Little Mini Fragrance Direct Haul

Hellllo,

So a couple of weeks ago I discovered Fragrance Direct, yeah I know a little late to the bandwagon but hey ho! I ordered a couple little things and they arrived a couple of weeks ago but I wanted to wait until I'd used them all before I wrote a post about them;

The first thing I bought were a few nail varnishes. I've never owned Essie nail polishes before and I've heard people raving about them so I picked up a couple of them. First colour I picked was "To Buy Or Not To Buy". I absolutely love this colour, it's a very pastel lilac with a blue glittery sheen to it. The next Essie polish I bought was in the shade "Mojito Madness". I really wanted a bright green nail varnish and this wasn't exactly the colour I wanted, I like the colour but it's not quite bright enough so I don't think I'll use it that often.

I also picked up Rimmel's Crack Your Colour in the shade 'Black Graffiti'. I've only used this once but it's good, similar to other cracked nail varnishes so nothing particularly special about it. It does the job!

My nails are really damaged at the moment and keep breaking and flaking, not a great look. I was going to buy the Sally Hansen nail treatment that everybody raves about but I opted for the slightly cheaper option of "Harder & Tuffer" from W7. So far I really like it, I've definitely noticed my nails feeling stronger and breaking less. If weak nails is something you suffer from I'd recommend this.

I also picked up a new powder because I smashed my old one to pieces. I bought Miss Sporty So Clear powder in "001 Transparent". The powder is nice, definitely finishes off my make up nicely, I've been applying it with my E.L.F full face brush. For some reason, I absolutely hate the packaging. I don't know why but for some reason it looks so cheap to me. The mirror is good but other than that I can't stand it. The actual product is really good though.

The final thing I bought was a new lipstick. I picked up a W7 lipstick in the shade 'Ruby Red'. I have kinda weird lips and sometimes I find it difficult to find a lipstick that will stay on my lips. I really like this one, it lasts a long time and it's really pigmented. The picture doesn't show it that well but it's a very rich red, just what I was looking for.

Overall, I really liked the products I picked up from Fragrance Direct. I would really recommend having a look on the website if you haven't already. My order arrived in a matter of days and it's so much cheaper than the highstreet.

Birthday Bonanza!!

Hellllo there, see I promised I'd be back again soon and for once I actually delivered.
On bank holiday Monday it was my birthday (chocolate cake in bed please!) so I was obviously given a few bits and bobs by my ever-so-generous family and friends. Thought I'd share them on here because I'm seriously chuffed with what I got.

I'm a major Soap and Glory addict and spend the vast majority of my time boring my friends and mum about how much I love it and how good it smells so it wasn't really a surprise to me when I got given a load of it. Some of the things I was given were old favourites like Hand Food which I am never without a bottle of. I was really excited to get some products I'd never tried before - especially the Glad Hair Day Shampoo and Conditioner so I'll probs be sticking a review up of those soon.

My mum also added fuel to my growing nail polish addiction by adding two colours from the Bourjois Paris So Laque Glossy range to my collection. She picked 05 Taupe Modéle and 06 Adora-bleu (as modelled on my very chipped nails - "lasts up to 10 days" pah!) Love these colours and they're not ones I would normally pick which makes them even better! She also got me the Bourjois Paris Magic Nail Polish Remover. I'd seen this all over blogs and vlogs so I was totally overexcited when I unwrapped it! It's fantastic and works brilliantly (not so great on glittery nail varnish but hey what is?!). I don't know why Bourjois are trying to claim it's "red berry and vanilla scented" it's not, it absolutely stinks of nail varnish remover - but I still like it!

From friends I also got One Day on DVD. I went to see this in the cinema went it came out and loved it (well it is starring my best-friend-to-be Anne Hathaway) so my lovely friend Anna gave it to me. Another friend also gave me a copy of the boom The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid because it's his favourite book and he thought I needed to read it. I got this a few days before my birthday and I've finished it already. Can't recommend it highly enough!!

Again from my dear mother, a few items of clothing! I'm pretty sure these are all from TK Maxx but I'm not absolutely sure. I'm loving monochrome at the moment so I really liked the colours she picked. The collared shirt is absolutely amazing: contrasting patterns, button up collar it's like someone read my mind. The t shirt on the far right is adorable and pretty similar to a t shirt I
saw on Asos a while ago so I'm a fan of that too and the t shirt on the far left looks like a big lovey-dovey heart! N'awww

The pièce de résistance this year was this beautiful, leather satchel from my dad. I picked mine in a beautiful teal colour but there are loooooads of different colours available - it was a complete nightmare trying to decide! I am so utterly in love with it and cannot WAIT for uni to start again so I can show it off in all my lectures!! 

