Cadbury Gifts Direct Post Christmas Sale Haul

Christmas may be over, but some sale shopping this week has enabled me to stretch that Christmas cheer out a little bit longer. No, I haven't been splashing out on clothes or beauty products; I've actually been splurging on chocolate. Cut price Cadbury Christmas chocolate, to be exact; the only thing better than Cadbury chocolate.

Last week, I discovered that the Cadbury Gifts Direct website had slashed the prices of their Christmas sale stock right down, with many items more than 80% off, and as low as just 30p. Naturally, at those prices, I couldn't resist placing an order and snapping up some bargains, so I did just that. I placed my order last Friday afternoon, it was dispatched within the hour, and the box arrived on Monday morning, packed full of festive chocolate. It certainly brought a little happiness to my family on that gloomy Blue Monday.

In total, I bought twenty-two edible items- they're not all for me, though; I'm not that greedy, honest- and my delicious haul came in at just under a tenner. With delivery I spent £13.85, which was a bargain for all that chocolate.

It didn't occur to me to blog about my order, until I shared a photo of my haul on social media on Monday, and was met with excited chocoholics who had never heard of the website rushing off to grab some bargains for themselves. It was only then that I realised the sale was a well kept secret, so I decided it was only fair to spread the word and tell you guys about it, too. 

Let me show you what I got for my money...

I won't lie, the main reason why I placed an order was to get my hands on the chocolate Santas. They taste just like Cadbury Easter eggs, which is the tastiest chocolate ever. Fact. I picked up eight of the 100g chocolate Santas for just 60p each; a total steal considering they originally retailed for £2.99!  (They also have 50g chocolate Santas on sale for just 30p). They're so delicious they didn't all survive the week; three Santas have since perished. May they rest in peace.

The cardboard tubes of Cadbury Freddo Faces, Buttons, and Fudge Minis were down to just 30p from £1.42, which was so ridiculously cheap I bought nine boxes; four each of the Buttons and Freddo Faces, and one box of Fudge. I was tempted to buy more, but I restrained myself to keep my order under a tenner to get the cheaper delivery fee. Unfortunately, these are all currently sold out, but keep checking back as they did come back in to stock in last year's sale.

I also picked up two of the large Cadbury Snow Bites Christmas crackers, which are stuffed with four little bags of Snow Bites. They originally retailed for £2.99 a cracker, which I'm sure you'll agree is shockingly overpriced for 126g of Cadbury chocolate, but on sale for just 40p, they were a fantastic bargain. If you've never tried Snow Bites before, they're similar to Mini Eggs, but with a dusting of icing sugar on the outside.

Speaking of Snow Bites, I also bought a couple of little 43g tubes of Snow Bites for less than half price. They were originally 65p, and on sale for just 30p. It didn't occur to me at the time that I would've saved money and got more chocolate by buying another cracker instead, but hey ho; these little tubes are cuter.

And my final purchase was something I used to beg my Mum for each Christmas, but was never allowed (probably because they were expensive and would've lasted two seconds on the tree with three kids in the house)... a pack of Chocolate Christmas Tree Decorations. I'm finally living the childhood dream! Haha! If only I still had a Christmas tree up to hang them on... The mixed pack of fourteen milk chocolate and milk chocolate Oreo chocolate decorations was a pricey £3.46, but on sale for a much purse-friendlier 50p. Pretty damn good for fourteen big pieces of chocolate!

Everything I purchased has a best before date of the 31st of March 2018, so you could stock up on chocolate and satisfy your chocolate cravings right through 'til Easter without even breaking the bank! Y'know, if you're one of those weird people who can have chocolate in the house without actually eating it.

I'm not one of those people.

Unfortunately, most of these awesome bargains have now sold out- probably because I coerced several chocoholics in to purchasing their own hauls and wasn't quick enough writing this post-, but there are still loads of other edible Cadbury bargains to shop from, which you can find here. Last year, many of the items did come back in to stock after initially selling out, so keep checking back if you have your eye on anything in particular.

Will you be treating yourself to some chocolate in the Cadbury sale?

Fashion and Beauty Sale Haul

Hi guys,

I'm sorry that there wasn't a Sunday Favourites post from me yesterday. I had to go to the hospital for physio and acupuncture first thing Saturday morning- on two hours sleep- and it really took it out of me. I was in so much pain by the time I got home, and felt so exhausted that I just didn't have the strength to blog. Or the patience to deal with my Mum's laptop that kept freezing and crashing on me every ten seconds. I drifted in and out of naps on Saturday afternoon / evening, and then slept on and off on Sunday from 5am 'til 6pm, and only surfacing because I was awoken for tea. I ate a few bites and fell back asleep for another hour soon after! I still feel completely drained.

