YY Kawaii iPhone 6 Case – Review

Oh boy have I been excited to write this review! For quite a long time I have wanted a custom case for my iPhone (both the 5 and the 6) from the amazing YY Kawaii store!

The store has been open on Etsy since 2012 and is still going strong. I browse the store every other month and I can easily tell that it has gained interest through the amount of activity on its Instagram page. It is based in the UK and it’s become very popular with lovers of anime from all over the world.

As I mentioned before I had wanted a customised case from YY Kawaii for as long as I can remember but every time I settled on what I wanted I also thought, “Meh better save my money.”

Recently they posted something for sale on their Instagram page which I messaged them straight away about. We discussed the item in particular and how I could have it on a phone case and a couple of weeks later my case had arrived and I was using it on my phone. So I thought I would be pretty cool to write a review about it, as well as my experience with buying a custom case from YY Kawaii.

The first thing I will say is how lovely and friendly the seller is. I don’t actually know her name otherwise I would call her by that. Sorry. 😦 I approached her about the design I wanted to get and even though she had stated on Instagram that she was going to bed she messaged me back straight away. Half an hour later we had agreed on a design and a payment had been sent.

There are various ways you can customise your case including the colour of the whip, if you want to add extra figures to the case, the type of case, etc. I like how you can really create something unique, which is what I think is one of the best things about YY Kawaii.

When creating my case I was shown what it would look like before the whip was applied (it acts like a glue to hold everything together) and I wasn’t keen on a bow that the seller had added to the design, so she changed it for a macaroon for me!

Money wise I will say that these cases are quite pricey for what they are in my opinion for various reasons… But they’re nice as a treat. Of course I will get into why I think they’re pricey…

As you can see I went for a case with a Pokemon card on, the card obviously being a Flareon, the fire evolution of Eevee. Regular readers of my blog will know I am a huge Pokemon nerd and that the Eeveelutions are my favourites (alongside Mew, Cubone and Ampharos).

Beforehand I had wanted a case with an Eevee and Mew figure on… But I sadly changed my mind due to money and other reasons. If any cute figures of these two go up for grabs via Instagram in the future I may ask to have a jewellery box made up instead.

I waited what felt like forever for this to be made and arrive and I was so excited when it did! It came in a little purple pouch and even included some Love Hearts sweets, which I gave to Dane as I’m not a fan of them.

After wresting to take my Mew phone case off I finally managed to get my Flareon one on and to be honest I loved it but I had a few mixed feelings about it. My Mew case is very sturdy as it’s built to protect your phone from bumps, scratches and especially from the screen smashing. Due to this the Mew one feels good to hold. Sadly although the Flareon case looks beautiful it doesn’t feel like it’s going to prevent my phone from getting damaged if I accidentally drop it.

When taking the case on and off my phone I worry various times that it might crack on the sides. This has happened to phone cases I have owned in the past, which is a shame. I didn’t realise at the time of ordering my case that you could pay extra to have a more secure feeling to it… If I’d have known I would have upgraded to that.

The case is really easy to put onto the phone as it just clips into place but taking it off is a bit of a struggle. I guess it means it’s secure and won’t fall off or break off easily, which is nice really. I guess I just want to be able to take it off just as quickly and easily as it takes to put it on.

Another issue I have encountered is putting it down on a surface (a table being a good example). It’s not exactly easy to lie the phone down on its back when it’s covered in bits and pieces. So sadly I’ve had to place the phone on the screen… Which isn’t nice to think about as I constantly worry it’ll get scratched! Also because of how chunky this case is you can’t put it in your pocket as easily.

Although I love this phone case and have so far used it a handful of times, I don’t like leaving it on my phone. I much prefer to use my Mew phone case.

The YY Kawaii cases are gorgeous and I love mine to bits, but they aren’t practical at all. I don’t know if it’s my age, my job, or just because of the phone case I have had for so long being so good but I guess my excitement for this case has been let down because of its impracticality.

In total this cost me £18 for the case and £4.50 for the postage. As I said, not cheap but nice if you want something unique, different and eye catching. If anything these are great for presents for Christmas and birthday as you can really put a lot of thought and effort into making a friend or loved one a more personal gift.

It has been made beautifully and I really do love and appreciate that. I feel like I’m sounding as if I’m bashing YY Kawaii but I’m really not! Their cases are gorgeous and hell I would gladly buy another one but they aren’t cheap and as I said they are great as a treat, or even as a gift. I do put it down to me being in my late 20’s and in a job where I don’t get to have my phone on me to show it off and due to that it does suck.

If you love anything cute and kawaii then definitely give YY Kawaii a look over on their Etsy page! They don’t just make phone cases, they’ll also customise cases for laptops, iPads, mirrors, jewellery boxes, etc. I know I would love to get a mirror and box made by them in the future. Their pieces are unique and beautiful and there is nowhere else on the market that will make products like this as good as YY Kawaii do.

