Birthday haul #3 - gifts I can use

An advanced warning - this will be my longest birthday haul post by far! After writing my 'gifts I can gaze at' and 'gifts I can wear' posts, I realised I still had loads of presents left to blog about which could all fit in under the 'gifts I can use' category. I'm so fortunate to have had so many lovely gifts, and it's definitely been a 30th birthday to remember for many reasons.

To kick off this post, I had an exciting present from Nicola which I'll be able to blog about at a later date once we've made use of it - afternoon tea for two at Cardiff's Angel Hotel! As you should know by now, I'm a huge fan of afternoon tea and I can't wait to visit this venue.

Next up, I'm going to give you a little tour of my bumper gift crate from Sarah - think pink! Sarah thoughtfully bought loads of pink gifts for my birthday (I assume you know by now that it's my favourite colour!) and packed them all neatly into this pretty pink basket.

When I excitedly took a closer look, I had to split the contents into two photographs because there were so many.

My favourites in this first pile are the Forever Friends socks, the heart-shaped cookie cutters

and the Powder Love shower gel. And the wine, of course! 

As for this pile, I absolutely love the frame and the message inside it,

the tealight holder and the patterned cards.

I always love receiving toiletries for my birthday and I had quite a few toiletry-based gifts this year. I never have to buy myself any new toiletries as my friends and family kindly replenish my supplies every birthday and Christmas! 

Toiletry bag from Sarah (different Sarah to the one above!), Soap & Glory goodies

from Neil, Guess Girl perfume set from my sister-in-law, and a bottle of
Guess perfume from my sister.

Soap & Glory miniature set from Amy with a beautiful accompanying bag.

My hot chocolate obsession was also satisfied on my birthday with some delicious Whittard hot chocolate and marshmallows from Neil's pets (I know, they're very clever), and Twinings hot chocolate from Sarah. I'm especially excited about trying the Salted Caramel flavour... I love a decadent hot chocolate! 

I also received a couple of mugs to drink my copious supply of hot chocolate from - you'll already know plenty about my love of mugs if you read my recent 'Disney mugs' blog post. 

Tigger mug from Neil, shaped like a honey pot! 

Pretty personalised mug from Nicola and Osian. 

Nicola also bought me the cute presents below which are already on display in my bedroom and kitchen. I'm a big fan of cushions, particularly cushions with teddies on them, and the wine glass is such a lovely keepsake to remember my 30th birthday. I'm looking forward to using it next time I crack open the Prosecco! 

I also had a few edible treats for my birthday from Sarah, Chris and Neil... as you can see, the Tangfastics didn't last long enough to be photographed properly. Standard. 

This really was the birthday that kept on giving, and I had two sets of birthday presents a few weeks after the big event from friends I hadn't managed to catch up with earlier in the month. 

Disney-themed Lindt chocolates and a Tinkerbell photo frame from Claire.

Yankee candles and a diary from Catrin.

I'd obviously like to say a huge thank you again to all my friends and family for these amazing gifts, and the ones in the previous two posts. I couldn't be more grateful and it's lovely to feel so appreciated. 

I also received lots of pretty cards for my birthday so I've decided to blog about those next for two reasons - I love receiving cards as they're a nice personal touch, and continuously blogging about my birthday is one way of making sure it doesn't come to an end! 

Have you written a 'birthday haul' blog post lately? Send me your links if so, I'd love to read them! 

Twelve posts of Christmas #12 - My Christmas presents to myself

It's finally time for my final 'Twelve posts of Christmas' instalment... time really does fly, doesn't it? I snapped up some great bargains in the Christmas sales this year so I thought I'd blog about my purchases, as well as including some special buys which I've been saving up for as a post-Christmas treat.

Before I go on, I apologise in advance for the dodgy quality of some of the photographs used in this post. This horrible weather means there's never any natural light to take decent photos! Such a blogger problem, and definitely a first world one too...

