Mini Beauty Haul: Lush, Superdrug, TK Maxx.

It feels like ages since I last did a beauty haul! This isn't the most exciting haul; I am trying to resist buying clothes and jewellery for a few weeks, so I decided to satisfy my urge to by something by purchasing a few essentials that I have been putting off buying for a while haha!

 Sally Hansen Strengthening Polish Remover: Superdrug £2.39

I got the Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover as part of a Christmas present and I really liked it; it removed my nail polish effortlessly so I decided to pick up the Strengthening formula this time as I am always trying to prevent my nails from breaking.

 EVA Unbreakable Hair Keravis Protein with Argan Oil Repairing Mask: TK Maxx £25.99 £12.99

I have never heard of this brand before, but I have seen this tub of hair treatment pop up in TK Maxx a couple of times recently. I am booked in to the hairdressers next Monday to get my hair ombre'd (I'm so excited!) so I am trying to get my hair in as good condition as I can. This mask had been discounted from £25.99 to £12.99 for 500ml of product, and I can't wait to try it as I have wanted to try out some Argan Oil products for a while. It smells absolutely amazing too! I believe this brand is more readily available in the U.S., however like I said I have seen this in TK Maxx a few times, so if anybody would like to see a review, let me know!

 Gilette Venus Razor Refills: Superdrug £6.59

This is probably the most boring purchase of the lot, and the one I have been putting off buying for the longest time, but my blunt razor just isn't doing it's job very well any more haha! They just seem so expensive for what they are, which is why I always pick up these ones, because they are the cheapest aha!

Lush Amandopondo Bubble Bar: LUSH £2.69

It feels like forever since I last had a bubble bath, so I decided to pop in to Lush and treat myself to a bubble bar. I have never used this one before so I am excited to try it; it is a decent size for the price and smells beautifully of roses.

That's it for this beauty haul! Let me know if you would like to see a review of any of the items I bought! :)

Pinspire- Win a River Island Voucher! *NOW CLOSED*

Hey everybody!

Today I am launching a fun little competition for you where there are two £20 River Island vouchers up for grabs, courtesy of Pinspire!

Firstly, let me explain a bit about Pinspire. Pinspire is an image sharing website similar to Pinterest, where you can build collections of images that inspire you by "pinning" them. Below is a collection of images I pinned to my board, which was inspired by the Spring/Summer 2012 pastels trend. I love looking at pretty/inspiring pictures so I could spend hours on there!

Moving on to the details of the competition... Like I mentioned earlier, Pinspire are very kindly offering two of my readers a £20 River Island voucher (I am very jealous)! There will be two ways in which the winners will be picked; the first voucher winner will be picked at random, as a thank you for following me and entering the competition, and the second winner will be chosen by myself, and will be my favourite collection of images based on originality and how well the collection relates to the brief (see below).

So how do you enter?

1. First of all, you need to be a follower of my blog via GFC or Bloglovin'

2. Sign up to Pinspire here.

3. Create a collection of at least 10 images inspired by S/S 2012 makeup or fashion trends. You don't have to follow a certain trend, just show me your favourite makeup looks or fashion pieces for this Spring/Summer. It's up to you whether your board consists of makeup or fashion, or you can do a mixture! Take a look at my boards for inspiration :)

4. Make sure you include "Frances Cassandra Competition" somewhere in the title of your collection so that I don't miss you!

5. Comment below with the link to your collection and your email address/ twitter handle so I can contact you if you win!

The competition is UK only (I'm sorry! I will have a giveaway for my international followers soon, I promise!) and will end two weeks today on the 21st of June, 2012 (extended until Sunday, June 24). I won't judge the collections until the competition ends so you can keep pinning images until then.

I hope you enter and I can't wait to see your collections! Good luck everybody! :)

*Sponsored giveaway.

Wednesday Wishlist #16 Birthday Edition!

I was incredibly uninspired by the New In sections this week :( So with my years as a teenager coming to an end with my birthday coming up next week, I have decided just to put together a wishlist of the things I would like to spend my birthday money on! I haven't put much thought in to things I want for my birthday- I don't get as excited as I did when I was eight :( haha, and I don't really need anything (although I could do with a new watch!), so these are mainly just a few things that I have had my eye on for a while that I probably couldn't justify buying otherwise haha.

1. Illamasqua Freak Eau De Parfum, 75ml £59.00

I got a sample of this in a Glossybox last year, and although it took me a while to get used to, I ended up really liking it. It has such a unique, kind of dark scent (I'm just going to jump on the bandwagon of people who are terrible at describing fragrances!).

