Autumn-y Haul!

Hello everyone!

So here's a little mish mash of a haul for you. I have some clothing, some beauty and some decorations to show you. Are you excited? 

First up, from New Look, are these booties. I was feeling fed up of being shorter than some of the kids at school so I bought these heals and I love them. They're suede and come just under half way up my calf. I like to wear these with my leggings or tights and a dress. The only downfall is that it now takes me twice as long to get where I need to be... the heals are quite high by my standard haha. 

These were £34.99

Next up is this top from Urban Outfitters. They had a sale on so naturally I came out with something that wasn't in the sale at all. This top was pricy and part of me is a little disappointed that I don't have more self control. I adore the print on the front of it but the material is pretty cheap for the price. 

This top was an eye watering £30.00... I did use my sister's student discount though. 

I bought this top from TKMaxx and I'm going to wear it for my friend's birthday next weekend. Again, I love the print. It's very boho and I like that it has long sleeves too :D

This was £12.99

When I saw that Benefit has released their Christmas gift sets I knew I would be buying one. I only ever buy Benefit when they have gift sets out because I think they're far better value for money. 

I absolutely love this Cheeky Sweet Stop set which consists of 6 blushes, a highlight and a brush. This costs £29.50 and I'm thrilled that I got my hands on one! 

Last on the beauty front is this Barry M Showgirl mascara. I actually got this free having spent over £7.00 on Barry M cosmetics. I'm looking forward to giving this a try as I don't really ever buy Barry M makeup. 

I was looking in Debenhams for a present for my friend's birthday and saw this purse. I love the Mantaray range at Debenhams and I just think a purse is a nice present to receive. It was £20.00 and I'm looking forward to her opening it next weekend.

To go with the purse, I picked up these earrings for £5.00 from the brand Mood. They're very up her street as she always has these big fancy studs in so I think she'll like these too. 

This is a pretty little thing isn't it? It's actually a candle holder but I thought it was a cute brush holder. It was about £2.00 from Poundworld and I'm really glad I picked it up!

When I bought the dream catcher top from Urban Outfitters I also bought this watch which tank fully was in the sale. I just thought a bit of variation from my rose gold watch would be nice. This was £12.00.

A few months ago I saw a talk scented candle in Homesense and I just loved it. But it was £9.00 and it was tiny. When I went in TKMaxx last week though I found this baby powder candle. It's quite a large size and has 3 wicks and was only £5.99. Couldn't be happier. 

In the Halloween range at TKMaxx I saw this tripod candle holder and knew it would look lovely when I finally get my loft room finished. It was £5.99 and I will keep it up all year round. 

Last but not least is this polar bear phone case from Primark. This was £3.00 and I just think it's so cute... hopefully not too soon to have it on my phone? 

The packet said it was for iPhone 5s but I have a 5c and it fits fine :)

And that is everything I've bought over the last few weeks. This post has been in my drafts for ages so I'm happy to finally have it written haha :D Sorry it was so lengthy! 

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Glitterati

Hello everyone!

Whilst browsing Bloglovin' a few days ago I saw a post on the Barry M Glitterati polishes and I was infatuated with them! There are 6 shades in the range and I immediately bought my 4 favourites. 

They are glittery polishes and every time I wear glitter on my nails I swear I'll never put it on again after the effort it takes to get it off but for these I will deal with time consuming removal. 

I bought the shades:

Starlet

Socialite

Fashion Icon

Catwalk Queen

They also had a deep blue and a black shade too. 

These are £3.99 each and they currently don't have a 3 for 2 offer on :( However, you do get a free mascara if you spend over £7.00.

Here's a quick look at Socialite which I am currently wearing. I absolutely love it. It has iridescent glitter in it which changes colour in different lights... it's lovely. I'll write a full review soon!

Have you tried any of the Glitterati polishes yet?

What's you favourite shade?

Glitterati - Barry M - £3.99

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• About to write a collective haul post... quite a lot of new purchases to show you!

• I'm currently munching on a packet of KP Jumbo Smokey BBQ Peanuts and they are gorgeous.

• My hands are so dry :(

• Last week of work before the half term holidays.. oh I love working in a school!

