January beauty sale Haul

I figured I'd take a break from the 2013 favourites posts today to share with you guys some of the bargains I have found over the past two weeks.  My splurging began when I noticed that Fragrance Direct had started stocking Becca leading to me purchasing five great products from the site. The first of which was Lady Gaga's Fame. I have wanted to own this since I first sniffed it last year and since  this set with a 30ml bottle of the perfume and a 200ml shower gel was just £9.99 I thought I'd take the plunge.

I'm a big fan of lip balms so also picked up this NYC applelicious lip balm in the shade 'Garnet Gala' for just 50p! This smells amazing although I haven't yet had a chance to put it to the test yet. I'm also quite the highlight collector, so couldn't resist picking up Becca's Illuminate wash liquid highlighter for just £3.99, I also picked up a new concealer at the same price as I loved the shade range, along with a famous Beach tint in the shade strawberry. All these products have a retail of around £20+ each so as you can imagine I am so pleased with my goodies!

I think Stila had one of my favorite sales, with loads of items under £5 plus free delivery! I picked up this seeing stars smudge stick waterproof eyeliner set for £6.25 containing five eyeliners in the shades; Stargazer, Angelfish, Tetra, Moray and Oscar Fish. I also picked up the Stila Positively Pink set containing a lip glaze and blush for just £3.25 and the written in the stars eyeshadow palette for just £3.75!

While they're not necessarily sale buys, I also picked up a few things on the high street which I figured I'd throw in. Including the much talked about Babyskin instant pore eraser and the eye eraser concealer from Maybelline, they were on a buy one get one half price offer in Superdrug making them a little cheaper than normal.

Finally from Superdrug I also spotted latest lip crayon on the market from L'Oreal for just £4.99, which I thought was pretty reasonable. It's marketed as a balmy gloss, so I have a feeling its my type of product! Last but not least of the beauty products I spotted this Rimmel palette in my local poundland, the colours are perfect for me so I had to pick it up!

While the last selection of buys might not be beauty, I wanted to show you guys anyway. One of my favourite sale buys was this Yankee candle Christmas memories sampler collection. Containing 12 Yankee candle christmas scents for just £9.99 in the sale (including Christmas Eve, Christmas Cookie,Christmas Rose, Snow in Love, Sparkling Cinnamon, Snowflake Cookie, Red Apple Wreath, Sugared Apple, Merry Marshmallow, Apple & Pine Needle, Cranberry Inn and Christmas Memories) even boxed, these candles leave my room smelling amazing and I cant wait to burn them next winter! Along with my bargain find I've also brought way too much reduced chocolate! Including these Cadbury goodies for 30-35p in Tesco and these £1 Thornton's Truffles! 

If you want to see even more of my sale finds be sure to click here to see my boxing day haul where I got beauty goodies from Lush and Boots! Did you pick anything nice up in the sales? 

Hair Favourites 2013

I find that I try a lot of hair care products throughout the year, as with my long hair I finish them really quickly. This means I tend to pick up whatever is on offer to save myself a bit of money. Although there have been a few products over the past 12 months that I've really loved using and find myself picking up time and time again. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo (£2.99-3.99/200ml) - Hair wise, this has defiantly been the year of dry shampoo for me, with Batiste being my favourite brand. Previously I was scared of achieving that white hair look, although around the start of the year I discovered the blonde and light version, which has featured heavily in my empties posts ever since. However I moved on from this when I received a different type of Batiste Dry shampoo in a goodie bag, Despite not being designed for my hair and being a part of Batiste's normal line, I experienced no whiteness plus it was around a pound cheaper too which adds up over the course of a year! I just find that all Batiste's products allow me to get an extra day out of my hair, leaving it feeling fresh and clean.

Dove leave in oil spray (£3.59/200ml) - This is probably one of my all time favourite products, which scares me a little as it actually took me around a week to find a bottle of this stuff, when I finally found this I snapped up the last two on the shelf in Asda! I really hope this isn't disappearing anytime soon because this is such a wonderful product at a brilliant price point. I've tried a lot of oils since they first hit the blogosphere a couple of years back, although for me this is one of the best value ones out there. Not only does it smell incredible, it leaves my hair feeling so soft without any greasiness! I have also found a bottle of this lasts me around four months which is incredible when you consider it costs under £4!

Dove oil care Shampoo (£2.69/250ml) and Conditioner (£2.69/200ml) - This duo have featured countless times in my empties posts through out the year and are the products I find myself coming back to time and time again. No other range seems to match up to the Dove nourishing oil range, whenever I use this my hair is left well and truly nourished. I also noticed recently that when I use these my hair takes longer to get greasy, which is a blessing when your hair requires a wash as often as mine!

Tangle Teezer Aqua Splash (£12.99) - I actually got this in a beauty box and have used it ever since. It works wonders on my long hair, and I couldn't be without it now. While it may seem a little odd looking, its a great product and is the envy of all my flatmates, I've even caught one of them brushing their hair with it when it was tangled! Its just a brilliant product and worth every penny, as its something you're never going to run out of like many hair products.

What hair products did you enjoy in 2013?

Body Favourites 2013

For my second instalment of my 2013 favourites I'm going to be writing about some of my favourite body products from last year. While 'body' is quite a broad topic, I found its one that I have found few standout products from, as I tend to stick to the products I know and love.

Vaseline Essential Moisture Cocoa Radiant rich feeling lotion (£4.99/400ml) - While I'm normally a body butter kind of girl, I picked this up on a Superdrug run and have had one in my collection ever since. While this feels light on the skin, I still find it gives me the same amount of nourishment as a body butter and smells lovely too. Whats even better is its often half price making it even more of a steal! 

