Westfield Shopping Haul

Way back in May I went on a successful shopping trip to Westfield in Stratford City. It is one of my favourite places to shop because everything is under one roof and there is a huge variety of shops there. I think the atmosphere of the place is brilliant too and there are so many shops there that aren't anywhere near where I live such as MAC and Pull & Bear. Before I went I had a small list of things to buy so I thought that I would show them along with the other bits and pieces I picked up too.
The first shop I went in was Primark. Although there is a two storey store near where I live it doesn't even compare to the huge three storey store inside Westfield. Although you can find some amazing stuff in there I do find it a bit overwhelming and definitely need to be in the mood for shopping in there. On this day we decided to head in there first in order to get it out of the way. I wasn't looking for anything in particular in here but came out with two items. 
 At the end of August I am going to my first ever festival and so when I saw this bag I thought it would be perfect for putting all my essentials in without having to lug a huge bag around. Although I know 'bum-bags' aren't that fashionable or popular I think this will be really useful for the festival and was a bargain at only £6.
  The other thing I bought from Primark was this geo-print bomber jacket. It is not really the type of jacket I would usually buy and I wasn't sure about it when I saw it  on the hanger, but when I tried it on I actually really liked it. I really like the print and the fact that it is something different to the stuff I already have and was very reasonably priced at £12.  
 After a successful trip into Primark we opted to go into Pull & Bear. The closest one to where I live is actually in Stratford so I had to make the most of it. I ended up buying three items although in reality I probably could have ended up buying most of the shop. 
 Probably my favourite purchase from Pull & Bear was this denim hooded jacket which was £40. It is a really lightweight jacket that comes down to just above the knee and I love the cord used for decoration. It is perfect for the Spring and the warmer weather because it isn't heavy and I really like it because again it is something different to what I've seen before. Since buying this jacket it has been a huge part of my wardrobe and I have got a lot of wear out of it already.
 Next up from Pull & Bear I got this light acid wash denim shirt with rose gold detailing. I had been looking for a denim shirt for a long time yet hadn't found one which I liked and so I was so happy when I tried this on and fell in love with it. I like the fact that it is long sleeved because it means that I can roll up the sleeves if I want to or just wear it as it is. I think the colour is also interesting because it is such a pale denim that it is almost white. This shirt ended up costing me £20, which I think is reasonable because you would pay at least this if you were buying from somewhere like New Look.  
 My final purchase from Pull & Bear was this simple striped navy and white t-shirt. This is so soft and just the perfect length for me and thought that it would be a brilliant basic to keep in my wardrobe for seasons to come. It is short sleeved and round necked. I feel so comfortable in this t shirt and it can be paired with a whole variety of different items which is great. Costing only £10 again it was so well priced and I wish that they had other colours in this top because I probably would have bought at least another.
 It is no secret that I am obsessed with River Island bags. My collection is slowly growing and now when I  would like a new bag I automatically go to River Island first to see what they have to offer. I think although they are quite expensive the quality of them is brilliant and they last a long time too.
 Of all my bags from RI, a lot of them are big and are made up from block colours. When I went into the River Island in Westfield I went straight to the bags to see if any caught my eye. Admittedly I was disappointed and nothing in particular caught my eye. I then went over to the jewellery to see what was on offer. As I was just about to leave the store a bag caught my eye. It had just been put on the shelf and I knew this was the bag that I had seen a few weeks before in Lakeside. To my surprise it was also on sale, reduced from £45 to only £30. At this point it was sold to me and I bought it straight away. This bag is exactly my taste. it is big and has a lot of pockets inside to store things and I love the unique straw detailing and also the colours.  
  The only other thing I got in River Island was this nail polish by Barry M. I was looking for this shade in Superdrug in Lakeside but it was sold out so when I saw it in RI I bought it. It cost £4 and is the shade 'Sugar Apple' which is a gorgeous blue/green shade.
  I've never bought something from Urban Outfitters before and so when my sister and mum went in there I was having a good look round. Although none of the clothes or shoes really caught my eye I was intrigued by their candles. In particular the one called Berry Bellini really interested me because I thought it smelt amazing! I also really like the packaging of this product and the metal tin means that I can burn it as it is and not have to worry about mess. Although it was slightly more expensive at £6 than what I usually pay for a candle I was hooked by the scent at this point so was happy to pay it.
 The final two products that I bought in Westfield were products that I had been thinking of buying for a long time. I have recently really got into MAC products but because the nearest store to me is in Cambridge it makes it hard to decide on products to buy because I can't see the products before I buy them.
 However, I have been wanting to expand my lipstick MAC collection since buying the shade Crème Cup and so I decided to do some research before going to Westfield.
 Once I got in store I tried out the two colours I knew I was going to buy and loved them instantly so ended up buying both, with each lipstick costing £15. In the end I got the shade 'Ruby Woo' which is a bright red but has blue undertones in it so it suits all types of skin tones.
 The other shade I bought is a very dark matte red/plum shade called 'Diva.' I loved the consistency and finish of these lipsticks a lot and have loved wearing them since buying them in May.
 I had such a great day at Westfield and although my bank balance suffered a wee bit we ended the day with a delicious pretzel from Mr Pretzel. Yummy.

