RECENT PUR-CHASES

Actually, although it doesn't look like it since I appear never to be able to live within my means, I've been PRETTAY, PRETTAY, PRETTAY skint this last month or two.

Birthdays, ultimately fruitless trips down south, and more nights out than you can shake a stick at have taken their toll. GODDAAAYUM I'm sick of being skint!

That said, over the last wee while I have still managed to pick up a few shiny new things. Take a peek:

Gold jumper from Zara. Festive or what?! The ultimate dress up or dress down piece, perfect for chilly, wintry nights at the pub and awesome with skinnies or a leather skirt. Love, love, love it. Zara knitwear is having a definite moment just now...

THOSE Topshop boots. You know, the Acne copies that sold out everywhere during the summer. Aye, I caved. They are a slightly lower heel and much comfier than my Topshop heeled Chelseas and I've practically been living in them ever since I snapped up the last 5s in Topshop Argyle St last week. Love.

Topshop velvet leggings. I'm actually not sure about these in real life. They make my thighs look GINORMO and bumfle unattractively around the crotchital area. But I just love the IDEA of them. So far the tags are still on and the jury's still out. They may well go back...

H&M pleather flippy skirt. I've had this for a couple of weeks, and together with the Topshop boots it's hardly been off my bum. I LOVE it. I saw it on someone else's blog ages ago (forget who now) and made a mental note to get it on payday. And get it I did. Goes with everything and is only £19.99. Makes sense people.

Barry M Berry Ice Cream nail polish. SUCH  a gorgeous colour on. Shame my nails are absolutely horrific. I feel a new year's resolution coming on...

Skin 79 Intense Classic BB Cream. GAHD, what a drama I've been having with foundations lately. I'm totally sick of Estee Lauder Doublewear and its cakiness, so I've been trying other, less matte cream foundations over the last month. I'd been hearing all this stuff about BB creams and after hours spent watching reviews on YouTube some gentle research, plumped for this yin off of an American site.

There are some big pros and cons to this cream. The coverage is INTENSE as the name would suggest, which is good if you want maximum coverage, duh. But it's got an SPF of 35 which makes it really thick and very whitening on the skin. I personally don't mind the whitening aspect, as in the winter I normally steer clear of the fake tan anyway, but I know loads of folk won't like that. Also, I wasn't sure I really got the whole 'one shade suits everyone' thing. It comes out the tube a weird grey colour, but eventually oxidises to match your face... or there abouts. Once on though, it stays put. And thanks to the creamy finish it never looks cakey or dry.

I wore this alot in Italy as I do tend to burn easily, so the high SPF and coverage was great, and so was the dewy finish. But now that I'm home I'm defo finding it a bit much. Which leads me to...

Illamasqua Skin Base foundation. I finally feel like I've found my ultimate foundation! Based on BB creams, this foundation is meant to cover,conceal, brighten and enhance. But Illamasqua have removed all the SPF properties normally associated with BB creams, which is great for a night out so you don't get that ATTRACTIVE, your-face-is-ten-times-whiter-than-your-neck reflection thingmy that tends to happen in photos when an SPF is present. Anyway, I love it!

 I was matched with shade 06 when I went in for the tester, but when I went back that shade had sold out. The helpful girl in Debenhams said I could also be shade 05 too since my skin has a slight pinkiness to it. Sure enough it's ALMOST the exact perfect shade. I do find it a touch pink, but with a dusting of some creamy loose powder over the top it's ideal.

Not too thick, creamy, pigmented, easily-blendable... I'm not sure there's much else I need from a foundation. It's £25 which ain't cheap, but a little goes a REALLY long way.

So aye, those were my pur-CHASEs over the last lil bit. I'm away to eat beans on toast for the next 6 weeks...