Treasure Every Moment: shopping

Sunday, 22 November 2020

BLACK FRIDAY 2020: The Biggest Discount Code for Nordgreen Watches

BLACK FRIDAY 2020: The Biggest Discount Code for Scandinavian Designed Men's and Women's Watches from Nordgreen

*Advertorial Content

Black Friday is nearly upon us, which is perhaps one of the most anticipated shopping days of the year. Discounts and deals can be found everywhere, as we all get some Christmas shopping done and best of all, it can be done from the comfort of our own homes. Black Friday this year is going to look different for obvious reasons, but it doesn't mean there aren't any big discounts to be had. One of these is Nordgreen, who are offering an incredible 35% off their entire range of men's and women's watches for the Black Friday period using the code 'TEM35' (valid from the 21st November to the 1st December 2020). This is the biggest discount you'll find online for them for their Black Friday watches, so is truly an offer not to be missed. Don't miss out on this chance to pick up a Scandinavian designed watch for a third of the price!

SHOPPING: Aldi Baby and Toddler Event April 2019

*Advertorial Content - Gifted Items

It's back!! The very popular Aldi Baby & Toddler Event is back online from Sunday 21st April and instore on Thursday 25th April 2019 with everything you need for your little one from travel cots to dribble bibs. As always, it's the perfect opportunity to save some money, pick up the essentials and even the odd treat or gift. We often do our weekly food shop in Aldi and I absolutely love browsing those infamous middle aisles for gifts, treats and/or essentials. Have you even been shopping in Aldi if you don't come home with a shopping trolley full of random purchases?! But as a parent to two young children and another on the way the Aldi Baby & Toddler Event is a must-visit event for us. It's always so exciting to see what they'll have each time, as well as to stock up on nappies and wipes. I've been very lucky this time and have been given a sneak peek as to what the April 2019 Baby & Toddler Event has to offer.

PARENTHOOD: The Benefits of going Swimming as a Family

*Advertorial Content with Simply Swim

Swimming is not only a fun family activity, but also has so many benefits too. We often go swimming as a family at the weekends because Isabella and Poppy both really enjoy it and there's nothing better than seeing them enjoy themselves. For Poppy swimming is all about making the biggest splashes, jumping into our arms, going down the slides and kicking her legs with all her might. Whereas for Isabella swimming is much more about learning how to move herself around in the water, taking off her armbands to test herself and building up to dunking her head under the water. Poppy has always been the less cautious of the two, so swimming is an activity we can take them both to but that will benefit them in different ways. For Isabella it's about building up her confidence, but for Poppy it is about teaching her to be safe.

SHOPPING: 15 Smaller Businesses to support in 2019

I absolutely love shopping from smaller brands and businesses for many reasons, but mainly because it means supporting someone's hopes and dreams. There is a lot of love and time poured into each and every business, especially the smaller ones that offer such a personal service. A lot of parents are turning to setting up a business to allow them to stay at home with their children, which is incredibly inspiring and I absolutely love supporting those brands. The more challenging part of shopping small is finding the businesses to support in the first place, which is why I thought I'd put together some of my current favourites for you to discover too. I write a similar post back in 2017, which is again filled with lots of inspiring smaller businesses, if you want more inspiration.

SHOPPING: Aldi Baby and Toddler Event January 2019

*Advertorial Content

It's that time of year again. The busy festive season is over, decorations are down and money is tight. I do love January for its potential, the hope and goals set for the year ahead are exciting. However, there's no denying that Christmas is an expensive time so saving money wherever possible going into the new year is a must in our family. Aldi have perfectly timed their latest Baby and Toddler Event, which started online on the 6th January and will be in stores from tomorrow (Thursday 10th January). Their Baby and Toddler Events are always filled with a wide range of essentials, toys and accessories to make our life easier as parents, but to also keep our little ones entertained.

FAMILY: What does the Aldi Baby & Toddler Specialbuys Event August 2018 have to offer?

It's that time of year again - the Aldi Baby & Toddler Specialbuys Event! The event that many parents brave taking their children to the food shop in order to stock up on the essentials, gifts and/or fun things to do during the summer holidays. Aldi is the shop you walk into planning to buy a loaf of bread and pint of milk, yet leave with a garden chair, waterproof coat and paddling pool. That's why we all love shopping there I think; you never quite know what you'll be able to pick up that week.

