Degustabox April 2014 Review

Holy yumminess. This month's box was immense I have to say. I will eat everything. I already have eaten a lot of it! Let's tuck in!

Dr Oetker - Cooking Chocolate (£1.69 each)

Fairly self explanatory. The box came with a yummy looking recipe for chocolate fondants using these so I might well be attempting that with these at some point. Random thing to put in the box maybe, but it will get used at some stage!

Mornflake - Superfast Pots (£1.20 each)

I love the idea of these. Handy pots that become a ready made bowl of cereal when you add water to them! They even come with a spoon in the lid. Great idea. So, imagine my face when I noticed both were nutty flavours. I'm fairly sure I stated on my profile not to send me nutty products because I'm allergic, but I got these. They'll be donated to my Mum I think, loves granola so she does.

Lindt - Lindor Bar (80p each)

Ok, hide my face in shame. The box came with three of these in it. Two of them had magically disappeared into my tummy before I got around to taking any photos. Whoopsie. Also, this one is gone now just before I started typing up this review. Whoops again. So, maybe that's enough said. These are delicious. I do like chocolate. Just a tad. Honest.

Go Splash (£2.45 each)

This product is a great idea I think. Just splash some into your water anytime to give it a flavour. I like that this is sugar free too. It'll make 30 glasses from this little thing as well. Very handy for work I think I'll be giving this a try next week. I'd quite happily get one of these again, but the price puts me off to be honest, when you could get regular diluting juice for a lot less.

Cawston Press - Love Sparkles Rhubarb (£1)

Fruity sparkling water in a can. This will be coming with me to work next week. Sounds yummy anyway! I'll put it to the test then, but I like the idea anyway!

Clearspring - Miso Soups (£1.29 each)

Just add water to these to get yourself some tasty Miso soup. Handy indeed me thinks! Again, I will be taking these for lunch to work this week, hopefully they taste as good as they look. They come freeze dried to seal in the flavour apparently, so it's worth a try!

Keogh's - Atlantic Sea Salt & Irish Cider Vinegar Crisps (£1.00)

Now, since I don't like salt and vinegar crisps, these were donated to the boyfriend. He ate them. When I then asked for his thoughts on them for this review he said 'They were alright'. So there you have it. Top notch review skills right there.

Mcvities - Jaffa Cake Mini Rolls (£1.30 each)

Now, here we have more chocolate. Somehow I ate the Lindt first and left these to the side. I was intrigued by the try me frozen claim on the outside, so 2 of each flavour have now been put in the freezer and I'll try one this evening me thinks. I like the berry burst ones the most so far, but I reckon the tropical ones will be awesome cold, so I'll let you know how I get on!

Crabbies - Alcoholic Ginger Beer with Raspberry (£2.19)

Lastly, some booze. This stuff tastes really yummy right from the fridge in the sun. I'll be getting this again have no fear. Well, if it's on offer that is.

Loved this month's box. I'm really enjoying having a food box, so much so this will be replacing one of my beauty boxes, as I feel I get more value from this sometimes. And it's always interesting and full of things I will use. This has to have been the best box so far though. Great stuff.

February Shopping Haul

Starting to think this might become a regular monthly feature at the rate I'm going! normally I don't have very many shopping trips and I do far less random trips to the shops now I've changed jobs and I no longer work near shops so that's been helping and I'm spending less! Win Win! But in February one of my oldest friends was having a birthday party, so a small shopping trip was called for. Mostly in search of a dress or outfit to wear. But of course, I never managed to get an outfit. Instead I came back with other stuff. We hit Glasgow to get some bigger, better shops than usual, but still no success! But here's what I managed to sneak away with!

 

Philosophy - Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie Shower Gels

 

 

First stop naturally was Boots. Where we all discovered these awesome bargains. I love Philosophy proudcts but very rarely will pay the high price that goes alongside them. However, Philosophy products on sale? I'm all over that. These were apparently from the Christmas range, and they were wait for it....£3.50 each. Holy Moly. And literally the apple pie one makes me hungry. Can't wait to get using these anyway! Yummy and a bargain, amazing.

 

Loreal Studio Line - Texturisng Spray and Heat Activated Wave Spray

 

I'd heard great reviews on this texturizing spray and thought I would have to try it on my curly hair days so I snapped it up. It was also buy 2 products for £4.50, so I found another one that took my fancy. Again, it's one to help with my curls, but I was curious and it states that drying my hair will still help keep waves and hopefully curls, so I need to get trying these both this weekend!

 

Forever 21 - Monochrome Scarf and Black Cardigan

 

 

Fairly standard for me. I needed another boring cardigan for work and I'm addicted to scarves. Pretty straight forward really. Plus the scarf is so soft it's loverly.

 

 

I also snapped up these accessories in Forever 21. Two funky hair bows and a chevron bracelet. I have a slgith thing for chevrons and I occasionally fancy bows in my hair at random times.  Not had a chance to use the bows as yet, annoyingly my job involves wearing a headset most of the time, so I'd probably end up knocking them around in my hair and looking silly. Save them for days off perhaps. I've worn the bracelet lots though so far, love it a lot. As far as I can remember the bracelet was £6.99 and the bows were around £4.

