Sales, Hauls & Back In Stock

The ASOS sale started today, with up to 50% off! I've had a quick look and there's some decent stuff to be found. Last week, I had a discount code that was burning a hole in my pocket and seeing as I'd been stalking the 'wiggle dresses' several times a day for months, I decided to order the two that were left in my size.
I already own the black floral and blue spot above (that aren't available now) and I absolutely adore them, so it seemed a no-brainer to order some alternatives. I was hoping this one would be great for summer as the fabric is different to the others. Sadly when they arrived, they were much, much smaller than the two I own. The wallpaper border print one was the bigger of the two, but I couldn't get it on with the zip closed and couldn't close the zip when I tried it on, with it open. My original two if anything are generous, so I was very disappointed. The summer floral one felt absolutely tiny, the whole of my back was exposed, the zip wasn't anywhere near to closing. I quickly measured them against my others and right enough when lying flat (so the measurement is double this really), there was at least 3 inches less at the waist and around 4" at the bust. No wonder I was having trouble, how the hell were my boobs supposed to fit in a dress 8" smaller? Anyway they're going back and I hope someone else finds them a better fit because they truly are beautiful dresses.
So yesterday as a Premier customer, I received a 30% off code for a wee pre-sale shopping spree! I've been desperate for a discount then all of a sudden it's raining codes! I sent back the other couple of things I'd bought with the wiggle dresses, so I could re-order them with the bigger discount. This is what I've bought, arriving tomorrow. The Jeepers Creepers vintage cat eye glasses (so cute in person) and Love Moschino Charming bag (been lemming it for ages) that I'd mentioned in my other post. Along with some flower hair clips (here and here) and this cute fox t-shirt from the Curve range. I had loads of beauty items in my basket too (which had 20% off), but decided I couldn't quite stretch to purchasing them too. I tried to order items that I didn't think would go into the sale and I made the right decisions as none have.
Also, I noticed this week that my Cat Maxi Dress (£28) is back in stock in sizes 4-18. I know a lot of you missed out on this the first time around.
Plus my unicorn jumper from last year is now available in cream £35 if you fancy that.
While on the subject of unicorns, you'll maybe recall my sister got me a cake sprinkle shaker in the shape of a unicorn for my birthday? Well it's now available here at Topshop. Coincidentally, their sale also started (just last week), so is worth checking out.  Have you bought any sales goodies lately?  

This post contains affiliate links, which when clicked through and purchased from, can earn this blog a small commission. By doing so, you are helping fund the blog, all opinions are still my own and I was not paid to write this post nor gifted any of these items. I just wanted my readers to know of the great deals!

I Need New Hair Colour

I'm in a bit of a quandary as to where to go next with my hair. Below is my most recent hair colour time-line. Starting at the top left, I mixed a random concoction of maybe half a bottle of Manic Panic Ultra Violet (purple) with Bubblegum Blue and Lilac by Crazy Color. I don't know exactly how much of each I used, I was making it up as I went along until it looked like I had enough dye in the bowl (I'd guess at half or 1/3 of each bottle). It came out a beautiful bright, vivid, purple, faded to violet, then a dusky lilac until it's practically grey. I thought it faded pretty fast. I'm down to washing my hair as little as possible (dry shampoo is my BFF), but even without washing, it still fades week by week. Although when I look back it was the middle of April I first coloured it, then by the end of May (top right) it was so pale but my dark roots still weren't noticeable, so I touched up the colour (bottom right) without needing to bleach it. Again I just randomly mixed whatever I had left in the cupboard with the majority being Ultra Violet. Which has lead me up until this week (bottom left) where I've hardly any colour left, there's an ashy yellow tinge in places and my roots are showing.
Earlier in the year I'd been dark but bright blue (below, top left), which I made by mixing Atomic Turquoise with Ultra Violet (both Manic Panic). I think I used 2/3 of AT with 1/3 of the UV bottle. This was a really different shade for me because it was quite dark. As you can see from the photos below, it faded to a brighter blue, then teal, turquoise, then the blue left and it turned more green until it faded lighter. This was very long-lasting and I was already accustomed to the 'turquoise to green' process from my months of solely using Atomic Turquoise. However having been blue/turquoise/green since the end of last year (and turquoise for ages before that), I wasn't keen to revisit it, hence my decision to try the purple out.
Now I'm just so undecided with where to go next. Usually I'm led by my mood or get something in my head that I must try, but I'm just not at all sure what I want. I'd kinda like to try something different again but I'm running out of colours I haven't already tried. I'm trying to think what shades I could buy to mix into a unique colour, but I feel anything is just going to end up as blue, turquoise, green or purple and I'm back where I've already been. I'm still banned from bringing bright pink into the house (the same would go for red), so what could I do? Anyone have any suggestions? I have to remember it's summer too, so perhaps I wouldn't want anything too dark. Generally speaking I prefer the colour purple to blue, although I loved how long-lasting the blue was in my hair and actually really liked having blue hair despite not being keen on the colour. Purple tends to fade quicker on me, but I think they are so pretty. I'm preparing to bleach either Sunday or Monday and at the moment I only have a tiny bit of Ultra Violet, half of Bubblegum Blue and 3/4 of Atomic Turquoise left. So do I just combine those and use up what I've got (which would probably just end up being turquoise) or order something and hope it arrives in time? I am open to ideas ; )

