Hey Mr. Postman (Part I)

Over the past few weeks I've done a spot of online shopping from eBay and blog sales and won a few blog giveaways. I had some stuff sent to my home address and some to my uni address, in the hope that they would arrive while I was there during Easter/reading week or term time. However, I haven't seen some of the stuff until now!

Even though I've had some of the items for a few weeks, I decided to do accumulative posts instead of posting as soon as I received things. In order to stop them from being mammoth posts, I decided to split them into two posts - One with my eBay and blog sale purchases and one with my giveaway wins and LLYMLRS JWLRY purchase.

Sorry it's a mix of camera and Blackberry photos. My camera ran out of battery and I don't have a memory card for my new one yet!

Clockwise from left: Jelly Lens, Hair Spirals, Royal Wedding Mug and Glycolic Acid

Hair Spirals (£0.99 for 3) and Jelly Lens (£0.99): I was on the hunt for some cheap alternatives to the Goodys Spin Pins, which retail at nearly £5 for 2 (Extortionate much?!). I found the hair spirals, after typing in 'hair spirals' in the search bar, from a seller in China who came up trumps with 3 for 99p with free postage! I had a nosy through the other items they sold and decided to also purchase the jelly lens. It's a bit of a gimmick to be honest and since I received it, I've not actually used it! But at only 99p, I thought it'd be a bit of fun. The items only took about 10 days to get here from China, which I was super impressed with.

Royal Wedding Mug (£5.50): Out of all my friends, I was the only person that was super excited about the Royal Wedding last month. With all the build up to the wedding, I had a look at all the memorabilia that was being released. After seeing a lot of merchandise with subtle royal designs, I decided I wanted something that was rather in-your-face, so I hunted around on eBay and thought this mug was perfect! The pictures are from the day they announced their engagement and I just love how happy they look :)

Glycolic Face Peel (£4.75 + £2.25 p&p): Recently my skin has been looking a little dull and I was getting a bit sick of my acne scars, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I'm a bit of a DIY obsessive, so I did some research on face peels. In the end, I decided Glycolic Acid would be a good starting point and settled on 30% concentration. I chose this one over one with a free neutralizer, because the 'free brush' swayed me... But as you can see, the brush is tiny and pointless! Plus the instructions say to apply the peel with a cotton pad, so I don't understand why they include a brush!

(I have only linked where I got the glycolic acid from, because the sellers of the hair spirals, jelly lens and royal wedding mug don't appear to be selling the items anymore.)

Clockwise from left: MAC Lustre Drops from Ellie's blog sale, Essie Midnight Cami and H&M Blue My Mind from Product Pixie's blog sale and Cloud 9 mini straightners from Ann's blog sale

I never really used to buy from blog sales because I didn't have my own Paypal account and using my dad's wasn't really an option. I used to look at blog sale posts and think what I would buy if I had my own Paypal. Thinking back now, I wonder how many things I wanted but missed out on... Since setting up my own eBay account and therefore a Paypal, I've been a keen bean and bought a number of things. I think blog sales are good opportunities for people to get rid of the stuff they don't use and for others to try things without committing to the RRP.

Sorry this post is so long! If I haven't already bored you to death, I will have the second part of this post tomorrow :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

NOTD: Blackout

2 coats of Orly nail polish in 'Blackout' and 2 coats of Models Own nail polish in 'Champagne' (on the ring finger)

I realise that black nails aren't the summeriest colour, but for some strange reason I really fancied painting my nails a dark colour. I decided to paint my ring finger with Champagne, a la Lorraine Stanick, because I really liked the contrast of the black against the gold. I went to a beauty supply store and they had the mini Orly nail polishes on sale for £2.65 so I picked this one up. I restrained myself from buying the five colours that I had originally picked up and settled on this one, because I didn't own a black nail polish and own more than enough pink and glitter nail polishes.

The first coat was pretty uneven and streaky, but with the second coat, the colour became nice and opaque. Some areas were a little deficient and probably needed a third coat, but I just left it because unless you look closely, it's not obvious. This polish dried super quick and glossy. With the addition of a topcoat, my nails looked so glossy and I couldn't stop staring at them! I experienced a tiny bit of tipwear on the second day, but I have had this on my nails for 5 days now and I have experienced no chipping. All in all, I'm very impressed with Orly nail polishes and I will definitely be buying more!

Have any of you tried Orly nail polish? What colour(s) would you recommend?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Review: Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream

What they say: (From Boots.com) Oilatum Natural Repair Face Cream is an innovative new therapy specially formulated to intensively nourish and help repair your skins natural barrier. Oilatum Natural Face Cream is suitable for dry and sensitive skin and is free from fragrances, preservatives and emulsifiers.

Price: £7.65

Swatch:


What I think: I bought this after hearing the Pixiwoo girls raving about this moisturiser and I have to say, I'm impressed! My skin always gets really dry throughout winter, especially around my nose and cheeks and recently my combination skin has been veering towards dry. I mainly use this at night and find it to be extremely moisturising and soothing, without making my face look or feel super greasy. I occasionally put this on before applying make-up and found that it created a nice, moisturised base after allowing it to sink in. I'm just taking a stab in the dark, but I think that this moisturiser may be too rich during the summer, unless you have severely dry skin.

At £7.65 for a 50ml tube, it is expensive for a drugstore brand. But it is worth it, because it works! I have found that you only need a small amount to cover your face and it has lasted me for a good 4 months (approximately). I'm currently on the hunt for it, because everytime I go into Boots, it's either out of stock or not sold there at all. Has anyone else found that only certain places stock this? After rooting around online, I saw that Lloyd's Pharmacy sells it for £7.10. So if you can't find it in Boots, save yourself 55p and get it from Lloyds!

Have you ever tried this Oilatum moisturiser? What did you think?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Wardrobe Envy: Frankie Sandford

All images are from tfs I love Frankie's style and how she mixes high street (cough, that lovely red Zara dress) with beautiful designer bags and shoes. I love how her accessories aren't 'fussy' and that she keeps it nice and simple. There seems to be a trend in Frankie's casual wardrobe in that she wears jeans/denim a lot. This makes me want to break out of my leggings rut and wear jeans more! She always pairs them with cute shoes, a gorge bag and a mix of tops and jackets.

Who are your style crushes? Keep an eye out for more of mine! You can see more of my style crushes here.

xoxo, Joy