Mini Beauty Haul

 

After discovering Fragrance Direct last weekend I couldn’t resist treating myself to some amazing discount beauty and fragrance products and had a mini splurge. I was excited to find my parcel had arrived in the week and couldn’t wait to try the products.
 

 

First up I ordered the Carolina Herrera 212 VIP Eau de Parfum. I love buying new perfumes and this one smells lush and at the price of £26.99 Fragrance Direct sell it at the cheapest price I have seen so I added it to my bag. It’s quite a strong but sweet fragrance so you don’t need to use a lot and I also love the cute handbag-friendly sized bottle and glam gold packaging.
 

 

I was hoping the site sold Bourjois Healthy mix foundation as I have read so many great reviews about it on other blogs, but unfortunately they don’t stock it so I opted for the Bio Detox organic foundation in colour Beige 54 £2.99 (RRP £10.99). The foundation provides great coverage and has a lovely matte texture. Sometimes foundation can be quite oily on my skin and leaves a shine but I didn’t find that at all with this one. The only downside is I was expecting there to be a pump but there isn’t so it is quite hard judging how much to use, but to be honest I can let this slip because of the great price!

 

 I was disappointed to find the Bourjois Mineral Matte Make-up brush 99p was actually miniature and not suitable for applying my face powder which is why I purchased it. I think the picture is mis leading as it makes the brush look much bigger and it doesn’t state the actual size in the product description. I guess the price of 99p for a full sized make-up brush is a little too good to be true!

 

I have been looking for a baby pink nail polish after lusting after the OPI Pinking of you nail lacquer but not wanting to pay the full price for it, so when I saw the W7 Nail Enamel in baby pink priced at just £1.25 I decided to try it. Of course I am not expecting the quality to be as good as OPI but due to it being a fraction of the price I am willing to accept that. The polish does need a good few coats to prevent the colour looking streaky but overall the polish goes on well, drys quickly and the colour does look very similar to the OPI polish. Result!


 

 

I have never tried a Dainty Doll product before and have only heard good things about the brand so I decided to order a lipstick in shade 003 It’s my party. The packaging is slick and looks expensive although price is anything but at just £1.99 (RRP £12.50). The shade is darker than the picture on the site shows and also darker than I would normally wear, the colour is more suited for a night out as opposed to day-to-day wear. The texture is creamy and glides on to lips nicely – it is also quite moisturising which I like as I cannot stand lipsticks that dry out lips. I would recommend this brand especially if you are a fan of Rimmel lipsticks as I found this one quite similar.

 

Have you tried any of these products or purchased from Fragrance Direct before? What did you think?

 Holly xx



A smile is the best make-up

 

 

 

My best friend, my sister and me having a really good time on my 21^st birthday :-)

 

 

What makes you smile?

 

 

Holly xx

 

 

 

 

 

 



Complex Simplicity

 

Sometimes the most beautiful things in life are pure, simple and untouched. Basic fashion such as monochrome, straight lines and neutral colours, minimalism and plain designs all demonstrate elegance and simplicity. Here are some photos and items that create a simple and natural look.

 

 

 

 

 

Zara shopper link

 

 

Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom-Honey Candle link

 

 

 

French Connection Natsue sleeveless dress link 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zara Soft touch T shirt link

 

 

 

 

Gucci Flora Glorious Mandarin Eau de Toilette link

 

 

H&M Blazer jacket link

 

 

H&M Skirt link

 

Elliot by Kurt Geiger link

 

The Simple Living Guide link

 

 

Dior Skin Nude Natural Glow radiant foundation link

 

 

Tom Ford lipstick in Blush nude link

 

 

Kivik two seat sofa in Svanby beige link

 

 

Ethereal beige coat link

 

 

 

 

 

Ludde Sheepskin rug link

 

 

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette link

 

 

Essie Naked truth nail polish link

 

 

 

Zara brown shopper link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holly xx

 

 

 



My Weekend

 

After a really rubbish Friday at work I headed to Frankie and Benny’s for an early Mother’s day meal with the family. I have only been to Frankie and Benny’s for lunch (except many years ago when I ate breakfast and an evening meal there) so I was curious as to what their main menu would offer. I opted for a Seafood spaghetti dish but requested that they held the garlic (me and garlic DO NOT get on). The food was yummy however I didn’t realise quite how much onion they had used so afterwards that was all I could taste which ruined it a little.

 

 

Seafood spaghetti

 

Although I was stuffed after eating, the dessert menu was so tempting I had to make room for one. It was really hard to choose what to have as I have given up chocolate for lent (so far so good) and almost every dessert contained some form of chocolate! :-( In the end I chose Vanilla and banana cheesecake with ice cream and it was delicious. I always think that dessert is the best part of a meal – I have such a sweet tooth!

