Sunday 31 March 2013

Sales All Year Round - Haul Post

We appear to have sales the pretty much the whole year round, and towards the end of February I managed to spend some birthday monies on the end of the Christmas sales. I ended up in Harlow, somewhere I’d never been before, and ended up parting with a fair amount of cash, but I’m pretty impressed with what I got for it.

80% of the stuff I bought was from the H&M sale which appears to still be going on online at least. I absolutely love H&M as there stuff is usually well made, and their sales usually have a few quirky pieces in (I don’t know how to say that without sounding like someone’s Grandmother!).

Tartan Jeans

I’ve gone from being a skirt girl to being really into jeans at the moment (probably because this winter was so bleedin’ cold) and I was drawn to these tartan skinny jeans. I love them, but I find it really hard to know what to wear them with so if you have any tips, let me know! I also picked up the snood (£2) and a little bobble hat (£1).

Jacket from H&M Sale

I also got this tweed-style coat for the bargainous £10

Bomber Jacket


and this bomber jacket for the even better £5 (similar style still available here).

In a vague attempt to be slightly more optimistic about the weather I also picked up this zebra print / actual zebra pictures dress for £7 (available here). I have worn it a few times, but I’m not massively keen on the dipped hem so when I get back to my sewing machine I might take it up a bit.

Animal Print H&M Dress
Because I do love pictures animals patterning my clothes I also picked up this swan print shirt (up until about 5 minutes ago I honestly thought it was flamingo print – whoops). It was only £5, but unfortunately it has fallen victim to the ‘weird cut’ problem that some H&M garments have. It fits fine, but it’s a hi-lo tunic and whereas the front tucks neatly into jeans, the back comes down to below my knees. I’m sure some people could rock that out, but it will definitely be going under the needle when I move back home!


I then went to Primark, and in an attempt to show restraint I told myself I could only buy sale items. I picked up two plain cardigans for £3. The black and yellow shirt for £5, and the hot pants for the same (rest assured that even though they look tiny, my butt doesn't hang out the back when I wear them!)

Primark Size 6 Black BootsI also picked up these boots for £10; they make me feel a bit like I’ve let my 13 year old wannabe-grunge self dress me and have no grip, but I love them all the same. However, I saw later on FrockMeI’mFamous’ twitter that she had got them for half the price – rude Primark!


I bought a few other bits and pieces (but I didn’t think you’d want to see a bunch of pictures of tights and work trousers) and I had a lovely day, was anyone else lucky in sales this year?

     

Wednesday 27 March 2013

BOOBS! and a giveaway.

For the last few months I have been representing the London Based charity CoppaFeel! up North. (If you attend university in the UK you might have seen someone doing the same around you). As a charity they specifically work with ‘yoofs’ in an attempt to get people coppin-a-feel of their boobies (or pecs, no discrimination) safely and effectively, therefore helping to stamp out the always dangerous late diagnosis of breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Health By CoppaFeel!
Did you know there are 8 symptoms of breast cancer, and that lumps are only one of them? That’s the sort of stuff I’ve been trying to get people to learn over the last academic year, but I’ve also spent some time doing ridiculous stuff such as organizing games of boob-ball (very similar to dodgeball) and dressing as a giant boob in clubs whilst trying to convince people to commit to having grope every month by signing up to a free monthly text reminder.

And that is all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning £10 to spend at Very.co.uk; text ‘KEELE’ to 70500.

The giveaway is UK only (sorry, that’s just how pounds work!) and I will send the voucher to the winner directly.
This is not a sponsored giveaway, I have volunteered for the last (academic) year and this is my final farewell.

Monday 25 March 2013

Dermalogica Christmas Cleansing Set

Don't be confused by the use of the word 'Christmas' in the title; I am aware (despite the weather) that it is infact Spring! It's just that over the Christmas period I was lucky enough to win the Christmas Cleansing Gel Set from Dermalogica. As a brand I've always wanted to try out their stuff, but the higher price point made me nervous about ordering the wrong thing. What my set contained was a 250ml bottle of the ‘Special Cleansing Gel’ with two miniature products as ‘free gifts’; the PreCleanse (30ml) and the Skin Prep Scrub (22ml).

Dermalogica Skincare Gift Set



I’ve known for a while that I should buy some sort of strong make-up remover and the PreCleanse has definitely proved that fact to me. However, I’m not convinced that I need to shell out £23 to have this exact one. On the plus side it has a drip mechanism top so it would last you and absolute age in full size (150ml) and contains some really nice ingredients: apricot, bran, Vitamin A & E, but what I can’t get passed is that it feels like I’m slathering Olive Oil on my skin (which is in fact an ingredient) and it makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s also worth pointing out that it’s very heavily scented. I can’t pinpoint exactly what the smell is, but it’s the scent that I associate with a lot of REN products. Not bad, but if you prefer fragrance free products definitely not for you!

Special Cleansing Gel with Two Free Gifts
The main attraction here is the Special Cleansing Gel which is in fact a wash designed to cleanse without over-drying the skin. It uses Soapbark which is a naturally-foaming so as to make sure you’re properly clean, and it works to remove the excess oils. I have pretty sensitive skin and I have noticed hints of improvement since using this. I think that my skin is fond of the balm mint which is designed to ‘calm’ skin down, and as I have previously mentioned I do seem to have quiet an angry face! I am coming to the end of my bottle, which is fair enough since I usually reach for it at the end of every day, so for just under £20 (the cheapest I’ve found it is £18.90 here) it’s pretty good value.

The last part of the trio was the Skin Prep Scrub. This is a really lovely facial exfoliator, the gentlest I’ve ever experienced (I’ve no desire to rip my skin off on a regular basis, especially since it is super sensitive!). The grains are granulated Corn Cob Meal and they gradually get smaller as it polishes the skin. This probably ties with the cleanser for my favourite part of the kit, but at £27.50 I’d be more comfortably trying to find a cheaper equivalent, and save the change for some more face masks!

For people that do love Dermalogica products, where would you recommend buying them from cos I’m definitely interested in checking out some more…