Collective Haul

Going through my Instagram earlier, I decided that my small purchases here and there over the last couple of months could actually be grouped together for a 'haul' post. I show all the little things on Instagram, but then forget to even mention them on here until I review them!

So, the first photo is of OPI's Steady As She Rose, which I bought from Fragrance Direct for £3.99. It's a beautiful, light, dusky lilac. I've already swatched and reviewed this here, and have compared it to Models Own Utopia here.

I've also been buying more Bath & Body Works hand gels recently. I already owned Vanilla Berry Sorbet and Fresh Picked Apples, but then bought Tuscan Melon, Market Peach, Island Nectar, and Sweet Pea last month. They were all £1.99 including P&P from various eBay sellers, which is a rip off compared to American prices, but I really wanted them! They keep changing their prices and stock, so I won't link you to any listings, but just search 'bath and body works hand gels' and you'll find them. Market Peach is my favourite, which is no surprise! They all smell exactly like their names, and Island Nectar smells like really sweet mango with a hint of floral.

I then bought Barry M's Gelly Nail Paint in Sugar Apple from ASOS because I wanted it (obviously) and could get student discount and free delivery. You can see my swatch and review of it here. The formula's not the best, but it's a beautiful shade.

I don't think I suit sunglasses at all, but want to start wearing them more because I seem to squint outside a lot, and squinting = more wrinkles when I'm older. I bought the ones above from Primark for just £2. The style is a lot bigger than I'm used to, but I like them. I may buy some without the brown tint next.

From eBay, I bought these white rose fairy lights for £11.99 including P&P. They're quite expensive for what they are, but I wanted some fairy lights that looked good turned off as well as on. They're not very long, but they're just the right length for the header of my bed.

After finishing writing my dissertation last week (handing it in Thursday!), I decided to go shopping, but didn't really buy much. I did buy some pretty bras from Primark, though. I love the style of them, and they were only £4 each.

I bought the NYX Butter Gloss in Peach Cobbler from eBay for £6-7 because I didn't want to pay £5 + £4.50 P&P on the NYX website. I should have waited, though, because I ended up ordering from them last week as they had free P&P! I've already swatched and reviewed this here. It's my new favourite lip product!

On the same day I bought the Primark bras, I also bought Models Own Beach Bag in Superdrug. It was £5, but I had some points to use on my beauty card, so it was cheaper. It's the first polish that's caught my eye from them for a while, and is a neon pastel peach. You can see me wearing it here, but I don't know if I'll be blogging about it because I'm not 100% happy with my application! It's also hard to capture on camera.

Finally, two products which arrived today (after Interlink screwing up): NYX's Powder Blush in Taupe and Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel. They had free delivery on orders over £10, so thought I'd pick up a couple products I'd had my eye on! The blush is for contouring (or attempting to), and I wanted another Butter Gloss because I love Peach Cobbler so much. This one is beautiful, too. I'm not usually one for lip gloss, but these are something else!

I've also just ordered from The Body Shop because they finally have a peach body mist! I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw it on their website. What have you been buying recently?

OPI Steady As She Rose and Models Own Utopia Comparison

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

 OPI Steady As She Rose, Models Own Utopia

Baby and middle fingernails (1st and 3rd): OPI Steady As She Rose. Ring and index (2nd and 4th): Models Own Utopia

As soon as I laid eyes on OPI's Steady As She Rose, I knew it was similar to Models Own's Utopia; a polish I already owned. I went ahead and bought it anyway, though, because it was only £3.99 from Fragrance Direct, and I've been loving these clean, understated colours. As you can see, both are light, muted lilacs, but Utopia is slightly cooler in tone. It's such a subtle difference, though, that I doubt anyone would notice if just glancing at your nails. In terms of formula, Utopia is slightly more opaque. Steady As She Rose takes 2-3 coats, whereas Utopia takes 2. I love both, and would recommend getting whichever one you can find the cheapest. As I said, Steady As She Rose is only £3.99 on Fragrance Direct at the moment, whereas Utopia is £5 in Boots. However, Boots also has a 3 for 2 offer going on. Utopia can also be found on/in Superdrug for £5, and it's on Chemist Direct for £4.50. It just depends on where you were already planning to shop to save on postage!

Do you own either of these shades? You can find my swatch of Steady As She Rose here, and my swatch of Utopia here.

