Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas.  I will be posting my Christmas sales haul and gifts I got for Christmas soon, but wanted to do a quick post on my last haul before Christmas.   It's been awhile since I have had a good shop at TK Maxx.  I went the other week and they had some great beauty products for sale so I couldn't resist.  
I bought the following:
Nails Inc Winter Wonderland Nail Polish Set £12.99.   This set includes:

Buckingham Square - Gold Glitter Flakes Special Effect - 14mlSt Georges Square  - Glitter Special Effect Top Coat - 14mlTrafalgar Square- Red Glitter Special Effect Top Coat  - 14ml
OPI Fifty Shades Of Grey Mini Nail Polish Set £12.99.  This set includes - left to right:
My Silk TieDark Side of the MoonRomantically InvolvedEmbrace The GrayShine For MeCement The Deal All 3.75ml
2xNail Inc Corrector Pens £3.99 each Stila Smitten with Kitten Make Up Set £12.99.   This set Includes: Deluxe Eye Shadow in Kitten - 1gDeluxe Lip Glaze in Kitten - 1.5mlDeluxe Convert…

I did some major beauty shopping on my recent trip to LA and I have already posted about my Sephora Hauls here and here.  I also bought some things in the drugstores, Nordstrom, MAC and at the airport, so I thought I would do a post about those purchases.  The drugstores that I visited were Walgreens and CVS.
I would really like my teeth to be whiter, so before going to my dentist for professional whitening I thought I would try out some toothpaste which I believe is stronger that the products you can buy in the UK.  I bought Aquafresh Extreme Clean and Rembrandt Intense Stain  for $8.99. I visited Nordstrom at The Grove and I wish I had spent more time in there as they had some amazing gift sets.  I bought the hard to get in the UK Lorac Pro Palette for $42.  This is a great palette with a nice mixture of matte and shimmer shades. I will definitely get so much use out of this palette. These are my drugstore purchases.  I bought a EOS Visibly Soft Lip Balm Sphere in Coconut Milk, a Maybe…

Another week closer to Christmas, less than a week to go and I have a week off work.  Could it get any better.
Here's days 14 - 20 of my Advent Calendars (see what else was in the calendars here and here).
In the Clarins Advent Calendar I received (clockwise from top): Anti-Fatigue Serum - 3mlInstant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base - 10mlToning Lotion - 10mlEye Contour Gel - 3mlAnti-Pollution Cleansing Milk - 10mlExfoliating Body Scrub - 8mlExtra-Comfort Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream - 5ml
In the Kerastase Advent Calendar I received: Keratine Thermique Smoothing Taming Milk - 50mlBain Satin 2 Exceptional Nutrition Shampoo - 30mlMasquintense Exceptionally Concentrated Nourishing Treatment - 30mlChroma Captive Shine Intensifying Mask - 30mlBain Therapiste Balm-in-Shampoo Fiber Quality Renewal Care - 20mlMasque Therapiste Fiber Quality Renewal Masque - 30mlElixir Ultime Sublime Cleansing Oil Shampoo - 80ml

Finally, this is what I received in the M&S Advent Calendar: Percy &…

There are some really good free gifts with purchases (GWP) in Boots at the moment including Revlon, Max Factor, L'Oreal and Soap & Glory.  I picked up the Bourjois GWP which is free when you spend £15.  Spending £15 on Bourjois goodies is easy as I love their nail polish removers, so I stocked up on those. The free gift is the Rouge Glamour Box Set which contains:
Smoky Stories Quad Eyeshadow in Upside Brown (Worth £7.99)Volume Glamour Max Holidays Mascara (Worth £5.99)Rouge Edition Velvet Liquid Lipstick (Worth £8.99)So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Polish (Worth £5.99) This GWP is worth nearly £29 and I think it's perfect for the Christmas Party season.  It's available until 29th December 2015, or until stocks last.
Leighlee
I bought these with my own money.