I was hoping to put this week's Sunday Faves post together yesterday, but obviously that went out of the window. I should be getting my laptop back from PC World today (fingers crossed), and providing everything goes to plan, I'll do my best to bring you a belated Sunday Faves post by tomorrow morning. In the mean time, I've got a shopping haul to share with you, full of lovely things I spent my Christmas money on. Who wants a peek?

The photo of everything grouped together makes it look like I splurged my arse off, but the haul isn't as excessive as it looks. I didn't even spend a fortune; I bought most of them in the sales and snapped up some really great bargains. 

So, first up is the milkshake clutch from New Look. Yep, the one that every fashion blogger and her pampered pooch has gone crazy for this Winter; myself included. I've been lusting after it for months, so when I saw it was on sale for just £4(!), I finally pounced. The delivery charge doubled the bill, but it was still a saving on the original RRP of £12.99, and I personally think it was worth it; it's going to go with so many of my clothes. Plus it's bloody amazing! Unfortunately, it's no longer available from New Look online, but it's still available via ASOS here for £6.

Accessorize is one of my favourite shops to visit at sale time; they always have generous discounts on their sale stock- often up to seventy-five percent off! A couple of weeks ago I was browsing their site online, and saw these Gypsy Rose fairisle lace up slippers on sale for just £5.70, down from £19.00! I also managed to find a 10% discount code (here) that took the price down even further! I'd been coveting these slippers all AW, so it was an offer I couldn't refuse. They have a fleece lining, so they're ridiculously comfortable, and there's even plenty of room to accommodate my chunky legs and wide feet.

I also bought myself a Soap and Glory gift set from Boots, which I think was my first post-Christmas purchase. The Think Pamper set is my very first taste of S&G toiletries; until recently I'd only tried their make up! I kid you not! Crazy, right? I've wanted to try some for years, so I took matters in to my own hands and bought some with my Christmas money. I got the Think Pamper set for just £9 (down from £18), which was a brilliant bargain considering it includes six lotions and potions, a big bath lily, and a huge vanity case. For some reason, I didn't realise it came with a case, so it was a pleasant surprise. It's really great quality, too, and will be perfect for storing my extra bath stuff in.

On Boxing Day, I braved the crowds of shoppers eagerly trying to shop the Lush sales online. The website was running ridiculously slow and kept crashing on me repeatedly for a couple of hours, but I was determined to snap up a few Christmas goodies. I eventually gave up on trying to add single products to my basket, and went for the Santa Claus is Coming to Town gift set, plus a Lush Pud bath bomb, and a Sparkle Fairly Shimmer Bar. Everything was half price! I think I spent about £22 in total. The gift set contained eight festive products, including bath bombs, bubble bars, soap, and shower gels and came in a lovely festive box tied with red and white string. It even had an envelope tied to it containing a letter from Santa, some stickers to decorate the box with, and naughty and nice badges, which I think is such a cute touch. I may be thirty by next Christmas (a terrifying thought!), but I'm sure I'll make good use of the badges when it comes around.

I treated myself to a couple of things that weren't on sale, too, including this amazing Skinny Dip ice cream cone bag from ASOS. I'd wanted it for months, and just couldn't resist those sugary sweet pastel colours any longer. It's one of the best novelty bag designs I've ever seen, and it's going to go perfectly with so many of my colourful Spring / Summer outfits. I can't wait for the seasons to change so I can start using it! It's currently still available from ASOS here for just £25.

In the new year, I bought myself to a new cross stitch kit to keep myself busy for the next couple of months. I always have to be doing something, even when I'm resting. I bought this Easter kit from Riverdrift House, which is a sampler style cross stitch kit with plenty of pretty pastel coloured threads to play with. I'm normally just a Christmas cross stitcher, but I thought I'd give something else a go for a change... and yep, I'm not enjoying this half as much as the Christmas themed pictures I've done. It's therapeutic and it's pretty, but I definitely get more enjoyment out of Christmas crafts. I'll be seeing this project through 'til the end, and I'm sure I'll like it better once it starts coming together.     

I also ordered this gorgeous navy polka dot Hepburn swing dress from Lady Vintage (the same style dress as the red version I recently reviewed), but sadly it was far too big and I had to send it back. It's a shame as it was less than half price, but you win some, you lose some. I only noticed after delivery that Lady V have recently changed their sizing, but at least I'll know for next time.

