Primark Haul #2

I don't know about anyone else, but I've really been feeling the cold this year! I've been lusting after some of the gorgeous winter jumpers that are around at the moment, and decided to take Friday afternoon off last week to have a bit of a shop. Naturally, I spent most of my money in Primark because of the many bargains! 

 

I spotted these snazzy woollen skirts and had to snap them up! I absolutely love the red one, it's so Christmassy! The black one is more of an understated style that I could wear to work quite easily. I haven't worn the red one out and about yet, but I wore the black one recently and it was sooo snuggly. These were a snip at £8 each.

The main aim of the shop was for jumpers, and I decided on these two after a lot of faffing about. The heart one was also available in red with white hearts, but they didn't have my size unfortunately. These were £14 each, which I think is a really good price for snuggly winter wear.

So cute!

 I've been in dire need of new winter jammies for a while, so I picked up some cute separates. I'm a complete sucker for anything with woodland animals on, so these bottoms went straight in my basket! The reindeer ones were £6 and the fox ones were £5. The tops were £5 each.

 And finally, I grabbed a few pairs of thermal socks. My feet really suffer in the winter because I have terrible circulation, so if I'm not careful I can end up with chilblains. These were £2.50 for two pairs, I'm not sure whether these will do the job, but hopefully they'll keep me toasty!

So there you have it! This will probably be my last Primark haul before the new year, I always have a look in January while I'm sale shopping. Have you picked up any Primark bargains recently?

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Wedding Details #4

This weeks post is about hair and make up. This was relatively stress-free for me, as I'm terrible with both, so I knew that I would be looking for people to do it for me!

For my hair, I knew I would want it up, and that I would have a tiara and veil involved. Luckily I have a good friend who is also a hairdresser (cheers Jemma!) who was willing to come to my house and do a trial, and on the day come to my parents house and make my hair gorgeous!

I spent quite a long time scouring the internet looking for bridal make up artists. Make up is a very personal thing, and I knew that I wanted my make up to be very natural, nothing too over the top. Eventually, I stumbled across Emma's website. If you scroll through her bridal gallery, you'll see why I chose her! All of her brides look natural and radiant. Emma herself is extremely friendly, I was quite nervous about having a trial done, but she put me at ease and was really bubbly! She was great fun to have around on the day as well, and I would 100% recommend her to any Cambridgeshire brides. She also does make up lessons (for people who are marrying abroad) and make up for proms.

 

Will you be doing your own make up on your big day? Or will you be searching for a bridal make up artist?

Sleek Blush in Antique

As soon as I spotted the Vintage Romance collection from Sleek, I was hooked. I managed to get my paws on the eyeshadow palette which I freaking love, and I've had the blush for ages and have only just gotten around to reviewing it.

This is a lovely dusky pink colour, with a shimmery mix. I actually find that its slightly too shimmery for me. I tried to use this the other day for a Face of the Day post, but I applied a little bit too much and I felt that it was too glittery for work! I think smaller amounts are key here.



Shimmery Glittery!

The packaging is pretty robust, I dropped the bag with this in on my way back to work and instantly thought that the blush would have cracked and broken, but it was all still intact! I love the little mirror, and the design on the outside of the box looks really high end, even though this was a bit of a bargain at £4.49.

 

I will definitely be keeping my eye out for further new releases from Sleek! Have you tried the Vintage Romance collection from Sleek?

Weekly Book Round Up #15

Well it's been a bit of a slow week reading-wise. Mainly because right after I finished this, I picked up the second Game of Thrones novel, and its been keeping me going all week. This is Lauren Kate's newest offering. I read her 'Fallen' series, and really didn't like it. The writing was poor and the characters were awful. But I spotted she'd got a new novel out and decided to grab it from the library. The main character in this series is called Eureka (I know), and the story begins with her and her mother being in a terrible car accident. Her mum is killed, so she goes to live with her dad and his wife. She has some serious depression/anxiety issues, and tries to kill herself, so understandably her dad is pretty freaked out and overprotective which results in quite a bit of tension at home. Anyway, she meets this guy who turns out to be a Seedbearer (sounds gross, but he's meant to be Eureka's natural enemy, so of course they fall in love) and it also turns out that Eureka has the ability to raise the lost city of Atlantis if she cries. Standard. I do think that the writing has improved from the Fallen series, and I didn't find the characters to be too obnoxious, but the story is going to need work to keep it going. I hear this is going to be a trilogy and I think I probably will read the next one, but I probably won't be buying it.

