Haute Future Haute Haul... Christmas Gifts!

I know this is late... I apologize but as I've said in my previous post, I've been laid up in bed with a horrible cold for the past few days (since the day before Christmas Eve in fact!) Poor me. But never fear, I am in relatively good health again, which means that the excitement of all the lovely goodies I've had has actually hit me! Here are my pressies before I opened them... I couldn't for the life of me work out what the big one was. My mom thought she was hilarious when she went, 'It's the doll you asked for!!!' My parents made me leave it until the end. What could it be? :)

Here are a couple of Christmas dinner pictures to keep you in suspense...

Mummy sets the table so pretty... 

Prawn Cocktail and Brown Bread to start!

TURKEY TIME!!!

And now, without much further ado... it's present time! Let's start with my stocking fillers. Since my sister found out 'The Truth' we have chosen items to put in each other's stockings. We buy the bits, wrap them up, then leave them in a bag. Then, overnight, Father Christmas puts them in our respective stockings and adds extra goodies :) The bits for my sister are in the festive pine-cone and snowed-on-leaves paper, I thought it was so cute!

Weeee presents for meeeeee!

Here is the mess I created after opening all of my goodies...

These are the bits my sister chose for me... I have some chocolate lady-bugs in a ice-cream cup, four (already burned one) Yankee Candle tarts in yummy winter scents like cinnamon and apple cider, some dill sauce (random, but nom nonetheless), a hot chocolate stick, a Hershey's Cookies and Cream bar, a mixer for making raspberry mojitos, some Twizzlers (my favorite US candy), two pairs of earrings and a silver ring. Thanks Meewps :)

These are the bits which Santa Claus added for me... I also had a couple of sachets of delicious popping candy but they're long gone now. In my belly. Thanks Santa :)

As if that's not enough sweets and chocolate, these are some more that I found all wrapped up downstairs too! I'm going to be FAT in the New Year. And I don't even care. That is of course until the New Year...

Now, let's get onto the best bits... The Beauty Pieces! First up, I got the Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Volume collection. I love this brand since I received it last Christmas. It makes my hair look so healthy and their leave-in conditioner is the best detangler I've found so far.

This one has been a long time coming, but I am finally the proud owner of an Urban Decay NAKED palette! Rejoice! I can't wait to practice some awesome new eye looks... the possibilities are endless with this collection and I simply cannot wait :)

These are the five little pieces which I've wanted for ages... Two beauty-product celebrities, NARS blush in Orgasm and my first ever MAC brush, the 219 (this seems to have been cut from the top of the picture somehow, no fair.) I've also got some great benefit bits which I've had my eye on since the summer. The mango-tinted stain ChaChaTint, Moon Beam and the 2011 miracle mascara, They're Real!

As requested, I received a gift box of Soap N Glory goodies. They include Clean on Me, Flake Away, Glad Hair Day, Hand Food, Girligio, The Righteous Butter, a loofah and this nice big toiletry bag. I prefer showers when I'm sick, so I can't wait to have a nice long pampering soak in the bath now I'm better...

These two items are total luxuries! The In Crowd Nails INC collection contains 15 of the companies best selling polishes, and the benefit Crescent Row perfume collection carries four of the most beautiful scents I've known so far. I'm already a massive fan of So Hooked on Carmella by benefit, so I'm sure I'll get on with these perfumes like a house on fire!

I've also been gifted these two little toiletry boxes. My next door neighbors gave me the Champneys box which contains a couple of rich body creams, a loofah, a body wash and a bubble bath. My cousin Ruby treated me to this Natural Moods set which contains a soap and a body wash also... Thanks guys! 

My best pal Vikki so kindly bought me ALL THESE BITS!!! A super-cute little brown satchel from Primarni, a pair of adorable socks from New Look, the Terry's Chocolate Orange (featured in my chocolate and sweets pic), an electric blue nail art pen by Flirt which I can't wait to experiment with, an eyeliner from Soap N Glory's new cosmetics range and finally, one of my all-time favorite perfumes, Ghost in Ghost. What did I do to deserve all these presents Vik??? Hardly complaining though! Thanks a dozen baby. 

