St Patrick's Day

Green Day aka St Patrick's Day

Being half Irish I thought I should commemorate St Patrick's day in some way on my blog. When wondering what to do I decided I would concentrate on all things green from my favourite areas, namely fashion, beauty and of course...bargains! Not a particularly favourite colour of mine, I did however manage to find a few green products that I actually quite like

This pretty green cocktail dress is from ASOS and is currently on sale for £17.50, reduced from £50! I really like the colour of this surprisingly, it would look lovely for a night out and it's a great price at the moment.

 Now I doubt this would be a first choice of colour for most of us, but I have to say it looks very moisturising and would look great on someone with the right type of image. It's an all natural home made concoction available from Etsy for only £8.00.

If you're not brave enough to go with the green lipstick maybe you would prefer to try this Nails inc nail jewellery for £11, you can find it here I think for just a little bit of green on St Patrick's day this would be the ideal choice.

For the emerald lovers out there, how about this 0.6 emerald and diamond cluster ring for 

£1568.50 from QVC? I know there are as many people who think emeralds are unlucky as there are who love them, I don't believe they are unlucky, but I must admit they are my least favourite precious stone. However I think the design of this ring is beautiful. It is actually a fairly perfect symbol of St Patrick's day with its' green white and gold!

If you would rather not splash out over £1500 on an emerald ring but still fancy treating yourself to something, how about this Oasis watch? It has been reduced from £30 down to £20 at ASOS and I could actually see myself wearing this watch.

Now these are labelled as "Men's" Vans but aren't all Vans unisex really? Either way, if you would like to treat the man in your life, or the woman, or even yourself - you can pick these up for £21.99 on ebay I have noticed the price of Vans can vary wildly but this is a fairly good price.

If you have a little boy to buy for I bet he would look so cute in this Green Nippers shirt, I love this. It is currently reduced to £10.99 and is available from birth to age 2. You can find all the details here

On the same site I found these cute little girls leggings. I know they are not a true green but I don't think a true dark green is nice on a little girl, apart for the exception I have posted below. The leggings are also on sale, and for £8.99 I think they are very reasonable for an all natural and organic cotton product. You can buy these in ages 2 though 5 at Green Nippers

This is the exception, a little girl would look beautiful in this dark green Tudor dressing up dress and would feel like a princess I'm sure. You can buy this dress for £13.99 at Amazon and it would be a different look to all the pink and frilly dressing up outfits little girls usually wear to fancy dress parties.

If you need to find a flattering alternative to the usual LBD for a special night out, you could perhaps consider this stylish fishtail Phase Eight dress. As it is such a dark shade of green it would still have a flattering, slimming look on, and at £250 from House of Fraser you know it will be well made and not likely to be worn by several other women at your occasion or special night out.

When I lived in America Dooney and Burke were my go-to work bags, they were always great quality and never looked worn, so when looking for green handbags of course a Dooney caught my eye. I found this one at Zappos for $328, which even if you have to pay international shipping is not a bad price for a quality leather handbag. 

Finally, I would just like to wish you all a very Happy St Patrick's day, Sláinte  And if you are going to celebrate on Sunday I would love to hear about your plans. Will you be wearing anything green? xx

** By the way if you haven't already entered the current giveaway for a MAC make up product of your choice, you can do so here **

MAC INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY

MAC Eye Shadow or Lipstick Giveaway

In collaboration with the lovely Tara from Tara's Treats, to celebrate her blog reaching 200 followers and mine reaching 400, we have decided to host a fab little giveaway to thank you all for your support. The prize will be your choice - of either an eye shadow, or lipstick, from MAC cosmetics! We can not promise to be able to supply any limited editions as they may not be available when our giveaway ends, but apart from that, any lipstick or eye shadow from current MAC ranges, that are available in the UK, are up for grabs.

• You will have a choice of ways to enter.

• All entries will be through Rafflecopter.

• The giveaway is open internationally.

• The giveaway will be open for 30 days

We hope you will love this giveaway and maybe share it with your friends so they have a chance to enter also. Personally when I am shopping for MAC products I tend to use Debenhams or Selfridges so if you aren't sure what to choose perhaps you can browse their MAC products to help you make up your mind. I think there is nothing nicer than lovely MAC cosmetics, well except FREE MAC cosmetics :) so if you share my, and Tara's, love of MAC get entering below xx

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Freebies, a prize win & a Company Style Blogger Award Nomination!