I used some of the money from the refund to buy Ciaté's Mini Mani Manor nail polish advent calendar instead. It was just £14.70 (down from £50.00) on sale, so I thought I'd snap it up for next Christmas. I can never afford to buy them full price at Christmas time, but I don't mind using last year's as I know from experience that the nail polishes keep really well. It's sold out now on Ciaté's website, but it's still on sale through ASOS for £27 here.

So, that's how I've spent my Christmas money this year. I personally think I spent it well; I got so much for my money!

Have you picked up any bargains lately?

Best of the Sales: Soap and Glory Make Up Haul

Soap and Glory is a well renowned favourite with beauty bloggers and beauty savvy ladies alike, but until a few months back, I didn't realise that they made make up as well as toiletries. Where have I been?

They had some fantastic sets available in Boots this Christmas, and eager to try them, I was fortunate enough to snap up a few sets in the sales with some Christmas money. When I saw them in store on Christmas Eve, they were 3 for 2, but I bought them online the same day where they were all half price.

I couldn't choose between the sets available, and ended up buying all four. Oops.

First up is one of my favourites: the Crazy Sexy Khol set which is a tin containing five waterproof khol eye liners in a range of colours (Super Black, Cocoa Bean, Aquabat, Blue My Mind, and Grapevine), and three complimenting eyeshadows (Aubersheen, Smokin', and Dandy Plum). I'm already in love with the khols, but haven't tried the eyeshadows yet and I'm itching to give them a try! It was originally £18.00 but on sale for just £9.

The Eyes Box is a set which I shall be putting away in the present stash, which is why I've left the plastic on in the photos. It's contains a full size Thick and Fast Super Volume Mascara; a Smoulder Kohl Waterproof Eye Liner in Superblack; six Lid Stuff eyeshadows in Vanilla, Wild Blue, Smokin', Minky, Dandy Plum, and Black Gold; plus a mirror and a double-ended eyeshadow brush. It's a great set of eye essentials that could be used for a variety of neutral, smokey, and colourful looks and only cost me £8.00 instead of the RRP of £16.00. I would love to keep it for myself, but I know somebody who's going to appreciate it more.

Powder Trip is a beautiful set of three dust on pressed powders to bronze, brighten and luminize the face, and I can't wait to try them out. Don't they look gorgeous? The set includes a multi-shade powder bronzer in Solar Powder; a multi-shimmer blushing powder in Love at First Blush; and a luminizing face powder in Glow All Out. The set also includes a blusher brush and a large mirror. It was on sale for £10.00, and was originally £20.00- obviously a fantastic and very tempting bargain!

Be Your Own Gloss is, as you can see, a set of five 'Sexy Mother Pucker' lip plumping glosses. The name makes me chuckle, is that sad? Included are shades: Punch Bowl, Half Naked, Clear, Candy Gloss, and Yummy Plum. I've yet to give them a test drive, but they look lovely. The set originally retailed for £14, but was on sale for £7. I'm afraid this one is also sold out online, but there is a new set of 3 lip glosses called Super Colour Sexy Mother Pucker which is available full price, which could be a lovely substitute.

I'm sorry that most of the sets are now sold out online (they went so fast), but you might still be able to find them in store, so it could be worth paying a visit to your local Boots. If you're unlucky, Boots sell most of the items featured in these sets singularly on their website, and no doubt in store, too. You can browse the selection available online from here.

I'll be sure to review each of these sets once I've tried everything out and can give you honest reviews. 

Did you get your hands on any of these Soap and Glory make up sets this Christmas or in the sales? 

If you've tried Soap and Glory make up, tell me what you think! Is there a particular make up item you love best?

Best of the Sales: Stila Haul

The January sales have been in full swing for a few weeks now, and one I've taken full advantage of is Stila's. 

The UK website has been offering some fantastic deals, with discounts of up to 75% on many items- and on some really beautiful products, too. When I discovered this over Christmas, it didn't take me long to snap up a few sets. I would've been stupid not to, really!

I ordered three different sets; and ordered multiples of two of them which I'm going to store away for birthday / Christmas presents. Yep, I'm that organised, I already have some presents sorted for next Christmas! I didn't aim to start my Christmas shopping before this one was even over, but the products and prices were too good to resist, and I know of a few ladies who will love them!