OPI Steady As She Rose

OPI's Steady As She Rose is my most recent purchase from Fragrance Direct. At £3.99, I couldn't resist! Steady As She Rose is a very light, dusky lilac. I'm still getting used to wearing shades like these, but I like how clean they look. Two coats were needed on most nails to achieve opacity, but a couple needed three due to streaking. This could be an application error on my behalf, though. It's very similar to Models Own Utopia (swatch and review here), and I have comparison photos on my Instagram here. I'll probably be publishing a full comparison post in the next week, though, so look out for that!

Do you have this shade? Or shades similar to this?

Christmas with Fragrance Direct

If you're a regular reader of Affordable Treats, you'll know I love Fragrance Direct. It's the place I go to get my nail polish fix! If you've not heard of Fragrance Direct before, it's a website where you can buy branded perfumes and cosmetics for a discounted, more affordable price, and P&P can be from as little as £1.99. With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I'd show you my top picks from the site. I normally buy my Christmas presents throughout the year, but I know that now's the time when many start, or are in the process of, buying gifts for their loved ones.

Sally Hansen £1.49, Revlon 99p, OPI £3.99, Essie £1.99, L'Oreal £1.30

I don't tend to buy makeup for people unless I know exactly what they like to wear (like my mum and sister, for example), but I like gifting nail polish, especially to my friends. I think a couple bottles of OPI or Essie in a mug or gift bag would make a great present. I, for one, would love to receive that as a gift because nail polish and mugs are two of my favourite things! If you're not sure what shades your friends like, ask them. Just don't say why you're asking them!

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau De Toilette Spray 100ml* £49.95, 50ml £38.95, 100ml Gift Set £56.95, 50ml Gift Set £41.95, Eau De Parfum 50ml £45.50

Perfume is very popular to give at Christmas, and if you're planning to buy a bottle for a family member or friend, I'd suggest checking Fragrance Direct first because you may be able to get it cheaper. For example, the bottle above is £14.05 less expensive than other places. In terms of the actual fragrance, Marc Jacobs Daisy is loved by many. Instead of me trying to describe what it smells like, here's a description: 'Daisy is the first of Marc Jacobs iconic fragrances for women; a fresh and floral fragrance, which is youthful and sweet, and perfect for summer. Marc Jacobs Daisy is light and easy to wear, and features a cool combination of Strawberry, Violet Leaf and Blood Grapefruit top notes, heart notes of Gardenia, Jasmine and Violet, and base notes of Musk, Vanilla and White Woods.' Even though it's described as a young, summery fragrance, it's one I'd wear all year round. They also have the Eau So Fresh version available in a range of sizes, but I already have it, so decided to try the original instead.

DKNY Red Delicious Eau De Parfum 100ml* £28.99

This retails for £60, so if you buy it from Fragrance Direct, you'll save yourself £31.01. The description for this is: 'The follow up to the hugely popular Be Delicious, Donna Karan DKNY Red Delicious Eau de Parfum Spray is sweet, fruity and feminine; a tasty perfume for the summer. With top notes of Lychee and Raspberry, heart notes of Bergamot, Patchouli and Rose, and base notes of Leather, Amber and Vanilla. DKNY Red Delicious is a modern and stylish fragrance.' I didn't expect this to be as fruity as it is, which is a good thing because I love fruity scents. To me, this smells like summer berries with hints of floral notes. There's also a little warmth there.

Nina Ricci Nina L'Eau Eau Fraiche Eau De Toilette Gift Set 80ml* £40.95, 80ml £40.95, 50ml £29.95, 30ml £21.95  

This is my new favourite scent. It's the lighter, fresher version of the original, and if there's the option of a lighter, fresher version of the original, I'll go for it. Here's the description: 'New for 2013, the Nina Ricci Nina L'Eau Eau Fraiche fragrance has made a great impression with its romantic, fresh fragrance, which can now be enjoyed in this fabulous ladies gift set. The Nina Ricci Nina L'Eau Eau Fraiche Gift Set features the stunning fragrance, which is a blend of Apple, Neroli, Grapefruit and Mandarin top notes, heart notes of Gardenia and Cherry, and base notes of Musk; a dreamy and feminine perfume.' There's a note in there that reminds me of my childhood or a sweet from my childhood, but I can pin point it! If you're looking at buying the 80ml bottle, I'd go for the gift set because you get the 80ml bottle and the lip gloss for the same price. Even if the lip gloss isn't used, it's essentially free! And looks pretty. 

Are you planning on buying any of your Christmas presents from Fragrance Direct? I know my sister's bought my mum Paco Rabanne's Lady Million from there for her birthday/Christmas (her birthday's on the 15th December). I'm tempted to buy my mum and sister more nail polishes, but I well and truly kitted them out earlier this year. You can never have too many nail polishes, though...

