Feel Unique now offer a sampling service called Pick 'n' Mix for all it's customers. Essentially, once a month, you get to pick 5 different samples, including skin care, hair care, make up, and lots of other categories. You only have to pay £3.95 for postage, which they credit you back on your next purchase (can't use on pick 'n' mix, but on any other orders they will give you free postage!). The majority of the samples are quite good sizes, and considering they're all free it's a pretty darn good deal! I went for a mixture of different products that took my fancy. 

First up we have By Terry Cover-expert perfecting fluid foundation, the shade I got was too dark for me, but the texture seemed quite nice, although it was hard to look past my rather orange face! Then I chose this Khiels face mask, which I am yet to try. I was pretty excited to see a benefit Ka-Brow sample, and i've really enjoyed this! The sample size is quite good and it comes with a little brush as well. I have wanted the Kenzo Flowers in the air perfume, but they only had the regular Flowers sample, but this is really nice too, and another good sample size. Finally, a blogger favourite, Bioderma. Not as bigger sample size I would have liked, but generally it was ok. They currently have the bigger pot sample of the original formula so I'll be getting that this month!

Have you tried Feel Unique's Pick 'n' Mix service? 

Thanking you,

Naomi

Check out my last post - Barcelona Sephora and drugstore haul!

Why, hello there... 

Long time no see...If you read my last post you'll know where I've been for the past year, so I won't waffle on about it in this post.

We recently just got back from a holiday in sunny Barcelona, so of course I had to hunt down the local Sephora to get my hands on my yearly high end lipstick purchase. I also found a discount beauty shop that also stocked brands we can get in the UK, as well as some others we can't...so here's what I bought! (The links are to the USA Sephora site, so some of their prices are slightly different to what you pay in euros)

Makeup Revolution pro E103 blending brush, €2.38: Yes, I know you can get these in the UK, but my superdrug doesn't sell the individual brushes, so I would have to pay for P&P, plus the exchange rate makes them a tiny bit cheaper. It's pretty good, does the job, that's all I have to say!

Real Techniques setting brush, €6 (roughly, can't remember the exact price): Again, another thing you can get in the UK, but again my superdrug/boots doesn't sell this brush by itself. I did have one but lost it and have been wanting to replace it ever since. The exchange rate makes this a lot cheaper as well so win win!

Wet 'n' Wild eye shadow palette in Walking on egg shells, €3.99: I was so excited to see these in the store! I've heard so many awesome things about Wet 'n' Wild and they're pretty good prices, and most bloggers will have heard f this palette. It's a really nice shimmery nude palette with such pretty colours. The pigmentation is great, if you can get hold of it definitely give it a go!

Wet 'n' Wild Max Fanatic volumising mascara, €5.99 (couldn't find it online in UK): I saw this, hoping it would be a dupe for the Maybelline Lash sensational or Benefit Roller lash because of the similar brush. Unfortunately I'm not overally impressed with it so far. It just doesn't grip my lashes which makes it hard to build up. I'll keep using it to see if I can make it work, maybe the formula is too wet so it just needs to dry a little first.


Well, it's nice to be back to blogging! I can't guarantee I'll be around for long/be very consistent but I will try to get posts up as often as I can!



What have you been buying recently?

Why, hello there...

So, it's been just over 3 months since I posted on here! This is because I've started studying Acting at university which is a very intense course so I have next to no time to be worrying about my blog and I don't really have a great set up for taking pictures in halls. 

But, I do miss blogging ever so much! I still go into shops and buy make up thinking 'I can't use it until I take a picture' or buying random thing because they'll be good for a post (particularly things from poundworld, found some amazing things in there recently!)

I really want to get back into blogging, it will be great as a little hobby on the side while at uni and I will probably use it more as a way to tell people what I'm up to as lots is going on! 

Granted I will still be super busy particularly going into the 2nd term so posts will be infrequent, but I'll try to do as many as I can. Also I need to experiment with taking photos in my halls but I'm sure I'll be able to figure something out!

