Recent Purchases (vintage items, beauty products, birthday presents, an owl coaster!)

Another image-heavy post with some recent purchases =)

I love Elizabeth Arden 8 hour products – so when I saw a fantastic deal on feelunique.com, I nabbed this gorgeous gift set – but I actually got it for £22.50 – the lip protectant is amazing, and the moisturiser is one of my favourite moisturisers ever.

I won a Facebook competition in January and they sent me a Glossybox! It’s a pity that they sent me the December one, because I had already gotten it myself, but it actually wasn’t too much of a pity because I really, really love the products in it – and I even got a few different ones (the mascara and the cleanser), but my favourites were still there (the shower gel, lip gloss, and nail polish).

I picked up a coaster for my room from a really sweet shop in Durham (with three floors of cards and cute things!) – it has little owls on it and I am absolutely in love with it.

Vintage finds! I attended two vintage fairs a few weeks ago in Durham, and I found some really splendid things. First: a Ralph Lauren fuzzy grey jumper. I love this. And it was only £9 (the tag says £10 but since I had a ‘discount card’, I got £1 off. Insane.) and I love it oh-so-much.

I picked up this adorable strawberry necklace from the vintage fair. It even opens up! The clasp is a bit fiddly though, and sometimes just falls open effortlessly, which can be a bit annoying. But overall it’s adorable.

And, BONUS: it came in the loveliest box ever. WITH TWINE.

Even the brown paper bag which held the box was utterly adorable, with these little mail-themed stamps.

I have been on the hunt for a sequined dress since November. The ones I found were either really weird or way too expensive. Then I found this baby at the vintage fair for only £10. I think I might wear it to the Florence & the Machine concert I’ll be going to next week.

I found this second-hand long jumper (with a really cool heart design) at the second vintage fair, for only £2. I wear it indoors and even sleep in it, and once I even went cycling in it!

A really nice H&M second-hand dress (also at the second vintage fair) for £3. THREE POUNDS. In my size and everything. Oh, and it’s purple.

Birthday gifts! It was my boyfriend’s birthday on 14 February, and since I bought him a fancy Kindle for Christmas, I didn’t splurge too much on his birthday presents (even though I ended up buying him a huge meal + coffee + cake on the day…). The card I got him is, I think, adorable, and I gave him a couple of pretty Moleskine notebooks (for MA purposes), and one of my favourite books, ever.

I bought this lipstick from Boots when my parents were visiting (so technically they purchased it for me, hehe) – and it’s quite nice, quite nice.

I kind of needed an “understated” lip stick. Not that I’ve mustered up the courage to actually wear lipsticks regularly or properly or anything.

Since I’ve become a “cyclist” now, I needed to buy a little backpack. I found a few at Primark, and bought this starry one. Nothing fancy, but it’s quite cute, and I like the brown leather piping and details.

Primark has my most favourite tights ever – these Super Cosy tickets that actually feel like leggings, but they’re tights, and they’re all FLEECY on the inside. Amazing. They’re much longer wearing than regular tights, and even though they’ll tear eventually, it’s usually at the crotch because of all the wear, rather than because they caught on something. I bought a pair in every.single.colour.

This pack of 4 nail polishes from Primark cost £2. You might’ve seen me sporting the green polish in this post. They’re actually really cute. I have the darker pink one on my toes, and I LOVE looking at my toes while showering nowadays. TMI? Perhaps.

Since my parents rented a car when they visited, I could finally buy a full length mirror from Argos without lugging it up a hill. It has now found a very lovely spot in my room. I can finally see myself before leaving the house. For the first time since September!

I also got the change to purchase a bedside table, and a purple bedside lamp! These have increased my standard of living TWENTY-FOLD.

I also got a little bookcase to put on top of my chest of drawers, for more storage space! I’m still sorting things into it, but I’m ever so happy about it.

I bought (again, my parents technically bought this, but you know what I mean) this pretty little brown messenger bag from H&M at the Metrocentre. It’s really, really cute.

Burt’s Bees lip balm! I haven’t tried this yet, ever, but since I bought a stick as part of my house mate’s birthday presents in February, I thought I should definitely give it a go myself. I’m trying to use up some other lip balms before opening this one up though.

And finally, a little No7 voucher shopping trip at Boots. The nail polish top coat and the concealer brush were only a couple of pounds each, since I bought them with No7 vouchers, and the eye cream was only a few pounds as well. Quite a frugal little shop. I’m still eyeing some Origins eye cream, but this little tube seems to be doing just fine. (I had actually never properly used eye cream before – oh my.)

Trust me, there will be another Recent Purchases post soon-ish. I’ve already a few other photos of things lined up! CLAIRE: SAVE MONEY.

=)