Home And Festive Home Fragrance Haul

Hi Guys x Happy Friday x I hope you've all had a lovely week x It's been a hectic one here in LouLouLand culminating in a trip to the hairdressers to get my shetland pony like locks trimmed and today. I've been so busy this week that blogging has definitely taken a back seat so I'm only going to manage to squeeze in a couple of posts before Christmas including this one, an overdue home and fragrance haul.

If you're a new reader, then you'll soon learn that I'm slightly obsessed with candles and home fragrancing. I love wearing fragrance and smelling nice so I guess it's only natural that I want my home to smell as good as I do, and when your a pet owner sometimes a bit of room spray isn't a luxury, it's a necessity!

Whilst I have my favourite all year round scents at Christmas time, if it's even the slightest bit festive then bring it on. One of my favourite places to buy Christmas home fragrancing products is NEXT. I'm absolutely in love with their Fesitive Spice fragrance, it's full of fruit and Christmas spices, and it makes the house smell fabulous. As soon as the Christmas catalohue comes out - I stock up and this year I may have gone gone slightly daft.

Something that I always buy are the Festive Spice Reed Diffusers. We usually have one in the landing, one in my room, one in the dinning room, and one in the lounge, so I've bought quite a few. They are available in a couple of sizes this year including the absolutely huge, Christmas Tree shaped one that you can see above which is £16, and the smaller one below which is £6.50.

I know not everybody likes candles, so diffusers are a great alternative, and their great for continuous home fragrancing. Another good alternative to candles, and something that is a real essential in my house is room spray. There are room sprays though and their are room sprays. Some are pretty horrid and synthetic but NEXT's Festive Spice Room Spray  is a good one  and you can really smell all of the fruity and spicy notes. Sorry I don't have a picture but it was just £5. It comes in a pump action, glass bottle, and a little goes a long way, a couple of squirts are more than enough to fragrance a large room in an instant.

I still a little bit of last years Festive Spice candle left but I couldn't resist picking this one up.

Based on previous experience NEXT candles are pretty decent and this is a soy based, 3 wick candle that has the same beautiful Festive Spice fragrance which I love. What really sold this candle to me though was the packagaing. Packaged in a beautiful red glass holder, the holder iteself comes with a gorgeous cut out, Rob Ryan style, silver tone metal design overlay.

I do love my Festive Spice, but this year NEXT have really spoilt us when it comes to holiday home fragrancing. One of their newest scents is Mulled Wine. In one of my previous home hauls (read it here)  I got one of the Mulled Wine candles in a mini set and I loved it so I had to buy the full size.

Packaged in beautiful and so on trend, red mercury glass jar, this candle has a fruity, spicy, sweet scent that reminds you of Christmas with just one sniff. As I said previously this was very similar to Yankee Candles Mulled Wine scent and at just £7 it was a bargain to boot.

I must admit I automatically lean towards more foodie, spicy and fruity scents at Christmas but some people I know love fresher and greener scents. Well if that is more to your taste then Next definitely have something for you.

This small diffuser which was just £5 comes in their Festive Spruce scent. If you prefer these greener, pine scents, this is definitely the one to try/ We have a fake Christmas tree so I'm planning to put this diffuser behind the tree so you get that real tree scent without the mess and the hassle.

As well as home fragrancing bits I've also a couple of other home things from NEXT recently including this super cute graphic alphabet cushion x

I love alphabet and text related things and I love cushions so this is a great combo, the letter L is printed on to a white cotton / canvas feel fabric, and the reverse of the cushion is in plain, short pile, black velvet. It was just £12 and it also includes the cushion pad.

As well as the cushion I also couldn't resist getting one of these little cute, wooden Monogram LED lights. Unfortunately these don't appear in the video towards the end of this post but I couldn't resist showing you them anyway. These letters are just £6 and they come with batteries and a hanging loop, in case you want to hang it on the wall or on the Christmas tree. I think these are really cute and I may have got a couple for some friends from Santa ;)

Although I keep trying to branch out, one candle brand that I just keep coming back to is Yankee Candles, and I've got yet another Yankee Candles haul to show you know.

First up is the festive addition of the Yankee Candle Seasonal Hamper that I got from QVC UK. This was my third auto delivery of four and this was the one that i was really looking forward to.

The hamper itself has almost a creamy, cable knit type of finish and it comes complete with a little pom pom key ring or bag charm.

The hamper contains 12 Yankee Candle votives, in 6 different fragranced In this particular set you get 2 in Red Apple Wreath, 2 in Macaron Treats, 2 In Winter Glow, 2 in Festive Cocktail, 2 in Star Anise and Orange and 2 in All Is Bright.

