Sunday 31 August 2014

My Top 3 - Sale Bargains


Hi everyone, for todays 'Top 3' I decided to show you 3 of the best sale bargains that I've picked up recently.


The first items are these beautiful floral ballet slippers.  I did mention these briefly in my Morning Routine post a couple of weeks ago but I just had to show you them properly because I am SO happy with them!  I have a real love for anything with roses or little flowers on and especially in these pink and cream colours.  I spotted these in Tesco about 6 or 7 weeks ago, for only £6, I quickly realised that I was crazy not to get 2 pairs at the time, so I had a spare in case these got damaged in the wash etc and tried every Tesco store I could get to but sadly they had all sold out.  Fingers crossed they will stock them again next summer!  They are extremely comfortable and absolutely gorgeous :-)


The next item was probably one of the best finds I've had this year, it's this Revlon ColorBurst Lipgloss in the shade 014 Rosepearl.  I just happened to have a nosey through the sale section at Boots a few weeks ago and saw this for only 50p, yes really!  Considering they're normally £7.99, I thought to myself, I need to get that.  I tried it on when I got home and wow I am so glad I spent that 50p!  It's one of the nicest and prettiest shades of lipgloss I own and I just think it's beautiful.  It has a really pretty shine, it's very smooth on the lips and seems to last a good long while before needing a re-touch.  Out of all the shades in this range, this is the one I would have picked anyway, so I was really lucky to get it plus I've just found out that Boots have (very stupidly) discontinued this range.  I can't believe it, all the reviews on this lipgloss are so good so why on earth discontinue them, so silly!


Now, I have a 'slight' hoarding problem and find that if I really like something, I just have to have a spare of it, thankfully I manage to find a shop on ebay that still had a few of these Rosepearl glosses still in stock for only £2.90 each, so I grabbed a couple of them! :-)


This little bargain I found on the Debenhams website a few weeks ago, they had a massive sale on and I spotted this beautiful statement necklace by Jon Richard.  It was originally £15, reduced to £7.50 and then reduced again down to £6!  I was thrilled, it was exactly like the type of sparkly statement necklace I'd been looking for.  The other funny thing is that I saw this one a few months ago when I was sourcing pictures for my Summer Wish List back in July and fell in love with it then but just couldn't afford it, so you can image my surprise when I saw it on sale for such a great price!  It lays really nicely when I wear it and goes so well with pretty much any outfit.  I think I will keep it for smarter occasions though and for now it's safely tucked away still in the box it arrived in, to keep it away from the light so it stays nice and clean and shiny :-)

Have you bought any great bargains lately, let me know in the comments :-)
Stay Happy

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Friday 29 August 2014

A Little Visit To - Chester (craft shopping)

Hi everyone, last Saturday my bestie-friend and I went off to Chester on the train and had a little bit of retail therapy and I thought you might like to see where we went :-)


First off we went to Abakhan Fabrics


I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside but I did pick up this really cute wooden letter for only £1.15, I can't wait to decorate it, I've got lots of pretty ideas :-)  I got some nice suede thong in several colours, which are great for making bracelets, these were between 99p and 45p for a metre.  I also picked up some really gorgeous fabric. I haven't got a clue what I'm going to use it for yet but I like to grab fabric like this when I see it and have a little stash that I can go to when I finally decide what I want to make!


Next we went to Hobbycraft :-)


I'd been really looking forward to this for days, I love going but very rarely get the chance to, so it was a nice little treat and I was able to take photos in there too!

I've been here a few times before but I'm still always amazed how huge it is inside (Doctor Who's Tardis springs to mind!!)  Every wall and shelf is filled with so many pretty intriguing things and beautiful colours. . .


I nearly brought home a little cardboard dog I found in this section but I manage to resist lol

A Poodle!!!! :-D


Ribbons as far as the eye can see and just look at all those beads, heaven! :-)


I quickly found my favorite area!  They have a wonderful pick 'n' mix selection of beads, you can buy either a large pot for £7.50 or a small pot for £3.50, which I opted for this time.


These will go with the rest of my rather large stash and I can't wait to start making some lovely bits of jewellery with them.

After that we went back in to the main town and I finally found Superdrug.


