Birthday Haul

On Saturday, I celebrated my 19th birthday; it was probably my most enjoyable birthday to date and I spent way too much time eating cake, leaving no time for me to photograph the celebrations. So, instead of a post all about how I spent my birthday, I decided to share with you some of the things I was lucky enough to receive. I was delighted to find I'd been gifted a couple of things from my birthday wishlist, as well as some lovely, thoughtful surprises. 

 Of course, the giftbag that stood out like a sore (or perhaps a dainty and glamorous) thumb, was the Chanel one. For the last few birthdays and Christmases, my aunty has given me something from the Chanel make up line so I was embarrassingly excited to see that this year the tradition was continued. I tend to only purchase from high street brands when it comes to make up, as I'm not brave enough to splash out on luxury items. However after trying Le Volume De Chanel, I will never be able to go back to Maybelline and Rimmel mascaras. I'll probably be doing a full review on it soon so that I can fully inform you of my admiration for it, as when I applied it for the first time I actually felt a little emotional at finally finding a mascara that does what it claims. 

 My lovely friend Eloise got me an abundance of treats (most of them edible and therefore no longer available for photographing), including these three gorgeous nail varnishes that allow me to continue my love affair with Barry M. I've always been tempted by the Confetti Effects range, and so have been having a lot of fun playing around with that one. 

Adding to my collection of nail products further, my mum got me a ridiculously vast selection of nail caviar. I've always been a little wary of nail caviar as I think it often ends up looking tacky, however after experimenting with using the beads to create an accent nail, I've discovered that it can actually look pretty swish. Needless to say I am now very grateful to have such a copious amount of the stuff, as I will never have a boring manicure again!

Another birthday, another series of Gossip Girl for my enjoyment.

 I have watched Gossip Girl at least ten times. And when I say "watched Gossip Girl", I mean watched every episode, of every series, in order; cried at the break ups, laughed at Blair's sarcastic wit and lusted after Chuck. And Nate. And Dan. I have slowly been adding each series to my DVD collection, because I refuse to have to watch it via dodgy links I have found in the dark corners of the internet anymore. Four down, two to go!

A while back me and mum went to a vintage fair where I spent a good twenty minutes stroking all the old fashioned perfume bottles, basking in their elegance. In all honesty, I had forgotten about them a few days later and so I was slightly overcome with emotion when I opened a gift labelled "fragile" to find that mum had remembered my fascination with them and hunted one down for me! After a little research I have discovered that this type of bottle is called an "atomizer", and I've now filled it up and feel like I'm in a black and white movie every time I spritz myself with Chanel No5. 

I also received a new perfume, Paul Smith's Floral, from Joe (I bought him Drakkar Noir for his birthday, so it's only fair that he gets to choose what I smell like too!). I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to perfumes, I only own two; there's something about perfume shopping that instills fear in me... there's so many to choose from and each one smells completely different, but after you've smelt a couple they all smell the same! It's truly mind boggling, so I was pretty excited to have a new perfume to add to my embarrassingly sparse collection without having to endure the painful process of choosing one myself; a beautifully yummy scent that I can wear everyday.

To the untrained eye, this may look like a clunky digital camera from 2004 that has few features to write home about. It is in fact, a camera that takes film (you know, that stuff that you take in to Boots to get developed and then struggle to get back because the cashier can never spell your surname correctly; IT'S J-A-M-S-H-I-D-I!) and has plenty of features to write home about. It boasts a pretty impressive zoom, self timer mode, continuous shooting, and portrait/landscape settings. Believe me, to a camera buff that's a whole lot more exciting than it sounds. Up until now, I've been using my Kodak KV270 to take snaps of me and my friends; it only has the ability of a disposable camera you might buy from Boots, but works out cheaper as I can reload the film as opposed to chucking it out and purchasing a new one each time I've finished the roll. So, to be able to play with a film camera that has some features of an SLR is a pretty darn good birthday gift, thanks mumma!

Seeing as I've gone through about 30 rolls of film over the past few years, I've found myself filling up multiple picture albums. My brother got me this one to put my latest snaps in (he thought I'd like it because it has French writing on the front... I'm not sure where this logic came from). He thoughtfully slipped a photo of us as tots in the front, and I quickly filled the rest of it up with my own pictures.

Joe also got me a little Lush giftbox - The Sweetest Thing. This is even sweeter than it sounds, because I love Lush but am unfortunately never able to purchase anything from there because I don't own a bath and of course, their most entertaining products are all made for bath time. I think this is why I loathe receiving toiletries as gifts, because who wants a Dove shower gel when you could have a Lush bubble bar?! To my excitement, Joe had managed to spot a giftbox full of products that don't require a bath; this made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, as if Lush was inviting me in to join the big bubbly party even though I can't experience the joys of most of their products. The two soaps smell delicious and I can't wait to try the shower jelly purely because it's all wobbly looks fun to play with. 

Mum also got me a curling wand - result! Sometimes, I want to transform my unruly nest in to smooth, sleek curls and this Phil Smith wand does just the job! I've messed around with it a bit and managed to create a whole host of looks by using different techniques, each one taking no longer than half an hour (believe me, that's quick when you have as much hair as I do!) I'm sure this will be featuring in a few upcoming hair posts.

Last but certainly not least, Joe got us tickets to go to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, to visit HOGWARTS AND THE BURROW AND DIAGON ALLEY. I won't allow myself to write too much about it as I will end up talking forever, and I'm sure I will do a rather extensive post on it once we've been, but I'm a pretty big Potterhead so this is probably the best present I've ever received. I'm going to drink Butterbeer and play Quidditch and sit in the Great Hall and cast an unforgivable curse and get my picture printed on the front of the Daily Prophet, and no one can stop me... Well, Joe might if I start getting too embarrassing. 

So, not too shabby of a haul eh? This post was largely to thank those who gave me such fabulous gifts, and also because I love being a bit nosey and seeing what others have gotten, and I know I'm not the only one so I figured this would be a nice post to do!

I hope you're all well,

KJ xo