What do you think of the Flareon phone case I had made? Would you use it or not? Make sure to let me know your opinions in the comments below.

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

A-Z: Get To Know Me!

I recently found a post of the same title by Be over at Love From Be (link) and I just loved the post so much. It was just a nice and different way of getting to know the blogger you enjoy reading, or have just discovered. So I thought I would give it a go myself! Make sure to go and check out Be’s blog, as she’s so lovely and down to Earth.

Anime – I love anime so much, it’s something I have enjoyed watching from a young age, and the older I’ve got the more anime shows I have found myself watching. Some of my favourites are Elfen Lied, Nana, Azumanga Daioh, Himouto! Umaru-Chan, Sword Art Online, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Blogging – I didn’t want to have to use this as the letter B, but I really couldn’t think of anything else! I love my blog. It’s my number one hobby, and something I would love to turn into my job in the future. I’ve been running my blog for four years now, and I continue to carry on with it for as long as possible.

Coffee – Well, the title of my blog does have the word coffee in it! I do really like coffee, so much so I worked in Costa Coffee for nearly three years. That is probably the first time I’ve admitted to working in Costa on my blog. 😛 My favourite coffee is vanilla flat white. I love my coffee strong! 😛

Dirty Sanchez – One of my favourite shows has to be this. I love not only that the guys are from the UK, but I also love how they do some worse off stuff than what Jackass have ever done. I’m sad that they aren’t still around, but I’ll always think of Dirty Sanchez as one of the shows I grew up watching and loving.

Evanescence – My favourite band for over ten years now. I fell in love with them when I first heard “Bring Me To Life” on KERRANG! Radio. I ended up buying their first album Fallen and listening to it none stop. I still have that album to this day! I have seen them live twice, and hope to go again in the future. I’ve also met all the band mates (apart from Amy!) from the Evanescence album days. My favourite song is “Imaginary”.

Fuerteventura – This place is legit my second home. I’ve been going there since the age of 5 and I love it. I didn’t go for 10 years and it broke my heart, I forgot how much I loved it and how amazing it was there. I really want to live there one day… But we shall see. I would want to work in a cocktail bar, or hell even run my own on the beach! 😛

Gaming – I’m a gamer. Not a hardcore one, but I still love to play my games! I’m also a console collector too, and I currently own 7 consoles (Nintendo SNES and GameCube, Playstation, PS2, PS3, and PS4, and an Xbox 360), as well as my handheld collection of the original Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS Lite, and my Nintendo 2DS. Go me! But I love playing games. Currently obsessed with the LEGO games. I can’t wait for the Star Wars one to come out.

Hyper Japan – I went to my first Hyper Japan convention last summer in London and I loved it so damn much! It wasn’t as good as I was hoping it was going to be, but I still enjoyed myself. I really hope that me and Dane can attend the winter one this year, seeing as we went to the summer one last year.

iPhone – I own an iPhone 6 and I love it to bits! It’s by far the best phone I have owned to date, and I just love it. It feels nice to hold, is great to look at, and to be honest my new phone case just makes me happy. I only got it in the post yesterday when I got home from work and it’s just so adorable. Who can say no to a sleeping Mew, huh?

Jackass – Another one of my favourite shows. I grew up watching this too funnily enough! I would skip school to stay at home eating toast and watching TV shows on MTV. Or I would stay awake all night watching them on Viva. God those were the days! I was gutted when Ryan Dunn died too by the way. It really hit home as he was my favourite one on the show. I’m sad that this has also come to an end, but I love Bad Grandpa, it’s amazing!

Kawaii – A Japanese word for cute. I love cute things and often say kawaii about them to try and be cute myself. It rarely works and I end up looking like a complete loser. 😛

Lipstick – This is really the only makeup I wear, and I’m pretty damn proud of that! I love lipstick, and I’ve recently started to get braver in wearing darker lip shades than I already wear. I love liquid lipsticks the most right now. My favourite brand being Jeffree Star Cosmetics. I also love my MAC lipsticks too, my favourite shade will always be Rebel. I love wearing reds, dark pinks, and purples. Can never get enough of them!

Manga – I love reading manga. I started to read it back in 2011 when I finish university and had time on my hands. I started with Elfen Lied, then moved onto Azumanga Daioh, and Nana. I currently have some Nana to finish reading and then I’ll be moving onto the Sword Art Online series. I need to read the Attack On Titan manga too… But I only have enough time on my hands for one thing at a time.

Nendoroid – These are the awesome figures that me and Dane collect, and we really do love them! We have a nice little collection going at the mostly, which are mostly Dane’s. I only have 3 at the moment whilst he has (from memory) 10 figures… My collection is really lame in comparison! Good Smile recently announced they were creating a Deadpool Nendoroid, so me and Dane are really excited for him!

Ocean – I love the ocean. I love how beautiful it looks and sounds with the colours, and the crashing and gentle swishing noises. I finally got to swim in the sea/ocean on my holiday last January with Dane and I loved it so damn much! I can’t wait to do that again someday.

