Rome Haul - Zara, L'Occitane, Tiger

Bonjourno! I hope you're having a lovely Tuesday - sadly I'm back from Rome and have the post-holiday blues. On the plus side, I have a mini fashion and beauty haul to share with you today. I've also written up a holiday lookbook and travel diary which will be coming up in the next week. As you might expect, the shopping in Rome is quite spectacular; the Zara store near the Trevi fountain simply blew me away - four floors! We were only in the city for a few days, meaning most of the time was spent exploring the breathtaking monuments and soaking up the Mediterranean sunshine but here are a few gems I managed to find in the time I wasn't trying to be cultured. 

Starting with the clothes, I've been looking for a lemon yellow skirt on the UK High Street for a few months with no previous luck. Spotting this one straight away, I was in love! It was 39.99 EUR and you can find it on the Zara UK site for £35.99, making it ever so slightly cheaper to buy it abroad. It will be featuring in my upcoming Rome lookbook where I styled it with a casual tee, leggings and boots. It's such a versatile piece that you can dress up or down. The monochrome flowy top can also be found on the Zara UK website and I feel that it would be flattering for a variety of body shapes. I'll be wearing mine with my black Joni Jeans and bright spring skirts. At 24.99 EUR I was sold. I'd love to see it in other colours too.

Moving onto my mini L'Occitane haul, I bought another Shea Butter lip balm as I'd lost my old one. I had brought another lip balm with me, but this one is more of an intense treatment to use before bed. Before I paid at the till, I was convinced to buy this mini hand cream trio for 5 EUR and shared them with my family. Finally, we visited the Tiger store on one of the Roman backstreets. Visiting the chain for the first time, I loved the quirky concept and I was impressed by the reasonable prices. This teal ticket holder was a bargain at 3 EUR. 

Oh, and the postcard was a must. I may not be as fabulous as Princess Anne, but I had a truly wonderful Roman Holiday. Have you ever been to Rome?

xxx

What's in my Travel Makeup Bag

I always love to read a good 'what's in my bag' blog post, it's a classic for a reason. Today's theme is packing for a city break and I've tried my very best to downsize my collection for a 5 day trip to Rome. I've spent the whole of the Easter break so far counting down to our little European getaway and I can't believe I'm here! For days in advance I satisfied my excitement by planning my travel makeup bag and although it may look extensive to some, I wouldn't describe myself as a low maintenance traveler so this is pretty good by my standards. With products such as makeup and toiletries, it can be very difficult to pick out a capsule collection but I'm happy with my choices. The photo below is the contents of my travel makeup bag which includes almost everything I've taken with me makeup and beauty wise. There are a few exceptions such as a toothbrush and deodorant - travel essentials of course - but those are the things I threw in at the last minute! I also packed an everyday lipstick such as Mac Creme Cup in my hand luggage.

• I'll start with the beautiful Leighton Denny makeup bag that is the epitome of spring florals. It's the perfect size to fit everything in for a city break such as this one. 

• My Real Techniques makeup brushes go everywhere with me - there's the powder brush, expert face brush and blush brush.

• The No7 Beautifully Matte foundation is a must, as is the Bourjois Liner Pinceau.

• The YSL Touche Eclat needs no explanation, it's the number one under eye highlighter and holy grail beauty product for a reason. This one's my third!

• There's also a mini Benefit Roller Lash courtesy of last months Elle magazine.

• The Kiko Eyeshadow pencil in Taupe will be great to spice up evening outfits and I'll need the Kiko Nude Nail varnish to rectify any chips!

• The Maybelline Brow Drama gel is a quick-fix for perfect brows.

• The Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner and Max Factor Lipstick in Ruby Tuesday is the perfect combination for a bold lip.

• L'Occitane's Amande Shower Oil, Amande Hand Cream and Shea Butter Lip balm are essentials for luxurious body care and the travel sizes are adorable. 

• I've mentioned the Stila in the Light Palette in my 2014 favourites post and wish I'd added the Rimmel Stay Matte powder and Tangle Teezer.

• Benefit's Hoola Bronzer is a new one for me and is a gorgeous matte tan colour that complements a variety of skin tones - love!

