£1.95 2True Cheek Tints: Benefit Benetint + Posietint dupes? ♥

I'm not a huge Benefit cosmetics lover, I personally don't see it as any better than Revlon/Maybelline etc. Therefore I'm not interested in paying their overly inflated prices for such simple cosmetics. Especially when you can find duplicates of their products from other brands for significantely less!

2true is a make up brand exclusive to Superdrug, and I have used them in the past for basics. All of their items are £1.95 each, or 3 for £5! Their matte pressed powder is infact my favourite everyday powder, as I find it very light but still good enough to give me a matte finish. While looking at buying my regular powder, I was also tempted into buying both of their cheek tints. 

Benefit do Benetint and Posietint cheek tint, which retail for £24.50 each! Super expensive in my opinion. These ones from 2True are only £1.95 each - a massive 90%+ saving! And Catherine from Catherine Loves blog shows that they are both almost exactly the same as the Benefit versions. She has some photos of the two, which give a better comparison.

 The pink Cheek and Lip tint in shade 2 (pink) has a creamy texture, and it comes out on the brush a very bright barbie pink! But once it's blended in it gives a lovely girly glow. I found this very easy to use and it lasts quite well too. Please excuse my very tired eyes!

  The tint in shade 1 (red) has more of a inky stain texture to it, rather than creamy. It is a runny liquid, which I found doesn't blend as easily, but it lasts longer.

Overall, I prefer the pink stain as I like to have feminine pinky cheeks, but the red stain has great lasting power! And they can both be used on lips! I think that they are a great dupe for the benefit products, and that £1.95 each is an absolute steal! I also really recommend the 2true matte face powder!

You can buy these products for £1.95 each from Superdrug. 

Have you tried 2true cosmetics?

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Carboot Sale Buys (50p Topshop, Hollister, Zara bits!) + OOTD ♥

Today I did a carboot sale with my parents. My Mum had one table, and I had another. Our carboot doesn't officially open until 1pm but people usually get there for 10am so we started setting up at 9am. We packed the car full of our old, unwanted goodies and set them all up on wallpaper pasting tables and clothes rails. 

I was mainly selling old clothes, shoes, make up, bags etc that didn't sell on eBay, so it wasn't worth much. I also decided to sell my huge Lush giftbox of goodies. The RRP of that was £85 plus I had two Easter sets too! I sold the £100 worth of Lush stuff for £20, which I'm sure many of you would agree is a bargain! But I hate the stuff, it was making my room stink, and I just wanted it gone! So yay! And then I sold almost everything else for 50p-£1 each, and in total I made £100! So I sold a lot! I also made £100 selling stuff on eBay last week.. so thats going towards car insurance! I'm very pleased considering I made so much from selling stuff I would have just thrown away. 

The weatherman predicted rain and showers all morning and afternoon, but luckily it didn't start raining until we left! Overall we had a very successful day, and I would recommend it if you have a lot of unwanted goods. I think I might do a carbooting top tips post if anyones interested? As I know some people are boot sale newbies!

Here's what I wore in the lovely sunshine. The dress was a 99p eBay purchase.

 

 

 

 Dress: Hearts & Bows via eBay | Belt: Primark | Sandals: Select | Handbag: Charity shop vintage

I picked up this lovely handbag from the charity shop last week. It's a navy blue leather type, with a gold twist fastening. And it has five compartments! It was only £3 and looks quite old! A proper granny bag but I love it!

I had a walk around the carboot to see if I could buy anything for myself, and here's what I got:

 M&S black satin clutch bag, 50p. Perfect for nights out!

 Another party bag.. gold clutch bag from New Look, 50p.

Pretty floral notebook, and glass candle, 50p each.

 Hollister navy blue sweater, was only 50p! Really like this.

 Zara black long cardigan, 50p. 

 Floral china plate and sugar bowl, 50p each.

 Grey knitted Topshop jumper, 50p. I'm now selling this on eBay as it doesn't fit. 

 Black lacey Topshop skirt, 50p. This is lovely, but it's too small for me unfortunately, so it's now also on eBay.

 I adore this jumper! This is also Topshop and was only 50p! I love it so much, can't wait to wear it in winter.

 Miss Selfridge coral blouse, 50p.

Cute little tin box with cat and teacup print! 50p.

What do you think of my bargain buys? Have you been carboot hunting lately? Would you be interested to know my carboot buying and selling tips?  

P.S. It's my birthday tomorrow!!

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My attempt at a giant cupcake with melted chocolate bottom! ♥

So I normally like to make regular small cupcakes, but I thought I would invest in a giant cupcake mould! So I gave it a go during the week as I had a sudden urge to bake. I bought the mould new for £6.50 from an eBay seller. The mould comes in three pieces, the bottom, the middle, and the top, and its made frm red silicone.

After making the cake mix and baking it, this is how the sponge turned out! I was to excited to wait for it to cool down, so bits of the top broke off and I pulled it away. Overall though, it looked good! I used 6 eggs, 350g of SR flour, sugar, and butter, and some vanilla.

 

Now, to give myself a challenge, I decided I wanted to try and make a perfect case for my giant cupcake, so I decided to try the melted chocolate case method. To do this, you melt down some white chocolate over a boiling water pan. I then added some pink food colouring to it!

Then I covered the inside of the mould in the melted chocolate, and left it to cool in the fridge for 30 mins.

When it came out of the fridge, I had to very carefully roll down the silicone mould, to reveal a giant cupcake case shell! I was pretty impressed by this! It looked perfect, and I was surprised it didn't crack. However, it was a boiling hot day so it did keep melting!

