A Very Much Needed Haul!

I’m meant to be saving money, but for some reason towards the end of my second semester of uni I suddenly felt the urge to buy myself some things. Things that whilst I can afford, I shouldn’t really buy. However a majority of these items were in the sale, so it wasn’t too bad! Plus a couple of things were free and one was a gift, but I’ll go into detail about this.

I’ll talk about each item in order of when I bought them.

Towards the end of April me and my boyfriend decided to treat ourselves to a new game for our 2Ds’s and that game was the latest Pokemon, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Since then we’ve played them loads, but my boyfriend has already completed his! I’ve been too busy with my uni work to play but when I’ve handed my last assignment in Thursday, I’ll be able to complete the story!

I’d read a review recently about Makeup Revolution’s new Iconic Pro lipsticks and whilst I didn’t need anymore (or any new ones for that matter) the two I had spied were dupes of MAC Heroine and possibly Violetta, two lipsticks I have had my eye on for quite some time. So, for £2.49 each I thought, what the hell! I ordered Liberty in both the matte finish and the standard finish, which looks creamy, yet glossy. These are gorgeous lipsticks and since buying them I’ve worn them  nearly everyday. I’ll definitely have to review these in the future as not only are they MAC dupes, but the packaging also reminds me of MAC too. Really can’t go wrong for the price. The only thing I disliked was how much the postage was, and what made it worse was how long it took them to arrive! Not very pleased about it, but they’re here now and were definitely worth the wait!

This was intended to be the only treats I was going to buy myself this month, but alas after ordered those lipsticks, I couldn’t stop.

I use Love Sales to tell me when products I want to buy go into the sale. The second said item goes down in price I get an email about it. This happened a lot that same day due to New Look having a sale. I’ve seen a lot of items I wanted from there, so alas those items were put on sale. A lot of items I wanted weren’t available in my size, but the ones I picked up were.

I picked up this crop top, which I’ve been wanting for ages! It was listed under New Look’s 70’s trend, which I’ve really been liking this spring so far. I’ve wanted some more crop tops for a while as whilst I don’t like my tummy, my waist is pretty awesome! I can wear something high-waisted (probably black shorts, jeans, disco pants, or a skirt) and it’ll look awesome all year around. When I tried this on it felt a little tight, but I think this is how it’s meant to be. It makes my boobs look awesome too, so I’m glad I picked this up! It was originally £7.99, down to £4.00, bargain! I’m really pleased I picked this up. It’s going to be the start of me getting more body confident again. Although this being said, I haven’t yet found anything high-waisted that I like the look of. I’ll have to keep looking.

I’ve wanted this dress for months and looked in every store imaginable to try and track it down to try on and buy. I looked in two Coventry stores, three Birmingham stores, Milton Keynes, Cheltenham, and Leicester, and no one could help me! They all told me to order it online. But I left it, I don’t tend to like ordering clothes online… However when this popped up in the sale, I couldn’t resist. At the time of ordering there was only one size left, which is one-two sizes too big for me, but I could get it taken in and it would be okay. And to be honest, with how self-conscious I am about my weight lately I thought, “You’ll probably fit into it anyway… You’re getting fat.” However, when it arrived and I tried it on, it turns out it was too big for me! Deep down I was so damn happy! But the story doesn’t even here about that dress. The next day I had a look online to see if they had any of my sizes left, which they did! So my boyfriend was nice enough to order it for me and so, when that dress arrived and fit okay, I took the one I ordered back to the store. Happy days! I’m so pleased I finally got this dress and at a bargain too, it was originally £22.99, down to £10. TEN WHOLE POUNDS! So pleased! I already know how I want to wear this and will wear it all year around. I wore it to a party recently and I loved it. I had nothing but compliments and it really did make me feel like a blast from the past with its 60’s/70’s look to it.

Both of these items were spoken about on one of my wish list Wednesday’s posts, which you can check out here.

Something else I decided to pick up from New Look were these cute little poodle socks. I’m a sucker for anything with a poodle on it and of course I just had to get these. You can never have enough pairs of socks, especially me! These were originally £1.99, down to £1.00. Can’t complain for that money.

