for my birthday in march, i got a debenhams gift card off my boyfriend, and last month i decided to put it to good use and buy a decent foundation and concealer! i had a really big mooch around the debenhams website, and read almost every review to find the perfect ones. i will be doing some little reviews on what i purchased in the next week or so, but for now this is what i ended up purchasing:

the whole lot!

illamasqua rich liquid foundation | £21.50
it took me so long to decide between this and the skinbase foundation, but in the end i went for a fuller coverage foundation that i can always adjust with a little moisturizer if it’s too heavy

shade 115 (surprisingly not the palest!)

it looks alot darker and orange in the tube, but i’ll be doing a review and swatches soon

mac studio finish concealer | £13.50
i needed a creamy concealer that wouldn’t dry or cake around my eyes. i was debating whether i should get this one or the studio sculpt, and when studio sculpt wasn’t in stock in my shade i cried a little, but ended up getting this one anyway

shade nc15 (the photo looked clear when i took it, haha…)

it looks a little orange but applies alot lighter!

mac mineralize skinfinish ‘highlighter’ | £21.50 (it isn’t on the website anymore, boo)
this wasn’t a product i planned on buying, but when i saw it i thought i have to give it a go. i think it’s classed as a blush? i’m not sure. but i bought it to use as a highlighter

shade lightscapade

it was pretty difficult to photograph, but it has lots of lovely shimmers and beautiful pastel veining in real life…

not long ago, i published a post about the brand lovelysally. i preordered a pair of their leggings called the majestic horse, which i first fell in love with over at nicola’s blog.

they arrived today! (my camera was dead, and knowing what was in that little package meant there was no way of waiting three hours for it to charge! so enjoy my terrible quality iphone photographs for the time being)

of course they had to pass the letterbox quality control with jeff!

the quality of these leggings is beautiful, i really can’t explain the texture but it’s so luxurious and thick. not to mention they’re all sewn by hand!

(i couldn’t take a photograph good enough to show them off, so you’ll have to just believe me! i did ened up switching to my proper camera in the end)

i fialed at trying to take a photograph of my legs without looking like a whale!

look how beautiful they are! i must admit it does look more like a percheron horse on my dumpy chubby thighs than a beautiful majestic horse, haha. i genuinely can’t put into words how much i’m in love with them! they’re so beautiful, i’ve been waiting a very long time for somebody to put the most stunning animal on a pair of leggings. eeeeeeee i love them, thank you lovelysally!

you can purchase a pair for yourself over at lovelysally.com, for only €40 and free delivery to the whole or europe! and if you’re not a fan of horses (which is absurd) they do have a whole collection of photographic leggings to chose from!

she’s kukoo but you’ve got to love her. the mother monster herself is, whether you like it or not, a style icon all over the world. she’s had so many ‘iconic’ outfits, but i’ll be including her in my celebrity style crushes, mainly for her beauty and editorials. paws up!

warning: this is a VERY photo heavy post! prepare yourselves…

if those claws were on anybody else, i’d have hated them. but they’re devine on her! i think i want some..

she made us all fall in love with heel-less shoes!

this is my favourite photo! that blue, those lips and the earrings compliment eachother so well.

she looks beautiful without any eyemakeup too…

perfect lip colour.

i LOVE her hair this colour (although i think this photo is photoshopped)!

:)

have a look at my friends new clothing company, autumnback! at the moment, they’ve only got a couple of print t-shirts for sale and a bottle opener/lighter, but they’ve got some awesome houndstooth pocket t-shirts coming soon so keep a watch out!

white print on black t-shirt | £10

black print on white t-shirt | £10

beautiful roll of fabric…

freshly sewn!

follow them on twitter, tumblr and instagram for all the lastest news and updates :) oh and don’t forget to visit their store to purchase one of the above print t-shirts!

lovelysally is a new italian company, specializing in leggings and bikinis! at the moment, they only have leggings available but you should see them, they are absolutely stunning! just imagine what their bikinis will look like if these are the leggings, ahhh i’m in heaven.

here are a few of my favourites from their collection:

