Thursday 2 January 2014

Little shopping trip to the Trafford centre!

So today my boyfriend had a ski lesson booked at the chill factore, (the lucky boy is off to France tomorrow with uni mates on a skiing holiday for a week! I was invited but uni assignments take priority, sigh) since he was going there I thought I'd drive him and then have a toot around the Trafford centre, which is right next door.

Well I dropped him off at half eight as his lesson started at nine and went straight over to the Trafford centre, little did I know it only opened at 10 (though i did get a cracking parking spot). I literally sat in my car for 20 minutes doing nothing, until boredom truly set in and I decided to go inside incase the cafes were open. If you've ever been to the Trafford centre you'll know how hectic and crowded it is but for about 2 hours it was just this...


Utter bliss!
(And Starbucks was open so I just sat down and relaxed with a frappucino waiting for the stores to open.)

Right, let me set something straight, I had gift cards and Christmas money to spend, so if you read my last post and saw that one of my New Years resolutions was to not spend frivolously, I'm going to say this trip didn't count as it is totally part of my Christmas presents!! (Blatant denial, the money saving starts tomorrow, I promise!)

Anyway I thought I'd show you all some of my january sales purchases...

First up is some Make up.


These were a bargain at £3.99 each, especially the eye-shadow mini palette, recently I've been coveting the Urban decay naked palette collection but it's a tad out of my budget but these are just what I was looking for in a replacement. There's not just this one, there's a whole collection and loads of gorgeous shades, but I tend to only use pinks and nudes so this was the one for me!
H&M - £3.99 each

 Next up... Nail polishes!
The red ones on the left were bought together in a set, and I got these as a... sort-of impulse buy as they were at the till but I have been looking for a replacement red glitter nail polish since my topshop one ran out and they don't sell it currently. The ones on the right are topshop and I saw them from the shop entrance and I had to have them, and since it's the sales there was a little deal which made me feel a little less guilty when purchasing them (that and the god-send of student discount!). They are a little pricey compared to some more budget nail polishes but they are worth it in my opinion not only because the colours are always lovely but they're really great quality.

Red ones are from H&M- £2.99
Blue ones are from Topshop- £6 each or 2 for £9


Now for some Accessories...
This is a really cute elastic headband which will go perfectly with a skirt I have and several other items, it's fake leather from what I can tell and feels really good quality, perfect for the spring.
Topshop - £6



I couldn't not buy these, they are so darn cute! Not exactly for everyday but cosy and have kittens on them so what's not to like?
River Island- £3 each or 3 for £7

Point of notice, as I've said these are 3 for £7 and I did have another pair of socks that were black with koalas on them (and just as cute) but the woman at the till was too busy chatting with co-workers so didn't scan them, I'm a little disappointed with that. Oh well.


Here are my favourite things to buy, the Clothes!

I have a little obsession with velvet at the minute, though admittedly I do have a red velvet skirt and I don't usually purchase things of which I own similar items, but it was in the sales and I tried it on and it's so soft and looks amazing. It's knee-length, which is another thing I'm loving right now, and there was also a lovely royal blue version (I would have bought that as well but I have recently bought a royal blue 3/4 sleeve velvet dress that's not so different).
Miss Selfridges- £20 (£18 with my student discount)




I have completely adored this coat since I first saw it and when ever I saw someone in town wearing it I would turn green with envy! However I could not justify paying £98 for it, then I saw one in the (actual) topshop store today in the sales and got all excited, but it was size 14 and £65, too large and still a little too pricey, so sadly I put it down. But later on I was looking in the small topshop section they have in Debenhams and there was one more in my size no less, and I checked the price tag again and found it was £45, that I could justify! So obviously I snapped it up (and with student discount it saved me even more moolah).
Topshop (Debenhams) - £45 (£40.50 with student discount)




Now I do have white/cream jumpers but this is a lot more fitted and lighter (as in thickness/weight) than my others, and it's got a nicer design so I thought it would be great for spring when it's starting to warm up but not quite vest top weather. It's a size or two larger than I actually am, but that's usually okay with regards to jumpers (in my opinion) and this one, like I said, is more fitted so it's just right for what I wanted. A good find, I reckon.
River Island- £10


