Payday Shopping Trip Haul - Superdrug, Lush, Primark, and more!

On Saturday I was in dire need of some retail therapy, so myself and my friend Jade took a little trip to Truro to have a mooch around the shops and grab some lunch. The weather was horrible, as it always is in England, but we still had a nice time having a lovely little coffee and a quick bite to eat in Starbucks, before heading out to New Look, Lush, Superdrug, and more. It's safe to say that I was in a 'treat yo self' kind of mood.

We went to New Look first, and I wasn't overly impressed with the spring selection that was available. I picked up some Shape and Define skinny jeans and I was pretty tempted by the homeware, but I was good and just bought the jeans. Being a slightly bigger person myself, I usually find jeans really hard to find, but New Look's tend to fit me best. I love the shape the jeans give me - it's the second pair I've bought!

We then went to TK Maxx and found so many lovely things that I wanted to grab. Some of the bargains I found included a little candle, a face mask, false lashes, and a super cute mug. My favourite mug got chipped recently so I needed a replacement, and although its nowhere near as nice as my old mug, I still think it's super cute.

The little Tilly Parker candle and the Eylure false lashes were both reduced, and I randomly found the Coop + Daisy face mask in the stock pile of makeup. I was immediately intrigued by the glitter, and then realised it was a watermelon face mask. How could I resist?

After that, we popped over to Lush and I didn't hold back. They have their Valentine's range out which is full of loads of amazing goodies, so I grabbed the Love Boat bath bomb, and the Aubergine bath bomb (I see you with your penis emojis), as well as the Goddess and the Guardian of the Forest bath bomb from the normal selection. I also grabbed 2 bath oils. I love how some of the bath bombs make the water feel, so I thought i'd try the oils on their own (so good for shaving).

Love Boat Bath Bomb

Goddess Bath Bomb

Guardian of the Forest Bath Bomb

Mmmelting Marshmallow Moment and You've Been Mangoed bath oils

Superdrug is probably where I picked up the most - it's so hard to restrain yourself in there! I'm absolutely loving Nip and Fab right now, so I decided to pick up the Glycolic Fix Bubble face masks, which were 2 for £8. I then spotted a Nip and Fab makeup stand and immediately went raiding. I had no idea they did makeup, but if their skincare is anything to go by, I know it will be amazing. I picked up the colour corrector in the shade 02 Banana, and the contour palette in 01 Light.

I also grabbed myself a new foundation. I seem to have a thing with foundation where I can't seem to find any that I really like, so I'm constantly buying new ones. This time I went for the Loreal True Match in the shade Golden Ivory. As you can see, I have used it already, and it's a great match for my skin.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation - Golden Ivory

I also picked up a second set of Eylure lashes, and the Maui Moisture Coconut Milk Shampoo and Conditioner. My friend had really enjoyed using them, and I thought they looked amazing. I decided to pick them up since they were on offer, and my hair is in need of some major TLC.

Next we went to Waterstones and I picked up 2 books - Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig and The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight. I had read Matt Haig's other book, Reasons To Stay Alive, and absolutely loved it, so I've wanted to pick this one up for a while. I've heard really good things about the Sarah Knight book, and I'm definitely in a 'sort yourself out' point in my life right now, so I'm pretty excited to start reading it.

Lastly, we had a little look around Primark. Again, I wasn't overly impressed with the spring fashion, but I did find a cute little bag. I'd been looking for one anyway as all my bags seem to be too big or too small, but this one is the perfect size. It has a simple magnet to keep it closed, and a detachable inside pocket.

So that's it, no more shopping ever again!.. Or until next payday.

I hope you enjoyed my little haul, and I'll see you very soon!

Ciao for now,

Katie x

An Open Letter To The High Street Fashion Industry

(Image taken from Google)

I hate shopping for one reason, and one reason only...

NOTHING. F***ING. FITS.

I see rows and rows of gorgeous spring dresses and cropped knits and cute jeans, and after trying on 12 different items in the dressing room, I'll leave with nothing but shame for the way my body looks. I'm not exactly plus-size, but I'm not really a "standard" size either. More of a weird inbetweeny stage where plus-size fashion makes me look and feel a lot bigger than I am, and mainstream high street fashion also makes me look and feel a lot bigger than I am... you see my problem here?

In my personal opinion, clothes are designed with only one body shape in mind, a body shape that I do not remotely resemble, a body shape that most women do not remotely resemble. It always comes back to that ideal society we've been conditioned to want to achieve, but do you know what? I don't like feeling resentment towards my body because of multicoloured, over-priced thread. 

It's all very well having the same clothes for sizes 4-18, but am I really going to feel comfortable in that skin tight party dress that the size 6 mannequin is absolutely rockin'? Am I ever going to go outside in that cute pastel cropped jumper? No. I have been conditioned from a young age to believe that you have to have a certain body type to be accepted wearing these sorts of clothes, and yet fashion for petite women, tall women, and plus-size women is becoming increasingly harder to find. 

Primark is the only high-street shop that stocks my size in footwear, and even then, it's an incredibly limited selection. 

I can't buy bras in New Look because they're all too small, and I HAVE AVERAGE SIZED TITS.

I can't shop in Topshop full stop.

Plus size clothing is covered in frills and flowers, and most of the time, looks like something your 50 year old Aunt would wear... or maternity clothes. Half the time its modelled by a size 16 woman with a flat stomach! Of course, I'm not saying this for all plus-size fashion, just quite a lot of the stuff that I personally have come across.

You might be saying, 'but ASOS and Boohoo have plus-size fashion, and New Look have a plus sized section on their website,' but why aren't these things readily available on the high street? Why do I have to wait a week for a jumper to arrive just to discover it doesn't fit, or looks weird? 

If I want a nice pair of shoes, I have to order them from JustFab, which is a great site, but doesn't exactly help when I want to try them on before I buy them, or need them for a last minute event.

I wish I could enjoy shopping as much as I enjoy the idea of shopping, but unless I either lose 100 lbs or the fashion industry gets it's head out of the clouds, I think it will be nothing but a wish.

I am all for body positivity and wearing the clothes you want to wear and feeling confident in them, and I praise the bigger girls who are out there slaying in their bikinis and low cut dresses. But that doesn't mean that I can suddenly pull confidence out of thin air. I want clothes that are designed for my body, not a runway model. 

What are your opinions on the high street fashion industry?

Ciao for now,

Katie x

Lush & Superdrug Haul

So recently, I went shopping with my friend and spent my entire weeks wages on niceness. I went to Lush, Superdrug, Shoe Zone and New Look, as well Costa for lunch. Here's what I bought, along with some mini reviews of each thing.

Okay, so first off is Lush! Now, I'm going to be honest, before this shopping trip, I was a complete Lush virgin. I had never tried a bath bomb or a lip scrub or a bubble bar or anything, but I always wanted to just go in there and really have a look and pick some things up that I think I'd like - so that's what I did! I bought 6 bath bombs and a lip scrub. I absolutely love relaxing in the bath with my laptop watching youtube videos and reading blogs, so I was in desperate need of bath bombs.

The first bath bomb was the Twilight bath bomb. It's a gorgeous pink colour with tiny little stars in it and cost £3.35. This was by far my favourite one. It made the water a gorgeous deep purple colour with light shimmer in it, and was really twilighty. It smelt like a comfort smell which was quite floral and sweety like, and it produced lots of bubbles! The water was so moisturising, I couldn't stop feeling my legs! Definitely going to get this one again.

The next bath bomb was the Dragons Egg bath bomb. I was so excited to find this one because I absolutely love gold and I was told it makes your bath a golden orangey colour. It cost me £3.35 and I think it was worth it. My bath turned a gorgeous sunset orange colour with lots of glittery goodness. It smelt really lovely and fresh and found it left the water feeling smooth and quite moisturising. 

I also picked up the Big Blue bath bomb, which is an absolutely gorgeous blue. It retails for £3.35 and smells divine. It had lots of arame seaweed in it (which is rich in vitamins minerals including iodine which help to regulate the metabolis) which was kind of gross at first, but I got used to it and it made my bath a bit of a novely! I felt like I was sat in the sea on a warm summer morning. Pure bliss. The smell was quite subtle but still strong enough for it to make a difference and make my nose tingle with delight. It didn't stain my bath or my skin, which I was quite scared it would do, although there was lots of seaweed left at the bottom of my bath after the water had drained, not that that's not easy to get rid of. I felt like it made the water really smooth and quite moisturising and my skin felt amazing when I stepped out the bath.

