Birthday Haul

Firstly, I apologise, I haven't done many posts and that is because I have been to Paris (more about that later) and then immediately after returning I had to pack up all my stuff from university and drag it all home. Since I have been home, I have been looking for a job and Skyping friends that I am already missing and meeting old friends I haven't caught up with in a while. So all in all, I have been pretty busy. On top of this, I had so many ideas for ensuing blog posts. I wanted to do a Paris diary but my phone is being difficult about letting me import pictures/videos on to my computer, but I promise to sort this all out shortly. No more excuses. In the meantime, here is my birthday haul. It was my first birthday away from home and although the majority of my extended family gave me money and chocolates (always welcomed by the way), I thought I would do a little post celebrating what I did get.

I already posted about this, but my sister bought it for me in London, it was £25 from Topshop and I adore it, I think it is one of the best crop tops I have seen. Seriously, check the out they have so many different styles and although I tend to favour the more casual varsity ones, I really do love this one, if you pair it with the Mom jeans it literally shows just a strip of stomach so it is incredibly flattering as well. A great confidence boost.

Obviously the next big thing is that I went to Paris, my beautiful Mama paid for my hostel essentially and all the money I got went to my little spending packet for the romantic city. I will do a day by day diary play on this blog very soon, as soon as my mobile starts co-operating. It will contain all sorts of interesting historical facts about the places I visited so I am sorry if it will be a bit boring, but in all honesty it's more for me than it is for you. I don't want to forget a single moment of it.

My Aunt got me this Soap and Glory box, which contains all sorts of amazing little goodies. Including hand cream, moisturiser, body butter, shower gel, bubble bath and of course the crucial body scrub. I haven't had time to test out each product and fully appreciate this gift but it is right up my street and in the coming days I will right a review/first impressions of it. I have never owned any products from Soap and Glory, in fact I have only just recently heard about them so I 'm excited to try them out.

My mother very sweetly got me a cosmetics holder and this isn't an actual picture of it because mine is still in the box, there is literally no room to move anything in my bedroom it's just full of bags and suitcases and handbags stuffed full of bits and bobs, I feel like I am living in a hostel, but I will rectify this.

 I also got a Benefit make up brush set which consists of 7 different brushes which are all super soft and lovely to use. I am a Benefit enthusiast, I love all of their products and swear by their Hello Flawless foundation. In the brush set there is a powder brush; an angled contour brush; foundation brush; eyeshadow brush; angled flat top eyeshadow brush; and an angled liner brush. In addition to that I got Maybelline Gel Liner, which I have heard is the easiest to use, because all my life I have struggled with eye liner I always seem to get it wrong and then proceed to have to cover it up with excessive amounts of glitter. I got lots of other little things as well which I love including perfume, which I never buy for myself so it is always nice to receive as a gift. I got the Sigma Paris palette which I will do a review and some tutorials of, I got two new dresses, an overnight spa day, and a pair of cute black ballet flats from River Island with a gold bow which were £25.

The two things I am extremely excited about are this makeover for Unique Studios, which was £50 and includes going to a posh salon in London that is frequented by lots of stars such as Mylene Klass and Victoria Beckham etc (not Rihanna, I know, but I can deal) you get a makover, a professional haircut and a day of pampering with champagne on ice, you get to dress up all fancy and have professional photographs taken which you are allowed to keep at no additional price. My friend Paige and I are going to do this, most likely in September, it sounds like a lot of fun.

The next thing is a make-up master class which is in Birmingham, you get skincare tips and tricks, you learn how to apply false eyelashes and you get taught by a professional how to do evening looks and what suits each face etc so this will come in handy when I finally get the stones to start
a YouTube channel. This was £24 and one of my friends found the deal on Wowcher, what can I say they know me well.

So all this is coming up: Sigma Paris palette review/tutorials; Paris Packing because I only took my prettiest things to the city of love; Paris Diary including outfit and make-up of the day; Paris haul because let's face it I bought way too much and I am a sucker for all things tourist; and I am going to Risa in Birmingham on Friday so I'll do an "In My Shoes" for that. Please comment, and thank you for reading it's very sweet of you. Happy Fourth of July, guys. I'm not American but I am feeling the freedom anyway. Have an awesome day, the sun is shining and I have a tonne of stuff to do. Toodles.

