My Beauty: Caroline Hirons for Cult Beauty

I was intending on having a no-buy May but it hasn’t gone to plan. Think Clarins GWP, M&S 20% discount and finally the Caroline Hirons Cult Beauty Collaboration. Cleansing is my absolute favourite part of my skin care routine so the latest Caroline Hirons box for Cult Beauty is right up my street. There was no procrastination it was ordered as soon as I got the email. Unusually for me this is a box where all the products are newbies to me but a few have been on my must try list for some time. I’m really looking forward to trying the Tata Harper Nourishing Cleansing Oil and the Oskia Exfoiliating Balm. I was running a little low on cleansers (in my view…) so this came at a welcome time for me. It’s not cheap (£175) but it did represent a 35pc saving and I know I will use all the products. 

   
   
I’m now planning on having a no-buy June on the skincare front. Wish me luck. 

My Beauty:Sale Purchases

This is my first post of 2016. Happy New Year. I haven’t posted for a while as I’ve been incredibly busy at work but I’ve still managed to grab some bargains in the sales. First up are my beauty bargains.

  
Aromatherapy Associates via their direct website have a sale with 50pc discount. I got the bath Jewel set with 10 gorgeous bath and shower oils with 50pc discount. This would make a lovely present however I think I will keep this for myself as an indulgent treat. 

   
 
I also got a smaller bath oil set which I will gift. The AA oils are the best quality and intensity I have tried. They are divine. The discount was by far the best on the AA website. 

Next was the Ciate advent calender which I will keep for myself for 2016. I found this on Asos for £25.

  

Then my favourite bargain was this set of 6 Stila Lip Glazes I found in M&S instore for £9 with value of £54. Stila lip glazes are great and this would make a lovely gift.

  

My Xmas: Presents for Little Girls

  
We have had the beautiful coach built pink Silver Cross dolls pram sitting in our loft for over 4 years. This was given as a baptism gift when M was 6 months old by her grandparents. It’s never been used and we’ve been waiting for M to be old enough to use and now I feel she is so this will be Ms main Xmas present this year. 

The crayons are super little gifts I found on Etsy by the Crayon Box. I have ordered a few different boxes at £5 each. I must admit the boxes are smaller that I expected but very beautiful nonetheless. I think the Russian Doll ones are my favourite. 

Florence the Fairy nurse by Think Pink is beautiful and I have gifted her to two Florence’s already. She comes in her own little box and is delightful. There are quite a few different dolls in this collection. One of which is Matilda but she is proving very difficult to locate!

The Maps book is beautiful – it’s huge by child standards and has a lovely weighty feel to it. I’ve bought a fair number of these to gift over Xmas. I feel M is the right age to start looking at this at nearly 5 but it should appeal to older children and adults alike. Watch out for Amazon Black Friday deals this week as I was able to buy this and the Animalium book for £7 each ( RRP £20). 

Lastly a lovely stamp set by Melissa and Doug. This is the fairy princess one but it also comes in a dinosaur or car design for boys. 

My Style: M&S

Whilst on my mission to secure the M&S Beauty Advent calender yesterday morning i rushed through the Limited Collection section and a few items caught my attention.

The first was a Christmas Jumper featuring a PomPom Christmas tree. Now I’m not a typical Christmas jumper wearer but I was instantly drawn to this due to the brightly coloured pom-poms and my current love of all things PomPom. I’m thinking of Christmas Day with jeans or coated leggings provided it’s big and relaxed enough. 

  
The monochrome checked coat was also saying “buy me”. Alas it’s very similar to the Topshop Unique coatigan I recently purchased so I’m not sure I can justify it. But I’m seriously considering it. 

I them checked out the Limited range on line and two further coats caught my eye. One being this  fabulous brightly coloured faux fur  coat and a denim coat with tie cuffs that is very Isabel Marant. The faux fur coat would be a fabulous evening coat worn with black. The Let it Snow jumper is a monochrome alternative but currently the PomPom jumper is the object of my affection and will likely be purchased later today. 

1. PomPom Jumper
2. Monochrome Checked Coat
3. Faux Fur Coat
4. Denim Coat
5. Let it Snow Jumper 

My Beauty: M&S Beauty Advent Calender

The existence of this little beauty had completely escaped my attention until I was reading some comments on Beauty Guru Caroline Hirons blog which alerted me to it.

  
 I immediately sprang into action yesterday at M&S online but by the time I had chosen what to buy from the huge range at M&S it was out of stock. Undeterred I left home especially early today to make a visit to M&S Moorgate on my way to work after reading they were in store on the M&S Twitter Feed. I was in luck and am now the proud owner of a beauty advent calender.

As you would expect it contains 24 trial size products which are sold in M&S Beauty Halls including 100ml of Pixi Glow Tonic, Philip Kinglsey Elasticiser, Loccitane Shower Gel, Stila Lip Glaze amongst many others. 

  

It’s costs £25 when you spend £25 in Beauty and with the wealth of brands now available at M&S this was very easy to do. I bought the Pixi Glow Mud Cleanser and Pixi Glow pads both of which were on my list of products to try. They were plentiful in store so I need not have worried. I think this is especially good value when compared to the other Advent Calenders that are available such as Look Fantastic and Liberty. I also favoured this to the Space NK gift that is available today which required a £250 spend. That felt too much to justify at the moment with all the added expense of the festive season. 

