TK Maxx Haul

Normally I am good at resisting the urge of retail therapy, but I am not even going to pretend I have felt guilty about this last spree!

Browsing TK Maxx, I usually find a lot of beauty goods, but most of the time they have been tampered with and I walk away. The prices are excellent, with some great savings to be made on branded goods, which is exactly what you would expect from the store. On this occasion, I walked away with all these goodies!

From left to right:

Sanctuary spa Kyphi nourishing shower oil. I am a sucker for anything with the words Egypt or Egyptian. I have used a shower oil in the past and really liked it, this contains lotus and argan oil so I am hoping it will smell lovely and feel very luxurious.

Biosen remineralizing cream and exfoliator. I haven’t heard of this brand before but the packaging drew me in. Each are meant to contain an active mineral complex, combining ingredients based on Japanese spa philosophy. The creme has a retail price of £25 so I having always been curious to test out an expensive cream it seemed like the ideal opportunity.

Bella Colore mineral eye colour collection. Another brand I have never heard of, the collection contains 5 eyeshadows in neutral tones, 2 brushes and a black and brown eyeliner. My brown eyeliner was missing so I got this for a bargain price of £13. Amazon is retailing this at nearly £40! I will do a review/eyelook soon.

Tigi Big Head Foxy curls shampoo and conditioner. This is a brand I have heard about for a while but never tried so I thought it was time. I never realised it is sulphate free so will be good to compare to the organic surge products I am using now.

EcoTan accelerator. I have used a similar product in the past which was from QVC, although I intend to cover up the majority of the time on my holiday later this year, a little bit of colour would be nice. Plus the big bottle size means that it will be enough for my mum and sister also, who I know will help themselves!

7 items for less than £50 is quite a bargain in my eyes, plus I know eventually I will get through all of these. If you have tried any of these products let me know what you thought of them.

New Primark Pieces April 2011

So another trip to Primark, actually to return some things resulting in another spend, although only 5 items, 3 of which were jewellery and sort of don’t count!

Starting with the jewellery, a love or hate item, I found this gorgeous triple fingered flower ring. There were only small sizes left and this one loose ring with no packaging but which fits perfectly, so I am not sure what size I eventually got. I personally love it, I am all about big statement jewellery and for only £2.50 a bargain! Surprisingly the rings are all a slightly different size to accommodate for the fact that your three fingers are slightly different sizes, so it fits better one way round that another. Small detail I noticed!

Next this beautiful elephant head long length necklace in a lovely ‘dirty’ gold colour encrusted with yellow/gold stones. I do not like the chain as much since it is more of a yellow gold, and to my eye doesn’t match as well on closer inspection, so if I can find a better chain at some point I will replace it. Considering I make jewellery as a hobby I know it would cost me £4 or more to get a pendant like this so I do not consider it a waste. I also brought a tusk necklace which, although long, is slightly shorter than the elephant, but matches and fits in well to wear as a pair if I chose to. I like addition of the brown rope chain in the design. It reminds me of the necklace J-Lo wore back in her first ever music video, anyone else remember?

Finally I picked up this sheer loose fit top. It has an elasticated waist where the excess fabric is all gathered, with a slight sleeve. The fabric is not your typical sheer shirt fabric, with more of a textured effect/feel to it. I picked up the coral, they also had white, violet and green. These were £10 each and I plan to style with both skirts and jeans.

I have spied some nice things on other blogs but I am going to try and resist the temptation to spend, I won’t ban myself though since that never works out well!

Primark Haul Spring/Summer Lovin'

I think all should have established now that I am a Primark Girl, I remember them ‘getting big’ around the time I started university. Although some seasons they are a big hit and miss, this spring I have really liked their offerings.

This recent spree sparked from me seeing one skirt on the fashion segment of ‘This Morning’ and heading out immediately to find it. Surprisingly I did, but it was stitched badly and didn’t sit well on the waist without making me look like I had very oddly shaped love handles. I didn’t find another in my size so I will continue looking out for it whenever I do pop in, but I have a feeling the problem will be the same. I haven’t actually seen many skirts of a same style, high-waisted/maxi with a floral print. I think maxi skirts are so flattering and I could picture the skirt looking very boho with a loose vest top, a big belt and flat shoes.

I can’t wait for the summer or at least some warmer weather to arrive so I can get out more skirts and dresses! Anyway, here is what I picked up instead.

I love this blue maxi, since last summer I wanted a black one for the purpose of adding lots of bright accessories to but I love this blue so much, and since it is plain, I should still be able to add lots of bold accessories to it and make it look different each time.

This summer dress also works well layered making it suitable for spring and even winter when it’s colder. It has more of a beige base with the black spots and then flower print. I don’t particularly like the belt attached, so will possibly end up ‘Gok’ styling this once I get some inspiration for it. 

I love this playsuit, as you can see I am liking the floral trend this year, but the black base means that it is not so bold for me that I would feel uncomfortable wearing it. It fits very well and is more flattering than others I have tried. I am really looking forward to wearing this in the summer, I may even wear it with tights in the spring time here but we’ll see how brave I will be! 

I love the colour of this coral top, although I don’t tend to like the look of the asymmetric cut it has, tucked into a skirt/trousers this actually looks very nice since it ends up being very loose and flowing. You can make out slightly in the image that the front and back are actually two different materials, although this is quite subtle and I don’t think it really adds anything to the top overall. 

Last but not least clothing wise, these wide leg trousers. I love the print, again a black base with large colourful flower print. This looks great teamed with the coral top above, and I can picture it looking well with a large belt, wedges, and an oversized cardigan, topped with an oversized hat and sunglasses (well that might be a step too far but hopefully you get the picture!). At the moment as much as I love to look at them I don’t want them to be something that end up sitting in the wardrobe because I am not brave enough to wear them!

