A Belated Book and Christmas Present Haul

Guess who's back! 

Hint: it's not Slim Shady.

It's been ages since I last blogged. I didn't mean for so much time to pass between posts, but it's been a rough couple of months. I've had a horrendous cold the last couple of weeks, which floored me more than Covid did. I could barely lift my head off my pillow at all last week and just napped and read, but thankfully, I'm feeling much better now. Then before that, I kept suffering from blurred vision and migraines (I think from eye strain), and then my glasses broke, so I couldn't see a thing for a couple of weeks while I waited for new ones. And that's without adding in chronic pain flares and appointments on top of it all. I've just not been up to blogging lately, but I'm hoping I can get back to it now I'm feeling human again.

Anyway, I realised I never managed to show you what I got for Christmas or the books I bought in the days afterwards, and the posts had somehow got lost in my drafts. I know, I know, it's almost April, but I thought you might still like to see what I got. I have some cool things to show you, and I promise they're not overly festive!

So, first up is one of the best backpacks ever. It's no secret that Robin Hood has always been one of my favourite Disney films, and I was so excited to get the Loungefly Robin Hood Floral Folk mini backpack from my younger sister on Christmas Day. It had been on my wish list for ages, and it's even more beautiful in real life than I was expecting. I love the folksy style of the design, the soft denim-blue colour, and how it feels like leather even though it's faux. It's perfect. 

My older sister and brother-in-law got me this gorgeous Vendula London zip around wallet from The Botanist collection. I love the little foxes and embroidered wysteria, but all the little details are amazing, and the soft sage-green colour is so pretty. The vegan leather is so soft, too. This design is sadly no longer available from their website, but you might be able to find it in store or from a stockist.

I, naturally, received a couple of things from Erstwilder from my parents. I got the Warren the Wombat brooch from the Kutopia collection, which is one of the cutest brooches ever, and I also got a funky pair of large, mirrored, metallic-purple crescent-moon drop earrings. I forget which collection they launched alongside... maybe Halloween? But regardless, they're awesome.

One of the coolest presents my family gave me was Labyrinth Monopoly. I grew up on this film, and it's still one of my favourites, so when I saw this game, I knew I needed it and added it to my Christmas list. I really didn't expect anyone to get it for me, so I was thrilled to get it on Christmas morning. It looks amazing! The only problem is, I still haven't managed to get anyone to play it with me yet. I might have to coerce the family into a game over Easter.

Another of my all time favourite Disney movies is The Rescuers, and it's one I watched to death when I was little. My sister remembered, and gave me this amazing set of soft toys of Bernard and Miss Bianca with Evinrude and his little leaf boat. I've never seen soft toys of these characters before, and they're so cute, I could die! They were from the Disney Store as part of the Disney 100 collection, but they're no longer available on the UK website, only the US, which you can find here.

I was excited to get a shower gel and body yoghurt in the seasonal Pears & Share scent from The Body Shop that I'd really wanted to try. The fragrance is lovely, and both products make my skin so soft. 

Have you heard about The Body Shop teetering on the edge of administration? I'm so shocked! It's not a brand I ever expected to struggle. They've already closed half their shops, and I'll be so sad if we lose them altogether. I've been using their products since the nineties, and there are so many I'd miss if they went under. I need my Vitamin E moisture cream, and Satsuma shower gel!

I also received this cute grey owl print scarf, and a set of Faith-In-Nature body washes from my best friend. I haven't tried the shower gels yet, but the grapefruit and coconut ones smell so good.

Of course, there were a few tasty treats as well. I got a Cadbury selection box and some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from my parents, and some M&S Choc Corn (chocolate-covered popcorn) from my sister and brother-in-law. My cousin gave me some Belgian chocolate seashells, too, but I may have lost all control and eaten those before I could take photos!

