Showing posts with label balmainxloreal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label balmainxloreal. Show all posts

Thursday, 14 December 2017

Christmas Gift Guide 2017 // For Her



Hello again guys; so it’s already 14 days into Blogmas and the big day is getting ever nearer. In all honestly, I’m not an amazing present buyer, but I’m not too bad (I hope). Last year, I did a Christmas gift guide and I really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d give it another go for 2017. Maybe I’m a little biased, but I feel like it is easier to buy presents for girls/women than it is for men or children. There’s so many different things of different prices, sizes and ages. That being said, I feel like my tastes have changed a fair bit over the last few years, but even so, here are a few different ideas for what you could buy a female in your life (some of these things are applicable for children and men, too, but that is entirely dependant on the person). Some of the items listed are reasonably priced, others are more high end pricing. If you like these kinds of posts, please let me know in the comments :)

1. Balmain x L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipsticks.

Ok, so I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m actually obsessed with how beautiful these lipsticks are. Priced at £12.99, they’re affordable but still a bit of a splurge for the majority of people. The packaging is gorgeous, they smell amazing and they’re available in 12 different shades so there’s a shade for everyone. One of these lipsticks would make a great gift as they’re slightly more expensive so not necessarily something that someone would consider buying for themselves on an everyday basis. They’re not so expensive that you would embarrass your friend or partner, but they’re definitely a product that would make them extremely happy as the formula and packaging of the lipsticks is excellent quality and therefore good value for money.

2. Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfume

An obvious choice for anyone, male or female is perfume. One of the most popular brands of perfume is Marc Jacobs and the Daisy range is definitely the best selling. They’re fairly expensive, priced at £35-70 dependant on the style, price and size of the product. However, they look absolutely beautiful and all of them smell incredible, they definitely feel like a more high end product but the price isn’t too expensive if you shop around online (always pay via PayPal for protection if you decide to do that) and I know so many people that own at least one Daisy perfume that it’s more or less a failsafe gift; it’s a flirty, floral perfume that most people love.

3. The Body Shop Christmas Gift Set

Any products by the Body Shop are of excellent quality and are hypoallergenic so suit any skin type, although I love that you can buy products specifically for certain skin types. One of the gift sets that looks like great value is the Frosted Berries Festive Tin, priced at £20 it includes a shower gel, hand cream, body scrub and a body butter all in the Limited Edition berry fragrance. They’re full sized products, so altogether they would come to more than the price of the gift set, plus the product last for ages, so it’s a good gift for anyone into skincare. Any Christmas skincare related gift set is pretty good value for money, so any gift set would be appreciated by anyone as they’re a good staple during the winter months when skin has a tendency to dry out.

4. Harry Potter Book Set

Growing up with the Harry Potter series, waiting for the films and books to be released I’m definitely a massive Harry Potter fan, but many of the people of my age (in fairness, all ages) like the series so buying someone a new Harry Potter book set, will likely go down very well as most people will have ruined their original copies years ago from constant reading... I know I did. A full set of the new paperback editions will set you back around £40, the hardbacks are more, but considering you do get 7 books for the price, that’s a good deal. This gift idea can be applied to any books, for example another series like the Hunger Games or the Divergent Series. Books are always a great gift idea, regardless of age.

5. Cath Kidston Cat Bag

Bags from Cath Kidston are always dreamy, but the cross body bags that are available in funky shapes at the minute have taken kitsch to a whole new level. Any cat lover will instantly fall in love with this bag, for £48 it’s a pretty good deal as it’ll be great quality for that price. Ted Baker have a similar design for a far higher price tag, so the Cath Kidston version is a great way of getting a fashionable item for someone on more of a budget. A quirky but cute bag can update any outfit and works for any time of the year, so this is a great purchase for any loved one any time of the year. It’s hard oilcloth, so it’s waterproof too, which is a bonus.

6. Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

So many people have been raving about this palette online, it’s one of the most sought after eyeshadow palettes for any beauty lover, particularly those who love warm toned eyeshadows. Priced at £43, available in the UK from Cult Beauty, it is a more high end beauty product but the reviews say it all. The range of shades available in the palette are great, there are many shimmers and mattes, bright and neutrals. If this items is a bit out of your budget, there are some drugstore dupes available, for example I can think of a fantastic alternative from MakeUp Revolution; but if you want to go all out for a loved one at Christmas, the high end version is absolutely stunning. 

7. Olivia Burton Watch

A watch is one of those present ideas that will always be useful; the Olivia Burton brand of watches are so beautiful and have a massive range of designs and sizes to choose from. The bees and floral designs are the ones that appeal to me the most, but one of the things that I like about this brand is that you can choose a design to suit whoever you want to buy for. The watches retail from £70+ depending on size, design and shape but I feel like a watch is a good investment and if you want to buy a present that someone is guaranteed to appreciate, a watch is a good bet. If this brand is out of your price range, there are similar options available from Accessorize for roughly £20, which is a bargain. A cute watch is always a good accessory all year round, too.

