Dainty Doll | Bargain Alert

I'm sure the countless tweets & blog posts have already made you aware of this offer already. But if you've been hiding under a very well placed rock these past few weeks, I'm about to let you in on something that will allow you to give yourself a slight exception to any spending bans you currently have in place, stretch the last few pounds in your bank account before payday and recreate the madness of Christmas sale shopping..It's a good'en. 

Dainty doll is the brain child of band member (and fellow pale gal) Nicola Roberts. The brand was created specifically for paler complexions. 
Despite the brand being around for the last 5 years, and being available online on websites such as Boots & Asos, it's not as easier to get hold of in stores, and seeing as I'm a swatch-before-you-buy kinda girl (especially seeing as the average product is priced at a heafty £13.00), I've never got round to purchasing anything.

And thats where the bargain alert comes in. Fragrance direct is a discounted cosmetic site that I have previously ordered from. It's a serious one to bare in mind when your looking for a bargain buy and I'd definitely recommend you all to save to your favourites. You'll thank me later.
In this case, when I say discounted. I don't just mean a slight reduction  - I'm talking MUA prices here and you could say I got a tad carried away..

I ended up purchasing six blushes all together; 3 powders  & 3 creme.
Looking back it does seem a bit OTT; I only have two cheeks and lets face it I'm not going to be wearing a colour on each! But for £1.99 It was all the justification I needed.

The packaging is very swish and bares some similarity to Nars' rubbery casing.. Not the most practical as far as finger print marks go, but looks great for the first week!
One thing that I did notice was that only the number of each blusher was visible on the back of the case - Not a deal breaker, but it makes it harder to remember which number correlates to which colour, especially if you own more than one shade.

Another thing to add is that you do get an extra 2g of product with the powder blushes compared to the 5g of product with the creme blush. Here's a run down of shades:

All colours have great pigmentation and colour pay off, I literally swiped my hand once to get the following swatches:

(L-R): Billion Dollar Babies, Orange County Girl, Paper Roses

(L-R): Hippy Shake, My Girl, You Are My Sunshine

My favourites are Orange County Girl & You are my sunshine I love the similarity to Nars Orgasm but for a fraction of a price!

I managed to also track down the lipsticks on another website and another post will be up soon.
I think another order with Fragrance Direct is in order.. It's perfect to make little birthday presents or even stocking fillers for Christmas - well it is only 8 months away..

Have you tried any Dainty Doll products?

♥

Shopping The Christmas Sales 2012.

Look at me with my second daily consecutive post. Part of my new years resolution (post to come) is to post more regularly. Admittedly I'm probably not going to be able to do so every single day, but I'm really going to make a conscious effort to blog more. 
Jeez could I of mention the words Blog and Post anymore? Blog, Post, Blog, Post...

 I was in two minds as to publish this post. I didn't have much for Christmas as it's been a tradition for both me and my brother to receive mostly money to spend in the sales after Christmas.

I thought I would let you all know of the brilliant discounts available once Christmas is over. If you can hold your nerve that is..

First stop was Zara. I actually stayed up till midnight on Christmas Day for this sale, and a good thing that I did as by 9.00am Boxing Day everything I ordered was either no longer available in my size or sold out completely. Here's what I bought:

If you have been a reader of my blog you would have known that I posted about my CHRISTMAS WISH LIST last month - in it I really wanted a pair of Leopard Print Shoes and I was in two minds to order these before Christmas. 

I know these aren't to everyone's taste but I absolutely love them! They're such a statmeent piece and the most perfect accessory to jazz up even the simplest of outfits. And for a lovely £20 off too.

Next up was a pair of black patent ankle boots. Another shoe I'd found myself repeatedly checking to see if they were still available. For the last month the only size in stock was mine, and I would have been lying if I wasn't tempted to buy them there and then.

They are so perfect with a real timeless style and the quality means they will keep for years to come. Shiny patent at the front with a suede-type material at the back. I feel that the gold zips on either side of the boot adds a real edgy look whilst still maintaining its youthfullness, and the chunky heel makes for comfortable walking. I broke these babies within one day of wearing them!

An all round versatile shoe, you could wear these to glam up leggings but can also be worn with denim shorts in the warmer months. A little expensive, even after the £10 reduction, but I know I'm going to get a lot of wear out of these.

My final shoe purchase is something I hadn't planned on buying but simply couldn't say no to when I saw this offer - £79.99 reduced to £39.99! Amazing, especially considering they're made from real buffalo leather which will last an age! 

How cute is the studded detailing?

I've been finding myself reaching for my uggs way to often this winter and was in desperate need of something a little smarter.

Ever since the birth of Amelie I've had to drastically cut the size of my handbags down. I bought THIS bag (also from ZARA!) and have really had lots of wear out of it, but it's a little bit too small - I really missed having a purse and as a result my coins ended up everywhere!

I bought this one which is a little more day time friendly. I love the quilted effect replacing the studs on my previous handbag and it's a little bit bigger to fit my purse.

This is a really naughty purchase - but I don't own any tan bags at all! It's brilliantly sized for when I need to take more stuff with me and has gorgeous little studded detailing front as well as two cute little tassels on the straps.

I think the straps are actually removable which means that this can double up as a clutch for those romantic date nights!

I also had a little look at the Topshop website.

Peplum Boucle Top:

I finally gave in to this. I had worried that this would make me look bigger than I am but it's actually surprisingly flattering!

I read the reviews before purchasing this and I'm so glad that I did as everyone had said to order the next size up, which I did and it fits me perfectly!

Heart Jumper:

I love this jumper. Comfort is a massive influence in what I wear, but I also like to be moderately fashionable and this is a great compromise! I think this would be great paired with simple black leggings and a wince warm scarf.