You also get two boxes of 12 tea lights, in both the Festive Cocktail and the All Is Bright Fragrances as well as 2 red glass bucket holders to burn your candles in.

I've loved receiving these hampers over the last few months, and I've really enjoyed trying all of the new fragrances, and I'm already looking forward to the last shipment in January. I'm really hoping that QVC and Yankee Candles do something similar next year. In the meantime though I think that this particular hamper is still available on the QVC UK website if your interested in trying it out for yourself x

As you might, if you've read my Royal Quays beauty haul post (see it here) then you'll know that I also visited Boundary Mill in nearby Shiremoor. Boundary Mill stocks pretty much everything from clothes and kitchen wear, to dried fruit and candles, and since they have an amazing Yankee Candle selection, I ended up buying a few bits including a rare double wick tumbler in Australian Eucalyptus and a couple of wax melts in Mango Peach Salas and in Vanilla Chai.

Melts or tarts are a really quick way of giving the room a real fragrance hit. In a small room like my bedroom, I normally only leave them on for about 5 minutes but you can melt them for as long as you like. You just need either a specific melt warmer or oil burner and a unscented tea light, and now if you aren't a fan of naked flames you can even get electric melt warmers which are probably a little bit safer.

Speaking of electric I'd wanted the next item that I'm going to show you for the longest time. They make look like a normal plug in air freshener but these are Yankee Candle plug ins. You basically buy the plug in unit and then you can buy a whole range of refills which come in some of your favourite Yankee scents. I went for this lilac, blue plug in and I also bought a duo pack of refills in my favourite Lemon Lavender scent. Basically you just plug, them in switch them on and leave them to gradually fragrance your home, while your at work, or even sound asleep. There are 3 different setting strengths to choose from so you can have as much or as little fragrance as you like.

If you're a fan of the fragrance of Yankee Candles but again you don't like the idea of a naked flame, then you could try one of their latest innovations, Fragrance Spheres.

I picked these up in both the Lemon Lavender, Red Raspberry which you can see here and in the Cranberry Pear fragrances.

What they are, are little plastic pots which are filled with fragranced gel like spheres, all do is unscrew the lid, peel back the foil and screw the lid back on and voila up to a month or so of fragrance, wherever and whenever you want it. They are basically just posh gel air fresheners that come in all of your favourite Yankee scents, and if you have a cat little tray, or a shoe cupboard or a cloakroom, then these are a must.

I know this has been a pretty long post but hopefully you're still with me, anyways I only have a couple more things to show you including this lovely, mercury and frosted glass candle.

I picked this up from a local garden centre, and although it was in with their Christmas bits, this is something that I will be keeping out all year round. The silvers and lilacs go perfectly with my room, and I love the star detail. I think it's too pretty to use it with real candles so I'll probably be using it with battery operated tea lights. The final thing that I got was this metal hanging plaque from Boohoo.

I know a lot of people find inspirational quotes quite cheesy but personally I'm a huge fan, what can i say sometimes I just need a bit of positive reinforcement. This is one favourite quotes and I really helps me to remind myself that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel and there is always something to be positive about x

I've made a little (okay a very long!) video to accompany this haul which you can either see below or via this link.



If you have any questions on anything in this haul then please leave me a comment and let me know.

A Little Home And Lifestyle Haul Featuring Tiger, Yankee Candles And More

Hi Guys x I hope you're all having a nice weekend x I've got a home haul for you today and it's a long overdue one. I've had some of these bits for quite a while now but as you know sometimes life gets in the way. Some of these bits are for my bedroom, and some are for my home office, come craft room, some of the things that I've picked up are super practical and some of them are just for fun.

I'm going to start off with a few bits from a fun store, that's pretty new to me, Tiger. Hailing from Denmark, Tiger is one cool and quirky shop. It stocks pretty much everything from herbs and spices, to home wear and stationery. Since I've been going for monthly eyebrow waxes at the Benefit counter in Debenhams in Newcastle, I can't resist popping in and having a nose.

The first two things that I bought pretty much sum up the Tiger vibe, cute desk tidies that look like shopping baskets and shopping trolleys. I'd seen a few pictures of these online, and loving anything that's miniature I couldn't resist adding them to my all be it, much larger basket. Since they're made of metal, they're pretty sturdy and the plastic coated section come in a variety of different colours. I think the baskets are around £4, and something makes me think that the trolley was a little bit cheaper. I think they make great funky looking storage pieces and if you have little people I'm sure that they would make pretty cool toys.