This one is SO much bigger than my little local shop and they stock the full ranges of all the makeup brands they sell, including Makeup Revolution, which my local shop don't sell at all!  Now I have been dying to get my hands on these two particular items, so when me and my friend decided we were going to go to Chester, I started saving the pennies.


I got the Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 3 Palette, or in other words the famous Urban Decay Naked 3 dupe!


And I finally managed to get one of the beautiful Tanya Burr's lip glosses, I chose Afternoon Tea which is a really pretty peachy/blush pink.  I'm longing to try out both of these, plus I've just purchased two more TB lip glosses from Freestyle UK as they had a big sale on, just waiting for them to arrive, so look out for a full review of all these items soon :-)

By the time we got back on the train to come home, it was getting really cold, can't believe we're back in winter coats and scarves already :-(  Where's the summer gone!!


But even so it was a really nice day and I'm already looking forward to going again (especially to Superdrug) :-)

Stay Happy
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Sunday 24 August 2014

My Top 3 - Mascaras

Hi everyone, time for another top 3 :-)


This week I've decided to focus on mascaras, basically because I just could not do my makeup without it, it's the one product that makes me feel the most 'finished', the pretties and the most feminine.  So on to my 3 favorites -


If I want a great waterproof mascara that doesn't flake and gives a nice lot of volume, I always go to my MaybellineThe Rocket Volum' Express.  It holds a curl really well and lasts all day.  I love the large wand to, as it's helps to make it really quick and easy to apply.


Another Maybelline gem, is the BIG Eyes Double Ended mascara.  I did a review of this one back in March.  I wasn't too impressed with the larger wand for the top lashes, but the smaller wand is just amazing for the bottom lashes and outer corners!  The formula is a little dryer than I would normally like but it does mean that there's no transphering or smudging either!  I've always been a fan of Maybelline mascaras right from when they were first available, and I'm looking forward to trying out some of their other very popular mascara too.

And finally, my all time favorite, the Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara.  Now how many times have you heard me mention this one?!  I love it SO much.  Out of all the mascaras I've ever used, this one comes top every time!  I can't believe I only paid about £2 for it when it was on special offer in Boots.  I've re-purchased it and have a spare, well you never know when they might suddenly discontinue it.  I've known that happen before!  Basically if you're looking for a very long lasting, volumizing, lengthening all-round perfect mascara, I could not recommend this more!


I hope you're all having a great weekend, stay warm and stay happy

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Wednesday 20 August 2014

My Morning Routine – Staying In

Bright and early in the morning, I open my eyes and feel wide awake, I spring out of bed and feel full of the joys of a new day. . . Ok scratch that!!  In reality of course it's a little different!

To start off with, I have to wake up, now this is a bit of a task for me as even though I set my alarms (multiple ones) to get up at a reasonable hour. . .


. . .I never hear them and finally end up waking up about 2 - 3 hours later feeling like a half dead zombie!  I am still trying to get up early, it's just not happening yet! :-/  I then drag myself out of bed like a lifeless sloth and put on my favourite slippers.  I am totally in love with these, they are SO beautiful.  I got them about 6 weeks ago in a sale at Tesco, and believe me when I say I have tried every local Tesco store in a 35 mile radius, to try and get another spare pair but they had all sold out :-(  I'm just hoping they may get them in again next summer.  My adorable cow print PJ's are also from Tesco F&F clothing, they do the cutest pajamas!


Next I grab my ever faithful Tangle Teaser to start tackling my knotty bed-hair, I then put my hair up in a nice messy bun out the way and head for the bathroom.
(I never realised how difficult it would be to try and take a photo of the back of my own head!! Lol)

After the usual bathroom 'necessities', I brush my teeth using the Arm and Hammer Advanced Whitening toothpaste. . .


. . .Then spend about 10 minutes doing my morning exercise routine.  I've been doing this regularly every morning and evening for about 5 weeks now.  Because of my health issues (you can read about that here), I wake up very stiff, achy and sometimes with quite painful joints, so doing a little light exercise and basic stretching seems to help a lot and help me feel more energized for the day ahead!  I've also been trying to learn and add in a few yoga poses but wow they are a lot harder than they look! :-/

I did try to take a pic of my yoga efforts, lets just say it didn't go too well!