 

 

Nicola's rating: 2.5/5

 

 

E.L.F. Eye Shadow Sticks and Mineral Eye Liner

Time for an E.L.F. haul update! These Jumbo Eyeshadow Sticks were my favourite part of the haul overall, and I have since bought four more...woops.

Rock Out

Rock Out is a great silvery grey shade. A decent primer is a must for these as they do tend to smudge and crease throughout the day! However, if you're short on time, they are pretty easy to just blend back in to your eyelid.

Forest Nymph and Ash

Here I've gone for a bit of a rock chick look! I don't wear eyeliner like this to work anyway. Forest Nymph is a gorgeous shimmery brown shade, really neutral and easy to wear. The Mineral Eye Liner in Ash was really easy to apply, and is a very dark grey, almost black.

These are definitely a firm favourite with me, and I can't wait to try out the new shades I bought in the recent 50% off weekend! You can check out the Jumbo Eyeshadow Sticks here, they're a bargain at £2.50 each, and the Mineral Eye Liner is available here for £3.

Librarian Work Wear #11

This is a bit of a cheat, because at the moment it's too dark to take photos before I go to work, and by the time I get home its too dark to take them then as well! But I have been wearing this dress to work, so I convinced the husband to take some pictures while we were out walking Bernie. Naturally, it turned out to be a really cold and wet day.

I don't even know what Bernie's doing here.

This dress is the Coach Tour Dress in sea blue, from Modcloth. I've wanted one of the Coach Tour Dresses for so long, and when it came out in this gorgeous teal colour, I had to have it! The material is quite warm, although I was pretty chilly without a coat. It's great to layer though! I just chucked a primark top on underneath to keep myself a little bit warmer.

 

 

 

Once I got the camera back from Luke, I decided to snap a few more shots. It was raining though, so the camera didn't stay out for long!

Glossybox November 2013

After last months disappointing box, I've been rooting for Glossybox to pull it together for November! I received my box on Tuesday, and here are my thoughts!

Connock London Kukui Eau de Parfum

A lot of people complain about the perfume samples received in beauty boxes, and I have to say, I do think its a bit of a swizz. But on the other hand, trying out new perfumes isn't something I do an awful lot, and it's quite nice to get the chance to experiment. This perfume is a little too floral for me. I tend to prefer fruity scents, so this will probably not get used! (I actually gave this away to a friend before I could photograph it!)

Elegant Touch Nail Polish Remover Pads 

These don't really need any explanation. I'm looking forward to trying them out though, as I normally use a cheap remover and cotton wool, and tend to get in a right mess. This seems like a much quicker and easier solution. This is also quite affordable, at £2 per pot.

Vichy Idealia Life Serum

So, there's been a lot of hype surrounding this product. I don't entirely get it, but it's apparently a super awesome skin moisturiser that makes you look a zillion years younger. I might be exaggerating slightly. I'm sort of intrigued by this because I want to see if it is worth the hype, but I honestly have to say that I'm pretty sceptical. A lot of moisturisers out there boast about having super magical skin powers, and I don't seem to see the difference :\ I'll have to keep you posted! I received two samples of the Life Serum and a sample of the Smoothing and Illuminating cream.

Emite Make Up Micronized Eyeshadow

Yay! Make up in a Glossybox! This is a very pale shimmery pink eyeshadow, and is a full size product. According to Glossybox, this retails for £16.80. Which strikes me as INSANE. It's a tiny eyeshadow! But if you read the description, it soon becomes obvious why this product is ridiculously expensive. "Emite Micronized Eye Shadow is completely free from oil, nickel, parabens and perfume. The pigment is micronized to facilitate application and to create an even and lasting result". I don't know what micronizing is, but it sounds pricey. These shadows are also apparently ideal for people with sensitive eyes, so thats a bonus. Obviously, this isn't the kind of product that I would buy all the time, but I'm looking forward to trying it out! 

