dotcomgiftshop purchases

 

Toadstool Night Light £3.95, Rabbit Night Light £4.95

 

Metal Rabbit Hanging Decoration £1

 

Metal Ivory Heart Hanging Decoration 39p

Set of 3 Wooden Heart Decorations £1.50

"MORE buys?!" I hear you say. Yes. I have no justifications haha

I came across dotcomgiftshop last week and just had to place an order. Delivery is £3.95, so I had to make it worthwhile. I ordered the items above and a few other bits for birthday presents. The night lights are so cute! Only some of the spots on the toadstool were painted though (from what I've seen, they're all like that, apart from the image they use on the website!), so I used a white nail polish to fill in the remaining ones earlier. The metal rabbit hanging decoration... I love it. It's what pushed me over the edge to place the order! And I was surprised it was only £1. The rest of the decorations were also a bargain. I mean, 39p for the ivory heart?! It has gone straight on my beauty chest of drawers with the rest of my ivory/white decorations. I don't know what I'm going to do with the wooden hearts yet because I have things hanging from every available space at the moment, but I'm sure I'll find a place for them. I would have ordered more decorations, but like I said, I have no where for them to go :( I need more hooks!

So, yes, I very much like dotcomgiftshop. It has a variety of little bits and bobs (I have my eye on some glass bottles, but don't know what I would use them for!) which are perfect for presents or yourself. 

Barry M's Gelly Blood Orange and Essie's Beyond Cosy

 

Barry M's Gelly Blood Orange

Essie's Beyond Cosy

Once I've painted my nails, I take a couple of photos on my phone and then plan to take 'proper' photos the following day. Well, sometimes a nail chips or my actual camera doesn't pick up the colour well, so I don't bother blogging about it. I was going through my phone earlier though and thought these photos were okay to use. Even though they were taken on my phone with a flash, they're still a good representation of how the polishes look.

I rarely wear red nail polish. In fact, Barry M's Gelly Blood Orange is my first bright red. The only other red shade I have is Barry M's Raspberry, which is definitely not a true red. I like it! I just hope it doesn't stain the hell out of my nails. It was opaque in one coat, but I added another just to be sure.

I wore Essie's Beyond Cosy the week of Christmas. It's so pretty! It's a pale gold which is gold in some lights and silver in others. The glitter is finely milled and opaque in two coats - Win!

I hope you're enjoying January so far. My birthday's on the 20th, so I always like this month. I'm going to be 20 this year! No longer a teenager. Scary stuff.

I also just have one more assignment and a couple of exams to do (I've already completed 2 assignments, an article and a presentation).

Oh, and I bought a new camera today! The Nikon D3100. I'm just waiting for some accessories, including memory cards, to arrive so I can use it.

Have a good evening!

Boots Sale Purchases

In my Christmas Sale Purchases and More post, I said I'm always underwhelmed by the Boots sale. Well, this post completely contradicts that statement! I love Boots Extracts and Botanics, so thought I'd buy some sets for birthdays throughout the year, as well as Christmas.

The Boots Extracts Collection was £11 down from £22. It contains a variety of mango and coconut scented products (all large 200ml sizes). I worked out that the products separately come to around £35, so I'm very pleased. I'm going to split the products up, put them into organza bags, and give as presents.

The Boots Extracts Cranberry set was £8 down from £16. It contains a 200ml tube of body wash, 200ml of body lotion, a 50ml tub of body scrub and a 50ml tub of body butter. I love this set. The bag is beautiful and the products smell delicious. I think it will be perfect for a Christmas present!

The Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Mini Mix set was £2.50 down from £5. It contains a 75ml tube of body wash and a 50ml tub of body butter. I think this set is a perfect little stocking filler (or birthday gift bag filler!). I wish there were more scents available.

The Botanics Men's Face Care Regime was £6 down from £12. I didn't take a photo of this separately because the products are on the front of the box. It contains a 150ml tube of face wash, 150ml of shave gel and a 75ml tube of moisturiser. This will either be for my dad or grandad, I think! I love how it's presented - the box is lime green inside, too :)

The Boots Extracts Mango Selection is in the Christmas Sale Purchases post, linked at the top, so you can see it in more detail there. It was £5 down from £10 and contains 200ml of body wash, 200ml of body scrub and 200ml of body butter. The body butter alone is £7.95, so this is a great little bargain!

So, the Boots Christmas sale isn't that underwhelming after all! Only because of the Extracts and Botanics sets though. I wasn't interested in anything else.

