Payday Wishlist #3

Another month, another pay day, another wishlist. So here we go again with my monthly round up of where my pennies will be going this month. I must admit I'm finding the weird in-between seasons that the shops are doing at the moment difficult to work with, so I'm hoping in the next few months I will stumble upon some real gems. Having said that, I will defo being picking up some of these this month. 

(New Look backpack- £19.99, Matalan mason jars- £6.00, Boohoo swing dress- £18.00

Real Techniques starter kit - £21.99, MAC face & body foundation - £21.50, Kate Spade Purse $198,

Argento "g" earrings - £10.00, Rayban gold aviators - £88, YSL baby doll mascara - £24.50)

Primark Haul - 25th July 2014

I've tried to avoid Primark recently, one because its absolutely boiling in England at the moment and I think a sweaty Primark is too much for anyone to handle. Two,because I have been in a bit of a clothes rut and to be honest didn't really know what I wanted to buy. Having said that it is boiling and my office is verging on sub tropic temperatures some days so I needed some summery bits, if anything just too keep me cool.
I was some what disappointed with what was about but I did nab a few little bits and bobs to keep me going.

I saw this little scalloped edge shorts tucked away on the top floor and I just had to pick them up. Not only are they not really short little hot pants, but they are also pastel pink...one of my faves. For £10 they are a bargain and I'm sure I will get lots of use out of them in the coming months.

Sticking with the pastel and pinky shades I couldn't resist this polka dot shirt. Anyone that knows me knows I have a ridiculous number of shirts like this, but I couldn't say no to one more. Excuse the wrinkles by the way , it's just been pulled out of the bag. This was slightly pricey for a shirt but at £12 I will wear it when this insane weather cools down. 

Finally, no trip to Primark would be complete without a quick dash throughout the accessories aisle. I have to be honest and say, not one of these things did I actually need but all will come in useful... I think ! The little black clips are a make up bag staple and again in the heat I often find my hair stays down for all of about 5 minutes before I feel like I'm melting. These huge sunglasses are a must have for early mornings, plus I get very watery eyes in the bright sun so these will hopefully prevent any awkward panda eyes in the morning walk to work. The final two things are really cute, a little rose garland for my top knot, again for when I can't bare to have my hair down and a this gold chocker to add a pop to my usual all black outfit.

Nothing too exciting I'm afraid but all are in store now so pop into your local store if you like the looks of anything. 

Ask a make up artist ?

Just want to start this by saying, I am in no way a make up artist. Nor do I think I am. However, I am lucky enough to have a beautiful make up artist bestie  Melissa who knows it all. We bonded over make up at uni and she is now going from strength to strength in the beauty world.

I know how helpful it can be to have her at the end of the phone when I need a tip or product suggestions, so I thought I'd lend her to you all! 

All you need to do is; leave a comment here, tweet me @Gracepowell12 or  Instagram me at  @graciep1201 using the #mulbQ&A.

Feel free to ask away to your hearts content and as soon as I have enough I will create a list for Melissa to answer. 

Mulberry Del Rey Review

So as you should have guessed by now, from my blog name alone, I have one Mulberry bag and it may as well be my first born child. This was by no means a quick decision purchase, from deciding to buy a designer bag to actually purchasing one probably took about 3 and a half years. I know this sounds extreme but I obviously had to save, but also needed to decide exactly what I wanted.

I know some people think designer bags are a waste of money and an unnecessary extravagance but as you can see I didn't take this decision lightly, and I am still, a year on thrilled with my decision.

In order for this not to be a totally biased review I have highlighted key areas I will discuss and hopefully include lots of pictures. If you do want any more information please let me know and I'm happy to answer anything I can.

Bag Key stats:

·         Mulberry Del Rey design

·         “Oxblood Silky Nappa” style

·         Largest style Del Rey available

(Bag front on and stuffed)

Price

This is usually the first thing people want to know so I’ll get it out the way now. As you may or may not know most designer bags go up each year, so unlike a car or sofa this high end item holds its value. When I bought the bag its retail price was around £965 (give or take a few pounds). However, I bought mine from duty free meaning I paid just over £ 780.  I know still a lot, and I have encountered a lot of people who think it’s ridiculous to spend that much money on a bag, but I think if you’re the type of person who loves designer bags you understand the investment beforehand.  As I mentioned before the bag does go up in price and this bag is now £1,100 if you were to buy it from the Mulberry website.

