So, it really is Murphy's Law. No really. Today Candice and I headed to the mall for no reason other than to browse and go to Sephora to use the 15% off coupon. Remember a few weeks ago I said I never find what I'm looking for? Well today I was looking for nothing in particular, and ended up coming home with some of my most beloved purchases of all time.
We stopped at Zara on the way to Sephora and I've never been so impressed with their stock. They had so much stuff I loved I actually had to stop myself from buying a few of the items. I would have to say today was one of my best shopping trips in recent history.
Two of the three items I bought at Zara were pricier...but so versatile that I justified them.
Firstly, here's what I wore shopping (my tried and true Forever 21 Tunic and GAP always skinny destroyed jeans):
This is one of my favorite go-to outfits. To be honest, I usually wear LuluLemon pants and whatever workout top and zip-up I wore to class that morning when I shop, because we tend to shop after Pilates...but today we decided to skip class and wear normal clothes to the mall!
OK, back to the purchases. I'll start with the most amazing dress ever (ok, I say that about a lot of dresses, but this one makes that list!) Don't be fooled by the pictures- they don't do it justice. ON, it looks amazing. Flattering, beautiful print, vibrant. It cost $79.50, which is pretty good for a dress like this, IMO. I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere and when I put it on, I felt incredible.
Sigh. So stunning. Candice and I both got this dress because it was just such a must-have.
My next splurge was this tunic for $89.50. I know, that's a lot...and believe me, I debated it over and over. But my love for it won me over...and it's versatility cannot be denied. I can wear it with a slip underneath as a dress, either loose or belted, I can wear it as a swimsuit cover-up, with jeans, with leggings, the list goes on. The print is beautiful and the details are pretty too. Overall I just couldn't part without it. It's one of those pieces where I had to ask myself "are you going to totally regret it if you don't buy this?" the answer was yes.
I just love it. I've been looking for the perfect dress/tunic like this for a very long time but none have ever appealed to me as much as this one...so yay for finally finding one I love! I can't wait to style this in different ways and post pics :) I promise I will!
My final item from Zara is this simple, yet sexy black dress. It has a low back and high neckline and is very fitted. I think it might even be Spanx-worthy (which I don't own.) It cost $29.50. I really like the way it fits and I don't own anything like it. I think it would look sexy with a pair of heels for a nice dinner date.
So many great purchases make me a VERY happy girl...I even told my husband I won't have to buy clothes for awhile and in a moment you'll see why...(there's more!)
But before I get to my money-saving binge at Marshalls, I'll cover my Sephora purchases and also give you a definite thumbs-down on a certain product I've been wanting for awhile.
I used my 15% Sephora discount to buy: Anastasia Brow Powder in "medium ash" and her eyebrow brush, FRESH lemon lip conditioner and a mini version of Josie Maran's Argan Oil stick.
OK so here's the bad review. I've wanted to purchase Dior's Lip Glow gloss for awhile now but could never justify the $30 price tag. Once I discovered that the gloss makes lips a pretty pink shade (kind of like O-Glow) I was sold because it wasn't just a clear gloss anymore. So I bought it at Sephora with my 15% off and opened it the moment I got out of the store and happily applied it to my lips. Within seconds Candice said "wow, your lips are super bright pink" and I looked in the mirror and sure enough they were a brighter pink than I'm used to, but it looked cute. A couple of minutes later I started to feel a tingling sensation on my lips which by the minute turned to a burning sensation. Not good. I know lip plumpers like Too Faced Lip Injection can make your lips feel this way (which I why I never use plumping glosses) but I didn't expect this from the Dior gloss since it is not a plumping gloss. I basically immediately returned to Sephora and though I hated to return it (because I wanted to love it)...I'm also not going to pay nearly $30 for something that HURTS my lips. So I got the FRESH Lemon Sugar Lip Conditioner instead. I will report back on that once I've had the chance to use it more. Anyways, big thumbs down to the Dior Lip Glow, but love many of their other products (in fact, Candice just got their AirFlash foundation and is going to write a review for the blog!)
I also wanted to get Stila's baked eye trio shadows in "Champagne" but they were sold out. I might try another location tomorrow so I can use the discount on it. It has 3 colors and they are all amazingly gorgeous. You'll notice above that I also got MAC's "blanc type" eyeshadow for my quad (the other color is "brun" which I use to line my lower lash line.)
After going to the mall I wanted to stop by Marshalls because I'm looking for decorative and practical accessories for our new West Elm 2 x 2 Console Desk (which I don't want to photograph yet because it has like nothing on it.)
Of course, as always, when you're looking for something you won't find it...but somehow I ventured to the clothing section and of course I was completely stunned by the amazing deals I found...and not only that, I was able to find two cute dresses that I have been looking for everywhere and unable to find for less than $100!
I got these two adorable summer dresses for $14.99 each. They fit perfect and are so versatile. I could wear them with flip flops for running errands during our hot summers or wear them with heels and a chic belt for a dressier look. I love them and the ruffle detail at the bust is flattering and oh-so pretty.
I realize they kind of hang weird, but they look totally fantastic on!
Then I got this dress (also in two colors) for $12.99 each ($12.99!!!!!!!). I actually wore one of them tonight so here is a pic of it on:
Sooo cute! I love the zipper-front and the ruffles. I also got it in black. These are pretty short...so I'd opt to wear them either to the pool, with tights or over skinny jeans, or even tucked into a skirt as a cute top. I like to use too-short dresses as tops sometimes and a good way to do this is to just tuck them into a pencil skirt.
Finally, I got this adorable superlong tee for $7.99
Perfect for workouts or with tights or over skinny jeans since it's long enough to cover my butt!
I did find two cute items for our desk at Marshalls which included this storage basket for $16.99 and the monogrammed mug for $3.99 which will hold pens.
That's everything for my weekend shopping. Did you have as much luck shopping as I did this weekend?
Also, for anyone interested, I wrote another story for Houston CultureMap. Check it out here!
Happy weekend!
xoxo,
Veronika.