Book Haul

Booooks! Can you imagine how excited I was when these arrived? I love opening the Amazon packaging and smelling a good book or two (or eight, in this case). Half of them are new, half of them are used. I prefer new books, but they can be expensive, so I settled with used Sophie Kinsella ones. They were all around £2, including P&P. I don't normally read books like the Sophie Kinsella ones (I normally read dystopian, action types), but I read Twenties Girl and really enjoyed it, so thought I'd buy some more. They're also loved by many, so it's highly likely that I'm going to enjoy them too. As you can see, I bought Twenties Girl even though I've already read it. The version I read was from the library and I wanted my own copy. That's another reason why I bought it used - I'd already read it.

The top four books are new. The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes was £3.99, The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern was £1.99 (Bargain! This was on offer. I think it's back to £3-4 now), The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was £3.86 and A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen was £3.86. A Street Cat Named Bob is a real life story about a cat. You may be thinking 'whaaat?', and I agree, it's very different to anything I've read before, but that's why I bought it. I don't like to stick to one gender of book. I was sceptical about The Help by Kathryn Stockett because it was so different to anything I had read previously, but I ended up loving it. Also, A Street Cat Named Bob has loads of positive ratings and reviews, so it can't be all bad!

If you're a book worm like myself, stay tuned for my 'Favourite Books of 2012' post. The Help is included, as well as another 20 books! It's going to be a long one.

I'm currently reading The Fury, which is really good. I probably won't finish it in time for the post, but I'm sure I'll mention it in another post at some point. 

If you would like to stay up to date with the books I'm reading and lusting over, you can visit my profile and become friends with me on Goodreads. I seriously love that site. I think it's the best site I joined in 2012!

Buddy Update

We've had Buddy for over three months now, and there's been a lot of development since I published this post, so wanted to tell you about it! He was a good dog when we got him, but he's an even better dog now. 

When we first got him, he was okay on the lead, but would pull now and again. You do not want a dog Buddy's size pulling! We bought him a Halti lead and now he's an amazing walker. What a Halti lead does is guide the dog's head in the other direction if he pulls or is focused on something (another dog, cat, scent etc). Having your head turned away from what you're doing can be annoying, so to make sure that doesn't happen, he walks nicely. The Halti lead goes around the dog's nose, so a lot of people think he's wearing a muzzle, and therefore assume he's aggressive. A Halti lead is definitely not a muzzle! He can open his mouth all he wants. Also, Buddy is the furthest from aggressive. That's one thing we didn't have to correct. Since we've had him, he's never growled or gone for another dog.

The next thing we needed to correct was him chasing the cats. He previously didn't live with cats, so wasn't used to them. In the first couple weeks of having him, he just wanted to play, so chased them. We gradually introduced him to them and now he's fine. He even sleeps with them.

The other thing I mentioned in my 'Meet Buddy' post was that he was chasing Jessie, and Jessie kept growling at him. He then thought Jessie was playing, so would go to play with her, which made Jessie growl even more. It was one big circle! After a while, Jessie stopped growling and would spend a lot of time under the table to keep away from him. Now, they are the best of friends. They don't stop playing! It can be quite annoying actually because they're so noisy. Because of Buddy's size and strength, he could easily hurt Jessie, but he's so gentle with her. The other day, he let Jessie have his bone, which was the cutest thing.

For a while, we put him in his cage at night because we couldn't trust him (due to not knowing his personality and habits). We've been leaving him out of his cage recently though and he's been good as gold. He usually sleeps in the chair in the dining room or next to my dad. You would think he would take up most of the bed, but he doesn't. I think our cats take up just as much room because they stretch out!

I'm so glad he's living with us. Because of how he looks, he could have easily ended up with a scumbag who only has a dog to 'look hard' and train to be aggressive.

This is what Buddy is currently doing:

Hanging out with Jacks!

Christmas Sale Purchases and More

I went shopping today! I felt like I hadn't been in ages, but it was probably just a few weeks. It was so quiet it town, considering the Christmas sales started yesterday. In fact, it was quieter than it normally is throughout the year! There was no one in Lush and there were no queues in Primark - Shocker! I'm always quite level headed when it comes to shopping, and the Christmas sales are no different. I feel so guilty at the thought of wasting money (so I try to justify everything haha). Quite a few of the items you see below are for birthdays, Mother's Day, even next Christmas! Here we go...

 

Of course Lush was on the agenda. They didn't have any of the Christmas bath bombs though, so I'm not sure what's going on there. They had loads of everything else. Anyway, I bought my first bottle of Snow Fairy shower gel for £3.12 (the prices I'm giving are after the 50% discount), 2 Magic Wand bubble bars which were around £2.50 each (these are for birthdays!), a Rocket bubble bar for £2.50ish (which smells like Parma Violets! I wish I bought another one now), a Santa's Sack bubble bar for £2.09ish and a 200g chunk of Mr Punch soap for £3.75. Once I got home, the Mr Punch soap smelt different to me, so I'm going to try and swap or sell it. 

