February Collective Haul

Good afternoon! I thought I'd share my monthly beauty, makeup and accessory  purchases with you. These are from a variety of shops: H&M, Select, New Look, Primark, Superdrug and  Boots. Hopefully this will bring a bit of fun into this grey, February day, as I know I for one love hauls. So without further ado, let's get to it!

Let's start with New Look. I was desperately in need of some new socks and the selection in New Look was just too cute to resist! I know socks may not necessarily add anything to an outfit from a visual point of view, but I always seem to have a spring in my step if I'm wearing adorable socks like these. They were £2.49 a pair, or three for £5. I also picked up a Shadow Duo Blending Brush for £3.99. I really wanted some more eyeshadow brushes and wasn't yet ready to splash out on Real Techniques ones. I really want to up my eyeshadow game, and I thought this would be a good place to start. The final thing I picked up in New Look was this Buff Lip Scrub, £3.99. I'm that person that is constantly applying Vaseline, I always seem to have dry lips so I am hoping this will help.

Next I went into Select where I picked up a few accessories. I brought these pastel telephone wire hair bands for £3. They came in a set of four and to be honest I've wanted some of these for a while. I love having my hair up, when I get home the first thing I do is put my hair up in a hideous updo. I hate the awkward kinks and waves it leaves in my hair though, so I am hopeful that these telephone wire hair bands won't have that effect. The other accessory I bought from Select was this grey bag Pom Pom which was £3.50. I had one of these before from Topshop, but it eventually broke, so I decided to pick this one up. I think these are so sweet, they really add something to a plain bag.

After that I went into H&M. I have never actually tried any of their makeup, however when I went inside it was hands down the first thing that caught my eye. Without hesitation I picked up five eyeshadows; Baci Di Dama (a gorgeous brown shade with orange undertones), Sahara Dawn (a stunning deep purple shadow), A Pretty Penny (a sublime copper eyeshadow), Paradise Lost which has to be my favourite (a nude pink shimmery shade) and last but not least Supernova (a light pink, almost white, sparkling shade). They were £4.99 each and I could easily have picked up one of every colour. I swatched the eyeshadows for what must have been half an hour, I couldn't get over how pigmented they were! Whilst in H&M, I was distracted by their body mists, which were only £2.99! After spraying all of the testers, I settled upon the Ruby Pomegranate Body Mist which smells beautiful, a new favourite to say the least!  

Fourthly I went into Superdrug and Boots. (I thought I would lump these two together as they sell pretty much the same stuff, at least on this occasion I could have brought these items from either of the two shops). I re-purchased several items; Clean & Clear Advantage Oil Cream Wash, Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water, Garnier Fresh Eye Makeup Remover and the Simple Eye Balm and Roll on. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may recognise those products from  this  post. The five products I just mentioned are ones that I use in my everyday skincare routine.  I also picked up two new products, one which I'm sure you will have heard off...the Biore Free Your Pores Deep Cleansing Charcoal Pore Strips (£9.49). This have been raved about over the past few months, so I just had to try them out. I've used two of the six strips, and it is a part of my weekly pamper session that I very much look forward to. The other product I picked up was the Simple Kind To Skin Moisturising Facial Wash, £3.45. I am yet to try this although I am sure it will not disappoint. I was hoping to re-purchase the Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash but it only seems to be available at the supermarket, nonetheless I am sure I will love this facial wash.

Last stop was trusty old Primark. I could honestly wonder round this shop for hours upon end, it's one of those shops that has so many hidden gems. Everytime I go into Primark I find something I like, I love how it's affordable for young people like me, allowing us to keep up with the latest trends. With that being said, on this particular trip I just grabbed some essentials, such as this three pack of 80


Denier Appearance Tights, £3.50. Half term is coming to a close and there is nothing worse than digging through your draws searching for a pair of tights without a ladder on a Monday morning.
Primark is the only place I buy tights from, I don't see the point in splashing out on something I only really wear for school. I also got these Gentle Face Wipes, which came in a twin pack for just a £1! I don't use these as my main makeup wipe, instead I use them for wiping foundation and smeared make up of my hands when I am getting ready, or to get that final bit of mascara off. Last but not least, I picked up this Choco Delight scented hand sanitizer for £1. It was one of the things by the till, which I can never leave without picking up. This really does smell divine!