&Other Stories Scrubs (£7.00/250ml) - I have tried and loved this scrub in both Punk Bouquet and Shinjuku Bloom, and would recommend them to anyone. Like everything in &Other Stories they smell amazing and I have actually repurchased both a couple of times. They just leave my skin feeling amazing and are really unique in the way that they create a foam allowing a little to go a long way!

Vera Wang Lovestruckk (£34.50/30ml) - I love this perfume and have just been gifted my second bottle for Christmas, its just a lovely sweet smelling scent which I really love wearing. I have no doubt I'll be buying a third bottle this year! 

The Body Shop Body Butters (£13.00/200ml) - I love these body butters although think the price of them is a joke, luckily The Body Shop seems to have a constant stream of offers meaning I'm yet to spend £13 on a single butter. Pictured is one of my favourites from the range - coconut, although I'm a big fan of the Almond one too. They just do a wonderful job at moisturising the skin and leave it feeling amazing too.


What body products did you love in 2013?

Skincare Favourites 2013

I wanted to post my 2013 favourites a while ago, although up until a couple of days ago I found myself focusing on my first lot of exams at uni, which are thankfully over now and I'm currently enjoying time to myself! I thought showing you guys all of my favourites at once would be a little overwhelming, so have narrowed it down to four groups, including skincare, body, hair and make up. The first group I'm going to share with you is my skincare favourites (as you my have predicted from the title). I find that there a few products I will buy again when it comes to skincare, although I have repurchased almost all of the products featured here and always find myself coming back to them.

Bioderma (£14.50/500ml) - I'm not normally one to buy into overly hyped products although since buying my first bottle of this last year, I have never looked back. Although the price tag doesn't bother me as I find bottles of this last forever, I have since tried cheaper alternatives and nothing quite matches up. This is the only product that I've found that gently removes every trace of make up, and quicker than any other product I own!

St Ives Blemish Fighting Scrub (£3.99/150ml) - I'm extremely fussy when it comes to scrubs, and find that so many of the ones on the highstreet are too gentle on the skin. However this one from St Ives is one you can really feel getting to work! Personally I love it, although I'd recommend that those who prefer a gentle scrub avoid it! 

Superdrug Hot Cloth Cleanser (£5.99/150ml) - There's a lot of hype surrounding the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, although personally I prefer the Superdrug ones by miles! I love both the brightening one (pictured) and Vitamin E version, although If I had to pick between the pair the Vitamin E would win based on how moisturised it leaves my skin! It just so happened when it came to picking up a new one the brightening one was on offer. They're just lovely products which come at a fantastic price point and do the job extremely well, I cant help coming back to them every time!

Origins High Potency Night-A-Mins (£34.00/50ml)* - I got given this at an event and have not used another night cream since, I still have a fair amount of my 30ml sample size left and I've been using it none stop since the start of September! It just leaves my skin feeling lovely and moisturised, so much so that even at £34 I would consider buying another.

Simple Soothing eye balm (£3.99/15ml) and Simple revitalising eye roll on (£5.49/15ml) - I've been using these both for some time now and have really enjoyed doing so. I cant say I suffer with dark circles, although I did notice the skin under my eyes was a little puffy so have been using these since to combat this. While I apply the eye roll on in the morning to give my eyes that 'awakened' look, I apply the eyebalm after I've cleansed my face at night to give me more intense hydration around the eye area. I think they both have a great price point too when I consider how long they have lasted me so far.

What skincare products did you love in 2013?

December Favourites!

Cherry Vanilla Candle (£8.00/340g) - This is probably one of my favourite ever candles. Even when its not burning it fills my room with the most beautiful scent, although once lit this is replicated through my whole house. Despite being able to instantly fill my room, I don't find the scent to be too overpowering and really enjoy using this. I've been burning it every evening for around a week now, as well as pretty much the whole of Christmas day and still have plenty left. Complete winner in my book, I cant wait to try more of the Simply Home range! 

Soap & Glory Peaches and Cream cleanser (£8.00/200ml) - I got this cleanser as part of a Christmas present and fell in love with it all over again. Not only does it get rid of all traces of make up it leaves my skin feeling really soft and smells great too! 

Soap & Glory Heel Genius (£5.50/125ml) - I'm always using moisturisers on my body, hands and face, although it occurred to me that my feet are often neglected. So when I got this in a big Soap & Glory set I put it to use and it seems to be doing the trick leaving my feet feeling softer than ever.

Vera Wang Lovestruckk (£34.50/30ml) - I was a little shocked at the price of this over on the Boots website,as just a month ago Fragrance direct were selling 100ml of this perfume for £5 less than a 30ml bottle at Boots! Although for some reason (I imagine Christmas) Fragrance Direct seem to have raised their prices too by a significant amount since then. Despite this I still really love this perfume, this is my second bottle of the stuff and I still cant get enough! Its just a perfect scent for anyone who is a fan of floral/girly scents. I cant say the wear time is amazing, although I can see past that for the lovely fragrance! 

Maybelline's knitted gold (£3.99/7ml) over Collection 2000's Stormy Grey (£3.19/12ml) - I spoke about my love for this combo in this post, I love the polishes together so much that it was the look I spotted last night for New Years Eve!

Carmex (£2.69/10g) - Around the middle of the month when I felt my lips getting drier, this was the first thing I rushed out for. Does the trick every time!

What have you been loving this month?