I also got some books for Christmas, which are always welcome presents with me. I love new books, and enjoy collecting them... not that you would know from my Instagram posts, or anything... My parents gave me the latest Clare Mackintosh mystery, A Game of Lies, which I'd been coveting since last summer, and my Auntie gave me a YA Fantasy boxset called Beautiful Creatures. I'd never heard of the series before, and don't know if it's any good, but there's only one way to find out.

A few days after Christmas, I then went book shopping to Waterstones with my sister to spend our Christmas money, and picked up four new hardbacks- three of which have gorgeous hidden covers! I bought A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon, and Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare. They were all half price in the Boxing Day sales, too- except A Study in Drowning, which was full price. Not too shabby. I haven't read them all yet, but The Serpent & The Wings of Night is incredible- kinda like The Hunger Games but with vampires, and I enjoyed A Study in Drowning, too.

And last but not least, I bought a few of the books from my wish list on Boxing Day when they were all on offer on Amazon. I think they were all half price or less, so it would've been rude not to! I got The Marriage Act by John Marrs, The Sentence by Christina Dalcher, and The Last Goodbye by Tim Weaver. I still need to read them, but they're three authors whose books are auto-buys for me as they're always amazing. I'd recommend John Marrs and Tim Weaver if you love thrillers, and Christina Dalcher if you enjoy suspenseful feminist fiction that smashes the patriarchy. 

I've bought a number of new books since I got these, so I might do a seperate haul or some reviews to show you the beautiful copies I've bought so far this year soon.

Have you bought or been gifted anything interesting lately?

Christmas Fashion and Homeware Haul

Christmas is my favourite time of year, and as a bit of a Christmas addict I'm powerless to resist anything pretty and festive. 

Over the last year and particularly the past few months, I've acquired lots of new festive things, from homeware and craft supplies to brooches and books, so I thought it was about time I compiled them all together and gave you a peek at everything I've bought with a brand new Christmas haul. 

Every Autumn, I always do a big Hobbycraft shop, and pick up all the things I need for Christmas crafting and gift wrapping, and this year has been no different. This is just the first batch of festive supplies I bought this year; since taking the photo above, I've been back to Hobbycraft two or three times for more supplies- mostly for coloured felt, wool, mini pom poms, and more embroidery hoops. I have no restraint when it comes to craft supplies; I could happily buy the whole shop! Luckily for me, I won a £20 Hobbycraft gift voucher in September for my felt floral wreaths (I entered one in to Hobbycraft's Make It Share It competition and came in as a runner up!), so at least I did a little less damage to my bank balance than previous Christmases!

This year, I bought a Nutcracker cracker kit and a cute needle felting decoration kit to make this Christmas, aida and embroidery threads for some Christmas cross stitch projects, embroidery hoops for wreath making, bottle brush trees for decorating my bedroom, ribbons, jingle bells, and present toppers for gift wrapping, and a paint brush for transforming a wooden house-shaped shelf unit in to nail polish storage. I'll be showing you all the things I've made with them really soon.

Earlier in the year, I managed to collect some beautiful Christmas homeware, stationery, and gift wrapping supplies on sale from Cath Kidston, with many of them down to half price. I was thrilled to get my hands on the Robins tray, tea towel set, and roll wrap pack, as I wasn't able to afford them  when they were first available two or three Christmases ago, and the Robins print is one of my favourite Cath K prints ever! I also picked up a couple of packs of polar bear Christmas cards and an adorable snowman mug, which were both from last year's Christmas collection. Unfortunately, none of these products are available now, but they do have some beautiful things in this year's Christmas collection. 

I also treated myself to the Robins Christmas organiser after finding it on Amazon this Autumn, because  these organisers are brilliant for planning for Christmas, and my other CK Christmas organiser is almost filled up from years of use. They're perfect for keeping track of presents, to do lists, shopping lists, recipes, festive menus, and everything else you need to plan for at Christmas time. They bring a new design out of year (this year's is a townhouse), but I just couldn't resist the older, prettier kitschy robin design. 