• I still haven't watched this week's TVD... I'm looking forward to catching up later... anyone been watching? 

Candy Mountain | Lush

Hello everyone!

So my first Lush experience consisted of Candy Mountain and I have to say, it was splendid. 

I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing in the bath after a long week with the sweet smelling bubbles, it was quite the soothing experience and a nice change considering I haven't had a bath in years. (We only had a shower in the old house).

I found that Candy Mountain filled the room with scent (it's not a huge room so it wasn't difficult to be honest) and it produced lots and lots of bubbles. I'm not sure if it made the water pink because, well, the bath is green so it was difficult to tell. When we have a white bath I shall update you all haha!

Thankfully, my skin was silky smooth after my bath which I was really pleased about because my skin will react to anything given half the chance. 

One thing I will warn you about though is that you properly have to crumble it under the tap otherwise you'll have random bits of sand floating about your water because it doesn't melt itself. Probably the main difference between a bath bomb and a bubble bar, right? :D

Anyway, I will definitely pay £2.75 again for a Candy Mountain bubble bath!

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• Currently watching the X Factor.. who's your favourite this year? I like Paul and Ben :)

• Has anyone seen the new Barry M Glitterati polishes? They are BEAUT. I bought 4 of them.... haul coming soon ;D

• I also bought the Benefit Christmas gift set, Cheeky Sweet Stop. It's a palette of 6 blushes, their What's Up highlighter and a brush... for £29.50.....WHAAA? LINK

• I passed a 3 day First Aid training course this week! So proud of myself hahaha. And it was so much fun! Anyone need their life saving?

• Last but not least, my biggest thought of the week. I got a new job!!!! Well, it's still at the same school but it's a higher position. I'm very pleased :)

Barry M | Blue Grape

Hello everyone!

Another nail polish review... I know. I think this is a really interesting colour, I've been wearing it a lot recently as I mentioned in my September Favourites so I thought it was about time to give it a post of its own. 

This is a Barry M polish in the shade Blue Grape. It's an electric blue colour which I think can be worn all year round. 

It only takes two coats to build up opaqueness in my experience and it sticks around for a day or two before chipping. As with all Barry M polishes, I still think they all need top coats. 

I've has lots of compliments at work about this nail polish, everyone seems to love it, probably because it's so eye-catching. 

I'm developing quite the collection of Barry M polishes now, I can't wait to have them all lined up when I'm in my new room!

What do you think of this colour? 

Are you a fan of the bright blue polish?

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Lush Bath Bomb Haul!

Hello everyone!

I have a Lush haul for you today :D I have bought products from Lush before but I haven't been able to buy anything bath related because we only had a shower in the other house. Now we have a bath I can finally buy all the cool bath bombs! 

I'll be honest, I could have bought one of everything... seriously had to reign myself in. Eventually, I settled on 4 bath bombs and I went purely off the ones I enjoyed the scent of.

Okay so first up, pretty typical and well known, is Candy Mountain. I picked this one because it smells lovely and it's tres pretty :D This bubble bar is very sweet and vanillary yet not sickly. I can't wait to have pink, sparkly water in my bath! 

Candy Mountain - £2.75

Next is a bath bomb I don't recall ever having seen before and it's called Tisty Tosty. I picked it because it smells to me like Talk which I just love. It has rose buds hidden within it which I'm sure will excite me greatly when I get to use it. Lush says this bath bomb was inspired by a medieval love potion which will lift your spirits. Can't wait for that!

Tisty Tosty - £3.39

Thirdly, I have a Fizzbanger bath bomb which I picked because it smells very lemony / citrusy which is my favourite kind of scent. Lush says it will smell like apples and cinnamon once put in water with hints of ylang ylang. It is designed to help your breathing, slow your heartbeat and reduce anxiety. I hope it works to that effect I'm in need of some soothing :D

Fizzbanger - £3.35

Last but not least, I couldn't leave without something Halloween related. They had a very glittery pumpkin bath bomb which I really wanted however I'm not keen on the idea of being glittery after a bath...