I love to shower when I first get up, it always helps me feel more awake and makes me feel nice and fresh for the day ahead.  Sometimes I wash my hair in the mornings too like I did today.

I always use Dove soap as I find it's very gentle and makes my skin super soft and moisturized, I love using it with a flannel too, I find it's a great way to exfoliate all over.  For my hair I always use the Garnier Nutralia shampoo for normal hair, which is lovely to use and the Simple Gentle Care Conditioner which always makes my hair feel beautifully soft and smooth.


After a good brush and towel dry, I pop my hair back up with a clip and make my bed.  I love my bed, it's the most comfiest place ever!  Sometimes I have to stop myself from getting tempted to get back in it again lol



Time to pick my outfit for the day, my favourite comfy Tshirt and jogging pants, I just love comfy clothes when I'm staying indoors!


Finally I pull open my curtains and go downstairs only to be licked and bounced all over by two gorgeously beautiful Poodles, Tilly and Katie :-)


Once the Poodle frenzy has subsided, I go and look out over the beautiful garden while I have my first class of water.

Just in case you're wondering, the mesh is for our hedgehog Wilf's benefit, to stop him falling in the pond!

Then it's time to get my breakfast, this is pretty much what I have every day. . .

. . .a nice hot cup of PG Tips tea and a bowl of Kellogs Granola with added sunflower seeds, almonds and a spoonful of flax seed (I have actually been having to lay off the flax seed at the moment because it doesn't seem to be agreeing with my stomach but I will try it again soon, although I guess that's a little TMI lol)  Anyway, moving on!!

While I have my breakfast, I get straight on my laptop, check my emails, catch up on YouTube videos, reply to comments and of course work on my blog posts :-)


Ok so that was my version of the 'morning routine', I hope you found it interesting.  I really like watching these kinds of videos on YouTube and other people seem to like them too.  Basically it's because we're all just a little bit nosey and love to know how other people start their day lol!
I've decided to do this as a part 1 and 2, as I have quite a different routine when I get ready to go out, so I will write about that for you at some point too.
Just to end off with, here's a little quote I came up with one day - "My bed is an evil place that attacks me with it's soft warm covers, that trap me, encase me and won't let me leave!" d.m.

So until next time, Stay Happy

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Sunday 17 August 2014

My Top 3 - Jewellery Favourites


Hi everyone, today's 'Top 3' are the jewellery pieces that I absolutely love wearing.  I did find this a bit of a challenge, only mentioning 3 items because I have many wonderful pieces that are special to me, so I will probably end up doing a part 2 for this post at some point!

(click for larger images)

First off, is this silver spike necklace.  I was lucky enough to find this at a jewellery wholesalers but I did manage to find a very similar one on ebay.  I just love this, I got it about 6 or 7 months ago and I've been wearing it SO much.  It went great with my round neck jumpers in the winter and I find it goes really well with shirts and T'shirts too.  I also love that it's a spikey rock-chic look with a little sparkly glam thrown in, very me :-)


The second item is this bracelet that was given to me by a friend for my birthday this year, it's a Shamballa style bracelet and just love it, I love the colour, the sparkle and just the whole look of it.  I don't wear it too often, I tend to keep it for more special occasions or nights out but it's still one of my favourite pieces.  I also love that it has Amethyst beads on it, as it's my birthstone and my favourite colour :-)  Sadly I can't remember the make of this bracelet or the name of the shop it originally came from but I did manage to fine a similar one on Amazon.


The final item to show you, is my pentagram ring.  I wear this every single day and have done for many years.  It symbolises my Wiccan/Magickal beliefs (which I will try and talk about at some point) and it's very special to me.  When I look at it, it reminds me that I'm just a tiny dot in this huge universe, there's so much more out there but I still have power and strength in me to overcome anything and that magick is everywhere!
I think I got it in a new age shop in Manchester but it was a long time ago now.  You can find many similar ones around in various new age/pagan type shops and online like this one from (you guessed it) ebay!  Mine has been knocked, dropped nearly lost several times and been through the mill so much over the years but it still looks shiny and new.