Anyway, without further ado, take a look at my post-Christmas buys below and let me know what you think. I've included links if items are still available.

I used my New Look gift card to buy these - absolute bargain (now sold out)!

They were originally £64.99 and, between discounts and my gift card,

I paid £22.00. 

The Other Woman and One Direction's new album from Amazon. 

A bottle of Guess for Women perfume from Amazon.

I'm a big fan of Guess perfumes!

A new leather jacket from New Look with a

lovely fur collar... £17.99 down from £49.99!

Three new dresses - a floral dress for work from New Look,

a party dress from New Look, and a casual dress from Animal.

I saved £37 in total on these dresses. 

A Pandora rose ring to go with my new watch - this one wasn't in the sale!

Some pretty rose gold jewellery from Debenhams which also goes with my new watch.

Find the bracelet here and the second pair of earrings here.

And last but not least, this adorable mug from the Disney Store!

I also bought a few new books for my Kindle with my gift voucher from Nicola... I've recently discovered Rachel Abbott and she's amazing!

A lot of the items above were on my 'want' list for a few months before Christmas, so I'm really pleased that I was able to either buy them in the sale or justify buying them at full price with my Christmas money/vouchers. 

Did you make any exciting purchases after Christmas? Please feel free to send me your links to similar posts!

Top ten beauty picks

I hardly ever write beauty posts but I've found a few excellent products lately which I just had to share with the blogging world. I do actually own quite a few beauty products, despite not seeing myself as a 'beauty person', so I'm making a conscious effort to use up what I have before buying anything new. I'm not giving up any food for Lent (why on earth would I do that?), but I am giving up buying beauty products which I don't need.

So here goes... here are my top ten beauty products!

1. Max Factor Whipped Creme Foundation

I bought this foundation at half price from Tesco a few weeks ago and it's quite honestly the best foundation I've ever used in my life. It glides on smoothly and flawlessly like nothing I've ever used before and gives a lovely coverage which lasts all day. You only need to use a little bit each time so this pot should last for ages. This is definitely something I'll be purchasing again once it runs out. 

2. Avon Shimmer Block

I'd grown tired of using shimmer blocks as they left my cheeks looking too glitzy and glittery. However, my new shimmer block from Avon is truly beautiful. It leaves a natural sheen which can be as light or as dark as you want it to be, depending on which end of the compact you sweep your brush through. It's very pigmented so I only need to use a few sweeps at a time. This product has restored my faith in shimmer blocks!

3. Rimmel Eyeshadow Quartet

I've had this eyeshadow quartet for a few years but it's still going strong. I don't tend to experiment much with eyeshadow colours so this is always my go-to compact. I don't use the highlighter shade much but the other three shades are very well worn. I have a similar quartet from Max Factor but this one is far superior in terms of pigmentation and durability. 

4. Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara

This mascara has a brush on either end - one mega brush for your upper lashes and a little one for your lower lashes. The little brush is very handy for someone like me who is still very clumsy when applying mascara! This mascara makes my lashes look twice as thick and it's definitely my best mascara purchase of recent years. 

5. Barry M Bold Gun Metal Eyeliner 

I can't use liquid eyeliner (see above... too clumsy!) so this eyeliner pencil is an absolute lifesaver. I love the dark grey shade and it's very easy to apply. It frames my eyes beautifully and I've already stocked up on a few more in case they ever stop making this product. I haven't tried any other colours in this range but I don't think I'll ever stray away from the Gun Metal shade. 

6. No7 Gentle Toner

I can't believe it's taken me this long to discover No7's skincare range. I always used to use a face wash to get rid of my make up but noticed that there were still traces of make up on my towel however long I scrubbed my face for. Enter No7's gentle toner... it soothes and cools my skin and removes every last trace of make up. A must have product!

7. Avon Heat Protection Spray

This is definitely the best heat protection spray I've ever tried (and I've tried a lot!). It smells lovely and I can notice a difference in the quality of my hair after only using it a few times. My hair feels softer, thicker and stronger... I've finally found a heat protection spray which can control my unruly tresses. Happy days. 

