Shhhhh!!!! Don't tell the Bank Manager....Haul

Last year I made a bit of a commitment to myself: Spend less on random rubbish and have money to indulge myself once in a while.

I did reasonably well.

I still have a long way to go but I felt I had been good enough to warrant a little treat.....I think things may have got out of hand......

Here is my haul, it's definitely a case of quality over quantity but I really truly love everything I got so I don't feel too guilty....just please don't tell my bank manager ;-)

All of these products are loosely related to things I've seen around the blogosphere at sometime or another but I've found blogs are a really good way of really seeing what a product is all about before buying it. To be quite honest if it wasn't for blogs I'd be aimlessly stabbing in the dark when buying high end products, and at these prices you really don't want to get it wrong!

First up is Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Light 2 Mont Blanc (£30.50)

I had popped into Frasers on Buchanan Street and a lovely lady called Zoe helped to colour match me. This shade is PERFECT for my skin. I have to say I was pretty amazed that there is still a shade lighter than me. If you are particularly ghostly get yourself down to a Nars counter pronto!!

To go with my swanky new base obviously I had to get a swanky new finishing powder (totally justifiable.... right?)

Step up, the eye wateringly expensive, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light (£38)

I stood for aaaaaggggggeeeees in SpaceNK and hummed and hawed over which shade to get in this and eventually just bit the bullet and went for what appeared to be the most popular and got Dim light. Oh my, this stuff is beautiful. I can't quite explain it as, to be honest, its not a visible product. All I know is it adds a layer of perfection to my face. I'm actually itching to buy more of them.

Once I'd sorted my face it was time to move on to scent. I am a huge fan of my Armani Si' perfume that I picked up at duty free back when I went to Bulgaria but I was in the market to find a something a little more unique.

I had a 30ml bottle of  the cult fragrance Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 (£65.50) a few years ago and I love the weirdness of it. To me it smells a bit like tobacco and leather which sounds quite random. The thing is it is different to everyone. I know alot of bloggers and YouTubers are huge fans of this as a standalone scent but I really find that this particular fragrance plays well with others. Armani Si + Molecule01 = Heaven for my nose. Totally my own signature scent :-)

And the last thing I picked up I'm sure needs very little introduction....

Yes that would be a Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac (£125). I've wanted one for quite a while and I was in the mood to treat myself. In the UK these bags are not terribly easy to come by. I got mine from The Little Black Book of Style website. Its in the shade Black Cherry which on ALL the pictures I found online looked a lot darker than it actually is. Online it looks Black/Red but in real life its more a red purple as seen in the picture above. Having said that I'm still not disappointed in the slightest. Its such good quality and depending on the light it really does pick up as different colours. The interior is so cute its the same teal leopard print as the dustbag which came with it which gives the classic style of the bag a bit of a hidden specialness. And I'd like to say the Little black book of style site was lovely to order from, I paid for express delivery and despite it being the festive period it was with me the next day. It was beautifully packaged and really securely wrapped, and it was a nice touch to get a little handwritten message from Melissa that runs the site. Things like that really make a difference in a world where online ordering has got so automated and clinical.

So thats what I got. Its a lot of money, I know, but its my money. I worked dang hard for it, so I get to spend it how I like. Stay in school kids!

In all seriousness though. Although I've had a little bit of a spree buying a few choice items felt far more satisfying that 10 trips to Primark. And ultimately it has spurred me on to save even more.... you never know maybe my next Rebecca Minkoff will be picked up in New York!!

What would you splurge on if you had a little money to burn?

Adventures in Green....

One of the things I think most people want to do in the new year is eat a little better. I, for one, am very much part of the band wagon on that.

It dawned on me some time ago that I don't really eat much in the way of fruit and vegetables. So i've been trying to think of ways to work a few things in. It started with me grabbing the odd banana and maybe an apple for breakfast, but it was all quite boring and I still wasn't getting much in the way of vegetables.

I signed up for the free emails that Karena and Katrina are doing on the Tone It Up website. And as part of that there were a few recipes in the welcome dowload. One of which was for a smoothie and I thought I would give it a whirl!

My version is slightly amended from there version but basically i threw a peeled orange, a peeled banana, a handfull of spinach and a handfull of kale into my blender with some almond milk and let it blend until it was smooth.

The actual recipe also suggests adding some of the Perfect Fit protein that the girls developed but since I'm in the UK thats not very easy to get ahold of (unless one of you can tell me where?) 

The result was a thick and creamy bright green drink......

I had to say when I sat down I wasn't exactly relishing the idea of drinking it but OH MY DAYS it was tasty!!! I couldn't taste the green stuff and it was nice and fruity.

I think next time I might try freezing the banana as it wasn't as cool as i'd like and maybe adding slightly more greens and almond milk but i'm totally sold on the idea of getting a fruit and veg hit like this!

I really wish I could afford to join the full Tone It Up programme and get all their recipes!

While i'm saving for that does anyone have any suggesting on what else goes well in a green smoothie?

That New Year post.....

So here we are staring down the barrell of yet another new year.

Well if you cant wear Top Hat at new year when can you!

It seems appropriate that since I have been somewhat slacking on the blog front I should do a post to make all my best intentions clear on what the new year will hold.

2013 for a variety of reasons is not going to be remembered as a great year. Family drama, work stress, and a series of rather unfortunate events meant that there was little to smile about for most of the time. However thats where New Years comes along to reboot everything back to zero :-)

My year really kicked off on a positive note when myself and some of my favourite folk headed to Club Noir for the bells. It was nice to make an effort to get glammed up a little and spend the night sipping cocktails with a bit of class (says me that wore possibly the most low cut dress ever!) If you're not from round these parts Club noir is a Burlesque club night thats held sporadically throughout the year in Glasgow. Theres a few entertainment acts but its fun because everyone that goes really gets into the spirit of it. New Year had a glamourous theme so it was a little gatsby/moulin rouge/ 50s-ish. The whole event made a pleasant change from the usual sticking to the dancefloor trying to dodge random drunks kind of place I usually end up at for New Years.

So in that respect 2014 is already kicking 2013 in the ass.

As for resolutions, I could earnestly sit here and proclaim i'm going to go to the gym and blog every day while eating nothing but quinoa and kale. But lets be a little bit more realistic shall we....

My main thing this year is i'd like to plan more. It seems a simple enough step. Taking some time every week to plan out what's happening when. I've purchased a new planner for the job (any excuse to hit the stationary section!) and i've set a reminder in my phone to go off on a sunday night to remind my to fill the thing in.

I'm going to try and meal plan. This is huge for me as in the past while I seem end up spending every night after work strolling the aisles of ASDA aimlessly while blindly filling my basket with cake. These trips are not only a waste of my time, but inevitably I end up spending money on rubbish I don't need and well the cakes are hardly great on the old weight front. So saving money and eating better are covered in one fowl swoop there :-)

As for the saving money...I had been doing so well but it all went to pot over the festive period. Obviously the whole christmas present buying thing was very much an expected expense, but the amount of money I managed to spend on myself over November/December period has essentially wiped any progress I had made. Having said that i am very happy with my new things. I shall do a haul soon, but it was definitely a case of quality over quantity which i have to say was a bit of a nicer feeling than the quick hit of a Boots run.

Do you have any new year resolutions? or more importantly any tips for sticking to them?