Hope you all had a great Christmas/new years and I'm looking forward to seeing more of you all this next year!

Thanking you,

Naomi.

Why, hello there...

This is just a quick post to let you know about the Cosmopolitan Blog awards 2015 and how you can vote for me!

It didn't even cross my mind to enter any sort of blog awards, I always thought it was the really big bloggers with loads of followers who were even short listed, but recently quite a few 'smaller' bloggers have be short listed, and I have quite a few people who don't actually follow the blog via Bloglovin or GFC, so maybe I have a very small chance? But anyone can enter, so why not?

To vote for me in the Best of Beauty award, simply click on the picture to take you to the website. There's a few bits and bobs you need to fill out so if you don't have time/can't be bothered that's totally cool! I'm not expecting to win, but if I get nominated, it would literally make me so incredibly happy! 

Voting is open until 29th of September so you've still got a while left, so please get voting! Would really appreciate it! And of course if you have another favourite blogger, vote for them too, particularly the smaller bloggers, we're just as awesome as the big bloggers! (Disclaimer, I'm not saying the bigger bloggers don't deserve it, it would just be nice for smaller bloggers to get recognition as well!)

Thanking you,

Naomi

Pit: Seventeen Define & Conquer contour kit, £5.99 I've seen so many bloggers rave about this, but I was a little underwhelmed. I do like the packaging (biggest NARS dupe if I ever did see one) but it also comes with instructions which I thought was quite nice. The contour shade is incredibly soft but this does mean my brush picks up quite a lot of product and is a tad too orange, but I'm not used to doing contouring so maybe I will grow into it. But I found the highlighter pretty poor. It doesn't really have much shimmer/something-something in it making it really just a powder, and didn't really pick up on my brush as all. Even with the swatch it took me a few times to get a solid enough colour, so as you can imagine it didn't translate of my face at all. The price is ok, but considering only one of the products actually does it's purpose, it would have been cheaper to just get a contour shade.

Peek: Miss Beauty London Lipsticks in Mauve and Heather, £1 each. I recently did a first impressions/introducing post on Miss Beauty London which you can check out here. These lipsticks are my perfect formula. The packaging is pretty naff, but the actual lipstick it amazing! They have a great range of matte and shimmer, and y'all know I love the matte, and these are fab. They're nice and soft so they glide on really nicely and have such amazing pigmentation AND they have good staying power considering they're only £1! One problem I'm having is that they're smushing against the side when I apply them, but this is more the packaging's fault rather than the actual lipstick. If you have a Poundworld near you, I would definitely recommend you checking them out!

This will be my last post for just over a week as I go to Helter Skelter on Saturday, but make sure you follow me so you can catch my next post!

What's been your pit and peek of the month?

Thanking you,

Naomi

Read some more: Beauty pit and peek June 2015

Elegant Touch press on nails in Mink (RRP £6.35) I have never ever worn false nails and have always said I never would...but for £1? for a design I actually like? Once can't hurt?

Maybelline Baby lips in Coral Kiss (not available in the UK, RRP £2.99) I collected all the other Baby Lips that Pundworld offered a while ago, but I've not seen this one before. It's meant to me more of a coloured one, it has a slight tint, but nothing more than that. But just as a balm it's not too bad.

Rimmel London Colour rush balm in Sun-Kissed (RRP £5.99, Colour not available in UK) I really really love this! It leaves enough colour and once worn away really does stain your lips! I've been pairing this with the lip liner Pure (also in this post) and is a great, bright, summer lip option.

Rimmel London Scandaleyes eye shadow stick in Bluffing (RRP £4.49) I got another one of these in a previous post (see here) but this one has shimmer whereas the other one is matte. Great all over the lid colour!

Rimmel London Scandaleyes eye shadow paint in Peachy Apricot For some reason these aren't on the Superdrug or Boots website, maybe they discontinued these? Anyway this stuff is pretty good! Doesn't budge and paired with the Rimmel single shadow in this post it's super duper nice!