Image taken from We Heart It

Pokemon – Since the age of 6 I have loved Pokemon, and that love is still just as strong now 10 years later. I still play the games, lust after the cute plushies (as you’ll have seen from my recent wish list post here), and get excited when any new news comes out to do with the franchise. I don’t care if I’m a 26-year-old woman, I love Pokemon! 😛

Queens Of The Stone Age – One of my other favourite bands, and one I really want to see soon! I have always ended up not going to see them live due to having no money, no one to go with, or them playing too far away from home. When they tour again however I won’t let the chance slip away!

Red – Not my  favourite colour (that’s purple) but it’s my colour of choice clothing wise! I love the colour red and how bold, and sexy it looks. It also suits me due to my warm yellow skin tone, as well as my brown hair and eyes. I’m after a gorgeous red rain coat at the moment, but alas I haven’t found much.

Studio Ghibli – This is my Disney. You know everyone loves Disney movies? Well I love Studio Ghibli movies. Me and my boyfriend between us have pretty much all of the films on DVD and whenever a new one comes out we try to go and watch it at the cinema. My favourite is Spirited Away, it always has been and I’m pretty sure it always will be. I do rather like Grave of The Fireflies, even though it’s a really sad film.

Teachers – Another TV show I grew up watching! This used to be on Channel 4 back in the day when I was still at school myself! It always made me want to be a teacher deep down due to how much fun all the teachers had both in and outside of school. Alas that hasn’t happened… My favourite season is probably season 2, but I love them all!

Image taken from We Heart It

Umaru – I am legit Umaru… Constantly hermitting away in my room playing games, eating crap, reading manga, and lusting after things I can’t afford to buy. I’m not cute like her though… Just a very sad 16-year-old stuck inside someone 10 years older than herself… Oh dear. 😛

Vitamin D – This is an odd one, but I actually recently found out I have a vitamin D deficiency… Which of course sucks but I’m currently on medication to help it. The little pills I get are tiny blue ones, which remind me of The Matrix. 😛

Writing – I love to write. I do it for my blog, I write books and stories in my spare time, and I even studied critical and creative writing for my masters degree (as well as for my BA too…). So it is safe to say I love writing. 😛 Need I say more than that???

X (I apologise but I couldn’t think of anything with this letter…)

Yankee Candle – I love these candles! They’re my candle of choice whenever I go to buy any new ones, so I’m always burning them at home. I currently have Christmas Eve burning at the moment as I’m trying to use up all my  tea lights and votives. 🙂

Z (I apologise but I couldn’t think of anything with this letter…)

Image taken from We Heart It

So that was my A-Z about me! Thanks again to Be for posting about this, as if she hadn’t I might not have gotten the chance to have a go at it myself. I also apologise if any of my answers were lame… 😛

Will you be having a go at talking about yourself through an A-Z post? Make sure to let me know if you do so I can read yours!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far.

October Wish List

I know I say this every month, but I just can’t believe how quickly this year has flown. It’s now October and a whole month since I finished university. My favourite month has passed, and it’s now only a couple of months until Christmas and New Year… And also until I turn 26. Oh woe!

I really need to watch my money this month, but at the same time October is appearing to be the month where everything I want to buy is coming out, so we shall see how that goes… But for now, here are the items I am lusting after this month!

• Jeffree Star Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Masochist.

I have been lusting after one of Jeffree Star’s liquid lipsticks ever since they came out, but I have never splashed out and made a purchase because I’ve never really settled on one shade that I wanted. However now Jeffree has brought out the shade masochist I know I want this in my life. It’s a gorgeous raspberry pink shade, which is totally me and one I would rock throughout autumn and winter, maybe even spring and summer evenings. This has been available to buy since the end of September, but I’m going to wait for Cocktail Cosmetics to bring this out for sale on their website. It just works out cheaper all round. I know my mom really wants to try this shade too, so we’ll both be giving it a go when I buy it.

• Disney Store Star Wars Sweatshirt.

I saw this recently on the Disney Store website and I really liked it, but soon forgot about it. Recently browsing around the website for some cute things I stumbled upon it again and it’s something I would love to pick up when the weather gets really chilly and I just want something to snuggle into whilst lounging around the house. I’m not the biggest Star wars fan in the world, but since a young age I was brought up to love Star Wars and I still do to this day.

• Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer.

This is now officially out, and MINE! It came out yesterday and I made sure to pre-order it so that I would have it on my doorstep for when I got home from work. I remember this being announced at E3 and I was so excited for a new Pokemon game to be announced, but it wasn’t. This however made up for it. I love the Animal Crossing games and own them all apart from the wii version. I wanted to pick up the limited edition 3DS XL to go alongside this game but alas, I’m poor. I have however picked up the NFC Reader/Writer so I can scan the gorgeous new Animal Crossing amiibo Cards. I’ve also ordered those too and I can see them becoming an addiction… Which isn’t good when they cost £4.99 for one pack. So I ordered three packs for under £13, which isn’t bad. It’s a real treat and I haven’t been playing my 2DS lately so I’m excited to start if back up. My whole weekend will be spent playing this game me thinks.