Something else that I picked up from Tiger was this pack of wooden log, fridge magnets. I know some people think that fridge magnets are a bit tacky but personally I love them, and whenever I go somewhere new on holiday I always pick up a magnet to remind me of my travels. These cute little wooden magnets that resemble tree rings though are now safely adhered to the magnetic notice board in my office, to keep my notes and my photographs safe. They were just £1 for a pack of 4.

I also picked up a pack of magnets from Poundland. I already have the brightly coloured letter magnets that you'll probably remember from your nursery and primary school days but these vintage typewriter style magnets probably appeal more to the adult in me. You can also get them in a ransom note style type, so you can leave yourself messages or make up rude words as you please x

Like a lot of bloggers out there I love my stationery, and I'm one of them, I love cute notepads, cute stickers and even cute writing sets. I know writing letters seems to be a bit of a dying art but I don't think there is anything nicer then receiving a hand written note or letter. I usually buy note cards but for a change I decided to buy a couple of cute writing sets instead. Both of these sets come from The Works, and they had loads of pretty ones to choose from but I loved the lip print and the almost Orla Kiely style stem and leaf print. They were just £1 a set, and each one contains 10 sheets of writing paper and 10 matching envelopes x

Next up something else that bloggers all seem to love, candles! I've loved candles for as long as I can remember, and I burn a scented candle pretty much everyday. Although I'm trying to branch out a little bit and try new things, Yankee Candles are still my brand of choice. I buy a lot of my candles in store but for pricing on Yankee Candles you really can't beat QVC UK's prices. A few months ago now (I said this haul was late!) they featured a Yankee Candle Today's Special Value, which on this occasion was a QVC exclusive 39 piece Warm Summer Nights Seasonal Hamper.

The set came in a sturdy canvas basket which featured a super cute tassel and pom pom bag charm. The basket featured two layers of candle products. The first layer contained 12 votive candles in some of Yankee's newest spring and summer scents,  it contained 2 x Passion Fruit Martini, 2 x Flowers In The Sun, 2 x Moonlight, 2 x Dreamy Summer Nights, 2 x My Serenity, and 2 x Sunset Breeze votives.

If that wasn't enough the second layer of the baskets contained two boxes of 12 tea lights in the Passion Fruit Martini and Flowers In The Sun Fragrances and 2 purple glass bucket holders to burn both your votives and tea lights in.

Unfortunately I can't remember exactly how much this kit was, but I do remember that the value was amazing and way less then RRP. Whilst the votives and the tea lights won't fragrance a huge space, I like to use them either on my bedside table, or the desk next to me while I'm writing, or crafting. They're perfect for a gentle, intimate fragrance and this kit gave me a fantastic opportunity to try out some new fragrances. I have to say I don't think there is a single fragrance in this kit that I dislike - my favourite is probably the super fruity Passionfruit Martini, but I can see myself burning all of these depending on the time of day and my mood. I also bought this kit on what QVC call their auto delivery programme, which basically means that I'm going to receive another 3 hampers, all in a different design, with new holders and new seasonal fragrances in fact I may have already got the Autumn hamper which I'll show you in an upcoming post :)

If you've been reading my blogger for a while now you'll know that this was the year when I was going to try and get organised. I really am trying but there is still so much more that I need to do and need to sort out, and the next few things that I've bought are hopefully going to help me do that, by improving some of my storage options.

This is a foldable, hexagonal storage ottoman which comes from QVC. I've seen a few similar things on the market but this is strongest and the best quality one that I've come across. Made of a faux leather it folds down flat, but when it's assembled it's super strong. It features a padded lid, which makes it a comfy seat, and you can even reverse the lid and use it as a tray. It's sturdy enough to stand on and it's surprisingly roomy. I'm using mine to store all of my electrical beauty bits such as my tongs and my straighteners. I also bought the wheeled section separately so I can move it round and use it around my room as a seat. QVC do a lot of these ottomans in different shapes and I would really recommend them if you need extra storage and occasional seating.

I love my jewellery but I have to be honest and say that I'm running out go places to store it. I have a large mirrored jewellery cabinet for my fine jewellery but my fashion jewellery storage is all over the place, I have some pieces in hat boxes, some in fabric dress style hangers on my doors, and I also have some jewellery hooks on the side of my wardrobe, and believe it or not i still need more jewellery storage. My mum actually got some of these a little while back for B&M and after trying hers I though that these would be perfect for hanging on my wardrobe frame. They are just £1 each and I'm currently using them for long necklaces but you can also use them for belts and scarves. I'm going to do a proper sort and then I think I might do a jewellery storage video to show you all of my jewellery and the different storage options that I use, if you'd be interested in seeing that, then let me know x

Next a few pieces from the storage mothership that is IKEA, if you need storage for just about anything then you need to take a trip to IKEA. I never ever leave empty handed and this visit was no exception, as well as picking up some dining room chairs for Mummy Lou I also picked up another set of Helmer drawers.

