Collective Haul | ASOS, Primark, Steals and Charity Shops

So after throwing my 21st birthday party, I was left with a lot of money which has been burning a hole in my pocket. This means I've been doing quite a bit of shopping recently, but the majority of stuff I've bought have been absolute bargains which means I've not actually spent much of it at all... 

...so I went mad and booked a last minute holiday to Alicante with the bestie.

We're going on Monday and I am too excited for words. We've been talking about going on holiday for a good while now, but just never had the time to look or could never find a good enough deal. 

But we finally did it! 

Cue last minute panics about...well, everything. 

Anyhow, onto the haul!

Chain necklace | asos | £8 £4

T-shirt | Mango via asos | £19.99 £11

Jeggings | Pieces via asos | £22 £8

The asos sale is always worth a look as soon as any new items are added, as all the goodies disappear far too quickly. The necklace is sadly now sold out but I absolutely adore it; it was a bargain at just £4. 

The t-shirt is also really cute. It's boxy in shape, which I've never really taken a second glance at before as I never thought it would suit me, but it does! I didn't actually notice the little diamante anchor in the middle but it's not too obvious so I don't mind it. 

The jeggings just look like jeans, but are ridiculously comfy because they're so stretchy. I bought them in a size S/M, which is the perfect fit for a size 8/10. 

I actually tweeted @ASOS_HeretoHelp to ask which size I should order, as the whole S/M thing in something like jeans really puts me off buying them; if they weren't so cheap I wouldn't have bothered risking it.

It is such a fantastic Twitter account; any issues or queries regarding an ASOS order and they're on it within minutes. Customer service at it's absolute best!

Bag | Steals | £6

Cami top | Steals | £2

Shirt | Steals | £8

Steals is a store that stocks items from brands such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and BooHoo which have been either returned or worn on the catwalk and cannot be resold. This means that you can get current season, high street stuff for ridiculously low prices. 

The shop labels are always cut out so if you recognise where any of these three items are from originally, I'd love to know! I have a feeling the bag and camisole might originally be Topshop pieces (it's not actually a great picture of the cami; it looks so much better on). 

The bag is huge and it feels so soft! Bargain.

Dress | Charity Shop | £5.99

Shorts | F&F via Charity Shop | £1.50

Jumper | H&M via Charity Shop | £3.50

As always, I couldn't resist a cheeky trip to the charity shops.

This dress, although I'm unsure as to where it was originally from, is the perfect fit and I love the cut out side detail. 

I've been looking for some cute shorts to wear to bed and for £1.50, I couldn't resist these cute floral ones. I was totally drawn to the jumper purely because of the colour. It's such a gorgeous bright blue, and I don't actually own a jumper with a v-neck; it makes quite a nice change to my standard round-neck jumpers.

 Monochrome cami | Primark | £5

As you can probably tell, I love these camisole tops just because they are so darned easy to wear. I couldn't resist this one; the Primark one's are just as good as the Topshop version, at less than a third of the price too!

 Travel bottle set | Primark | £1

Bikini bottoms | Primark | £3 £1

Seeing as I'm only taking hand luggage to Alicante, I needed to buy some travel bottles. I am ridiculously worked up about what I'm going to prioritise to take with me (sad I know). I'm actually thinking I might have to leave my foundation behind.

The thought of that makes me feel physically sick.

As expected, when we went bikini shopping yesterday we discovered that nowhere is stocking swimwear any more, and it's too late to risk ordering anything online. So i ended up just buying some bikini bottoms in the Primark sale which I can match with the black bikini top I already have.

So that's everything I've been buying recently! 

With the rest of my birthday money I'm seriously contemplating buying a tablet, but I'm a bit of a technological Dumbo and already having a laptop, I'm so unsure as to whether or not it would be worth the money.

What are people's opinions on tablets? Are they worth it?

What do you think of my haul?

Love,

Jo xx

What I Wore | 11.08.13

Well, I have been a busy little bee lately!

 

Following on from my own graduation a few weeks back, we spent a week down south for my sister's graduation, during which I discovered that I got a job as a radiographer at one of the hospitals near home (which I am very excited to be starting come September!)! I am so thrilled to not have to hunt for work any more, but also seriously scared of the responsibility!

 Shortly after my sister's graduation, we took another little week long break in Cotswold! It's an absolutely beautiful place and we were so lucky with the weather, which I was convinced was finally going to take a turn for the worse!

 

This coming week, I also have my 21st birthday celebrations along with all my pre-employment checks for my new job so it looks like I have another busy week ahead, so exciting!!