Rimmel London Single eye shadow in Smokey Quarts (RRP £4.49) I've seen quite a few youtubers rave about this eye shadow so it's an absolute steal to get it in Poundworld! As said before, this with the eye shadow paint above is really nice!

Barry M Magnetic nail polish in Magnetic Burgundy (RRP £4.99)  Another item I couldn't find on the Boots or Superdrug website but I found it on Amazon. I've worn this once already and got lots of compliments which was really nice, and it didn't chip too bad either!

Rimmel London Exagerate Lip Liners in Pure (pink) and Natural (nude) (RRP £3.99) (Bit Rimmel heavy this post..) I love these liners! They are so soft and easy to apply! As said before, the Pure one with the Rimmel gloss stick is amazing! And Natural creates the perfect Kylie-Jenner-Nude lip (no, that trend will never go away)

Neutrogena Make up remover cleansing wipes I'm going away soon to be a leader at a christian summer holiday (you'll know all about it if you've been reading my blog for a while) and I can't be dealing with doing the whole cleansing thing so these will do for the week.

Herbal Essences nearly naked dry shampoo (RRP £2.99 for 160ml) Another thing I bought for going away. I wanted something travel size but I find the small Batiste's don't last very long so this one is perfect, and smells really fresh.

So, for all the products I could find a RRP for, I would have spent £40.27, but actually only spent £10! A 75% saving! No too shabby I think!

Have you bought anything from the Pound Shops recently?

Thanking you,

Naomi

Read some more: Savers essentials Haul - Big brands for less.

First off I got a nice big box of chocolates from Thorntons from my mum, dad, and brother. They also got me a new Ipod which is fab. I don't see the point in getting an iphone which is pretty expensive when I already have a phone...

From my Aunty, Uncle and  cousin I got a student christian cook book which will be really useful in September. They also got me a gift cube in the Shea scent, and from my friend I got the newest Hobbit film on DVD as I never actually got to see it at the cinema.

New Look side split tank top.

New Look grey open shoulder top.

Topshop zipped up front pocket A line skirt.

Tophop Scalop frill tee

I'll have another New Look and Primark haul up soon as I've just got back from shopping the sales, so make sure you look out for that, as well as a post about the newest pound shop beauty brand to hit the shelves...

What have you bought recently?

Thanking you,

Naomi

Read some more: Blog Sale 2015.

Pit: Collection Lasting colour matte lipstick in Taffeta Bloom. I had high hope for this lipstick. I'm all about the matte so when I saw Collections new range of matte lipsticks I was very excited. The colour looked great, packaging was fine, everything was good until I applied it. It sticks to all the dry patched on your lips, gets in all those nooks and crannies you don't want it to get and just sits there. The colour really doesn't suit me which isn't the products fault, although there isn't a huge range in the matte section. The packaging doesn't stay on very well, although I do like the sleek design. Overall unfortunately I'm really not impressed which sucks as I thought I was going to find a new matte love, but alas apparently not.

Peak: Burt's Bees cranberry and pomegranate sugar scrub. I LOVE this stuff! My mum actually got this in a set from a charity shop (See post here). I really struggle with shaving my legs (TMI)  as I have sensitive skin and eczema, but this stuff has been amazing! I can't stand really thin scrubs with tiny particles, I'm all about the chunky, rough scrubs that actually do something, and this is one of them. It looks like a very similar consistency to The Body shop raspberry scrub with all the little seeds in it as well as being a sugar scrub and has such a strong scent. Although being rough, it has a tonne of oil in it which really moisturises and leaves your skin feeling amazing. They still sell this on FeelUnique but it's quite expensive, so if anyone has any suggestions for cheaper scrubs I could try, let me know in the comments!


What has been your Pit and Peek of the month?

Thanking you,

Naomi.


Read some more: Nail Care Essentials*

Why, hello there...