8. No7 Eye Make Up Remover

Another fantastic product from the No7 skincare range. This product has had a lot of negative reviews but I really can't understand why as it removes every trace of eye make up like magic after just one application. Also, just as importantly, it looks lovely on my bathroom shelf! 

9. Soap & Glory Dr Spot
Although I fortunately don't get many spots, Dr Spot comes to my aid very swiftly when the worst happens. If I put a dab of Dr Spot on a spot before going to bed, it's already dried out by the time I wake up. I have no idea what on earth they've put in this product as it smells awful, but I'm convinced that it has some kind of magical secret ingredient. 

10. Collection de Paris 

I bought this perfume at Charles de Gaulle airport and it's currently my favourite perfume. I'm really quite rubbish at describing perfume scents... this one is lovely and fruity (I think). I can't seem to find it anywhere else so I think it's exclusive to Paris, or possibly even exclusive to the airport itself. This makes me sad! 

Does anyone else love any of these products? If not, what are your favourite beauty products? 

300 posts!

Happy new year! I've somehow timed my latest blogging milestone to coincide with the new year... what a convenient coincidence.

I thought I'd continue with my milestone tradition by discovering which posts have been most popular since I started my blog. I changed my blog name and URL in the first half of 2014 which had a detrimental effect on my blog views, so a lot of the posts below also featured in my '200 posts' entry. However, there are a few newbies in there (specifically the restaurant reviews!) and I'm hoping there'll be a few more new posts in my '400 posts' entry, whenever that milestone comes around.

So without further waffle (I do love a good waffle), here are my ten most popular posts...

1. Hollister Addison... best perfume ever?
2. Film review: The Great Gatsby
3. Frantic about Florida #2
4. Duffy the Disney Bear
5. Costa, Nero or Starbucks?
6. Cineworld Unlimited card
7. There's no surprise quite like a McFly surprise 
8. New York #4 - Rockefeller Center
9. Restaurant review: Harvester
10. Restaurant review: Cedar Tree Farm 

The ten posts above are clearly a very eclectic mix... from beauty to film reviews to Disney to holidays to restaurant reviews! This proves that all kinds of unique people with different interests read my blog, and also that people seem to enjoy reading a wide variety of posts from contrasing categories on a lifestyle blog. I've never liked to pigeonhole myself into a particular category in any aspect of my life, and this philosophy applies to my blog too.

Have you read any of the posts featured above? What posts would you like to see more of in 2015? Let me know!

200 posts!

Newsflash... I've reached the very exciting (for me) 200 post landmark! I'm very pleased with this achievement as I've only been blogging properly for just over a year, and last year was an extremely busy one where I sometimes struggled to fit everything in.

When I first decided to start blogging regularly, I was worried that I'd constantly struggle to fit it in with my hectic schedule. However, I've found that writing is a good way to relax and to make sure I put aside some time in the evenings to do something I'm interested in, even if it's only for fifteen minutes.

When I reached my 100th post a few months ago, I wrote a blog post about my ten most read posts up to that point. I've decided to do the same for my 200th post... not very imaginative, I know.

So here are my top ten most read posts so far...

Film review: The Great Gatsby
Frantic about Florida #2
Cineworld Unlimited Card
There's no surprise quite like a McFly surprise
Duffy the Disney Bear
Hollister Addison... best perfume ever?
Costa, Nero or Starbucks?
New York #4: Rockefeller Center
Barry M's Gelly Range
Marks & Spencer's £10 Dine in for two

Apparently the people who stumble upon my blog are interested in films and the cinema, Florida, McFly, Duffy the Disney Bear, perfume, hot chocolate, New York, nail varnish and food! I am genuinely curious about the reading trends on my blog so it's good to have a rough idea about what posts people are most interested in.

Have you read the posts above? Which posts would you like to see more of in 2014?

