Decanting Lush (hair products)

Since I have converted to using all Lush products on my hair it obviously makes sense that I buy the large bottles of products in order to save money. An example being that the 250ml Rehab shampoo costs €14.40... And the 500ml bottle costs €23.40. Thats a saving of €5.40 which I consider to be quite a good amount. (For example in Lush that would buy me a small sized 9 to 5 cleanser, or a good chunk of many of the soaps, or any of the bath ballistics, bath melts, or most of the bubble bars... You get the picture!) There are similar savings to be made when it comes to Coolaulin (240ml: €10.95 490ml: €18.15 Saving: €3.75) and American Cream (250ml: €11.95 500ml: €19.85 Saving: €4.05) conditioners too.

The problem here is that the bottles are MASSIVE! They're also known for not being the sturdiest so one fall in the shower could see you losing all your savings down the drain very quickly! Here is where I came up with the idea of keeping the bottles from the first purchase of the item (because no one is going to buy a 500ml bottle straight off without trying it first to see it works!) and decanting the larger bottles of product into them. In my case my smaller bottle was the medium sized one as the 100ml bottles wouldn't go too far in my thick head of hair!!

Empty 240g bottle and full 490g bottle of Coolaulin

Step 1: Make sure your smaller bottle is completely clean and dried out. I'm a bit paranoid that old product will contaminate the newer product!

Smaller bottle partially filled with product decanted from larger bottle.

Step 2: Fill the smaller bottle 1/2 or 2/3 way full. In the case of Rehab I find this really helps as it gives some space to shake up the product to remix it when it separates.

Rehab, American Cream and Coolaulin - all decanted to smaller bottles from the larger one and ready for use!

Step 3: Enjoy your Lush product in a manageable size... And don't forget to treat yourself with the savings!! :)

Nails Inc offers (May 2010)

Recently InStyle Magazine had an offer where you got a free nail varnish. Despite having LOADS of nail varnish I had no 'nude' colour that I could put on and forget about no matter what the outfit so one of the three colours being offered by InStyle caught my eye and after much watching out I managed to track it down.

(From L-R: Mink, Beach and Candy)

I had never heard of the brand, Nails Inc, and to be honest figured it was some cheapo brand looking for publicity. How wrong could I be?? Well, InStyle retails for €5.21 and Nails Inc varnishes retail for €15.44 in Boots. Essentially this means that had I managed to buy all three colours I would still only be forking out the cost of one of these fabby nail varnishes!

Mink was my colour of choice and I am loving it. The varnish has a lovely shine to it and lasts really well in comparison to other brands I have used! InStyle Mink is “greige”, the colour of the season and perfect to go with the current nude fashion palette. Unfortunately these polishes were created specifically for the InStyle offer so when it's gone, it's gone!

Bearing that in mind, just imagine how happy I was when I stumbled across another Nails Inc offer! Diet Coke and Nails Inc are currently running an offer in Boots (which I believe is going on until June 30th but don't quote me!) where if you buy 2 500ml bottles of diet Coke (€1.40 each) you get one of 4 nail varnishes (subject to availability) which were custom made for this offer!

(L-R: London, Paris, New York, Milan)

The 'Diet Coke City Collection' is a collection of four colors inspired by the four fashion capitals of the world – London, Paris, New York and Milan. The nude tone is said to depict the cool fashion of Brits living in London, while the deep purple that represents Paris is made to represent a sunset over the Eiffel Tower. New York is the city that never sleeps and to put that tagline into color form, it’s vivid fuchsia and Milan is depicted in a fiery Italian red hue.

Originally I had just wanted to get the London polish but this was such a bargain (I actually do drink diet Coke) that I ended up getting all four. Surprisingly I am actually loving the New York hot pink shade (which my lovely friend referred to as 'homewrecker pink') so have that adorning my nails at present! I think this is a brilliant bargain so will possibly even pick up a few more should I be buying diet Coke in Boots over the next 6 weeks!

Boots Haul

I got a notion into my head yesterday that I wanted to go to the Boots in Liffey Valley so off I went. This was inspired by a quest for the Preen eyeshadow box from Urban Decay which is my latest obsession! (I will be dedicating an entire blog post to Urban Decay as soon as I find the lead for my camera!)


Boots were doing an offer where instead of the usual 4 points per €1 spent you got 10 per €1 spent if your purchase came to over €22. You also got a voucher for €7.50 off Ruby and Millie if you spent over a certain amount. I ended up doing three different transactions in order to take advantage of the offers.


My first transaction was:


The Preen Shadow Box from Urban Decay

This comes with 6 colours (two of which are exclusive to this set: Snatch (peachy-pink with glitter) and Painkiller (turquoise shimmer)), Zero 24/7 eyeliner pencil and a mini eyeshadow Primer Potion.


From No7 range:

A Foundation brush

Stay Perfect eyeshadow Palatte in Smoky Mint

Stay Perfect Lip Lacquer in Lovely Pink


And because I spent so much on the No7 range I was entitled to a free "Pink Box" which has 6 mini No7 products in it.


This transaction put me well over €22 so I got plenty of points and also gained a voucher for €7.50 off Ruby and Millie. I'd already been eyeing up some of the products so decided to have a little look to see what I could use the voucher for.


Second Transaction:

I found a Smoky Eyes Kit from Ruby & Millie for €19.50 which contained 4 eyeshadows in pink, light blue, grey and a dark blue, a black eyeliner (with smudger) and a really decent double ended eyeshadow brush. At only €12 when using the voucher it was a bargain I couldn't leave behind!

Unfortunately the Ruby & Millie concession was really close to the nail varnishes and I couldn't help having a look.

My lack of willpower meant that I also ended up purchasing 3 nail polishes from 17: Cocoa Berry (from the High Gloss range) and Mint Choc Chip and Orange Soda (from the Lasting Fix range). They too had an offer on so I got a free "Nautical But Nice!" makeup collection.


Of course this transaction meant I got yet another €7.50 off Ruby & Millie voucher so I ended up carrying out a third transaction and getting a 7mm eye liner brush which came to exactly €7.50 and refused to let myself look at any other products!!

So approximately €95 left behind me in Boots but I feel I got plenty of bargains with my free makeup brush, free 17 set and free No7 gift set! I also nabbed about €10 in points which means I now have over €35 worth so my next spree may be free!