Lakeside Shopping Haul Part 2

As you may know, a few weeks ago I went shopping with my friends in Lakeside. It is fair to say that I may have gone a little overboard on this day investing in a lot of makeup especially. Therefore I have dedicated this part of the haul to primarily makeup and beauty items but have thrown in my biggest and best purchase of the trip at the end just to top it all off! Let's go!
  You know that you are in trouble when you walk into Boots and they are doing a 3 for 2 promotion across their whole beauty and cosmetics range. This means you can get makeup, brushes and accessories included in this deal and I needed no invitation to make full use of this offer. I may have accidentally ended up buying 6 products but I am so pleased with them.
 One of the first things I wanted to do in Boots was to check out the Sleek makeup. I have been a huge fan of their blushes over the past year and for the past two months have fallen in love with their eyeshadow palettes. Where I live the Boots and Superdrug stores aren't big enough to sell Sleek so it was time to stock up in Lakeside.
  After looking at the palettes in the flesh I opted for the 'Ultra mattes v2 darks' palette because I have been all about matte recently. This palette contains entirely matt shades and the pigmentation of them is incredible. Like the Au Naturel palette the shades blend really nicely and I love the range of colours here. The huge mirror also is really handy if you are on the go and I love that each shade has it's own name like 'Villian' and 'Orbit.' The palettes are also so affordable, costing just £7.99 for 12 shades.

Since discovering the Real Technique makeup brushes, it has transformed the way that I apply my makeup. The contour and buffing brush have been two of my favourites so far and so I decided it was time to invest in a new blush brush. The Real Techniques blush brush cost £9.99 I still can't get over how soft it is and how easy it is to apply makeup with this. It makes product blend so flawlessly and it is the perfect shape and size.

As I've mentioned a thousand times before, I love sleek blushes. Everything to the packaging to the colour range to how easy they are to apply and the beautiful finish they give, it is hard to fault them. Whilst I had to make the most of stocking up on Sleek products I decided it was time to invest in some more blushes. Three to be exact. The first was a shade called 'Coral' which in the pan looks to be a really unique orange/pink colour. It reminds me of the shade 'Flushed' because it looks matte on first inspection but it does contain the slightest bit of shimmer.

 