 

Look at all of the jewelry my mom got for me... They all suit me so well. I've already worn one pair of the H&M earrings as you can tell from their absence on the card... 

My mom also bought me a lovely pajama set from Topshop... She also got me a lovely purple stripy dressing-gown from Topshop too, but it's not been off my back since I got it during opening my presents, and since I'm ill I've hardly had any photographs taken since then. You'll just have to trust me when I say it's really, really nice.

And the super-cool hot pink 80's jumper I sported on Christmas day. Jazzy, huh? I love it! 

I got two books about the Harry Potter series and films which will be perfect as I can use them in my dissertation of Children's Literature in the 20th Century. My grandma and grandad got me a cheese-board (I'M OBSESSED WITH CHEESE) and also a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin which apparently revolutionized American Literature, so I'm excited to read it. My parents got me a subscription to one of my favorite magazines, Company, plus two books about Retail Business. My dad took it upon himself to surprise me with  a book about how to recreate vintage-inspired make-up looks! So sweet!

And also... I GOT A KINDLE!!!!!!!! YES YES AND YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

We're now coming to the end of my haul. This next piece was a total suprise. Now, everyone who's anyone (even haters apparently...) know that I live in the box room as my parents moved my sister into my old room when I left for uni, and now I've returned home for my final year to save some money, it's only fair that I take her old room so she doesn't have to move all her things again. This is totally fine. However, this means I can hardly fit a wardrobe in my bedroom, so we've had to be creative with clothes storage ideas... My parents found this clothes hanger from a chic furniture store in Chester. It's absolutely perfect and I can't wait to put it up in the corner of my room and hang my prettiest dresses from it for the world to see :)

Finally, this is the big one. The one I never expected to get but have been quietly pining over since my interest in beauty began. My parents, crazy-beautiful people, have treated me to a big pink make-up train storage case!!! This is absolutely perfect, I can't believe they even got the one I've been fantasizing over!

This means my make-up won't be spread across my dresser anymore in a disorganized mess. There is a section for everything! I may even have space to store my hair-dryer and curlers in the bottom. My God, I can't thank them enough!

Isn't it beautiful?

I've really been terribly lucky this year. I also got a super pretty Kindle and laptop case and three pairs of socks which didn't get separately photographed... On top of all that, I also received about £65 worth of store vouchers. I can't wait to get spending in the sales... Boots, Topshop and River Island, here I come, and I'm taking no prisoners. Check out the bits I'm on the lookout for here.

So that's that! All of my presents are still stacked up in the living room so I could gaze longingly at them when I was sick...

I couldn't wait to start practicing with the make-up and sporting the gorgeous jewelry, but when you're sick as a dog, you don't even feel like getting dressed in the morning never mind painting my face or hanging my accessories. I couldn't even enjoy the chocolates as I couldn't swallow :(

SO glad I'm back on form and can eat myself into oblivion. After all, that's what Christmas is all about!

Thank you to everyone who bought me a gift this year! I hope that everyone I've bought for has enjoyed their presents as much as I am now enjoying mine :) Thanks to this haul, you can expect a ton of beauty reviews on the way pretty soon, so keep an eye out!

What have you had for Christmas? Do you know what you're spending your vouchers on? Did any of you get a Kindle too? I love mine already and I can't wait to work out some more of the features!

Thanks guys, and I wish you a (slightly) belated, Merry Christmas :)

Love

gabriellasofia

How You Can Get Your S/S Wardrobe Out of the January Sales!

Firstly, I must wish you a very Merry Christmas! I was going to post a quick video yesterday, but since I've been dying of the common cold for the past few days, I decided against it. Plus, there were way to many presents to be opened, parsnips to eat and movies to watch, so I'll admit in my 'One-Cold-Curing-Hot-Toddy-Too-Many' state, I put my health first and my blog second... I apologize.