Haul & Swatches: ArtDeco & Lucky Dip Sample Bag

It's funny, I've got this massive beauty haul that keeps getting relegated to the bottom of my to-do list. It's not that it's a boring post, quite the opposite actually, but the thought of having to edit so many pictures is rather daunting! So this mini haul has now overtaken the big one as priority! Now, I've mentioned before that if you're looking for something inexpensive to help qualify for an offer on the Debenhams site, then ArtDeco eyeshadows are a pretty good idea. I did just that, last week for this little haul.
As the eyeshadows come in basic packaging (you can separately buy the empty compact to store the shadows in), they are pretty cheap to purchase alone. This in no way reflects on the quality though. I now own four of the pearl formula shadows and none have disappointed me, they are just a joy to use and the colours are beautiful. When it comes to eyeshadows I'm a huge smokey eye lover, but I usually gravitate towards bright and colourful shades when I'm looking to buy. I've never been keen on neutrals or browns because I don't think I suit them. However, ArtDeco do these neutrals so well, that I'm always more drawn to them than the colourful ones.
So the two I bought were 05 Grey Brown and 18 Light Misty Wood. Their names are a pretty accurate colour description as 05 is beautiful taupe with a silvery grey sheen...
...while 18 is a light bronzey brown.
I've been wearing both (and indeed all my ArtDeco shadows) non-stop! I just love the pearl formula, it's velvety soft, pigmented but with a lovely sheen and so naturally I'm a little hesitant to try a matte or glitter one in case I don't like them! It's safe to say there's plenty of 'pearls' to keep me going though! Here's my other two for comparison, you can find a full post with swatches here.
These eyeshadows were just £3.85 each and I had an offer code for a free goody bag with the purchase of two or more beauty products. Now you'll maybe recall from my last Debenhams haul post when I got the fragrance goody bag, that I'd just missed out on the offer of a sample bag more similar to this one. I'd qualified for other offers at the time, so wasn't too miffed, although I'd have preferred a random sample bag rather than purely fragrance. Anyway this offer, was for 7 samples from a selection of 14. You didn't get to pick your own samples, it was completely random. I spied the Guerlain mascara amongst it and that was one I'd wanted from the last sample bag. It was going to be pure luck if I got it though.
When my order arrived, I was absolutely over-the-moon with the selection of samples I got (above), they were far more generous than I'd expected. I received four fragrance samples (half my Dad fell heir to).
Four non-fragrance samples (yes I realise that's 8 altogether-I must've been lucky and got an extra).
I got a Sanctuary moisturiser (15ml), St Tropez gradual tanning moisturiser (50ml) and Bare Minerals serum.
Along with the Guerlain Cils D'Enfer Maxi Lash Mascara I wanted! How jammy was that? All for £7.70, I might add!

I'm a sucker for a freebie, well isn't everyone?  I've doubled checked the code today for this offer and it was still adding it to my basket, so it's still available if you'd like to get your hands on it (although I can't guarantee you'll get the same set of samples I did).  The code you need to put in the box at the checkout is X790 and that's for beauty club members with the purchase of two makeup and/or skincare items. If the offer doesn't show up in your basket then it's out of stock.  The offer is on for a limited time, so I wouldn't dilly-dally!  As if you needed more encouragement, there's VAT-free prices on selected beauty items right now and 10% off all other beauty.  From past experience if I've purchased two items which qualify for say a Lancome or Dior Gift With Purchase, then the goody bag offer doesn't work as well, you'll need to buy another two items for that.  As you can see though, you don't have to spend a fortune to qualify.