Finally some accessories. I brought a black and a tan, skinny waisted belt to keep as wardrobe essentials, at £1 each I can’t really feel guilty about not having a need for them yet! I also went for a standard belt covered in coloured studs, again a slim style since I occasionally need something more discrete to hold my trousers up! I never usually go for ‘fashion socks’ but being inspired by some other blogs and people on the street I wanted to style these peaking over my shorter boots. Will hopefully post the result and get your impressions! Finally another purchase of something I may or may not be brave enough to wear, a feather headband. I think the feathers poking through my curls will give a nice look, especially since there is a trend for feather hair extension/accessories. 

I am headed to the vitality show this weekend and have promised myself to only potentially purchase anything new there and then hold off with the spending for a bit so this should be the last clothing haul for a while! 

Let me know your thoughts of the clothing choices from Primark this spring.

Another Primark Haul!

I know two blog posts in one day, but I’m feeling energetic! I had 2 interviews this week, and with the prepping for those, along with the early starts to the day and the driving I was pretty exhausted, so thats my excuse for not posting anything sooner. I have had time to try out some more face masks though and had a few brain waves for future posts so do look out for those.

If you do watch my YouTube videos you would have seen my mini haul/interview outfit video featuring a few of my Primark goodies.

If you didn’t though or do want to see this is the link; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1QKAjsQC7M

I did feature a skirt in here, which I showed without having tried it on, and although I still love it, it just doesn’t suit me, so it has been returned and replaced with a few other finds.

I already featured this top in my video. It’s a beautiful, sheer, loose fit top. Dusty pink with capped sleeves and dots all over, with a gathered/elasticated waist. This fits perfectly, and I’m looking forward to styling it since I haven’t owned anything like this previously.

I replaced the top with a t-shirt, it reminded me of a vest top I wore to death as a teen with a big tigers face on it. Again its sheer and actually has a hole in the back (I have no idea of the proper styling/fashion term for that!) I want to wear it now, so I plan on putting a long sleeved t-shirt underneath to keep me warm. It has a patchy sheer effect (again not sure of the proper term) but hopefully the picture illustrates that well.

Lastly, accessories! I love the belt, there are two colours available, I opted for the beige but there is black too. I really like that the poppers are hidden away underneath the flower. I have no idea how I will be styling it but I look forward to the summer and the chance too.

I also picked up a oversized army print scarf, thinner fabric than I usually go for but this will strictly be for styling rather than warmth.

Jewellery wise I went for the ‘Love’ necklace, which has a sparkle covered ‘L’ with the ‘O’ made of a peach flower. I love that pastels are in this season. It’s very pretty and a noticed that it is, in my opinion a nicer ‘dupe’ of a necklace in New Look which has a darker flower and a few extra dangles from it. In fact I noticed a lot of similarities between New Look and Primark jewellery, a lot of pieces similar to those in my last Primark haul.

There was also a flower necklace which looks very effective from far away, the petals portion is actually a fabric. Finally, I picked up the stud flower earrings for my sister although I imagine I will be removing a few!

Clothes and Jewellery Haul: Primark Boots and more!

It's the first time I have been to a shopping centre after all the festive period madness and it was such a lovely experience. The shops were really empty and tidy, staff were friendly and helpful, obviously not a good thing for my pocket since I stay looking around longer!

I wasn’t on the hunt for anything in particular but I did find a few things……

First stop was Primark, recently I haven’t found anything that I have liked especially in the jewellery/accessories department but I could have picked up a lot more than I did today, all the small necklaces are only £1.50. Usually I don’t go for the gold toned since they are more yellow than I like, but the matted gold that some of these have is very pretty. I haven’t decided yet if I will keep the charms on the necklaces as they are, generally I buy and wear much chunkier jewellery (see Debenhams example!). At the time of purchase I had already decided I would make the nautical style necklace into a double bracelet and remove the charms I am not too fond of and replace with others. My favourite piece though is either the ring or the flying bird necklace. There was a lot of peach and gold tones around so I guess that is the trend this season?

I also picked up a pair of skinny jeans/jeggings which remind me of a pair I have and love, since they are thicker than traditional leggings but thinner than jeans and makes them a good inbetween item. In the past the jeans I have brought from Primark although fitting well and looking good initially eventually lose shape so I am hoping these will last that bit longer.

There was a lot of colour options with the shirt but I liked the red base best since I am not always planning to wear it done up but with a white/brown/black vest or t shirt underneath to tone it down a little. The sleeves are also able to button up or down to mix up the look a bit and the thicker fleece like fabric makes it wearable in the colder weather.

Finally the beading and detail on the vest top is what made me purchase, all the t-shirts and vests I have ever brought from Primark have been see-through thin, so I will probably be layering this!

The bobble hat was a random purchase after spotting another hat and then getting distracted with this one! I love the detailing on it….the next one I am looking out for is the turban style which is meant to be in this season.

Pen-ultimately a quick trip into boots since I randomly decided the other day that my hair is too dark and I want a change……hopefully before and after pictures to come. Having heard great praise for the Rimmel exaggerate eyeliner I also picked up one of these. I have high hopes for it to be an eyeliner which lasts in my waterline without smudging all over the place. Also expect to see a nails of the week with the new beautiful gunmetal grey nail polish from Bourgeois (as well as a review on the weird new brush applicator!!).

Finally, a trip through Debenhams had me stopping in the sale section where I found this beautiful necklace 70% off. I do love a bargain.

Do expect to see outfits featuring these, I have nearly sorted out the camera situation so hopefully will have nice clear pictures soon.

'Till next time, thank you for reading.