HAUL: Primark, Topshop, Internationale, Whittard

Hello! I thought I'd post a collective haul for you today. I'm a little late posting this in that all the purchases are at least a week old.. but you don't care! I'm not really sure how much interest this will get, but I love seeing other people's shopping haha!

Primark:

Primark: You either love it or hate it. For me, when accepting the quality and losing any high expectations for survival rate of clothes past a year, I can look past this and appreciate the really nice things they have! Currently there is waaaay too many of these, and I had to really control myself!


Okay so my first Primark purchase was a summery tea-dress. It is black with flamingos everywhere and is one of those wardrobe pieces which just makes you feel happy! The material is quite sheer - but as it's dark you don't see through it when it's on. I love the collar detail which borders on a preppy style.. and the price! £10. woop!
My other Primark goodie was a maxi skirt. Up until buying this I didn't own any, and it was my friend's interest in them which made me try one on! And I love it! It is a really nice material.. more polyester than cotton, and was also £10

Topshop:

Next was a long-wanted Topshop purchase: one of their iconic zippy hoodies. Many people have these, they are reasonably basic and in a nice selection of colours. But this is nice basic. Like they feel almost like felt! But as you may be able to see from the last photo, the material is quite thin (good for throwing on in colder summer days) and a thread has already come loose! I like the contrasting white zip and hood cords, and the little white flecks on the grey hoodie. I practically have not taken this off since buying it! One thing I have found though, is that the hoodie has started to stretch.. I think this is because I always put my hands in the front pockets and sort of push outwards (thus stretching the material!) Not a good idea rachael! This is a habit I must break. I have also heard that wearing Topshop hoodies with a backpack makes the back all bobbly. 
... As much as I seem to be complaining, I'm not! I love this purchase! It was £26 - though only £23.40 with their 10% student discount!

Internacionale

So, first from Internacionale I have a summery cotton dress with three-way straps. They can go halter neck, razor-back or normal. My preference is razor back. There is buttons at the back to attach the straps to, and it is very easy. This was in the sale, for only £7 - wow! I love the colours and the shape when wearing it, and it is a good summery dress. The only issue is that they had my size, but my boobs are sort of too big for it..slightly. So I have the awkward look like you could potentially burst out the chest or wear it open with a vest top and look slightly suggestive issue! We have all been there.. I'm working on it!

My other purchase from here is some sunglasses! I am quite picky with sunglasses as I strongly dislike wrap-around glasses and more circular bug-eye effect ones. But these are oversised squarish lenses with a pink tint, and I love the leg detail. These were £2.50 - also reduced.

Boots

This is a pretty boring one! Just new setting powder from the Natural Collection at Boots. This is £1.99 and I got the shade neutral for my more tanned summery look.

Sainsburies

Anything I get from Sainsburies translates to what I add to my mum's shopping list! 

Firstly, the film Bridesmaids. This was £5 which is a good price to stock up on dvds at! I was supposed to watch this with my good friend Karen (I know she may be reading this..) but as we are re-scheduling I decided to go ahead and watch it myself first because I needed some cheering up today. Bad plan! The main theme of this film pretty much paralleled my own life problems, so it was like watching a sad reflection of this, but with a happy ending. I have yet to get my happy ending, but fingers crossed! *Not all films have happy endings though.. I saw Promethius at the cinema on Monday, and only one person survives to the end of the film! And I'm certain she was emotionally scarred for life haha*

Sorry Karen. I shall watch it again with you! Nevertheless, this was a good movie, and I'd recommend it to chick-flick fanatics! My only irk with this is the cover.. The bride and bridesmaids have completely different dresses in the film. WHY?

Next, magazines: Cosmo and Red. Cosmo is always my magazine of choice. This month it came with a choice of 3 sunglasses for £3.50. I got very dark black ones which I'm yet to wear. Red was £3.90, and its free gift dissapointed me because the Jemma Kidd mascara clumps so easily! 

Whittard

Image from  http://www.whittard.co.uk

Whittard: A 125 year old maker of fine tea, coffee and hot chocolate. I am OBSESSED with their Pear & Guava instant tea. Literally the best thing on the planet. I am yet to venture into other flavours, but the likes of Pink Lemonade sound promising! A 475g pot is £5.50 or 3 for £15

.. There we go! I am so sorry for the length of my rambling haul! Please tell me in the comments if you get to the end! 

Rachael xx


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BodyShop Lip & Cheek Stain Review

Hello Lovelies!

Post publication note: If you're interested in the Bodyshop Lip and Cheek stain please take a look at my updated review here! (but you can go ahead and read this one too!)  

I'm in a blogging mood, so here's another. I have one friend who likes to keep me up to date on the freebies that come out with popular women's magazines - something very welcome to me, as I'm not often in the magazine isle of stores.
Let me set you straight: my favourite magazine is Cosmopolitan - a magazine focused on love, sex, fashion, hair and beauty..and more sex, or so it is attributed by most. But let me tell you, flipping through this magazine is a joy because unlike almost every women's magazine out there (and I have delved into many), this magazine is almost entirely the written word. For a magazine this may not seem strange, but any woman who is a buyer of marie claire, in style, or elle for example will appreciate that most of what they have payed for is model photos and advertisements, substituted by the occasional column. The January issue of Cosmo, which I had close to hand whilst writing this, has 51 articles, spanning from love, sex & success, to news & real life to you you you, amongst an array of cover stories. No wonder it sells big time - thank heaven for written stuff. 

Back to topic (as I'm sure I began to write a review.. haha) This girl friend of mine mentioned that Marie Claire was giving away BodyShop lip & cheek stains this month - a bargain at only £3.70 for a product worth £10. This was quickly added to my mum's shopping list... And a few days later I was the proud owner of the 'Bronze Glimmer' stain. 
I'd never purchased makeup from BodyShop before - though had always been interested in these. (And their super soft kabuki brushes!) But .... I love it! Firstly, I really enjoy having a product that does both my face and lips. As a disorganised teenager, I do my makeup on the bus to school every morning. The regular travellers are not fussed. Other people stare. But I get through this slightly awkward experience by congratulating myself on giving yet another makeup on-the-go tutorial to the people on my bus - soon they shall all be apt at winged eyeliner.
A 2 in 1 product saves time and space in one's makeup bag. This thing also tastes good - it doesn't have a chemically adapted fruity flavour, but what it does taste of is nice. Also, I hate lip gloss. I appreciate it on others, just not me; I cannot stand having sticky lips all day and always end up wiping it off pretty quickly. This limited me to plain lipstick - until the trend of lip stains began. 

A tip for this product: if you apply it directly to your cheeks in a line then buff it in, the line is still there. Faint - but that section of skin is most definitely more pigmented than the rest. And no one loves that. I've got round this by simply applying it to my angled blush brush instead (then applying this to my face.) Ta da!
It comes in another colour too - a bright strong dark pink, called 'Rose Pink'. I think I may be back in the magazine isle picking up that one soon as too! But what I do like about this one is the golden tint to it, which I thought would look too much - but thankfully no.

Okay, so my makeup is quite rushed. I was walking around my house in pajayjays, no makeup and my hair is an unusual style most representative of a pineapple, when in walks a 13 year old boy. This boy was not my brother, but someone I had never seen in my life. So I had to abandon my tea and leg it upstairs. I did work out from the commencing shouted dialogue coming from downstairs that my brother had a friend round - thanks for telling me mum! - and so I quickly made myself look as acceptable as possible and went to rescue my tea.

Rachael XX

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