The next shade that I bought was 'Pixie Pink' which is a gorgeous light pink which is very matt. However from first impressions it doesn't seem at all chalky and I'm expecting this to be great for the summer. It isn't half as bright as 'Flamingo' but it looks a much cooler tone and is so beautiful to look at in the pan. 
 The final Sleek blush I bought on this shopping trip is another matte shade called 'Life's a Peach.' In the pan this shade appears to be a very bright and slightly scary orange. However, I didn't let this put me off when I first bought Flamingo and I turned out to love it and so I thought that I would give this shade a spin. Although this may not be a shade suitable for all year round (well it could be, we will find out when I test it out!) I think it will be great for summer, especially when you have a little bit of a tan. One of the biggest advantages of these blushes is that they are so affordable at only £4.49 each and this is part of the reason why my collection of them has grown so big so quickly.
  My final purchase to finish off my Boots splurge I decided that I would buy a product that I had never previously tried. A lot of my drugstore purchases recently have been lip products, so much so that my storage is getting a bit overrun with lipsticks, crayons and balms. Nevertheless, I still decided that it would be a good idea to buy another lipstick(!) After trying and really liking the Revlon Matte balms recently and having never tried a Revlon lipstick I opted to go for a shade from their 'Super Lustrous Matte Lipstick' collection. To be honest there wasn't many shades in this collection but I picked up the shade 'Stormy Pink' because it thought it looked the best on the back of my hand. Haha. This cost me £7.49 but it turned out to be one of the free items in the deal.  
 By the time we managed to get round to going into Superdrug, it was near the end of the day. Out of a matter of interest I innocently went to look at the Sleek counter in Superdrug just to see if they were selling anything different to Boots. As a matter of fact they were. To celebrate 50 years of Superdrug Sleek have released a limited edition eyeshadow palette called the Showstoppers palette. This palette consists of 7 shimmery and 5 matte shades. Honestly I probably didn't need this palette but because it was limited edition and I loved a couple of the shades especially I decided to buy it. Superdrug were also doing a 3 for 2 on all cosmetics too and so I thought that I might as well take advantage of the offer. This palette cost £7.99  

As I had not bought a new nail polish in a while I decided to have a little look at what Rimmel had on offer. I was aware that Rita Ora recently bought out a range of nail polishes and Colour Rush Balms, but one of the repackaged lasting finish polishes actually caught my eye. This shade is called 'Fancy a Dip' and is a lovely blue shade. I think it is really unique because it isn't a pale blue or a royal blue but it looks slightly lilac and is completely different to the other shades I own. This retails at £2.99 which is so affordable and I'm really excited to try this shade out really soon.
 After buying a lot of the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly collection nail polishes last summer it was good to see that they have released some more shades for this summer. I've noticed a lot of the new colours focus on pastel shades and these really appeal to me. I've been really attracted to blue tones and shades recently and so whilst browsing the new shades on offer 'Huckleberry' stood out to me. It is a really pale almost white blue shade and I think this will look absolutely amazing alongside tanned skin. It is really similar to the shade Blue Moon from the original Barry M nail polishes but I'm sure the added shine will make a big difference to the appearance of this shade. It costs £3.99 like with the other Hi-Shine polishes in the collection.
  Now on the way to the checkout in Superdrug I noticed that they were selling the Tanya  Burr Cosmetics. I've really wanted to try out some things from her collection ever since they were launched but this was the first time I had seen them in the flesh.
 I decided to try out just one product to start with because I didn't want to go crazy buying a product that I had never tested before and so opted for the nail polish in the shade Little Duck because I had seen some photos of this shade and loved it. I plan on writing a full review on this product, especially because it has been receiving some incredible hype over the blogging and Youtube world recently. This nail polish set me back £5.99 which I thought was quite a bit for a polish but until I try it out I won't know if it is worth the money.
 Tanya Burr's nail polish concludes the beauty and cosmetic part of my haul and I have a load of products now that I will be vigorously testing over the coming weeks and months. There is just one more product that I bought in Lakeside as a treat to myself.
About 5 years ago now my mum and step-dad got me a iPod Nano as a Christmas present from New York. I have had so much use out of my iPod over the years and I have loved using it but now it is starting to show signs of age because the buttons have started to become temperamental. I have been thinking about buying a new one now for about 6 months and decided in Lakeside that I would make the investment. I went into the Apple store and it was so easy to pay and get hold of one and I love it. Once again I went for the limited edition Red and Apple puts some of the money you pay for the iPod towards helping people in Africa who are suffering with AIDS. I haven't had a chance to properly set it up yet because I want to organise all my music first but I am so excited to start using it. It will be going everywhere with me when it is ready to go and I was actually impressed that the 16GB version only cost £129. I seem to remember my 8GB one cost me around £100 when I got that so I definitely got a lot for my money.  

Lakeside Shopping Haul Part 1!