Annoyingly the new ones are much of a pure white than the cream ones I have but I'll have to live with that. I used my original Helmer for nail polish storage and to be honest it's starting to overflow so most of my new one will be filled with nail polish too, and if I have any space left, I'll be storing some other beauty items. These aren't the biggest drawers that IKEA do but you can fit them into quite a compact space, and the drawers actually hold quite a bit. I also love that they're on wheels so you can move them around for cleaning. I love them and i would recommend them to anyone whether you use them in the bedroom, the office, or even in the bathroom.

I'm in the process of sorting out my new office space, and whilst I'm moved in and blogging from my desk now, I'm still sorting out boxes of stuff and adding pretties. Apparently plants help you to concentrate and they help to keep you calm so I picked up a pack of 3 cacti plants. I used to have a cactus or two in my bedroom many moons ago and because they're so easy to care for, I thought that this set which was £4.50 would be perfect for my desk. I still fancy something bigger and more flowy and greener to go on the top of a set of storage drawers but given my uselessness with plants I'll need to consult Mummy Lou aka Mrs Greenfingers before I buy anything else.

The final few things that I want to show you are from eBay x According to my mam I'm slightly obsessed with cushions, and yes I'll admit it I do have quite a few in the two rooms that I consider my own, but I love my comfort and I think cushions can make a bed look more dressed and inviting in an instant. This time I didn't buy a cushion as such but these two cushion covers that I got work perfectly with the lilacs and pastels in my rooms.

Come on which beauty lover wouldn't love these cushions? The fabric isn't the best but I love the Chanel fragrance print and of course the NARS lipstick print. These two cushions came from overseas sellers, the perfume cushion was just £2.39 from this seller and the lipstick cushion cover was £2.58 from this seller. A couple of different sellers do these covers at varying price points though so it's worth shopping around x

The final thing I've got to show you in this haul also came from eBay, and it's a mug. A few bloggers I know have this mug already and I believe they got if from Truffle Shuffle, I found this one on eBay though and I love the fact that you can get it personalised with the name of your choice.

Unfortunately the seller that I bought mine from doesn't seem to sell these anymore but this seller does and they have loads of different Little Miss and Mr Men themed mugs, including some of the new adult themed mugs all of which can be personalised. I'm quite fancying a Little Miss Social Media mug next ;).

So that was my long awaited home and lifestyle haul x I've also made an accompanying You Tube video which you watch below or via this link.



I'd love to know what you think about my haul, and I'd love to know what home, lifestyle and stationery items you've bought recently so leave me a comment and let me know x I've already got another home and lifestyle haul planned so make sure you following my blog so you don't miss it x

Primark Haul - March 2016 Edition - Clothes, Beauty, Jewellery And Home

Greetings from LouLouLand, or should I say cough and sniffle land! After managing to keep it at bay for what seems like weeks, on Wednesday I eventually succumbed to the horrible cold virus that seems to be floating around at the moment. Despite feeling beyond yuck, I feel way better than I did yesterday and on Thursday so I thought I'd try and get a little post and a video up just so you don't forget who I am :)

On Monday I managed another Primark trip - hurrah I love a good Primark trip, almost as much as I love a Costa Mango Creamy Cooler :) and on Monday I managed to combine the two :)

Normally I just go to Primark to have a look round and see what's new, but this time I went for something specific from their home wear section.

Yes, it's the daisy cushion, to match the duvet set that I featured in last months Primark haul (you can read it here if you haven't already). I'm obsessed with daisies and I'm obsessed with cushions so it was only natural that I went back for this one. It comes in two sizes but this one is the larger of the two which was £6.

The cushion comes with a zip fastening, removable cover, and like the bed set it's double sided. One side features the huge yellow and white daisy on a blue background, and the other features a daisy chain pattern, on a coral pink background.

I haven't managed to put the duvet set on the bed yet but I'll definitely post some pictures on my Instagram page when I do. In the meantime though I'm using this cushion with the gingham, check side of the IKEA Rosali bedding and strangely enough, the pattern clash seems to work. That's why I love interiors so much, it's like fashion sometimes things that shouldn't work, just do.

