Primark False Nails || Christmas Snowflakes

I am impressed with you, Primark. These nails are bloody good.

I don't often wear false nails. I like to do nail art, and have my nails painted, but I'm always afraid if I wear false nails constantly that I'm going to ruin my natural nail. Call me paranoid, but I don't fancy destroying my one beauty. However, if I do feel like a false nail week, I tend to plump for Elegant Touch nails just because I love their range of designs, and the nails themselves feel durable and good quality. 

However, I was in Primark last week (in Cardiff, if you're curious) and impulse bought these pretty snowflake nails by the tills. I am a sucker for anything Christmas and cheap. And boy, were these cheap. At £1.50 for the set plus glue, I wasn't too bothered when I got out of the shop and immediately regretted my purchase. I've tried Primark nails before, because of the cheap, and not really liked them. The patterns are always cute, but the nails feel a lot flimsier and thinner, and don't tend to last overly long.

But these bad boys raise the game! I love the pattern of them, it's perfect for winter/Christmas with the silver to clear ombre, layered with delicate snowflakes and drops of snow. The nails themselves feel on par with Elegant Touch. They're a lot thicker than what I'm used to, and don't feel like they're about to rip in half the moment I try to use my hands. They're pretty long (but my nail beds are tiny, to tell you the truth), but they filed down to a more natural length for me really easily, without losing the oval shape or pattern. I've gotten many compliments from various people, and at first glance most people think they are my actual nail! Bonus points for that.

The only thing I disliked about these when I first put them on is that the snowflakes are textured, and I found the rough surface snagged on my clothing, bedding, anything that was slightly texture. Tres annoying, but soon fixed with a thick layer of a top coat that I had in my handbag. (Barry M's plumping top coat, if you must know.) Overall, I am a massive fan of these, and am rather enjoying them on a day to day basis. I've only had to reapply twice in five days, and as I carry the glue everywhere with me, it's  not a massive deal. Would definitely buy again, and it's given me the confidence to try the rest of the Primark range, just in case they've changed their supplier or something!

Are you a false nails person?

Internet Christmas Stocking Filler Ideas || Female || Under £5

I am so excited for Christmas, I cannot even begin to tell you! I've never really blogged around the festive season before, and so this year I am very much ready to throw myself in head first and get involved in the land of Gift Ideas. However, being pretty much permanently broke, I can only really afford to spend around a tenner or less on the beloved members of my family, and so my Christmas gift guides will be here for you, fellow broke bloggers/people of the internet. I'm sorry. We'll be rich one day.

Today I'm sharing some of my favourite finds from 3 online places: Amazon (aka the overlord), Not On The High Street, and Prezzybox for 9 stocking ideas under £5 for any female in your life (or male. No gender roles allowed here please and thank you). Without further ado, on with the list.

Amazon

1. Heathcote and Ivory Atlas Silks Bath Fizzer Crackers (set of 3), £4.00

Lets be honest, it wouldn't be Christmas without receiving approximately 1000 bath products. And when said products come to you in a festive cracker form, it's even better! Plus, for those of us who are extremely broke, if you wanted to be a little cheeky, you could crack open the box and put one cracker in three stockings. Cheap for you, lovely for them!

2. Heathcote and Ivory Gardeners Hand Cream (set of 3), £4.50

From the same company, continuing on the bath/body products theme, a pretty set of 3 hand creams. We all know someone who either loves hand cream, or could sorely do with one (or three), especially if they are a gardener, or work a lot with their hands (oo-er). Anyway, it's always nice to receive some lovely hand creams as a present as it's not always something you remember to buy yourself!

3. A Bit of Burt's Bees Pomegranate Duo, £4.99

Rounding up the Amazon trio, is one of my favourite brands, Burt's Bees, with a lovely little duo of their pomegranate lip balm in both tin and stick form. Can't go wrong with a bit of Burt's Bees, does wonder for the lips and the pomegranate version smells absolutely delicious!

Not On The High Street.com

1. Apply Me Hangover Rescue Tea, £4.95

We all know someone who loves a drink or four or ten on Christmas, and spends Boxing Day not in the sales, but in bed nursing a horrendous hangover. Why not preempt that situation by giving them some delicious tea to nurse whilst they mutter 'never again' about drinking too much on Christmas day!

2. Sweet Cecily's Cocktail Flavour Lip Balm, £3.75

Without actually meaning to, I seem to be theming this gift guide quite nicely! Anyhow, continuing with this alcohol theme come these lovely cocktail lip balms in pretty little tins, perfect for any alcohol lovers handbag, in flavours such as Mojito, Pina Colada, and Cosmopolitan. I can already think of about five people who I would buy this for!

3. Beecycle Pack of Five Message Beanstalk Seeds, £3

Transitioning on nicely to 'silly gifts that have no real purpose but are still pretty cool' come this pack of 'magic' beanstalk seeds, that once grown have messages laser cut onto them. It's a little stupid and completely pointless, but something about being able to grow beans that have little messages that reveal themselves just struck me as pretty damn awesome.

Prezzybox.com

1. Yoga Cats, £4.95

Now this truly is a stupid but cool present. It's literally just a book, filled with cats doing yoga poses. That's it.  Perfect for your cat loving friend's coffee table? Most definitely. There's also a Dog Yoga edition, should your friends eschew cats and love dogs.

2. James Chocolates Hopping Popping Chocolate Frogs, £4.95

Hallelujah, I've lost the theme! This little set of 5 chocolate frogs is a fantastic little stocking filler for someone who adores Harry Potter, or is just a massive fan of frogs. We all know someone! With an added element of popping candy for that extra fun, these are just damn cool.

3. Kellogg's 50's Hand Cream (Tuberose and Jasmine), £4.95

Aaand we've come full circle! Back to the hand creams. I just loved the packaging for this one, I'm a sucker for anything vintage or vintage looking, and this tube would not only be practical (it is, after all, a hand cream), but would also look so cute popped into your hand bag. Nice.

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

Soap and Glory 'Gorgeous As Charged' || Boots Offer

I am a sucker for a good offer, especially when it's from a brand I know and trust and, let's be honest, absolutely love. Boots always seem to stock some of the best offers out there, and when I heard about the current Soap and Glory offer, I just had to get my butt down to a Boots and invest in this offer (justifying it in my head as being able to then show you guys. Good justification? Probably not.)

For the month of November, Soap and Glory are running a promotion wherein if you buy two full sized products (I went for some Glad Hair Day conditioner and a massive Hand Food hand cream), you get a free phone charger/compact mirror. I've been on the market for one of these little things anyway, as they're so useful to have (charged and ready to go) in your handbag in case of a low battery emergency and you can't get to a plug. All you have to do is make sure the charger is fully charged (a cable is included), shove it in your bag with the correct charging cable for your telephone device and bam! You are covered in every emergency. Well, not every emergency. It's not going to save you in a car crash.

I really liked the pink colour of this one, and the fact that it also comes with a larger than normal compact mirror, as I am forever forgetting to chuck an actual compact into my bag, and then subsequently having to apply lippy or powder blind. It doesn't go well, I can promise you that. 

If you're interested in investing in this offer yourself, I know for sure (subject to availability) that the compact/charger is definitely available in most stores for the rest of the month, however what I can see from a little online investigation is that it's currently out of stock online. But keep checking back, you do never know!