‘laotian dusk’

pure cold

‘the majestic horse’

smoke on water

some of you may recognise the ‘the majestic horse’ leggings from the lovely nicola claire who managed to get sent a pair before anybody else, jealous! i fell in love with them instantly and i pre-ordered them before the site went live, i’m so excited you’ve no idea!

they’re very similar to blackmilk leggings, however they are MUCH cheaper at only €40 (approx £33), with free european delivery :) get your butts over there now and buy some! ps, hope you’ve all had a lovely bank holiday monday.

for my birthday in march, my boyfriend bought me a £100 debenhams gift card. having the most terrible dry skin, i decided to put a good wad of the money to good use, and i purchased a quite expensive moisturiser from origins, called “make a difference – ultra rich rejuvenating cream”

origins make a difference ultra-rich rejuvenating cream for dehydrated skin of dry skin types | £32 for 50ml | origins at debenhams

what the website says: “Tested on the driest of skins and clinically proven to instantly satisfy the deepest of thirsts. This rich, quenching cream owes its endless hydration to the drought-resistant resurrection plant The Rose of Jericho. But there’s more. Reviving Trehalose and oceanic Padina Pavonica rebuilds skin’s barrier to help keep moisture levels up to 100% all day. Discover why when it comes to renewing and refreshing dry skin, only nature can Make A Difference™”

pros: it has a delicious delicate citrus smell, it is the perfect gel like consistency, it soaks into the skin within a reasonable amount of time (so it’s ideal for pre makeup application), it is very moisturizing, a little goes a long way (take a look! i’ve been using it a month and i’ve only used that much up there. it’s bound to last me a good 6 months) contains no harsh chemicals and is cruelty free!
“our products have always been formulated without phthalates, petrolatum, paraffin, dyes, mineral oil, chemical sunscreen PABA and animal ingredients (except cruelty free honey and beeswax). we do not conduct animal testing on our products or ingredients, nor do we ask others to test on our behalf, unless required by law. we evaluate our finished products in clinical tests on volunteer panels.”

cons: it’s on the pricey side, but it does it’s job so it is definitely an investment.

overall: i’ve been using this for about a month now, and i do have to say my skin is feeling alot more juiced up and moisturized, although it still is flaky in certain places (however i haven’t been using it daily as i should, nor long enough to see such a drastic improvement), but i still grade this moisturizer a huge 10/10! it ticks all the boxes for my facial needs, and is worth every penny! i’ll sure be trying out lots more of their products.

with my purchase from debenhams origins counter, the lady kindly gave me a hefty 30ml sample of their “drink up intensive – overnight mask to quench skin’s thirst” which was such a perfect little freebie. of course the main reason i bought the moisturizer in the first place is because i have dry skin, and the sample fitted my profile exactly. i’ve been using this twice to three times every week…its an overnight mask, which i used in place of a standard PM moisturizer. it’s thick, has the same beautiful smell and glides on like a dream. the best thing is, i wake up from having it on overnight and my skin still looks so hydrated and sometimes i don’t even have to moisturize after wearing it, it’s that good! i will be purchasing the full sized, 100ml product once i run out of this!

this week has been amazing for deliveries! first monki, then my shopping spree and my asos watch, now forever 21! anyway, i’ve been in dire need of some basics or essentials if you will, i’m such a simple person (in all meanings of the word!) and it is so stressful trying to piece together outfits which don’t match, or look really cheap and just clash. my two favourite bloggers, victoria tornegren and felicia linn both have amazing wardrobes, and they both have some things in common; they keep it simple, stack up on essentials and they’re both swedish! but since i’m very much british i thought i’d give it a bash with purchasing some simple essentials…

i was a forever 21 virgin, so when i signed up i got a 10% discount code which was amazing, considering all of their prices are so reasonable anyway!

of course, jeffery kitten had to have a check over the parcel before i could…

and batfink had to guard it for a little while, to make sure there’s no monsters in it and stuff, duh

it arrived very neatly and tightly packaged (no silly outrageous boxes like monki)

in total i purchased 5 items of clothing and one piece of jewellery, and the shipping was only £3.95

the first two items to go into my basket were these…“peekaboo shoulder tee’s” in colours hot pink and heather grey. i got them in size medium, which was a perfect fit, although they do come up short. the price on these were £10.50 each, but because they were in the sale were down to £6, and with the 10% discount were a mere £5.40 each.

