I take part in No Spend June to stop myself from spending as much on beauty because I know realistically I do not need any more beauty products. June is sort of a bad time to be trying to cut spending as it is sale season and I am a sucker for a good sale. As I treated myself to a new handbag last month, I was not going to be spending that sort of money again this month but a few items I had been eyeing up went into sale which meant it was my opportunity to buy them. Some items I wouldn't usually buy but I couldn't miss out on the chance to get them that little bit cheaper. Without rambling too much lets get into it. I am going to go in the order that I bought them so you can sort of see the process of my month.
Whistles - Brunch Club Top
It all started in John Lewis, the sales had just started and I love a good Whistles top. Whenever I am in John Lewis I always check out the same clothing brands: Whistles, Ted Baker, Reiss and Karen Millen. I tend to always pick up at least one item from one of these brands each sale season. This season I lucked out and found a Whistles top in the sale; I can't even tell you about the level of comfort these tops provide. They are quite casual but when you wear them they do look like you've put a bit of effort in. These tops aren't made of anything special, only Polyester and Viscose, but they are super soft and they hang nicely. Sounds bizarre, I know but you know when a top has a bit of weight to it so it looks good tucked in or loose, this is that type of top. Not only do I love the style, fit and comfort of these tops but I do love a brunch, as any of you who follow my social media accounts will know. Brunch is my thing, so this top was literally perfect for me. Except, I really wasn't sure on the colour. Compared to the clothes I usually wear, this is very bright! So bright that I wasn't sure I could pull it off but I actually really like it. I just wear it with a pair of dark navy jeans and some flat shoes and I am good to go. This was reduced to £35 which isn't the biggest saving but it was enough to convince me to give it a go.
Ted Baker - Beauty Sleep Top
Sticking to the theme of clothing, and more specifically tops, I bought myself a top from Ted Baker which was 50% off. I adore Ted Baker, they are easily one of my favourite clothing brands. I don't tend to like their floral patterns but they have such classically cut clothes with a modern finish. Quite recently they started a range called Ted Says Relax which is their Lounge wear/Travel wear section. Last season I was eyeing up a jumper with Beauty Sleep written on it but at £99 I was not going to spend that much on a sweatshirt. I did keep an eye out for it in the sales but clearly I missed out. This season they reinvented the beauty sleep slogan on a more weather appropriate T-Shirt. This went into the summer sales and was only £24 opposed to £49. I wouldn't have spent almost £50 on this top but at £24 it was cheaper than some tops in Topshop and it is much better quality. I love that it is a muted mauve pink with rose gold writing, this is very much my style and I plan on wearing it for casual days at home, to bed and if I ever travel as it is very comfortable. This is still in stock on the Ted Baker website, if you are interested.
ASOS Shop - Number One
This first ASOS shop, yes there was more than one, mainly focused on one item. The reason I placed this order was because I wanted one of the ASOS Beauty Boxes and this month it was the Summer Skin Box. I had been keeping an eye on them for the past couple of months but this was the first one that really appealed to me. It did mean that I had broken my beauty ban but at £12, I thought this was a bargain. I did a full review on the contents of the box which I will link here: ASOS Summer Box but I can safely say it was totally worth it. I have been using most of the products in this box, with the exception of the Sanoflore Toner. Through this box I found my new go to tan which is the St. Tropez Purity Bronzing Water Mousse. I highly recommend checking out these ASOS curated beauty boxes.
To bulk up my order to get free standard delivery. I ordered two sets of earrings and a couple of Xmas presents. I know it is early but they were only small items and they are literally perfect for the people they are intended for. If I had waited until Christmas, then I would have forgotten about them. I'm going to skip the Christmas presents but I will talk to you about the two sets of earrings. I don't know what came over me in June but I was loving earrings. I haven't worn earrings in my lobes regularly for a number of years but this month I found a brand who make some cute earrings which are relatively cheap. The brand is called Kingsley Ryan and they create small, simple, stylish earrings. Both pairs of earrings in this ASOS shop featured stars. One set is a simple pair of silver star studs earrings and the second pair are a set of hoop earrings with stars dangling down. Both pairs were around £5 and I just love both of them. They are easy to wear and go with everything. The hoops are slightly more annoying as I hate the closure. There is a latch to make it slightly easier but these are a struggle to close, especially when they are in your ear. Other than that these are completely worth the money.