Next up beauty and I eventually managed to find out where the beauty stands had moved to. If you're looking for them in Primark Metro Centre you'll currently find them right on the back wall next to the nightwear and underwear, but take a tip from me, if you're looking for make up don't bother!

I know the staff can't supervise the stands all the time but you'd think they'd try and keep a bit of an eye on them? The majority of the make up items had been opened, and there was bronzing powder over everything! It was a total mess - I loved the look of the Velvet Lip Pencil in Nude but every single one had been opened and tested or broken :(

I was really disappointed but I cheered up a little bit when I saw some of their new make up brushes - swoon so pretty with matte black handles and rose gold ferrules, when I looked at the price, I had to pick a few up to try.

The first brush I got was duo fibre stippling brush, ideal for use with foundation or cream blush products. I use this type of brush an awful lot but especially in the summer when I use them with cream blushes and my Chanel cream bronzer.

For me this brush is probably a bit small to use with foundation but it's something that I'll definitely get plenty of use out of. The fibres feel nice and soft on the skin, and at just £1.50 the PS Stippling Brush is definitely worth a try.

The next brush that I got was a double ended eyeshadow and concealer brush, again in the matte black and rose gold this brush double ended brush can either be used for powder, liquid and cream concealer or for eye shadow.

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The brush features two different sized heads, both of which are made of super soft, duo fibres. Whilst the fibres are soft and silky though the brushes heads themselves have just the right degree of density and firmness, to make blending and precise application a breeze,

This brush believe it or not was just £1 - if this had different branding on it I'm sure that it would sell for a lot more else where. I'm definitely going to have another look at the brushes next time I'm in store, and I definitely think I'll pick up another one of these.

My final beauty purchase was surprise, surprise, another two packets of the PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Wipes. I've been doing a lot of swatching lately and I went through nearly a packet in a week so I thought I'd stock up - these are a bargain at just £1 for 2 packets of 25 wipes.

Clothing wise I only picked up a few essentials - the summer things are nearly all in store now but I just can't get excited about summer just yet. I don't have any holiday plans and I'm not happy with my weight so I think I'm just going to hold fire at the moment and not go out and spend money on things I don't really need, hence I just picked up a few bargaintastic basics.

I guess you could argue that these jeggings are really a summer purchase. The very, very pale blue colour is probably more appropriate for the dry days of spring and summer but the price was too good to turn down. I own a few pairs of these jeggings in different colours now and they normally retail at £7 a pair but they were on offer for just £5.50. My only advice would be that you probably need to size down in these as they are quite stretchy but they're cheap and they're comfy.

Speaking of comfort I don't think that there is a piece of clothing that it more comfortable than a pair of leggings. Find the right pair and they feel like a second skin, but finding the right pair isn't easy. I've bought so many pairs of leggings it's untrue some cut your circulation off, some bag at the knees and some are just well, perfect, unfortunately they never seem to last that long, and about 3 weeks ago now, two pairs breathed their last and ended up in my mam's rag bag.

So I needed to replenish my stock and to be honest I think Primark's leggings are as good as any. I tend to go for their viscose mix and they feel really soft against the skin. The sizing is generous and the price is even better, they are normally £3 a pair, but on Monday they were on offer at just £2.80 so I took advantage and got two pairs.

That was it for clothing but I did mange to pick up a couple of jewellery pieces including this super cute bracelet from their new Disney collection

Despite the fact that it says bracelet I actually bought this as a necklace never mind it's really sweet just a very fine gold tone chain, with a gold tone Mickey Mouse head charm attached, It's really sweet and really delicate and it was a bargain at just £2.50. They also had a few other pieces including a crystal embossed Mickey head necklace and a Love necklace, where the O is shaped like a Mickey head. I'm not the worlds craziest Disney fan, but I do love cute jewellery pieces so I'll definitely be back for more.

The final jewellery piece that I picked up is the complete opposite, where as the Disney bracelet is small and delicate, this silver tone bracelet is a real statement piece.

This elasticated bracelet is on a small, irregular bead band, and features a large, silver tone, filigree charm, with a long silver tassel dangling from it. I don't know what it is about this but I had to have it the minute I saw it. I like layering my bracelets and I think that this would work equally well on it's own, as it would alongside some of my more delicate pieces. It was just £2.00

As I say just a small haul but I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful anyways. Before the sore throat hit I managed to record a quick video to accompany this haul so don't forget to watch it via this link or below x



Thanks for reading and watching and if you've been to Primark recently I'd love to know what you bought so link me up or let me know below x