Christmas Haul (Part One)

Boxing Day is probably the busiest shopping day for those in the UK - there are HUGE sales and discounts and its a good time to do some shopping (if you don't mind the crowds). I had heard that Boots was having a massive 50% off sale on selected items - most of which were gift sets. I had a very frustrating time trying to browse through the products on my iPhone - my shopping basket kept emptying and I had to start all over again >< I spent one hour adding the items in and then another hour trying to pay for the stuff - very long and annoying. All of the Soap & Glory gift sets had sold out online and I was majorly disappointed. I managed to get my hands on a few of the Hello Kitty Liberty collaboration which I was happy about seeing as they were sold out the day after I had placed my order (on Christmas Day).

I wanted to go to an actual Boots store to see if they had any Soap & Glory products instore and so invited my family to go shopping on Boxing Day. There were only two gift sets left - the two that I actually didn't want ¬¬ I ended up getting only one thing and that was a Hello Kitty Liberty set that I had thought about getting but didn't end up ordering online. I really liked the design and only really got it because of the case rather than the actual products inside.

The set is called: Liberty Art Fabrics For Hello Kitty Hugs and Kisses Pamper Kit and the contents include: Bath Bubbles (200ml), Body Scrub (200ml), Body Butter (200ml), Body Spray (175ml), Eye Mask and Wash Mitt.

I haven't opened any of the products because I might be giving some away seeing as I did order a different Hello Kitty Set (the one with the shower cap) online and I think it comes with the same products.

This kit was originally £30 but I only paid £15 which I thought was a good deal seeing as it came with a decent size beauty case (which I've stored some of my unopened beauty goodies).

The Beauty Case opens from one side only and opens up with a mirror on the bottom of the lid and with a cream coloured lining inside. It is a very pretty case and pretty sturdy and I will be using this to put all my beauty products in this when I travel.

I would totally recommend getting your hands on this if you can - I think it's sold out online but check if you can get it in store. I would happily pay £15 just for the case!

A quick FYI, the contents you can see in the case to the left are not included in the set, they're my own unopened goodies that I am storing in the case. The only products included are listed and pictured above.

I also needed a medium/large sized suitcase because I will be going to China for two weeks next month (so excited) so I went to Debenhams to see if they have some decent priced ones. Initially, I wanted one of those hard cased ones but after seeing the price tags on a few of them, I decided to get a normal one but with a cute design.

I didn't want to spend too much money, I only wanted to spend around £30. I ended up getting this purple one because it was light, a good size, and was pretty cheap considering the original price was £140 and I only paid £35!! I like the colour and the design and I will be able to easily spot it when it's on that luggage conveyor belt thing ^^

I also got the Zelda game on 3DS at GAME because it was only around £20 and I was planning on getting it anyway so what better time to get it?

I went shopping again today and went to my local Boots and saw that they had some more Soap & Glory gift sets and I grabbed them as soon as I saw them! I was so happy to see that I could actually get my hands on these as they sold out online pretty quickly and were not in the Boots I went to on Boxing Day. There were quite a few left of these two gift sets as well as LOADS of Yum At Heart (which I saw on Boxing Day). The Peace Hand Love set is "a practical, purposeful, product duo featuring our glamourous scented WASH YOUR HANDS OF IT SOFT LIQUID HAND SOAP and best-selling HAND FOOD HAND CREAM, in a classically shaped sink-side metal rack". I'm not sure what Wash Your Hands Of It smells like, but I'm assuming it smells like Hand Food which is the classic Soap & Glory scent which I absolutely LOVE! It smells just like the Righteous Butter and Clean on Me - it smells sooo GOOD! I also saw that they have very nice smelling hand sanitiser too but at £2.15 or something like that, it is too expensive. The hand wash and hand cream are both 250ml and at £5 for the both of them - it's a real bargain! Considering that the full size 125ml Hand Food retails for around £4.85, you get double the amount for £2.50! I'm so happy that I managed to get my hands on this =DD

The other gift set I got was Heaven Nose one - A delightful duo featuring EAU DE SOAP & GLORY Original Pink [Formula 1] Fragrance and a jar of our similarly-scented best-selling THE RIGHTEOUS BUTTER Body Butter. I'm running pretty low on The Righteous Butter Body Lotion and decided to get the Body Butter instead because my skin gets dryer during the winter months. This set comes with a full size perfume and half sized Body Butter and was originally £16 but was marked down to £8.