 

 

Anyhow, I have an OOTD for you today. It's just an everyday outfit, which I'm wearing to run a few errands so it's nothing too exciting! I went shopping yesterday with my mum to choose a few nice bits and bats for my 21st, so I might pop up a birthday haul to show you those goodies if you're interested!

 

Cardigan - M&S via Charity Shop | Top - Primark | Sunglasses - eBay | Shorts - vintage Levi via eBay | Converse* - Amazon

 

Necklace - gift | Lilac hamsa hand bracelet - Matalan | Blue bracelet - gift | Brown bracelet - H&M

 

As soon as I saw this cardigan I knew I had to get it; it's unfortunately a little too big for me but I think I can get away with it with the sleeves rolled up! I found it in a charity shop for about a fiver.

 

I've had these vintage Levi's for a little while now and I wear them to absolute death. I think they cost me about £25 but they were totally worth it because you can wear them with just about anything. The sunglasses were another bargain eBay purchase at just £3.99!

 

I received the necklace as a gift a good few years ago now; I wear it on a day-to-day basis when I'm not sporting a more statement necklace. It's so gorgeous, really delicate and just the perfect length. Definitely still my favourite piece of jewellery, even after such a long time.

 

Love,

Jo xx

Collective Haul | Including Primark, Zara, Boots and Charity Shops

First up; my apologies for being a bit absent of late! I had my graduation on Tuesday which was absolutely amazing (if you want I can do an OOTD? Let me know in the comments), the weather was beautiful as it has been recently and we had a lovely meal out afterwards.

Anyhow, today I'm going to do a little collective haul for you. Admittedly, although I tried to take pictures of things as and when I bought them, I forgot to take a lot of things and now can't remember what I bought (bad blogger), but here are just a few of the things I have been buying recently.

Blazer | £15 £11 | Primark

 Chain and fabric necklace | £3 | Primark
T-shirt*| £19.99  £12.99  £9.99 | Zara

I have been to Primark twice within the last week and have tried my best to be seriously restrained. My friends and I are going to be booking a holiday soon, which obviously means I will need to go holiday shopping beforehand so I am trying not to buy too much stuff until I know where we'll be jetting off to!

My old navy blazer is getting a bit tatty so for £11 I couldn't really resist this one, which actually feels a lot better quality than my old Primark one too. They had a few other colours available too; I'll be keeping my eye out for the nude one next time I pop in store.

I had £10 left on a Zara voucher I won a while back so I thought I'd get this simple t-shirt.
Admittedly I'm not actually sure what 'Nouvelle Belle' means, but it was oversized and perfect for wearing with my disco pants for a laid-back look.

Denim skater skirt | £8 | Primark

Dusky pink batwing shirt | £25 £7 | Republic

This gorgeous weather has made me realise how few skirts and dresses I have for wearing in such hot weather, so after seeing one of my bestests wearing this one I decided to get it too.

We all know that sadly Republic will be bidding us a fond farewell soon, so I decided to pop in for a peek at the sales and found this simple, staple shirt for a mere 7 quid. Bargain.

Shoes | £5 | Primark

I needed some blue flat shoes to go with my interview dress (note emphasis on the word 'flat', as heels would almost definitely end in disaster), so I grabbed these for a fiver

Stripy skirt | £2.50 | Charity Shop
High waist denim shorts | around £2 | Next via Charity Shop

Both bargains which I unfortunately failed to resist. My vintage levis are slightly on the small side for me, so I thought these denim shorts could act as my comfier version and I've worn them to death already. The skirt needs taking in a little and although I can't wait to wear it, it's a really thick, woolly material so I'm definitely not going to be risking it in this heat.

Loreal Elnett Satin Extra Strength Hairspray | £4 | Boots

Seventeen Sculpting Brow Pencil in Natural Brown | £2.89 | Boots

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium | £4.19 | Boots

Collection Hot Look Nails in Bongo Beat | £1.99 free! | Boots

These are mostly essentials; my old eyebrow pencil wasn't the right shade and whilst my Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi Concealer is good for under my eyes, it's not so great at concealing my spots so it was time to try out the much loved Lasting Perfection Concealer. To my delight, I discovered that spending £4 or more on Collection products would qualify me for a free Hot Looks nail varnish, so I chose the shade Bongo Beat; a lot greener in colour than the image suggests.