*PR samples

Revlon Top Speed Nail Polish in 570 Vintage (99p at Fragrance Direct)

This is one of the nail polishes from my most recent Fragrance Direct order (haul post here), and my favourite! Vintage is a deep, berry shade, and varies between shades of red and purple, depending on the light. Two coats were needed, and I had no problems with the formula. These kinds of shades are known to stain more than others, though, so cleaning up was more difficult than usual. Surprisingly, I have nothing like this in my collection. The closest shade I have is Barry M's Raspberry, but this is more purple toned than that. For 99p (from here), I'm pretty pleased!

Have you bought any nail polishes from Fragrance Direct recently? Do you like these kinds of shades? I think they're perfect for autumn/winter.

Nail Polish Haul!

Every once in a while, my sister and I seem to find a load of nail polishes we like the look of on Fragrance Direct, and because they're so affordable, we buy them! This is our most recent order, with the most expensive polish being just £1.49. First up, we have the Rimmel Lycra Pro Nail Polishes in 312 Ultra Violet and 420 Aqua Cool, which were 99p each. I love the brushes of the Rimmel polishes! These two are my sister's, but I'll definitely be adding some to my next order. Then we have Sally Hansen's 848 Sgt Preppy and 843 Palm Treat, and these were £1.49 each. I also love the brushes of these. I then bought L'Oreal's 507 Riviera Lavender and 506 Exotic Grenade, which were £1.30 each. These are only 5ml, but I never finish a bottle of polish anyway, so don't mind. I wouldn't pay the full price of £4.99 for them, though! I also chose Revlon's 920 Make Mine Mango, 210 Jelly (Top Speed), and 570 Vintage (Top Speed), which were 99p each. These are the ones I like the most out of our haul! I love oranges/corals, so had to get Make Mine Mango. Jelly was another must have because I love deep, red toned pinks. Although it's called Jelly, it's not a jelly formula. Then we have Vintage, which is a berry shade, and perfect for this time of year.

Have you bought anything from Fragrance Direct recently? They're supposed to be getting some more Essie shades in this week, so I'll no doubt be placing another order!

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Coralicious

You know, I think I'm going through a phase. Two weeks ago I wore a neon red, last week I wore a berry red, and this week I'm wearing a coral red. I tend to lean towards warmer shades in general, though! Rimmel's 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Coralicious was part of a Fragrance Direct order I made many months ago, and have only just got round to wearing it. It cost me just 99p, and although it's not available on there any more, you can buy it from eBay for £2-3, or Boots or Superdrug for £3.69 (and Superdrug currently has free delivery until the 22nd of October). I'm wearing three coats in the photo above, but this is only because I have longer nails at the moment and need to cover the visible nail line. If you have shorter nails with minimal white tips, you could get away with two coats. Although it could be more opaque, I love the formula. It's smooth and applies like a dream. This is also down to the brush, which is slightly thicker and rounder than others I'm used to. The brush alone makes me want to buy more from this range!

What do you think? Are you going through any nail polish phases at the moment?

Astor Nail Polish in 70 (75p!)

I'd never heard of the brand Astor until browsing Fragrance Direct a few months ago. To my knowledge, Astor is a budget Spanish brand. I came across the 75p nail polishes, and well, you know me! I just had a buy a couple. The trouble was finding swatches, though, so it was a lot of guess work. This is 70; a cobalt blue. I have to say, the photos aren't showing the true colour of this. It's darker than what's shown! The formula was okay, taking 2-3 coats to become opaque. I do have some bubbling going on, but I think that's down to me, not the polish. These particular Astor nail polishes are 6ml, which is a lot less than other polishes I own, but I don't mind. I've never finished a nail polish anyway, and they're only 75p!

Have you stumbled upon any unfamiliar brands on Fragrance Direct? 

OPI Are We There Yet?

Natural light, flash

OPI's Are We There Yet?* is the most recent addition to my nail polish collection. It's a muted orange with subtle pink and gold shimmer. It reminds me of the end of Summer/beginning of Autumn. I really like it. I know some people don't like bright, garish oranges, so this is a great alternative. The formula was average; no complaints from me. It was thin and creamy, which made drying time a lot quicker. I'm wearing 3 coats in the photos above.

This is from Fragrance Direct, with the small price tag of £3.99. The site used to sell them for £5.99, which was still reasonable for OPIs, but now they've dropped the price even more. They currently have a great range of shades, especially pinks. I now have a habit of checking the site every couple of days in the hope of finding new Essie and OPI shades!

