of suck my belly in a little bit and gives me a hint of a figure. They were £22.99. The other pair were just a plain black pair of skinny jeans which were £12.99 which are really comfortable and that's all there is to say.

I also went to Shoe Zone as my work shoes that I got from Primark at Christmas are completely dead, so I picked up a pair of plimsole type shoes, which are honestly the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. They're better than fluffy socks and slippers. I also picked up some simple lace up shoes as it was 2 for £8. I'm quite impressed with both of them considering how cheap Shoe Zone is.

I didn't intend on buying anything in Superdrug, but I honestly just couldn't resist picking up Zoella's Fizz Bar for £5. I've wanted to try it since I saw it on the shelf, and I finally convinced myself to buy it. Yay! I haven't used this yet as I've been trying all the lush bath bombs, what do you guys think of it?

I also picked up 3 face masks. I really want to get a nicer face mask, but as I was tight on money by the end of this shopping trip, I picked these up as they were 3 for 2. I got the Yoghurt Smoothie Mask, the Manuka Honey Peel-Off Mask, and the Superfruits Exfoliating Mask.

I used the yoghurt smoothie mask first, which had cocoa butter, vanilla and honey in it and is for normal to dry skin. It smelt just like vanilla yoghurt which I think is really lovely, and was very thick. I had no idea if you're meant to use the whole packet but I did so I had quite a lot on my face. You leave it on for 10-15 minutes but I left mine on longer because it felt so nice and my nails were wet as I had just painted them. It left my face feeling so soft and clean, which I think it lovely, considering they were so cheap. I recently used the Manuke Honey Peel-Off Mask, which was really weird. You literally peel it off. I felt like someone out of a film who is dressed up as someone and has like a rubber mask on, if you know what I mean? I haven't used the Superfruits one yet, but I'm excited to!

For lunch we went into Costa on the second floor of Waterstones (ahhh, books <3) and I had the mango and passionfruit fruit cooler, the mozerella and pesto sandwich panini thing and a chocolate twist. So delicious.

Have you guys tried any of these things? Let me know!

See you soon!
Katie xo

Softest Makeup Brush EVER

Hi guys!
I thought I'd do another mini haul for you as I bought a couple of bits and pieces when I walked into town the other day. I got the usual hairbands and nail files, because you always need hairbands and nail files, and a few more interesting pieces, take a look! I sincerely apologise for my terrible images, my camera is playing up so I was using my phone.

The first thing I bought was this absolutely gorgeous nail polish from Rita Ora's Rimmel London range. It's the absolute perfect shade of yellow, which I reckon would look amazing in spring, summer and autumn. Its bright enough to keep it light and sweet, yet the perfect shade to reflect autumn leaves. I love it love it love it! I find it dries quite quickly, quicker than my Essie nail polishes, and leaves a gorgeous shiny finish. The packaging is so pretty too - really girly and cute. It was only £2 in Superdrug, which I will link here!

Rita Ora by Rimmel London - Daisy Days 450

I bought this lipstick in a gorgeous coral colour. I was undecided whether to get a nude or this colour, but because I have quite pale skin and I'm not too adventurous with makeup (I'm working on it) I decided to go for this. My mum got the nude colour so I can always steal hers and have a try. It's from Essence which are ridiculously cheap, and available in Wilkinsons and here. It's from the longlasting lipsticks range, and I'm excited to see if it lives up to it's name. Have you tried any Essence lipsticks?

Essence Longlasting Lipstick - 01 Coral Calling

Okay, this is literally the softest makeup brush I have ever felt, and I've felt many a brush in my lifetime. It's a powder brush and is the perfect size for my finishing powder and bronzer. It feels so nice on my skin and just wow. I'm completely in love with it and have no complaints whatsoever. Guess how much it was and where it was from.
£4. Wilkinsons. ABSOLUTE BARGAIN. I cannot recommend this brush enough if you're on a tight budget like I am, it's a brush made by makeup angels. Sigh. Here's the link if you want to try it yourself!

Powder Brush

What have you guys been buying recently? Have you tried any of these products before?

See you soon!
Katie xo