Mini Haul! I couldn't resist :)

Hello! So after what has already quite possibly been the most exciting week EVER... (I'm off to Skegness shortly to see a good friend too yayyy! :) Please see here if you missed my news this week!)...what better way to round it off than with a bit of retail therapy. Well earned retail therapy too! So, with one of my best friends, Gina, I hit the shops! After we had a cheeky Nando's, of course!

In no particular order...below are my purchases!

We rather randomly chose to venture into Pulp. Quite an alternative store but I do have a secret love for their quirky designs, especially their Iron Fist heels! When I saw this handbag, I immediately liked it. I love horror and gore very much and the skeleton design really appealed to me! When I saw the price there was no question, I had to buy it. It feels really soft and the quality is brilliant value for money! I like that it has a variety of zips and compartments inside and I reckon it'll replace my everyday bag (the zip has broken on my current River Island one!). Love it! :)

Next up is one of my holy grail products. I did a review on the Elemis Tan Accelerator a while back, here, and I use it regularly. I get nervous when my tube starts to feel empty and this is possibly something like my 10th bottle! I got my fix from John Lewis. J'adore! 

I didn't mean to buy a candle, honest! :P I blame Gina for taking me into the Yankee Candle store...but as soon as I got a whiff of this gorgeous melon scent...I was at the till paying! It was burning all evening last night and I loved the fragrance...A LOT! Yummy. 

When I heard the Queen of blogging had a range of products out in Superdrug I had to go and have a peek! Yes, I'm a bit behind time but this was literally the first shopping trip I'd been on in ages! I love Zoella. She's such an inspiration in so many ways. I was tempted by all the products but it was the bath fizz bar that I ended up buying. I love how you can break off the pieces like a chocolate bar! I can't wait to pop some into my next bath!

Now, this is a purchase that I set out to make. After doing my Clean9 Detox back in August I've managed to maintain my slim figure. Which is great, but also means that my favourite jeans are a bit loose around my waist! So, I needed to get a belt badly! I purposely chose to buy one from Topshop as they cater well for petite figures :) I really like the flower design and the fact that my jeans will now no longer need pulling up every 2 minutes! Result!

 

And last but not least, Lush. Need I say anymore? Haha! Well actually I was very good indeed because none of it was for me. I bought The Comforter bubble bar (a lovely blackcurrant/ribena selling bar), along with the fab Golden Wonder bath bomb for my Mum's upcoming birthday. This bath bomb is my absolute favourite. It's also only available around Christmas time, so I better stock up soon! I picked up a second Golden Wonder for my Grandma's birthday. Everyone should experience the joys of a Golden Wonder! :) I won't spoil the surprise!

So there we go...I'm not sure of the damage to my Debit card but hey ho...this week was certainly worth celebrating and indulging! :P

#NottsBBMeet Evening at TGI's :)

So, as if the daytime meetup wasn't awesome enough...TGI's took the meetup to another level!

When I heard some of the girls saying how heavy/full the goody bags were I pictured a small over-filled gift-sized bag... what we were greeted with was insane!

We were all allocated seats indicated by these cute little place markers, along with a HUGE stripey goody bag as well as a Liz Earle one!

Apologies for the bad photo...I was just too excited at the time!! :)

I really appreciated how personalized everything was. It just shows how much effort went into it!...

...In particular these fab shortbread biscuits that were hiding in our goody bags! Sophia @ Tattooed Tea Lady really is very talented...and they tasted so good too! YUM! Thanks :P

I liked how the meal was yet a further opportunity to chat to people and perhaps to someone who you hadn't had much chance to speak to during the day. I enjoyed chatting to Megan @ A Scholar Life :)

TGI's were very nice and allowed us 50% off our first drink. This meant one thing...COCKTAIL! I went with an iced Pina Colada which was very yummy :) I later ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri, which again went down a treat!

Being someone whose eyes are often bigger than my belly, I knew 3 courses probably wouldn't happen and usually I'm a mains and dessert kind of gal. However I was so so hungry when I got to TGI's that I simply couldn't wait to eat so I went with the Bacon & Cheese stuffed Potato Skins to start.

For my main I had already half decided on ribs before I had got there so when it came to ordering it was pretty easy and I went with the Friday's BBQ Ribs half rack, served with cajun onion rings and fries. This was absolutely delicious and I devoured the entire plate!