Victoria's Secret Sale
After going slightly mad at the start of the month, I stopped spending until the Victoria's Secret sale started. I received an email telling me that it was live and that weekend I went all the way into town to take a look. If you are a fan of Victoria's Secret, then you probably know how good the sale is but if not, the sale is always worth checking out. All the bras go down to half price and so do the pants. This sale season I actually didn't buy any new bras from VS, they didn't have any I liked in my size. Instead I bought a new dressing gown and a whole load of pants. The pants were around £4-£6 so it was a great time to stock up on new knickers and they basically had every style I could ever want. I got a mixture of styles and colours, depending on where I thought there was a gap in my underwear draw.
I had been eyeing up the dressing gown for a few months but originally it was around £50 which was way more than I wanted to spend on it. Half price was much more appealing. It is quite simple but I would say it is quite a sexy dressing gown. It is a satin material with lace inserts on the sleeves. It is quite a short kimono style so it is more of a top than a gown but I just loved the style and I thought it would be good for when I want to cover up the fact that I have no boobs. I am actually happy with my bum so I don't have to hide that. This shop was quite restrained for me, normally I spend a lot more in the VS sale. I did go into the changing rooms and I took in double the amount I left with. Eventually they put the sales down so you can get bras for £10 which is actually ridiculous when you consider they can cost £50 each full price. As you would expect the average sizes are the first to go but if you are smaller (like me) or larger you can usually get some pretty good deals at the end of the sales.
2x Tanning Mitts
On the day that I had adventured into town to visit the Victoria's Secret sale, I picked up some tanning mitts. My ASOS order has arrived by this point but before I bought these mitts I had no way of applying the tan I was desperate to try. This counts as a beauty purchase but luckily there was a 1/3 off all St. Tropez products. They had run out of the standard tanning mitts but they had these fancy ass Velvet ones. I had no idea how they would make a difference but as they were the only ones I could get, I had to give them a go. I was surprised by these mitts, they are very soft and applied my tan beautifully. I have to admit I was using them with a new tan so I don't know if that just applied better than my old tan but I definitely have less patches and my tan looks very even. I believe these are the same price as their normal mitts and potentially they are now the standard mitts for St. Tropez as I couldn't find the traditional mitts anywhere. Either way I will definitely be buying these boujee mitts from now on.
Kiko - Metal Fusion Highlighter Drops
Kiko is a store I rarely go into because I know if I go in, I'm probably going to buy something. Last time I went into store I saw the Metal Fusion Drops and I loved the finish of the Platinum Rose shade but I didn't want to spend £8.90 on it. I've got other liquid highlighting products which I never use so I was worried that I wouldn't use this one either. When I went into store mid-June, the Kiko Summer sale had started and the highlighting drops were part of it. They had gone down to £4.40 and I decided I couldn't disagree with that price and picked it up. The testers were a bit of a mess so I wanted to check that the one I was going to buy was tidy so I tried to open the box, whilst trying to open it, I ripped it so by that point I had to buy the drops. This was a major violation of No Spend June, as I didn't really need it, but at £5 I thought I could forgive myself. I haven't used this yet but hopefully I will get round to it. I've tested it on the back of my hand and it really is stunning, if you like a metallic finish. This would be perfect for a festival, you could literally pour this all over your body. A word of caution, a little goes a long way so do not use that stupid Instagram technique of dropping this on your face because you will make yourself look like a robot.
Jo Malone London - White Lilac & Rhubarb
This was easily my most unexpected and most unnecessary purchase of the month. However in my defense I adore this candle. Around 2 years ago Jo Malone London launched White Lilac & Rhubarb as a limited edition charity candle and I instantly fell in love with it. There is a soft delicateness from the White Lilac which is balanced and modernised by the tart notes of Rhubarb. When I was younger we used to have a White Lilac in our garden so it reminds me of childhood summers. The scent was so strong that it was one of the only things I could smell through my hayfever. I don't really like Rhubarb but this candle is perfect for Spring/Summer and when I saw they had bought it back, I needed to buy one. I have half of my old one that I have been refusing to burn so finally I can get back to using this candle safe in the knowledge that I can now buy it whenever I want. This was not a cheap splurge but a worthy one.
Calvin Klein Bra
Even though I didn't buy any bras in the Victoria's Secret sale, it doesn't mean I didn't buy any this month. Before I went on my holiday to Nice, I bought a Calvin Klein bra to wear as a bed bra. Seems slightly odd but it was such a good shout. I didn't really know most of the girls I went away with and I think the last thing all of us wanted was for my boobs to be out. I wear a lot of crop tops to bed so they quite often rise up but with a bra underneath that didn't really matter. The bra I bought actually went in the sale and so did another from the same range that I had wanted but didn't want to spend that sort of money on it. The bra in question was half price in the John Lewis sale so I decided to go for it. On your average day I will wear a padded bra but for the weekends I like my boobs to feel more free so I tend to wear triangle bras. Plus I have tiny boobs so I can get away with it. If it is a bloody hot night then I often sleep in triangle bras. Really I wanted to get the matching pants but they didn't have any in my size in John Lewis so I just settled with the bra. I have worn the Calvin Klein bra and it is as comfy as I thought it would be, I always rate the Calvin Klein bras and if you can get them cheaper it is always a bonus.