• Iron Fist Bat Royalty Dress.

I love a good Iron Fist dress, and as my holiday is coming up, as well as Christmas party season I do have my eyes peeled on picking up something new… I think I may have found it. This is a gorgeous black dress, with a sheer burnt out fabric that shows off some gorgeous gothic and Halloween style patterns of bats, moons, stars, and some other patterns. This isn’t cheap though, so I’m going to keep my eyes on the price to hopefully drop. I can’t find this for sale on Iron Fist’s website and have actually found this through a seller on eBay. I’d rock this with some tights, boots, and a snuggly jumper, or my spiked biker jacket.

• Yankee Candle in Snowflake Cookie.

If there is a season of Yankee Candle’s I love, it’s definitely the Christmas ones. They just remind me of Christmas, as well as other things, and to me they just smell the best. I still have just under half of a jar of Candy Cane Lane left, which I refuse to use again until I get another jar  to burn. I just can’t wait to be able to pick up another Christmas candle to burn. I’m super excited.

• Shopaholic To The Rescue by Sophie Kinsella.

I LOVE the Shopaholic series so when I read that the next installment would be out only a year after the last, I was so happy! I’ll probably pick this up before I go on holiday so I can read it whilst I’m there and this isn’t out until the end of the month anyway, so I have plenty of time to pick it up. The way the previous book ended made me so mad as it meant that I would need to wait for the next book to come out, which I thought would be in another couple of years. I’ll be buying the hardback again, as I just can’t wait until March for the paperback.

• Skinnydip London Glitter Unicorn iPhone 6 Case.

I’ve been eyeing this phone case up since I saw it being spoken about over on Becky’s blog Milk Bubble Tea. It’s such a cute and beautiful phone case, and one that is selling out FAST. It has unicorns on it and water glitter inside so when you move the phone, the glitter moves too! These styles of phone cases are popping up everywhere at the moment, and now I’m lusting after one myself. This isn’t the cheapest phone case ever, but I have a discount code I can use on it, so I may just order it now it’s back in stock! I don’t know if I can resist this for too much longer.

So that is my wish list this month! I really don’t need to buy anything off of it as I’m so skint at the moment, and need to really start saving up for my holiday, as well as to try and get a deposit down on a house. Oh the joys of being an adult, eh?

What’s on your wish lists this month readers? Please let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time though, take care all and have a great weekend!

My New iPhone 6!

This is something I have been super excited for since it was announced, and a couple of months ago I realised I would be able to upgrade in August and be able to get this beauty.

Finally after what felt like the longest two months ever, they flashed by and now I am the proud owner of an iPhone 6, and isn’t it gorgeous?

I’ve had it three days now and it’s so surreal… I know that sounds odd as it’s just a phone but I don’t know. After all the issues I had with my iPhone 5, I guess I’m just so pleased to have a brand new phone that’s actually mine. To give you a quick run down to what happened with my iPhone 5.

My original one was having issues a year after I got it, and before my holiday in January I took it to the Apple store to see what the issue could be. It had been built faulty and I was told it would cost me £200 to fix it… £200 I didn’t have! So I dealt with the issues during my holiday and when I came back I rang Orange (now EE) and told them the problems. Due to being a loyal and old customers they offered to give me a refurbished phone for free. Which they did, but that phone they sent me had way worse problems than the phone I had originally. I reported it and they once again sent me another refurbished phone, which I still have. It did appear to have a few issues, but they went away not long before I got my iPhone 6.

So now I have my new phone and it took me the good part of four hours to sort it out, let me tell you why, and also give you some tips on how to snag a great deal! I didn’t wish to go through Carphone Warehouse, even though a few of my friends had told me to do so due to their cheaper deals, etc. I’ve been through Carphone Warehouse in the past and when I had issues with an old phone they turned me away and said, “We can’t help you need to contact the manufacturer.” Which was a pain to be told but alas, I contacted them and they dealt with my issue. Another thing I don’t like with Carphone Warehouse is how they try and push deals onto you, that’s wrong. They would push me to insure with them, even though I had said many times no, and just to shut them up I would say yes to a monthly trial, only to cancel it a mere day later. Orange and EE don’t do this, if you say no, they accept that answer.

Anyway, I rambled. I found an amazing deal through Carphone Warehouse back in June and had print screened it incase the deal went away, which it did. When I spoke to them about this deal they said, “Okay we’ll do this deal for the day.” So as I said before, I didn’t wish to go through them, so I contacted EE and told them the offer Carphone Warehouse had proposed to me, and asked if they could match it. Not only did EE match it, but they offered me £10 less for the phone than Carphone Warehouse did! I was sold and took up their offer straight away.

