Birthday Haul: Part Two

A few days ago I posted a Haul, sharing with you some of the things I was lucky enough to receive for my birthday. Of course, after every girl's special day there comes a lot of shopping; we have to find somewhere to deposit all those notes that flutter so generously out of cards from long lost relatives, right?!

Maybe purchasing just three items of clothing, a bag, a pair of shoes, a lipstick and a nail varnish doesn't seem that extreme, but I seriously felt like I'd gone rogue as I crept from shop to shop, trying to resist all the gorgeous Summer stock. 

Birthday Haul

On Saturday, I celebrated my 19th birthday; it was probably my most enjoyable birthday to date and I spent way too much time eating cake, leaving no time for me to photograph the celebrations. So, instead of a post all about how I spent my birthday, I decided to share with you some of the things I was lucky enough to receive. I was delighted to find I'd been gifted a couple of things from my birthday wishlist, as well as some lovely, thoughtful surprises. 

SheInside Haul // My SheInside Experience

About two and a half weeks ago, I made my first SheInside purchases. I was pretty nervous about ordering from them as I had read a lot of negative reviews citing poor quality products, orders not arriving and their customer service team being unresponsive. However, seeing as I managed to pick up a t-shirt, dress and coat for around £40 I decided to risk it. I'll leave a full review of my experience with SheInside at the end of this post, for those of you who are considering ordering from them. 

The first thing I added to my cart was this (fake, obviously) Acne Studios t-shirt. I'm a bit snobby when it comes to fake designer shoes or watches, but one teensy tiny fake t-shirt is acceptable, isn't it? Apart from being terribly creased when it arrived, the quality of this t-shirt isn't too shabby. The cotton is quite thin, and not the soft sort that you get with Topshop or H&M t-shirts, but the sizing is nice and the stitching looks fine. 

Charity Shop Haul

I'm not sure what the official laws of blogging say, but I'm pretty sure you have to have more than 3 items to do a haul post. But hey, rules were made to be broken and managing to find 3 decent items in a Bristol charity shop is such an achievement that I had to do a post about it.

My First Pay-Cheque: Haul

After a couple of weeks of saving I decided it was time to finally splash some cash and treat myself to lots of new pretty things; in the words of Georgina Sparks, "I've been so good for so long, it's time for me to be bad."

So, with my wages safely deposited in the bank and my debit card in hand I made a beeline for Topshop, Zara and Urban Outfitters. I have to say, I was left largely disappointed with what was on offer in some of my most trusted stores. No one wants to pay £48 for a plain knit jumper, or £52 for a skimpy playsuit. Topshop, Urban Outfitters; shape up or ship out! As for Zara, everything in their collection was gorgeous but I'm simply not brave enough to invest in floral print trousers or a chiffon blazer.

However I have apparently taken a liking to plaid, unwittingly purchasing two items in the pattern before getting home, taking them out the bag and being asked "What are you, a farmer?". 

I also made an obligatory pit-stop at Primark to see if I could snap up any bargains and ended up buying more there than anywhere else. I love this bag; I know deep down that it won't last the Winter but how could I resist such a gorgeous cobalt blue? I won't try and defend purchasing such a basic t-shirt, or another set of cosy socks... or the Christmassy penguin-print pants that I thought best not to photograph. 

Last but not least I scoured Boots for two items on my beauty hit list; Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter and Barry M Gelly nail varnish. Thankfully I found them both or else there would of been hell to pay after my less than satisfying shopping trip.

I headed home feeling a little deflated, sort of like I'd waited all day for a delicious roast dinner only to be left disappointed by soggy veg and dry meat. With only ten items purchased and less than a week's wages spent I vowed to go on another filthy great shopping spree before Christmas. 

Until then, here are some pictures of what I bought: