shopping haul: dress smart (again) & the warehouse

COTTON ON leopard cardigan and black brogues; GLASSONS dress and tank; THE WAREHOUSE floral brogues and wedges

This shopping ban is killing me! Over the last two months I've been shopping twice. TWICE! I went from going almost every week to pretty much nothing. I knew I would have to cut back while we saved to move, but this is torture. My own little version of hell. It doesn't help that Dotti and Glassons have some really really nice things in store either.

Whinging aside...this is the haul from my jaunt to Dress Smart and The Warehouse in August. The Warehouse have some amazing shoes lately. When I saw these I had to have them. They remind me of the 70s so much. I have yet to wear them as the weather has been a load of wank and I haven't been going out much. Our weekends lately have consisted of bbq's and getting the flat presentable for the every sunday open home.

The floral brogues only left my feet during the week as I can't wear them to work. They are the best shoes ever, and only $6. Result! I got the black brogues from Cotton On's faulty section all because they were missing the laces. Truth be told, I didn't care for them with the laces so it was a win-win situation. Only set me back $5. The wedges were around $40 I think. I can't remember if that's the price of them or the other wedges I bought from there, pretty sure they were the same.

The clothes! Oh my god, I was in heaven when I found this cardigan! I have been searching for a leopard print cardi for ages, but most stores were carrying the ones that are that tacky gold-tan colour, which I hate! Saw this one and went straight to the changing room. It was a little pricey for a cardigan, $25 ON SALE! But I knew if I left it I would regret it.

The top and dresses are two of my favourite things ever. I'm not sure if the blue one is meant to be a dress, it is a weird length. Too long to be a top and a little too short to be a dress. I prefer it as a dress, just chuck on a pair of lace shorts underneath and I'm good to go. They are both so comfortable, but oh so sheer. Not really suitable for the winter, but that didn't stop me from wearing them loads. I chuck the cardigan over top, and even wore the floral brogues with the top and cardigan and skinny jeans...clashing patterns and all. They were on the end of line rack at Glassons, which happened to be BOGO free. It was definately my lucky day!

shopping haul: dress smart

Dress Smart is, hands down, my favourite place to shop in Christchurch. Clearance stores that usually have fantastic sales is a winner in my book. Some of the shops are still on the pricey side, while others have racks upon racks of $5 items.

I mentioned in my previous post that I went after a shopping fail at Postie Plus. I had good intentions I swear! I wasn't going to go anywhere but Bling, and I promised J that I wouldn't do any clothes shopping. Technically I didn't do clothes shopping as all my things are accessories, but he didn't see it from my pov.

I went in and headed straight for Bling, not wavering on my mission to avoid all clothes shops. I was in need of a new blending brush, well a second blending brush, the first having the glue that holds the bristles in place on the bristles. Not happy. Then I saw the concealer, and then the 2 for $10 sign. Almost $40 later I was done.

Can I just say that the BYS blusher (pink is candy floss, peach is peach sundae) is AMAZING! I'm actually quite a fan of BYS. They make great shadows and liners, bloody fantastic pencil liner that goes on so smooth, and the shadows are almost satiny. Their foundations leave much to be desired. The consistency is more of a tinted moisturiser and the coverage is very light. Handy if I'm just popping to the dairy or something, but not for going out. Maybe I'll use it when the weather turns warmer, who knows.

The ELF concealer is alright as far as I can tell. I haven't had the chance to use it much, I don't wear concealer to work as it seems like a waste when I work in a bed factory that has all kinds of fluff and dust floating around just waiting to land on my face. I'm constantly wiping my face and would wipe off every bit of concealer within 2 hours of being there. Hoping to give it a proper go this weekend. Haven't had the chance to use the facial whip, but wanting to try it out badly.

After leaving Bling I decided to pop into Glassons. Lately the selection has been rather bad, with a lot of dull, muted colours that look like they came straight from the 70s. I didn't find any clothing as per, but the boots!!!! Last pair in the store and in my size, it was meant to be!!! I love them. They are a bit tricky when driving, but very comfortable when walking. I wore them the same day I bought them and again the day after. So far they look great with skinny jeans and leggings, so I'm well chuffed with them. And they had a buy one get one free on all accessories, so I scored this awesome grey bag for nothing.

Then it was off to Cotton On, unfortunately they had nothing clothes wise that I wanted. I did ooh and aah over a pair of open toed wedge boots, but passed them by for now. I did get those lovely sandal booties for $5, and they will be a nice alternative to jandals in summer. The watch is one of my favourite purchases...I am seriously contemplating going back for more colours. Cute little charm bracelets at the register lured me in, but at $1 each I was fine with that. Couldn't decide what to get, but in the end settled for the crown and fleur de lis. Might get more of those as well.

Waffled on a bit aye? Hope you all have a wonderful day!

shopping haul: unichem

telescopic mascara on left eye, mascara applied at 6am on right

sorry for the crappy pictures, thursday nights are my lazy nights but i wanted to get something up since i didn't post yesterday. normally after work on a thursday i go straight home and coma, only moving when i need to shower or smoke or get a cup of tea as i have to be up at 5am and at work at 6. today, however, i had to make my way to the grocery store to buy $50 worth of salad ingredients for a spit roast work is putting on tomorrow. the only highlight on my shopping trip was a stop at unichem pharmacy and the noodle canteen for tea.

unichem are smart. they have a table outside the door with sale items to lure you in, and it works. i was lured in by the table, especially when hello kitty caught my eye. i will be 90 and still be a fan of hello kitty. it does help that the perfumes smell nice, one moreso than the other, but the wee bottles are so cute! and after being marked down from $22.99 to $3.99 i couldn't say no. they also happened to be strategically placed next to the clearance l'oreal mascara.

i'm not a huge fan of l'oreal and am very picky about mascara, but again the dramatic price drop got me. i own the feather lash mascara which i like, but it seems really wet and takes an age to dry, plus it isn't black enough for my liking. i like the blackest black possible and the feather lash just doesn't cut it. i also have the volume shocking mascara...hate it. it is horrible. the wand is too small, the mascara is too thick, all around it is crap. i've only used it a couple of times and both times it felt like i had glue on my lashes. just horrid.

i wasn't holding out much hope for the telescopic but it has surprised me. one coat made my lashes look thicker and longer and it is a very good black. i can feel it on my lashes, but i think that has more to do with putting it over 9 hour old mascara than anything else.

this is my 4th foundation brush. i have the elf one, but it is so small that i use it mainly for concealer. i also have two stipling brushes, one elf and the other some brand i bought at farmer's. i love the stipling brushes, but after watching hours upon hours of makeup videos on pixiwoo's youtube i wanted a fuller one. i'm sure i could have gotten this cheaper at k-mart or farmer's, but the thought of trolling the mall for one brush didn't excite me at all. i have yet to try it, but i'm hoping it does a good job. one thing that always irks me about brushes is the brush lines you get on your face (the main reason i don't use the elf foundation brush all over), and no amount of blending with the same brush seems to get rid of it. hoping this one leaves me with a nice flawless finish.