Anyways, moving on.

With first day of the 'January' sales being nearly over, I figured now was as good a time as any to share with you my top three trends for Spring/Summer 2012 in the hope that you'll be able to find some suitable items at a lower price. I could have posted this sooner, but frankly, the first day of the sales is utter carnage, and I couldn't possibly make myself responsible for sending my readers into that...

So, what qualifies me to share with you the trends? Well, nothing officially. But I was lucky enough to be invited to a bloggers event hosted by the mighty Selfridges in the first half of December where all of the latest collections were unveiled so I definitely picked up a tip or two whilst I was there!

Without much further ado, let's get started...

UNDERWATER TREND

  

CHANEL S/S 2012

  

SARAH BURTON for ALEXANDER MCQUEEN S/S 2012

   

VERSACE S/S 2012

First up is the Underwater trend, spotted at the runways of Chanel, Versace and Sarah Burton for McQueen. This generally means that we'll be sporting lots of blues, corals, greens and frothy white colors in quite floaty fabrics reminiscent of the movement a piece of thin material might make in the water. For those of us feeling a little more bold with the look, we can expect to tamper with mermaid skirts, 'weed-shaped' strips of hanging material and bikini-style tops. So how (and where) can we find items suitable for this look on the sales?

 MISS SELFRIDGE: £17 from £35

 NEW LOOK: £22 from £34.99

 DOROTHY PERKINS: £15 from £32

 H&M: £999 from £29.99

 URBAN OUTFITTERS: £40 from £60

  TOPSHOP: £8 from £18

GLOBE TROTTER

BLESSUS by GARETH A HOPKINS S/S 2012

 

BURBERRY PRORSUM S/S 2012

DONNA KARAN S/S 2012

As seen at the likes of Blessus by Gareth A Hopkins, Burberry Prorsum and Donna Karan. This means everything from Hindu, sari-inspired draping, Oriental flower prints and kimono shapes, distressed denim (like you've just got back from your Gap Yah), African-inspired tribal bangles stacked one on top of the other, and the return of the Navajo print that we all know and love from this A/W 2011, but this time we will see it on pleated and structures mini-skirts rather than over-sized ponchos. Here are some ways you can rock these looks on a budget...

  LEVIS: £68 from £85

 DOROTHY PERKINS: £36 from £45

 H&M: £9.99 from £29.99

 RIVER ISLAND: £25 from £50

 ZARA: ££29.99 from £39.99

 ASOS: £12 from £25

FILM BLANCHE

  

JOHN ROCHA S/S 2012

  

J.JS LEE S/S 2012

  

ACNE S/S 2012

John Rocha, J. JS Lee and ACNE all seem to have leapt on the 50's inspired muted palette bandwagon for this coming Spring Summer. Keeping things fresh and cool with pieces as white-as-white-can-be, occasional pastels pared right down and crisp materials in stiffer shapes, this is a look which virtually anyone can wear! It's also not to hard to find pieces suitable in the current sales either, so what are you waiting for? 

 LIPSY:  £37.50 from £75

 MISS SELFRIDGE: £12 from £22

 TOPSHOP: £50 from £100

 TOPSHOP: £12 from £26

 MISS SELFRIDGE: £25 from £49

 NEW LOOK: £10 from £19.99

So there you have it! Now you're armed with the knowledge of some of the major trends to look out for, you are ready to launch yourself into the madness of the sales... if you dare :) I'm definitely going to be purchasing some of the pieces I've mentioned in this post. Other things I'll be looking out for are mini-rucksacks, feather hair extensions and mink-coloured nail varnish as I think it would look great with the Film Blanche look!

Anyways, thanks for reading, and that you to Selfridges for letting me in on all the new collections... more on this to be posted at a later date including a goodie bag haul and event review also.

What are you looking out for in the sales? Do you know of any epic fashion bargains at the moment? What are your favourite trends for Spring/Summer 2012?

Until next time

Love

gabriellasofia 

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