Fragrance Direct Haul

Its not often that I do online shopping, prefering to go and see the products in real life. But when there are all the deals to be had, it would be rude not to pick up a few bits. Most of what I have in this haul is things by the Body Shop and I've a bone to chew on here, I am a massive fan of their things, buying lots for myself recently along with a lot of Christmas presents for others. But the main issue is that their Irish site and in store there are never any sales or offers on the way there is on UK sites. Its such a pity as the euro prices of their things make it more of a luxury once in a blue moon buy. Its disheartening to read UK bloggers talking about the amazing 40% off deals they got. Alright then, rant is now over! 

The first thing that I set my sights on were the body butters. If your looking for just one thing to try out from the Body Shop then it has to be one of these. They are so wonderfully thick but easy to apply and sink into your skin making it beautifully soft only after one or two uses. I got mine in shea butter as its one of my favourite scents, I was delighted they had it! One of these tubs cost me £2.99.

I also picked up the tea tree oil thats just perfect for all the face uglies that are forever popping up on my mug. This was I think £0.99 compared to the guts of €10 so I was delighted to be able to try it out. Since getting the haul in the post, I've been using this loads and I have to say it works really well, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Years ago the Body Shop had a shampoo and conditioner with the scent of nettles. It wasn't for everyone but I really loved it. When they discontinued it I searched high and low online but never again could get it. Since then I've not been too interested in trying out anything hair care, but when I saw these little bottles for £2.99 I decided to pick up 2 each and give them a go. A regular bottle is €9.95 for the biggest bottle. I've not tried them out yet, but if I like them I'd consider forking out for them. I just love my hair care products! 

I also got a little tea tree skin clearing toner for £1.99 as I'm all about that spot fighting stuff. I'm still trying to find the holy grail products to finally work for my skin. And I've gone though bag loads, so fingers crossed this one might work for me. 

Again, all about the hair care. I love a good hair mask and this pantene one is something I've not had in years! I used to love it, but theres so many out there I kind of forgot all about it. For £1.99 I couldn't pass it up and I've used it once now. Its just as lovely as I remember.

Lastly I nabbed an Aussie spray leave in conditioner for coloured hair. I have gone though about 7 bottles of this stuff since being introduced to it years ago by a friend. Its perfect to throw in before heading off for the day, before bed, or just a quick spray to make brushing your hair easier. I'm a massive fan, but it can be about €6, so seeing this for £2.99 was a bargain. 

You'll be able to find most of what I've talked about above over on Fragrance Direct. But because lots are really cheap, things can sell out fast. Keep an eye on the site, they are always adding loads of new bargains!

NOTD: Essie Bikini So Teeny

You can clearly tell I was playing with picmonkey.com! Covering things in hearts should be a daily thing

Its been a while since I've done a nail of the day post so I thought as I have new Essie nail varnishes I might write a little one. I have a feeling I'm last to the party here (like I always am) as every blogger and vlogger has been raving about this range for only god knows how long. Normally Essie costs an arm and a leg (about €10 in the shops) so I never gave it much notice, but when I picked it up for £1.99 online from FragranceDirect I was a small bit delighted with myself. 

Bikini So Teeny is a really gorgeous lavender bluey colour that has a hint of sparkle in the bottle but less so once applied. This colour reminds me for some reason of Barry M's Blueberry, but of course its a lighter shade then this Essie one. The brush is a nice, full easy to use one but I have yet to find a replacement for essence brushes, they are still number one in my book. I have to say the packaging is nothing special but then again maybe it was the simple clean approach Essie were going for and its gone over my head. The varnish itself needs about 2 coats before it becomes completely opaque and lovely looking. The first picture on the right here shows 2 coats on all my fingers apart from my middle finger, just to show the difference. It does need a good few minutes to dry but once it does there is no smudging like there is with some polishes when you layer coats on top. I didn't feel the need to use a clear top coat with this as it was such a shiny good quality. 

Wear-wise it lasts about 3 days before it starts to show wear. I'm not counting the fact that because I sometimes bite my nails the chipping always starts early. I'm not sure if I would repurchase a nail varnish this expensive as I can't really justify it, but if any more catch my eye online that are the bargain price of £1.99 like this one was then I will definitely nab it. 

Revitale And Grace Your Face Pore Strips

 From the previous super success of using the Boots nose strips in the past, I had to have a try of some other types to see if they were any better. That and who wouldn't like to get rid of the horrible clogged pores from around as much of your face as possible? So when I was wondering round FragranceDirect last month (check out my last FragranceDirect post here before you order) I couldn't pass up both boxes for 99p.