About a year ago I started my first blog sale page. I didn't sell much on here so I took it down and sold stuff on Depop instead (my username is penniesforapound). But now I've got a few more beauty bits to sell I thought I'd post another one. I might make another blog sale page but for now we'll stick to this post. Please read the terms below and if you have any questions, tweet me at @naomi_joy_

• Please email me at naomijoyhollands@gmail.com what you want or leave in the comments your email along with the items you want.
• Postage will be calculated based on items purchased, all packages will be sent 2nd class and I will try and send all orders ASAP.
• UK only
• Payments are to be made via Paypal (my email is in the bottom point). Select 'send money' and choose 'family or friends'. This is because paypal take a percentage from me if you select 'goods', so I don't get to even see some of the money.
• Payments must be made within 24 hours of receiving an email from me notifying you of the total, products will be marked as 'pending' in this period. After 24 hours, if not paid, the products will go back on sale.
• I will ask for proof of postage at the post office, but I will not be held responsible if royal mail damage the product in any way. I will package items carefully to ensure this doesn't happen.
• Returns are not accepted, look for swatches on-line to ensure you will be happy with your purchase.
• If you have any questions, or want to negotiate a price, email me at naomijoyhollands@gmail.com or tweet me @naomi_joy_

All nail polish £2 each 
Max Factor mini nail polish in Lollipop - never used
Fearne nail polish - used once
Models own in coral reef - never used
Rimmel Cocktail colour in Hawaiian Punch - used twice
Revlon Parfumerie in Beachy - used once
Fearne nail polish - used once
Rimmel I heart lasting finish in Block your green - used twice




H&M Blue tile print blouse, size 12 - £4

First off we have this watch from ASOS. I've been looking for a new watch for ages and every time I found one that I liked it was out of stock, but I finally found this Large face watch from ASOS for only £18 which isn't bad at all! I've had loads of compliments on it already which is really nice.

Next up is this Bag from Fiorelli. Again I've been looking for a new bag for ages and they've all been out of stock. I originally found the brand on ASOS but I got this Tan belted grab bag by Fiorelli from Debenhams and it's perfect, love it lots! I actually ended up paying only £54 for it as I got 20% off ordering online.

Now onto the beauty stuff. We'll go with lip stuff first. The Rimmel lip liner in Eastend snob has become a blogger favourite in recent months and looks like the sort of colour I would like. Then I saw that Collection has bought out a matte range of Lipstick which is right up my street. There wasn't many colours I would choose but I found this one in Taffeta Bloom which is a nice nude'y' colour. Rimmel were having a 2 for £10 offer in Boots and I've had Sultry from the matte balm range on my wishlist for ages so I finally picked it up along with the Liquid quick dry top coat as I'm always struggling with my nails taking ages to dry. Following on from nails I got the NYC Shine in a minute nail polish in Rain Drop. I love the NYC nail polishes. They're so affordable, have an amazing brush and last a long time so definitely go and check them out. 

Onto eyes, which are both actually from Poundworld. I found the Scandaleyes eye shadow paint in Peachy apricot and the single eye shadow in Smokey Quarts. I've heard good things about both of these products, especially the single eye shadow. I'm currently wearing them both together and I'm loving them so far, and they were only £1 each!

For face products I got the Miss Sporty So clear pressed powder in 01 Transparent. I first tried this when I found one in poundworld and loved it so I thought I would buy another one from Superdrug. It says it's 'transparent' but looks quite dark in the pan so we'll see how I get on with it. I also got the Makeup Revolution Focus and fix concealer in light as I'm trying out some budget concealers for a new post and I've actually never had a Makeup Revolution product before!
Finally I got my all time fave face scrub; St Ives invigorating face scrub, you all know I LOVE this.

Finally we come to the fashion. From Primark I got some basic legging which will be for uni for my acting classes and a high neck cami with key hole detail on the front and back with two gold necklaces attached. I really love this cami as I don't have anything else like it and it will be great for going out at uni. Then from matalan I got a pair of denim shorts and this pretty printed peplum top which is great for the summer. I've been loving Matalan recently so I would definitely check them out if I were you!