A full sized Body Butter costs around £10 and the perfume costs around £16 and seeing as you get the full sized perfume as well as the half sized Body Butter, it's a really good deal. The perfume smells like all the other products I got ^^ I'm really tempted to go to Boots again tomorrow and grabbing another one of these sets but I think they might have sold out by now. Also, I've got quite a few perfumes that I still have to go through so I shouldn't be so greedy and hoard it because it's cheap ><

The last thing I got was the Carex Hand Sanitisers because they were half price at 70p each. They are handbag essentials and they smell really fresh and citrisy! These are the Grapefruit and Lime scented ones but there are other scents that are on offer. I got 3 of these when they were on offer for £1 each and I've only got one left so I thought that I should stock up on some more - Meehee!

This is part one of my haul because I've also placed an order on Boots, ASOS and Brand Alley, so I'm waiting for those to arrive and I will blog the second part of this haul when they arrive.

Go, shop the sales - but be SAFE!! Happy shopping and until next time..

- Diem xo

Updated Garnier BB Cream Review

After using the Garnier BB Cream for a good few months now, I would say my thoughts on the product has changed somewhat. Since it's winter now, I have become A LOT paler and cannot get away with wearing the medium colour anymore - it's obvious that it's too dark for me. I've also tried out the light colour in the shop, and that's too light for me! This means I would have to get a light and medium shade to mix match my perfect shade. I'm pretty sure that this will be the case for most people - they need to bring out a light/medium shade for those in between, there's a HUGE difference between light and medium, and having two shades just doesn't cut it.

I also find that using this makes my skin very shiny and greasy looking throughout the day. At first, I thought that was because of the fact that it was hot, but even now, with the weather as cold as it is, I still find myself having a shiny face. At first, it appears dewy, but then slips into grease-face after a couple hours. Due to this, I would tell all those with combo to oily skin to be very cautious when using this product. Even when mixing it with another BB Cream (from China, and gives a very matte finish), I still find myself with a shiny face after a few hours. Now this might just be because of the skin-type I have, but it also means it isn't suitable for combo-oily types. And for the record, I have very extreme combo skin, parts of my skin are super dry, and parts are super oily - this means I use different primers for certain areas of my face ><

I've also found that when the product collects and dries a little, it doesn't dry like other foundations. It looks very plasticy and rubbery which is very offputting. I've also found the scent to be quite strong for a foundation - I'm pretty sure that will affect people who can't really use scented products.

My personal opinion is, if you want to try out a BB Cream, I would suggest you try to find an Asian brand one such as Skin79, Missha, Lioelle? The only other BB Creams I have tried are from Skin79 and Carslan (which a friend bought in China). In comparison, I think I prefer these BB Creams, although perhaps Skin79 and the Garnier one are very close in terms how much I like them. I do like the Carslan one, but I found it to be bit pale for me, and not as moisturising. It's quite matte which is perfect for my oily areas (my T-Zone), but not so much my dryer areas (around my nose and my cheeks). I will do a more in depth review of the Caslan BB Cream with pictures and swatches soon, so be sure to check that out!

You can also read my first review, including pictures and swatches, here.


My updated verdict for this product is:

❤❤❤♡♡ (3 out of 5 hearts) ^^

I hope this helps~

Off topic but IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!! =DD

Stay safe when Xmas shopping and until next time..

- Diem xo