Freebies

First I want to apologise for not having been here for almost a week. I have an ongoing health problem that affects pretty much every aspect of my life and this past week's absence was due to that health problem. So, my first post, now I am back, is just a short one showing you a couple of my freebies and even a prize win, from the past couple of weeks.

Percy & Reed

Glamour magazine this month was giving a variety of Percy & Reed hair care products.  I received the Volumising No Oil Oil, which is probably the product I would have chosen out of those available. It was a double freebie for me as my Glamour magazines are from a twelve month  subscription I won in a competition last year. The RRP of a 60ml size is £14, therefore this 30ml freebie is worth £7, not bad hey? I haven't tried it yet but will do a full review when I do.

Eau de Lacoste

Next was an Eau de Lacoste roll on perfume freebie. I believe I signed up on their facebook page in the hopes of being one of the people who received this. I apply for so many freebies and enter so many competitions it is difficult to keep up I'm afraid, so hopefully it was from facebook :) I received a 6ml roller ball bottle that is perfect to throw in my handbag and smells wonderful, very light and uplifting, and one I wouldn't mind purchasing in the future. I have never considered buying a Lacoste perfume so this is a great marketing move, much better than the little wipe on samples, which I actually received one of in the post today! This perfume retails at around £40 to £45 for 50ml making this freebie worth around £5, not too bad.

Elemental Herbology

My final freebie worth noting was a 30ml, Elemental Herbology cell plumping facial hydrator, with spf 8. I did have to pay postage for this, £3.50, but considering a 50ml size retails for around £42 and this is a 30ml size, therefore worth around £25, I think it was well worth it. It does feel nice on my face, I feel it fully moisturises even my ageing skin, and even leaves my face with a brightened, almost glowing look. As I have only used it a couple of times up to now I will wait to make up my mind on whether to repurchase or not, but I am very pleased with this product that only cost me the price of shipping.

Competition Prize

Makeon Princess

Finally, I also received a prize that I won last month through a facebook competition with WISHTREND. I won my first Korean make up product and I am thrilled as Korean make up is definitely the current big thing in the make up scene. The products I won are  from the Makeon Princess limited edition collection - Super Long Lasting Waterproof Gel Eye Liners. As with all Korean make up the packaging is very pretty, and as it is a tin I will be able to use it to put my little bits and bobs in once I take the products out of it and into my make up storage. There are 5 eye pencils in the tin that range from a charcoal/black colour through brown and right up to a bright gold. They are very pigmented but blend down easily and are so smooth to apply, not dragging my eye at all. I would definitely buy this brand again when I see it, as from the packaging to the quality of the product I am very impressed.

 How cute is this packaging? I love it!

What a great range of colours.

Have you had any great freebies or won any nice prizes lately? Let me know in the comment section, I would love to hear about them.

                                    ********************************************

COMPANY #style blogger awards 2013

I almost forgot to mention that I have been nominated for the Company Magazine new comer blogger award. Now I doubt very much I would get anywhere near the short-list but I thought I would let you know and ask that if you have the time, and like my blog of course, perhaps you could go and vote for me here You need to enter your email and my URL, which is http://british-bargains-and-beauty.blogspot.co.uk/    I know it's a lot of messing around to vote but if you do I would really appreciate it, and fully understand that you may have already found a blog to vote for. xx

Beautiful Blogger Award

I've been nominated for an award!

I am so pleased to see that I have been nominated for the Beautiful Blogger Award by http://thoushaltnotcovet.net  I haven't been nominated for this award before. When I first started my blog, all the way back in January lol I did get 5 nominations for the Leibster Award but it was for blogs with under 200 followers and by the time I was nominated and was going to do the tasks involved in it I was at over 200 followers, and I also didn't know which nomination to use, so naughty me didn't do it. But thank you for nominating me for this award, I am definitely going to do this one.

There are some rules for accepting the award…

   1)  Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.

   2)  Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

   3)  Tell us 7 things about yourself.

   4)  Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award, and comment on their blogs to let them know.

