Essie Go Ginza

(Instagram photo)

I'm not happy with my application of this, but I just had to show you the shade because I have nothing like it in my collection! As you can see, it's so much lighter than my other lilacs. I found myself looking at swatches of Go Ginza on Thursday, and then found it in the ASOS sale for £5, so it was meant to be. I was a little apprehensive about paying that, though, because I'm used to Fragrance Direct's £1.99 price tag, but once I found a student discount code (making the polish £4.50) and realised they were giving me free next day delivery (worth £5.95), I couldn't resist. The formula was good, taking just two coats. The first coat was streaky, but a second evened everything out. For such a light shade, I was expecting to have more issues. I really like it, and think it would look even better paired with a light coloured glitter!

What do you think? Are you a fan of lilacs? I personally love them, and deep berry shades, but tend to stay away from the purples in between.

How much is my face worth?

I did this tag two and half years ago, with my total being £38.95. I thought it'd be interesting to do it again and see how much my face is worth now! If you're unfamiliar with this tag, you simply gather all the cosmetics you use on a daily basis and add up their prices. So, here goes:

MUA Cover & Conceal Concealer in Fair - £1.50

The Body Shop All-in-One Face Base in 02 - £14

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Natural - £5.50

ELF Studio Eyebrow Kit in Light - £3.75

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in On & On Bronze - £4.99

Maybelline The Rocket Mascara in Very Black - £7.99

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey - £7.99

Total = £45.72

Not too bad! I thought it'd be more than that. I'd also like to point out that I've given the full prices of items, but I rarely pay this. For example, I only paid £8 for The Body Shop All-in-One Face Base because I used a code, and the Maybelline and Revlon products were bought with my 10% off student discount. Also, the products I use day to day do vary a little, but the ones above are my most used. My blush and lip colour change often, but I use products around the same value. I also wear liquid eyeliner when I can be bothered!

How much is your face worth?

New Favourites

In order to write 'monthly favourites', you need to be trying new products (unless you wish to feature the same products every month!). My favourites usually stay favourites, and I don't buy that many new products, so had a hard time keeping them up! So I started writing 'new favourites' and realised earlier that I hadn't written one in a while. The products above are products that haven't been featured much on Affordable Treats, but I've been using them a lot recently, so thought I'd talk a bit more about them.

A couple months ago, I wanted a face powder with a little coverage, so purchased The Body Shop's All-in-One Face Base in 02. It's £14 full price, but I paid around £8 with a code. The Body Shop always has a great offer on, so you'll never have to pay full price for something! It gives me a little coverage and a soft, matte finish. For areas which need more coverage/mattifying than others, I pat the product on with my finger. I use this technique around my eyes the most because they tend to get quite oily and red. You can apparently apply it wet for even more coverage, too.

Sticking with The Body Shop, I've been loving the Mango Body Mist. I've loved this for months, and am running very low! £7.50 full price, but I've never paid that for my mists (I also have the coconut and berry varieties, which are also great). My sister also loves this and has about 4 bottles stored away!

Another fragrance I've been loving is Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Sunshine Edition. I was gifted this from the people at Fragrance Direct, wrote a post about it, and have been wearing it ever since. I've been wearing it even more than usual recently, though, which is odd for me because I'm more of a body mist kind of girl. I've been pairing this with the Mango Body Mist, actually. The light floral and fruity scents go well together. It's a nice, happy medium of the both.

I bought the Organic Surge Blissful Daily and Super Intensive Moisturisers during their sale for just over £2 each, and I'm so glad I did! They're both very moisturising, but light at the same time, and sink into the skin quickly. Even the intense one is suitable for the day, and I have combination skin! It has a light scent of rose, and the daily variety smells of lemon. They're £8.49-£8.99 full price, which is very reasonable, and I'd be happy to pay that.

I use ELF's Small Angled Brush to fill in my eyebrows, but find it too thick to apply eyeliner with eyeshadow. Enter MUA's £1.50 Eyebrow Brush. It's very thin and dense, making it perfect for eyeliner. 

Do you use any of these products? What products have you been loving recently?

Primark Shoes

I rarely find shoes I like in Primark (or anywhere for that matter), and if I do, my size is usually out of stock, so wasn't expecting any different yesterday. However, I ended up buying not one, not two, but three pairs! I've been looking for a black pair of boots to wear with black tights and shorts/dresses for years. Literally. But I'm very particular when it comes to the style. I don't like chelsea boots because they make my feet look hugeee, and many bike boots are too clunky. I saw and tried on the biker boots above about a month ago, but wasn't sure if I liked them or not, so carried on my quest. Many pairs later, I realised that they were the best of a bad bunch, so decided to just buy them. I'm still not in love with them, and wish the gold hardware was silver, but they were only £15 and I really needed some! The black tasselled moccasins (£8) are very similar to my other pair from Primark, and since I wear those so often, I thought I'd also add these to my collection. The nude moccasins (also £8), detailed with studs and bows, are so pretty. I've never owned a nude pair of shoes before because they usually make my pale feet look dead, but these don't. I'll have to be careful I don't get stuck in the rain with them, which will be hard with such unpredictable weather, but I'm glad I bought them nonetheless. I'm finding myself loving shoes shaped like the ones above because they're just so flattering!

