I was mooching on the Boots website late at night (as you do) and came across an interesting basket configuration that would give back 2000 Boots Advantage Card points on a £32.97 spend. That’s equivalent to £20 back on your card for future frivolous purchases.
It goes something like this (click to enlarge)…
Also take note that you get not one, but TWO free Origins GWP (gift with purchases).
Of course, if you’ve got no use for this stuff, don’t get all excited about it. It’s like those people who bought a billion Terrys Chocolate Oranges from Tesco when there was a price glitch for like 30p each… only to realise once the dust had settled that they still ended up spending £50 on chocolate they didn’t really want.
I just thought I’d give a heads up incase you know someone who might fancy a little set of cosmetic brushes as a stocking filler (there’s also an eyeliner brush) or maybe just someone who has particularly hairy legs. Whilst of course, you pocket the £20 for a later splurge.
China Glaze Love Marilyn from the Eye Candy 3-D Glitters Collection is a bonafide contender to be my Christmas Day nail polish. Does anyone else meticulously plan their Christmas Day manicures? It’s a little bit of a Christmas Eve tradition of mine to super-bling it up in honour of the big day!
I’m thinking I might wear it as a french tip though over a red cream (something like Butter London Come To Bed Red).
The above photo shows 3 coats for a full coverage over a bare nail. Removal is a total pig and I did get a fair bit of chipping from this one despite a top coat. But you know, it’s easier to forgive these things when it’s OMGGLITTERREDCHRISTMASPOLISH.
I bought this on eBay from the U.S. but if you wanna buy on these shores, you can nab it from www.nailpolishdirect.co.uk priced at £5.95
Clinique are playing Secret Santa this week, so if you’re in need of an early festive treat, log on toClinique website everyday this week for a little surprise.
Today’s beauty treat is a free mini-set of best-selling eye essentials with any purchase over £30. The set includes: High Impact Mascara, Quickliner for Eyes and High Lengths Mascara. A really well put-together set that will give you dramatic eyes for the party season!
To get the party started on this offer, log on to theClinique website and enter the offer code EYES during checkout with your £30+ order.
Don’t forget to check back on the website daily to see if any of the other offers are worthy of a place in your stocking!
If you’ve been around long enough to remember their Easter egg-stravaganza then you’ll already be familiar with the kind of fun and games Urban Retreat’s Beautique love to engage their customers in!
If not, let me give you a little bit of inside knowledge to one of the best treasure hunts around.
Log on to the Beautique website from 1pm every Friday up until Christmas and scour the pages like a mad woman (fella?) in an attempt to hunt down one of those lovely pressie boxes as shown in the image above.
Once you’ve found one, add it to your basket and checkout as quickly as possible to claim the prize as your very own from a single penny!
A few of you lovely lot managed to scoop some goodies in the Easter treasure hunt so I hope you’ll be as successful this time round!
Good luck pressie hunters and let me know if you manage to bag yourself a prize!!
You’ll be forgiven for not having heard of Brenda Anvari, by all accounts she’s a bit of a Devonian secret – serving up beauty treatments in her Exter Salon. But as with all secrets, you can’t keep them forever and her beauty range is heading East!
I took delivery of her festively-themed Cranberry, Orange & Cinnamon Candle a few weeks ago. Priced at just £12.95, it’s presented beautifully and would make a deceivingly inexpensive present for a loved one this Christmas. Nicely weighted with elegant styling and great appeal. When you put your nose to the unlit wax, you’re greeted with a good hit of sharpness from the Cranberry, flanked by the zesty Orange.
It burns cleanly with a good, even melt across the surface. The scent is strong, not overpowering but I do have to extinguish the flame after about 15 minutes. For me, it’s a little too enveloping to be able to sit in it whilst in full burn for longer than that. Ultimately, I guess this is a good thing in terms of value for money but if you’ve a very sensitive nose, this may make it a little too strong for you.
My favourite way to use this candle is to light it when I first get up in the morning and am busy buzzing around, then 20 minutes or so later – the main rooms downstairs are nicely scented and I extinguish the flame before enjoying the scent left behind for a good hour or so after.
I struggle to pick up much spice or woodiness in this candle, to my nose – it’s more about the fruit which is a bit of a shame and my other sadness is that postage is phenomenally expensive on the Brenda Anvari website simply because everything is courier’ed via CityLink. One of the better courier services but those kind of prices are always off-putting unless you’re making a big order.
Brenda Anvari products are available to buy online at Visage House – prices range from £4.95 – £24.95
Sometimes I get a gut feeling about something and I can’t always pin it down and explain it to myself in a way that helps me unravel and make sense of it. This is one of those times.