I love how the jumper is made of little knotted cotton pieces which means that I don't have to worry about it scratching Amelie.

Did you get anything nice in the Christmas Sales?

♥

Lush Goodies

Call me crazy but I really don't understand the hype surrounding Lush products. I've tried a few things from the permanent line such as their lip scrubs (which dried out within a week of opening) & bath bombs (which in my opinion are far too over priced) but I've never been blown away by anything.

That being said If theres one thing that I love it's their Limited Christmas Shower Gel. I stock up every Christmas so that I have access to it throughout the whole of next year.

I got a couple bottles to unwrap at Christmas but I went to Lush yesterday with the hope of buying some back ups but they had all sold out.

When I walked into the shop I was quickly approached by one of the friendly sales assistants who told me that they had sold out of almost every Christmas product well before the 25th and that this year was their busiest ever in the run up - even the gift sets.

The only thing they had left were their Christmas soaps which were a generous 50% off.

I'd never tried any of their soaps before and seeing as they were now discounted I went over to see if any took my fancy.

Here's what I bought:

Angels Delight - £4.46

This smelt really similar to snow fairy, I believe that this soap is actually included in the Christmas Snow Fairy Gift set. 

To me it smells of Candyfloss & Jelly Beans. Each piece of the soap is different based on where your cut of the chunk came from. My bar was originally valued at £8.91 and is pink with blue and orange coloured blocks running through it. I saw on the chunk that there were purple stars (but unfortunately I didn't get any - I picked up a pre-wrapped piece), gold glitter flakes and a beautiful golden moon on top (which I was temped to buy purely for display use!).

I'm really excited about trying this out. 

Northern Lights - £4.65

I was then drawn to Northern Lights, as you can see it's really eye catching! It's a very bright Neon yellow with green and orange blocks all swirled together.

This scent smells incredible. It's sharp, zingy and is everything you need to wake you up on cold winter mornings.

Personally I can see this being more of a summer soap with its citrus scent.

I've heard that this is now being discontinued and will not be appearing next Christmas and so I'd urge you to check out you're nearest Lush store in the next couple of days for a chance of buying it.

(TESTER) Snow Cake - 

I was given a very generously sized tester.

When the sales assistant gave me a demonstration (not that I needed any help on how to wash my hands) It felt so creamy & nourishing on the skin, it doesn't lather which is a bit disappointing.

I was told this has almond in but to me it smells very fresh and a bit like vanilla with a hint of warm spice.

It smells a lot better on the skin then in bar format.

I plan on cutting these into smaller more 'palm friendly' sizes. Which hopefully should prolong their life, although I have heard they last ages.

Have you tried any of the LUSH soaps?
♥

When in first you don't succeed, try and try again!

I can't believe I have finally managed to buy it!

This dress came out in September 2010. I had my eye on it as the dress for my eighteenth birthday but with the inital £150 price tag, I just couldn't justify spending that amount of money on a dress I would probably only wear once.

About a month ago I saw that this dress had now been reduced to £75. But, of course, by the time i noticed, the only sizes available were either size 4 or size 16. 

A couple of weeks later, I noticed that the dress was back in stock and my size was available. Knowing that I wouldn't be paid till the end of the month, I asked my mum if I could pay on her card with the intention of paying her back once I received my pay check. Somehow, I must of entered the wrong security code on the back of the card, which resulted in my order failing. Instead of keeping the items aside for me to reorder, Asos puts my item back on the website to be resold. So when it came to reordering my products they were again, out of stock :(. Are you feeling sorry for me yet?
After checking daily ever since my last order failed, the dress was no where to be seen, a couple of days ago I gave up my search. Today, I did my monthly shop of Asos, after purchasing two items that I have had my eye on for a while I looked to see if the dress was back in stock. It was - but the only size available was a size 8. 
Seeing as I am hopefully going to commit to a diet soon, and that this dress and size was the last in stock, and most likely (as the dress had been on the 'clearance' section for a while) would be the last ever stock they would be getting in. I quickly clicked 'add to bag' and paid for my item.
The only downside of today was the fact that my two orders (my monthly purchases and my dress) combined would have qualified for 'Free Next Day' had I paid for them in one transaction.
As a result, although I've still qualified for 'Free Standard Delivery', I have to wait till next Monday for them both to arrive.
Here's what was bought
♡ ASOS WHITE WOOLY Shearling Boot
RRP £125.00. (But were reduced to £68.00!)

I was really torn with whether to go for Black or Tobacco, but seeing as my size was only available in black this made my mind up. 

Black does indeed go with more colours - more outfits - and therefore more times to wear them.

The link to these Shoes can be found HERE

♡ ASOS PETITE Iggy Overdyed Black Skinny Jean

RRP £30.00 (but reduced to £18.00!)

Black jeans, as I'm sure you ladies would agree is an essential item for anyone and everyone. They really do go with everything.

Plus I can definitely combine my new Shoes with my new Jeans - Bonus!

The link to these Jeans can be found HERE

and finally..

♡ ASOS PETITE Exclusive Feather Corset Dress

RRP £150.00 (but reduced to £75.00)

Isn't it just so nice?

I've definitely got a thing when it comes to white dresses. I own 5 already - more the merrier, right?

I plan on saving this dress for a 'special occasion', it is probably to 'dressy' in my opinion to wear for just a night out. I'll either wear it for my boyfriends birthday, prom or (if i can wait that long) my birthday in September

I'm just praying that this size dress fits :)
This Dress can be found HERE
(if anyone looks on this link and finds it in a size 10 please let me know!)


I worked out that, with the overall discount, I have saved (on all my products and Free Standard Delivery) an amazing £150.90!
Hope you have a great day!
♥ 

Images are taken from the Asos website - images solely used for demonstration purposes only.
Pricing of products were correct at time of this blog entry.