Big Collective Haul: Florida holiday and a trip to Boots

I finally managed to get all the pictures to publish this massive haul post I've been threatening you with all this time. Most of the items are things I picked up on holiday, which was an unashamedly touristy Disney and shopping holiday. We basically turned into kids again and allowed ourselves to do everything our parents would have stopped us from 10 or 15 years ago.

I'm going to start with the beauty products I snapped up, as I personally always find them more interesting!

First off was a little trip to MAC where I finally managed to get my hands on the limited edition paint pot in "Let's Skate", which seemed to be sold out everywhere. I've already used this a few times with a mink eye shadow in the outer corner and it looks gorgeous!

Next up is this new nail polish from the Gareth Pugh collection for MAC. I love how unique the packaging is (what else would you expect from Gareth Pugh?), but unfortunately it also means you can't really see how gorgeous the shade inside is. It's a shimmery, iridescent mix of royal blue, purple and green. I'll definitely be featuring this in a NOTD post soon, so you can get a proper look at it!

I also picked up another MAC Viva Glam lipstick, this one's in IV, which is a beautiful glittery dark pink with a reddish undertone. Quite frankly, I want the whole Viva Glam collection, because every single one of those lipsticks is absolutely gorgeous!
I don't remember the prices on any of these, but they were cheaper in Dollars than they are over here in Pounds, which meant some huge savings for me.

Next up was an offer from Elizabeth Arden I couldn't refuse! All of the following items came in a set with the make-up bag pictured above and cost a mere $40. I've tried a few and they're a bit hit and miss, but I just go away when I could have ALL THAT MAKE-UP for round about £25! The bag alone is a very welcome addition to my collection, as I'm seriously running out of storage space for my make-up products.

Inside were this sparkly red nail polish, a mini mascara and a luxury sample of the Red Door EDT...

... three lipsticks in (left to right) Red Door Red, Smooth Mauve and Soft Red...

... two lip glosses in Sparkling Ruby and Golden Pearl ...

... two eye pencils in Midnight and Espresso, two lip pencils in Crimson and Taupe ...

... an eye and face palette including 10 eye shadows, a blusher (which I really, really love), a highlighter and a bronzer ...

... and a little pouch including two eye shadow and a face brush (phew!). These brushes are alright, but not great - however, their small size and the nice little pouch they come in meant that they went straight to my handbag where they're incredibly handy on the go.

While we were there I also snapped up a tube of Eight Hour Cream, even though I didn't really need any. Just before we left I bought some for £13 off Buyapowa thinking I'd got the bargain of my life - and then I spotted it for $12. That's less than £8 which is beyond amazing considering the RRP is £25!

The next thing actually took some persuasion from my boyfriend.

He thought this monster of a palette by Sephora would be perfect for me, but I instantly thought of those gigantic make-up sets which you buy for early teens which always turn out to be really rubbish. I then swatched some of the eye shadows and instantly changed my mind. They were buttery soft and insanely pigmented, so I'll get some incredible use out of this palette!

Here's the inside: A mixture of 96 matte and shimmery eye shadows which means I'll probably never have to buy another eye shadow again (I have yet to decide whether that's a good or a bad thing).

You can then flip it open some more and reveal 84 lip glosses. While that's a great idea, it's not so useful for on the go, as I can't exactly take this box with me for touch ups. It's still great for experimenting and mixing shades.

At the bottom there's an additional drawer with three blushers, one bronzer, six gel eyeliners, a mini mascara and two mini eye pencils in brown and black. It also came with some brushes and applicators which were completely useless as with the majority of brushes that come with sets. I'm most excited about the eye liner gels, as there are some unusual shades in there that I'm just dying to try.
The whole box cost $50, which again is very reasonable considering the amount, variety and most importantly quality of products that you get.

Clothes shopping was mainly holiday oriented with just one exception:

These are my new favourite flat boots ever. Alright, maybe they're my only flat boots, but that's only because I can never find any boots I like unless they have some kind of high heel. These are made of soft grey suede and are so comfortable it's ridiculous. Again, at $30 an absolute bargain which I'll be happily wearing to death!

This Fox hoodie was bought for when it got chilly in the evenings as soon as the sun set. Unfortunately it looks a bit flabby in the picture, but seeing as I'm not going to invest in a mannequin any time soon you just have to believe me that it looks a lot nicer on. I also love the faux-fur in the hood which kept me nice and snuggly on the odd occasion that the weather wasn't so great and will hopefully continue to do so now that I'm back in colder climates.

Next up are just some basic, easy-to-wear t-shirts. They're nice and comfy and make a nice casual outfit with some flats and skinny jeans. As you may be able to tell we spent a lot of time in skate and surf shops, as it's the only style of clothing we can both agree on (my boyfriend and I have quite different tastes when it comes to clothes).

Next up: Holiday shorts! I'm not entirely sure when I'm going to wear luminous green and blue hot pants again, but for our holiday they were perfect and they looked nice on bronzed skin.

Apart from that I bought some bits and pieces from Victoria's Secret where you could pick up a pair of pants for $3, which again was amazing considering the pretty designs you could choose from. I've decided however, not to show you a picture of my pant collection, as that's just a bit too personal!
I got two souvenir t-shirts, one of a minion from Despicable Me and of course one from Harry Potter world to wear around the house.
Lastly we also got me an NFL jersey (New Orleans Saints, Drew Brees in case you were interested), as they were on 2 for 1 in Reebok and it made my boyfriend very, very happy. We actually went to see an NFL game live and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so am a bit more lenient now when he stays up till 3am on a Sunday because a game is on.

