American wish list

I have less than two weeks until I'll be touching American soil (this also means in less than two weeks I'll be 25). There are so many things that I cannot wait to do in America and I can bet you the first thing I'll do is just run around screaming "I'm in America" but after all that has worn down, I shall be hitting the shops. Oh man, I'm excited for the food and ofc the make-up shopping. Most of the people I watch on YouTube are American, so I get to see a lot of great releases that never ever make it to this side of the pond. Therefore, I have a budding list and when I get to America I intend to spend to my hearts content. I have so much on my list and the below is not the complete list but just thought I'd share.

Boots Haul

 I know, I know - another haul?! But this is actually a recent haul as opposed to a bunch of stuff from last month!

I ran out of a lot of things in June, so for me it was about stocking up. Then I spotted some offers on the website and I just couldn't resist getting my hands on some more bits and pieces.

Walk this way

For someone who has constant issues with her feet, I never really buy shoes or invest in a good pair. However in the last month I have purchased two bits of footwear. A pair of heels and some loafers. All shocking for me, because ankle boots are my footwear of choice even in the summer you’ll find me wearing ankle boots. I loathe wearing flats if I’m honest, I have really flat feet and a terrible left ankle and flat shoes offer no support. They also make my feet look huge. I own a couple of sandals for those really hot days and short walks. I thought I’d snap up these shoes as I think they are both stunners in their own right and might inspire you to get yourself a pair.

ASOS MIRIAM Woven Leather Loafers in Black - £36 (can't link as they no longer sell them sadly)

 The first are these ASOS Loafers. I’m pretty sure I saw Hannah for Cocobeautea wearing these, but I can’t be sure. I had these sitting in my ‘save for later’ bag for ages. They are not the type of shoes I go for so I really did um and ah about them, but in the end I was popped it in my bag when I was buying some other things. When I got it I still ummed and ahhed, I really liked it but I just wasn’t sure if it was ‘me.’ I sought opinions from a girl at work and my friend and in the end I kept it and I’m glad I did. I love just throwing it on with skinny jeans to smarten up an outfit, or just make it look like I’ve put some effort in. They are smart and casual at the same time. I ordered these in a size 7 so I could put my insole in by they are super tight with them in, so I’ve been working on stretching it out. But I’m in loooove with these and they have a good amount of support at the sides and the soles. 

Amber Ankle Band Block Heels in Black - £30 

Next is a pair of heels! I haven’t purchased a pair of heels in over 2 years. I just don’t go anywhere that requires them and my ankle is really bad that I can’t wear them unless they are block heels. For my birthday I wanted a whole new outfit. These I put these heels in my bag and didn’t think much of it, however when they arrived I was like these are seriously nice! Even my mum loved them and she really wanted a pair, so guess what she’s getting as part of her present? I love that gold detail on these and the fact that it’s a block heel means I am fully supported when I walk in it. I love that it’s black too because it goes with a lot things. I’m definitely happy with this purchase and I do just want to sleep with these babies next to me every night, but that would actually be kinda gross.

I think I'm all satisfied now for shoes. I probably will get myself another pair of black boots (I can't help it) but other than that I'm pretty satisfied. What shoes have you purchased and loved recently?

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Recent Purchases

So I decided it was time to do a collective "haul" as I have acquired a few new bits that I want to share. These span out to about 2 months or so, I most certainly did not get them all in one go! 

Balm Balm Tea Tree Lip Balm - I decided to purchase this as my Nuxe lip balm had run out and this was much cheaper. I’ve used this daily since I got it and I have to say I much prefer my Nuxe one. This one wears off to quickly so I find myself reapplying throughout the day. With my Nuxe one I applied twice a day because it was that long lasting. This product is actually a multi use one, so I can use it for any bits of dry skin that appear during the day, but I carry hand cream with me at all times anyway. I don’t have anything really bad to say about the product as it is nice, but I will not be purchasing it again.

La Roche Posay - Serozinc - When I heard news that Serozinc was finally available to be purchased from a reliable seller and delivered to the UK, I was super happy. I placed my order in December and waited patiently for the New Year to roll around. I’ve used this about 4 times I’d say, so I am yet to form a proper opinion on it, however I did breakout when using this. During the time I was using this, I was also using another product, which is pictured above. It was also my time of the month, so I'm not 100% sure of the cause. What I will say though, is in the 4 times I’ve used this I’ve noticed that my skin has become oilier, which is bizarre because this marketed as controlling oil.

