What I Got For My Birthday!

So on the 1st August I turned the grand old age of 25! I can't believe I'm 25..it seems very surreal. So much so I actually realised half way through the year that I was telling everyone I was 23...when actually I was 24. I mean really?! Memory loss is slowly working it's way to me.

Anyway!! Onto the really exciting stuff - what I actually got! I'd just like to state I'm not showing off in the slightest- I just love to read what about what other people get for their Birthdays and Christmas' etc... so I thought I'd write about what I got.

So first of all, from my Mum and Dad I actually got a veneer...which seems like a rubbish present but I really want one on my front teeth as I had a root canal done there a while ago and it starting to discolour...also they cost an absolute bomb therefore my Mum offered to pay for that for my birthday. Nice one.

Next was a total surprise as my brother is currently hosteling around Europe for 6 weeks so I did not expect anything. However about 1 week before my birthday I received a cylindrical tube in the post from John Lewis and in the address part is said Charlotte Thompson **DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 1st AUGUST** so automatically I knew it was a present but didn't know who from. It was only when I opened it on my Birthday that I realised it was from Guy (my brother) with a lovely note saying 'I bet you though't I'd forgotten about your Birthday - well I did up until Mum reminded me haha! I'm sorry I can't be there celebrating with you, however I shall certainly be consuming a few beverages in your honour tonight! Love you sis x' Needless to say I was a blubbering wreck after reading this. When I actually opened the tube, he had bought me a Liz Earle Limited Edition Hot Cloth Cleanser. I was impressed and emotional, what a great mix. 

I then went round to one of my best friends house for a Birthday Breakfast, where we had croissants, hot chocolate, then a full fry up! She gave me such fantastic presents, I was overwhelmed really. She knows I blog about make up and beauty products so she went on the prowl and bought me lots of little bits that she thought I could write about! So first of all in the bag of goodies was an Aussie Beach Mate Shampoo and the Aussie Beach Mate 3 Minute Miracle which smell incredible! OMG they smell like bubblegum. I then came across 3 BarryM nail polishes in Gelly Papaya, standard polish in Nude and Confetti Nail Paint in Dolly Mixture. I am really excited to try the confetti polish as it looks like a lot of fun. Also staying on the nail theme there was a pack of Turquoise stick on nails which I am excited to try next time I'm out. Delving in a bit more I found a beautiful little heart necklace which I love. Then finally there were two Bourjois products one was a Colour Boost Lip Crayon and the other was their new Bourjois Erasable Liner which I am super excited to try out.
After about an hour or so at my friends house another one of my friends came over and she had bought me a really cute Thomas Sabo bracelet which had a beautiful pearly white effect to it.

My boyfriend (Luke) decided he was going to take a half day from work so in the afternoon he took me to Nottingham and we headed to Space.N.K where he let me roam around for about 2 hours (no lie!) and buy pretty much whatever I wanted. It's funny because whenever someone says you can have whatever you want your mind goes into overdrive and in the end I was so conscious about what I was buying that I didn't even touch my 'budget' so I won't be forgetting that Luke (if you're reading!). So I ended up buying 2 NARS Sheer Glow Foundations in Deauville and Vallauris; one for my natural skintone and the other is for when I apply tan. I then bought Caudalie's Beauty Elixir, I also went for a Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler as it caters for a wide eye, so I can fit all of my lashes in. I also opted for another ByTerry Ombre Blackstar in Misty Rock as that seems to be the one everyone goes on about. I also eyed up Paradise Island at the same time and regret not purchasing it there and then. So after dragging Luke around Space N.K asking his opinion on things..(which he pointed out several times that he didn't care or had no idea what I was on about) I decided to take him into MAC.

We ventured into MAC where his Mum had given me some vouchers to spend in there. I bought two of the MAC prep and prime highlighters which I have to say I'm in love with them. I also bought the much sought after All That Glitters to add to my pallet and then finally a lipstick I've been craving for ages Costa Chic.