Yesterday I also popped into Boots, so I thought I'd include all my purchases in this post as well, so as not to swamp you with too many haul posts.

First of all there's a bottle of Batiste, as I can't imagine living without it any more. My favourite is actually the tropical one due to its scent, but I thought the leopard-print bottle would look pretty on my dressing table.
I also needed a night cream, so I bought one by Good Things, as I'd never tried anything from this brand before, but read a few good reviews on them.
Finally, I HAD to try some V05 hair oil considering how everyone raves about it and I could really do with a boost for my hair now that my beloved Ojon shampoo and conditioner has run out.

I got an eye primer from Soap and Glory as I'm going to need a new one soon. I was sure that I picked up the bright one, but at home it turned out that I'd accidentally bought the dark one for smoky eyes, which I'm a bit gutted about, as I won't get as much use out of that.
Now, I'm usually not a huge fan of glitter, but I've had some cravings lately and these have been fully indulged with these Barry M purchases. I bought three glitter eye liners, as they were 3 for £10 and then you got a silver glitter nail polish for free if you spent £7 or more! As always, reviews and swatches will be up some time soon!

Holiday Update

As mentioned in my previous post I went on a holiday to Orlando two weeks ago. We're still here for another two days, but it's a lazy day today, so I thought I'd post a little update:

1) I know I've said this before, but I've got loads and loads of things coming up when I get back home on Wednesday. I'm bursting with ideas and plenty of motivation to get it all written up. I'm also going to buy a new lead for my video camera and yes, there will be videos as well as blog posts: reviews, tutorials and more! I'm also planning on slowly redesigning my blog layout to freshen it up a little.

2) Expect a massive, massive haul post as soon as I get my things sorted. The prices in America are absolutely ridiculous compared to England. I went to a regular MAC shop and everything was cheaper in Dollars than in Pounds back at home, so I could have quite happily bought the entire store. And don't get me started on the outlets - we spent three whole days doing nothing but shopping and even my boyfriend enjoyed it as much as me.

3) Speaking of boyfriend, we are now engaged (yay!). No worries, though, as I am far from going all bridezilla on you and turning this into a wedding blog. We'll probably be engaged for ages, as there are a few other important things that we need to sort out first (moving out, kickstarting our careers, etc.), but it's nice to know that the promise is there.

4) I got my November Glossybox a day after we went away, so there's no point posting about what I got when I get back. I'll probably do a double review together with December's products.

So bear with me and towards the end of next week there should be some exciting new things up for you to enjoy!

Weekly Lust List #3 and Bargain Alert

I'm going on holiday to Florida this Sunday, so there might be a bit of a draught post-wise for a while. I will be taking my camera and my MacBook, so if I can find a minute I might post the hotel room, though no promises there. Me and my boyfriend been dreaming about this holiday for years and working our butts off for the past couple of months in order to make this possible, so we're majorly excited! Before I whip out my Mickey Mouse ears, however, there was an event I wanted to let you know about.

We all love free things, especially when they come with no strings attached, right? Vaseline are currently touring the UK offering a free, full-sized bottle of the new Vaseline Essentials Body Lotion for anyone who brings in an old, unwanted bottle of body lotion. They've been to Glasgow and Manchester already, but if you live in or near Birmingham or London you can still snap up this offer.

They'll be in Birmingham this weekend, November 18-20, at the Bullring and in London next weekend, November 25-27 at Westfield, Shepherd's Bush.

The city that brings in the most bottles will earn a £15,000 donation for a chosen local charity, which is always a great thing!

This week's lust list is a little bit on the shorter side after a non-existent one last week. It seems that I'm way too busy preparing for my holiday or fantasising about actually being on holiday to engage in any window shopping. Prepare for a massive haul post once I'm back, however!

1) MAC Glitter & Ice Paint Pot in Let's Skate!, £14

I have a confession to make: I don't own a single MAC paint pot. I see everyone raving on about these and I'm getting more and more tempted to pick one up for myself, but as of yet I remain paint-pot-less. MAC's holiday items haven't really blown me away this year, but this looks like a really gorgeous shade to start off my collection. Looks like I'll be lusting over it for a little longer though, as it's completely sold out online.

2) Topshop Nude Maribou Feather Bag, £50

Topshop had a similar bag to this last year and even though it was one of those items that makes you cross the entire store without even bothering to look at anything else I didn't end up buying it in the end. They also do this bag in other colours, including black, plum and a bright ochre, but this has got to be my favourite. Tacky? Probably a little bit, but what else can I say other than "It's SO FLUFFY!"

3) Lush Gingerbread House, £2.95

Here's another confession for you: I haven't been in a Lush shop since the age of 12. Ok, that's a lie - I've been once, but didn't actually buy anything. Now, there's been a lot of Lush love going on lately and I can't help but feel a bit of a craving for a lovely bubble bath. Especially if it's surrounded by gorgeous Christmas smells. I love the look of this, I love the smell of this and I love the attention to detail that's gone into something that's meant to be dissolved in water. I'm afraid there's no way I'm not going to pick up one of these when I get back from holiday.