I then went to The Body Shop. I think this was the first time I've bought stuff in store. I normally buy online because of all the amazing discount codes. I was buying my mum a bottle of the Vineyard Peach shower gel, which was half price at £2, and once I smelt it, I had to buy a bottle for myself. It smells delicious! The Ice Blue shampoo, Cranberry shower gel and Cranberry hand cream were also down to £2 and I bought them for my dad for his birthday. The Cranberry products... oh my. They smell good enough to eat. I may have to keep them!

 

I'm always underwhelmed by Boots' Christmas sale. I know people love it for the Soap & Glory products, but I've never tried or been interested in them. I do love Boots Extracts though, and thought this mango gift set was a bargain at just £5. One Christmas present for 2013 down ;)

 

I can't go shopping without visiting Primark. These two items were not in the sale, but they were cheap anyway. The large cosmetics bag was £4 and the slippers were £3. I also bought a pair of ugly moccasin slippers because I knew they were going to be super comfy. They also have a rubber sole, meaning they won't get disgustingly dirty on the bottom!

 

I spent a small fortune in H&M. I don't regret it though because they're items I always wear. The pink, mint green and yellow garments are cardigans and were £9.99 each. I think I have every colour of their cardigans now! The lilac garment is a lightweight jumper and was £14.99, which is pricey for what it is, but I bought it in the heat of the moment! The teal and black tops are scoop necked and long sleeved, and cost £7.99 each. Again, I have a variety of colours of these and wear them most days. The quality of them is amazing and they last so well.

 

After my sister and I got back from town, our dad informed us that he was going to Tesco. I couldn't pass up a trip to Tesco. I found these boots for just £15, and they weren't even in the sale. I love them. I really hope they last. My other boots from Tesco didn't last very long, but that's because the soles weren't durable. These soles are rubber and chunky, so finger's crossed!

 

I've also bought a couple things from the online sales, and they're all things I've had my eye on for months. The coat is from New Look and was £35 down from £55. I wanted a more formal coat, so I'm hoping this is nice enough to keep. From Superdrug, I bought the Remington Pearl hair dryer, which was £24.99 down from £38. I rarely blow dry my hair, but I do blow dry my dogs after I've bathed them, and a hair dryer is always useful to have. The one I currently use is really old and I'm always scared it's going to explode because it has sparked a couple of times! I chose the Remington Pearl one because I have the Remington Pearl straighteners and the Remington Pearl conical wand, and love them both. To receive free delivery, you needed to spend over £25, so I added a little chocolate truffle to my basket which cost 29p haha

This bedding was the first thing I bought in the sales. It's from BHS and cost £22.50, down from £45. It's not to everyone's taste and I'll admit that it's quite garish and in your face, but I'm drawn to it! I was looking at it months before the sales, so I think it was meant to be. If the design gets too much for me, I can flip it over and have a simple, floral pattern :) I also found a £5 off code which worked on sale items. To redeem it, you had to spend at least £25, so I also bought a mug.

I would love to see what you've bought in the sales, so link me up!

Blogger Secret Santa and Christmas Presents

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. A few of the presents I unwrapped yesterday were from a Blogger Secret Santa. Emma from PurpleeeRose organised it, and it must have taken a lot of work to pull off, so thank you for taking the time to do so, Emma! It was so exciting to participate in and I can't wait to be part of one next year.

These are the beautiful gifts I received from my Secret Santa (who I guessed as being Emma herself. Thank you so, so much! I love everything!):

 

Love! I couldn't have asked for better presents. I love mugs and Cath Kidston, so fell in love with the mug straight away. I also love The Body Shop, so was happy to see a body butter and lip butter from them. Before yesterday, I had never actually tried a shea butter scented product, and I don't know why - They smell amazing. The bunting made out of book pages and lace is the cutest, most thoughtful thing ever. The book pages are even sewn! This is currently hanging above my wardrobe :)

And here are my other Christmas presents.

The main present I received was a memory foam mattress topper from my parents, which I received a couple weeks early. It may be boring, but I really wanted one! My parents also bought me the large Galaxy box, which contains three large Galaxy bars.

From my sister, I received the Stitch mug (Stitch is one of my favourite characters), a My Blue Nose Friend and Lindt chocolates (A favourite of mine, along with Galaxy and Milkybar).

My friend also bought me a mug (I can't get enough) and My Blue Nose Friend, along with a hanging heart decoration and loads of thoughtful bits and bobs, which were in the mug.

I received a Nivea gift set and chocolate from one of my Aunts. Beauty and chocolate - Of course I'm going to like it ;)

I also received money, which will be perfect for the sales.

Speaking of sales, I'm going Christmas sale shopping tomorrow. I've already bought a coat, hair dryer and duvet set online; all of which I had my eye on before the sales, so yay.

You'll be able to see my purchases soon, along with a couple of book posts.

Merry Boxing Day! I've only been doing uni work today though. However, I've finished one of my assignments! Woo!