Hello 18 and a Birthday Haul

 

 

Hi guys - I'm officially an adult! Friday was my 18th birthday, and what a lovely one it was; I'm so grateful to have family and friends who would go to such an effort to make my day special. 17 was a good year to me after a pretty bad start, it was the year that I met Harry, my first holiday on my own, the age that I chose and was offered a place at my top university. I'm sad to see it go, but can't wait to experience everything that adulthood has to offer (I know any adult reading this is probably thinking it isn't even that great, but hey ho!)

 

Last year I did a birthday haul, and it got great feedback and it was nice to have a post up that my family could read, thanking them for their gifts, so this year I've decided to do it again! I'm not bragging in the slightest, and the way I see it is that as bloggers, we constantly buy new items to try, and this is practically the same thing, I was just given these things instead. Plus, these posts are some of my faves to read - I love seeing what people are gifted by their friends and family! I couldn't be happier with my gifts, but honestly and truly, the best part of my birthday was celebrating with all my loved ones (literally there was about 50 people crammed in my house) and getting to chat and snap photos with them all. You know it's a good birthday when you forget to put on a snapchat story because you're too busy having fun.

 

Something I have wanted for SO long is a new camera. My old one is great, but doesn't perform well as a video camera, and it was hard to create blurred backgrounds and high focus. My parents got me an Olympus Pen EPl-7 (EEP) and I absolutely freaking love it! I'm still figuring it all out, but the quality of the photos is incredible, and when I'm fully used to it I know I'll do a post all about my new baby. I never want to throw the box away either - look how pretty it is oh my gosh.

 



 

I also received my forever perfume - I could only afford the rollerball of the 'Victoria by Victoria's secret' perfume last year and I fell in love with it, so to get a 100ml version of this favourite is so exciting! The packaging is just stunning and I know it'll become my signature scent.

 

My friend Han got me a cute Paris mug which is really cool, and a whole bunch of travel goodies after she read my travel blog post. It was such a thoughtful gift and I'm sending her a million virtual hugs for thinking of me.

 

Those gorgeous earrings (below) are from Daisy London, which are a brand I've never heard of but definitely need to look into, since they are beyond beautiful and possibly a favourite of mine. Oh I do love them *tears up*. I got some Pandora charms as well which are sitting prettily on my bracelet right now, including an intricate charm with an 'E' on it that I'm so grateful for. Clearly people understand my love for sparkle!

 

 

 

As for make up, I got some bits and then lots of Debenham's vouchers to spree with. My little sister went above and beyond and got me a MAC lipstick that she knew I wanted in the shade 'Patisserie', an amazing pink-nude lustre lipstick that has been on my wishlist for a looong time. Another MAC present I got was this powder blush in the shade 'Harmony', a brown colour that I thought would work amazingly as a blush or a bronzer, since I prefer cool toned bronzers. I'll let you know what I think when I've tried it out.

 

The other make up item I got is so lovely it makes me a bit emotional. I've wanted to try a TooFaced Melted liquid lipstick for a long time, but the price made it a bit impossible for me to justify. For my 18th I was given a lovely one in the shade 'Ruby', which is a beautiful deep red - I decided that I needed to branch out and get a red, since all I own in my lip product collection is a ton of nude colours.



 

 

I've had a lot of friends ask me what Harry got for me, and honestly I'm so taken aback by the good taste in jewellery that he continually has. He got me this gorgeous blue topaz necklace that is so dainty, and in the words of Harry, matches my eyes. I'm so thankful for this, and I know he'll be reading, so THANKYOU!

 

My Mama and Grandad are pretty much a second set of parents to me, and I was so glad to share the day with them. They bought me this stunning gold chain necklace in the style of the necklaces that both my Mama and my Mum own, and I couldn't be more in love with it. It's such a special and thoughtful gift that will last a lifetime. My granddad is a bit of a techno whizz (I know, how hip), and he made me a DVD of my whole life cut down to half an hour, complete with my favourite music over the years (think Barney the Dinosaur all the way up to Taylor Swift) which I've watched three times now and it never gets any less emotional. I know how much time it must have taken to make that gift, and its definitely one of the best gifts I've ever received.

These are a few of the lovely and thoughtful gifts I received, and I'm so blown away by the effort that people put in for little old me. I can't wait to review the make up and try out my new camera - is there any particular product you'd like to see a review of? Or any recommendations of make up to purchase with my vouchers?

 

(P.S. Again, please please please don't think I'm trying to brag, this was genuinely something I thought some of you might be interested to read, and I would hate it if any of you thought badly of me for it!)