I recently spent some time in LA and bought loads of things at Sephora.  You can read about my Sephora Favorites  Box Set Haul here.   I also bought loads of other stuff and this post is about all the individual items that I bought. There's quite a lot of things, so I hope that you are sitting comfortably.
Deborah Lippmann Undressed Shades Of Nude Nail Polish Box Set.  This set includes 6 mini bottles 8ml each (Flesh For Fantasy, Totally Nude, Born This Way, Bare It All, Natural Woman & Skin Deep)  This cost $34 (value of box is $72). I bought these 4 Sephora Fiber Masks for $6 each.  I bought the ultra moisturizing & brightening Rose Mask, 2 of the anti-aging & smoothing Lingzhi Masks and a moisturizing & soothing Lotus Mask. I bought 7 Sephora Sleeping Masks for $4 each. I got moisturizing & smoothing Lotus Mask, the ultra moisturizing and brightening Rose Mask, the nourishing & balancing Honey Mask, the toning & firming Ginseng Mask, the anti-aging &…

Wow another week closer to Christmas day, I can't believe it's so close.  I've opened up another week of my Beauty Advent  Calendars and wanted to show you what I got in them (see the previous weeks here).
In the Charlotte Tilbury The Book of Makeup Magic I received: Take It All Off Genius Eye Make-Up Remover - 30mlSuper Model Body - 15mlMulti-Miracle Glow - 15mlMagic Night Cream - 15mlMini Lipstick in Penelope PinkMATTE REVOLUTION Lipstick in Red Carpet Red which is not pictured as I gave it away to my sister as red is not my colour.  In the Clarins Advent Calendar I received:
One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser - 5mlMoisture Rich Body Lotion - 8mlInstant Light Lip Balm Perfector - 01 RoseEau Dynamisante - 15mlHydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase - 3mlWonder Perfect Mascara - Wonder Black Mission Perfection Serum - 3ml I bought the Kerastase Advent Calendar when it was reduced to less than half price (£37.60 instead of £80).  It's worth £125.  Here's what I received i…

On my recent trip to LA I spent alot of time browsing in Sephora in the Hollywood & Highland Centre.    In a way I'm glad that we don't have a Sephora in the UK as I spent a fortune.  I know we can order from Sephora online, but nothing can beat the thrill of being in an actual Sephora store throwing everything into my shopping basket.  My only disappointment was that they didn't give out any samples while I was there which I seem to remember them doing in the past.
Sephora does really good value box sets and here's the ones I bought.
Sephora Favorites Skin Wonderland - $68 (value of box $228)  Here's what's in the set: Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Apricot Vanilla - 59mlFirst Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream - 28.3gJurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist - 30mlFresh Soy Face Cleanser -20mlClarins Shaping Facial Lift Wrap -15ml Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliator - 15mlCaudalie Divine Oil - 15mlRen Keep Young and Beautiful Instant Firming Beau…

I just wanted to let you know that Harvey Nichols have a great gift with purchase worth £270 when you spend £150 on beauty online or instore.  There are 24 products included.  You can find the full details here.  It's a great chance to stock up on some high end beauty items. Here's what's in the goody bag: Rodial Stemcell Facial Oil Nuxe Crème Fraiche Moisture Mask StriVectin AR Night Eye Cream Revitalash High-Def Tinted Brow Gel Agua De Colonia Body Lotion OLEHENRIKSEN Empower Moisturise Bliss 24 Heaven Body Balm This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray James Read Dark Tan Face Trilogy Rosehip Oil Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquer Liqilift WrapDr Hauschka – Mix of trial Bath Essence, Hand Cream, Clarifying Day Oil Beever Rich Repair Mask Masqueraide Konjac Sponge Moroccan Oil Hand Cream Fragrance Originale SHOW Beauty Volume Mousse Macadamia Shampoo Environ Body Starter KitSwissdent Extreme deluxe Mane & Tail Blinc Eyeliner La Coupe Organx Coconut Macadamia Deep Treatment Sachet …

I bought 3 Beauty Advent Calendars this year, Charlotte Tilbury, Clarins and M&S. Here's what was in each advent calendar in the first 6 days.
Charlotte Tilbury The Book of Makeup Magic: Day 1 - Goddess Skin Clay Mask - 15ml (worth £9) Day 2 - Charlotte's Magic Cream - 15ml (worth £21) Day 3 - Wonder Glow - 15ml (worth £14.44) Day 4 - Nocturnal Cat Eyes to Hypnotise - On The Prowl - 2.5g (This and the mini eye pencil below retails for £29 for the set) Day 5 - Rock N Kohl Iconic Liquid Eye Pencil - Supernova - 0.8g Day 6 -Lip Magic - 5ml (full size worth £25) Total Value £98.44
I am really pleased with the first 6 products in this box as I have wanted to try most of them and the eyeshadow, whilst not necessarily the colour I would have chosen (see swatches below), is a great colour for the party season.

