Took a little trip to town

... and managed to purchase some lovely new bits!
If you know me you'll know that I like to be a girly girl. That doesn't mean I always listen to the sweet sounds of the birds outside without shouting "shut up you bastards" or that I'm not partial to a bit of pop-punk while I'm at the gym, but I do love anything and everything pastel, floral and kitsch! This happens to mean that while I'm in Cath Kidston I prance around like a fat kid in a cake shop and have to restrain myself from buying a whole wardrobe for my unborn, unconceived children (2 girls and a boy, twins if possible.)

Anyway, back to the point. For christmas I received a lovely Cath Kidston bag from my Auntie, but unfortunately it was too small for me to make proper use of with all the books I have to lug around university. Cath Kidston have the best returns policy.. if it's still in good condition with the labels on they'll give you a credit note or exchange, so Saturday saw me skip in there with one bag and my sob story and leave with a bigger bag, a make up bag and a new keyring. OOPS!

This is the medium box bag. It comes in a variety of designs but this is the one that I chose, how pretty is it! Clashes with my bed covers but I'll recover from that trauma.

And this is the make up bag. It was between this one or a laquered pink one. This won the vote because it's machine washable, wahoo!

Keyring! I've had my keys on a Hello Kitty lanyard since I was 18 and it's looking a little grubby so I picked up this beaut.

And, the piece de resistance.. a Vanilla Cupcake Yankee Candle! Since I hadn't parted with any real money I saw this and couldn't resist it. It's perfect to have burning while I write the 3 remaining essays and long for the Cadbury Philadelphia in the fridge (no fatty, no!)

So, that was my little share of this weekend's purchases. I have a review of Clinique's translucent powder that I want to share, but it won't be up for at least a week. I'm going out big time next weekend and I think that's the perfect test for any new make up with the lights, heat and consumption of one too many drinks.

Have you got any Yankee Candles? I'm already on the hunt for my next one. I hope you've all had a happy weekend, 

Graze Box - 10.10.11

Hello hello! I know I've been a bit absent this week. Being in my third week of lectures I've felt like I have no time at all, boo! I did however get my first of 15 Graze boxes that my boyfriend's mum bought me for my 20th birthday! I'm still 10lbs off my goal weight and I found that these little punnets of calorie controlled snacks really helped me stay away from the Kettle Chips and dips and steer me towards smaller, healthier snacks like dried fruit and nuts.

Graze provide a service where you can order a healthy snack box for just £3.49 per box (cheaper than a bag of crisps, a bottle of coke and a mars bar at the shops!) and have it delivered to your home or workplace! Their motto is "Nature Delivered" as every ingredient is natural. They a few different types of boxes, mine being a "nibble box" but have a look on their website as they're big on health and nutrition so you might find something that suits you perfectly!

Each box comes with 4 containers with 4 different snacks (unless you request otherwise) and a little booklet with all the nutritional values of each punnet so if you're trying to be more aware of what you're eating I'd really, really recommend trying one out! The box is recyclable and comes with a little serviette for the crumbs and if you have olives in your box, a little fork!

This week's box looked like this : 

Top - Fruit Sangria & Hazelnut Espresso

Bottom- Black Pepper Doms & Apple and Cinnamon Flapjack

Fruit Sangria - dried strawberries, physalis and orange sultanas

Hazelnut Espresso - coffee milk chocolate, hazelnuts, plums and amaretti drops

Black Pepper Doms - fruity mango chutney and black pepper crackers

Apple & Cinnamon Flapjack - rustic rolled oat flapjack with apple and cinnamon

This week's box is a definite 3/4. I really like the Pepper Doms and the flapjack as my favourites and the Hazlenut Espresso is perfect when you've got a little sugar craving but don't want to go overboard in the biscuit tin! The Fruit Sangria is okay but I meant to un-check it from my "Like" list on the Graze website as it contains dried physalis which I'm really not a fan of! 

One of my favourite things about the Graze box is the personalisation of everything. The booklet has my name in it and it really makes me feel like someone has packed this box with me in mind. 

I also can't praise their customer service highly enough. I encountered an issue with my account and after emailing Graze through their website I received a very prompt, informative and polite reply from Holly fixing my problem overnight! 

If you would like to try a Graze box for FREE (and your second for half price!) enter the code : VTFDL7ND at the checkout! For every person that tries a box I can donate £1 to the Graze School of Farming. 

Let me know if you try one, I'd love to hear your opinion!

xo xo 

My Cheapsmells.com experience

Last week I made a bit of a whimsical purchase on cheapsmells.com. I love the TIGI BedHead range and I've been after a shampoo & conditioner that work for normal hair that doesn't specifically need revival or repair. I finally stumbled across their Urban Antidote range which had a twin pack of "Re-Energize" for £19.97 including p&p! 

Firstly, let me just take in the price. Less than £20 for two 750ml bottles of these products to be posted directly to me, I really couldn't find a reason to not buy them! Postage took around 4 days and tomorrow morning will be the first time I try them as I went home for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to using them this week and I'll definitely update on here with how they're working for me. 

As you can see from the photos there's nothing fancy about the packaging, although I chose not to have my products gift wrapped and to be honest, I really don't mind. I don't see the point in having fancy packaging when all I really want is the product in the box (exceptions to the rule are obviously companies such as Glossybox or Boux Avenue who pride themselves on the appearance of their service, which I won't argue with, I love to be made to feel special after all!), especially when I didn't pay any extra for their postage.

250ml of the shampoo has an RRP of £9.55 and 200ml of the conditioner is £10.55. You don't have to be a mathematic genius to figure out you're saving money!

Anyway, I'm so, so pleased with the price I wanted to share how great it is with all of you!

Let me know if you buy anything from there after reading this :)

xo xo

My very own Focco!

Now, I want to start this post with the view that I never buy fake items. I feel like it's a sin, but I'm aware that some people might consider that since I'm now the proud owner of a Focco (faux - Alexander Wang Rocco) bag I'm being a hypocrite. Let me clarify, I'd never buy "Louis Vuitton" from the market stalls, nor would I pay £200 for a fake Chanel quilted bag, but as this bag is completely unbranded I thought I'd give it a whirl. The Rocco retails for $875 on the Alexander Wang Website, and my Focco was £30 from an international eBay seller.

Now for the photos

The bag itself is made from a shiny faux leather material with a cracked appearance. 

It's soft to touch and very light to carry around.

The studs on the bottom of the bag are one of it's main features. They are solid and the same colour as brass. The colour matches the zips on the top and side as well.

The interior is very spacious with an inner zipped pocket, a pocket for a mobile phone (which is small, definitely doesn't fit my iPhone with a case on/any recent Blackberry model) and another slightly larger pocket without a zip. 

The handles are strong and I feel that for £30 I've got more than my money's worth when it comes to this bag. There's one thing it lacks when compared to the original, a shoulder strap, whether it's detachable or not it would be nice to have the option but it's not strictly necessary as the top handles are my preferred choice with any bag.

All in all I'm extremely pleased with this bag and I'd trust this eBay seller if I chose to buy it in another colour.

What do you think about fakes? Would you openly buy a fake item or are you like me? Do you agree with the Focco being unbranded?

xo xo 

Boux Avenue

After reading reviews from other girls about the lingerie company Boux Avenue I decided to try it myself. This evening I bought one bra to try it for size and to see the quality of their products to be sure I won't be wasting my money. I have no doubt that this company provide excellent products so I'm not worried about that, I am just one of the larger busted girls in the world so buying underwear is somewhat of a large event in my life!
 I should get my order in the next 5 days so I'll definitely put a review up here :)

xo xo