Bank Holiday Weekend ***Shopping Haul***

I always thought "shopping hauls" were quite a stupid vlog/blog idea…I mean, a video of you doing something that pretty much every person does on a daily basis?

OK.

 

Superficial, much?

 

But then a few things occurred to me:

Firstly, I’ve been crazy busy for the past few months, with barely any time to shop and I haven’t had a decent, purely-for-leisure shopping trip in ages. Whenever I have been shopping, it’s been to purchase practical things.

As a result, it’s gotten to the point where I now feel guilty buying things I don’t necessarily need.

First World Problems. Indeed.

But what’s the point of working hard, if you don’t treat yourself sometimes? It might seem superficial and materialistic but hey, they don’t call it retail therapy for nothing. And when you’re living a modern, rat-race lifestyle, I encourage it from time to time.

The Bank Holiday weekends always seem like a perfect opportunity to browse the shops. I like to get there between 10am-11am, while the shops are still waiting for things to pick-up.

Secondly, my birthday is coming up, so that presented another reason for an indulgent shopping trip.

I wrote out a birthday-specific shopping list, kind of like a wish list of things I would usually point-blank refuse to buy because you’re paying more for the brand than the product.

A few people have been asking me if there’s anything in particular I want as a birthday present, and want their hands on that list.

But I think I’ve outgrown birthdays. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I tend to see birthday cards and presents as unnecessary clutter. I have enough stuff and the things on that list aren’t stuff I need or want from other people, it’s my way of treating myself.

I think it’s a lot more satisfying when you’ve been responsible and held-off buying something semi-extravagant, instead waiting until you have more disposable income.

It’s why I could never understand the mentality of a golddigger…it’s nice to be gifted something, but it’s so much more rewarding when you purchase something after you’ve worked hard for it. Even if you can afford it initially, it's nice to buy it after because you feel like you've earned it.

Is that just me?

It’s even nicer when you’ve gone through a period of shelling out for unforeseen costs on practical things like repairs, and you’ve sacrificed shopping trips in the process.

Finally, living in a city like Leeds, you might as well indulge in an activity that the city is best known for: SHOPPING!

I’ve been to many places and the shopping in Leeds is unparalleled. It’s easy and convenient, with a good mix of shops. The one downside is that I’m getting a little sick of all the US restaurant chains that seem to be popping up everywhere, serving up garbage. Nothing like encouraging the UK obesity epidemic.

And on that note… here are some purchases that kept me busy over the Bank Holiday weekend:

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo Corrective moisturiser – a little on the expensive side, but it was either this or the 3-Step System which I’ve been keen to give a go.

I usually wouldn’t cave in to mass advertising as I’ve made that mistake in the past before, but I’ve tried the Eucerin range (another skincare line that seems more medicinal than cosmetic) and there’s definitely a difference between these products and your standard drugstore varieties.

They’re not THAT pricey either, there’s no fancy packaging and there’s something pharmaceutical-esque about these products, without them being as heavy-duty as the acne treatments prescribed by the doctor.

So far, I haven’t noticed a drastic improvement in my skin, despite its 48-hour claims. However, it is the first moisturiser I’ve used in a while where I don’t end up with a shiny face by the end of the day. I can’t fault its mattifying properties, which is great for oily skin!

The fact that my skin feels less greasy by the end of the day makes me confident in its preventative properties.This does come with a money-back guarantee if you aren’t happy with the results, so you don’t have anything to lose by giving it a go. It’s always trial and error with these things anyway, to see what works for your individual skin.

Drugstore make up – I found this eyeshadow palette when I was picking up a few other toiletry bits at my local Bodycare and thought, why not? It especially caught my eye as it was a rare matte eyeshadow palette, as opposed to the shimmery iridescent palettes that are easier to find. Also, it was dirt-cheap and I read somewhere that cheap makeup often has identical ingredients to its more expensive counterparts.

However, there’s Collection 2000/17/MUA/Miss Beauty cheap…and then there’s market-stall cheap. And this eyeshadow palette definitely feels like the latter.

Here, you get what you pay for. It’s not great, especially with the applicator it comes with. I’ve bought some sponge eyeshadow applicators, so I’ll see if the eyeshadow applies better with those. If not, I can always give it to my niece to use on her dolls.

Next, are these two jersey-jumper style tops from erm...Next. I like Next, because the clothes are generally good quality, especially when compared to the rest of the high-street. The jeans are surprisingly cheap there too.

I bought these tops more for work, where there’s a smart-casual dress code. I dunno, a lot of my work clothes are still in good condition, but some of the pieces I’ve been wearing since I first start working...five years ago! Sometimes, you just want to refresh and update your wardrobe.

I like the earthy tones of the jumpers and as we head into September, these tops are also perfect for those Autumn days where it’s too hot to wear coats, but too cold to wear short-sleeved tops.

So there you have it. Nothing too extravagant or special but hopefully a few tips, from one shopper to another.

Some of the items on my shopping list I had difficulty buying, as they either didn’t have it in stock, didn’t have my size or I plain just couldn’t find it and I didn’t have time to browse further.

Isn’t that always the way? When you go out with the intention to spend, you can’t find anything you like or what you were looking for. But when you’re broke or watching the pennies, all of a sudden you see a million things you want.