So, if you’re upgrading with your phone provider make sure to do some hunting around, and especially print screen deals if you see good ones as they don’t stick around forever. I wasn’t rude to the people who I spoke to at EE, and they didn’t leave me feeling like I needed to. I simply told them the deal I had been proposed, and how I wanted to stick with them due to how amazing they had been with all my iPhone 5 problems the past year. Which is true! They have been amazing and I’m so pleased about how they’ve dealt with it all.

Another reason I’m glad that I didn’t go through Carphone Warehouse is due to the hacking issues they announced yesterday. I know this isn’t their fault, but I’m just so relieved!

Now all that further rambling is over, I can talk a little about the phone itself.

It is of course bigger than the iPhone 5, which I worried about at first, but it’s actually better. My hand doesn’t have to curve around so much to fit it into my palm, and the screen being bigger I don’t need to hold it super close to my face when I don’t wear my glasses. The smooth shape of it makes it feel nicer to hold as well. I especially love the fact you could get this in gold, which is the colour I went for. It just looks so clean and beautiful. Of course you get the fingerprint reader on the home button, which I am still getting used to. It does make things easier at times. The one thing I am especially getting used to with this is the on/off button being on the right hand side of the phone instead of on the top. But this being said, I really do prefer it there.

The one thing I am happy about with having the iPhone 6, and I know this somewhat sad but it’s true. The best thing is that I can finally use my Eeveelutions case from the Pokemon Center store in Japan! I bought this back in May and have waited patiently to finally snap it onto my phone, and let me tell you, it looks so cute and feels really nice to hold.

Another case I picked up for my phone is a cheap flip case which I’ll use for work. It’s got The Fault in Our Stars designs on it and it just looks super cute.

Overall I’m just really happy with it already and I can’t wait to get to use it more over the next two years.

Do you have an iPhone 6? If so, what do you love about it most? If you don’t have an iPhone would you like one, or maybe you don’t want one? As usual, let me know your comments down below.

Until next time take care all and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

July Pay Day Haul

Okay so I said I wouldn’t be spending any money due to a voluntary spending ban, but I ended up spending… But this being said I don’t feel I spent much when I was out and I wrote my wish list post a day before pay day, so I didn’t know I would earn as much as I actually did.

So with a few extra pounds burning a hole in my pocket I bought a few things on a shopping trip with my boyfriend and our friend Sophie (hello!). My mom also owed me some money and offered to pay me back in a few items I wanted to pick up, so she kindly ordered said items for me. Oh and a couple of things my boyfriend kindly bought me. So I did save some money in that sense.

Before we went on our shopping adventure, I received the goodies my mom ordered for me in the post, the first one being Neal & Wolf’s Daily Cleansing Shampoo in a huge 950ml tub! I remembered testing this shampoo out two years ago and I loved it. I just can’t believe it has taken me that long to order a bottle to finally use. I’m also really impressed with how quick Neal & Wolf shipped my shampoo as well. I ordered it Thursday late morning/early afternoon and it arrived first thing Friday morning! I was so happy that I would get the chance to use it Friday (as that’s a regular wash day for my hair), so happy in fact that I dropped Neal & Wolf an email to thank them on their awesome customer service. It was packaged really well too, which I was glad about. I’ve used this a couple of times now and after use my hair feels smooth and looks fresh and clean. I’m so happy that I finally have this shampoo, but now I’m just wanting to try out more of their range.

The next thing my mom offered to order for me was some Lush goodies as she knew I was after a new body scrub, as well as a new face scrub. I knew I wanted Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub, but was umming and ahhing over Ocean Salt Face And Body Scrub. I tried a sample of it from Lush the last time I visited one of their stores, and I did really like it. So I ended up caving in and told my mom to order both.

Since having these I’ve of course used both and I have never loved a product as much as I love Rub Rub Rub. I used it on wet skin and it has left my rougher parts (top of arms and thighs) gorgeously smooth! I don’t want to talk too much about it as I really want to review it soon. As for Ocean Salt I can’t really praise it as much as Rub Rub Rub, not because it’s a bad product but just because I don’t feel I’ve used it to it’s full potential yet. That being said I used it on my face as a scrub, at the time I was suffering with some bad breakouts, but a day or two after using Ocean Salt, they appeared to go away. I put this down to the vodka ingredient in Ocean Salt. I didn’t find this too rough on my skin, which is strange considering I have sensitive skin. However, due to this I’ll only use this as a once as week treat.

Our first stop on our shopping trip was IKEA, mainly because we wanted to get it out of the way. My friend needed to pick up some frames, whilst me and my boyfriend just wanted to have a quick mooch around. Whilst in the frame section my boyfriend suggested I pick one up for a picture we had drawn of us at Hyper Japan (you can read all about that here and here) and I was worried it wouldn’t fit in the frame, but alas as you can see it fits perfect. It was only £2 as well, which was a complete bargain!

