Stocking Fillers Under £10

If there's one thing anyone should know about me, I go absolutely mad for Christmas and everything surrounding it. In the lead up to Christmas I go way over the top with charts, lists and graphs of ideas on what to get anyone and everyone I know, however, sometimes the search for simple and cheap, yet fun and amusing gifts can become difficult. So in light of Christmas being right around the corner, here are a few 'stocking fillers' and gifts for all, each under £10.

Let's get started!

Gift #1: I'm a huge sucker for matchbox gifts! Lots of people see them as pretty pointless presents but they're small, cheap and bloody adorable so what's not to love? These matchbox puzzles are perfect as little stocking fillers, and for £3.50, you should buy 10! 

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/nest/product/matchbox-puzzles-little-wood-and-metal-brain-teasers

Gift #2: This men's grooming essentials kit is great for any guy with facial hair, whether they've just started out or if they're well away in beard haven. For £8, this is a very simple, yet perfect present for a moustache! You can also choose from six different scents, which is pretty good if you ask me.

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/mobrospremiumgrooming/product/grooming-essential-trio-kit

Gift #3: Perfect for anyone, this toasted marshmallow kit comes with all the mallow toasting essentials to make a great tasting sweet snack and I think it's a brilliant idea! For under £6 it is an easy stocking filler for those with a sweet tooth.

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/harleysweet/product/marshmallow-toasting-kit

Gift #4: This one's for the ladies, a women's tiny handbag essentials kit, perfect for the one who has to always be prepared. It comes in a cute little bag and has 13 handy items to keep for on the go. Not bad for £8.

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/metalmoments/product/women-s-tiny-essential-kit

Gift #5: A novelty gift never goes amiss with my family so whether they love 'em or hate 'em, you can rely on chocolate disguised as sprouts to make someone chuckle (and make them eat their greens!). This box of sprouts chocolates is £9.95, however if you're not up for breaking the bank on this one, the same company does a smaller version for £6!

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/thechocolatelibrary/product/chocolate-brussels-sprouts

Smaller one's link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/thechocolatelibrary/product/stocking-filler-chocolate-brussel-sprouts

Gift #6: From Newlook, I found these Photo Booth props, perfect for the selfie lover or the vain sibling in your family. They're also a fun alternative to ordinary Christmas photos if your gift receiver wouldn't mind sharing!  There are a couple other prop sets if these don't take your fancy, all for under a fiver each.

Link: http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/accessories/multicoloured-varsity-photo-pack-_388007399?productFind=search

Gift #7: Candles are an easy gift for anyone, anytime of the year. However, personally, getting a Christmassy scented candle in my stocking brings me buckets of delight, because who doesn't want their home smelling of gingerbread, or a cosy winters night (whatever that's supposed to smell of)? Yankee candles are a favourite amongst all so here are some tea lights for under £7.

Link: http://www.boots.com/en/YANKEE-CANDLE-CHRISTMAS-EVE-TEA-LIGHT-CANDLES_1733747/

Gift #8: What better way to give someone a fiver than to make it really bloody difficult to actually get? This is one of those easy, cheap gifts that can be hours of fun for everyone and can also be used as a nifty little money box afterwards. It's on offer at £3.50 on Asos at the moment.

Link: http://www.asos.com/gifts/money-maze/prd/7107319?iid=7107319&clr=Multi&SearchQuery=&cid=13526&pgesize=36&pge=1&totalstyles=6678&gridsize=3&gridrow=12&gridcolumn=2

Gift #9: One of my faves, a pack of beans with cute little messages on them, such a cute idea! The company that sell them do lots of different packs so they don't necessarily have to be Christmas themed. I love these, and for £3, you can't really go wrong!

Link: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/beecycle/product/beanstalk-magic-talking-seeds

Gift #10: The final stocking filler to tell you about, using a sneaky picture from one of my other blog posts, is Lush. A single bath bomb from Lush is rarely over £4 and  many more of their products aren't over £6. You can find something for everyone in Lush so is a perfect store to shop in. I'll leave a link to their Fun products as a percentage of the money goes to charity every time you buy.

Link: https://uk.lush.com/products/fun

This blog post was inspired by a pretty cool one I saw by https://ninety7blog.wordpress.com, please go check it out!

So that's the end of the overly long list, I hope this could help even one person this Christmas and if not, hopefully you enjoyed the read. Have a wonderful day, week, rest of the year!

Goodbye.x

Amazon Makeup Brush Kit Review

When scavenging Amazon for items to buy, I always come across sellers with brush sets of twenty or more for ridiculously small amounts of money... so I decided to give them a go and buy a pack.  For the most part when shopping cheap, you will absolutely get what you pay for, however,  I can tell you that in this case that is not true.

The brush handles all have a smooth black surface and the metal part is a dark rosy pink colour that appeared lighter in the pictures of the advert, however, the brushes are still very pretty. The brushes were a set of twenty, although three of them were double sided giving twenty-three brushes in total.

There was a large array of brushes through size, shape and purpose, making the set even better as there was a lot to play around with. This includes a foundation brush, angled brushes, blending brushes, a mascara spoolie and more. However, a couple of the brushes were, quite slyly, nearly the exact same. Sometimes this was a bonus and sometimes not so much.

The application of product from the brushes obviously weren't the same sort of quality as Real Techniques or Zoeva, and honestly I could probably get a thicker, faster application with my finger however the brushes applied eyeshadow evenly and very precisely. The brushes didn't pick up much product either although wasn't too much of an issue for me.

A couple of the brushes were those awful sponge applicators which I won't be using any time soon however most of the others were definitely usable and pretty handy to have in your brush collection. Three of the twenty brushes were double sided, as though twenty wasn't enough and were nicely made.

When washing the brushes, there was no fall out or any other problems with them which is a bonus as  I know from experience that it is pretty common with cheaper brushes to not secure the bristles?strands? Whatever. To not secure the brushy bits to well. The only real problem I had was a breakage of the foundation brush, however, even that wasn't a huge problem as I just glued it back together.

All-in-all, I give these brushes 3 1/2 out of 5 stars as although I had a breakage, a couple of duplicates and the coverage isn't perfect, they are aesthetically pleasing in my brush collection, there are so many for the ridiculously small amount that you pay for them, they work, and they're perfect as easy extras to practice your super makeup talents with! I absolutely recommend them just to try, you're only loosing out on £5 if they aren't right for you.

The brushes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ABQTG3O/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0

Thanks a whole bunch for reading my review on these brushes, if you have a comment, opinion or good or bad experience with these brushes, pah-lease share, I really would love to hear!

Thanks again, goodbye!x