7 things about me

1. I emigrated to America in 1999 and stayed there until 2009, when I moved back home to England.
2. I have a very nasty spinal disease that means I am in severe pain 24 hours a day.
3. I have two amazing children of whom I could not be more proud, Steven who is 29 and Suzanne who is 28.
4. I have a degree in English and History, Social Work diplomas, a Massage Therapist License, but only for Texas, and I became a Reiki Master back in 2006. 
5. I have a lovely boyfriend, who is kind, generous and loving, and everyone who meets him loves him, he is the complete opposite of my ex husband!
6. I believe in karma and therefore try to not think badly of anyone or wish bad things to happen to anyone, because karma is a product of our thoughts as much as our actions.
7. I have a tattoo. It is on my rear hip and is a red peace heart with my children's initials either side. I didn't get it until I was 50, my rite of passage into middle age :)

My wee tattoo

These are my 7 nominated blogs, I hope you will check them out as they are all amazingly good.

• http://pennyforthem1.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://vanzthemachinee.blogspot.co.uk
• http://wwwblackstarrynight.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://tarastreatsreviews.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://atouchofslap.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://toxylicious.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://mrsgaeul.com/

February Empties

I managed to use up lots of samples in February :)

Easy Touch hand wash. I bought a couple of these when they were on offer in Superdrug for about £1 each. I liked it, it smelt fresh, lathered nicely and was well worth the price. I would definitely buy again.

Love Etc Body Wash. Received this for Christmas in a gift set from the Body shop. This has a lovely fragrance, fresh and a little sweet and I could still smell it on my skin a few hours after my shower. It lathers up  really well and makes the bathroom smell lovely. I will definitely buy this again, or ask for it for Chistmas again.

Dirty Works Body Spray. I bought this from Sainsbury's at half price, 99p! Love how clean this smells, I spray it all over after my shower and could always smell it on my skin a good 3 or 4 hours later. I have already repurchased this as I didn't want to be without it, and for 99p it's a bargain.

Silvikrin Firm Hold Hairspray. This is just a travel size I have taken out in my handbag and when I stayed out overnight. I have used this hairspray for several years so will definitely be buying again. The full size of Silvikrin hair sprays range from around £3 to £3.50.

Ojon Hydrating Thickening Conditioner. As I tend to have several shampoos and conditioners on the  go at once this has been open for a few months and I am glad to finally finish it as I have others I am dying to try. I have had this conditioner before and it is one I do really like. It makes my hair soft and shiny and it does seem to hydrate and thicken my hair, until the next wash. As with all Ojon products I have tried I would certainly repurchase this one and at £19.50 for 250ml I think it's good value for money.

 I have been determined to use up some of my rather large supply of samples and this month I have used a few as you can see.

Garnier intensive 7 days body moisturiser. I did like this, is moisturised well and sank in quite quickly. As a lower priced moisturiser I would repurchase this when I don't have more high end ones in stock. I still have quite a few samples of it left which I am quite happy to use. And it is only $4.99 for 400ml

Green People hydrating firming serum. I absolutely loved what little I had to try of this. My skin felt instantly hydrated and I felt with continued use this one would actually help with firming my skin. I would love to have some more of this and at only £11.95 for 50ml I'm sure I will be buying some real soon

Estee Lauder advance night repair. This is a great sized sample, lasting me about two weeks so I got a good idea of how it worked. It worked great for me, my skin felt lovely and soft after using it and I felt there was some improvement in the appearance of my fine lines using this for the two weeks. Luckily I have a couple more of these samples but I will think seriously about buying the full size product when they are used up as it costs £45 for 50ml. If I see it on sale I will definitely buy some though.

Decleor Foaming Cleanser. I have a couple of decleor products in this travel size that I received in a set, and they are a great size to test whether you like it enough to buy the full size product, I do, and will definitely buy this at some point in the full size. You only need a small amount to get a nice lather to wash your face with and it leaves your face lovely and soft and very clean feeling, a really nice product. They have this on offer on Amazon for £22.00 for 200ml, well worth that price in my opinion, as you don't need a lot of product each time you use it.

Rodial Dragon's Blood Sculpting Gel. I was dying to try this as I had heard great things about it. I have to say I was quite disappointed after all the hype. It was ok, nothing more and nothing less. I didn't feel my skin looked or felt any better after using it, but perhaps after regular use it would feel better. Going off the sample I had I won't be buying this again as it costs £75 for 50ml!