Anyway, I settled for the Wizard bubble bar which I think is so bloody cute I'll feel bad to use it! To my nose, it smells musky and the absolute double of Yankee Candle's Witches Brew if you're familiar with that scent. This is designed to cleanse and banish stress which will be useful for either after work or the morning after a night out when I just feel urgh. 

Wizard - £3.25

So that's everything I picked up from Lush. I haven't yet used any of them but I will write individual reviews as I make my way through them. I can't wait to buy some more! 

What's your favourite Lush bath bomb?

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• I have First Aid Training from Weds-Fri this week... I'm excited but nervous. Has anyone done first aid training?

• I'm currently burning a 'baby powder' scented candle and it's absolutely divine :) You will be seeing it in an upcoming haul post!

• I am annoyingly dealing with the tail end of a cold. This is my second cold in 6 weeks! I usually get a cold about once a year. It must be the school environment that's making me contract all these illnesses.

• OMG all my programmes have started again and I couldn't be happier! It's made my life! The Originals, The Vampire Diaries and Saving Hope all started up around the same time so I have plenty of entertainment :D

• Also, I finally watched the season finale of True Blood. I know it aired months ago but at the time I just didn't feel like watching it. I think I was in denial that it had ended. I'm pretty content with the way it ended.. different to the book but good nonetheless. The series definitely ended at the right time at my opinion. 

Aussie Miracle Dry Shampoo

Hello everyone!

Hope you're all doing well :D

Today I have a review of the new Aussie Dry Shampoo. (Say that out loud, it rhymes!). I have the pink version which is for normal to greasy hair but I know that they have a green version too which is to add volume. You may have seen me briefly mention it in this haul post where I said that I love Aussie and that they can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

...Well apparently they can. 

Okay, so positives of this product: it smells divine. As with all Aussie products it smells delicious, like fruit and good stuff. Also, I love the packaging, it's tall and sleek and slim and matte. 

However, it doesn't perform excellently. I say it doesn't perform great but what I actually mean is that it doesn't perform as well as other products do. We've been spoilt by how well other brands, such as Batiste, do dry shampoo-ing so it seems like this product doesn't work just because you're not getting the same result.

I have used it a few times and I've found that it has a very liquid based formula as opposed to the powdery texture we get from Batiste. It doesn't dampen your hair though so that's good. I think that it definitely does its job but you won't get the same result as using Batiste because it's not nearly as powdery. On the plus side, with less powder in the product you're less likely to get that weird white residue on your hair. Silver lining, guys.

I wouldn't personally repurchase this product because 1. It doesn't perform as well as other products and 2. It's considerably more expensive. For a 180ml bottle of Aussie, it's £4.99 whereas a 200ml bottle of Batiste is £2.99. So obviously there's a very big difference and unfortunately I couldn't justify paying that much more just because it smells awesome. 

Have you tried this dry shampoo?

What are your thoughts?

My favourite dry shampoo ever is the Umberto Gianini version. THAT is a bloody good dry shampoo.

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• Pizza, curly fries and garlic bread for tea tonight. Yes Yes.
• Hump day tomorrow :D
• Been looking online at Masters Degrees this afternoon. I'm looking at online courses but they're so bloody expensive :(
• Can someone explain to me why communications with council offices are all done by post? I'm waiting for my DBS check to be returned and I'm trying to sort out a pension plan I've been automatically entered in to. It's bugging me because it takes weeks to do anything!! Snail mail.
• How atrocious has the weather been this week? In Manchester it has just rained all day for two days :( Bring back the sun!!

Discounts at NuMe!

Hello everyone!

Recently I was contacted by a company called NuMe which sells professional hair styling tools. I'm sure you've heard lots about them on various blogs and YouTube channels! They've kindly given me lots of discount codes for you to use if you fancy ordering anything! 

Happy Shopping! 

***Order NuMe Products Online***

Use MEGASUMMER to Get Our Best Selling MegaStar for Just $89
Use "numesummer50" for 50% Off Plus Free Shipping on Styling Tools, Hair Care Products and Accessories (Excluding Steals & Deals)
Use MSSILHOUETTE to Get Our Sleek Silhouette for Just $59 Enjoy! Leanne x
P.S. I am not being paid to advertise this brand. I will earn commission if you buy something through the links I have provided however if you simply Google the brand you can order that way instead. I am showing these codes purely for your benefit. Cheers, Leanne! 