I love mid-century style Christmas decor, and I've been admiring the Jolie Noel homeware collection from Rex London (formerly Dot Com Gift Shop) for a couple of years. I recently popped back to their website for another look and discovered some of the range was on sale, so I took the opportunity to treat myself to a few pieces I'd had my eye on for ages. I bought the cake bunting kit and cupcake kit to encourage myself to do some Christmas baking, a pack of paper napkins to use over Christmas, a little navy wooden bauble decoration for my tree, and a pack of paper bunting to add to the retro look I'm going for this year. They're all so cute!

A couple of weeks ago, I finally bought this adorable retro Christmas deer duvet set from ASDA. I didn't exactly need a new Christmas duvet set (I bought a different retro deer set from them last year), but I just couldn't resist it. At just £12 (for a double), it would have been stupid not to buy it, right? On one side it's covered in fifties-style deer, Christmas trees, candy canes, holly, robins, squirrels, bunnies, and more, and on the other, it has a complimenting candy cane, holly leaf, and polka dot print. It's so lovely. It seems to be sold out online now, but I'd definitely recommend checking your local ASDA because it's great quality for the price. ASDA always makes the best Christmas bedding. 

Speaking of retro deer, I've also adopted a few of Paperchase's glittery fifties-style Bambi deer ornaments since last Christmas, and they look amazing next to my Christmas tree. I bought a brown Bambi deer and sit down Bambi deer while they were on promo on Black Friday (photo coming soon), and a pink deer in the sales last Christmas. Sadly, there isn't a pastel pink one available this year, but there is a bright pink version here.

A couple of months ago, I picked up the OPI The Nutcracker and the Four Realms nail polish Advent calendar, which I blogged a review of here back in October. I'm really enjoying counting down the days 'til Christmas with it, and have been revealing what polish I've been getting every day along with the contents of the Selfridges Glam Sparkle calendar I recently won, over on my Instagram. The nail polish shades inside are gorgeous!

I discovered this beautiful Christmas anthology called A Literary Christmas on Amazon last month, and just had to buy it to read over the festive season. It's filled with Christmas short stories, passages, poems, and illustrations from the greats like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, and Rudyard Kipling, and it looks wonderful. I've only read a handful of them so far as I'm trying to savour it and save most of it for nearer Christmas, but it's perfect if you love good old-fashioned classics. The best part is, the cover is absolutely stunning! I especially love the little woodland animals- very Animals of Farthing Wood! Would anyone like me to blog a full review of this book?

I've been admiring The Make Arcade's cross stitch kits for the longest time, and recently decided it was time I gave some a try. I finally bought the Reindeer and Christmas Tree bauble cross stitch kits over the Black Friday weekend while they were 15% off, and I've really been enjoying making them this December. I've already finished the Christmas Tree and I'm currently working on the reindeer, which I'll give you a peek at once they're both finished, along with my other recent Christmas cross stitch makes. I've enjoyed them so much, I've just gone back for the gingerbread house kit, and still have my eye on several others. They're little 3 inch hoops to hang on the Christmas tree, and they're great for cross stitch beginners and pros alike.

Way back in March, I snagged this beautiful embroidered red Noelle cardigan from Hell Bunny in the sale, after admiring it from afar for ages. I just fell in love with the amazing embroidered satin deer motif on the back, and the embroidered white snowflakes on the front. I adore it. The sizing is tiny, though, and even though I returned my usual size for the size up, it's still quite snug, so I can only wear it open. (Which is fine, as I rarely wear cardigans buttoned up, anyway). It's still available in red and baby blue (but only in blue in plus sizes) and is currently on sale for just £14.99. Just make sure you size up at least once if you decide to buy one.

Of course, I also collected several festive Erstwilder brooches from last year's Kitschy Christmas collection in the spring, which I blogged about just last week. You'll find links to each piece in the post.

And last month, I also treated myself to two new Erstwilder Christmas brooches from this year's Festive Splendour collection, which you can read more about here.

I've also acquired some products from The Body Shop's new Peppermint Candy Cane range, but I haven't been able to get photos of them yet because it's barely stopped raining in weeks. I'll hopefully be dedicating a post to them before Christmas, though- providing I can get some half decent photos in time. In the mean time, you guys need to check the range out; the scent is amazing!