 

MAC - Black Grape Pressed Pigment and Amber Lights Eyeshadow

 

 

It's not a proper shopping trip to Glasgow without going into MAC really. I was only aiming to buy one more eyeshadow for my palette and somehow this pigment caught my eye. It's so shimmery. It spoke to me. Love them both. I have a feeling my MAC collection will just keep growing. Ahh well. What can you do?

 

Lush - Popcorn Lip Scrub and Celestial Moisturiser

 

 

In my aim for this year to wear lipstick more often, I thought I better start taking better care of my lips, so I headed right towards the lip scrubs when we hit Lush. And this one smells amazing, good thing you can eat it. I decided to go back to an 'old faithful' moisturiser I used to use a while ago that my skin seems to love. More than I would normally spend on a moisturiser, but my skin has been crying out for something decent, I thought it was worth a try going back to something I used to really like.

 

Shopping trip over. No outfit bought. I hit the internet shopping when I got home and found a dress though, so hooray!! but hey, it was a good day and I got some things I'm looking forward to using!

 

American Makeup Swap Haul!

Towards the end of last year the opportunity came up through a facebook to do a makeup swap with a lovely girl over in America. I sent over a selection of UK make up products, and in return I got a selection of make up from the USA! The package finally arrived last week, and I was so excited to get using some of the products! I've taken some shots of the products I was most excited about, but I'll go through everything I got if I can!

 

Are you ready? Here's the full haul!

 

 

 

This is just the candy!

 

 

I've already munched through a lot of this! I've still got all the chewing gum and some of the cookie dough bites, and gummy bears. The bears are really odd, but at the same time yummy! Never had chocolate coated gummy bears before!

 

 Just the Makeup Products

 

 

New Physicians Formula Treats

 

 

I've already had a go of these two and I've loving the mascara! The Nude palette is really nice, the colours are quite subtle and need a bit of building but they look great along side some black eyeliner! They can be used as eyeliner too when went, so I'll need to get around to trying that!

 

Finally, a funky Maybelline Lipstick

 

 

I've always liked the look of the color whispers when I've seen them on youtube, so I'm excited to have one! This is a lovely peach colour that is quite subtle, but is really moisturising and I love the packaging.

 

Other products I got include: Wet N Wild Mascara, Loreal Lipgloss, Physicians Formula Bronzer, City Color Bronzer blusher and highlighter set, Urban Decay eyecolour, Bath and Body Works Shower gel, anti bacterial gel and various creams and a mini candle and Maybelline Baby Lips in Rose. I adore everything and I'm really enjoying trying some different products! It was worth the wait!

 

January Shopping Haul (19th January)

Just thought I'd let you guys nosy at what I managed to treat myself to on a recent shopping trip! Let me know if you like these posts, I like doing them!

 

 

MUA Make Up Fixing Spray £4 and Barry M Glamour Puss Palette £7 - Superdrug

 

 

Starting with the makeup, why not?! I recently ran out of my lovely Urban Decay All Nighter makeup setting spray stuff, so I was on the look out for a cheaper replacement. Hooray for MUA! This spray has so far been very good and is helping my makeup last a bit longer, and it smells yummy, which makes it win over the Urban Decay version! The Barry M palette is lovely and sparkly eyeshadows plus a nice pink blush, the colours take a bit of building up, but otherwise it's definitely a good palette for the price!

 

Tiger Haul - Chopping Board £2, Brush Holder £2 and Stationary from 50p

 

 
 

 

I adore Tiger. I don't know if I've ever been in a that shop and not bought something. I couldn't resist this fish shaped chopping board. Just because ok. The green holder I'm hoping to put to use for my larger makeup brushes and I just couldn't walk past tape printed with cake! Who can?! Plus some random cards for good measure. I collect things like these in advance of birthdays and things. Slight addiction to stationary. I'm fully aware of this.

 

Primark Haul - Cardigan £7, Scarf £4, Printed Tee £5 and Belt £2

 

 

 

 

A good selection from Primark. With my new job, I've been living in cardigans, so I naturally needed more! This one is navy with kind of batwing sleeves and it's dead comfy. I got a cute tee with sailing stuff on just because. I needed a new belt and this simple black one only has small details which I like and I got a scarf because I have an addiction. Again, I know this. Issues.

 

There we go! I hope you guys find this interesting, sorry it took me so long to post, but hopefully some of these items will still be in the shops now!

 

 

It's Sales Shopping Time! Haul!

Well, before everything changes and I have less money and a different job, I thought I might as well go and hit the sales just after Christmas last year! I needed to look out new outfits for my new work and a few treats of course! So, naturally I got more of the treats! Here's some of what I got!