Online Shopping Addict: How to Become a Savvy Online Shopper

For some inexplicable reason ever since I have gotten to university, I seem to have gained a new addition to amplify my addictive personality. It's nothing to cause major concern, I have a, what I believe to be normal, relationship with alcohol for a student at least, I haven't tried any dangerous, mind altering drugs. But online shopping gets me every single time. On a whim, I'll casually open a few new tabs in my browser and type the magic words: H&M, River Island, TopShop, Miss Selfridges, ASOS, New Look, Zara, Urban Outfitters, getthelabel.com, bohoo.com, missguided.com. And the next thing I know I have ten new parcels en route to me in the post, to the point where when they arrive I have no recollection of what I selected to buy.

The problem with this is, it's not very savvy and it is expensive. I buy things whimsically, if they look nice and pretty I'll purchase: I am the ultimate consumer. But, more often than not, I make mistakes, things that look good on the model wouldn't suit me as much, I absolutely hate it when that happens, or even though the product is lovely it is ridiculously expensive (cough cough TopShop) and I would only wear it a limited amount of times, I'm not Millie Mackintosh if I went to lectures in Boutique dresses I would get stared at for all the wrong reasons. So this is a helpful  guideline, I hope, on how to become a savvy online shopper.

1. Use online outlets to browse the sales specifically. As there is usually a much wider range than what you would see in store.

2. Set yourself a price limit, in the advanced search you can cap how much you are willing to spend on merchandise, I tend to cap at around £20, but depending on the shop i.e. TopShop and Miss Se
lfridges, the good stuff in those collections are around £40.

3. One word: ASOS. I love this website, it has so many different brands. I have recently started using ASOS Marketplace and got two pairs of fabulous boots. One TopShop pair that would have cost £90 but I got for £30 and a tan pair from New Look which would have cost £20 but I got for £6!

4. Ebay is also great, learning how to use it is something I would definitely recommend  After all, everyone has clothes they don't wear anymore instead of chucking them away, donate them or give them to one of those Cash for Clothes companies, if you're not going to try and sell them.

5. Always envision how your potential purchase would look on you, would it suit your skin tone? Is it a flattering length? Do you have anything to wear it with in your wardrobe already? If you don't have the funds to buy a whole knew outfit, then really is it worth it? If it's just going to sit in your wardrobe not collecting compliments then leave it, your money could be better spent.

6. Do take consideration of weather, fair enough if you're going on holiday and you want to buy your body weight in gorgeous tropical print bikinis, but every year i get suckered into buying summer collections, since March I have been filling closet space with crop tops and flirty summer dresses and shorts and have I had a chance to wear a single one. No. Be smart and realistic.

7. Always go for clothes that can be staples, clothes you can dress down or up and will be versatile. For me those are leggings, oversized jumpers, shirts and skater dresses. I love all of them and practically live in them, they are so versatile and can be adapted to warm or cold weather.

8. Before you go surfing those high-priced brands (my personal favourite being All Saints and Ted Baker) look for similar alternatives in other exclusively online stores like Very and bohoo. I sometimes find great websites when flicking through a magazine.

9. Keep your student card handy and always check if there is a discount code for that day, Dorothy Perkins usually have discounts quite frequently at least that is what my mail tells me. So check it, you'll kick yourself later on when you realise how much you could have saved.

10. Finally check the returns policy, if you're unsure about an item and you still insist on buying it, check on how you could return it and when you would have to return it by, is there a store near you? That is why ASOS is so great, it's free postage and packaging when you return their items so if you're not sure just send it back no muss no fuss. All Saints is harder, the only store, as far as I know, is in London and as they don't allow you to return online purchases in Selfridges, for me it's a bitch to return any items so I have to think long and hard before I buy especially considering the price tags.

That was quite an extensive list, I apologise if a lot of it felt like common sense, and I really hope it helps even a little bit. For me on my list, the first thing is to take my own advice, but then I suppose you learn from your mistakes, and now I can pass on my "lessons" to all you wonderful people. To leave you with one last piece of recycled advice from Confessions of A Shopaholic, repeat after me "Do I need this? Do I?" and of course remember there is always Primark. The most bargainous shop of all, seriously if you can't trust yourself online go to Primark. The day they get an online store, I will be transported into figurative heaven. Thank you for reading and please comment, if there is in fact anyone out there. I'll upload some pictures of my fantastic bargainous purchases in my next post.