And, those are all of the festive things I've purchased since last Christmas.

I may have gone a little over board with the festive spending, but I love everything I bought, and most of it was brought on sale, so I got some fantastic bargains. Money well spent, I think!

Have you bought any new Christmas things this year?

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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?

Christmas Things Haul

Over the last few months I've gradually collected quite a few new Christmas bits and bobs, from Christmas decorations and craft supplies, to festive pins and colouring books, so I thought it was about time I did a Christmas haul to show you them all. 

They will no doubt appear in other posts throughout the month, but I wanted to share them before they all sell out in case you see something you like and want to buy. I'll link back to everything that's still available online beneath each image.

Christmas Wonderland Shopper Bag £1.95 // Scandi Christmas Pegs £1.50 // Christmas Carnival Tags £1.95 // Set of 12 Christmas Baubles £4.95

I had my eye on a set of vintage-style glass baubles from Dot Com Gift Shop for well over a year, so I finally placed an order a couple of weeks ago, and bought a few other things from their final clearance, too. The baubles are even lovelier than I'd anticipated, featuring three different designs in four colours; they remind me of some of the decorations we had growing up. They were an amazing bargain, originally retailing for £19.95 and on sale for just £4.95! I'm tempted to order another box or two. I also picked up another set of the scandi pegs I bought last year (one set wasn't enough), two packs of cake cases, a shopper bag to use when Christmas shopping, and a pack of festive tissue paper (which I forgot to add in to the photos, so you'll see it in the next one with my Hobbycraft haul). When my order arrived, I opened the box to find I had also been sent a complimentary pack of gift tags, which was a lovely surprise! I only spent around £11-12 in total, which was fantastic considering what I bought.

Christmas Wonderland Tissue Paper £1.95 // Retro Christmas Fat Quarters £7 // Christmas Lights Cracker Kit £4 // Paper Santa Hat Decoration £2 // Paper Snowflake Decoration £2 // Paper Christmas Tree Decoration £2 // Red Tissue Paper £1 // Red Satin Ribbon £1.20 // Lime Satin Ribbon £1.20 // Australian Green Satin Ribbon £1.20

I always do a Hobbycraft shop at this time of year, picking up any gift wrapping and craft supplies I may need. I bought a huge haul last Christmas so I didn't need as much as usual this year, but I needed to get a new cracker kit (I like to make my own Christmas crackers every year), some ribbons, and tissue paper. I then fell in love with a set of fifties-style fat quarters which I just had to have so I can turn them in to some festive hoop art, and I couldn't leave without adding some paper Christmas tree, Santa hats, and snowflake decorations to my basket. I could have easily bought a million other things, but I was good and restrained myself. Am I the only one who finds shopping for craft supplies as enjoyable and addictive as shopping for clothes and beauty products?

I found these adorable metal Christmas pins in Sainsburys last week, and just couldn't leave without them. They were only £3 so it would've been rude not to. Just look at how cute they are! There were also some similar earrings I want to go back for, and I think I saw hair accessories in the collection as well. I can't seem to find these online, but you should be able to find them in the clothing or gift section in store.

I treated myself to a copy of an A Christmas Carol themed Christmas colouring book called Escape To Christmas Past, since I'd wanted to get my hands on it since last Christmas. It's full of lovely black and white Victorian and Dickensian line drawings to colour in, and I'll be reviewing it properly later in the month.

This is my first Christmas with my own pet dog, and the first Rosie will experience outside a whelping pen (she was born just a few days before Christmas last year), and I've turned in to a crazy puppy Mum who wants to buy her all the things. I couldn't resist getting her this Christmas jumper from Boohoo with the best Christmas movie quote ever, which is surprisingly soft, thick, and good quality for the £10 price tag. I went with the large for Rosie, my Tibetan terrier, who is about the size of a cocker spaniel, and I think it will fit her perfectly. Getting it on her without her shredding it first will be interesting (she goes nuts for fabric), but I think she's going to look adorable. I also bought her the cutest corduroy gingerbread man toy by Little Pet Face, which was just £4 from Sainsburys. She will probably tear it to pieces before Christmas Day is through, but I don't mind knowing it'll keep her happy and amused for at least a few hours. It's her Christmas, too.