FAMILY: Aldi Baby and Toddler Specialbuys Event April 2018

It's that time again - Aldi are having their Baby & Toddler Specialbuys Event, which is always such a popular one with parents nationwide. The wide range of products available for very affordable prices makes it ideal for stocking up on gifts, activities, bedroom accessories or simply just the essentials. In previous Aldi Specialbuys events I've picked up Nuby bath toys, Organix snacks, book carts, Gruffalo Activity Books and big boxes of wipes (our personal favourites), so it's always exciting to see what the latest event has to offer. The event starts online from Sunday 15th April 2018 and instore from Thursday 19th April 2018, so not long to wait!

CHRISTMAS: The One-Stop Shop for Everything You Need

Christmas is coming! It really isn't long now, as the days quickly pass us by and the festive to-do list seems to be never ending it can all start to feel overwhelming. The presents need wrapping, house needs decorating, food shopping needs doing, Christmas cards need delivering, mince pies need eating and mulled wine needs drinking. I love this time of year for all of these things, but when it comes to actually doing them all, time seems to be a luxury our busy family of four simply doesn't have. Morrisons understand this and have become the one-stop shop for all of our festive needs.

SHOPPING: Aldi Baby and Toddler Event August 2017

Aldi's Baby and Toddler Event is once again upon us, with countless bargains to be from Thursday 17th August 2017. Every time they have the event the products on offer seem to get better and better! Life with children is an expensive business (especially as we now have two in nappies!), so like most parents I'm always up for a bargain where possible. The fact that there are so many affordable options in one place during the Aldi Baby and Toddler Event makes it even better; no parent wants to be getting their children in and out of the car constantly in search of a bargain. At least I don't - those parent & child car parking spaces are like gold dust during the summer holidays!

TODDLER: Summer Sale Shopping 2016

It's that time of year again...summer sale shopping! Like most, I love sale shopping and especially when it's for Isabella. The older she gets the harder I'm finding it to buy her clothes that aren't branded with a tv character or Disney - she's not into any of those things so I don't really want to be paying the premium. If you have any good shops/websites that sell non-branded toddler clothes then please let me know below - I'm on the hunt! I've picked all of the items below up over the past week, so hopefully they'll still be in stock if you want to grab a bargain yourself.

BEAUTY: Drugstore haul with my first impressions

You know when everything in your make up bag and skincare routine all seem to run out at the same time? Well that happened to me recently, so it was the perfect excuse to mix things up and try new products. Cue a trip to Boots to update/transform both my make up bag and skincare routine. I thought I'd combine this drugstore haul with my first impressions of the products, as it's always helpful to know if a product is worth buying or not.

L'Oreal Infallible Foundation in Porcelain (£9.99). I have tried the matte version of this foundation (read my full review here) and after initially not really liking it I ended up really liking it's medium-full coverage. It's not the easiest foundation to blend into my skin but with a lot of buffing I got a pretty flawless finish. So I was intrigued to try the more satin/glowy version of the Infallible foundation. This one is aimed at people with drier skin, which is certainly me at the moment (since giving birth my skin has become the driest ever!)

L'Oreal 4D Mascara in Black (£10.99). My trusty Maybelline Cat Eyes mascara was running out, so I needed a new one that did everything that mascara did and more! This L'Oreal mascara had some pretty impressive claims about making your lashes longer and with more volume. However on first impressions I don't like this mascara, it's a pretty dry formula which I don't like. It didn't seem to coat my lashes with anything, so I certainly didn't get the volume or length I was looking for. After three coats my lashes still looked like I hadn't applied anything, not the best first impressions for a relatively expensive drugstore mascara. I'm not giving up on it just yet, I will continue to try it out and I'll keep you updated.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation in Rose Ivory (£9.99). Boots had a 3 for 2 offer so I thought I'd restock on one of my favourite drugstore foundations. They don't currently have 3 for 2, it's 2 L'Oreal products for £12. I love this foundation, it has a medium coverage, blends well and covers almost everything I want it to. Personally, I like quite a full coverage foundation, like Estee Lauder Double Wear. True Match has a lighter coverage but still covers dark circles, blemishes and uneven skin tone.