 

 

Vanilla and banana cheesecake

 

 On Saturday I headed in to town with my girl Helen to pick up some presents for Mother’s day. M&S did not let us down and I picked up a nice card, tulips, Cava and some chocolate. We had a little browse around some shops but were both very good and only bought a couple of things! Here’s what I bought…
 

 

 H&M Jade Jumper - £10

 

 

 

H&M glitter make-up bag - £2

MUA Naked too Eye palette - £4

2 True nude nail polish - £1.99

Arora Vanilla body butter £1.99

Made in Chelsea box set - £12

 

 

 

MUA Naked too Eye palette - £4

 

 

Last week I discovered this great discount beauty website Fragrance Direct link. I have been browsing all week and they have some great beauty buys from brands such as Loreal, Maybeline, Rimmel, OPI, Revlon and many more as well as perfumes at great prices! So I did a spot of online beauty shopping…

 

 Bourjois Bio Detox Organic Foundation 30ml - £2.99 link

 

 

Bourjois Mineral Matte Make Up Brush – 99p link

 

 

 Carolina Herrera 212 VIP - £26.99 link
 

 

 

 Dainty Doll Lipstick in Its my party - £1.99 link
 

 

 

Garnier Essentials Energizing Toner – 99p link

 

 

W7 Nail Enamel in Baby pink - £1.25 link

 

I definitely suggest checking out this site, and delivery is only £1.99 so you can make some great savings. The only down side is there is no ‘view all’ option when searching for an item (one of my pet hates) so you end up scrolling through about 15 pages each containing 10 items :-( buy hey, if you have the time it is definitely worth it for the prices.

 

 

My look today: Dior red lips

 

Today is Sunday so I am going to give mum her presents and try and be a good daughter for the day (of course I always am anyway!). I will probably head to the gym later and then spend the rest of the day relaxing, being lazy and dreading returning to work tomorrow! I want to finish watching The City DVD box set and then I can get started on Made in Chelsea - I do love a good reality TV binge hehe. What have you been up to this weekend? What gifts did you buy for your mummy?

 

 

 

My mum loved her gifts :-)

 

 

Holly xx

 

 

Happy Mothers Day

 

 

 

 

Mum and me Christmas 2011

 

 

 

 

My mum on holiday in Corfu

 

 

We don’t always get on, but thank you for everything you do for me mum! There’s a lot I couldn’t do without you. Happy Mothers Day!

 

Holly xx

 

 

 

 



Life is beautiful

Sometimes we all need to be reminded of this. There are days when the last thing I feel like doing is smiling, but I just have to remind myself that there is always someone worse off than me and that there are lots of things in life to smile about. I try to remind myself of the things I love and that I am lucky to have, think positively and SMILE :-)

 

Holly xx

 

 

My weekend

 

My weekend has been very productive and I have enjoyed catching up with friends and family. Friday night I went for a lovely Italian meal with the girls at our local Prezzo – which for those that don’t know is and Italian restaurant chain. I have eaten there many times and have enjoyed every meal. I opted for a margarita pizza with olives. It was a lovely evening and we had a good gossip and a catch up, after we headed back to my friend’s new place that they have just moved in to and the house is amazing! I didn’t think to take photos unfortunately but the way they have decorated looks beautiful! I can’t wait for their house warming party in a couple of weeks.

On Saturday I enjoyed a lay in which is rare for me as I usually wake up quite early and like to be up and about to make the most of my day. I got ready and headed to the gym for a good long work out, then went to collect my sister from work (she is a hairdresser so has to work every Saturday). We then headed to Starbucks for a quick coffee and chat with our daddy who is visiting Northampton this weekend, he lives in Shropshire at the moment which is a good 2 ½ hours away but is hoping to move back here soon. After coffee it was time to head home for some food, Ruby had a power nap and then we started getting ready for our night out.

 

 

 

 

 

We went to Half full which is a cool house music event hosted in Northampton each month.  It is held in a cool loft conversion which in the day time is a restaurant, but then transformed in to a club for the event. It was SOO good! Luckily we bought tickets in advance as it was a sell-out. We partied hard and had fun then stopped by a take away for Ruby to pick up a pizza and headed home to bed!

 

 

Ruby wore: New look leather jacket, H&M dress and ebay wedges

 

I wore: H&M leather jacket, Forever 21 mini dress and ebay shoe-boots

Today I am feeling a little tired but apart from that I’m all good. I plan to spend my day relaxing and will probably tidy my room and sort out my make-up, then sit next to the open fire and read or watch films.

What have you guys been up to?

Holly xx