What have you been buying recently? 

Thanking you,

Naomi

Read some more: Library of Fragrance Baby powder and Thunderstorm review.

Why, hello there...

It's been ages since I did a Save your Pennies post, but there wasn't many other topics I could think to cover, and then I thought of apps. I'm sure we all have some sort of device that has the app store or android app store so hopefully this post will be helpful to everyone. 

I've used quite a few apps to make a bit of money, whether selling or saving money there is an app out there for everyone.

1. Vinted/Depop. These are apps for selling all your unwanted items. Whether it's clothing, beauty, electronics or even your own handmade items, you can find just about everything on them. Vinted is more so for clothing whereas Depop has a bit of everything. You can often find famous youtubers on them as well selling their unwanted clothing or high end make up such as Becca Rose and a few others. 

I've used Vinted in the past but I currently use Depop to sell all my items as I have a mixture of everything. My username is PenniesForAPound and I currently have 3 for 2 across all my items so go take a look! Follow me on Depop and message me the code PFAP-APPS and I'll give you an extra 10% off!

2. Unidays App. Most people have used the website but the app is just as good. You can simply flash the Unidays ID in any of the stores they have on their app such as New Look and H&M and get % off in store! 

3. Zeek. This is a new app to me, but it does look pretty good! You can sell any unwanted vouchers including amazon and highstreet stores for a little bt less than their worth i.e. a £10 amazon voucher would be sold for £7. So now you can use that money to spend wherever you like! And buying the vouchers also gives you a saving as you might spot something you like that's £20 and buy a £20 voucher for only £17, saving £3. Does that make sense? I think so...

4. Quidco App. Everyone who's been on my blog for a while knows I love Quidco. They do great cashback deals for buying things online as well as some offers where you get cashback and don't have to spend a penny! On their app you can 'check in' to shops while you shop. Simply turn on your location, open the app and when you're in that shop, check in and you'll get a very small amount of cashback. But if you do this in all the shops you visit and if you're like me and find yourself in shops more times than you should be...it can accumulate to quite a bit!

5. Advert/app trial apps. I've never properly tried these sort of apps but I know there is some out there. You can get vouchers for amazon or accumulate points which convert into money by simply watching adverts or downloading certain games or other things you can do daily. If you know of any of these kind of apps let me know in the comments!

Hopefully this will be useful to someone, don't forget to download the Depop app, follow me (Penniesforapound) and quote PFAP-APPS for an extra 10% off.

What are your favourite apps?

Thanking you,

Naomi

Want more from the Saving your Pennies series? Check out this post!

This is the pomegranate and cranberry gift set. This includes the sugar scrub, body bar, lip balm and honey and milk body lotion, as well as a shower lily. As far as I can see, this set is no longer available but the individual items are available on amazon and the Burt Bees website. From other blogs back in 2013, this cost $20 so roughly £13-£15, which is a pretty good deal considering these items now individually cost a lot more than that (and in the charity shop it was a steal at only £5!). I'm really excited to try the Sugar Scrub as it looks really thick and has a great smell, looks very similar to the raspberry body scrub the Body Shop did a while ago. The travel size Honey and Milk moisturiser will be great for my handbag as a hand cream or for my eczema during the day. I'm not sure about using the Body Bar as my skin can be sensitive to things like hard soaps but I might give it a go once I've finished with my King of skin bar from lush. I've tried the lip balm and so far so good. It's red in the tube but this doesn't translate on the lips so you can use this balm whenever you want and don't have to worry about smudging.

So, for only £5 I think we got a real bargain! Just shows that charity shops are the way to go. Have a rummage around and you never know what you might find!


Have you tried anything from Burts Bees?

Thanking you,

Naomi.







Want some more? Check out some Big brands I got for £1!

Why, hello there...

Apologies I haven't done a post in a while. 1 - I don't currently have an SD card for my camera, 2 - Work has been supper busy recently, 3 - I haven't really had the energy to sit down and write a post and I don't want to force myself to write anything. Anyhoo, on with the post...