I wasn't to sure about this skirt at first as it has a crinkly texture (which you can see in the photos) and it feels like it looks but I liked the pattern (shown in more detail underneath), but it's not uncomfortable to wear or anything it just rustles a bit when you walk. Yet when I tried it on (with the jumper above) it was just so lovely and looked really pretty and for the price I couldn't say no!
River Island- £5




This scarf was in the sales section, but didn't have a sales price tag like everything else, so I thought maybe someone had just left it there, but it was so soft, thick and with such lovely colours that I decided to take it to the till with me just in case it was on sale, as the normal price was £22 which wasn't shocking, because it's huge and really good quality but I wouldn't pay that much for this kind of thing. Lo and behold, it was on sale, and £7! Bargain!
River Island- £7


Lastly, little bath time treats!
I don't know if you can tell but I do love my LUSH bath bombs and bubble bars (even the little snowman is from LUSH) so I got quite a few. I think I'm going to make a post entirely on this 'haul within this haul' as I bought a variety of things and I think I'll review them individually, so keep an eye out for that in the very near future (I've got to use them first though!).
LUSH- Variety of prices, total around £30

I'll be more specific on prices etc. in the post I'm going to write solely for these, I just don't have the info. at hand at the minute.



I don't often go into The Body Shop, but I'm not sure why because they do so much gorgeous stuff. I need to get more things from here, most definitely! But I did wander in today as I had time to kill and there were so many amazing offers, but this caught my eye, well more my nose, as it smells AMAZING, it's passion fruit scented body butter and shower gel and I am in love with it, great price as well!
The Body Shop- £8 Bought together as a set (originally £15)

That's all folks!
Well not really, I did buy a ton of pretty Christmas wrapping paper as well since it was all dirt cheap and so I thought I'd stock up now, why not?


I had a really nice chill shopping day today, just by myself, it's sometimes nice to have change. I do love going shopping with friends and family but there are times you just want a little day on your own to browse at your own pace, on your own timescale, and for such a hectic shopping center I left surprisingly relaxed!

Hope I didn't blather on too much...

Keep smiling!
BirdsinBlossom x






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12 comments:

  1. It looks like you had a great day out! :) The Trafford centre really is stunning, especially when it's that quiet!
    I'm such a sucker for anything blue! Those blue nail polishes from Topshop are beautiful, what are they called? :)
    Ellie, xx
    Elephant stories and more

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading and commenting! The lighter blue nail polish is called 'Imagination' and the darker glitter blue is called 'Baby blues'.

      Birds in Blossom x'

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    2. 'Imagination' is a nice name but I wish they'd of come up with a better name than 'baby blues'! I wish you had a GFC on here, then I'd start to follow you! I'm enjoying your blog! =]

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    3. I agree they definitely didn't strain their brain power to come up with that name! Also, I think I've just added a GFC, I didn't even know what that was until you mentioned it, I'm still such a newbie!

      Delete
    4. Haha, I'm in the same boat! It took me FOREVER to find it. If you go on to layout, then 'add gadget' it will come up with a pop up, click 'more gadgets' and then click 'followers' on mine it was right at the bottom of the list.
      In return, I'll be your first follower back! :)

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    5. I think you've added the G+ followers instead! :P I don't know what that is!
      'Followers' has green body shapes on if that helps!

      Delete
    6. Right, okay, I think I've got it this time... Thanks for all the help!!

      Delete
  2. Thank you, and definitely, following you right this minute!

    Birds in Blossom x

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  3. Hi! I love that jumper! Great post!
    Would you like to follow each other? If you like my blog at least! Anyways let me know!
    xoxo
    http://foreveramber123.blogspot.nl/

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    Replies
    1. Of course, your blog seems like it is definitely my kind of thing! Thanks for checking out my blog!

      Birds in Blossom x

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  4. Hi, I'm a new follower! Those nail polishes look adorable! The red would look gorgeous with the glittery one as an accent nail. And I am definitely going to check out the H&M eyeshadow palette, could you do a review on them sometime? I think they would make a great alternative to the Naked palette as they are so much more affordable. I love your blog and I would really appreciate it if you could check out mine and maybe follow if you like it. I can't wait to read your next post! <3

    xo Hannah
    http://lipglossandloosecurls.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the comment, I'll definitely attempt to do a review on the H&M eye shadow palette, but I can't guarantee it will be any good!
      I checked out and loved your blog so I just followed you now!

      Birds in Blossom x

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