Secret Stocking Swap

Yesterday a huge box of goodies arrived from Lola at LolaStar Hearts, quite a few of us took part in a secret Christmas stocking swap over on Facebook.  The rules were £10 spend but to use your imagination = free samples, boots advantage points, buy 2 get 1 free etc to make the £10 stretch a bit further.

Lola posted my goodies out to me before Christmas but Royal Mail messed up and sent the box back to Lola! She then added lots more goodies because I didn't get my swap in time for Christmas, even though it wasn't her fault!

I couldn't believe it when I opened the box!

A huge box jammed pack with presents!

Macadamia Set inc oil and hair mask

So..? Volumising dry shampoo

Lee Stafford Hairspray

Laboratoires Klorane dry shampoo with oat milk

Gorgeous chunky necklace

Claw ring (I love this!)

Lipcote Lipstick Sealer

Sleek Limited Edition Sparkle 2 Palette

Make Believe Bronzer and Brush

Magnifibres Brush On False Lashes

Bad Apple Cosmetics Nail Polish in 0010

Witch Skin Clearing Primer

Body Shop Lip Gloss in Dusky Lavender

Vaseline in Creme Brulee

Fake Don't Bake Tanning Cream

He-Shi Wash Off Bronzing Gel

Self Tan Mitt

Etat Pur Radiant Complexion Care

Laboratoires Filorga Meso Mask

Murad Eye Cream

Lady Gaga Fame sample

Lush Santa's Sack bubble bar

A bag full of samples inc Korres wild rose moisturiser which I love and Redken color extender that I have really wanted to try.

Samples of Guinot biological peeling radiance gel

Dark chocolate - yum, yum!

My favourite caramel and salted dark chocolate - I've already eaten half of the bar!

So WOW! What an amazing secret santa Lola is! I love every single thing and I can't wait to start trying everything.  I'm sure you will see lots of the beauty items up on my blog over the next few months.

Thank you so much again Lola :)

All Things Nails. Secret Swap!

We recently did a secret swap on the Facebook nails page All Things Nails. the budget was £10 (although as you can see my swapper went WAY over!).

Look at all these fabulous goodies she sent me! She did also send me a selection box and some gold chocolate coins too but unfortunately they didn't last long enough to make it into the photos!

 Lush Sandy Santa sugar scrub, it contains orange, rosewood and sandalwood oils so smells gorgeous!

Lush Snow Fairy shower gel.  Pink glittery and smells of candy floss and pear drops.

 Yankee Candles in Christmas Cookie and Cherries on Snow, both smell good enough to eat!

 Vaseline Hand Cream - my hands get very dry in winter so this is perfect to keep on my desk in work.  I really like how it helps strengthen nails too.

 Festive Foils and 3D Stickers

 GOSH Gasoline

A gorgeous purple based shimmer. 

 Austrails Sin City

Black with a silver shimmer.

  Up Colors Flocado Banho de Mar

A light green jelly with blue and green flakies. 

 Loki's Laquer Merry Christmas!

Clear base with red, green and gold glitter.

 Chit Chat Violet

Clear base with purple glitter.

Enchanted Polish Don't Ever Call me Doll

Pink jelly with lots of different size and colour glitter.

This is my favourite polish in the swap, I love pink sparkly things so this is my perfect polish!

My secret swapper was the lovely Kelly and I'd like to say a big thank you again to her as this is an amazing swap. Thank you Kelly!

Feel free to join the All Things Nails. page on Facebook for a friendly place to show off you nails, hauls, ask advice or just chat.

Joliebox December 2012

Hi everyone, hope you have all had a great Christmas! I've had a fantastic time with my friends and family and been very spoilt. I also hit the sales yesterday so will do a few posts over the next week showing you the bargains I managed to pick up.

I received my December Joliebox before Christmas but with all the Christmas festivities I am only just getting round to reviewing it.

The box has a pretty white and gold pattern and the bag inside is white with gold writing.

The theme for this months box is Party.

My first impression when I opened the box was one of disappointment, nothing in the box apart from the nail varnish and chocolate that caught me eye, unlike this months Glossybox - review here.  Also a few items that I have had in previous beauty boxes.

Bellapierre Shimmer Powder in Cadence

This is a pretty moss green colour, a full size item that retails for £5.49 here.

I have already received a couple of these powders in previous boxes - a Feel Unique Box and a She Said Beauty box.  Luckily they are different shades but it isn't very exciting to find a third one in a beauty box.

Doctor Duve Hand & Decollette Cream

Two sample size sachets, I don't know how much these contain but I would guess at around 5ml - it doesn't state the amount on the sachet just that they are not for resale samples.

200ml retails for a whopping £79 making the samples worth approx. £3.95 if they contain 5ml each.

I really don't like sachet samples, I think they are messy to use and that you can't determine whether or not a product is any good from a couple of uses - especially to then spend £79 on the full size.

I Love...Cosmetics Shimmer and Shine Lip Gloss

Full size item retails at £4.95 here.

Ok positive first this does smell yummy and it is a pretty colour, negative I stopped wearing glosses like this when I was 14! They sell these in my local Asda!