So anyway, that was my nineteenth...a pretty unimportant birthday but some wonderful gifts even so! 

Anyone else had a birthday recently? What d'ya get? I love having a snoop!

Just in case there's anyone out there gagging for a fight - this is obviously not a showing off post, if anything I'm showing off how wonderful my family  and friends are rather than my presents. I'm more than grateful for everything I was given and I just like to share things...

Shopping for Spring, Living in Winter - March Haul

So I guess this is a couple of days late, but the way the weather is at the moment it feels like we're still in December so really I'm 6 months early!
I feel like I've done quite a lot of shopping this month considering I'm on a constant budget. I'm not sure where I got the funds for any of this (thank you Student Loan Fairy)

Even though I moved to Norwich over 6 months ago I'm still getting used to the ridiculously hard water which turns my hair into a huge frizzball (think Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries pre-makeover). I've been looking for products to help with this and the lovely shop assistant in Boots recommended John Frieda Frizz-Ease Original Formula Hair Serum.

 I've used it pretty much everyday this month and I love it! A little more greasy than I would like but you only need to use a tiny bit for awesome results! Dead chuffed! 

On the same hair vein I also bought L'Oreal Studio Matt and Messy Salt Spray. I was convinced to buy this by my friend Josie (www.josiegoestravelling.blogspot.co.uk) namely because it was on 2 for 1 and she didn't want to pay full price. Whatever the reason I really like it - restores any of the bounce that the serum drags out of my hair. Also I love the matt finish - I find super glossy hair a bit odd looking. 

Whilst in Boots I also picked up Rimmel London's Lasting Finish in 700 Block Your Green. I've used this a couple of times and I lurrrrve the colour! I really nice dark green with the just the hint of sparkle.

The last thing I bought in Boots this month was Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Anti-Aging Smoothing Lotion and oh my god I am obsessed with this! I use it when I come out of the shower on stretch or dark marks and it genuinely makes a noticeable difference! It smells like delicious Terry's Chocolate Orange AND it's non-greasy - perfecto!


This month I went to Forever 21 on Oxford Street. I'd never been to F21 before so I got way overexcited and tried on practically everything. In the end I only bought two things in the sale. First was a lovely turquoise jumper in a cable knit. It's nice and thin so should be good for the spring. I think it was about £7.99. I also bought an oversized dip-dye t-shirt! I really liked this because usually dip-dye goes from bottom to top but this goes from side-to-side (I am very easily impressed). Again it's really thin so should be good for

summer - I think it'll look nice tucked into shorts.

I'm totally obsessed with button up shirts at the moment and spotted this little number in Primark for £12. I absolutely LOVE it the pattern is adorable plus who doesn't like a good rhinestoned collar. This photo doesn't show it very well but I posted a photo of it on my Instagram a while ago if you're really desperate to see it! Since I bought it I've seen dupes in Topshop and New Look and they've all been way more expensive! Glad I got the bargain!


So have you bought anything this month? Written a blogpost? Link me - I love seeing what other people are into!

(p.s Sorry for the mega long post - I promise it'll only be once a month)

My first university haul

(Left to right) Owl hat, £3, Primark. Grey infinity scarf, £4.99, H&M. Claw Ring, £3, Republic. Berry boots, £8, Primark. Floral blazer, £7 (Sale) New Look. 

Yesterday I had my first proper trip into town here in Norwich. I'd been a few times but this was my first time without a full on agenda, time to browse. The city is really nice here and there's a good selection of shops (3 New Looks though. Who has EVER needed 3 New Looks?!?) I hadn't brought that many winter clothes with me to university, obviously because I am some kind of idiot so I really wanted to buy some warm things (hence the adorable Owl hat and the Infinity Scarf). I think I found some good bargains, the blazer in particular I absolutely adore! I'm still getting used to the city so I don't really know where all the best places to shop are yet!

So, I've never really done a post like this before...do you like it? I really love hearing from people so pleeeease let me know if you read this...

Also I now have Instagram. I don't have wi fi at Uni so I'm not amazing at it but feel free to follow me (@maisiemaizz)