 

I added the filling to my giant cupcake - strawberry jame and vanilla buttercream. I then coated the sides of the sponge, top and bottom, and dropped the bottom into the case very carefully. I then placed the top on, and decorated with more buttercream and fondant decorations. I tried to swirl the buttercream into roses all around the cupcake, and then I made flower and butterfly decorations.

So this was the finished product! What do you think? It was huge! Have you tried making a giant cupcake before?

 

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Want an extra entry into my Sugarhill Boutique giveaway? Please help me! ♥

Hi guys! My Twitter followers may have read the problems I've been having with my current camera, and also a new one I bought, and then had to return (silly Argos!!). But there's a competition running on Facebook, and you could help me win a new camera by simply clicking 'like' on this pic! You don't have to like the page or anything, just the pic :)

If you do this and then leave me a comment with your email address, I will give you an extra entry into my Sugarhill Boutique giveaway! Where you can win your fav item from their online store :)

So please click here and then click like! :) Thank you lovelies!!

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New Milton Keynes Development Plans.. Including TWO Primarks! ♥

Primarks opening date in Bletchley, Milton Keynes has now been announced here!!

I thought I would do this post as I know a few local bloggers would be interested to find out the facts about this, and also there are many people Googling the rumours and landing on my page! Some of you may have heard the exciting news that Primark is coming to Milton Keynes. Last week I attended the exhibition in Middleton Hall on the new development plans for Milton Keynes city centre. The Centre MK Alliance group therefore produced a plan to meet the community's aspirations and ambitions for the city. They are aiming to shape the future of Milton Keynes, and adapt to the growth of businesses.

They have planned the following:

• Investment into public transport, landscaping and open spaces.
• Rejuvenating the half empty Food Centre.
• A new site for the market which will include better access and facilities
• And lastly.. a new anchor store, which has been decided as the recognisable high street brand, Primark!

 

The 90,000sq ft flagship store will be opening where the current market is. That's a huge space! For me personally, I think this is a great idea, as the shopping centre appears pretty run down these days, and those days of being the best shopping centre in Europe are long gone! People expect almost every town and city to have a Primark, just as they expect a Boots or WH Smith. A few years ago, rumours were spreading around the city that the reason we didn't have a Primark was because thecentre:mk thought that it was too 'down market'. But, since they have now introduced a Greggs and a Poundland, I don't think they can say they keep it only for prestigious brands anymore. Despite the snotty woman next to me at the exhibition, complaining that Primark is grotty and cheap, it's the fastest growing fast-fashion retailer in Europe, and it is hugely popular with all classes of people. Primark will trade across three floors at the new store, and subject to planning, work is expected to start on in spring 2013 with Primark due to open in 2015. 

MK1 Shopping Park

 Primark has already agreed to open a store at the MK1 out of town shopping park near the MK Dons football stadium near Bletchley, meaning Milton Keynes will be the first time the retailer has opened a store both inside and outside the same town. The brand new MK1 shopping park will comprise a high quality area of eight units and 600 car parking spaces. Key anchor tenants are Marks & Spencer, H&M, Primark, River Island and Arcadia. Completion of this project is expected late this year.

So, exciting times for us Primarni lovers in MK! No long will you have to travel to Luton/Bedford/Northampton. We will be spoilt for choice with two big Primark stores in the city! Please let me know your thoughts on the developments :) Do you think it's a good thing Primark are coming?

EDITED TO ADD (27/10/12) H&M has announced its store at the new MK1 development at stadiummk will be opening in November. The clothing retailer, which will be the first to launch at the site, will open on Thursday, November 29 at 11am. I expect the other stores, including Primark, will open soon after. Primark have already recruited members of staff for jobs in the new store.

EDITED TO ADD (14/11/12) Primark will open in Bletchley in December 2012. 

EDITED TO ADD (18/11/12) BHS was one of the first retailers to open at the brand new MK1 Shopping Park at Stadium MK on Wednesday 14th November 2012 

EDITED TO ADD (27/11/12) Primark is rumoured to be opening in within the next 2 weeks.  

EDITED TO ADD (30/11/12) MK1, Milton's Keynes' new shopping park, will officially open its doors next week.

Here are some photo's of the plans from the exhibition.

 

 

 

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Sugarhill Boutique Merry Go Dress + GIVEAWAY! ♥

At the weekend I went to London for afternoon tea at a fancy hotel for my birthday, but I was stuck on what to wear. Luckily, Sugarhill Boutique offered to send me a dress from their amazingly gorgeous range, and I chose this one! The Merry Go Dress is a new addition to their summer collection, and it's in my all-time favourite cut, the skater dress. 

The flattering shape of the dress teamed with the cute carousel horse print makes this the perfect afternoon tea dress. I adored this dress as soon as I saw it, and had a lovely fit and length. Not too short and inappropriate, but long enough to still feel girly and feminine. The dress also features a keyhole on the front of the dress, fastened with a delicate gold button.

This dress retails for only £52 from Sugarhill Boutique. Scroll down to enter my giveaway and win your favourite Sugarhill Boutique item!

Sorry about the low quality photos, I bought a new (terrible) camera and it's useless!

 

 Dress: Sugarhill Boutique | Shoes: H&M

Giveaway!

Sugarhill Boutique have also very generously offered to run a giveaway on my blog! And you get to choose your prize.. lucky you! Just follow the steps in the Rafflecopter! Big thank you to Sugarhill Boutique! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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