I will pass this on to my niece as I'm sure she will appreciate it!

Agua De Colonia Concentrada Alvarez Gomez

This is a 1.5ml sample, 50ml retails for £5.70 here making the sample worth 17p

I like receiving perfume samples in beauty boxes, it is nice to find a new perfume.  This however is Spains oldest perfume a blend of lemon, thyme, lavender, eucalyptus, geranium and rosemary.  I really don't like the smell at all, will pass this on to my mum!

Color Club Put a Pin in It

Joliebox have said this is a full size item but it contains 7ml and that is the size of Color Club mini polishes.

This is the best item in the box! It is a pretty rose gold colour and was one of two colours designed exclusively for Joliebox.  You can buy it from Joliebox for £10, which is pretty steep for a mini nail varnish!!

Olay Regenerist Skin Cream

This is a 7ml sample, 50ml retails for £9.89 here making the sample worth £1.38.

Joliebox lists this item as a cream but it looks like a serum to me, I don't really know what it is though as there is no english writing on the tube!

I am so disappointed with this months box, only one item (oh and the chocolate!!) that I am excited to try.  

Joliebox was my favourite beauty box once Feel Unique and Carmine went but the last time I was really happy with my Joliebox was July, I feel that the company has really changed - it used to be a lot of niche skincare products now its cheap lip gloss and tiny sachets.

I was also not happy to happy to read other reviews where they received an extra item - honey shower gel or body lotion.  I asked Joliebox about this on Twitter and got no reply, so I emailed them this morning.  Their reply was apologetic but that they sometimes give extra items to new subscribers, however the blog posts I read are from people that have been subscribed as long as I have! I feel if we pay the same amount then we should get the same contents.  Joliebox have offered to add 50 Joliepoints to my account but I feel it's not a good enough explanation - maybe their subscribers would be better subbing and unsubbing every month as their loyalty is not being rewarded.

I have now cancelled my subscription to Joliebox, I said I would give it to the end of the year to see if the boxes would get better but I feel they are getting worse!

Did you get this months box? What did you think?

Glossybox December 2012 Review

If you read my blog you will know that I have a love/hate relationship with Glossybox and I haven't bought a box in months, when I got an email for 20% off the December box I couldn't resist and bought myself a Christmas box.

Last years box was amazing and so I couldn't wait to see what they put in this years.......

A silver box with black tissue paper with black stars - very pretty!

The contents are listed in a little booklet, along with discount codes for numerous brands that have been featured in previous boxes.

 Packed full of goodies! 

 Ayuuri Moisturising Sandalwood Face Wash

This is a full size product 200ml and retails for £3.49 here.

This is quite heavily scented and at first I wasn't sure about using it on my face but sandalwood is both anti-bacterial and moisturising so I'm going to give it a go.  I can always use it as a shower gel if my skin doesn't agree with it as a face wash. 

 Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Cherry

Again another full size item, this retails for £4.99 here.

Cherry is a lovely berry vampy shade, perfect for this time of year! It looks quite pink toned on me which is good as I am very pale so dark lippys can make me look washed out.

Mary Greenwell Lemon EDP

This is a 1.5ml sample, 50ml retails for £84.00 here making the sample worth £2.52.

I know a lot of people don't like getting perfume samples in their beauty boxes but I actually really like perfume samples! 

This is gorgeous!! I thought it might be too summery to wear now but it smells of lemons and spices - so hard to describe! I will definitely be using this up over the next week.

Rituals Cherry Blosson & Rice Milk Body Cream

This is a good size travel tube which contains 70ml, it retails for £5.00 here.

I love rituals products after last Decembers Glossybox which contained the foaming shower gel, so I was pleased to find this product in the box.  It smells divine!

Seche Nail Polish in Bella.

Another full size product! This retails for £9.95 here.

Bella is described as a deep shimmery red, it is so pretty.

I put it on as soon as my Glossybox arrived (in the evening!) so excuse the dark pic.

This is only one coat! It applied beautifully and dried really quickly.  I will  definitely be buying more Seche polishes.

 Glossybox Blusher in Glossy Rosewood

This is a bonus item, it was made by Kryolan and is a very pretty pink colour.

Definitely the best own brand product that Glossybox have sent us!

So this month is a big thumbs up and I am glad I bought the box, some lovely products that I can't wait to try and there is nothing that I dislike! A winner this month Glossybox.

Did you get a Glossybox this month? Did you get the same contents as me?

I Love My Post - Blog Hop!