the second items i found are called “slinky muscle tee’s” and i picked these up in black and what they call natural grey (which is more of a desaturated stone colour) the material of these is amazing! it’s very stretchy, but it doesn’t stick to you, it’s floaty. these each were £5.50, but with the 10% discount – £4.95.

all of my leggings have holes in the crotch, purely because i buy the most terrible quality ones from primark because i refuse to pay £18 for the ones at topshop! it took me a while to choose which ones to get, because forever 21 have tons of basic black leggings but in the end i just randomly chose these ones which are “essential knit legging”. the material feels so luxurious, and the colour remains solid when they’re on, unlike the primark ones which show your skin through (so now when i bend over the whole world can’t see what underwear i have on) i will definitely be repurchasing some more of these, they are amazing! they were £4.75, and £4.27 with discount.

i also got this very chunky chain necklace. i’m not too fussed about fancy jewellery recently, i like them to look nice but not overpower my whole outfit so when i saw this it immediately went into my basket! it was only £3.90 too! (£3.51 with the discount). it’s so niiiiiiice and goes nicely with my watch from my previous post ;) (however it doesn’t seem to be on the website anymore, boo) and i’m kicking myself now for not purchasing this pretty bracelet…

overall my first experience with forever 21 has been awesome (jeff loves the tissue paper cape, recycled from the packaging!) i loved the quality and price of all the products i purchased, and they have so much to offer, these were just the basics! i can see this being a shop i’m always buying from, you can’t really complain – although i do wish they had a store in manchester, birmingham is too far away!

i went shopping on saturday with my friend stacie, and managed to pick some pretty amazing things up, if i do say so myself. now, this is a warning before you get to the photographs…there’s alot of black – i’m going through an utter goth stage in life that i don’t think i’ll ever grow out of, i just love black clothes! (don’t worry, none of those ankle length leather matrix jackets and marilyn manson tshirts with ridiculous eyeliner skills)

this is more or less everything i purchased (minus some underwear, hair grips and leggings); the jacket is from tkmaxx, the creepers are from some random shoe shop, the bag is also from tkmaxx, the hair donut is from primark and the watch arrived today, from asos via ebay.

these are definitely one of my favourite purchases! they’re super comfy and give me extra height without dressing up :) they are quite daunting and ugly i shall admit…

this is a really terrible photograph, you can’t really tell what the bag looks like without tons of things in it to puff it out into shape, but it’s beautiful! it took me so much debating whether to get it, because i’ve just ordered a black zara plaited handle shopper…so i don’t really need a new bag. but it was too lovely to leave so i just had to!

this is a close up of the handles on the bag! it’s like a double interlinked chain thing…very pretty.

i found this in tkmaxx a couple of weeks ago when i was hunting for a dress to wear for a christening, and i was going to purchase it but it didn’t match the dress i was getting and i was in that much of a rush i didn’t have the time to attach myself to it. i’m so glad i re-found it! it was in the sale section, and was the last one left. i am most definitely head over heels for it! it’s a cardigan type jacket, but it’s made from cotton/linen and is very floaty. the sleeves are soft cotton and the collar is slightly tailored making it seem like a blazer…i love it! it has these deep floaty pockets too.

and here is my watch! i’ve been lusting over michael kors watches for what seems forever, and considering i’m a very poor student this watch just had to do! i do love it, it’s absolutely beautiful and very very simple, so i know it will go with all of my outfits. it’s perfectly oversized and isn’t too blingy.

now excuse me whilst i go and get comfy to watch made in chelsea! but before i go, if you have twitter, add me :) @alivingdiary, i want to know who reads my blog (if any!)

i arrived home yesterday from an afternoon at the stables to a wonderfully packaged parcel from monki (but definitely oversized – i’d only ordered circular sunglasses and a silver case as seen in my previous post!) i’ve been shopping today so i also have a few more goodies to show you!

they look ridiiiiiiiculous don’t they?!

excuse the terrible iphone quality photographs! i still cannot be bothered to lug my big camera out. say hello to jeffery kitten! he pesters me like there’s no tomorrow, he’s my favourite though.