Monster High Monday: Swim Class Venus

Hello! A sunny day today, so I was looking for a bright and cheerful look. This one was sooo tricky though! The application was simple, but finding the correct eye colour was so difficult and in the end I just had to make-do with something as close as I could get. I own a lot of greens, like hundreds, so I never expected to run into trouble colour-matching.
The main problem was that Venus has this bold, intense colour but with no shimmer. 99% of green eyeshadows or at least in my collection are frosty, shimmery or glittery! The majority actually have quite a strong gold sheen to them, so in certain lights this made the colour totally change and look nothing like the doll. The hue itself was also hard to match because my shadows either leaned too green, too lime or too olive/khaki. Venus seems to have a combination of all three. In the end I had swatches all over my hand, my wrist and I'd started moving towards my elbow when I decided I'd spent long enough trying to match!
The lips I thought might be difficult to colour match, but I literally pulled out the first two lipsticks I could think of and their combined shade was spot-on. Funny how that happens.
So starting with my base, I applied BeneFit The POREfessional under Lancome Teint Miracle foundation in 005. I used Dainty Doll concealer in 001 under the eyes (with YSL Touche Eclat in shade 2) and 002 on blemishes. I finished with a light dusting of ELF Studio High Definition Powder in Translucent and applied a little MAC Fleurry blush with Don't Be Shy over the top for a pinky-peachy cheek.
I applied Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion as a base and combined Stila Kiwi with the green shade from MAC's Suedette 6 Intense Eyes Palette. Both do have shimmery finishes, but Kiwi made the MAC one that little bit brighter green and actually slightly toned down the sheen.
It looks very pale in the photo above just because of the light and no-flash, but it was much brighter in person. Venus has this huge flicked liner look, but Monster High eyelashes are usually pretty exaggerated too, so it kinda looks like she has this two-prong liner deal going on (which you can see when she's turned to the side). I decided to emulate that with a two-flick liner approach! I used YSL Waterproof Eye Pencil for the thick line, then Lancome Artliner for the flicks. On my lashes in YSL Baby Doll mascara.
For the lips, she's wearing a purple-pink, almost dusky or mauve toned. So I used Kiss Australia Lip Liner in Cashmere and mixed MAC lipsticks in Purple Rite (Frost) and Naughty Saute (Cremesheen). The latter is bright, bold pink and the former a frosty purple, so they combined to form the perfect colour.
As if I wasn't clashing enough, I decided to wear turquoise and peach today! Yeah...someone didn't think that one through! This look totally grew on me, even halfway through I thought it was going to be a complete disaster but it turned around in the end. Who knew finding an eyeshadow this shade would be so tricky though? Can anyone think of a similar one in their stash?

The Primark Project: See It, Buy It, Wear It

Did I mention I love that Primark is now available at ASOS? Hmm, did I? More than once probably, well I do love it, I truly do. This little unexpected project has more than proved how ace it is. On Tuesday I bought Look magazine. "Oh there's a cute dress dress at Primark, look". "Bet ours will never get it in though".
Fast forward to Friday and my usual 'let's stalk ASOS and guess which Primark items are new today' routine happened a little later than usual. Guess what I found? The red dress I'd wanted in the magazine! So I decided to test the ASOS Premier service to it's limit and ordered at quarter to 9 in the evening with free next day delivery.
I received an email this morning (Saturday) to say it would arrive between 17.15 and 18.15 and right enough there was a knock on the door at half five. The delivery guy noted my eagerness immediately and said "I bet you've been waiting all day for this and thought I was never coming" (note to self, don't open the door just as he's knocking on it).
Usually I'd spy a Primark item and lust after it for months, only to find a select few sizes in my local when I eventually get there and spend another couple of months trying to find my size. This has gone from first seeing it to ordering it and it being delivered, all in 4 days. Result!
The dress is available in sizes 6-20 (£13) and the print is really cool, it's like a black and white photocopy image of flowers.  Oh and while we're at it, I also like this dress...ASOS make it happen!

This post contains affiliate links, which when clicked through and purchased from, can earn this blog a small commission. By doing so, you are helping fund the blog, all opinions are still my own and I was not paid to write this post nor gifted this item.  I just thought the process and service was too awesome not to share!