2. Michael Kors Rose Gold Watch £199.00

I think this watch made an appearance in a wishlist a while ago (maybe my Christmas one?)... yep, I still don't have one! I am hoping to find a cheaper alternative that looks just as nice though, I am finding it hard to justify wearing £200 on my wrist every day, I'd be terrified of scratching it! If anybody can suggest any to me, please do! :)

3. Bird Print Shirt £50.00

This is the only thing I found in the New In sections this week that I really liked. Even then, I think I would prefer it more if it was sleeveless. How gorgeous is that print though? I'm really loving mirror print things this season too.

4. Block Heel Lace Up Ankle Boots £40.00

I am still yet to jump on the Lita/ Lita-Like bandwagon! I can't decide whether I should start off my collection with this pair, or a black pair... What do you think?

I hope you like my picks! Have you found anything you like in the New In sections this week?

NOTD: Aztec Nails

So I think I am the only person who has not been sporting red, white and blue nails this weekend, and the main reason for that would be this. The other day I was so bored that I decided to try my hand at some "proper" nail art (no crackle or magnetic polishes to be seen here!). After seeing so many pretty pictures of tribal nail designs on Pinterest, I wanted to have a go at my own version of these aztec nails, and I was so proud of them that I didn't want to ruin them with what would have been a failed attempt at union jack nails. Mine aren't quite as intricate as others I've seen, but I am proud that I was able to draw somewhat straight lines with my left hand nonetheless!

I hope you like them! Have you been sporting Jubilee nails this weekend?

Week (or two) in Instagrams #14

For some reason I forgot to do my Week in Instagrams post last week and I didn't take that many photos this week, so I have decided to combine my Instagrams from the past couple of weeks for this post :) Also, I am in two minds about carrying on with my Week in Instagrams post, I don't know if many people like reading them... So if you like reading these posts, please do let me know!

Follow me on Instagram: @FrancesCassandra

1. My lovely parcel from Gem at Flutter and Sparkle :) I now have an Urban Decay Naked 2 palette!

2. My attempt at being healthy!

3. It's been a while since I had to get up this early. Do not like.

4. How can they justify charging people £5 for this, please?!

5. Chicken Tikki Masala, om nom nom!

6. An Indian and a Chinese on the same day. Naughty!

7. Pretty pink parcel paper :)

8. The gorgeous Feud shoes I won!

9. I'm loving the Hydroxatone Facial Brush! If you live in the U.S. or Canada, this may be of interest to you; I will be writing a blog post on it soon!

10. Love my tiger socks! :)

11. I hate when this happens :(

12. Two of my friends got each other's name tattooed on their legs. It's guy love, between two guys.

I hope you have all had a lovely week! Are you celebrating the Jubilee this Bank Holiday weekend?

Haul: Matalan, Topshop, Glamorous, Jovonna London

So my spending ban isn't quite going to plan :( But my mum kindly treated me to two of the things in this haul so it isn't too bad, but next week I aim to not buy anything! Wish me luck haha!

 Long Sleeve Floral Blouse: Matalan £16.00

This is the blouse I wore in yesterday's outfit post. I bought it last week to wear at the iFabbo UK Conference; I love the print on it and the colours are so pretty.

 Sleeveless Mirror Print Shirt: Matalan £14.00

I spotted this blouse on the Matalan website as soon as it came out and fell in love with it straight away, but whenever I visited my local Matalan, they never seemed to have it. Trust it to make an appearance when I popped in to pick up the above shirt... of course I had to leave with both of them!

 Blue and White Thin Stripe Skinny Jeans: Glamorous £29.99 £19.99 £15.99

This is one of the things that my lovely mummy bought for me. For a while now I haven't really been a jeans person, but I have recently been getting back in to them. These ones are already a great price at £19.99 in the Glamorous sale but with the 20% off code that was floating around last month, plus free delivery, I just had to get them!

 Leather Waistband Jumpsuit: Jovonna London £70.00 £15.00 £12.50

This is another thing that I found a 20% off code for and simply had to have. I adore the colour of it and the faux leather waistband detail. It is still available on the Jovonna London website so if you like it, go and snap it up; at £15.00 reduced from £70.00 you certainly can't complain! It also came nicely wrapped up in tissue paper inside this bag, with a free Jovonna wrist strap, which I thought was a lovely touch!

Socks: Topshop £3.50 (3 for £8.00)

If you saw my outfit post yesterday, you will see me wearing the pair of socks on the right hand side, in my attempt to carry off the frilly socks trend. I also couldn't resist picking up the tiger socks, they're so funny and cute! :)

I hope you like my purchases! Have you bought anything recently?