Have you bought any shoes from Primark recently?

iPhone cases

 Did I really need to buy another 4 iPhone cases? Yes. Yes, I did. I can't help it! I'm a collector, and have been since I was a child. The first two are from this eBay seller, and are £4.95 individually, but you can buy one and then get another half price, making them just £3.71 each! I love that they don't have a border around the designs, and that the sides are clear. It makes them slender and sleek. They also come in boxes, so would make great gifts. The second two are from here and here. How cute are they?! They were more expensive, at around £7-8 each, and the designs don't look as good as they do in the listing pictures, but I still really like them (especially the cat one!). They are quite difficult to get off, though. My sister usually has to get mine off for me, but even she had a hard time with these! It does mean your phone will be nice and snug, at least.

Do you have any cute and affordable iPhone cases I just need to check out?

Trying out Nail Tattoos/Transfers/Decals/whatever you want to call them

I hadn't thought about using nail tattoos or stickers since I was a child, but found myself doing just that the other night. So I hopped on over to eBay and started searching for nail art stickers. Something I could layer over my polish to look like I'd spent ages making my nails look pretty. This then led me to look at nail wraps, and then nail tattoos. I came across these for £1.99, and thought I'd give them a go. The printing quality could be better, but I only bought them to have a play around with. The instructions say to paint your nail with a white base coat (the white on the design is actually clear and you're just seeing the white of the paper behind), cut the transfer to size, place in water for 30 seconds, slide the transfer off the paper, and place onto your nail. Then hold it onto your nail with a cotton pad and then apply a top coat. However, you don't need to slide the transfer off and place it onto your nail. You can just put the whole thing straight onto your nail with the paper facing up, wet and press with a tissue or cotton pad, and then remove the paper (like you would with a fake tattoo). This saves you a step. How did I get on? It was more tricky than I thought it'd be, especially cutting the transfers to size. You can tidy and shape polish after applying, but you can't with these. I also had trouble keeping the design in place before applying a top coat. I do like the result, though! I'd love to try nail art stickers next, especially white designs. At least they don't cover your entire nail, so you don't have to worry about the shape around your cuticles.

Do you like nail art tattoos/transfers/decals/stickers/wraps? The ones above have made me realise that I don't own a light blue! I have sky blues, but no pastel varieties. Madness. Also, if you're wondering what nail polishes I'm wearing on the other nails, they're Grapefruit, Blueberry, and Greenberry from the Barry M Gelly range.

September Update

A selection of photos I've taken recently!

We're into autumn now, which is probably my favourite season when thinking of the stereotypical weather it includes. However, in reality, especially here in Britain, the rain doesn't care what season it is! So I've been having to wear my coat even though the temperatures haven't dropped much yet, resulting in me being hot and sweaty (I HATE being hot. It makes me feel so sick!). My ideal day would be clear skies and cold temperatures. No heat, no rain.

The month of September saw me unintentionally changing my style a little and becoming more autumn/winter appropriate. I used the darker shades of the Superdrug Colour Effects, making my hair darker and redder. A few people noticed this, thinking I'd dyed it properly. One person, who has only just met me, didn't believe I was naturally a ginger. They thought I had brunette hair and had just dyed it an auburn shade. The rich, deep tones I now have seem to have this effect! I also cut in a shorter side fringe to accompany my new, shorter hair. I always seem to go shorter for the colder months. I've also been wearing berry lip shades again, and even building them up to create an intense colour (something I never do - maybe this is a sign of more confidence?). As well as this, I've been buying and wearing jumpers! I love jumpers. The ones I've been buying are all from the men's section of Primark. I love how tightly knitted and baggy they are. Women's ones seem to be more interested in making you look fashionable, so aren't as simple and warm as men's ones.

I upgraded to an iPhone at the beginning of the month, which I've been loving. As you can see from the photos, I'm enjoying buying cases for it! Even though I can't get them off for the life of me. My sister has to do it. I also created an Instagram profile, which you can find here. The camera on the iPhone is so much better than the one on my old phone, so I've been making the most of it!

My uni screwed up my third year modules again. After they sorted the '2 for semester A and 4 for semester B' problem, everything was fine. I then emailed them asking if they could update my timetable, only for them to tell me I couldn't do one of my modules because it clashed with another. So I had to pick something I wasn't really keen on doing. They wouldn't have even told me if I didn't email them in the first place! However, after all this, I'm actually glad I'm doing the module I'm doing. The other one seems really time consuming (more so than other modules), and considering it's only my minor and I have a dissertation to do, I don't want that.

Speaking of dissertations, I'm now back at uni and starting my own! I'm already feeling daunted and stressed. To reassure myself, I've just got to remember that the amount of words equates to that of two modules, and these are split across semesters A and B. Also, as long as I create a timetable and stick to it, I shouldn't fall too far behind. This is easier said than done, though, and procrastination usually sets in. If only you could buy motivation.

September also saw some anniversaries! On the 16th, we'd had Mysti and Mia (the tabby in the photos) for 6 years, and on the 20th, we'd had Buddy (the dog in the photos) for a year! I can't believe it. This means Mysti and Mia will be 7 next year :( I don't want them to get old!

I also started watching Breaking Bad! Everyone was raving about it, so thought I'd see what the fuss was about. Even though I tried spreading the episodes out, I ended up watching them all in a week and a half. Feeling a bit lost now! I'd recommend the show, especially if you like crime dramas.

Until November, my friends (I can imagine that update being filled with my worries and stress).