August Haul: Primark, New Look & More!

‘Ello ladies!

I have a bit of a confession to make…I am supposed to be on a spending ban. That went well.

aUGUST HAULI’ve been trying to invest in some simpler pieces to go with the more jazzy things in my wardrobe so I don’t have to wear too many mad prints at once – I usually am a bit of a ‘AHH LOOK AT THE LEOPARD PRINT. LOOK AT THE FLORALS’ kind of gal and have very little interest in plain things. But as a working girl in her 20s, sometimes turning up to the office in acid wash and leopard print isn’t the most professional way to dress.

CLOTHES

New Look Dress | Primark Shirt | Missguided Shorts

I managed my new simple mantra with *two* of my recent purchases, so all in all not too shabby! You can’t g wrong with a t-shirty style skater dress and I love the rose colour of this one! Rose is also a big colour for autumn/winter, so I’m pleased to be getting a few on-trend items in my wardrobe already! The shirt is very me and I have about 10 cream blouses in my cupboard already…one more can’t hurt, right? I plan to wear it with these jazzy neon floral shorts on Saturday night for our house party!

BEAUTYLush Happy Hippy Shower Gel | Lush Dirty Springwash Shower Gel | Lush Bohemian Soap | Lush Ocean Salt Facial Scrub | Lush Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub | Lush Whoosh Shower Jelly | Maybelline Baby Lips | Nivea Day Cream | Nivea Cleansing Lotion | Palmer’s Natural Bronze | Purdie’s Hand Lotion | Model’s Own Nail Varnish |

Phew, we have a few beauty products on the go don’t we! I haven’t used any of my Lush stuff yet, so I can’t comment on those. The Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm is something I seriously don’t get. It’s just vaseline, basically. WHAT IS THE HYPE ABOUT?! The Purdie’s hand lotion smells amazing and I picked it up in Scotland. The rest is pretty self explanatory, oui oui?

ACCESSORIES

H&M Pork Pie Hat | New Look Bag | Primark Necklace and Earrings

I’ve been after a pork pie hat for AGES, but refused to pay Topshop prices because I am a tramp poor girl. I found this bad boy in H&M for £8.99 so it swiftly found it’s way into my shopping basket! It’s going to be another great autumn/winter piece and I’m very excited to start wearing it! The bag is another transitional piece (and one that was desperately needed after my main handbag began to fall apart!). It’s not the best quality but it cost me £10 in the New Look sale so you can’t complain really. Primark is one of my favourite places to go for jewellery and it definitely didn’t disappoint this week! I love this necklace and the earrings are right up my street (although very plasticy!). I also bought a really cute bee/bug ring but I couldn’t find it while I was taking these photos, cry.

SHOESNew Look brogues | Converse from Schuh

This pair of converse are actually a couple of weeks old and something I didn’t buy myself! My parents got them for me for my birthday, which was very lovely of them! I claimed I wasn’t a trainer girl for about a year and that has definitely change…so comfy! The brogues were another attempt at dressing like a grown up and since buying them about a week ago, they’ve had A LOT of wear. I’m very pleased with them, definitely a great classic addition to my wardrobe.

PHEW. That is pretty much all of my recent buys. I think I went a bit mad, but you know. You have to speculate to accumulate, right? (Anyone know what that actually means?).

What do you all think of my August buys?

 

 

Mini Haul: Primark, Barry M and Palmers

Primark Haul 7 Group

I popped into town today for ‘one or two bits’ and, of course, got a tad carried away. In my defence, I didn’t spend that much. The fact that it was still money I don’t have is neither here nor there (in fact I think it’s there, way way way over there…)

So I thought I’d share with you what I picked up.

Primark Haul 5

This is one of the bog standard Primark skater dresses that they sell for a ridiculously good FIVE ENGLISH POUNDS. I have one of the t-shirt versions and it’s good enough quality – it shrunk in the wash, but this was most probably my fault because I shrink everything, and I don’t mind anyway because it made it a slightly nicer length for my dwarfish frame. I like the bright blue of this dress and, although it’s nothing too exciting, I’m sure I’ll be happyI bought it on a sunny day soon (not today; the strong winds meant that the shoppers in Coventry city centre have had quite enough of my butt cheeks for one weekend).

Primark Haul 4

Baragainous little crop top for a mere £2. TWO ENGLISH POUNDS. Okay, I’ll stop doing that now. But still! I already have cropped vests from Primark in white and grey so thought this neon orange/coral one would be a good addition to the collection.

Primark Haul 3

I think this is actually my favourite thing I’ve bought today. It’s a white crop top (no shit, Sherlock) but it’s got a beaut low back that makes it a lot more dressy. A word of advice, the sizes come up quite big on this if you’re a small-boobed girl like myself; the 8 was really baggy so I ended up getting a 6. I think I’m going to wear this on a night out next weekend with my new Topshop denim skater skirt and maybe some neon-esque accessories. Oh, and this too only cost a fiver. Suh-weet.

Primark Haul 1

Multi-packs like this are so useful, and really good value for money too. The rings were £2.50 and the bracelets were £4. I love the turquoise and silver combo that I’m seeing around quite a bit at the moment, and I’m glad to see the grungey cross/skull trend still seems to be hanging about (mainly as I’ve got quite a few pieces like this so I’m not ready to give them all up and be an untrendy Wendy again).

Primark Haul 6

Ah, black flats: one of those essential-but-boring items you need to replace now and then. Primark had so many really nice flats in, lots of cutaway detailing, peep toes, and lovely nude shades of tan and stone. But alas, I needed to replace my ruined black flats and so had to make the decision to get these instead. I suppose they’re not too boring, but… wah. I also got some frilly ankle socks; these aren’t something I’ve worn before, but I thought I’d give them a little go with my Converse and try not to feel like too much of a massive tit.

Primark Haul 2

I eventually stepped away from Primark (after trying loads of other stuff on that thankfully didn’t suit me when on) and headed to some makeup shops. I initially went into Superdrug to get a few bits for our first ever GIVEAWAY (which we should be launching today or tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled and be sure to follow us on Twitter @StylingoUK). But I of course got distracted by the Barry M stand. All of the nail varnishes had been removed from my local Boots last weekend – I asked the bloggers on Twitter, and apparently they had been recalled due to an issue with the current batch of bottles as they kept smashing. Either the issue has been resolved, or Superdrug just aren’t as bothered about protecting our little fingers as they had a beautiful fully-stocked nail section. Insert the ‘loveheart eyes’ emoji here. I’ve been wanting to try the new confetti range for ages, so chose this nice blue to start with.

I also picked up the Palmers Cocoa Butter gradual tanner after reading quite a few positive reviews about it. I occasionally use the Dove gradual tanner (which is a million times better than Johnsons – which, to use a retro insult, WHOMPS) but I’ve heard that Palmers one is quite a bit darker so I wanted to give it a whirl. I’ll do full reviews of these two products once I’ve given them a fair go.

And that is it! What do you all think of this mini haul? What have you been buying lately?