The new Burberry Body ad (which premiered the other day on ITV1) features a very beautiful Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and a fitting, delicately-orchestrated track by The Feeling but… it’s leaving me a little conflicted.
Wanna see?
It’s beautiful isn’t it? The back-lighting, the photography, the way the material from the coat moves around her naked form. But, I don’t actually feel anything other than a bit of a perv after watching it.
I know that sex sells and it sells to both men and women regardless of sexual orientation but this is a strip-tease, with added come-hither eyes to the viewer (that’s me) and whilst I don’t object to the content of the ad – I’m just failing to see the relevance as the camera pans to her nethers. Infact, the only real connection my mind makes (as the bottle spins around provocatively) is that RHW is contemplating using it for something a bit inappropriate and I’m not entirely sure that this is what Burberry are trying to convey.
Perhaps I’m overthinking things and shouldn’t delve beyond the classic “if I buy your product, I’ll get a body like RHW” hook but in fairness, it’s Burberry’s fault because they’ve taken a bit of subtle “sex sells” and turned it into “if Harrods did Spearmint Rhino”.
Just a quick PSA to let you know that you have until the end of Saturday to pick up your Clinique Bonus Time gift with purchase (GWP) which is currently an exclusive at House of Fraser.
All you need to do to claim your treat is purchase two Clinique products (one to be skincare), so if you need a topup of your Dramatically Different or your High Impact is running dry, now’s the time to stock up!
The set includes:
Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief | Sparkle Skin Exfoliating Cream | Take the Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes and Lips | Exclusive Colour Surge Eyeshadow Quad | High Impact Mascara in Black | Long Last Lipstick in Bamboo Pink | Cosmetic Bag
I don’t need to tell you frugalistas that this would make a lovely little Xmas pressie for someone, so if you’re a Clinique fan, don’t let the offer slip through your fingers.
Regardless of what your birth certificate says, Christmas is the one time of year we can wear an unadulterated amount of glitter on our nails and not feel even slightly embarrassed of ourselves.
Avon Nailwear Pro in Violetta Sparkle is a festively-themed combination of purple and gold – it also conveys flashes of red when under the right lighting – but it’s mostly about the gold.
Application was fine and the above shows three coats. I found the brush a touch long and thick but what you sacrifice in precision, you make up for in speed of application. It also dried quickly despite the three coats. It’s a hair grainy thanks to the glitter but a single coat of topper smoothes that out nicely and gives a needed boost to the shine that really brings out the sparkle within.
I’ve only had this on for two days, but so far no chips and considering the vampy colour, only very minimal tip wear (the above photo was taken just now).
Currently priced at only £3.00 on the Avon website, it’s making me want to explore the other sparkly shades in the Nailwear Pro Sparkle & Shine lineup!
I’m quite crafty when it comes to Christmas Gifting, not crafty as in sellotape, pieces of felt and glitter pens — crafty as in, Wily Coyote. Hence my latest find…
Skin So Soft Soft and Sensual Replenishing Hand Cream 75ml,
Naturals Lime Blossom and Verbena Shine Drops 50ml,
Planet Spa Mediterranean Olive Oil Hydrating Face Mask 75ml,
Naturals Strawberry & Guava Refreshing Shower Gel 200ml,
Naturals Strawberry & Guava Room & Linen Spray 125ml,
Soft Pink Bubble Bath 500ml,
Skin So Soft Soft and Sensual Replenishing Body Lotion 250ml,
Foot Works Heel Softening Cream 75ml.
Now, this would make a nice(ish) present just by itself (you know I’d prefer Burberry)… but my idea would be to split it. Keep the bits that I know will get used up quickly in our household and fashion the rest into ‘themed’ gift ideas.
Example: My Mum’s Xmas stocking is themed on Winter Skin and from this kit, I’d include: Skin So Soft Hand Cream, Planet Spa Face Mask, and Foot Works Heel Softening Cream. Those items will go nicely with some of the bits I’ve already bought her.
You could also theme a “Spa Night In” with some, if not most, of these items and throw in some slippers and a hot chocolate kit to complete an impressive and thoughtful ensemble.
Me? I’d be stealing the basket and extra wrappings which include: a wire basket, tissue paper, a sheet of cellophane, and a ribbon to use on another (dareIsayit) posher pressie.
.
Do you get crafty or indeed crafty when it comes to Christmas pressies?
Thirty One years. That’s how long the BBC’s Children in Need appeal has been raising money for disadvantaged children in the UK. We’re all familiar with the annual BBC televised appeal which never fails to divide the nation into a love/hate camp when it comes to Friday night TV viewing, but the truth is that the vast majority of the money raised actually comes from the donations outside of this, given both before and after the live telethon.
