Tanya Burr Lips and Nails!

Most of you probably heard about Tanya Burr releasing her lip gloss and nail polish range on the 30th of January. But if you've been living under a rock, at least by bloggersphere standards, Tanya Burr is a top beauty, fashion and lifestyle Blogger and Youtuber, and is actually one of the first blogs I started reading regularly. Then when she released her products just over a week ago I couldn't wait to order a few of them to try them out!

I decided to buy one of each product type. So for lip gloss I chose Aurora, as it's such a flattering colour for my lips as it's only a shade or two lighter than my natural lip, and I had just run out of a similar coloured gloss so the timing was perfect. It smells delicious, just like strawberry sweets and has glitter in it to make your lips sparkle. It's not very sticky either which is good because I hate it when lip glosses almost make your lips stick together! They retail at £6.99 each, so are very reasonably priced. 

As for nail polish I chose Little Duck (what a sweet name!) as I am really into mint greens/blues at the minute and it's one colour I don't have in my nail polish collection. When applied to your nails it is true to the bottle colour and like most polishes, only needs two coats to achieve the perfect colour. These guys retail at £5.99 each, so again, they're super affordable.

Definitely going to invest in a few more of each product when I get paid next week! You can check them out on feelunique.com!

Keep smiling!

Birds in Blossom x

Seventeen Complete Collection

This is the Seventeen Complete Collection, which I picked up from Boots yesterday as they were having a 70% sale! So the box says £35 but I picked this beauty up for £10.50 an absolute bargain! Lets take a look what you get for your moolah...

On the first 'page' are a variety of beauty products from brushes to gel eyeliner and on the other 'page' you have a few make-up tips and advice and then there are a couple of windows that give you a glimpse of the eyeshadows and other goodies that are concealed in a sort of pull out section.

Firstly, the brushes. You get five in this set, they're all super soft and I've tried each and every one and they work really well! As you can see there is one 'Cheeks' brush, three 'Eyes' brushes and one 'Lips' brush. I think the design is really simple and sleek, they just look really cool. I've been after some brushes for a while and these are perfect for what I was after.

Next up, the beauty items. So here you get a 15ml tube of 'Photo flawless' skin primer and I must say I've never used a primer before so I was a little skeptical but I put it on today and it really did work, my foundation lasted a lot longer than usual. I have yet to use the Limited edition black mascara, but I have looked at the brush applicator and it's a thick one so it is the type I usual go for, so I will probably get around to using it at some point but I do love my usual mascara a lot so I don't know when that would be. You get two eye pencils, in black and coffee, I've only used the black one but it was easy to apply and the colour was bold and didn't run/fade like others I have used in the past. The Limited edition metallic eye cream can be used as a eye cream as the name suggests but also as a highlighter, though it has a slight gold tinge so I personally would only use it as a highlighter for nights out. Lastly the Limited edition gel liner, I don't know if I would use this as I am too in love with my Rimmel glam eyes liquid liner as it's so easy to apply and lasts all day, but I suppose when I run out I'll give it a go but I think I would need to buy a thinner brush to apply it with.

You also get an Eyelash curler and a Pencil sharpener, I've yet to use either of these so I can't really comment on them. I don't really use eyelash curlers as I had a bad experience with one once where it sliced all my eyelashes off from one of my top eyelids and so I've not trusted them since. As for the sharpener I 'm sure it works perfectly well but I have several around my room and in my bag so I don't think it will get used extensively.

I adore the range of colours you get in this collection! The eye shadows are actually taken from the Metallic toffee trio, Funfair, Peepshow eye palette, Vengeance trio, Style Queen, Spirit, Regal and Mardi Gras sets (quoted from the back of the box) so far I've used the pink, white and grey/silver shades, the colour transfers really well and you don't have to apply much to get a bold, bright colour, I can't wait to try them out more and find loads of amazing combinations! As for the lip gloss the shades you get are Peachy, Pink Ice, Fuzzy Yellow Petal, In The Nude and Very Berry, I wore Very Berry today and only had to apply it once and the colour lasted all day, I even ate and drank and the colour didn't falter in the slightest and kept it's vibrance, I was really impressed. I tried the Limited edition bronzer but for me it was a bit more shimmery and gold than what I was used to, so I went back to my usual bronzer, I'll have to try it again another time though as I don't really have an opinion yet. Finally the Blusher in Bramble Frost, again another product I have yet to use, but I will definitely be using this in the spring when I want a lighter pink glow, as at the minute I use a deeper berry shade for blusher with it still being winter.

Overall I was really pleased with this purchase, well worth the money! There were a couple in the store I went to so if you're lucky they may still be in stock, I highly recommend this collection, everything is of high quality and there isn't really anything in it that won't be used at one time or another.

Keep smiling!
Birds in Blossom x

Little shopping trip to the Trafford centre!

So today my boyfriend had a ski lesson booked at the chill factore, (the lucky boy is off to France tomorrow with uni mates on a skiing holiday for a week! I was invited but uni assignments take priority, sigh) since he was going there I thought I'd drive him and then have a toot around the Trafford centre, which is right next door.

Well I dropped him off at half eight as his lesson started at nine and went straight over to the Trafford centre, little did I know it only opened at 10 (though i did get a cracking parking spot). I literally sat in my car for 20 minutes doing nothing, until boredom truly set in and I decided to go inside incase the cafes were open. If you've ever been to the Trafford centre you'll know how hectic and crowded it is but for about 2 hours it was just this...

Utter bliss!