Barry M Nail Paint | Mustard

Hello everyone!

I have a quick nail polish review for you today. It's a Barry M polish in the shade Mustard (very fittingly named). I saw a display in Superdrug not too long ago of what I think are new Autumn shades and this was one if them. I think it's one of them shades that's unusual and people will either love it or hate it. I think it's interesting. And definitely a seasonal colour.

It's just from the Gelly range so it's kept really simple. I think this colour would look really good paired with other Autumn-y colours, maybe a burgundy, navy blue or forest green.

This performs just like the other Gelly paints from Barry M. It takes a few coats to build it up, it takes about 15mins to dry and it's super shiny once it does. The only thing that lets these polishes down is that they chip pretty quickly. I still need to apply a top coat on mine for it to last a while.

I'd say you couldn't get a colour more likened to actual mustard if you tried. I have mentioned before that I don't really like yellow nail polish, just something about it doesn't match my pale skin tone. However the deepness of this shade, combined with the Autumn weather and the uniqueness of this polish works well!

Would you wear a mustard coloured nail polish?

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Mustard - £3.99

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY IS ON.
• I just love Johnny Depp.
• Can't believe how quickly the weekend has gone, it's just flown buy. However, working full time has truly made me appreciate a lie in.
• Would you like to look at my future bed? Can't wait to order it when my room is finally built! LINK.
• ALMOST ordered this fantastic bareMinerals deal from QVC today. Still really want it buy I need to save some money :( 7 Piece Glamour Collection. Someone please give me a valid reason to order it :D

September Favourites 2014!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my September favourites! Another month gone, I can't believe it. Although I really do enjoy October, as I said last year, I think it's my favourite month. So today I'm going to show you the few bits and pieces I've been really enjoying this month.

First up, is this nail polish. It's called Blue Grape and it's just as bright on the nails as it is in the bottle. It's had lots of complements from the kids in school and I've just been really enjoying it. It's a fab colour!

I've also been loving pale-ish lip colours. When I'm working I don't always have time to reapply or touch up my makeup so I've been opting for paler shades so that it's not overly obvious that it's fading. 

Some of my favourites are the MaxFactor Lipfinity in Whisper which is a baby pink colour. I'll write a review soon! Also I've been enjoying Minimalist and In With Coral from the Colour Drama range at Maybelline. 

My absolute favourite foundation for work has been the Estee Lauder Double Wear. It really is as fantastic as everyone says. It lasts all day and is a great colour match for me. Woo!

As I don't think Double Wear looks very good on me when applied without a brush I've been using this flat top kabuki brush. I have a post on where I bought these HERE. They were extremely affordable.

Jewellery wise, I've been wearing this combo everyday for school, my Oasis Rose Gold watch along with some sparkly bracelets I bought from Debenhams. 

Now on to a few foody things. I've been loving the Chilli flavoured Sunbites. They're really lovely, I just wish they gave you more in the packet. I've tried the chive and pepper flavour and I'm not too keen on them... they taste like the cool original Doritos. 

For my dinners at work I've been eating the fruit packets which you can buy pretty much anywhere these days. They're meant for kids but they fill my up just fine. 

Occasionally when I'm feeling exceptionally hungry I'll make one of these Cup a Pastas! Same idea as a pot noodle, you just add hot water, and they're actually really nice. Not sure they're that good for the waste line though...

Last but not least, where would I be without my flask? I actually really don't know. I drink countless cups of coffee throughout the day at work and this has served me well so far!

So that's everything I've been enjoying throughout September! Hopefully I'll have different stuff to show you next month but at the moment all my belongings are still packed in boxes. Boo. 

Hope you're all having a lovely week, 

Thanks for reading, 

Leanne x

Thoughts of the day

• It was open evening at school last night and it didn't finish until 9pm. So I wasn't in bed until about half 11 and I have been so tired today. Glad it's Friday!
• Woke up in a bad mood this morning and have been all day. No idea why. I'm just fed up with living in a mess which is basically what the house is at the moment. 
• I need a good old shopping trip I think.