First Aid Beauty - Facial Radiance Pads - So if you read this my review on the FAB Cleanser with Red Clay you’ll know that I’ve been dying to try the radiance pads. I bought the Clearasil ones as something to try first, but when they ran out I decided it was time to upgrade. This arrived in December (after Christmas) so before the Serozinc, but it was the only new thing in my skin routine in addition to Serozinc so I am struggling to find the source of the breakout. The smell of this is a bit bleh, but nothing you can’t handle. I’ll have to reintroduce this into my routine as well in order to give my full opinion as for the time being I have stopped using it. I bought this from Feel Unique in the sale so managed to get a couple of pounds off.

theBalm Nude 'Tude Eyeshadow Palette - I was able to pick up this palette for £8.00 or so. I purchased it via Birchbox with points and an offer. I'm sure I purchased this back in December, maybe the end of November. I actually own about two eyeshadow palettes but greedy me wanted one that was raved about, so when I saw the chance to pick this up for a cheaper price I thought why not! I love the colours in this palette for a start, but I also love how all the names begin with an 's'. I haven't used this palette very much, but I'm hoping that going to change because of a product I bought below. I want to use this properly, so if I like it keep an eye out for a review & swatches! 

Zoeva Fine Liner Brush 315 - Zoeva brushes have been raved and raved about and whilst I’ve admired them from afar, I’ve never really felt a need to get them. However I stumbled across the fine eyeliner brush and it has sat in my ‘shopping’ bookmark for well over 4 months I’d say. I kept hoping I’d see one in store and just be able to pick that one up. I use this brush nearly every day (hence why it was so hard to bloody clean for the photo), with the Maybelline Gel Eyeliner. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m going to do winged eyeliner and the I’ll do my mascara and I’ll be like crap. With this brush it doesn’t matter if I do it before or after, the angle of the brush means it won’t interfere with my lashes. The brush is also seriously thin (again making it hard to photograph) that it makes doing winged eyeliner a breeze. This seriously has made my life so much easier. I like to mix the Maybelline one and my MAC Liquidlast Eyeliner, because the Maybelline one ain’t as permanent as they’d like you to believe.

Zoeva Soft Definer Brush 227 -  The 217 is just a dream of a brush, it is so bloody soft! I looked into this because it has been named as a dupe for the MAC 217. Being an eyeshadow newbie, I didn't want to splurge out too much on expensive tools, and I already have the RT Eye Brush collection, so I just wanted something to add to that.  I have only used it once with eyeshadow and was there blending away and my gosh did it make a difference. My eyeshadow actually looked good, it’s a shame it was wasted because I wasn’t even going anywhere. Of course I cannot compare it to the MAC one because I don’t own it, but I’m pretty darn happy with it. I’m so impressed with these brushes that I’m going to have to look to Zoeva next when I need to fulfil my brush needs.

Ceramic Dish - I picked up this dish from H&M whilst I was doing my Christmas shopping. I already own a smaller version of it with a different style and I used it for storing the jewellery I use day to day and have it placed on my dressing table away from my other jewellery. However it was becoming seriously over crowed, so when I saw this big one I was like yes I need this. I wasn’t fussed about the design, but my gosh has this been so useful. They now both sit on my dressing table but this one is reserved those ‘day to day, but not day to day’ jewellery bits and the other really is my day to day one. This was only £2.50 but the one in the link is £2.99, because I couldn’t find this online, but to be fair the one in the link is much nicer. 

The Organic Pharmacy Skin Brush - This was my final purchase from Feel Unique.  I’ve wanted to start dry body brushing because I think I need to and because it has a lot of great benefits. It also feels damn therapeutic as well. I just looked up a bunch of brushes on Feel Unique and picked one I liked the sound of. I wasn’t looking for a particular brand, but after looking for the link for the post I realised it’s the same one that does that carrot butter cleanser, so good stuff there. It was out of stock for a while (such as the case with most of the brushes I looked at) and it out of stock at the moment too. I’ve used this about 5 times and I find it has the right firmness to the bristles. It’s good enough to feel like it’s doing something but it does not feel like it’s scratching my skin to death. I love that it has the handle for those hard to reach places, but then it has the strap so you can comfortable hold it in your hand. 

So those have been some of my recent purchases. I felt really good to knock some things off my list, I don’t know about you but I always seem to forget there are a bunch of things that I really want and end up impulse buying things that I could really do without!

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Recent purchases from Boots

So on Saturday I set myself the mission of getting some things off my ‘to buy list’ so I took myself off to Oxford Street and ended up in the Boots near Marble Arch.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

I have been looking for a deeper shade of lipstick for a while, I own a lot of deep purples but I really wanted something a bit vampy and red, after seeing ItsLinamar swatch Black Cherry I decided I’d check it out. I nearly didn’t buy this because when I got to Boots and swatched it, I though it looked similar to a lot of my other lipsticks, but boy was I wrong. I actually decided in Boots that I wouldn’t get Black Cherry but Va Va Violet, so I picked up that (or what I thought was that) instead. On my way home I decided to have a peek at my goodies and noticed that some cretin put Black Cherry in the Va Va Violet slot and I was indeed still carrying Black Cherry. I was already near my house and tbh going back was out of the question for me. Luckily for me Camden has a Boots so I decided I’d go swap it before I went home, so I walk in to Boots and of course they don’t even stock Va Va Violet. So Black Cherry and I were meant to be. When I got home and put it on I found that boy I was wrong, I did not have this shade at all. It was exactly what I have been looking for, so I’m glad I have this baby. It’s a crème finish so really is perfect for everyday. I shall most likely do a swatch and review of this a little later.