A couple of other things I decided to pick up were some small candles. I picked up some scented candles… Which I now regret because 1. I forgot that there is a Yankee Candle store where we went shopping, and 2. IKEA candles are bloody awful! I picked up a pack of chocolate fudge and peppermint candy. These came in three packs of each, but I gave three to my boyfriend, two chocolate and one peppermint. I’ve so far only burnt the peppermint ones (which is why one is missing from the picture above) and as I said, these just aren’t very good. They’re great if I don’t wish to light a Yankee Candle, or have anything with a strong throw burning, but I expected SOME scent. So IKEA, very disappointed.

Whenever I go to the shopping centre we visited, I ALWAYS go into the Yankee Candle there, and more often then not I leave with something, usually something big. This time, like always I left with a large jar candle. This store are amazing when it comes down to Yankee Candle exclusives and they always stock them, and even more of a range than the official store which I think is great. Oh and can I mention that they don’t charge £21.99 for large candles either? I’m disgusted that Yankee Candle have put the prices up on their large jars. It isn’t right!… Mini rant over… So I made sure to sniff every exclusive jar they had in store and I wasn’t going to buy one and to be honest, if I had a lot of money I probably would have left the store with at least five candles… Oh yeah! I was tied between Blueberry Scone, Cotton Candy, and Hazelnut Coffee. My boyfriend was asking me which I liked the most, as well as which I didn’t have a scent similar to already, which was definitely Hazelnut Coffee. So with that choice made he took it off of me and made his way to the till. It was really lovely that he bought me a candle, as he was the one who said, “you should save your money Nat.” but alas, it was so sweet of him to buy this for me. I’m not burning it until I have used up all the IKEA candles I bought. It smells so rich and delicious that I cannot wait to use this in the autumn. Roll on September!

This isn’t beauty or fashion related, I know but meh not everything can be! I’ve been after this game for years and with my and my boyfriend playing Lego Jurassic World at his house recently it’s made me realise just how much I miss playing the Lego games. So I decided (if it was the right money) to pick up Lego The Hobbit. I loved the trilogy and I especially loved playing Lego The Lord of The Rings. Plus I’ve wanted this game ever since it came out. Since buying it I’ve been playing it loads, and it’s a definite chill out treat after work, as well as for lazy days in bed.

I didn’t buy anything from Lush whilst I was out shopping, as I had already picked up what I wanted a few days prior, but I did know that I wanted to grab a sample of one of their coal facial cleansers. I gave Dark Angels Facial Cleanser a go in store and it was really nice! With Lush I always try before I buy if I can, as I’m allergic to some of the ingredients they use and I don’t wish to spend a lot of money to find out not long after I’m allergic to said product. This felt lovely after I used it in the store on the back of my hand, and as of yet I haven’t tried it out on my skin, but I will soon and will make sure to update.

I do just want to say the staff at the store I visited were lovely! We had a good natter about all the new products that will be hitting all the Lush stores and online for Summer tomorrow! A huge majority of these new products will be from the Oxford Store (can read about my experience there and see my haul here) too! I will be making a small order of products I didn’t manage to pick up in London. I cannot wait.

Finally when I popped to Asda to grab some dinner for me and my boyfriend, I decided to pick up a new album for my car, as quite frankly my music at the moment is really boring me. Plus I wanted something relaxing. I listened to most of this on Spotify before I picked it up to make sure I liked it, and I loved it. Very chilled music that I can listen to whilst I write for university, for my blog, or if I just want something mellow in the background whilst I chill out. It was only a tenner and when we got to the till my boyfriend was lovely enough to buy it for me. Total sweetheart! I now have this album on my iPod, as well as in the car and it’s a definite must have if you like chill out music.

At the moment of writing this post, I haven’t been able to take pictures of the actual products yet due to them not arriving, but as you can see I’ve edited a lovely image of the two things I bought from eBay. The first one being a new case for my iPhone 6, which I should be getting today! I like to have a wrap around case for my phone whilst I’m at work to protect it that little more. It was only 99p with free postage so I’m pleased at that. It’s The Fault in Our Stars themed, which is a book/film I adore.

The second thing I bought was something I wasn’t even sure I would bother bidding on. But alas I bid on the last 10 seconds and won! I’ve been after a new piece from Black Milk Clothing for quite a while now. I bought my mermaid leggings about a year ago and they weren’t cheap at £35, but I was content with that, considering they cost a hell of a lot more from Black Milk Clothing themselves, not to mention how much the shipping costs! So every week I had a good look through eBay to see what I can snag for a bargain in my size, and I found this dress. It’s a thermal dress and will be perfect for autumn and winter when it’s chilly outside. I managed to snag this beauty brand new with tags for just under £30! I’m so pleased with how much I got it for and I know I’ll enjoy wearing it when it arrives. I already have the idea to team this up with my Jake Dr Martens boots (can read about those here) and depending on what happens, I may even wear this dress to my graduation. But we shall see. I can’t wait to do a look book with this dress though already.