8. Punky Pins ‘Festive As Fuck’

This is the perfect way to celebrate Christmas in a classy way! Priced at £7, it’s a super affordable and funny gift that would be great in a secret Santa or for family and friends who would appreciate a cheeky pun on a pin. As soon as I spotted this, I had someone in mind and for the price, it’s such a good choice of gift. It’s a bit more Christmas related than some of the other items on this list, but it’s also a lot cheaper, which is nice. It’s always good to have a funny and cheap option. That said, the pins bu this brand are always really well made and have good lasting power.

9. Harry Potter Baubles & Bunting

Similarly to the idea of buying the Harry Potter series as a gift set, in Primark they have an amazing range of Harry Potter branded merchandise at the moment; the two baubles are £5 each and pretty large too. The bunting is £3 and is a great way to jazz up the house for a slightly more alternative Christmas. All of these items are a super affordable way to celebrate Christmas and gift someone when you’re on a budget. I’m in love with the range available at Primark a they’re good quality for the price but not so expensive that you would worry about buying three or four different items. Definitely some must have gifts for any Potterhead.








Wednesday, 6 December 2017

December Playlist!




1. Échame La Culpa - Luis Fonsi & Demi Lovato
2. I’m Yours - Alessia Cara
3. Cying in the Club - Camila Cabello
4. Dusk Till Dawn - Zayn feat. Sia
5. We Can’t Stop - Miley Cyrus
6. Bad Boys - Alexandra Burke
7. Secret Love Song, Pt. II - Little Mix
8. What About Us - P!nk
9. Learn To Love Again - Lawson
10. Where Do Broken Hearts Go - One Direction
11. Shape of You - Ed Sheeran 
12. Stitches - Shawn Mendes
13. Let Me Love You - DJ Snake feat. Justin Bieber
14. River of Tears - Alessia Cara
15. Sorry Not Sorry - Demi Lovato


Hello again guys! It’s day 6 of Blogmas, which is insane! This month is disappearing so quickly! These are the songs that I’m loving at the minute, although I’m sure I’ll do another Playlist post later on this month which will be more festive. I love listening to my iPod on journeys long or short, as I do find that the battery lasts much longer on an iPod then my iPhone battery would. Plus, I don’t need a headphone adapter for my iPod which is a bonus. Generally I listen to a variety of different artists, genres and songs each day, but these are the songs that I make sure that I listen to at least once a day at the moment, I love putting a playlist on and sitting back to relax and think. I’m constantly making new playlists, to the point that I have so many to choose from, for different moods and different times of the year, etc. I’m starting to think that I need to invest in an iPod with more memory space, as 8gb isn’t really enough for the amount of music that I listen to, but we’ll see. What music are you listening to? Let me know in the comments! :)



Tuesday, 5 December 2017

December Beauty Haul

Hello again guys; I literally can’t believe how much of a struggle it is to somehow prepare for blogmas; I feel like an absolute mess in that I’ve never been the kind of blogger to organise my life enough to schedule or plan posts in advance so this is definitely a challenge for me. Although that said, I’m still not scheduling posts, definitely feeling like I need to though. This month I’ve been quite naughty and treated myself to some make up bits and pieces that I’ve been eyeing up for a while. I’ve been on the hunt for a decent concealer that’s pale enough for my ghostly skin and I’ve invested in the L’Oréal Paris True Match Concealer in the shade Ivory Rose which is the lightest shade with a blue toned match. Perfect for me and relatively purse friendly at £7.99. Another product that I’ve had my eyes on for a while is the Balmain x L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lipstick in the shade Domination which is a gorgeous ruby red shade and honestly, the packaging alone makes the slightly pricey £12.99 worth it. Plus, it smells divine! I also decided to bite the bullet and purchase the L’Oréal Paris Brow Artist Pomade in the shade Dark Blonde and the rose gold packaging is lovely, as is the included brow applicator, but for £9.99 it was definitely one of the more expensive purchases included in this little beauty haul.

I’m a bit of a mascara addict, not even exaggerating ahaha. It’s definitely the one beauty product that I would take on a desert island... For an everyday make up look I always need to have mascara on, it’s a must for me. I’ve repurchased the L’Oréal Paris Miss Baby Roll as it’s an absolutely amazing mascara, particularly for curling and volumising with a reasonable price of £7.99. I’ve always been a fan of Maybelline mascaras, so I decided to experiment with the Colossal Big Shot and Lash Sensational Limited Edition Rose Gold. They’re £7.99 and £8.99, both of them are well priced for good drugstore mascaras and come in lovely packaging, particularly the limited version, I’m excited to try them out, the brushes are very different to one another, so it’s likely to be interesting even so. The final item in this haul is the L’Oréal Paris Paradise Extatic mascara, which is more of an investment piece due to the slightly more expensive price point of £11.99, but that said the packaging is stunning and the brush looks extremely easy to use on any lash type, so I have very high expectations for this mascara after reading some rave reviews. Let me know in the comments if you have or want any of these products, I’d love to know your opinions! :)











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