I can’t wait for the 1st of December now to start it off. With an inherited love of all things beauty, I fear M will favour this over her wooden advent house that we bring out every year. 

My Xmas: White Company

The White Company Christmas Brochure landed in my post box this week (I do actually have an outside post box :-)). As expected I love everything.   If the beautifully edited catalogue wasn’t already enough to tempt me a 20% discount sealed the deal. I especially love the red and white themed wrapping paper and have order this delightful candy stripe one together with the printed one. The candy stripe one is also reversible so it can also be used as a silver wrap  and it’s 10m in length so perfect for larger presents. I’m completely sold as I’m a bit of a wrap and cards obsessive so this is right up my street. I also ordered the Sloe Gin Candle at the moment I might keep it for myself as I’m desperate to smell the fragrance. It’s incased in a beautiful votive so it’s super pretty. 

  

Now on to clothes for M. LWC is not somewhere I usually think of looking for M. The nightwear is the best for style and quality and I already have a new nightdress for M to wear on Xmas eve as a present from the Christmas fairies ❤️. I love the current colour palette of silver and pale pink and I’ve gone a bit overboard and ordered a couple of outfits. I especially love this beautiful PomPom hat and scarf set. M has a lovely pink puffa from Gap to wear with these. 

I love the pale pink tutu skirt and the silver ballet pumps. M will be Little Miss White Company this Christmas. 

  
All available from The White Company in store or online. The code I used was AH472

My Style: Jaeger

I found some great pieces at Jaeger last week. My first bargain was from the Jaeger Outlet. A classic camel wool wrap coat that I’ve been on the look out for. The perfect coat for work. RRP £399. At £149 it was a bargain but then a flash sale of an additional 40% took that down to £89. Done! The Jaeger outlet site often has flash sales so it’s well worth checking it out. 

 

Onto the current Jaeger Collection. I really wanted to try the newly arrived black silk jumpsuit which I have in mind for the festive season. The buy more spend more offer seemed too good an offer to resist. I also purchased a classic wool dress for work and a winter Breton Tshirt. 

  
The wool dress fits so beautifully that I’m thinking about buying a second. The winter Breton is that bit heavier and longer and perfect for Winter Layering. All in I got 40pc off the RRP and I’m finally going to keep a whole order! I’ve been ordering a lot lately but truth told most of it goes back as its not quite right. But these are all perfect. 

My Style: Cloud Bag

I’ve bought myself an early birthday present (the first of many!) after seeing this bag worn by Alex from The Frugality. Alex published a brilliant guide to Covent Garden featuring the Cloud bag and the Cambridge Satchel Company which I would highly recommend checking out and Alex’s blog in general.

I love the monogrammed look and have been on the look out for a black cross the body bag for some time. This beauty therefore hit both sweet spots. 
 
  This one is perfect for every day. It is on the small side so I can’t fit my usual purse in it but I can fit phone coin purse car keys and lip balm in it.

I ordered on Wednesday and it arrived on Thursday packaged beautifully with a welcome touch   
  

My Beauty: Liz Earle QVC TSV

Today on QVC UK sees a fabulous Liz Earle today’s special value (TSV) perfect for Xmas gifting. 

  
It contains the following

1. 200ml of Cleanse and Polish in the seasonal gift tin
2. 200ml of Instant Boost Skin Tonic
3. 50ml of Moisturiser in three skin type choices
4. 150ml eyebright soothing eye lotion
5. 500ml of botanical body wash 
6. 200ml of botanical body cream
7. Some muslin cloths.

I will probably split this up gifting the C&P, Toner and Moisturiser and keep the Eyebright eye lotion and the body wash and cream for myself.

These are all full sizes or super sizes in the case of the body wash and C&P I think it’s the best Liz Earle TSV I’ve seen – product wise and value for money. I love the Liz Earle body lines and my sister loves C&P so perfect all round. I also love Eyebright it’s a lovely cooling eye lotion that removes light eye make up its so refreshing and cooling I love it at the end of the day to soothe heavy eyes.

It’s £49.95 plus £5.95 postage and is available in 4 easy pays which mean you pay only £12.50 per month. 

Fabulous value all round and available only today whilst stock lasts. I’ve ordered mine already this morning.

My Style: Jumpsuits

I have a few Christmas nights out arranged and am looking for a evening /slightly dressy jumpsuit to wear. I really like the jumpsuit shape on me, i find it very forgiving on the mummy tummy and being tall the proportions seem to work on me. 

I’ve ordered a few to try on at home and see which I like best. At the moment the silk crepe Jaeger one is winning and I plan to wear it with my faithful pony skin heels from LK Bennett with either a pink silk Jigsaw clutch or the cherry Mulberry Lily. I love the pleated almost Tuxedo style at the front which is flattering for my larger bust. My reasoning is that a black silk jumpsuit is classic and should be a staple for years to come. 

The jumpsuits are all beautiful but I can only justify one and the Jäeger one is winning on that front too as I got 40% off using the spend more save more offer as I also bought a work dress and a longline winter Breton. 

  

1. Jaeger Black Silk Jumpsuit
2. LK Bennett Navy lace Jumpauit
3. LK Bennett Black Drape Neck Jumpsuit
4. Me & Em Black lace sleeve Jumpsuit
5. Dreamy Christian Louboutins