So that is my haul from pay day! I didn’t spend much and I’m really pleased about that. I won’t buy much more this month now and although I should really save money, I don’t feel like I made any ridiculous purchases, which I’m pleased about.

Has anyone else bought some lovely little bits and pieces for themselves since pay day? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all.

August Wish List 2015

I’m not going to lie. I’m skint. Not like “Oh my god I have noooo money!” Like seriously, I’m poor. Help?

So I really shouldn’t make a wish list this month, but I would feel weird not to. This is definitely a wish list as I can’t really afford anything on the list. I’m going to try and go on a spending ban until I get a better job as I only recently realised how I’m getting by on next to nothing in my current job.

But, as I said, I can still make a wish list and not buy anything that’s actually on said list. Can’t I? 🙂

• Yankee Candle Salted Caramel Small Jar.

I’m kinda running low on my Yankee Candle’s at the moment. But to be honest unless I REALLY want a certain scent, or their on sale or have money knocked off, then I’m not buying any anymore. This is in sale for £4.00 and I’m tempted to stock up on them to keep me happy for a while. I have liked the scent of this candle for a while, but I’ve just never caved in and bought it and whilst it’s cheap I am really tempted… But alas, I do need to save money… Sad times people, sad times.

• Nintendo New 3DS XL (Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer Limited Edition).

This isn’t out in the UK yet (and I’m not even 100% sure if it WILL be coming out in the UK!) but it is out in Japan tomorrow and I’m pretty jealous of them right now. This is the limited edition New 3DS XL that is coming out to accompany the new Animal Crossing Game, Happy Home Designer. I’ve already pre ordered my copy! I would like to get my hands on the new 3DS in the future and if I can get one as cute as this, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.

• Jeffree Star Liquid Lipstick in Abused.

I want to first of all say, apologies for the name of this lipstick… I didn’t name it. The name of this is causing a stir with people, especially due to the shade it is too. Personally it doesn’t affect me but I can understand why it is upsetting a lot of people. That aside, I do really want this shade. I’ve wanted one of Jeffree’s lipsticks for ages now and this is my number once choice. When I was younger I used to wear blue lipstick all the time! I got bullied for it terribly and ended up stopping wearing it, and now everyone is wearing it. What a joke… This is a gorgeous navy blue, which you could get away with if you wanted to get a shade close to black. I bought a black lipstick recently and whilst I love how it looks when on, I feel to scared to wear it out of the house. However, I would love wearing this, especially during winter. It’s not cheap though, so I’m going to wait until I can find it at a decent price.

• iPhone 6 Case.

As you have probably seen in the image above, there’s an iPhone there. So of course with a new phone, comes a new case. I need a case like this for work to ensure if I drop it, it would remain safe and unharmed. I wanted something a bit different to my current red one for my iPhone 5, so when looking around eBay for something different, I found this one. I love The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, so I knew this would be perfect. What makes it better is it’s cheap as chips for £3.00 something.

• Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub.

Although I said I need to save money, this is something I’m probably going to pick up pretty soon. Not because I want it, but because I need a good scrub and I’ve had my eye on this one since I finished my Sugar Crush scrub. I’ve tested it in store before and it really did feel like it was scrubbing my skin without irritating it. It also smelt amazing, which you can never complain about. OH and it foamed up a little too, which is something I always look for in a body scrub. I would also like to try Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub too, as I have used a sample of it now and as a multi purpose product it got two thumbs up from me. Gosh, like I haven’t bought enough from Lush this past month! 😛

• OPI Nail Lacquer in Visions of Georgia Green (Coca Cola Limited Edition Line).

I really liked the Coca Cola collection that OPI came out with a year ago, and own some of the shades from the first collection. A couple of collections later and OPI are bringing out another to symbolise Coca Cola being around 100 years. They’ve brought out a green and a silver shade, I’m talking about the green shade, Visions of Georgia Green here. It’s a beautiful green metallic shade with shimmer running throughout. Looks gorgeous on its own, and I’m sure it’ll look lovely applied over a green or black shade. I wouldn’t like the big bottle, but either way if this ever goes down in price I’ll be picking it up.

• Apple iPhone 6 in Gold.

This is the last thing I’ll be talking about on my wish list, because it’s totally the best one! I’m hoping to get a new iPhone in a week as I’m due a new contract deal. It’s not that I don’t like my iPhone 5, it’s just I want my own phone. One that’s actually mine. My previous one broke due to being faulty in manufacturing and instead of being given a new one as a replacement, I was given a crappy refurbished, second-hand one. Which also didn’t work. So then I was given my phone now, which is perfect! I guess it’s an excuse as well to get the new one. I already have an awesome and cute case for it (the Eevee one mentioned here) and everything. So I just want to get one now, so I can say I have one and show it off and all that jazz. When I get it, I’ll make sure to write a post relating to iPhone’s. 😉

So that was my wish list! I can’t believe it’s August already, can you? What things are on your wish list? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time though, take care all and have a great week.