Barry M Crush

I was also on the hunt for Barry M’s Blood Red but alas I couldn’t find it. I did however want a burgundy shade and as I mentioned in this post, I have been craving a matte nail varnish. So I came across ‘Crush’ and it met both my needs, so I snapped it up. I’ve worn it already and absolutely love the shade and it’s perfect for autumn. It isn’t too dark and vampy but it being that reddish burgundy colour means it provides the autumnal feel whilst being sophisticated.

No7 Beautiful Skin Pore Vacuum Mask

The last thing I bought was this by No7. I actually heard about this from Sian in her skincare video. I was really intrigued because this is a peel mask. I remember using peel masks back in my early teens and haven’t actually touched one since. I need all the help I can with my pores, so I was more than happy to snap it up. Call me weird but I was super attracted to the word ‘Vacuum’ in the title, anything that gives me the impression that it is going to suck up my pores can stay in my book. Anyway I’ve used this twice (the first time involved me having to open the door to the pizza guy – the shame), as instructed I use it on my nose and a small bit on my forehead. I also use it on my chin. I of course was not able to peel it all off in one go (can anyone actually do that) but I did enjoy the peeling element, and upon the first inspection of my pores they looked like they had reduced in size. If anything my nose looked cleaner and there were fewer blackheads! I will give a full review once I’ve been using it for a while.

And that was my Boots round up! I managed to get 10% off this because I had loaded the offer through the Boots app, so that was a nice surprise! I also snuck into Superdrug after buying the Barry M nail varnish and saw they were doing 3 for 2, so I think I might have to pick up some more colours!

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The Black Shopping Bag from H&M

Shopping Bag £24.99

So my old bag was wearing away to bits and actually had rips in the inside towards the last three months. So I've been desperately hunting for a new one. Whilst I would have loved to have snapped up the MK Selma it was a teeny tiny (a lot) bit out of my budget. So I searched high and low, and even roped in the bestie to find some with me, but no luck.

So I had about a weeks resting period and then I was browsing the h&m website, which resulted in me finding 'THE bag' anyway I remember looking through some and thinking 'yeah this could do' 'like that' 'LOVE THAT.' I had clicked on a pink bag because I loooved the style and wanted to see if they had it in black and my heart jumped - they did have in black. However my heart quickly sunk because it was out of stock. All the cries. I ummed and aahed about the others but decided I just didn't like them compared to 'the sold out bag of dreams.'

Anyway not one to wallow (ha) I put the bag out of my head thinking I'd search another day. Then H&M dropped a 25% code off on an item of my choice in my inbox and the bag crept back into my thoughts again. The bag is actually only £25 which is a bargain in my opinion, but I do love a discount. So back on the prowl again and my bag is there in black. Only for me to click and it's not in stock but there is soon to be more. So I'm like fine, I'm sure it'll only take two weeks or something. So I use my code and ordered my beauty. THIS WAS ON THE 31st OF AUGUST.

Can you imagine? I almost forgot about the damn thing and very nearly bought another bag, but then they emailed last week saying it was on its way. I'm sure they saw my cancellation forming in my mind! So it's Tuesday evening when I'm feeling rather sorry for myself the bell rings and all hope and faith is restored in the world (well in bag world).

I'm sure my bag tale has been absolutely thrilling...but I do just LOVE the bag and sadly I think it was actually worth the wait. I love the size of it and just the simple design and best thing is, it looks much more expensive than it is! I think it looks so chic, so if I could just get the wardrobe to match it, I'd be super happy. The bag has three pockets on the inside; one has a zip where I just put my phone and oyster card. The other two are just really two little slots that you find with bags and there I keep my keys and work keys. Everything else just gets thrown in the main inside part and then the bag has one large zip closing it all up. It's a bit like a Mary Poppins bag, it very deep so you really can throw so many things in there.

I think I need to be clever and invest in another bag just so I have choice. I'm the type of person to have that bag that I'll use day in day out for a year, so it gets worn to death and ruined before its time. 

I have to thank my friend Ben for helping me do take some of the photos in this post - you absolute star. 

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What bags are you eyeing up at the moment?

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