Clarins: Day 1 - Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch - 4ml (worth £7.06) Day 2 - Blue Orchid Face Treatment Oil - 2ml (worth £2.13) Day 3 - Instant Eye Make-Up Remover - 10ml (worth £1.52) Da…

It feels like such along time ago since I returned from LA and I still haven't managed to post any of my hauls yet so I thought I would start with one of my favourite stores over there Bath & Body Works.  They always have some great deals on so I did buy alot but it is such a great store I just can't resist. I bought 2 Room Sprays - Caramel Pumpkin Swirl and Pumpkin Pecan Waffles. Yes I did go to LA close to Halloween so alot of the items I bought did have the Halloween theme.  These were $7.50 each or 2 for $11. Hand Sanitiser - Japanese Cherry Blossom. This is my favourite scent from Bath & Body Works. $5. Wallflowers Home Fragrance Plug and Napa Valley Sunset Fragrance. Ive never tried this before so I'm looking forward to using it. $4.50 for the plug and $6.50 for the fragrance. I bought 10 mini Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in the following scents - Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin x2, Purrfect Potion Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pecan Waffles x2, Pumpkin Cupcake x2, Honolulu Sun, Fresh Spar…

You may have seen my regular empties posts showing you all the products that I have used up every couple of months, so I thought I would take inspiration from YouTube and take part in Project Use It Up where I pick 10 products that I want to finish.  I am not going to set myself a target date, I am just using it as a way of reminding myself which products to prioritise as most of them are at least half empty. Here's the 10 products that I decided to start the project off with: Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne 30ml - There's less than a quarter left, so this should be really easy to get through.  I love the scent, but I've had it for a while so would like to finish it up so that I can try out a different Jo Malone Fragrance.  Finished 8th December 2015.MAC Strobe Cream 30ml - there's about half a tube left so I am gonna use this under my foundation for the rest of the year to use it up.Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub 25g - again there is about half left.  I think I bought this …

Gin & Tonic is the 2nd scent that I have tried from The Library of Fragrance. You can read my review of Sunshine here.  I really love this clean, fresh & crisp fragrance. It's the perfect scent for a cold winter day. It's a light, cool citrus fragrance that gives you a wonderful wake up call when you spray it on every morning. I would say this is unisex as it's not sweet or floral. 
I have no idea if it's anything like a real gin & tonic, but if this scent is anything to go by I think I will have to give the drink a try. Overall Gin & Tonic is a lovely fresh fragrance that I wear on a daily basis. I have had so many compliments since I first started using Library of Fragrance Gin & Tonic Cologne Spray.
The Library of Fragrance colognes can be layered to create unique fragrances and you can find out more about which scents to layer with Gin & Tonic on their website. They cost £15 for 30ml and Boots are currently doing an offer of 2 for £25.
I really…

I really couldn't resist the Marks & Spencer Ultimate Beauty Advent Calendar when I saw it in Leeds store the other day.  I really thought I'd missed the boat with this one as they were already sold out online and I couldn't get into town on the day they were released.
Luckily they were still available in store when I went on Thursday, so I would advise you to get to your nearest store asap if you still want to buy one as they will probably sell out pretty quickly if they haven't already.
It's a real bargain at £25 when you spend an additional £25 on beauty products, which is really easy to do considering M&S now stock Ren, Pixi, Stila, L'Occitane, Leighton Denny & Nuxe to name but a few.  I also used a 20% voucher which made it £20. It's worth over £200 and if you don't want any spoilers don't look any further. Here's what's in the calendar:

Pur Minerals - Volume Vixen Mascara Mini - 4.8ml  Stila Lip Glaze - 1.5ml Autograph - Ultra Sh…