A few weekends ago, four of my friends and I decided to have a girls shopping trip. As we don't live in a very big town, shopping is very limited to a New Look and Dorothy Perkins and so we decided we wanted to go somewhere with a bit more variety. A 90 minute car journey with the help of my Australian voiced Sat Nav and a playlist of music later we turned up at Lakeside. I had never been shopping there before so I was really excited about our little shopping trip. It is fair to say that I went a little overboard on the shopping and was definitely feeling spendy that day so I thought that I would share all the bits and bobs I picked up.
 One of the first shops we went in was the massive Primark. I think it actually covered at least two floors and so it was a bit overwhelming when we went in. However we had such a laugh trying on the funny hats, sunnies and clothes and we also found some bargain buys. I never seem to have much patience with Primark and it doesn't take me long for me to become bored of shopping in there and so I was really pleased when I found a few things I liked. 
The first two things I got were these shorts. I actually got a grey pair and purple pair for my holiday last summer and they were so handy for going to the beach and pool in and were comfy and light enough to wear sleeping too. So I was so thrilled when I saw these have returned this year. At only £3 a pair they are a fantastic buy and so I got a red and a beautiful royal blue pair too. Each pair has the white detailing around the bottom and a logo on the right leg and these will be perfect for chilled summer days even if I don't go on holiday this year.
 The next thing I bought in Primark was this bright pink pillar candle. I've really been into candles recently and wanted a few to accompany my scented Yankee candles. The colour really appealed to me and although these are scented I actually like the Mango & Citronella scent as it is different to what I usually go for in a candle. It really is a fresh, uplifting summer scent and this was another bargain at only £2.
 My final purchase in Primark was picked up whilst I was waiting to pay for my items. I hate the fact that shops put little items around the queuing area because it makes you want to buy pointless stuff that you don't necessarily need. On this shopping trip this is exactly what happened to me because I picked up this huge pot of Tic Tacs for only £1. To be fair they were rather refreshing and different to the typical mint or lime and orange flavours I'm used to and plus I hadn't had Tic Tacs in a long time so this justified buying them.
 Another shop that we went into on our trip was Forever 21. Up until this day I had never really shopped in Forever 21 or even been interested in the clothes they sell. I don't think I had even ever looked on their website but as soon as I walked into the Lakeside store I knew I had been missing out.
 They have some lovely pieces in there from their dresses to tops to bags and jewellery that I kind of regretted spending so much money before I went in this shop. It was so hard to resist buying from here and I had my eye on a gorgeous pair of sandals and a necklace but in the end was good and only bought two things.
 The first thing I got was this casual logo vest costing £9.50. I love the print of this top and the text of 'Fortune favours the brave' and I think the cut and shape of it is really flattering too. It is cut quite deep at the sides and so my second purchase was a little bandeau top which I thought I could pair with the vest. I thought the hot pink would contrast well with the navy blue and make it look more interesting.
 The bandeau itself is a really pretty lace floral print and was a really good price at £3.15. Overall I was really impressed with the prices of the items in Forever 21, as they were much cheaper than I expected them to be.  

Of all the shops we went into that day, I was expecting to come out of New Look with some serious damage to my debit card. As it happened I only came out of the shop with one thing. This however, was a beautiful kimono that since buying it, I haven't stopped wearing. It is made from a sheer material which makes it so light and wearable for summer and the floral pattern is interesting yet not too in your face. The colours are also lovely and I am especially liking the royal blue shade in there. Costing £24.99 I wasn't sure if it was a little overpriced but I knew I couldn't leave it on the shelf.
 My next purchase was in River Island. After scouting the bag and purse section as is tradition when I go in there and having nothing in particular catch my eye, I thought that I would have a peek at the jewellery.
  Although I am a huge fan of rings, I don't own that many necklaces, especially statement pieces. I was attracted to this silver piece because of the beautiful detailing and the slightly 'tougher' look it has. I also thought it was reasonably priced at £7 and this had been a welcome addition to my wardrobe. So far I've worn this with the above kimono and a plain white tee and it has worked really well.  