*PR sample

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Sunshine Edition

I was intrigued by this perfume the moment I saw the promotional images. The bottle is just so pretty! I've heard some say it looks a little childish, but I really like it. Being Limited Edition and me not being a perfume fanatic like some, I didn't think I'd ever try it, but Fragrance Direct invited me to choose a few products to review. Like I said, I'm not usually the perfume kind of girl, and normally lean towards fruity body sprays. I think this is because I prefer simple scents rather than notes on top of notes (on top of even more notes). I also find a lot perfumes too musky and 'old'. I actually own a small bottle of the Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh (which I also bought from Fragrance Direct), which I wear, but not as often as I should. The Sunshine Edition* is one of the better designer perfumes I've smelt. It's light, fruity floral, and reminds me of Spring/Summer. It also reminds me of pink lemonade, for some reason. To get a better idea, the top notes are strawberry, pink grapefruit and apple blossom, the heart notes are jasmine, rose and violet leaf, and the base notes are oakmoss and amber.

Compared to the original Daisy Eau So Fresh, it's fruitier. The original is a little heavier and grown up.

And here's a photo of the bottle lids swapped because it amused me. 

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Sunshine Edition retails for £48, but Fragrance Direct is selling it for £43.99 here.

*PR sample

Fragrance Direct Order

Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue £1.49, Rimmel Coralicious 99p, Astor 070 x2 75p, Astor 086 75p, Astor 112 75p, Astor 119 x2 75p

Grace Cole Peach & Pear Hand Wash 500ml £2.50

If you haven't already guessed, I love Fragrance Direct. I didn't realise how much I order from there until I looked at my order history the other day! Just so you know, half of the nail polishes above are for my sister's birthday (in August...). I love the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish brushes, so whenever they have new stock, I add one (or more) to my basket. I already own a couple of coral shades, but I'm always drawn to the colour, so couldn't resist Rimmel's Coralicious for just 99p. The Astor polishes are the main components of this order. I had never heard of the brand before, but apparently it's a budget Spanish brand. It's blogged about very little, which made searching for swatches very difficult, especially because the polishes don't have names! The bottles are only 6ml, but I never finish a nail polish anyway, and they were only 75p! How beautiful is 070? I've been after a blue like this for a while. I let my sister have this one early, and it took 2-3 coats to become opaque, which is quite good. I already own a couple of berry shades similar to 086, but I love the colour so much. The bright red/coral (112) is another one of my sister's, and so is 119. The second 119 is mine, and, again, I own 1 or 2 shades similar, but it's pretty. I then added the Grace Cole Peach & Pear hand wash to my basket. After using The Body Shop's Vineyard Peach shower gel, I have been loving all things peach scented. This isn't as nice of the Vineyard Peach shower gel (I don't think anything will ever be), but it's subtle, and smells like peaches and pears (you don't say?!).

I have a browse through Fragrance Direct once or twice a week to look at the new stock. I usually keep up to date with the nail polishes and lipsticks. Do you like Fragrance Direct? Have you placed an order recently?

Dainty Doll on Fragrance Direct

Top row: Cream blushes in Billion Dollar Babies 003, Paper Roses 001 and Orange County Girl 002

Bottom row: Powder blushes in Money Talks 003, My Girl 002 and You Are My Sunshine 004

Powder blushes in Money Talks 003, My Girl 002 and You Are My Sunshine 004, cream blushes in Billion Dollar Babies 003, Paper Roses 001 and Orange County Girl 002

 I was browsing Fragrance Direct at the weekend when I came across some Dainty Doll cosmetics. After a quick search on Twitter and Google, other bloggers found them on the website a couple of weeks ago, but I had completely missed the mentions! I was expecting to find ugly shades that couldn't be flogged anywhere else, but was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the cream and powder blushes, which were selling for just £1.99 each. I ended up buying 6 of the shades, oops! But all of these came to less than one would originally cost. Also, none of the other products interested me. I don't wear foundation or eyeshadow, and the lipstick shades didn't appeal to me. And, although all 6 are labelled as blushes, I'm going to use one of the creams and one of the powders as bronzers. When opening them, I noticed that each shade of the creams matches with one of the powders, so I can set them, ensuring they last all day. My first impressions are good. I love the colours, and the powder blushes are soft and pigmented. The cream blushes aren't as creamy or pigmented as my NYX ones, but neither are the other cream blushes I own. Their pigmentation isn't bad though, and can easily be built up. Some may see this as a good thing because you're less likely to give yourself clown cheeks!



Have you ordered any Dainty Doll bargains from Fragrance Direct?

Superdrug and Fragrance Direct Purchases

At the end of January, I placed a couple of orders with Superdrug and Fragrance Direct. Now, let me just say that a lot of the products above are not for me! Some are for my mum and sister.