Lets start off with the Revitale deeply absorbent nose strips. There are 5 deep magnetic cleansing strips in each box, and just like any nose strips, all you do is wet your nose, peel the strip and leave it on your nose for 10 to 15 minutes until it drys, then peel it off. They are formulated with natural charcoal extracts which sounded very fancy to me, but to my horror the black charcoal transferred onto my skin and I was a little worried would leave a mark. Thankfully after some soap and water it came off. But the over all result wasn't as I had hoped it would be with all its fancy words and posh shiny packaging. Not only did the black come off, but the strip itself didn't dry properly with any that I tried and my pores still looked just as bad once I had finished using them. Not a very good buy at all and something I wont be getting again. Also I couldn't find anything about Revitale online, other then that there are other products in the range and that you can also buy them on Amazon.

Next are the Grace Your Face chin and forehead strips. The packaging reminds me of some of the Essence range and it caught my eye because of it. I really let out  'oohhh, look!' when I saw these because like I said in my last nose strip post, I would love to find strips that cover more of your face and here they were! There are 6 strips in this box and I assumed that 3 would be for your chin, 3 for your forehead and different shapes to suit the area. No they are all the same size and shape, strangely. These ones were better then the Revitale ones as they dried well and unclogged more pores once removed, but I just wasn't in love with them. Again, they were only 99p so it wasn't a waste of money to try them out. These strips seem to be more widely available online and in shops like SuperDrug, but like the Revitale ones, I couldn't really find any information about them online. On the box they had a web address that is no longer in existence it seems. 

But at the end of the day I have yet to find anything that can outdo the Boots tea tree and which hazel nose strips. They are my one love and I have been repurchasing them again and again. Go take a look at my post about them here.

Fragrance Direct Haul

Ladies and gents I am excited today to share this little haul with you all! Hope everyone is keeping well and looking fab, as always!

Fragrance Direct is something that I am quite new to and this is my very first haul from it. This site has a fab range of different low and high end products at a knock off price. Every item is in perfect condition unless otherwise stated e.g. the packaging has imperfections or there is no box. They ship world wide and shipping normally takes 10 working days if its not in England. But I must say, besides being excited about finally getting my hands on my cheap as chips goodies, I am very disappointed at their customer service. I waited 16 days before my box arrived and in that time I emailed them about the delay, wondering why it was taking so long after reading on their site that it would take up to 10 days for delivery and got the same information in my confirmation email. Their customer service replied to say that due to changes in their postal service it now takes 14-24 days to be delivered. So if you are thinking of ordering something please do note that as they don't mention it in emails or at the check out service and you could end up nearly pulling your hair out like I almost did. If they had just informed me of the longer delivery times I wouldn't be half as bothered as I am now. But anyway, new info/rant over!

L'oreal Recharge Lip Balm for Infallible Lip Duo Top Coat

This was 50 pence and if I'm honest I kind of got it on an impulse buy. Don't judge me, I think cheap things are amazing at the time! It smells like all other L'oreal lip products, the overly sweet I-want-to-eat-it kind? And feels lovely and soft on my lips. I have yet to use it with any lipsticks to check out the staying power, but you can be sure I will keep you all updated!

Essie Off The Shoulder

£1.99 for a Essie nail varnish? Yes please! I am new to the Essie craze, but every blogger and their grannys parrot raves and loves this brand. It is too expensive for me to even consider normally. Off the shoulder it a gorgeous hot pink that I'm sure will get loads of use this summer. 

Kylie Minogue Darling

I love all of Kylie's fragrances and really wanted to pick up a little bottle of Darling for my hand bag. It smells divine and I'm already getting asked what sent I'm wearing. Its floral, sweet and a lovely fresh sent that will be used to death for the summer months. From what I've used so far, it seems to last a good while too. Double score considering the 15ml bottle was only £4.99.

Bourjois Bio Detox Organic Foundation

This is a brand I rarely go near, as I think its a bit expensive when you can get something similar for half the price. But £2.99 sounded better then good to me and with all the hype its been getting I thought I would give it a go and see what all the fuss was about.

Rimmel Hide The Blemish Concealer

This was just a repurchase for me, my trusty old Rimmel concealer that I have been using since the dawn of time. But its normally around the €5.50 range and I nabbed it for £1.50. Think I should have gotten a tonne more, silly me. 

Dainty Doll Mascara and EyelinerThis was a oohh and ahhh moment for me when I realised that Dainty Doll was on this site. I have only ever looked and longed for some of these products so when I spotted this for £1.99 I pounced at the chance to try one of my longed for items out!

Prestige Cosmetics Wet To Dry Foundation

I had never heard of this brand before but I decided to try out a few new types of foundation while I was picking up a few things that were all so cheap. I have never used this type of foundation before so it will be interesting to see how it goes and maybe I will find a new favourite along the way, fingers crossed.