My final clothes/accessory buy during this shopping trip were these aviator styled sunglasses from Dorothy Perkins.
 I have always been a fan of this style, yet have never found a pair to suit my face. I have loved wearing the retro styled sunnies for the past few summers and bought a new pair from RI at the beginning of the season but I was still looking for the perfect aviators.
  I was actually about to buy a different pair of sunglasses when I saw these and I tried them on just by chance when my friends said they suited me. I agreed and so these are my first pair of silver aviators costing me only £8. They have a grey graduated tint in them which I think looks great and they even came with this beautiful floral case to keep them safe and clean.
Although this is the end of all the fashion and random things I bought on this shopping trip, I did go a bit over the top on the cosmetics and beauty items and so will be posting a part two of this shopping trip over the next few days. I had such a good day at Lakeside, not just because I went shopping but because I got to spend the day with some of my favourite people and catch up with them because I don't get to see them as much as I used to.

January Sale Shopping

 

It's no secret that the January sales are notorious for big deals and bargain finds. Due to overspending in the lead up to Christmas this year I didn't do too much sale shopping this year, but what I did do was buy loads of shoes. (This was whilst I was on a shoe buying ban, oh dear.)

 

 

 

My obsession with shoes is now getting a little out of hand, but once I aw these gorgeous burgundy chunky boots in the New Look sale, I knew that they would be going home with me. I persuaded myself that they were an absolute 'must-have' and I'm so glad I picked them up as I know I would have regretted it otherwise.

 

 

One amazing thing about these boots are that they have a zip on the inside of the shoe, which means that you aren't spending forever and a day unlacing them everytime you want to wear them. The laces are more of a decorative feature and I haven't even tied them whilst I've been wearing them.

Another bonus is that I can actually walk in them without looking and feeling like an idiot and a huge bonus is that I can safely drive in them! (It's always a pain when you have to take a flat pair of shoes to drive in when all you want to do is  wear heels.) These beauties were reduced from £29.99 to £22.49 in the New Look sale, but honestly I would have paid full price for them anyway! They also come in grey too I think.

 

This winter it is safe to say that I have gone a little bit boot crazy. However, I had my eye on these cut out boots from New Look from the moment they were released into stores. I love the cut out detailing on them and that they are a little bit different from other boots and shoes I owned. So imagine my delight when I spotted them in the sale in Cambridge, and I got the for a ridiculous bargain. Originally retailing at £30, I scooped these up for £12! Admittedly, I haven't actually worn them yet and I have no idea if I can sensibly walk in them, but at £12 it was worth it.

 

So, these heels pictured above weren't actually purchased in any type of sale, but as they are so gorgeous I thought I would feature them in this post. After realising that you can never have too many pairs of black heels (or shoes for that matter) I decided to firstly buy this pair to wear to my work's Christmas meal.

I think they look really sophisticated and I love the t-bar styled straps which give me a bit more support and doesn't make me feel like I'm going to fall out of my shoes every two minutes. Also I loved the price of these, only £24.99 from H&M. The only bad thing about the is that they aren't particularly comfortable to wear, but with some gel cushions in I can easily last all night in them.

 

A few years ago I received a pair of dark brown brogues from New Look for Christmas and wore them until there was practically nothing left of them. Since then however I haven't had the chance to repurchase some replacement brown brogues and so whilst buying other shoes in the New Look sale, I came across these. Originally priced at £14.99, they had been marked in the sale at £8 which was a great find for me. Even better, when I got them to the till I was charged £6 and I wasn't complaining! 

 

Finally, I thought I would add two pairs of boots which I was lucky enough to receive for Christmas this year. Above are my ankle boots from Topshop, which I actually got for £45 after they had been reduced from something like £70. These boots are so comfortable and go with pretty much everything and are so easy to slip on and off, they really are great.

 Below are probably my most worn and most loved boots this season. Similarly to the boots above, these ankle boots are black yet have this lovely buckle detailing on them to make them stand out just a little bit more. They are also my most expensive pair of shoes, costing me £60 from River Island. They are so worth the money though, and I think I've been living in them since I unwrapped them on Christmas day!

 

With January coming to an end, the sales are thinning out. However, this means that soon spring and summer clothes will be hitting the stores ready for my favourite time of the year! I can't wait to start shopping for summery clothes, although I will miss wearing my boots!

 

 

First Purchases of 2014 (Makeup Haul)

 

So with Christmas over for another year and having received my bank statement for December (ouch!) it's that time of year where you decide that you really need to save some money after spending so much during the festive season.

Apparently I didn't get that memo and I've been out shopping over the past few weeks and have brought some amazing cosmetics which I'm going to share today.