Leather, Quality and colour

I deliberately choose a dark colour, one because I love autumn winter tones and, two, as I think they wear better. When I first purchased the bag I sprayed it with a leather protector which has worked wonders and none of my dark clothes dye, such as jeans, has transferred. However, this spray will darken the leather slightly, which is definitely something to bear in mind.

In terms of wear it’s almost perfect. I have one tiny scratch on the front which it totally my fault but bar that its held up amazingly from me being ,at times very rough with it.

(Bag unstuffed and totally empty)

Structure

Now this is potentially my only bugbear with this bag. Pictures and even when in store would lead you to believe it holds its bowling bag shape. However, with stuffing removed this is a very soft bag, which means it slumps in on itself when it’s not stuffed to the brim.  This can mean it looks much more relaxed and casual compared to something like the Bayswater which is more structured.

Weight

The bag empty is not heavier than any others I carry; however, it opens wide, meaning you can fill it up with a lot. This in a way is great as it can hold all of my excessive crap I like to lug around , but also gets so heavy and as it only has a small handle means it weighs your arm down a lot. On that note it important to say the large Del Rey does not come with a shoulder strap. If that is something you like, they do now make a small Del Rey which is exactly the same only mini and has an added strap.

(Bag from the side )

(Bag from the back)

"Wearabilty"

This is potentially not a word but I think you understand what I mean- how wearable is the bag? For me personally I wear it all the time, mainly as I don’t tend to wear a lot of bright colours so it goes with most things. I think it is an extremely useful size and shape and it’s very durable so I don’t have to be on high alert with it. This again may be due to the colour as a lighter one would definitely be more difficult to keep clean, but in terms of durability it’s great.

My Thoughts and summary

In short, I LOVE IT! I mean that’s probably obvious from my blog name but it really was for me the best investment. I would highly recommend Mulberry to anyone and especially the Del Reys . Like I said they go up each year so if you are thinking of getting one I would act sooner rather than later. Having said that they often have great sales and more often than not Del Reys of some description go in, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you have any more question about my bag or buying a designer bag let me know and I'm always happy to answer.

Holy Trinity of Hair

I am in no way a hair aficionado, hence why I held off for so long posting anything to do with my unruly locks. However, I noticed the other day that no matter where I travel to whether it be, home to London, to my boyfriends or off on holiday I always have to have my three hair essentials. My version of the hair holy trinity!

Hair is one of those things I wish I was good at, but I have zero patience and far too many curling tong war wounds to keep trying. It’s due to this, my hair day to day is normally straight and down or up in a ponytail with the occasional curls chucked in when I have extra time. All very simple and easy styles that take limited to no skills at all to achieve.

I suppose in order for you to understand why I love these products so much I should give you a little run down on my “hair history”. About 2 two years ago I took the drastic step of going blonde. It took about a year of full heads of highlights and toning to get the exact colour I wanted. All this bleach obviously knackered my hair so I decide about 8 months ago to chop it into a long bob. Loved this for all of about 5 minutes and then frantically tried to grow it back- not the easiest job with bleached frazzled hair. This was when I decide I needed to go back to natural. Not wanting to undo all that hard work of the blonde, I opted for a semi-permanent dye at my roots and left a lot of the bleach at the end . Somehow, this has faded into a natural ombre style where my natural colour is healthy and growing and I still have the bleach and the end. It’s because of this drastic action my hair has grown a lot. These products saved my ass when I was blonde, as there were stages I couldn’t even get a brush through it! Now it’s healthier I still love them and with that nagging feeling in the back of my mind telling me to, “blonde it up” again, I know I will need them more than ever soon. So enough of that long winded explanation, here is my hair Holy Trinity.

