Recent Purchases: River Island, Primark, Nars, Laura Mercier & L'Occitane

Lately, I have been shopping on several occasions where I have picked up a few bits and pieces here and there. I have combined these into this little haul for you all to see :-)

I absolutely LOVE my new boots from River Island!! Usually, I would opt for good old brown or black in a boot, but when I saw these I just had to have them!! They are faux fur-lined, making them the most snuggly boots ever. They come in a few different colours, and I have my eye on the grey ones too. I love their versatile style, and at £30.00 they were an absolute bargain. I can't wait to wear them this Autumn :-)

I also treated myself to a new pair of pyjamas from Primark. They are made from a stretchy jersey-type fabric, and as soon as I saw the pretty vintage-style bird print fabric I snapped them up! They are so soft and comfy, and I am sat here in them whilst writing! Ideal for those cold winter nights!! For £8.00 you just can't go wrong - Oh, how I love Primark!!

A little while ago, L'Occitane kindly sent me some free samples. I was so impressed with the products I tried, that I decided to take a trip to their recently-opened store in Queens Arcade, Cardiff. I am always on the hunt for a good hand cream, and with the assistance of the two lovely girls that work there, I decided to splash out on the One Minute Hand Scrub and the Dry Skin Hand Cream (available here as a duo). I got to try both products out in-store and was really impressed. The hand cream is multi-award winning, and the scrub has received excellent reviews online. I am looking forward to putting both products to the test during the upcoming winter months.

The Laura Mercier Creme de Pistache Gift Box was a rare find, and an absolute bargain. It contains a full 200ml size Body Wash (RRP £29), a full size 50g Hand Cream (RRP £13) and a 100g Souffle Body Cream (worth £14.50). However, I paid a 'measley' £35.00 for all three products - a saving of over £20!! For those of you who haven't yet sampled the delights of Laura Mercier's bath & body care range, I urge you all to take a look (and a sniff) the next chance you get. I promise you, you will be hooked!! Unfortunately, this gift box was the last in-store of a discontinued line, but I purchased it in House of Fraser, Bristol. I know they are out of stock of these on the website, as the newly packaged gift sets are on their way in time for Christmas, but keep your eyes peeled for the possibility of finding one in your local store!!

And my final purchase, the 'All About Eve' Eyeshadow duo by NARS. I am becoming somewhat addicted to NARS products lately, and it seems that every time I pass a counter I can't leave empty-handed. I have wanted this particular eyeshadow duo for a while now, but I was lucky to also receive three 2ml trial samples of the new NARS Skincare line, namely the gentle cream cleanser, luminous moisture cream, and the optimal brightening concentrate. The full-size versions of these range between £20.00 and £50.00, so I will let you all know what I think as soon as I have tried them out :-)

So thats it peeps, I hope you all like my new purchases as much as I do :-)

Claire

xXx

I've been shopping - HUGE Haul - Lush, Revlon, Oasis, River Island, New Look, Primark....

Yesterday I returned from a week away in Paris (Eeeek!!!), and in the few weeks before I left I was busy gathering together a few new items to take with me - I use the word 'few' lightly here!!

First stop, Primark. Normally, I either see lots in Primark or nothing at all. I have problems with the style of alot of their clothing, but for the items that do fit me nicely I am a huge fan. Primark, in my eyes, coined the term 'disposable fashion'. They create of-the minute items at a really reasonable price, but this is reflected in the reduced quality fabrics that they use. This is not to say that their clothing is shambolic, but simply that they are by no means made to last. One seasons wear has normally tired out the items that I have purchased in the past, but for the prices I have paid I cant really complain.

I picked up this cute little peter pan collar tunic for £6.00, a floral tote bag for £3.00, a cute leatherette purse to store my euros for £3.00 and a pack of earrings for £2.00. I have also fallen in love with their scarves - I picked up three in the prints pictured below, and am really impressed with the quality for the price of £3.00-£4.00 a piece. Im sure I will be back for more!!

I love Oasis, and I picked up a quite a few bargains in their sale. Although I am a big fan of their clothing and jewellery, sometimes I just feel that they can be a little over-priced, especially on their basics range. As almost everything I bought was around half price, I was a very happy little shopper. I will say one thing though, in comparison to Primark clothing, you do get what you pay for in Oasis, and on the whole their clothes are really made to last more than one season.

I used to be the biggest fan of River Island. I did most of my clothes shopping there, I could always find something there last minute if I needed to, and I was always spolied for choice. But then they just seemed to go down the route of chavtasticness and I could never find anything that suited my tastes there anymore. I'm not sure if this was due to a possible change in their design team, but the River Island that I knew and loved - the one that sold the gorgeous, floaty, feminine, items - had almost disappeared. For this reason, I hadn't been into a River Island Store for over a year until last week, and was shocked to find that their prices seem to have dropped significantly. Tops that previously would have retailed at around the £40 mark are now £25 full price, and they also have a massive sale on. I picked up one top for a bargain £10 in the sale, and two shirt dresses at £25 each full price - but still a bargain really, as they are great quality and I love them!!. I was really shocked to find the store almost empty of customers though - even with such a great sale on - I only hope that this combined with the fall in prices isnt spelling the end for River Island....

For a while I have been thinking of buying myself a pair of coloured jeans, but the notion of turning thirty had left me pondering as to whether I am now 'too old' to wear them. However, the thought 'you only live once' over-rode this and I purchased not one, but two pairs. The first are a pair of full length dark jade green jeans that are made of a really soft denim. The second are a pair of bright blue capri pants. I found a really pretty top in the River Island sale to wear with the jade jeans for £12, it is made of a really pretty cream & multi-colour heart print fabric, with a cute bow sewn onto the shoulder one side. I also bought a few tops in New Look, and I had to make a sharp exit as there were so many more items that I had my eye on!!

And to finish, a shopping trip wouldnt be complete without the purchase of a few beauty items. My sister and I love Lush, and a 'browse' turned into the purchase of a Fluffy Egg bath ballistic and a Yuzu & Cocoa bubbleroon. They both smell good enough to eat, and I cant wait to use them!!

Boots had a 3 for 2 deal on across all of their cosmetic brands and so I picked up this gorgeous rainbow-silver sparkle glitter polish from Revlon in Shade 340 'Stunning', and one of the new much-blogged about Revlon lip butters in Sugar Frosting (separate reviews to follow...).

I also discovered the 'Look Beauty' cosmetic brand that is stocked in Superdrug. This brand was launched in November 2011, and all products have been tried and tested by the workers at Look magazine, which can only be a good thing!! I decided to give one of their Nail Pop Polishes a go, and the Nail Pop in Shade 4 Bling immediately caught my eye. It is a clear polish with a dusky pink glitter, that will be great worn over a pink polish for sparkly summer nails.

So thats it for my recent uk shopping haul - have you bought anything nice lately?

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