All of the nail polishes are from Fragrance Direct. From left to right, you have Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty x2 £1.49 each (one for me, one for my sister), Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue £1.49 (mine), Sally Hansen Oxide £1.49 (mine. I love this shade!), Sally Hansen Fairy Teal £1.49 (mum's), Sally Hansen Cherry Cherry £1.49 (mum's), Sally Hansen Gilded Lily £1.49 (mum's), Sally Hansen Purple Pizzaz 99p (mum's), Rimmel Apricot Punch 99p (sister's), Essie Camera £1.99 (mine).

From Superdrug, I bought the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains in Honey and Crush. I've wanted these colours for a while and they were on offer for £5.99, so thought I may as well. I now have four shades, so will be reviewing and lip swatching soon! The Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Nude was £3.99 and is for my mum for Mother's Day, like the rest of her products in this post. She used my one a few days before placing this order and really liked it.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Yesterday, I published a nail polish collection post, so if you would like to have a read of that, just click here.

Nails of the Week: Essie Bikini So Teeny

Natural light

Flash

Another nail polish post! Sick of them? Then don't read them ;)

Essie's Bikini So Teeny is a cornflower blue with tiny specks of silver glitter in (they are barely noticeable on the nails though). The formula is pretty good, taking an average two coats to become opaque. The wide brush made the streaks minimal, but some were still detected on the first coat, like most nail polishes.

If you would like to buy this colour, it is currently available on the Fragrance Direct website for just £1.99. I can't see it being available for long, so hurry!

New Essie Nail Polishes

The other day, I was browsing Fragrance Direct, and thought I'd see if they had any new Essie shades available. I wasn't expecting them to, so was surprised to see that they did! I was also delighted to see that the shades were releases from this year. The shades I bought are Bikini So Teeny, Lights, and Bazooka. The other shades available are also nice, but I already own similar ones. After a quick search, I found a 15% off code (PAYPAL15. I'm not sure if it still works though), so for all three polishes and P&P, I paid £7.06. I can't wait to wear them, especially Bikini so Teeny. It has tiny specks of silver glitter in!

Fragrance Direct Haul - Marc Jacobs, Essie, Maybelline and more

I've been waiting to post about this for about a week, but I kept ordering, so had to keep waiting! Let's jump into things. 

The Maybelline nail polish in Nude Rose was 99p. I've been wanting this polish for months, but always resisted it when in Boots or Superdrug. It retails for about £4, so that's a nice little saving. It also looks better in real life! 

Of course, I had to buy some Essie nail polishes! For £1.99, I just couldn't resist. Everyone is talking about these little bargains, so you can't be surprised to see them. I ordered Mademoiselle, A Crewed Interest, Lady Like and Mod Squad. Mademoiselle and A Crewed Interest have the new thicker brushes. Fragrance Direct also have some Essie base and top coats for £2.50, but I never use them, so passed.

I then ordered the Badger Balm in Ginger and Lemon for £2.50 (Normally £4). It smells delicious!

The last make-up item I ordered was Maybelline's One by One mascara for £3.50. I've repurchased many tubes of this mascara and recently bought one in Superdrug for £8.49! I'm definitely going to check Fragrance Direct before I buy mascara from now on. I was a bit sceptical at first because the font of 'One by One' is slightly different to the ones I've bought in Superdrug, but I've been reassured by the people at Fragrance Direct that it is authentic.

My most recent order from Fragrance Direct included Marc Jacobs Eau So Fresh Eau De Toilette set for £24.95. It contains a 20ml bottle and a 15ml refill (With a funnel). How cute is it?! And it smells good. In three words, I would describe it as light, fresh and citrusy. It's my first designer perfume too.

This brings me on to the perfumes I've ordered today (Thanks to Kate for mentioning them!). Perfume Parlour sells perfumes that are very similar to designer ones, but at affordable prices. I've ordered the Marc Jacobs Daisy dupe spray (£8 for 25ml), the Burberry Body dupe spray (£8 for 25ml), the DKNY Sweet Delicious Tart Key Lime dupe perfume oil (£2.25 for 3ml) and the DKNY Sweet Delicious Creamy Meringue dupe perfume oil (£2.25 for 3ml). I only ordered the 3ml perfume oils of the last two because I've never smelt them before. I was initially sceptical because the website doesn't look the best, but I then read many positive reviews from a forum. I will be writing a post on them when they arrive. My mum has Burberry Body and I have a sample of Marc Jacobs Daisy, so I will be comparing them!