So that it all my haul, hope you enjoyed seeing what I nabbed and maybe gave you all some ideas of lovely cheap as chips things to go and look at. I will do reviews on all of these products once I give them a good test drive and find out if they are as good as I hope they are! Since ordering these I may have done the dreadfully bold thing of ordering another little box of fun things, so look out for my next haul from my growing addiction site!

Things I've Loved This Month

As I haven't been around these parts much to do a weekly Friday Favourites, I thought I would just tell you all about what I have been loving for the whole month! Please let me know if you would rather I stick to my Friday Favourites or if you would all just like a monthly post. Oh, and Happy Easter!

This month it has been cold, super rainy some days and even some crazy amounts of snow for Ireland. As I'm sure you can imagine weather like that makes your hair dry and your skin sore, so I have kept my magic carmex original lip balm in my pocket at all times. Everyone will tell you I get slightly overly upset when I leave it at home or can't find it. It has become a staple in my hand bag and I will be picking up another one soon, I think I might even try other flavours in the range too. The tube has lasted for ages and you only need a little to cover and fully protect your lips with its formula of menthol and camphor that helps to sooth and calm irritated chapped lips. 

A cold tired body loves a hot warm bath and thats just what I've been doing. I wanted to get a cheap and cheerful big bottle of bath soak so I could enjoy more bubble baths without having to ration out my Lush bath bombs like a crazy girl. And hey presto, Boots sleep well bath foam 750ml in a lovely lavender scent for €1.19. I'm not sure if it was the relaxing smell, the huge bottle or the next to nothing price that did it, but I ran to the check out and couldn't wait to get home for a bath!

A blog that I love and follow is Tattoologist. People send in pictures of their tattoos with translations and explanations of why they got them and what meanings they have. Its kind of like pinterest for tattoos only! Go check it out over here . You can follow the blog on bloglovin' too, makes it easier to keep an eye on! I personally love to see other peoples tattoos to be nosy, for inspiration and then just to give out about. - The feather and star tattoos that are far over done and the pain in the ass for artists.

I love Ted and the Ted Talks on YouTube are a must watch for me. There are so many different topics and after listening any of the stories I always come away with something new to research or think about. This story made me laugh and feel inspired. If this boy, thousands of miles away at the age of 13 with limited education can do this and help animals and aid his community, what can I do? Have a watch:

I love my candles and the Yankee candles have to be one of my favourites, purely because 1, they smell good and 2, they last ages in the cute large jars. A limited edition Easter candle 'Chocolate bunnies in a jar' is just the thing to get then and Stephen surprised me with one the other night (the little pet!) I thought it would smell over powering but it has a lovely soft sweet scent that doesn't make you feel sick if you have been lighting it too long. I however can't find them in the Irish Yankee candle shop or online in the American shop either. Heres a link to the place Stephen got this one for €9.99. Otherwise if you need to ship it you can find it all over Amazon.

So I may have a sneaky order coming to me from Fragrance Direct, expect a haul blog once the post man comes! I have only recently become familiar with this site and oh my god, lads go check it out right now over here! Theres loads of well known brands for a fraction of the cost. The products say if the box is damaged but other then that everything seems to be in perfect condition. The shipping cost to Ireland wasn't expensive either which was great.


I'm not sure if I should admit this willingly but my series of the month that I have watched every single episode of is um, Rugrats All Grown Up! on Netflix. Stephen and me were hunting for something to watch one night and this popped up, oh the childhood memories! ''Every birthday my mom and dad would say, your another year older, another year wiser but I still go to school...'' Who needs nights out on the town when you can stay in bed and watch childrens programmes instead? I may have also watched one or two shows of Little Bear. Fingers crossed Netfilx release The Animals Of Farthing Wood soon! The child in me is clearly still very much alive.

Something that I have been wearing loads of this month is my many coloured scarf. I love scarves and if I could use a room just for them I so would. My most warn one has to be the Top Shop multi coloured one that I bought about 4 years ago. It goes with so much, brightens up any outfit and is lovely and warm for those snow filled days! Scarves.net has a gorgeous one here for $9.71 that is as similar to mine as I could find. If your looking to splash out on a colourful statement piece for your wardrobe House of Fraser has a drool worthy one over here.

I am nearly certain I have mentioned the fab HelloGiggles.com more then once here, but I need to tell you about them again! HelloGiggles was set up by three lovely girls Zooey Dechanel, Molly McAleer and Sophia Rossi which now has a wide and really interesting range of reads being updated daily for your fashion, beauty, life, ect needs! This particular article caught my eye and made me laugh as I'm sure everyone can relate to it, moving back in or not. Go check it out and see if you have anything you could add to it.

Thats all from me for now, hope your all having great long weekend!