So all in all I was very spoilt on my birthday and loved every second of spending time with the people I love most in my life. In the evening myself and about 14 of my friends went out into Leicester for a meal and cocktails. It was such a fabulous Birthday.

See below my daytime and evening birthday makeup looks. What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed this post? I certainly enjoyed writing it! Let me know down in the comments what your favourite item is from the hugeeee list above! I wonder if your's would be the same as mine?

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It's been a pleasure.

Char

xXx

IMATS Haul

So recently I went to IMATS with the beautiful Lauren over at http://porcelainqueen1.blogspot.co.uk/ and I can honestly say it was such a great weekend I'd do it all over again in a heart beat. We decided to make a weekend of it and stay in a hotel overnight, and by hotel I use that term loosely! We rocked up and it all looked very clean and nice, however the room was no bigger than my wardrobe at home (which isn't that big!) and the bed...oh dear lord, was perhaps the smallest double bed I've ever come across, so all Lauren and I could do was get much better antiquated haha! That was the only downside of this weekend as we ate loads, shopped loads and shopped a bit more. Fab.

So...what did I buy?! Quite a bit is your answer. I don't think I went too crazy personally - I could have gone completely mental and bought pretty much everything however I'm no millionaire so that didn't happen.

Let's start of with brushes. I knew before I went that a stall was going to be selling Zoeva so I purchased the 231 Petite Crease Brush, 315 Fine Liner Brush & 312 Detailer Liner Brush. I'd wanted some new eyeliner brushes as my MAC one had pretty much had it by now. Also I didn't have a small enough crease brush before so this one is perfect.

  Next we'll go on to Sigma. Well I had no idea they were going to be at IMATS so I made a little excited squeak when we stumbled upon them! I went for the obvious choice of their Kabuki range and chose the ever so popular F80 Flat Kabuki Brush and the F86 Tapered Kabuki Brush. I have used these everyday since and they are SO good. I 150% recommend them - they are so soft and dense that they just pack on the foundation / concealer and work really well at blending into the skin to look flawless.

Next we ventured over to the NARS counter which was crazy busy. It was as if the world was about to end and there was a free for all on the counter! I feared for my life. I quickly grabbed the items I needed and queued for a lifetime. No joke! I bought NARS Laguna Bronzer as it was on offer and I clearly needed another bronzer to add to my already huge collection of bronzers...then I bought ANOTHER bronzer in stick form which I don't feel bad about buying as it's the only cream one I own, and I adore it! (I apologise for the blurry photo below)

Okay so after queuing for about an hour we went over to the Kandy Eyes counter where I purchased some glitter...I had tried this before at a previous Beauty Convention and instantly regretted not buying it at the time. So I made up for lost time and bought 3 pots of glitter which will in turn last me just short of a lifetime..so no doubt I'll be some cool hip granny with glittery lips..I can see it now people. I bought electric pink, Jessica Rabbit red and a turquoise. See picture below with me showcasing the glitter.

With extra money cluttering my purse, we scoured around for something to spend more money on. Needless to say it took all of about 20 seconds to come across the Inglot stand. My only regret is I didn't buy more. I was SO impressed with this brand I can't wait to buy more from it. I purchased the Kohl Eyeliner in Brown and Nude as I was so desperate to try a nude liner then when it came to swatching it, it went on like a dream I had to get the brown too! I now want to get the black, grey, green and any other colour they do. I also decided to go for the Colour Play Eyeliner in 204 which is a beautiful aqua blue. Perfect for Summer, and again goes on like a dream. 

And finally, with our purses a hell of a lot lighter I found a remaining £10 note which clearly had to be used. We came across the Eldora Handmade Eyelashes Stand. I fell in love. I'm a sucker for eyelashes and even though I have pretty long lashes naturally, I can't resist wearing these to add more depth to my lashes; making them look fuller. I love these as they look so natural on (see below) and can be used again and again. Very impressed. 

 So, that's it for my IMATS haul - what do you think? Have you tried any of the above? Let me know in the comments down below. I've also included a photo below of me using pretty much everything above. I hope you like my look!

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It's been a pleasure.

Char

xXx