The Vampire Diaries Tag

Good afternoon! I started watching The Vampire Diaries last month and finished the current 66 episodes in 6 days. I can't get enough of it, so decided to do this tag! It's actually a YouTube tag, made by Ingrid and Joey, but I thought I'd participate in blog post form :)

Source - The girls look beautiful in this picture, as always!

1. How did you discover the show? It's been out for years, so I just generally knew of it.

2. Who's your favourite character? This is hard! I like all of them, but I especially like Damon, Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline and Lexi. I also really like Matt - I feel sorry for him and want to give him a hug!

3. If you were a vampire, would you live on human or animal blood? I love animals, so couldn't kill them! I would live on human blood, but it would be from a blood bank. If I was a vampire though, my decisions would probably be different from the ones I've just discussed because I would think differently.

4. Team Stefan or team Damon? At first, I was team Stefan, and I think Stefan is better looking, but I'm now team Damon. I love his character so much. His personality makes him attractive (And his looks help ;)).

5. What's your favourite supernatural power? I've always wanted to have the ability to pause time. Casting spells would be cool too because you could do a variety of things.

6. If you were to be a character, who would you be? I'm going to be predictable and say Elena. Two men are in love with her - I want to be loved!

7. Have you read the book series? No. I was going to, but I haven't got round to it.

8. Who's your crush on the show? There's so many good looking people in The Vampire Diaries! I really like Jeremy. I wouldn't say no to Damon or Stefan either. Or Tyler... Or Mason, if he was still alive.

9. What was your first initial thought of the show and did it change after watching it? I always thought it would be cliche and cheesy because the vampire genre has been so overdone. That's why it took me so long to start watching the show. The first episode didn't change my mind - Girl loses parents, girl meets mysterious boy who comforts her etc. However, after watching all three seasons, I love it. It's much darker than I thought it would be, which is great.

10. Who was your favourite villain? I like Katherine. At first, I despised her, but since The Originals came along, I've realised that she's not too bad. Also, I sometimes like Klaus. When he fell for Caroline and drew her that picture, it was the cutest thing!

If you do this tag, I would love to see your answers!

Back to School Stationery Haul

Hello! I'm going into my second year of university in September and I've now bought most of the stationery I'll need, so I thought I'd show you it. Stocking up on stationery for the next academic year used to be as exciting as Christmas when I was younger. I still love buying stationery, but for the last few years, I've bought the basic, cheap necessities, and that's it. This year, I wanted to add some more colour to my notes, because I can (We were only allowed to use black or blue ink in school). The prices of things didn't really matter to me this year, so you can probably buy some of the things below at a cheaper price from a Supermarket own brand.

Last year, I found that display books worked well for my course, so I've bought a few more this year - One for each module. Display books usually contain about 30 pockets, and I usually put 2-4 pages in each one, so they are a good size for my needs. The blue, purple and pink display books you see above are from WHSmith and were £4.99 for all three. They were in the 'Back to School' section and were 75% off :) I then bought three popper wallets for my assignments - They're perfect for my ideas, plans and drafts. They were also from WHSmith, but I cannot remember the price. They certainly weren't the cheapest though - I'd suggest buying some from Tesco.

The Ryman notepad was £1.99 and 3 for 2. The paper is thick and I like it because the lines inside are narrow, so they're great for my small writing. I bought the Pukka Pad yonks ago, so cannot remember the price, but you can get them for £1-2 when Tesco have their Back to School deals on. During the rest of the year, they're about £4.

The Stabilo highlighters, Staedtler fineliner pens and Paper Mate black ball pens are all from Ryman, but they can be found in many other stores. The highlighters were £5.99, the fineliner pens were on offer for £4.99 (And still are!) and the Paper Mate black ball pens were £1.99. I've used the Paper Mate pens for years and always repurchase them. I used to only be able to write with fountain pens, which was annoying because ball pens are so much cheaper, so I'm glad I can now write with ball pens!

The coloured Paper Mate ball pens are from WHSmith and were £2.49.  These were an impulse buy really. I liked the look of the colours and packaging! The pencils were also from WHSmith and cost £2.24. They're not the cheapest, but I couldn't be bothered to search any more stores. I always buy pencils with rubbers on the tops because I'm lazy. Picking up a separate rubber when I've made a mistake is just too much work! haha. Also, once a pencil is blunt, I tend to move onto the next one, instead of sharpening it. As I said, I'm lazy.