(Tangle Teezer, The Original )

First up is not going to be a shock to anyone, my beloved Tangle Teezer. This is pretty much a staple in most people handbags now, but if you don’t have one, you need to invest ASAP! It’s a pain free brushing experience and will save you hours in the morning if you have an unruly mane like mine.

( TRESemme Liquid Gold)

This one is more generic and not brand specific, it’s hair oil. Like I say, I’m not really fussy, I’ve had high end and low end ones and I’m currently using up a Tressme one I enjoy. To be honest, I don’t see much difference between them as long as they help me get a brush through my hair and leave it shiny and nourished I’m in.

(John Frieda 3 Day straight)

Last but not least is the John Frieda 3 day straight. I used to use this sparingly as it can be expensive for a very small amount of product, but I recently found it in Home Bargains for £1.99 and I stocked up. Even with the higher price tag, it’s always on offer and defo worth trying if you have frizzy wavy hair like mine.

Like I say these are my hair must haves; I do however, have several other products I use for different styles, so if you would like more hair posts let me know.

What can your hair not live without? Make sure you leave me a comment and let me know.

Weight loss and healthy eating journey

So this is not your usual, “I need a bikini bod in 6 weeks post”… in fact, it’s kind of the opposite. I went on holiday last week and as with every year told myself months before I went I would diet. That diet always seemed to “start on Monday” until the day before my holiday rolled around and I was the exact same weight I’d been all year.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not worrying about my weight. I just know I am a little tubby around the edges at the moment and want to sort it out, once and for all. I blame that mainly on two things; one getting into a relationship and eating a lot! Not just going out, but staying in and having nights which seem to be “food-centric”. Secondly, working at a desk 9-5. I graduated university last July and went straight into full time work at an office, and I don’t move around much meaning anything I eat- which tends to be sugary, just sits on me.

Now, like I said I don’t have a bikini to slim into and I don’t really have that much of an end goal, I simply want to get out of this food rut where sugary processed foods are my go to! When I’m at home or faced with a healthier option made for me, I love it I’m just very lazy and a bad cook!  So, I have decided to jump, somewhat back on the slimming world train. I did it a little over a year ago for about a month before I got bored, so I decided to use it as a guide but not throw myself whole hog into the SW world!

I’m blogging about this mainly as a way of forcing myself to be accountable. I start a diet every week and it usually lasts all of about 2 hours before I crave a pastry with my morning coffee or a late night run to maccies. Writing it all down and charting my process will hopefully allow me to get embarrassed when I fail and notice when I have actually achieved.

Having said that, I’m not going to limit myself 100% I will have treat days and I will enjoy them… just in moderation!

Anyway let me know if you are on a weightloss/healthy journey and we can keep each other on track Also I’d love if you could leave me links to your blogs or any sites you find useful. 

Duty Free Haul

So as you may or may not know, I popped over to Turkey with my best friend Jess last week. I had an incredible time and will do a whole post on the holiday next week- so keep your eyes peeled! But, you can’t visit and airport and not do a sneaky bit of duty free shopping can you? I did have a few things on my hit list that sadly were out of stock so I over compensated with one bigger item and a few very random purchases.

( MAC cool neutral palette )

First up was my splurge, “do I really need this” item- the MAC 15 piece cool neutral palette. Strangely, I thought I would have been more drawn to the warm tones based on the type of colours I normally go for on my eyes. However, as soon as I saw this I fell in love and snapped it up, especially when it was £10 cheaper than in the MAC stores and a lot cheaper than buying the individual shades.

( Benefit Gimme Brow- Light) 

I get my eyebrows waxed and tinted at my local benefit counter and when I was last there I asked them to try the “Gimme Brow” on me so I could see if I liked it. At the time I loved it and it totally transformed my sparse brows so this was the first thing I grabbed in the terminal. However, I used this several times on holiday and although it was ok, I wasn't wowed and ended up using my HD brow palette anyway to get more definition. I also found it a little messy and ended up with blobs above and below my brows on several occasions. I'm glad I gave it a go and it was cheaper being in duty free, but I don’t think it will become my new brow product of the moment.