Without flash

With flash

Out of pure boredom on my day off from work I had a look at Topshop’s sale to see if I could spy anything nice for a bargain and I came across these shoes. I have had my eyes on a pair of Vagabond sandals for nearly a year now and I still don’t own them. Why? Because they’re just too damn expensive! Like the New Look items I had them on Love Sales and waited patiently for them to drop in the sale, but they didn’t drop to as much as I hoped they would. However, on the Topshop sale they had some shoes somewhat similar to the Vagabond ones. I wasn’t sure whether to order them… So I waited until my boyfriend was home from work and asked for a second opinion. He agreed on the reasons why I wanted them and so I ordered. Instead of paying £3.00 to have the delivered home, I decided to opt for free delivery to my nearest store. The sales assistants were lovely in store and I tried them on there and then. They fit me lovely and I was so excited to take them home! These were the best bargain out of the lot at a cheap £15.00 down from £40.00! They’re not real leather, but I’m not fussed about that. These will go with loads of things over the spring and summer months, hell even the warmer autumn days! I’ll probably team these up with the crop top, as well as the dress. I’ve already worn them with the dress and they looked awesome! When I first tried these on they did seem a hell of a lot higher than I thought they would be, but they’re really easy to walk in and very comfortable. I can’t wait to wear these more throughout the summer.

L-R: Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub, Soap & Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter, and Garnier Pure Active 3-in-1 Wash Scrub & Mask

I needed to pick myself up some bits and pieces from Boots, these being a face and body scrub. So I took advantage to Boots 3 for 2 offer and decided to treat myself to Soap & Glory’s Sugar Crush Body Scrub and although I haven’t tried it yet on my body, I have tried it on the back of my hand and it feels gorgeous and smells delicious! I love the Sugar Crush line and it smells delicious, just like key lime pie! I’ve owned the shower gel in the past and was tempted to pick it up for this offer, but left it this time. This cost me £8.00.

Instead I picked up Soap & Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter, which I have had my eye on to try for quite some time. What really encouraged me to buy it is the fact it smells JUST LIKE pistachio ice cream, which I adore. This shares the same scent as Smoothie Star Body Milk, and I can only imagine it does with the Smoothie Star Body Buttercream, and the Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub. I tried this out the day after I bought it and it’s really nice to use! I imagine it’s like the Nivea in shower moisturiser as it did leave me feeling moisturised for a while, but my skin soon went dry in patches. This being said, my skin is very dry. I’ll be test driving this out more throughout June! This cost me £7.00

The item I picked up for free was what I settled on as my new face scrub, this being Garnier’s Pure 3-in-1 Wash Scrub & Mask. I’ve heard nothing but good about this and have wanted to try it for a while, but never did. However I thought what the hell this time and also gave this a go as a scrub the day after I bought it too and it really did feel nice to use! I of course haven’t noticed much change yet, but it didn’t dry my skin out which I liked. I can’t wait to try this as a mask as I really want to start using face masks again. This was on sale at the time of purchase for just over £3.00 but it’s now priced on the website as £5.99.

L-R: Ocean Salt, Ultrabland, and Let The Good Times Roll

Whilst I was out shopping with my boyfriend and before I picked up my items from Boots I ventured into Lush to check out their face and body scrubs, as I contemplated buying one from them. I had Ocean Salt and Rub Rub Rub in mind. The woman who served me was lovely and very chatty about Lush products. She also let me try out loads of products which was nice! However some of the things she was telling me about products I know from my personal research in the past were incorrect and I was somewhat confused about that. But I know she meant well and was speaking more from her own experience, as opposed to what they’re taught about the products. She was so lovely though that she gave me enough samples to last me for quite a few weeks. I nearly picked up Rub Rub Rub or You Snap The Whip, but I left it as to be honest, Lush is expensive and in my mind is something you only pick up as a treat.

The samples she gave me are Ocean Salt, Ultrabland, and Let The Good Times Roll. I’m really excited to try Ocean salt and Let The Good Times Roll, not so much for Ultrabland though. I tried this out in store and it felt so greasy on the back of my hand. This isn’t something I want to feel on my face… But I’ll still give it a go!

My family recently came back from a holiday and were lovely enough to bring me back this set of OPI Nail Lacquers with some of the Hawaii Collection inside. I’ve painted my nails and toes with some of the shades already and they’re gorgeous! I’m so grateful for the thought behind these and I know I’ll be rocking them throughout the summer! I’ll definitely be reviewing these soon.

I’m so pleased with my purchases and I’m really happy I treated myself to a few goodies. I’ve just about finished my second semester of university and I won’t lie when I say I feel like a weight has been lifted… Somewhat. I need to wait to see how I did first before the weight is fully gone. But for now I am due to start working on my dissertation, which will be a lot of work, but not as much as before.

This means more blog posts! I’ve really missed writing for my blog, so I’m glad to be back.

Have you been buying anything in the sales? Drop a comment and let me know!

Until next time all, take care and I’ll see you soon.