Butterball was another I picked up at £2.65. I've heard a lot of people really liked this one, but honestly, it scared me a little bit. It didn't change the colour of the water, but it left like an oily residue in the bath which was quite moisturising but made me feel a little.. dirty? I don't know. I know oil is good for your skin but it was just a little strange. It smelt really light and fresh which I liked, and it was quite nice to have a break from all the colour explosions! I think I will buy this again, but not very regularly.

Think Pink was an absolutely gorgeous bath bomb at £2.65. It made my bath literally bright pink and smelt really florally and yummy. It felt really moisturising on my skin which is always helpful, and it had tiny confetti hearts inside which made my bath very cute. I will definitely buy this again, just because it's pink to be honest!

Space Girl was one that I've wanted to try for ages, and at £2.35 I couldn't resist. I was really excited to try this one but was actually quite disappointed with it. It made my bath a light purple and it wasn't very glittery at all. It also made me feel quite itchy. I think the only good thing about this was the smell as it reminded me of Palma Violets, but im not too bothered as it was only £2.35

Lastly, I picked up the Bubblegum Lip Scrub for £5.50. My lips are always really dry and quite flaky which makes applying lipstick a tedious job which ends up looking horrible, and a lip balm alone just doesn't work, so I asked about the lip scrubs and was hooked. I didn't like the price very much, but considering everything from Lush isn't tested on animals and is natural, it's worth it. They had two other flavours but I absolutely loved the smell of the bubblegum one so picked it up. I've only actually used this once, but it made my lips so soft that I haven't needed to use it regularly. Everyone says the taste is addicting, but I think the smell is definitely the best bit. You can't use this on the go though because you will look like a loon who has had one-too-many doughnuts.

We then went into New Look as I was in dire need of some new jeans because my last pair had died, so I picked up two pairs of black jeans (I look weird in blue). I got the high waisted super skinny jeans which have rips in the knees. I hadn't really seen the hype in the new ripped jeans trend but I thought I may as well hop of board, and I actually really like them. I feel very confident in them as they're high waisted so they sort of suck my belly in a little bit and gives me a hint of a figure. They were £22.99. The other pair were just a plain black pair of skinny jeans which were £12.99 which are really comfortable and that's all there is to say.

I also went to Shoe Zone as my work shoes that I got from Primark at Christmas are completely dead, so I picked up a pair of plimsole type shoes, which are honestly the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. They're better than fluffy socks and slippers. I also picked up some simple lace up shoes as it was 2 for £8. I'm quite impressed with both of them considering how cheap Shoe Zone is.

I didn't intend on buying anything in Superdrug, but I honestly just couldn't resist picking up Zoella's Fizz Bar for £5. I've wanted to try it since I saw it on the shelf, and I finally convinced myself to buy it. Yay! I haven't used this yet as I've been trying all the lush bath bombs, what do you guys think of it?

I also picked up 3 face masks. I really want to get a nicer face mask, but as I was tight on money by the end of this shopping trip, I picked these up as they were 3 for 2. I got the Yoghurt Smoothie Mask, the Manuka Honey Peel-Off Mask, and the Superfruits Exfoliating Mask.

I used the yoghurt smoothie mask first, which had cocoa butter, vanilla and honey in it and is for normal to dry skin. It smelt just like vanilla yoghurt which I think is really lovely, and was very thick. I had no idea if you're meant to use the whole packet but I did so I had quite a lot on my face. You leave it on for 10-15 minutes but I left mine on longer because it felt so nice and my nails were wet as I had just painted them. It left my face feeling so soft and clean, which I think it lovely, considering they were so cheap. I recently used the Manuke Honey Peel-Off Mask, which was really weird. You literally peel it off. I felt like someone out of a film who is dressed up as someone and has like a rubber mask on, if you know what I mean? I haven't used the Superfruits one yet, but I'm excited to!

For lunch we went into Costa on the second floor of Waterstones (ahhh, books <3) and I had the mango and passionfruit fruit cooler, the mozerella and pesto sandwich panini thing and a chocolate twist. So delicious.

Have you guys tried any of these things? Let me know!

See you soon!
Katie xo