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in Light (on offer for £4.49). This is another repurchase - this concealer is just perfect for the summer months. I don't tend to use it much during the winter, just because I like to use something with a better coverage (like Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer or Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer). We are now entering the summer months and I love to 'wake up' my skin with products that have a more dewy finish. This concealer is perfect for lightening up the under eye area and using as a kind of highlighter. I apply it in a triangle shape under my eye, blend with a duo fibre brush from Real Techniques and set in place with Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Translucent.

Dior Nude Foundation in Ivory (reduced to £10). This was the absolute beauty bargain of the year so far, in my local boots they had a basket of reduced make up. If you go to Boots I'm sure you know the one, it usually has broken eyeshadows, lipsticks that have been opened and generally not great things. However every once in a while there will be a gem, a bargain that cannot be resisted and the day I went in it was this Dior Nude foundation IN MY SHADE! I couldn't believe it, despite only just buying two L'Oreal foundations the day before, I couldn't turn down this bargain. Dior Nude usually retails for £32, so with a price tag of £10 you can probably see why I couldn't walk away without purchasing it. It was unopened, never been used and even in the box - complete winner. This is probably the lightest coverage foundation I've tried in a long time, yet it somehow gives a good amount of coverage. The kind of coverage that is perfect for a summer day when heavy make up would probably just melt off your face. I actually really like the light texture of this foundation, which is such a contrast to my usually pretty heavy textured foundations. I think this is going to become my new favourite foundation for the summer.

L'Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray (travel size). I'm currently using the Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry & Vanilla hairspray, which has a pretty strong hold and you can tell when I have it on. I wanted something a bit lighter on the hair but with the same hold. As this is such a popular hairspray and I had never tried it I thought I'd give it a go. First impressions of the hold and feel on the hair are really good, however I don't like the smell of it. The Fudge hairspray smells really nice, so it might be that I'm used to that scent but either way I don't like it.

Ogx Argan Oil of Morocco Shampoo and Conditioner (travel size). I was watching someones (I forget who) YouTube video recently and they mentioned this shampoo and conditioner as being amazing for your hair. I've been in such a hair rut for about a year now, always using the same products but not really liking how they make my hair feel. So I thought it was about time I tried something different. Instead of buying full size products straightaway I like to try them in a travel size first, to see if I like it without wasting lots of money. I've washed my hair a couple of times with this duo and I'm seriously impressed! After the first wash my hair felt so soft and smooth, a real improvement. It didn't give my hair the shine I wanted it to, but it did make my hair feel amazing.

Nivea 2 in 1 Eye Make Up Remover (£3.89). Another repurchase - if you need a good eye make up remover that does actually remove waterproof mascara then this is a great budget alternative to something like the Clarins Instant Eye Make Up Remover.

Nivea Cleansing Wash for sensitive to dry skin (£3.15). I currently use the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanse and Polish to take off my make up at night but wanted something to use in the mornings that will help to rehydrate my dry skin. So far I like this as a cleanser, it's creamy, moisturising and doesn't leave you with that tight feeling so many cleanser give you.

Garnier Softening Toner for normal to dry skin (£3.29). Although I don't have sensitive skin I thought that this isn't going to be too drying on the skin due to it's gentle formula. I've liked using this after cleansing to make sure all of my make up is removed and it leaves my skin feel refreshed.

What have you been enjoying from the drugstore recently?

Feel free to comment :)

Helen x

SALE SHOPPING: Baby Girl feat. Mothercare, Marks and Spencers, TK Maxx

This year sale shopping was taken to a whole level, I was on a mission to buy as many cute baby clothes as I could possibly justify. Finding out the gender of our baby has meant that clothes shopping is easier, as I know what I'm looking for, and therefore needed some level of control. Baby clothes just pull on my heart strings. I had tried to restrain myself until the sales, which wasn't a complete success but I tried nonetheless! I have fallen in love with so many pieces I picked up in the sale this year and for the first time they aren't even for me! I did most of this sale shopping online on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - I knew what I wanted so it wasn't a matter of browsing for a long time. A lot lf these close are for next autumn/winter, as that's the style of clothes that were mostly in the sale. I bought 6-9 months, hoping they will fit her, it's all a bit of a guessing game really.

Mothercare