Throughout the meal there were also various giveaways and I was really happy to have my name pulled out. I'm not usually someone to win anything so was pleasantly surprised to win some Sunkissed Gradual Tanning Lotion and mitt :)

When I got home I was absolutely bowled over by how much free stuff I'd been given. I think all of the girls around me at the meal were just as shocked!

The sheer content of the stripey bag was unbelievable!! Literally every beauty blogger's dream, I'm sure! I'll post lots of photos to give you some idea of what kinds of products is among this mass display!

And if that wasn't enough, there was a whole goody bag courtesy of Liz Earle!

I feel very lucky and honoured to have been given so many fantastic products! A huge thank you to all of the companies that contributed and obviously again to Sophia and the others for getting it all together for us!

I'd say anyone considering going to a meetup...DO IT! I had the best time ever and will be looking forward to taking part in more soon :)

Ellie
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#NottsBBMeet Daytime Shopping & Kiehls Visit

Wow. What a day!

This was my first blogger's meetup so I wasn't sure what to expect but I assumed it would be fun to meet people with similar interests. Safe to say it far exceeded any expectations and I had one of the best days in ages! :)

I thought the name badge idea was brill and super cute!

Everyone was so friendly and it was great to meet so many of you!! For once it wasn't weird to obsess over beauty items in shops...very refreshing from the usual blank looks or raised eyebrows!! :P

I enjoyed having a browse through New Look, H&M and grabbing a Greggs with these lovely girls:

(Left to right: Sammy @ Bellini Beauty, Gemma @ Gemma Means Jewel, Me, Sally @ Rainy Day Faces & Joanna @ Minty  Essence)

Thanks for the photo Joanna! Not going to lie, very envious of your fab camera!! :D

I enjoyed speaking to everyone I met! It's impossible to remember everyone, so sorry if I miss you, but it was lovely to meet Katy @ Sirens and Bells, Natalie @ Floral Republic, Megan @ Megan's Beauty Blog, Charlotte @ Lil Miss Chickas and of course the lovely Sophia @ Tattooed Tea Lady. A massive thank you to her and the other organizers for arranging this brill day!!! Some serious kudos to you!

The shopping continued with visits to Mac, L'Occitane and Space NK. I was seriously eye-ing up one of the Archie's girl's eye shadow quads but was able to self-restrain and save the approx £40. It was so pretty though...

Photo from makeupandbeautyblog.com :)

I was looking forward to checking out Space NK and despite not buying anything I was able to closely admire the Nars products! I've decided that I prefer the Orgasm blush to the Super Orgasm...I've corrected my wishlist! :)

Also popped into Ark...I found I really liked a lot of the clothing in here so may have to head back in soon!

Group 4! :)

And then for the Kiehls' Visit. Despite being a Notts girl, I hadn't actually been to the store before and so I was excited to hear more about their products and see what they would personally recommend for me.

Safe to say my oily skin was noted and I was interested in their products geared towards this! I really liked the Powerful Strength Serum. It was like velvet on the skin and the science behind the product made me sure it would help my troubled skin. However with a hefty £49 price tag I've added it to my wishlist!

Another product to catch my eye was Kielhs' BB Cream. I like the idea of swapping my heavy duty liquid foundation for something a little lighter every now and again and although I find bareMinerals works well for this I've always wanted to try a BB cream. Luckily I found the Kiehls' BB Cream tucked away in my huge goody bag when I got home, so stay tuned for my thoughts on the product in a little while! (I will do a separate post about the evening part of the meetup shortly!)

I thought this was such a lovely little piece of motivation!

I found the whole Kiehls' experience really lovely. The staff were friendly and having a glass of Bucks Fizz along with a cupcake made it even more welcoming, not to mention refreshing after a hectic morning of shopping! :) I enjoyed getting to know all of you Group 4 bloggers and it was great to meet Rhiannon @ The Barbelle who like me, shares her interest in fitness in her blog too!

One of the last stops had to be Boots. Gosh I love this shop and I love it even more when it has 3 for 2 deals on! As always it's a shame not to take advantage of their offers...

This is everything I bought during the meetup. I'm very happy to finally have the Origins Super Spot Remover...it seems to be well worth the £13 already!

As for the Lush stuff, I got a bit excited that I now have a bath (now I'm home and not at my Uni house) so I had to grab a few bubble bars! I'm giving The Comforter to my mum though.

As I said, it was great to be able to get excited about something in a shop and this to be totally acceptable because everyone shared your enthusiasm! A fab day...and evening...post soon to follow!

Ellie
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