 Derma V10 Rejuvenating Night Cream | £0.99 | Bodycare
Derma V10 Coconut Body Butter | £0.99 | Bodycare
Lacura Lip Balms in (clockwise from top left) Classic, Summer and Sensitive | £1.50 for 3 | Aldi

The Night Cream was a bit of an unnecessary purchase but I was interested to see what the quality would be like for the price. I also wanted to try out the Derma V10 Body Butter to see if I can get away with using it in place of my trusty Body Shop Body Butter, as that could save me a hefty sum of money in the long run!
I've heard a lot of good things about the Aldi cosmetics brand Lacura, and so my mum and I decided to give these lip balms a whirl. They are so cheap, selling at just £1.50 for 3 so we decided to get three different packets and split them between my mum, my sister and I.

So there we have it, my most recent purchases!

Have you done any haul posts lately? I'd love you to link me in the comments!

Love,
Jo xx

What I Wore | 22.06.13

Hope you're all well! I've had quite a hectic week myself, there hasn't been a day with nothing going on! On top of job hunting I've been busy catching up with amazing friends I haven't seen in months, my mum's birthday was yesterday and I have also been with the family celebrating both me and my sister graduating with a first in about a months time! WHAT?!

Not once during my course have I even considered that I might get a first, so when I found out at my friends house on Tuesday, I literally must have been leaping around the kitchen for ten minutes straight.

 

Definitely my greatest achievement to date and I am so proud of what my sister and I have achieved, let's just hope we both get jobs soon enough, eh!

 

Anyway, onto the post! I thought I would show you what I wore to a family meal out to celebrate my sister's first (she found out about a week before me, so of course another meal out is essential to celebrate mine).

 

 

Vest top: Be Beau at Matalan | Trousers: George at ASDA (via Charity Shop) | Blazer: Primark | Necklace: Primark | Shoes: Primark | Bag: Boohoo

 

 

I didn't actually realise how much of a bargain this outfit was!

I have been doing a lot of charity shop shopping recently and I think these trousers are probably my favourite purchase. They are only from George at ASDA originally, but they remind me a little of the trousers I have been eyeing up in H&M recently so I thought for £3.50 I'd brave my first ever pair of patterned trousers. They are a seriously light, soft material that fall really nicely; it just feels like you're wearing pyjamas so they're perfect for a heavy meal out.

I didn't think I'd wear them all that much but I think I've already proved myself wrong!

 

I teamed them with a Primark blazer which I must have had for at least 3 years now, and some lightly studded nude Primark pumps. The blazer is well loved and getting a bit old and battered bless it, so I'm planning on buying a couple more replacement ones soon.

 

Are you a fan of statement trousers?

 

Love,

Jo xx

Collective Haul | Including Matalan, eBay and The Range

So last weekend I popped into Matalan to have a little mooch around, and believe it or not they actually have some lovely stuff in there at the minute!

I thought I would show you lovely lot what I bought.

 (I have shoved a few other recent purchases on the end too, seeing as there wasn't really enough of them to do a separate post for!)

So here's the Matalan lot to start off with:

 

Navy blue and brown quilted jacket £30
Apologies for the awful picture but I've wanted one of these for ages, and this one is perfect!

Chunky knit contrast sleeve cardigan, £20
Now this looks a lot better in real life than it does in the picture, and it is so cosy it's unreal.
 Also comes in grey and black

Pack of 3 stud earrings, was £4 now £2
I only really bought these for the turquoise crosses which I love

Pack of 4 bracelets, was £6 now £3
Pastel colours...enough said

Double layer peace pendant necklace, was £5 now £2.50
I've been looking for a really long necklace for ages now, and this fits the bill perfectly

Floral paper bin, £4
Boringness made cute, yay

Matalan have some fab jewellery at the minute. Definitely worth a peek.

Aaaannnddd the rest...

Red superdry hoodie , £25 from a private eBay seller
Okay don't judge me on this one!!
I play a lot of badminton (and have a lot of lazy-arse sundays) and have been after a red Superdry hoodie for so long because of their amazing fit and I love this gorgeous red colour. I just couldn't justify the £45 price tag, so when I saw this one for £25 I snapped it up... and boy am I glad I did, it's the comfiest hoodie ever!
Please say I'm forgiven?

Ecotools set of 6 makeup brushes, £3.98 from this eBay seller
Fab seller, review coming soon

Urban Thirst pineapple and raspberry vodka flavouring, was £5.99 now £4, TK Maxx
Dislike the taste of vodka, enjoy its effect... this could be the solution.
And what a fab bottle!

Cardigan, £5.50, charity shop (initially M&S)
Very granny-esque

2012 diary, £1.99, the Range
Preparation at its best. Only 2 months 'til Christmas guys!!

2 sheets of pretty paper, 49p each, the Range
I have plans for these, expect a DIY post in the near future :)


And that's the lot!


Have you made any purchases recently? I'd love to see your posts if you would like to link them below!


Thanks for reading,
Jo xo