• A few Clarins samples have made their way into my travel bag and it's the Toning Lotion, Daily Energizer Cleansing Gel and the Multi-Active Day moisturizer.  I haven't tried the final two and I'm excited to give them a go!

• The Benefit Porefessional is a guilty pleasure of mine because I know how pricey it is but this mini size is a little treat for the trip!

• Finally, the more practical products include a mini toothpaste, nail file, tweezers, an Aussie shampoo and an Aussie 3 minute miracle conditioner. 

What are your beauty essentials for a trip away?

xxx 

Spring Perfumes

Let's be honest, the weather in the UK is pretty appalling at the moment (and in general). It's all wind, rain and icy temperatures, not a great start to 2015. One thing that cheers me up in a morning before I leave for uni is a beautiful perfume and these are the three scents I've been turning to this year. I was really lucky to be given a replacement bottle of the Marc Jacobs Dot perfume for Christmas as part of a gift set; it was my main present and I adore it. If you're interested in this for yourself or as a present, I found it at House of Fraser for £36 which is amazing. Admittedly I do prefer this scent as a special evening perfume but now and again I'll treat myself and use it during the day. In the Dot gift set, there's also a shower gel and body lotion that help to intensify the fragrance. As does everyone, I find it very difficult to describe perfumes however it's very distinctive, very sweet and very floral - typical Marc Jacobs! 

• Top notes - red berries, dragon fruit, honeysuckle
• Middle notes - jasmine, orange blossom, coconut water
• Base notes - vanilla, musk, driftwood

As you may expect, Zara Cherry is more of a fruity fragrance and I love it for everyday use. I'd never tried Zara perfumes before this one but my boyfriend bought me this for Christmas and I'm so glad he did - watch this space I may have to expand my collection!

Finally this Neroli and Orchidee perfume by L'Occitane was part of the Festive Treats collection which had some great beauty and body care samples to try out (reviews coming soon!). The scent is quite musky and floral and could be worn day to night. I'm not sure if I will repurchase this after I've finished it but that's the beauty of samples.

• Top notes - orange, mandarin
• Middle notes - neroli, peach, fig milk, lily of the valley
• Base notes - orchid, musk, iris

Have you tried any of these perfumes? What's your go-to spring perfume?

xxx

Christmas Luxury Haul - Topshop, L'Occitane, The Body Shop



Christmas is a time when I sort of forget my 'broke student' status and buy products that are a little more luxurious. This year I've been obsessed with Christmas wrapping paper and this gorgeous black glitter roll from Paperchase is the most beautiful pattern I've ever seen. Granted, using it has been a bit of a nightmare - the glitter goes everywhere in sight - but the end result is totally worth it. Similarly, I've been completely drawn into the Lush hype after years of not quite understanding all the fuss. This shampoo is called 'I Love Juicy' and it smells like a tropical fruit salad which I love. Look out for a Lush Wishlist coming very soon! The Frosted Cranberry Set from the Body Shop is a gift for my mum and the tin is as much of a gift as the goodies inside - it was £15 and includes a shower gel, a body butter, a body polish and a 'bath lily'. A great gift idea for any bath lover. In addition to this, The Body Shop have teamed up with the children's charity 'War Child' and for every gift you buy from them, a child affected by war is able to take a class in education. I think this idea is brilliant and is yet another reason to buy your Christmas gifts there.

The L'Occitane mini hand cream set was a gift from the Harrogate store after signing up to their mailing list and spending over £15. The set includes 10ml samples of the Shea butter handcream, the Arlesienne scent and the Rose scent. Unfortunately I can't find the set nline so I'd recommend going into your local L'Occitane store to get the best deals - the staff are always very helpful! On the left there is the No7 Beautifully Matte foundation, it's my go-to foundation and I use the shade Cool Ivory. Paying full price without a Boots voucher certainly makes the product feel like a luxury product as it retails at £13.50; in future I'm going to stock up when there are No7 promotions!

Finally, this beautiful forest green Topshop dress has earned its way into my wardrobe, an OOTN will be coming soon!

What did you think of this haul? Did you like anything I bought? :)

xxx

(This post was not sponsored, any gifts from brands are clearly marked with a * )