The Tesco sticky and film index markers were £1.18 and £1.41. Last year, I found out how useful these are! The sticky index markers are great to write annotations on and the film index markers are great to bookmark textbooks.

The 2012-2013 academic elephant diary/planner was £4.50 from Paperchase. It looks small, but there is plenty of room for me to write what I need. It has a week per two pages layout, which is the layout I prefer. Also, how cute is it?!

My pencil case is by Cath Kidston and cost £3.50 in the ASOS sale. It's meant to be a purse, but it's far too big to be one! It's the perfect size for a pencil case though.

My school bag is also by Cath Kidston and was £11.50 in the ASOS sale:

I've used this bag for the last year and it's still in perfect condition, so I'll probably use it for the next year too. However, I've been eyeing up another design, which I may have to purchase! I just think they're perfect for school and uni. They fit in all the books and folders I need and the oilcloth material allows me to use them when it rains.

And this is the end of the post! Phew! I still have to purchase some printer ink and maybe another memory stick, but that's about it. Oh, and I obviously need to buy some new clothes ;) I bought two more pairs of jeans from New Look yesterday and love them. One pair are high waisted, so I cannot wait to wear them.

The Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil

The Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil 100ml - £9

After trying the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil (Review can be found here), I just had to try another. I had been looking at The Body Shop ones for a while, so when an offer came along, I added the coconut variety to my basket. This body oil is very similar to the Palmer's one. It absorbs into my skin incredibly well and doesn't leave a greasy residue (Body oils seem to be less oily than body butters!). It's less greasy than the Palmer's one, which is good, but it doesn't leave my skin as soft and moisturised. It still does a better job than some of my body butters though. The scent is amazing - It smells just like coconut and reminds me of Summer.

£9 for 100ml is expensive, especially when the Palmer's one is £5 for 250ml, but The Body Shop always have offers on, so you will never have to pay the full price of £9. At the moment, The Body Shop's body products are 40% off, making the body oils £5.40. 

If you want a cocoa butter scented body oil, I would favour Palmer's over The Body Shop's, but if you would like another scent, I would definitely have a look at what The Body Shop have to offer. They offer a range of scents, such as mango, strawberry, sweet lemon, pink grapefruit and more.

The Body Shop Treats and Discount Code

The Body Shop and their offers! I think they have the best offers around, and because they're so frequent, I never pay full price for the products I want. The offer this time was 'spend £50, get £25 off' and 'free delivery on all orders'. So, basically, the products were half price. I took advantage of this deal the last time it was on - You can see the goodies I bought then here. I do think The Body Shop is overpriced, so I always wait for an irresistible deal.

The first item I added to my basket was the Coconut Beautifying Oil. After trying the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil (Review can be found here), I wanted to try another, and I knew the coconut scent would be delicious. This is £9 full price, which is so overpriced, especially since you receive 100ml of product (Unlike Palmer's 250ml). However, a body oil does go a long way, so I still think this product will last for a decent amount of time.

Next, I bought the Coconut and Mango Body Mists. Again, you receive 100ml of product. These are £7 full price. They smell amazing! And, to my surprise, last for a few hours. I was going to buy some of their new floral sprays, but I prefer fruity scents, so knew for definite that I would like these.

I also bought the Mango Body Butter, along with the Sweet Lemon Body Butter. I normally favour Boots Extracts body butters, because they're cheaper, but these worked out to be even cheaper with the offer. You can buy mango body butters from many brands, but sweet lemon isn't as common, so I was most excited about receiving that one.

To make it up to £50, I also bought some Organic Cotton Pads (£2.50 full price), but didn't feel the need to photograph them. I was going to buy a soap to make up the total, but I know I'll use and finish the pads. Finally, as a freebie, I received a 60ml bottle of the Rainforest Volumising Conditioner.

I've just been on The Body Shop's website and there's another offer on! For 40% off your online order, use code X451. This offer ends at 12pm on the 1st August (Tomorrow!). Happy shopping!

Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil

This is the first body oil I've used. In the past, I thought body oils would leave me oily and do very little moisturising. I didn't know why someone would favour one over a body butter. Everything I thought was incorrect. I am really enjoying using this product and have already bought another body oil! I use this after I've had a shower and I can moisturise my entire body and get dressed within a few minutes. The scent is delicious, like most of Palmer's products. However, this is much more delicate than their other Cocoa Butter Formula products, so if you find them overwhelming, you'll probably prefer this scent. It absorbs into the skin incredibly well - Some of my body butters leave me more oily than this does. Just like the product claims, it leaves my skin silky soft. This feeling lasts all day, as does the scent (The scent is very subtle, remember, so it doesn't overpower my perfume). You receive 250ml of product, and a little goes a long way, so this should last a while.

