Bargain Beauty Haul

I've bagged some great bargains recently, especially in the last few days, so thought I'd gather them together and have a little ramble!

The first product is the Nina Ricci Nina perfume. I was going to buy this from Boots, but found it on allbeauty.com for £31.80 instead of £54. Although it's still not the cheapest perfume out there, I thought it was a great discount.

On top sits a set of three Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butters in Berry Smoothie, Strawberry Shortcake, and Peach Parfait (all shades I've considered buying in the past). I found this little gem in TK Maxx for £7.99, instead of £7.99 each. It's the first decent beauty item I've found in there! 

I bought the Maybelline Elixir in Mandarin Rapture in Boots yesterday. This retails for £6.99, but I used a couple of vouchers towards it. There's also a 3 for 2 on all Maybelline products at the moment, if you're interested. Apart from the slight shimmer (and it's only slight), I like this so far. It reminds me of the NYX Butter Glosses, in the sense that it's balmy, glossy, and still packs a punch of colour. Unfortunately, we don't have a huge shade selection over here in the UK, but there's still a couple of others I have my eye on.

The EOS Sweet Mint Lip Balm wasn't a huge bargain, but thought I'd include it here anyway. I bought it from Amazon for £3.91 including P&P, but they've now changed the price, so I'd suggest looking around yourself. I wanted to know if these hyped little balls were any good before buying a big value pack for presents. So far, so good. I'll keep you posted!

The Witch primers were on clearance in Superdrug for £1.75, and they were buy one get one free. Two primers for £1.75? Yes, please! The Superdrug Colour Effects Conditioning Colours (£1.49) were also buy one get one free, so I picked up a couple more.

I definitely didn't need any more wipes, but had a £5 No7 voucher to use, so thought I'd pick up the No7 Beautiful Skin Quick Thinking Wipes (£7). My staff discount on top made these just 42p. It would have been rude not to! I then bought the Beautiful Skin Cleansing Balm (£9.50) with another voucher I had, and ended up paying just £2.36 for this. Lastly, on the No7 front, I bought the BB Lips Beauty Balms in Geranium and Blush Coral (£9 each). I had a £3 off voucher, and because I bought two makeup products, I received a free gift box. It contains a mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and eyeshadow brush. The shades are ones my mum will love, so I'm going to give it to her as a present.

There's currently a 3 for 2 across all hair products in Boots, so I picked up the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor (£4.99), the Naked Rescue Intensive Care Shampoo (£4.39), and the Naked Rescue Intensive Care Conditioner (£4.39). I also had 25% off and double points vouchers, making these even cheaper.

After I bought these (and annoyingly used my 25% off voucher), I noticed that the Organix Hydrating Macadamia Oil Shampoo and Conditioner bottles were on clearance for £1.75 each (down from £6.99). They also qualified for the 3 for 2 offer and discount, so I paid just £1.02 each. I think it was meant to be because there were just three bottles left, and two of them were shampoo (I go through more shampoo than I do conditioner).

Have you picked up any bargains recently?

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