My  little sister, Sarah, bought me this awesome Pete's Dragon Elliott Christmas decoration from The Disney Store a couple of months ago, just because. Since it's not at all festive, I'll be keeping him on display all year round. He's no longer available on the UK website, but you can find him on the American site here.

Another adult Christmas colouring book I've acquired is Johanna's Christmas by Johanna Basford, the creator of the best-selling adult colouring books Secret Garden, and Enchanted Forest. It's full of beautiful, intricate Christmas line drawings, with everything from Christmas trees and presents, to baubles and cuckoo clocks just waiting to be coloured in. It's lovely. I'll be reviewing it properly later in the month, with plenty of pictures.

Earlier in the year, I snagged a few things on sale from Cath Kidston, including two bright and colourful cotton Christmas banners, curling ribbons, Christmas stickers, and a pack of mid-century style Christmas cards. They were from previous Christmas collections, but I don't mind that at all.

And finally, these are a few things I picked up from a Paperchase outlet branch in the boxing day sales last year. I bought some little gift boxes, a gift bag, and two packs of nail wraps, which I'll be putting to good use in the next few weeks.

There are a few other Christmas things that I've collected this year which aren't pictured, including some Cath Kidston roll wrap that aren't here yet, my L'Occitane Advent calendar, The Snowman CD soundtrack my sister gave me this weekend, and a couple of Yankee Candles, but they're bound to pop up on the blog later in the month.

What festive things have you been buying this year?

Mini Haul | July 2016

A couple of weeks ago, I treated myself to a few little bits and pieces, so I thought I'd do a mini-haul, and show you what I've been buying lately.

As a self-confessed Cath Kidston and stationery addict, I couldn't resist treating myself to a new notebook and sticker pad in the Cath Kidston sale a couple of weeks ago; I'd been eyeing them both up for months. 

I already own a few Cath Kidston notebooks, but I couldn't resist the Guards and Friends design, which features beef-eaters, the queen's guards, and police men on the front and back cover; it's so adorably British! Inside, there's also a character or two in the corner of each page, and the pages are thin-ruled. which I find are perfect for writing lists and ideas in. They're probably my favourite notebooks to write in, and they're so inexpensive at £6 each. This one was on sale for just £4, which you can find here.

The sticker pad is filled with page after page of cute pastel-coloured labels and stickers. Twenty pages, to be precise. There are two different sheets of designs, one floral, and the other floral with little birds, and they're all so pretty. Each page features seven stickers, so there are fourteen different designs in the book, and one hundred and forty labels altogether. Not bad for just £4 (on sale)! They'd be perfect for journaling, scrapbooking, planners, snail mail, gift tags, labelling... all kinds of stuff. 

I also bought the cutest Queen's guard money box to give to my best friend's little boy for Christmas, but I've already packed it away in the present stash.

I took advantage of The Body Shop's recent 40% off promotion, and saved a few pennies on a few of my essentials. I bought a pot of the Vitamin E moisture cream, and a bottle each of the satsuma body puree and shower gel. I've been using all three products religiously for well over a decade, and I couldn't (okay, I could, if I had to but wouldn't want to) live without them. All three products are amazing, give me super soft, clean-feeling skin, and smell incredible, too. I've yet to find a beauty product that smells better than The Body Shop's satsuma range; I don't think such a thing exists, but if it does, I don't want to know about it.

