Birthday Boxes on a Budget

Well the holidays are well and truly over and it’s getting into birthday season once more. This year I decided that since two of the most important birthdays come around in February (Sam, aka my best friend and my mum) that I would try something a little different.

I am on a major budget this year as I am not currently working and am also moving house in the next few weeks so I decided I would show I care by giving them each a few small presents. This idea quickly evolved into making up a basket hamper for each of them but when I saw the cutest gift boxes in a local card shop I decided a gift box hamper was the way to go.

I wanted it to feel a little like Christmas for them when opening their gift boxes so I layered the presents with some nice shredded tissue paper interspersed with birthday confetti.

This is what I got them both in the end.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods

My mum is a big reader so for the bottom layer of her box I got her a book which I have heard a lot of good things about. She is also a science fiction lover so this seemed perfect for her.

In the top layer to her box is Thornton’s chocolates, Assorted Fruit Soaps, Pink grapefruit shower gel, Pink grapefruit soap and Sweet lemon soap all from The Body Shop. My mum has very sensitive skin so I made an effort to get her very gentle products.

This is the finished product. I love the glittery box because it is so pretty and she will be able to keep it to store things in which is always a plus!

On to the second box!

The bottom layer of Sam’s box has a mini bottle of her favourite wine, and some sweets from back when we were young.

Every girl loves a nice bar of Galaxy.

For the third layer of this box there is a cute sparkly shoe key ring and a manicure kit both from Claires. There is also a Lipgloss from MUA in shade 4 and a Nail polish from MUA in shade 8. .

On the final layer of this box there is a Beauty UK Palette in the shade pastels, two Beauty UK Pearl Liquid Eyeliners in number 4 blue lagoon and number 6 purple haze.  

This is the finished product for Sam. Again a lovely box which can be reused.

I really hope they both like their gifts.

Mini Make-up Haul

Rimmel London Crack your Colour Crazy Top Coat in Silver Clash

Rimmel London Crack your Colour Crazy Top Coat in Rocking Royal

I have been hearing a lot lately about crackle effect nail polishes so I thought I would go out and buy a few to give it a go. I picked up the two of these in my local Superdrug and I have to say they are a little tricky to get the effect right especially the first few times. The trick with this particular brand seems to be to put a very thin coat on as a thicker coat doesn’t seem to crack properly. Once I figured this out I loved the effect. It is also alot of fun to experiment with different base colours.

China Glaze Ring in the Red

This was my first ever China Glaze nail polish as it is quite difficult to get hold of this brand here in the UK. I saw a great review on this colour online and it looked so beautiful and festive that I decided to see if I could try and get hold of it. When it arrived I was very pleasantly surprised at the size of the bottle, it seemed much bigger than the standard polishes we tend to get in the UK. I love this polish so much, it glitters beautifully and has such a deep gorgeous colour on the nails. I can’t wait to buy more China Glaze polishes!  

Barry M Eyeshadow Trio in Pretty Pastels

Barry M Eyeshadow Trio in Smoky Seduction

I picked up a couple of these pretty eyeshadow trios’s from Barry M and they look lovely on, they are simple and very reasonably priced. The Smoky Seduction Pallet has everything you need for a lovely smoky eye effect and the Pretty Pastels has three nice colours ideal for blending. The packaging on there also looks very pretty and feels more expensive than it really is which is always a plus.

Barry M liquid Eyeliner in Electric Blue

This was the last thing I picked up, I love Barry M eyeliners and this one is no different. It is easy to apply, lasts all day and looks fantastic. I just can’t get enough of these!