 

Yves Rocher France Hand Cream

Finally, my favourite item from the box! I absolutely love this hand cream. The scent is cocoa and raspberry, and it is divine. It smells so good, I really want to eat it. Not only does it smell fantastic, but it sinks into your hands really easily, and leaves them so soft! This is definitely going to become a staple in my handbag for winter, as I do tend to suffer from dry skin. Plus, this is a full size product. 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with my Glossybox this month. I think they've done well to include a couple of expensive items (Vichy and Emite) and rounded it off with useful, cheap items (Elegant Touch and Yves Rocher). Reading the Glossy magazine has been pretty interesting too, as I see that Glossybox are releasing a limited edition Christmas box, which will be available from November 20th (PAYDAY!) so I will definitely be having a good look at that!

What do you think of this month's box? Has Glossybox upped it's game from last month?

Nails of the Day #4

NYC have a new range of top coats, which I happened to spot a while back in Superdrug. The Rock Muse Smoky top coats come in a range of shades, to add an extra smoky shimmer to your polishes! I picked up Green Day, because I'm a sucker for green glitter.

 

I had to think for quite a bit over what shade to pair this up with, and eventually settled on Barry M's Gelly Nail Paint in Watermelon. 

I only used one coat of the Watermelon, and I think if I was going to do this look again, I'd use two. I was a bit worried about the top coat not showing up much if the base was too dark, but the glitter makes it stand out quite nicely. There are some quite chunky bits of glitter mixed in with smaller bits in this polish, which makes me wonder whether it will last as a top coat, as I always seem to chip off big pieces of glitter pretty easily. I love the look this creates though, even on it's own this top coat could be quite a fun polish.

The Rock Muse top coats are £1.99 each, and are available from Superdrug. I could only find the black shade on their website, but you can check out the other colours available here.

Weekly Book Round Up #14

 So this is a bit sad. The final Morganville book! I have really enjoyed this series, and it's been great to watch the characters grow and get a bit more attitude. Still, it had to end sometime, and book 15 definitely ended the series well. The vampires have finally met their match in the form of the Daylighters, who have managed to imprison them. The humans all totally love it of course, except for Claire, Shane and Eve. Together, they have to fight back to get the vampires released (sounds totally crazy, but these Daylighter dudes are not cool). The book neatly ties up all the loose ends, and I definitely felt like I was happy to finish the series and say goodbye to all of my Morganville favourites! I'm interested to see what Rachel Caine comes up with next though, after finishing off Morganville and the Revivalist in the past two months.

 

Nicola's rating: 4/5

 

 

 

 

 

 Another vampire series! This is book 11 in this series, and I am beginning to get bored. It's been the same villain throughout all of the books, and I had thought that things would start to be resolved in this book, but nope. Same old bad guy resurrecting herself. A lot of this story was spent focusing on Zoey and her increasing anger and frustration, and the boyfriend issues which never seem to abate. The only real enjoyment I get from these books anymore is from the side characters, and the various friendships/relationships they have with each other. I will probably still read the next book, because I do care about what happens to the characters, but I hope that there will be some resolution soon!

 

Nicola's rating: 3/5

 

 

 

I was pretty pleased to see the return of Bridget Jones, although the major spoiler made me sad. If you don't know what the major spoiler is, and you don't want to know, DON'T READ ANY MORE.

 

 

Okay. Mr Darcy is dead. Bridget is having to cope with raising two small children, trying to write a screenplay, and venturing into the world of social media and online dating. This is all still very 'Bridget', and I'm glad that the character is still recognisable. There are still the same awkward encounters and embarassing situations that you'd expect, but mingled with heartbreakingly sad moments. It's been a few years since I've read the other two books, but this one definitely feels more grown up. However, I found that Bridget wasn't as relatable anymore. Obviously, she's now in her fifties and has children, but in places I just found myself getting annoyed at how unorganised and useless she was. That's always been an element in the other books, but in this one it seemed particularly grating. If you're a fan, I'd still recommend that you read it, but I'm quite glad that I got it from the library!

 

 

Nicola's rating: 3.5/5

 

 

Three books again this week! I've only got 10 left to read for my goal this year. If you're interested in following my progress, click the 'gr' at the bottom of this post to go to my Goodreads page, or the icon on the right hand side :)