ASOS Shop - Second Shop
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| Picture from ASOS |
Thanks to Love Island, I am literally obsessed with swinwear but I have no real need for it. At the end of May I went to see my best friend and we stayed by the beach, the weather was ridiculously nice for the UK and we actually managed to wear bikini's in the UK. My friend had a swimsuit that I loved and I eventually found it on ASOS. She has the black version but the white one went into the sale. It was 50% off, instead of being £16, it was £8 so I decided we were going to twin when we are next at the beach together. Not really twin cause she looks way better in it but I do try. I did tell her that she was my inspo and she was not surprised in the slightest as we always end up buying the same clothes.
It looks quite simple from the front, it is just a low V-neck but the back is where the detail comes in. The back is a low scoop but it has straps that cross your back and meet in the middle of your shoulder blades at a ring which gathers them together. It was this detail that made me want the swimsuit. Having tried it on, I love the back, the detail looks great and my bum looks peachy but I'm not sold on the front. I literally have no boobs and this swimsuit shows that. It is quite far out of my comfort zone and for this reason alone, I'm not sure I will wear it. It is such a shame because it fits beautifully but the whole no boobs thing is a struggle for me. I've kept it as I love the style and at £8 it seems silly to send it back. I'm hoping one day my boobs might grow in but at 25 I think it might be a bit late.
The second item is not as exciting, it is a thong to match the Calvin Klein bra I bought the week before. At the time they did not have my size in John Lewis but I do like to have matching underwear. It is very rare that I actually wear matching underwear but I do like the idea of it. As they had this thong in my size on the ASOS website I decided to get it. This made up the bulk of my basket as it was £12.50 but that is pretty cheap for Calvin Klein. I am pleased to have completed the set and I have to say this is quite a comfy thong.
The final item in my second ASOS shop was yet another pair of earrings from Kingsley Ryan. I loved the first two so much that I bought another set which is actually a pair I had originally wanted. They are a set of Rose Gold Cut Out Heart Ear Studs and they have been in my ears since my order arrived. Typically I wear rose gold jewellery and these match. I have had so many compliments on these earrings and even my mum wants a pair of the silver version. My one problem is that I have a heart loop in my daith piercing and I'm not sure if the combination is too much but everyone has tried to reassure me that it isn't. If you can get your hands on these earrings, you should get them, I mean they are only £5 and they are really cute.
Agent Provocateur Side Tie Pants
My final purchase of the month was the one that made me halt any other spending. For my birthday this year I treated myself to a bra and thong from Agent Provocateur. I had been eyeing up the set for a long time and finally it had a bit of discount. However in that post I expressed my disappointment at not being about to get some of the Side Tie Knickers as I loved the way they looked. When the Summer sale came around I thought I would keep an eye out for them just in case, and it was a good thing I did, as they had some back in stock. Same discount as the last sale and most importantly they had my size! As soon as I saw them I needed to get them so I placed my order. After a billing disaster, contacting customer services and placing a second order, I eventually placed a successful purchase. I do have to give credit to the customer services as the woman who was emailing me was very helpful and pleasant. Eventually I got my pants and I am thrilled, they are as beautiful as I hoped they would be. The detailing is delicate and intricate but really feminine. The red version actually went into sale and I would have bought the entire set if they had it in my size but they didn't. I know it was very expensive to get the whole set but for me I can't put a price on the way something makes me feel. In general I do lack self confidence and if something is going to help that you can be damn sure I'm going to do it. Wearing nice underwear gives me that confidence. I could be wearing a sack dress but if I have nice underwear on, I feel better about it. Plus there is a little bit of satisfaction knowing you are wearing something quite sexy and no one else knows.
As you can probably tell my no spending/spending less didn't really work overall. It certainly worked on the beauty front, I was way more restrained and only spent £30 but everything else was a fail. However everything I bought was something that I had been eyeing up anyway and I can safely say I do not regret any of the purchases I made this month. I've never covered a whole month of spending before so I hope you enjoyed this post and the little insight into the sort of non-beauty items I like.
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