Christmas presents... the toiletry edition

This is the second post in my 'What I got for Christmas' series (read the first post here), and it's a bit of a bumper category. I love toiletries of any kind so I was really pleased when I had so many for Christmas. Edwina bought me a huge variety with lovely explanatory gift tags on each one, and I also had some from my parents, Neil, Phillipa, Siân and Amy. You can just never have too many! I'm now nicely stocked up so I technically shouldn't need to buy anything for myself for ages... I'll see how long I last before I crack. I have a slight addiction to buying toiletries!

My favourites from the pile above are the Peaches & Clean face wash, Iced Strawberry Dream shower gel (smells good enough to eat!), the Minnie Mouse toiletry bag and the Palmolive shampoo for coloured hair. I can't wait to start using all these and they're already all standing neatly in line ready for when my existing bottles/packets run out. 

Moving on to the gift sets I received, I especially love the set of mini Body Shop body butters from Neil as well as the giant Strawberry shower gel. He bought me big bottles of Satsuma and Lemon shower gels from the Body Shop last Christmas and they're both amazing, so I'm expecting great things from the Strawberry edition. I also love the Soap & Glory set from Phillipa and am excited about trying The Scrub of Your Life for the first time as it's been on my wishlist for ages. I had the very pretty Guess Girl gift set from Siân and I'm already obsessed with the perfume scent. I'll definitely be buying more when this bottle runs out! While we're on the subject of perfume, Britney Spears' Curious perfume is an old favourite so I was very pleased when I found a bottle of Curious under the Christmas tree from my parents. I'll definitely be smelling lovely for the next few months!

Lastly, Neil bought me four bottles of Barry M nail varnish for Christmas... he knows me well! I love the limited edition glitter polish, and I always jump at the chance to extend my Gelly collection. These shades are called Blackberry, Blueberry and Plum and they all look really striking. I'll have to write another update on my Gelly collection soon... it's growing rapidly!

What toiletries did you have for Christmas? Do you love the Body Shop, Soap & Glory and Barry M products as much as I do?

Hollister Addison... best perfume ever?

I'm not a Hollister person. I despise the Hollister store in Cardiff as it's too dark, there are identical blonde shop assistants everywhere and there are always teenage scenesters hanging around outside. I do like some of their clothes, but they're massively overpriced for my budget. So why do I own a bottle of Hollister perfume?

Hollister clothes and accessories are much cheaper in America than they are in the UK as it's an American brand. When I went to Florida in September, I decided to go in to Hollister to see if I could find something that was decently priced. The store in Florida was a pleasant surprise... it wasn't full of intimidating identical shop assistants and wasn't totally dark!

The first thing I saw was a perfume display, so I thought I'd try a few out as I'd been looking for new perfume for months. As soon as I tried Hollister Addison, I knew I had to have it. I'm not going to attempt to describe it as I'm rubbish at deciphering what perfume actually smells like, but it's very sweet and lasts for hours. Have you ever been in to a Hollister store and been greeted by a lovely smell? I'm pretty sure that Hollister Addison is the perfume they spray around to make their stores smell nice. Google tells me that this perfume blends sun ripened peach, peony and sunshine musk. Does that actually mean anything to anyone? All you need to know is that it smells amazing.

The 60ml bottle of perfume was 40$, which is approximately £27. The same perfume is listed on Amazon for £59.95. Bargain! I usually buy perfume from the Britney Spears range which is cheaper at approximately £20 per 100ml, but the Hollister perfume has a stronger and more striking scent and lasts much longer.

I love everything about this perfume... the intoxicating scent, the understated bottle, the convenient size of the bottle and the floral detail on the bottle top.

I only use this perfume on weekends and on special occasions as I need it to last until I go back to America. There's no way that I'm paying £59.95 for a bottle in the UK, however good the perfume is!

Does anyone else use Hollister Addison? Can you recommend any other Hollister perfumes for my return trip to America (whenever that might be)?