I was contemplating this as I sat on the train to Nottingham on Thursday evening. Well, if I’m thoroughly honest, I was also obsessing over how old I felt knowing that I’d been on this planet for all but one of the years that the appeal has been running. Aside from this though, I was feeling rather excited to be heading up north to take part in the Boots HQ fundraising day, held annually for their employees at HQ.
The first thing that struck me as I walked through the doors to reception (other than, woah BIG) was the noise. “Hang on!”, I thought, “This doesn’t sound like a place of work!” Turns out, I was right. Apart from a couple of grumps glued to their computers (I would tell you which department had the biggest bah-humbug ratio but that would be mean) there was very little work going on at Boots HQ yesterday. Wanna see?
Does this look like work?
Or this? No. Bunch of slackers, It wouldn’t surprise me if I can’t get my hands on my Meal Deal next week ‘cos the Meal Deal team were too busy at the roulette table.
In fairness, all this nonsense and frivolity came at a cost to those taking part who valiantly dug deep and surrendered their pennies for tombolas, raffles, home-made cakes, wii dance-offs, and bingo!
I will neither confirm nor deny the reports that the above table was raided. Not by me of course.
The lesser-spotted Blush Bear – I was tempted to ask her if it was NARS Amour but I thought I might look a bit silly.
It wasn’t long before my partner-in-crime Modesty Brown and I had spotted the “Beauty Salon”, a little setup that included the option to indulge in Nail Rock manicures and Eylure false lash applications. We paid our pennies and jumped in the queue, eager for a little pampering in the home of, well, pampering!
Modesty Brown put together a little video of the nail wraps being applied which I’ve promptly stolen and included below because it shows how quick they were to affix!
All in all, it was a grand old day and I spent the train journey home feeling like a 6 year old who’d overindulged on fun, sweets, and a bit of wonderment. Wiped out!
As we were leaving, I heard the bingo caller announce that in the few short hours he’d been shouting about the two fat ladies, the bingo bits alone had raised well over £1000. Boots have been working alongside BBC Children In Need for the past eight years, and have raised more than £4 million to date. But, I’ll leave you with the super-hero of the day, aside from all that charitable stuff, I dunno how this fella copes when he needs a wee.
For details on how to donate to Children in Need, find more information on the BBC website. Thanks for having me Boots!
Morning Campers! This post is up bright and early, are you?
You have my sympathy. It’s dark outside and it’s flippin’ cold. The kids have probably started whining already, your other half would have most certainly guffed before leaving the bedroom, and I bet you forgot to put your phone on charge last night. Whatever morning mishaps await you, life can truly suck at this time of day.
Well – they say the early bird gets to scoff all the worms (or something like that) and today is going to be a prime example of society’s bias towards those who rise with the lark.
Recognise these nail wraps? Of course you do, I posted about them last month. They’re from Nail Rock and are currently being sold in Boots having been especially created for BBC Children in Need, which is tomorrow – should you need reminding.
I have 25 of these nail wraps to give away right now!
Courtesy of Boots, I’ll be giving these lovely nail wraps to the first 25 people who leave a comment telling me what I should have for breakfast today.
Now come on, don’t leave it too late – a girl’s gotta eat, I wanna see these snapped up quicker than a bowl of Rice Krispies. Only open to UKresidents I’m afraid. If it’s 10pm in your ‘hood, that’s just cheating see?!
On your marks, get set, GO! (You may need to refresh (CTRL+F5) the page to see your comment)
T&C
1. Entry open to UK residents only.
2. The first 25 eligible commenters will each receive a set of BBC Children in Need Nail Rock Nail Wraps.
3. One entry per person, duplicate entries will be deleted.
4. Winners will be chosen according to how they appear on my screen, my decision is final.
5. Lipglossiping.com is the sole promoter of this competition.
6. Competition closes when 25 eligible entries have been received.
7. Winners list will be published on-site on Saturday 19th November and I will email all winners shortly after.
8. I have no control over which colour Nail Rock Nail Wraps you receive, please don’t make requests!
I’m a total sucker for a bit of leopard print, much to my mother’s amusement. Or is it disgust… sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Batiste have introduced a new scent to their legendary lineup… we all know that some of the Batiste ‘fragrances’ pong more than others *cough* Blush *cough* but I’m intrigued to try this new one described as: A feminine and daring Oriental aroma with top notes of cocoa, a floral heart and sensual vanilla, musk and wood base notes.
Batiste has become a bit of a staple in my haircare routine since the beginning of the Summer. I seem to have developed a sorry case of the greasies (thanks hormones) and this stuff stops me from having to wash my hair every morning. Does that make me a bit of a grot? Whatever, bet you do it too. Do you have a favourite Batiste scent?
Batiste Dry Shampoo in WILD is exclusive to Boots and priced at £2.99 for 200ml
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