Why not tweet me some photos of your favourite jewellery pieces to
DaniJ72 or leave me a comment below :-)

Stay happy

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Wednesday 13 August 2014

7 Deadly Sins of Beauty Tag


Hi everyone, it's been quite a while since I've done a 'TAG' on here, so I looked through a few various different ones on YouTube and various other blogs and found the '7 Deadly Sins of Beauty' and thought that would be a fun one to do, so here goes :-)

1. Greed – what is your most inexpensive beauty item & what is the most expensive?
My wonderful MUA lipsticks at £1 each and for the most expensive so far, my gorgeous Urban Decay Naked Palette, which yes I know I'm always mentioning, but I love it :-)

2. Wrath – what beauty products do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Most definitely 100%, eyeliner!  As I mentioned in my last post My Top 3 Eyeliners.

3. Gluttony – what are your most delicious beauty products?
I think it would have to be my 2True lipglosses, they smell so delicious and fruity and they taste like fruit sweets, not that I eat them but you know what I mean lol

4. Sloth – what beauty products do you neglect due to laziness?
I guess bronzer, because I've never really got round to trying out and seeing how it would look on me, I keep thinking I must try it someday!

5. Pride – what beauty product gives you the most self confidence?
Mascara, I just love the way it can transform your face.  Eyes are the windows to the soul after all.

6. Lust – what attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?
A lovely smile with nice clean teeth and gorgeous eyes.

7. Envy – What items would you most like to receive as a gift?
Makeup-wise, I would have to say any MAC lipstick, or any MAC product come to think of it because I would love to own some of it and It's not only a little out of my price range but it's also really hard to get in my local area.


So that was my 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty, I hope you liked it.  I'm sorry it's a shorter post for you all today but sadly life has taken over all my spare time this week!  Look out for another 'My Top 3' post on Sunday.  I haven't decided what topic/items to base it on yet, so I shall get my thinking cap on asap!  :-)

Stay Happy

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Sunday 10 August 2014

My Top 3 - Eyeliners

Hi everyone, for today's Top 3, I going to talk about eyeliners.  Now this is not usually an item I talk that much about, basically because I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them and I tend to have more problems applying the stuff than anything else but I do love the way it looks, IF and that's a big 'if' for me, it happens to go well and look nice!  But since I'm pretty rubbish at applying it, I tend to stick to what I know works for me.


So anyway, here's a few of the ones that I do love to use, including one that I try and use if I'm feeling a little braver and more adventurous, and I have a bit more time on my hands to mess around with it. . . just in case it happens to go wrong. . . as per usual! :-/

Black Eyeshadows  These are the 'holy grail' eyeliners for me, I rely on them completely and they always work well no matter what.

I tend to use one of three different shadows;
 if I'm using my Technic Nudes palette which I love, then the black one in that is perfect.
Or if I'm using my Urban Decay Naked palette, then I use 'Creep'.  Which even though it's not a very 'black' black, it's still good and blends well with the other shades from the palette.

If I'm using any other shadows, either singles or from another palette, I always go to my favourite Natural Collection 'Midnight' black, which is a wonderful very dark intense black.

But the main item I cannot live without for applying my eyeliner shadows is my Real Techniques Brow Brush from the Eyes Starter Set.
I just find it so easy to use, it's the perfect shape and size and applies perfectly.

Next is the Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil -

This is just a good basic pencil.  I used to find it a little scratchy but the more I've used it, the softer it's become and now It's just the right consistency to get a nice line.  I still find it a little tricky, because I'm just terrible at getting it right in the lash line but I do like it for just under my eyes.


And lastly the lovely Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Pencil (phew mouthful)!

This is one I definitely have to take a little more time with but I do love the darker thicker consistency, especially for a more dramatic/'evening-out' look.  It's SO soft, smooth and blendable and lasts for hours and hours, it's actually a job to remove at the end of the day!

What eyeliners do you use the most or do you have a nightmare of a time with them like me, let me know in the comments?!

On another note, I currently upload new posts every Thursday and Sunday, but just to let you know in future I will always be uploading posts every Wednesday and Sunday :-)

Stay happy 

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