Like most Palmer's products, you can purchase this from many stores. Superdrug and Boots are selling it for around £5.10, but if you would like to get your hands on this product without leaving your home, Feel Unique is selling it for £5, with free delivery.

If you cannot tell from my review, I would recommend the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil!

Beauty Buys

Hello! Despite having a beauty blog, I rarely buy a lot of beauty products. I only buy necessities, such as concealer and mascara. Recently, however, I have bought more beauty products than usual. As you can see, I have already been using these products (I couldn't wait!) and will have some reviews up shortly. 

So, where shall we start? The three pots with brown lids, on the near left, are Boots Extracts Fairtrade Brazil Nut 50ml pots. I won all three on eBay for £3.84, including P&P. I already own a small pot of the Brazil Nut body butter (as well as a handful of other scents) and love it. It's similar to the Cocoa Butter scent, but a lot better, in my opinion. 

I had a trusty Boots No7 £5 off voucher, so decided to try the No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser. Without the voucher, it is £10, so I only paid £5 for it. You get more product than you do with Liz Earle's variant and it's a lot cheaper. It removes my make-up well and leaves my skin slightly soft, but it doesn't leave it as soft as Liz Earle's. I'm not too bothered though, seeing as it's much more affordable.

Next, I bought the Palmer's Moisturising Body Oil. You can buy this from Superdrug, Boots, Feel Unique, Amazon etc for around £5. Before this, I had never used a body oil because I thought it would leave me oily, like the name suggests. Oh, how very wrong I was! It sinks in to the skin incredibly well and leaves me less oily than a body butter or lotion would. It leaves your skin silky soft, just as it claims to. A more in depth review of this will be up shortly.

Did I need any more shower gel? No, I have bottles and bottles of the stuff. But I just had to buy the Nivea Water Lily & Oil and the Sunny Melon & Oil Shower Gels. These were £1.24 each (half price) from Boots. They smell divine!

I bought the Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover from Superdrug a while ago, so cannot remember the price. It's between £1-2 though. This is my favourite nail polish remover. It removes nail polish well, but it's the scent that keeps me repurchasing. It's slightly more subtle and sweet than your average remover, and doesn't make me feel sick.

As I said, I rarely buy beauty products, especially hyped up make-up items, so it was out of character for me to buy the Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Flushed. I bought this from Superdrug for £5.99 (normally £7.99). You get a lot of product - 12.4g! The shade looks vibrant and slightly scary in the pot, but it's very natural looking, once applied to the skin. It feels... satin-y - A lot different to the NYX cream blushes. I suppose this is because it has a cream-powder finish. 

Whilst in Superdrug, I also picked up the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Lovesick for £5.99 too (normally £7.99). I love fuss free lip products, so stains are my best friends. A lot of people are describing Lovesick as being a hot pink shade. I think it leans far more purple than that. For that reason, I bought the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Sweetheart from eBay. I had to buy this shade from America because the UK doesn't have it. It annoys me that the UK always has limited product shades. Anyway, I paid £7, including P&P from America, from this seller. I think that's a pretty good deal! It took just over a week to arrive. Even though Sweetheart is more pink than Lovesick, it still leans cool toned/purple-y. I wish Revlon brought out more shades - A warm pink would be great.

Lastly from Superdrug, I bought Barry M's Pink Silver Glitter Nail Polish for £2.99. I wrote a post about it here. It's a beautiful shade and has changed my mind about glitters.

So, there you go! I hope you enjoyed this post. If you would like me to review any of the products above, just leave me a comment.

Pyjama Haul

£5

£5

£5

£3 each

£5

£2.50

Most of my pyjamas are from when I was about ten years old, so I thought it was about time I bought some new ones! Everything above is from Primark. I absolutely love Primark for pyjamas. How cute are the bunny/woodland creature bottoms? And the rose ones are just beautiful. The red striped ones are 3/4 length and look great on. I just wanted some plain pyjama tops, so I bought some t-shirts from the normal section. As you can see, I bought light and girly colours. My pyjamas have always been pink and white, so it would feel weird buying other colours. I already own the thick, long sleeved pyjama top and love it, so bought another. Lastly, I bought a vest top. It is specifically a pyjama vest top, but I'm also going to wear it under my clothes. It has hidden support, so it's opaque and will hide my bra lines.

Toodle pip!