The Snow Angel Colour Palette was the reason I logged on to Stila that day. I gave one to each of my sisters for Christmas after picking them up earlier in the year, but I never managed to get one for myself before they sold out. After giving them to my sisters on Christmas Day, it reminded me how much I'd wanted one, and I later popped on to the website for a browse. And, would you believe, this lovely set was on sale- and with 75% off! It had been reduced from £29.50 to just £7.37! £7.37 for 18 eyeshadows, 12 blushers, and a full sized mascara! That deal was so fantastic I bought two; one for me and one for my best friend.

I can't wait to play around with all the colours in this set; they all look so wearable, and feel silky soft to the touch. My sisters have both told me nothing but good things about them, and I'm so pleased I finally got a set of my own. I'll be sure to give it a proper review very soon, once I've had some time to test it all out!

I bought a few Stila Seeing Stars Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner Sets, which is a set of five metallic eyeliners. They were originally £25 but on sale for £6.25, which is fantastic considering the products are worth £65! I originally bought one, but made another order for a couple more. These eyeliners went out of stock, but were restocked afterwards, so it's worth keeping an eye on the website in case more stock reappears.

And I also bought another palette. I wasn't expecting the packaging to be glittery! I fell in love with the glittery-ness and oohed and aahed at it for longer than is probably acceptable for a twenty-eight year old woman!

This set is the Stila Sparkle Luxe Eye Shadow Palette which was on sale for £7.50, down from £30.00. I'd originally ordered it with the intent of giving it as a present later on, but I'd underestimated just how lovely it would be. The short story is, I fell in love with the eyeshadow colours, especially the burgundies, so I kept it for myself! I'm sure you would've done so, too! I did go back online hoping to pick up a couple more, but it sold out so fast. I'm hoping they might restock it.

The set comes with an eyeliner pencil and nine beautiful eyeshadows, four of which I've already had a play with- they're beautiful and really well pigmented. Again, I shall be back with a full review of the set really soon.

I'd intended to put together a post on Boxing Day to let you all know about these fabulous bargains, but they'd all sold out in hours! I tweeted about them, though. Sadly all three of these sets are now sold out their UK site, but it's worth keeping an eye on their website on the off-chance they're restocked. There are some other great bargains to be had, though; all of which you can find here. I'm quite tempted with the All You Need is Love pressed powder palette!

EDIT: As I'm writing this edit on 8th Jan 2014 at 10:10pm, Stila have restocked many of their sales items including the Snow Angel Palette and the Sparkle Luxe Eye Shadow Palette! Get in there fast!

Autumn Haul | October 2013

Hey guys,

Over the last few weeks I've been fortunate enough to treat myself to a few bargains, and I thought you guys might like to see them.

I like to tip you guys off with awesome finds that I think you'll love as much as I do, so that you have the opportunity to track them down before they're gone for good. Like for instance, today's little haul of awesomeness...

I saw these lovely penguin and snowflake print PJ bottoms in Sainsburys and knew they had to come home with me, because I fell in love with the adorable penguins. I'm trying to rebuild my PJ collection from scratch, too. I often live in my pyjamas for days on end when the pain's extra bad and I don't have the strength to do anything and need to remain as comfortable as possible; so my lack of nightwear was getting ridiculous.  The penguin print is adorable, and so bold and cheerful. I feel very wintry in them, and they'd be perfect to wake up in on Christmas morning.

I think I paid £8 for the bottoms and £5 for the cute frilled vest, which are brilliant prices for such lovely, good quality pyjamas. I'm loving TU at Sainsburys' (very affordable) designs this season.

Last week, River Island launched their end of season sale, and I popped on over for a browse (online) for potential Christmas presents. That soon went out the window! There were some incredibly beautiful bags on sale for next to nothing, so I bought this stunning little green satchel for myself for just £10. It was originally £20! The sides and straps are mock croc, and it's about the size of a hardback novel. It's not too small and not too big, and has enough room for all the essentials. Oh, and how beautiful is that colour? 

The bag is sold out online now, but it also comes in cobalt, pink, light pink, yellow, orange, gold, and leopard print, just not on sale. I'm quite taken with the cobalt blue, myself! Are you listening, Santa?

I also took the opportunity to order this green messenger bag. I ordered it as a potential Christmas present for my Mum, but on arrival I concluded it's probably a bit young for her tastes, so decided to keep it for myself instead. Oh, damn! How ever am I going to cope...?

The bag is so roomy, and will be as useful as Mary Poppins' carpet bag for travelling, trips out, hospital appointments, and shopping. It would be great for schooling and work, too. I love the bright, grass-green colour, and the zip detailing gives it a bit of an edge. It was just £12 on sale, down from £25, and again it's now sold out online, but it's available in other colours full price. Tan, brown, beige, red, cobalt, and black. If it's the green you've set your heart on, I'd definitely recommend checking in your local River Island because you might get lucky and find one!