A Japanese Haul – Pokemon Time Eievui Collection

This is a nerdy post today, and one I have been so excited to write too! These only arrived yesterday morning, but due to being away from home, I only got the chance a few hours ago to open these. Yes, this haul may be a bit quick to talk about, but it’s totally worth it.

Japan Loot is a website set up by the YouTuber Japanese Toy Collector who after reviewing certain toys from Japan, will put them up on the website to sell to people. How awesome is that? Of course when he reviewed some Eeveelution plushies, I knew I had to pick up the Eevee one, and I still love it to this day. Something I noticed about this seller, is how cheap he was selling certain items for in comparison to some websites and stores out there.

When he made a video about one of the items from the Eievui Collection, I just had to drop him an email and ask if he would be able to get anymore and sell those to me. Of course, he did and here I have a few little bits that I asked him to grab for me!

I only asked for three things, although I could have asked for a hell of a  lot more! I do have my eye on the cute little plushies, but I’ll be good. I don’t need them… 😛

My package arrived in less than a week, which is amazing considering where it traveled from! I was delighted when I opened it to find this yellow bag, an official Pokemon Center bag! I’m going to make sure to cherish this until I can one day go to the store myself.

The three things I picked up was an iPhone 6 cover which as you can see is covered in all the Eeveelutions, a Vaporeon mobile phone strap, and a blind bag t-shirt. As I said previously, I do wish I had bought more!

In August I’ll be able to pick up a new phone, and of course I’ll be opting for the iPhone 6. I’ve had so many problems with my iPhone 5 that I just want a new phone now, that is MINE and not a refurbished one. So I decided I would treat myself to a case, one I know I’ll use loads and love just as much. I’ve been after a phone case that stands out for ages and in so many ways, this one will turn heads. Especially heads of Pokemon nerds like myself. Although it says it’s a soft case, it’s pretty durable and will keep your phone safe as well as looking cute! I really can’t wait to get an iPhone 6 now so I can put this on it. I mean, look how cute the different Eeveelutions are on it. As you can see all of them are separated, but at times are all together too, and have been paired together depending on what gen they’re from. It’s just an awesome pattern and is all over the collections print.

I have always wanted one of the mobile phone ear jack straps from the Pokemon Center, but until now I have never taken the plunge to pick one up. However, I couldn’t resist this cute little Vaporeon (probably my favourite Eeveelution!) This little guy is adorable and is also tiny! That doesn’t bother me though. The way these straps work is you plug it into your phone (or any other device such as 3Ds, or tablet) and it’ll dangle and be a little companion for your phone. BUT you can also use this as a little keyring for your keys, or as a little charm for your bag. I will probably use this on my phone but due to the possibilities this has, I may also pop it onto my car keys. I have a little Levi (from Attack on Titan) keyring on there so he could do with a friend. 😛 I don’t have pictures of it because I only noticed it when I opened the packaging, but you see the card behind the strap? The other side of that has such a cute picture of Vaporeon on it!

Finally we have the purchase I was most excited about! The blind bag t-shirts. These sold out super quickly in the Pokemon Center’s and it took the seller a couple of visits to finally pick one up for me. Due to how rare these are, sellers are charging people through the teeth for these, which is just greedy! I was pretty lucky that I got mine for a decent price! Due to these being blind bagged, you don’t know which one you’ll get. I did have a few in mind that I was hoping to get. Either Eevee, Vaporeon, Flareon, Umbreon, or Sylveon. But this being said, I would have been happy with any! These t-shirts also come in a free size, which in Japan is a size L, probably a M male, L female in the UK. The t-shirt fits me really nicely and I’m so relieved, as I did worry it would be too small.

So I’m sure you’re all curious which one I got?

I GOT FLAREON! I’m really pleased with this for various reasons. Flareon is awesome, and I love wearing the colour red. I say it’s red, it’s more of an orange red, which is still awesome! One thing I noticed about this t-shirt when I tried it on was how it smelt. It smells like green tea matcha powder, which I love! I don’t know if this is intentional and even if it isn’t, it’s still awesome.

I’m so pleased with this t-shirt. It’s made of 100% cotton and the quality of it is amazing for how much they were selling for in Japan. I really want to buy another and depending how much I spend in London, will depend if I pick another up or not.

I’m going to be wearing this for Hyper Japan with my ripped skinny fits. I can’t wait!

So that was my haul from Japan. I want to thank the seller over at Japan Loot for grabbing these awesome items for me, I’m so happy with them and especially happy with how quick they arrived. He’s an awesome seller and I recommend you check his store and YouTube channel out. The links are at the start of the post.

Are you a Pokemon nerd like me? Have you ever wanted anything from the Pokemon Center? If so, make sure to let me know in the comments!

I’ve been so excited to write this post, and I hope my readers will enjoy it too.

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