First off, here's a gift set from Nip and Fab in Sugared Almond. Yum. It's a body butter, hand cream, lip balm and also came with a shower gel and a body puff, which are already almost gone! This was half price, reduced from £10 to £5 in TK Maxx, a yummy bargain!

Soap and Glory's Powdertrip. This has a bronzer, a brightening powder and a shimmery blusher as well as a brush. It comes with a mirror and shuts with a magnet. It's a great value set, at half price from £20 to £10 at Boots. Very handy, considering I was needing a new blusher anyhoo!

Again from Boots, I got this Loreal Post Party Beauty SOS kit. It has their Micellar Solution as well as a day cream. This was also half price reduced down to £5. I already love their solution as a make up remover and I've been using the day cream and so fair it's been really nice, even on my sensitive skin. 

I also hit Cult Beauty's website and picked up this lovely. It's a Kevyn Aucoin Loose Eyeshadow in Rose Quartz, and goreous rose gold colour. It has a rollerball applicator which is a little strange, but the product itself is lovely and stays all day. This was half price at £13.

I think I really hit Boots with a vengeance haha. This is an Elizabeth Arden 8 hour gift set. This was half price and down to £25. When you consider the lip protector alone with worth £20, this seemed an immense bargain to me! You get the hand protector, lip protector, the classic 8 hour cream and some gloves and socks to leave on overnight. Lovely set and nice for a little treat anyway!

Finally, we have a work outfit! This is from Asos Curve. It's a skater dress with bird print and it was reduced down to £13. I'm hoping to be able to wear it to work with leggings and boots. Hopefully it looks smart enough!

Whilst on Asos, I spotted this beauty. It's a makeup bag set from Paul and Joe with a hair and body mist. This was reduced down to £8.50 and it's so cute I couldn't leave it alone!

Well, there we go! A good wee splurge in the sales and a few good items hopefully! What did you guys get in the sales this year?

Ciate Polish Haul!

Well, in June/July Ciate had a promo on their website with 50% off and then another code for a further 30% off, so I thought it was worth me buying a few pretties of course! I've not really used ciate polishes a great deal before, so I have to say I was really impressed with the quality of the colours and the polishes, as well as the brushes are easy to use! Really glad I had the chance to get my paws on so many! So I'm going to let you guys have a nosy. This is a very picture heavy post. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

First up we have a gorgeous summery green called Palm Tree.

I really loved this colour on, and it was just so summery! Only issue I had with it, was it stained my nails summat awful! So defo wear a good base coat and be prepared that it may stain! It was worth it to be honest, I wore this colour for nearly a week and the lasting power was great! no chips as such, just some tip wear!

Next up, a sparkly black number called Jewellery Box

This is a very glitterified polish with holo glitter throughout and it looks fab on the nail. Been using this one mostly as an accent nail so far due to my hatred of glitter removal! Again, it has good lasting power and didn't chip, so wahey!

Thirdly, we have an oily looking lovely called Starlet:

 

One minute it looks purple, the next grey, the next blue, green or silver. Love it. Currently wearing this one as my mani - pics will doubtless be up on instagram shortly!

 

 

Next up we have a classic teal called Superficial:

 

 

This is a gorgeous teal with grey tones. Very classic shade and a great one for work in my opinion! It has a lovely sheen and just looks very professional but modern, fab!

 

And as always, I can resist me a purple - this one is Talent Scout:

 

 

I love me some purple, and this is no exception. Again, it has a lovely sheen and just looks classic and even better in the summer. Looking forward to wearing this for my next mani!

 

Pale blue polish is a summery hit for me this year, its taken me a while to get used to pastels but this one I love, called Ferris Wheel:

Just a nice cute, bright and friendly colour. Simple really!

 

Back to some sparkles now, with this silver glitter called Locket:

 

 

This a really pretty silver, and it looks great over the other colours just to add a pop of sparkle on an accent nail, love this effect right now.

 

Continuing the glitter theme here's a goldie-coppery one called Antique Brooch:

 

 

This is very rose gold looking and it looks stunning on by itself or over a pale colour. It has a shimmer running through it as well just to make it more special!

 

Jumped to get my paws on an iridescent glitter too, this one is Snowglobe:

 

 

I've shown Snowglobe here by itself and over Superficial so you can see the lovely chunks of sparkle. This is a night out polish that's for sure!

 

This has to be my favourite polish I bought I think, another duo-chrome, called Heirloom:

 

eeeee, so pretty. Gold, pink, yellow, green. just amazing. I couldn't stop looking at my nails when I had this on, and I can't wait to wear it more!

 

Finally, I thought I would show off the funky colour from Ciate I got in my July Glossybox just while I was at it! It's called Mistress:

 

 

This is a yummy jelly red for summer. It looks delicious! I don't tend to wear red but this might just tempt me! It's certainly gonna grace my toes that's for sure though!

 

Well, that was just a slight haul, hope you guys liked it and I've maybe enabled some of you to love Ciate! They were definitely new to me, but I love the colour selection I chose and I'm really enjoying wearing them so far!