It's been a while since I've done a wishlist. Most the time it's beauty but for once there's a few pieces of clothing that have caught my eye. I am going uni in September and I've got all my t shirts and leggings ready for acting classes but I don't have many 'going out' clothes so this is sort of what I'm looking for at the moment. It's also my birthday in just over a month so some of this will ben on my birthday wishlist so look out for that!

1. Cami tops.  Now it's coming up to summer, I'm in need of some proper summer clothing as the only short sleeve tops I have are t-shirts and no 'nice' tops. This monochrome flower print cami from Matalan is so pretty and deffo a dupe for the Misguided clothing with the exact same print. Double strap camis also seem to be the 'in thing' at the moment and this New Look cross over cami is great and really affordable.

2. A-Line Skirts.  I've been looking for an A-Line skirt for a while now. I particularly like brown/beige ones as they can go with quite a few things. Unfortunately because I've got such long legs it's hard to find a skirt that's not too short on me. I really like these two skirts from New Look but looking at them in the shops they're a bit too short for me. If anyone has any recommendations for these kind of skirts let me know!

3. Black jeans.  I go through these like nobodys business. Normally Matalan are my go-to jeans but they're out of my size, but these high waisted black jeans from New Look will do the job.

4. Cold shoulder tops.  I know this style has been around for a while but I've only been paying attention to it recently. They can be dressed up or down so they're perfect for any occassion. This one from New Look also has a high neck so this would be nice for an evening out, would go great with the high waited jeans.

5. Feather watch from ASOS.  I'm in desperate need of a new watch and found this one on ASOS. It's not very expensive which is great and looks super pretty. This will probably be on my birthday wishlist.

6. Fiorelli Handbag.  Another item I'm in need of as my current handbag from JustFab is falling apart. I found Fiorelli on ASOS and they're relatively affordable for a good quality hand bag. They've sold out of the one I was originally looking at, but this one on John Lewis (Sophia medium bag) is just as nice.

7. Benefit Roller Lash.  I had a sample of this recently and absolutely loved it! Quite expensive compared to my high-street choices but amazing nonetheless. This will also probably be on my birthday wishlist.



That's all for this post, what's on your wishlist?


Thanking you,

Naomi.





Want to see 3 different outfits ALL from the sales? Check out this post!

As you can see, there is no foundation in this post. I stopped wearing foundation as I found with my eczema Foundation looked cakey and clung to my dry patches. So now I use my Garnier roll in light on concealer (from 99p stores) under my eyes and the Natural collection concealer in Fair on the rest of my face, then finish off with the Makeup Gallery pressed powder in shade 2 (Poundland own brand). I'm trying to use this powder up so I can move on to my Rimmel stay matte powder but for only £1 it isn't half bad!

For mascara I go between the Maybelline Lash Sensational or the Cover Girl Volume Exact (from TKMaxx). If I have the time I go for the Cover Girl one as it has a dryer formula and takes a few coats to get the desired effect, whereas the Maybelline one is very wet and only needs a coat or two - although being wet it is a bit harder to work with. For brows I use the Maybelline brow drama sculpting gel in Dark brown and the Seventeen brow pencil. When my eczema isn't too bad and my eyes aren't sore I wear the Rimmel Scandaleyes shadow stick in Trespassing Taupe, luckily my skin is pretty good at the moment so I can wear this more often. 

For lips I tend to change it up fairly often, but these are the ones I've been reaching for the most. This Lipstick from Primark is only £1, a really nice every day nude (review here). These next two are recent finds from Poundland which are perfect together. First off is the Rimmel Vinyl lip gloss in Snog. This over the top of Rimmel 1000 kisses lip liner in Rose quarts is the perfect deep pinky nude for when you want to put in a bit more effort.

Whats in your every day make up routine?

Thanking you,

Naomi.

Want to see my old make up routine? Check it out here!