My favourite purchase of late has to be this beautiful animal print scarf from Next, and I just had to show you it as I know a fair few of you love animal patterns as much as I do!

It's a luxurious chocolate in colour with woodland creatures all over it. Deer, rabbits, squirrels, owls, mice, and raccoons, to be specific! I love the sketched appearance of these adorable critters, and the attention to detail is lovely. The fabric is so soft, warm, and thick, and surprisingly inexpensive at just £10. Needless to say, when I first saw it it stopped me in my tracks and I couldn't leave without it. Sadly it doesn't appear to be available online (yet?), but it's definitely worth looking in store for it as I think it's a new line and it's so incredibly gorgeous.

And of course, I bought myself the gorgeous tartan pinafore dress by Alice & You which I shared in an outfit post last week, which you can see here if you want to. I adore this dress and know I'll be wearing it all winter long. I think many of you would love this dress, too, but unfortunately it's now sold out completely online.

I also treated myself to some hair accessories from Accessorize, while my sister was looking for jewellery for her choir's event. I've never seen houndstooth hair clips before, so I had to have them. They were £4 for a set of 10 and look really study.

I've also been curious about those ribbon hair ties for ages now; are they really better than ordinary hair bobbles? The ties are in beautiful jewel tones, not that you can tell from the above photo which was taken at night in artificial light, but they're bright, bold and pretty. They were £3.90 for a set of 5.

There was also a pair of black bat stud earrings I bought from Sainsburys, but I seem to have lost them somewhere between leaving the car park and getting home. Oops.

What have you been buying lately?

Dorothy Perkins Haul

I've not been able to do much sale shopping this season as my bank account has been depleted from Christmas, but temptation got the better of me, and I couldn't resist snapping up a few bargains from Dorothy Perkins last week.

I bought a fox print t-shirt, a red blouse with a peter pan collar, and a basic red t-shirt (which I added to get free delivery and may return). I've had the raccoon tee a little while now, but have yet to show you or wear it.

First up is the bow collar top in a beautiful shade of tomato red. It's a thin blouse made from chiffon, and has a peter pan type collar which is joined in the middle to look like a bow. I bought it to wear with patterned skirts, but it would look equally pretty with a great pair of jeans. I'm really pleased with this purchase as I'm lacking plain coloured tops and this one is lovely.

 It was originally £25 and on sale for £15. It also comes in blush, although very few sizes are left now.

I bought another red top, a cotton scoop neck tee with three quarter length sleeves, again to pair with patterned bottoms. It fits well, but I'm conscious of my lumps and bumps in it, so I may be returning this one. I actually only added it to my basket to reach the free delivery offer with the intention of returning it later to save the cost. These basic tees are £8 and come in a variety of colours.

I bought this amazing raccoon tee in October, but I don't think I've shared it with you yet. I missed out on the fantastic ASOS raccoon shirt, which I was dying to own, so when I found that Dorothy Perkins were selling a t-shirt with a similar print I knew I had to have one. I just can't resist a quirky print.

It's a soft ivory coloured tee with cheeky little raccoons and maple leaves all over it, and I adore it. The only fault I have with it is that it's a little large on me as my regular size was out of stock and it's designed to look over sized, but it looks cute tucked in to a skirt, and I imagine it'd work with a pair of skinny jeans, too.

It's now sold out online, but it's definitely worth keeping your eyes open for in store. Looking back at my accounts, I saw it retailed at £22, but I bought it on sale for less than £18.

Isn't the print adorable?

I'd been wanting this fox print tee since it landed in early Autumn, and as luck would have it, it resurfaced in a workable size last week in the sale, so I snapped it up fast. It was originally £22, but on sale for £12. It's also sold out completely online now, so I'm glad I found it. I've loved foxes since I was a little girl, and remember having a black t shirt with foxes on it when I was about eight or nine, so this one makes me a little nostalgic. It's just so cute!

It's the same design and size as the raccoon top, so it's a little bigger than I'd have liked, but I'm looking forward to making it work for me. I'm sure balancing the looseness with a fitted skirt or pair of trousers will do the trick.

Lots of lovely little foxes.

I don't think I'll ever grow out of my love for quirky and unusual patterns. I can't get enough of them.

I also bought two collars in nude and black (out of stock) on sale from Dorothy Perkins during another shopping trip, but I forgot to pack them. I'll share them here when I return home next weekend.

What have you been buying in the January sales?

Have you found any great bargains?