(Benefit They're Real Mascara- Black)

Whilst at the Benefit counter I tried to pick up my holy grail mascara “They’re Real”, however, it’s obviously everyone else’s  favourite as they were totally sold out! Luckily when I got on the plane they had a duty free trolley with an extra stash and even better they had an additional 20% off on board, so I ended up getting this baby for a lot cheaper.  If you are travelling with Jet2 this summer I think this is an extra promotion they are doing so keep an ear out.

( Paperchase- Letter tray and Pen Pots )

Now this is where the random part of the haul comes in. If you have read my previous payday wish lists you will see I was eyeing up a letter rack from Paperchase for my palettes. The airport had a Paperchase. so I popped in and in amongst the huge sale section was one left of this letter rack- I believe it was a sign, especially when they had two of the matching pen pots as well. All three were quickly grabbed by me for under £15... STEAL!

*Side Note*- When looking for links for these, I noticed they are both even cheaper in the sale now than I paid in duty free. So, if you fancy them grab them now!

Are you heading off on your jollies soon? Make sure you let me know what you’re adding to your duty free hit list, although sadly I will not be jetting off again, I do have a very lovely sister who will be and she loves to shop!

Would you rather?

The lovely Kate over at Beautiboe, tagged me to do these questions before I went away,so I thought now would be the perfect way to ease myself back into blogging with this quick tag. 

1.) Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

2.) Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

3.) Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

4.) If you had £1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

5.) Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

6.) Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

7.) Would you rather only use one eyeshadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

8.) Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

9.) Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

10.) Would you rather give up your favourite lip product or your favourite eye product?

11.) Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

12.) Would your rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?

13.) Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

14.) Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

My answers to all the questions are below and I will be tagging these lovelies :

Georgie @beansbeautyblog

Natalie @youralmostalice

Hayley@teapartybeauty

1.)  Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lipglosses or lose all of your palettes and eyeshadows?

This is a toughy as I don’t use lipsticks and lipglosses a lot but I would look awful without mascara! However, I couldn't rock a smoky eye with no mascara at all so I'm going for losing all my eyeshadows and palettes.

2.)  Would you rather chop off all your hair or never be able to cut it again?

Definitely never cut it again. I've cut it off once and it was little short of horrendous!

3.)  Would you rather have a coral cheek or a pink cheek?

Easy one, coral !

4.)  If you had £1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or makeup?

Ahhh that’s horrible can I split it in half? If I have to make a decision I would say clothes as I feel like I probably have enough make up for the time being and you always need new clothes.

5.)  Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

As much as I'm not really a fan of dark lips on me, I would do eyeliner as lipstick. Mainly because I think if I whacked some pink lipstick on my eyes I would look either ill or like I had some kind of infection, which is not the best look.

6.)  Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Always Sephora, the possibilities are endless in there.

7.)  Would you rather only use one eyeshadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life?

Lip colour- As I've said before not really too bothered by lips so I could live quite happily with just one.

8.)  Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

As much as I hate being cold, I reckon summer clothes in winter and I could just stay inside a lot, or wear a lot of them.

9.)  Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

Does nude count as a bright? I think nude goes with most outfits so I’d be sorted.

10.)  Would you rather give up your favourite lip product or your favourite eye product?

Favourite lip always. 

11.)              Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Day to day I often just chuck my hair in a ponytail, so I’d have to go with that. However, I do love a messy bun but sometimes it just doesn't want to sit right and a ponytail is my fail-safe.

12.)              Would your rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lipgloss?

Not sure I can really answer this, as many of you know I’m allergic to nail varnish so don’t actually paint my nails. I also very rarely wear lipgloss so if I had to choose I’d give up painting my nails but it would be much of a sacrifice.

13.)              Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

This is a nightmare question!!! If I had to make this horrendous decision I would have to sharpie them in. I live in Liverpool so I’m sure a scouse brow would go relatively unnoticed here.

14.)  Would you rather live without makeup or nail polish?

Again easy for me I’m afraid always nail varnish!