There we go, that was all the interesting bits I picked up this month! That has got to be one of my longest posts to date, I just love talking about new purchases! I would really appreciate it if you could follow my social media to keep up with all of my upcoming blog posts; my Twitter is @gracedoesbeauty and my Instagram is gracedoesbeautyxoxo. Thank you so much for reading!

Shoe Collection

Good morning, happy Saturday! I thought I'd give you a close up of my shoe collection. I haven’t included the boring bits like school shoes or PE trainers because I only wanted to share the pieces I love with you. I decided to split my shoes into three categories; trainers, heels and boots, as well as some stunning shoes that I would love to add to my collection.

Let's start off with trainers, which is no doubt the biggest part of my collection. First I have the Nike Roshe One’s in black with a black tick, they cost £70 and are by far the comfiest trainers I have ever had! I've had these for over a year and I still get a lot of wear out of them. If you don't have a pair of shoes like these, I would definitely recommend getting some. Secondly, I have a pair of white low top Converse that were £45. I must admit, I don't find these shoes overly comfortable as I have quite wide feet and these shoes feel rather slim to me. However with that being said, I don't think anything looks more summery than a skater skirt and vest paired with white converse. Thirdly, continuing with the white theme, I have white Stan Smiths with green detailing, they cost £70. I was obsessed with these shoes for months, and when I finally got them they did not disappoint. For me, these are the perfect casual shoe. You can effortlessly slip them on with a pair of jogging bottoms if you need to nip to the shop, or slip them on the day after a sleepover when you walk home. Fourthly, and last up in this category, are my purple Puma Suede with yellow detail, which are retailed at £55 but kindly got handed down to me from a family member. They are virtually brand new, and I am yet to wear them. Do you have any suggestions of what I could wear them with? If so I would really appreciate it! I haven't owned a pair of shoes in purple nor yellow before, so I am unsure of what to match them with.

Continuing onto the next category, heels, which is the smallest part of my collection. I brought these black high heels from New Look for £19.99 with the intention of wearing them to a friends party. If you're like me and are just starting out in heels, I think a pair like these are a perfect pair to begin with. They are relatively inexpensive, versatile and have a thick heel for good support. I have worn these with black jeans and a bralet and on another occasion I wore them with a burgundy lace dress. Just a quick tip; it's always worth buying gel insoles and other similar items (located by the till in the New Look I visited) to increase the comfort of the heel - I don't think I would have been able to walk by the end of the night if it wasn't for these. A pair of heels that I can't stop lusting over are these  embroidered heeled boots by MADAME from Topshop which are £89. I love the embroidery trend and these are by far the most stunning embroidered piece I have seen! I like how they could be worn on a shopping trip or to a party depending on what you wore them with.  Another pair of shoes that I would love to add to my collection are these pink patent pointed court shoes which are £19.99. I have dreamed of owning a pair of these shoes for as long as I can remember, I just think they are so classy! The fact they are a wide fit is just the icing on the cake hahah! I think they are such a feminine shoe without being over the top or in your face.

Finally let's finish up with the boots category, of which I own two pairs. Firstly I'm going to talk about these black Chelsea boots from Primark that cost £10. I originally brought these because I needed a pair of smart shoes to wear to the Savoy for my grandma’s birthday, I hadn't anticipated that I would get so much wear out of these. I think they are really sophisticated, these shoes make me feel great whenever I wear them, and that's a lovely feeling to be able to say that about a pair of shoes. One of my favourite outfits to wear is these shoes, a pair of blue jeans, a grey turtleneck and a pink, purple and grey poncho. Lastly are my beloved black 1460’s Doc Martens which were £115. I brought these when I was experimenting with grunge fashion, when I moved on from that style I feared I wouldn't wear these shoes, although I could not have been more wrong! These boots are absolutely faultless, they are absolutely amazing quality and cannot even be compared with any other shoes I have ever owned. Admittedly they took a while to wear in but the blisters were definitely worth it as they are now the most comfortable, well fitting shoes I own. They say Doc Martens are shoes for life and I could not agree with this more, I've owned these for three years and I could never see myself parting from them. Doc Martens are perfect for winter as they are made for mud, snow, rain and whatever else the British weather throws at us in these cold months! I can't rave enough about them!

Phew, there we go! I hope you enjoyed finding out about my shoe collection in  depth. What shoes make up feel on top of the world? Don't forget to relax this weekend - That is after you follow my social media to keep up with all of my upcoming blog posts; my Twitter is @gracedoesbeauty and my Instagram is gracedoesbeautyxoxo. Thank you so much for reading!