Welcome to the I Love My Post blog hop where we invite you to link up your favourite post of the week, to show it off and hopefully receive some love from the others partaking in the hop!
If you are yet to participate in a hop they are really simple to get the hang of all you need to do is 'hop' around, hopefully finding some new great reads!  The Rules are simple. 1. Check out and follow the hosts (Number 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the linky) Leave them a comment if you would like them to follow back. 2. Choose at least 3 other blogs and hop on over and leave them some love, plus let them know how you found them - I'm sure they would love it if you followed as well! 3. Have Fun and come back next Saturday. Please just don't link up and click off to make this successful everyone needs to hop around! Your Host’s this week are: Sarah from Life in a Break Down Bex from Futures and our lovely co-host’s are: Fiona from La Belle Dam Sans Merci Jo from Beauty and the Books Ashleigh from The Preppy Little Polka Dot If you would like to be a future co-host please get in touch with Sarah by emailing her at: sarah@lifeinabreakdown.com I would love it if you would tweet, share on facebook or place our button on your blog, the more sharing we can get happening the bigger this hop can become! <center> <a href="http://www.lifeinabreakdown.com/"> <img src=" http://imageshack.us/a/img268/1971/ilovemypostnew.jpg" /></a></center>

Thank you too all of you who made sure you actually followed the hosts and co-hosts last week! Say hello to Ashleigh from The Preppy Little Polka Dot our Featured Blogger of the Week!

Ashleigh is a blogger with style gushing from the screen, she's a thrifty shopper with a love for photography, sewing, travelling and baking - grab a taste of her style with this post. ~ Sarah If you fancy being next week’s featured blogger make sure you follow all the rules give you hosts and co-hosts a follow and Sarah could be calling on you next week to come and feature with us.

Memories Made in Silver - Personalised Gifts

I always think personalised gifts are a lovely thing to both give and receive and not just at Christmas!  As my name is hypenated and my son has a name that seems to be unusual in the UK I struggle to find personalised items but no longer!

Memories Made in Silver is owned by the lovely Karen, she sells handcrafted and personalised items in both silver and pottery. She always provides excellent customer service and I cannot recommend her enough (and no I'm not getting paid for this post!).

Karen creates handcrafted bespoke silver fingerprint jewellery, each piece goes through 13 stages and is 99.9% pure silver.  The fingerprint charms can be attached to keyrings, bracelets, necklaces etc.  Prices range from £35 to £55 for the charms.

I think these are fantastic prices for something that you will treasure forever, I will be ordering charms in the new year and I like the idea of putting them on a bracelet.

You can read all about the silver process here and you can find a list of prices here.

Karen creates casts of hands and feet, they come in two finishes bronze or opal pearl.  Look at the detail on that cast! It would make a perfect present for parents of a new born or for newly weds.

Prices range from £30-£65 and you can find the information here.

Karen also commissions pottery items, from personalised plates to vases to mugs. 

This picture is of a plate made for a friend for her special birthday, Karen used the personal messages to create a wonderful personal keepsake.

There is a gallery of pictures on the website that you can view here.

You can find Karen on Facebook or email her at karen@memoriesmadeinsilver.co.uk

I did try and add some pics of items I have had from Karen but blogger is playing up! I will add them ASAP!

Clothes Show 2012 Models Own Goody Bag

I picked up a few goody bags (I'll write a post on them separately) at the Clothes Show on Saturday but this has to be my favourite! As soon as I saw the limited edition polish on Models Own Facebook page I knew I had to have it!

The deal was £10 for any two polishes and you got a free goody bag.

The selection was good but not massive, none of the wonderland or mirrorball collection.

I picked Mixed Up - a black base with holo glitter.

And of course the limited edition Show Stopper.

This really is gorgeous! Packed full of sparkles.  

I'll do a nails post this week with this on to show you.

These are the goodies that were in the bag.

A copy of more magazine, I haven't read this since I was a teenager.  I always like to take magazines into work to read when I am eating lunch so i'm sure it will get read.  This is an exclusive clothes show edition.

These are the Models Own goodies that were in the bag.

Moisturising Lip Balm in Bubblegum, I can't see this for sale anywhere.  It smells just like hubba bubba bubblegum and will be handy for chucking in my handbag.  This cold weather is playing havoc with my lips.  The balm does contain Petrolatum and Paraffin which if I had picked up in a shop I would have put back down but as a freebie I'll use it up.

Lipgloss - it doesn't have a shade written on the tube but it looks like Madam Rose. 

Retails for approx £5 here.

Pro-Eyeliner in black. This is a liquid liner which boosts amazing staying power.

Retails for £6 here.

Nail Art Pen in black.  Retails for £6 here.

Eyeliner in black - it is slightly different on the website as that version has a smudger and a sharpener but the price is around £4 here.

Lipliner in red - can't find any liners on their website.

Powder eyeshadows in Matt Black and White Pearl.

Again these are not on their website but they retail for £5 each at Boots, I was lucky with the colours I got - they will be perfect for a smoky eye but I know some people got strange colours!

I can never have enough pairs of nail scissors, I constantly lose them.  I think they hide in the same places as my tweezers! These look like good scissors and they retail for £7 here.

Applicators always come in handy, 10 retail for £3 here making these worth £1.20.

Shapeit Buffit file, again always comes in handy to have one of these in your handbag, this retails for £5 here.

I am really pleased with this goody bag, I think I will use everything! Also a complete bargain, just adding up the items in the goody bag that I can find the price of it comes to £44.20!

Can't wait to try out the show stopper polish!

Did you pick up one of these goody bags? What did you think?