Nivea Pure and Natural Regenerating Night Cream. This was the biggest surprise of all the samples I used last month. Nivea is not an expensive product line and I have never been a fan in particular, so I was pleasantly surprised with this and how great my skin felt after using it. My face felt smooth and moisturised and as good as it does after using more high end products. I will definitely buy this product again, I love it! Not only is only £5.35 for 100ml but at the moment it is on a 3 for 2 deal at Boots.

Rodial Glamtox Day. This moisturiser felt nice, my skin was moisturised but again nothing special. At £75 for 50ml I honestly would expect more from this product therefore  I will not be repurchasing this.

Well I had mixed feelings about my samples this month. I expected great things from the Rodial ones and was disappointed, perhaps if they gave better size samples with enough for a few days I would have felt differently, but with only enough for one use I was not convinced, whereas the Garnier body lotion was better than I anticipated and the Nivea moisturiser was really good, and really cheap. I feel by using the Nivea sample I have discovered a product I probably would not otherwise have tried, so a great result. The Estee Lauder sample I have used in a sample before so I knew liked it. The Green People serum was another nice surprise which I may have bought anyway as I like Green products, but now I know I will definitely be buying it, I think the price is great for such a good product.

Did you use up any samples last month? And if so were there any that surprised you, either positively or negatively?

I Won A Blog Giveaway Prize!

I won an Aztec necklace!

Back in January I entered a competition over at Sushi, Turtles and Life Blog. When I heard from Erica, who writes the blog, that I had won, I was thrilled, and very surprised! This is what I won, a very cool Aztec necklace...

When my package arrived today Erica had very kindly added some extras too. I knew she was sending me something extra because of a little mix up with the post, but she sent me far more than I expected...

I received a  Sexy Curves by Rimmel mascara in Brown/Black, a lovely Rimmel nail polish in Black cherries, a tube of Xen Tan and even a couple of Blend Collective samples, thank you so much Erica. I haven't tried any of my extras yet but I did put my funky necklace on straight away and I love it. The necklace is from Sugar and Vice Jewellery, which you should check out as they have some really unusual pieces.

Not only does it go with my freckles :) but I have an Aztec maxi dress, that I love and wear a lot in Summer, in exactly the same colour ways, so it will match perfectly.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest win, have you won any prizes lately?

“BLOGGER WEDDING GUEST OUTFIT COMPETITION”

As it is coming up to Spring, wedding fever will soon be upon us and we will have to think about what we will wear to those weddings we are lucky enough to get invited to. There is a fabulous company called Phase 8 who specialise in beautiful clothes for weddings and other special occasions, along with smart work wear and evening wear. They are currently holding a competition for bloggers to put together an outfit from their web site   http://www.phase-eight.co.uk/ for a guest at a wedding. They will award the best entry with a £250 gift card to spend on some of their beautiful clothes and accessories. If you would like to enter just go here. I am so excited to be involved in such an amazing competition

 Freida Dress £99  

 Elouise Jacket £130

 Anthea Fascinator £39

 Yasmin Pleated Satin Bag £49

 Yasmin Slingback Shoes £99

 Teardrops Necklace £25

I was totally spoilt for choice, and found it very difficult to choose just one outfit from all the lovely outfits that are available from Phase 8. I love the monochrome look that is going to be very popular come Spring, but I was worried other guests may go for this look. Then I thought I would go nautical with navy and white, but I thought no - I will go with an outfit choice that I think looks quite unique and one which I think there is little worries of anyone else wearing the exact colour scheme that I have chosen, a beautiful raspberry and muted mink. Such a beautiful and unusual combination, with pink being bang on trend for Spring and Summer. I also feel that this outfit would not be left in a garment bag at the back of my wardrobe and never worn again like many formal occasion outfits are. I could wear this dress with a smart pair of flat leather sandals and a cute scarf tied at my neck and I would look perfect for a garden party or even sat in a nice beer garden having lunch. And of course I would wear the shoes and bag all Summer with lots of my pretty dresses. 

I actually felt quite emotional choosing this outfit, as next year my daughter is getting married and I couldn't help but choose an outfit I would feel comfortable, smart, and a little bit glamorous in as the Mother of the Bride. These days huge hats and over the top dresses are no longer what one sees at most weddings, even for the Mother of the Bride, and I think the outfit I chose is perfect for a modern wedding. 

What do you think of my choices? Is this an outfit you could see yourself wearing to a wedding? Let me know below, in the comment section.