(And Starbucks was open so I just sat down and relaxed with a frappucino waiting for the stores to open.)

Right, let me set something straight, I had gift cards and Christmas money to spend, so if you read my last post and saw that one of my New Years resolutions was to not spend frivolously, I'm going to say this trip didn't count as it is totally part of my Christmas presents!! (Blatant denial, the money saving starts tomorrow, I promise!)

Anyway I thought I'd show you all some of my january sales purchases...

First up is some Make up.

These were a bargain at £3.99 each, especially the eye-shadow mini palette, recently I've been coveting the Urban decay naked palette collection but it's a tad out of my budget but these are just what I was looking for in a replacement. There's not just this one, there's a whole collection and loads of gorgeous shades, but I tend to only use pinks and nudes so this was the one for me!

H&M - £3.99 each

 Next up... Nail polishes!

The red ones on the left were bought together in a set, and I got these as a... sort-of impulse buy as they were at the till but I have been looking for a replacement red glitter nail polish since my topshop one ran out and they don't sell it currently. The ones on the right are topshop and I saw them from the shop entrance and I had to have them, and since it's the sales there was a little deal which made me feel a little less guilty when purchasing them (that and the god-send of student discount!). They are a little pricey compared to some more budget nail polishes but they are worth it in my opinion not only because the colours are always lovely but they're really great quality.

Red ones are from H&M- £2.99

Blue ones are from Topshop- £6 each or 2 for £9

Now for some Accessories...

This is a really cute elastic headband which will go perfectly with a skirt I have and several other items, it's fake leather from what I can tell and feels really good quality, perfect for the spring.

Topshop - £6

I couldn't not buy these, they are so darn cute! Not exactly for everyday but cosy and have kittens on them so what's not to like?

River Island- £3 each or 3 for £7

Point of notice, as I've said these are 3 for £7 and I did have another pair of socks that were black with koalas on them (and just as cute) but the woman at the till was too busy chatting with co-workers so didn't scan them, I'm a little disappointed with that. Oh well.

Here are my favourite things to buy, the Clothes!

I have a little obsession with velvet at the minute, though admittedly I do have a red velvet skirt and I don't usually purchase things of which I own similar items, but it was in the sales and I tried it on and it's so soft and looks amazing. It's knee-length, which is another thing I'm loving right now, and there was also a lovely royal blue version (I would have bought that as well but I have recently bought a royal blue 3/4 sleeve velvet dress that's not so different).

Miss Selfridges- £20 (£18 with my student discount)

I have completely adored this coat since I first saw it and when ever I saw someone in town wearing it I would turn green with envy! However I could not justify paying £98 for it, then I saw one in the (actual) topshop store today in the sales and got all excited, but it was size 14 and £65, too large and still a little too pricey, so sadly I put it down. But later on I was looking in the small topshop section they have in Debenhams and there was one more in my size no less, and I checked the price tag again and found it was £45, that I could justify! So obviously I snapped it up (and with student discount it saved me even more moolah).

Topshop (Debenhams) - £45 (£40.50 with student discount)

Now I do have white/cream jumpers but this is a lot more fitted and lighter (as in thickness/weight) than my others, and it's got a nicer design so I thought it would be great for spring when it's starting to warm up but not quite vest top weather. It's a size or two larger than I actually am, but that's usually okay with regards to jumpers (in my opinion) and this one, like I said, is more fitted so it's just right for what I wanted. A good find, I reckon.

River Island- £10

I wasn't to sure about this skirt at first as it has a crinkly texture (which you can see in the photos) and it feels like it looks but I liked the pattern (shown in more detail underneath), but it's not uncomfortable to wear or anything it just rustles a bit when you walk. Yet when I tried it on (with the jumper above) it was just so lovely and looked really pretty and for the price I couldn't say no!

River Island- £5

This scarf was in the sales section, but didn't have a sales price tag like everything else, so I thought maybe someone had just left it there, but it was so soft, thick and with such lovely colours that I decided to take it to the till with me just in case it was on sale, as the normal price was £22 which wasn't shocking, because it's huge and really good quality but I wouldn't pay that much for this kind of thing. Lo and behold, it was on sale, and £7! Bargain!

River Island- £7


Lastly, little bath time treats!

I don't know if you can tell but I do love my LUSH bath bombs and bubble bars (even the little snowman is from LUSH) so I got quite a few. I think I'm going to make a post entirely on this 'haul within this haul' as I bought a variety of things and I think I'll review them individually, so keep an eye out for that in the very near future (I've got to use them first though!).

LUSH- Variety of prices, total around £30

I'll be more specific on prices etc. in the post I'm going to write solely for these, I just don't have the info. at hand at the minute.

I don't often go into The Body Shop, but I'm not sure why because they do so much gorgeous stuff. I need to get more things from here, most definitely! But I did wander in today as I had time to kill and there were so many amazing offers, but this caught my eye, well more my nose, as it smells AMAZING, it's passion fruit scented body butter and shower gel and I am in love with it, great price as well!

The Body Shop- £8 Bought together as a set (originally £15)

That's all folks!
Well not really, I did buy a ton of pretty Christmas wrapping paper as well since it was all dirt cheap and so I thought I'd stock up now, why not?

I had a really nice chill shopping day today, just by myself, it's sometimes nice to have change. I do love going shopping with friends and family but there are times you just want a little day on your own to browse at your own pace, on your own timescale, and for such a hectic shopping center I left surprisingly relaxed!

Hope I didn't blather on too much...

Keep smiling!
BirdsinBlossom x

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