 

The first thing that I've purchased were these makeup wipes from Superdrug. Recently I've been using some Sainsbury's own branded wipes just because they are cheap and easy to pick up, but I decided I should probably invest in some wipes that are actually designed to be used to take off makeup. These were also a complete bargain at only about £1.50 and although I have never used them before I thought that they would be worth the risk.

 

My obsession with nail polish continues. Barry M have recently released a new collection of matte polishes in a variety of colours. Their new polishes always intrigue me and after buying loads of their standard as well as jelly polishes I just needed to try this one. I picked up the shade 'Vanilla' costing me £3.99 from Superdrug.   

 

As Superdrug were having a 3 for 2 offer on all their Barry M products, it would be rude for me not to buy two more polishes. For my second polish I decided on this gorgeous burgundy shade called 'crush' from the new matte collection, which also retails at £3.99.

 

To complete the three for two offer, I needed to decide on one final polish. On the Barry M stand they had a picture of a model showing off one particular shade. I fell in love with it and decided that this would be the final shade that I would buy. This polish is part of the Hi-Shine jelly collection and is called 'Guava', also priced at £3.99 in Superdrug.

 

I actually brought another nail polish from Barry M a few weeks ago whilst I was shopping in Cambridge and totally forgot about it. At the time Superdrug were doing a 2 for £6 deal on all their nail polishes and so my friend and I got one each. I picked up this shade called 'blackberry' from the jelly range, saving myself 0.99p!

 

Living in a small town means that my local Superdrug doesn't sell any sleek products. After buying a blush and the contour kit online, I was desperate to get my hands on some of their other products, but wanted to be able to see what I was buying first. Luckily Cambridge had a whole stand of Sleek products, and it's fair to say that I went a little crazy.

 

The first thing that I picked up from Sleek was this gorgeous lipstick in the shade 'barely there.' Although I haven't used this product yet it claims to be a highly pigmented non drying and conditioning lipstick, which sounds pretty good to me! Costing only £4.99 it is also a bit cheaper than some of the other drugstore lipsticks out there so thought it would be worth a try.

 

After buying and falling in love with the Sleek blush in the shade 'flamingo' I decided that I would definitely need to expand my collection. With 11 shades in the collection it wasn't easy to pick just one so I brought two on this occasion, but could have easily brought them all! Oops.

 

I decided to go for two more pink shades, but these are no way near as bright as 'flamingo.' The blush pictured above is a lovely dark pink almost red shade with the slightest bit of shimmer in called 'flushed.' I can't wait to start using it and with it being priced at only £4.49 it is a serious bargain in my eyes.

 

The other blush I picked up for £4.49 was the shade in 'rose gold.' I've seen so many other beauty bloggers and vloggers rave about this shade of product and thought it was about time I got my hands on it too. It contains more shimmer than the other two blushes I have, yet will be a welcome addition to my collection.

 

This is where I think I got a little bit over the top and went a bit crazy with the sleek products. But whilst I was there I decided to pick up one of Sleek's eyeshadow palettes.

 

Typically of Sleek, the have kept their gorgeous black packaging for the palette and I'm so excited to try it out. They have a variety of palettes available but I got the 'Au Naturel 601' palette as I thought it would be one that I'd use the most.

 

Although I haven't used this product yet, I am seriously impressed with it at first glance. The colours inside look absolutely gorgeous and I love the mixture of both matte and shimmery shades in there. I also love the fact that each shade has it's own name and that there isn't one colour in the palette that I don't like. Perhaps the biggest bonus is that this cost only £7.99!

 

 

My final purchase over the past few weeks have been some new make-up brushes. I've had my eye on real-techniques brushes for ages and after receiving some for Christmas I decided to expand my collection. This resulted in a trip to Boots!

 

I decided to purchase the core collection, costing me £21.99. Working out at only about £5 a brush, they are seriously good value for money and even the woman in Boots told me that they are amazing!

Featuring a foundation brush, a brush for concealer, powder and contouring, I'm super excited about using these brushes alongside my new and old purchases, although I don't want to get them dirty! Haha.

Wow, it seems as though I've gone a bit overboard recently on products. One day I will learn to resist. (I hope)