I treated myself to this fun tutti frutti juice box bag in the Accessorize sale after coveting it for months. It was reduced to £17.50 (originally £35), and I saved a further 10% using code RWDAW15, which brought it down to £15.75! Talk about a bargain. The bag is so cute and colourful and surprisingly roomy for a little bag; I can fit my purse, phone, camera, medicine, keys, and lip balm inside with room to spare. It's so different to any bag I own but fits in nicely in my novelty bag collection, and will go perfectly with so many of my Summer clothes. It doesn't appear to be available online any more, but it could be worth checking in store if you want to get your hands on one.

And I also picked up some new red and pink nail polishes from Boots and Superdrug, since it's been ages since I last bought any new shades. I hunted down a bottle of my favourite nail polish ever- Barry M's Bright Red (the colour is so classic), and came away with three new Sally Hansen salon manicure polishes to try. Clockwise from bottom left: Frutti Petutie. New Flame, and Aria Red-y? They were on promo for £4.99, and I have to say, I'm really impressed with them so far. I may have to go back for some other colours soon. Knowing me, I probably will!

What have you been buying lately?

Stila Clearance Make Up Haul

Stila, one of my favourite high-end beauty brands, has some fantastic make up products on sale on their UK website at the moment. 

With most sale items reduced to half price, I've been unable to resist temptation, and have snapped up quite a few bargains to put away for birthday and Christmas presents for my sisters and best friend. (By the way, if any of you three are reading this post, bugger off now or you'll spoil the surprise!) I've not bought anything for myself, but I thought I'd give you a quick peek at the different sets I picked up so you can see how beautiful the make up is and how great the bargains are.

I've squirrelled away eight sets over the last couple of months, and over the weekend I ordered a couple more lip gloss sets in different shades.

I bought two of the Sweet Kisses lip glaze trios, which include three very feminine, pink lip glazes in shades Glitter, Pink Sugar, and Ballet Kisses. They look perfect for summer time, and for anybody who isn't afraid of rocking a bit of colour. They're a bargain at just £6.50, reduced from £13.

Over the weekend I also purchased two different lip glaze sets- Kiss & Pout, and Read My Lips, which are a little cheaper at £6 each, but look equally lovely. 

Earlier in the year, I bought two convertible colour trio sets in Beauty In Bloom (top), and Blooming Bright (bottom). These are dual lip and cheek creams, and the packaging reminds me of Polly Pockets. They're currently out of stock, but they do keep reappearing, so it's worth checking back just in case. They were originally £13 (with a value of £22), and were on sale for £6.50.

Last week I picked up the In The Garden eyeshadow palette, with one of my sister's in mind. It features ten garden-inspired eyeshadows, and an exclusive black smudge stick with gold and green pearl. The shades look absolutely gorgeous, and I love that there's a mixture of natural earthy shadows, and a little bit of colour. The mirror looks quite handy, too. It was originally £25, but reduced to just £12.50.

I bought a couple of the In The Light eyeshadow palettes, which I think will go down really well with my best friend and my older sister whose birthdays are coming up in June. Like the In The Garden palette, it includes a full sized smudge stick and ten eyeshadows, which are ten of the prettiest neutral shades I've ever seen. It's the perfect every-day palette that could take you from day to night, and it looks like a good alternative to Urban Decay's Naked palette or Naked Basics. At just £12.50, down from £25, this one is definitely a bargain worth getting! I might need one for myself.

And last but not least, I snapped up the In The Love gift set which I will be giving to my bestie this Christmas. This stunning little set features twelve colour-rich matte, pearl and shimmer eyeshadows, a deluxe lip glaze in 'Apricot', and a deluxe-size Huge Extreme-Lash Mascara. The make up shades all look so gorgeous. The best part is, the palette has been designed to look like a love letter! When closed, the palette takes on the form of an envelope 'sealed' with gold-coloured sealing wax with a key design embossed in the centre, and it's easily one of the prettiest make up palettes I've ever seen. This little beauty will only set you back £15, which is a total steal since it retailed at £30 full price!

If you're thinking of ordering anything, you might be pleased to hear that Stila offer free standard delivery in the UK on their UK website, and orders usually make it through the letterbox in just 2-3 working days!

Will you be picking up anything from Stila's clearance sale?