Tag Archives: Bicester Village

Call me an addict… But I love FCUK!

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If you read one of my previous posts I mentioned that I went to a sample sale over the weekend… A French Connection UK sample sale, to be precise. This has to be my FAVOURITE brand for dresses. They never fail to disappoint me… even more so when they have their generous sales going on!

Last weekend, from Friday-Sunday, they had a SAMPLE SALE. This is basically where there are racks & racks of clothes for you to look through & everything is really cheap! You might not find what you’re looking for from their website but you’re sure to find something from them! I just HAD to go because I wanted to experience these sales (which are popping up a lot in the UK) & also to see if I could find something nice to go into my wardrobe… Here’s what I came back with…

To be honest, I thought the sale would be full of old, horrible things that FCUK wanted to get rid of. But EVERYTHING was pretty much in season! I picked up this sleeveless ‘Dani’ dress! I wanted this in mustard which is on their website but this was only £25 so I couldn’t resist it!

I love the criss-cross work on the dress & not to forget the chunky zip at the back! This isn’t my right size but I’m gonna do some home altering to make it fit properly :) I’ve got the perfect shoes & blazer to complete this outfit :)

I also got another ‘Dani’ dress but this one has long sleeves. The material is quite thick compared to the previous dress - PERFECT for our cold winters :)

This dress has got long panels throughout the whole thing & again another chunky zip at the back! I’ve also got some other gorgeous shoes that are navy blue too that’ll go really well :)

I was REALLY impressed with the sample sale. Everything there was reasonably priced, new with tags & new stock arrived daily. It was only £1 to get in, which might I add went to CHARITY too :) I picked up anything & everything I liked at first into a big clear bag which was given to everyone. But at the end my friend & I chose the things we liked to most to buy. It wasn’t too busy (I did go on the Sunday, maybe that’s why?) but it was a shame you couldn’t try anything on! But… If I lived in London I think I might have gone EVERYDAY in case I missed any bargains! :oops:

Also, a few weeks ago I went to Bicester Shopping Village to get my friend a present but stopped in their FCUK outlet shop & picked up 2 things, I couldn’t RESIST :oops: As they’re FCUK too, I thought I’d pop them into the post!

I wore this dress the other week! The material is really soft. I love the quality of FCUK clothes AND it’s super comfy!

They had this dress in grey & black but I loved the UNUSUAL blue(ish)-turquoise(ish) colour of this one! Again, it’s fairly thick material so good for the colder months :)

Recently, I’ve had a thing about PLAYSUITS & now jumpsuits too! Well this ones in between but as soon as I saw this I grabbed it hoping it would fit me! Luckily it fit like a glove!

Sorry about the creases - I’ve worn this already too! FCUK seem to have a thing with chunky zips at the back because this has one too! I LOVE the material of this! It’s thick & silky! Goes really well a grey blazer of mine :)

The outlet shop isn’t as cheap as the sample sale but it still works for me :) Have you been to a sample sale before? Or Bicester Shopping Village? What are your thoughts?

… Until next time dolls!

P.S - I’ve gotta admit… I did feel a bit like MONICA from friends when she went to that sample sale for her wedding dress! LOL

My MAGIC wands.

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Make-up brushes… also known as my magic wands for make-up ;) Okay, so I know they may not be as easy to use for some (like a magic wand) but they sure can work like magic if you use & treat them right. I use a variety of different brushes, I try not to limit myself to just one brand because you tend to find that certain brands are better than others in some aspects.

My first proper make-up brush set was from SEPHORA. It’s a big fat shame that the UK don’t have Sephora stores across the country. I love the place because you get loads of cosmetics brands in one store :)  HOWEVER there is one in Bluewater shopping mall in Kent! So, my brush set sort of started off like this…

& in a few years it’s turned into this…

I have a lot more brushes now, some from unknown brands which I picked up in various places :oops: But most are from MAC, Sephora, & The Body Shop. I’m not done with my collection of wands though, it’s still growing :) To be honest, I don’t think it’ll stop ;) I prefer many MAC brushes as they’re of high quality, durable & provide a wide range in general compared to other brands. There are 2 brushes that have literally BLOWN me away. These are both my MAC, 187 Duo Fibre (left) & 223 Eyelash Fan (right).

MAC 187 is £29.50 but well worth it! Brushes in general from high end cosmetic brands are fairly expensive but this brush can be used for SO MANY things. It works as a foundation, powder and blusher brush (just to name a few!) Recently I’ve been using it all the time for face powder. It’s great because you can buff products into your skin for light or full coverage. This definitely has to be one of my best buys from MAC ♥

MAC 223 is in fact a MAC Pro brush which I bought tabout a year ago from “The Cosmetics Company Store” outlet at BICESTER VILLAGE. I think I paid about £8 for it & it makes me forget that the eyelash comb exists! You literally just brush your lashes from root to tip once you’ve applied mascara & HEY PRESTO! You’ll have fabulous, separated lashes :)

I do have some other favourites which I should mention :) The MAC 224 tapered blending brush & 219 pencil brush are AMAZING eye shadow & blending brushes! I reckon my brushes collection needs more work… I think I can hear MAC calling my name ;)

One thing everyone needs to take note on is to CLEAN your brushes! It REALLY does make a difference when applying make-up, especially your eyeshaddow! I tend to wash mine with MAC’s BRUSH CLEANSER. It’s only £8 & such a fab product! I pour some cleanser into a cup of water & dip the brushes in. They’re left in there for a few minutes before running them under the tap until the water turns clear, making sure all the cleanser is out! It’s that simple, & makes my brushes last much longer :)

I’ve found that BABY SHAMPOO does the trick too. Just make sure you don’t use other shampoos (like your usual e.g. Pantene or Herbal essences etc.) because they can be harsh on the brushes due to the chemicals within them. Baby shampoo is much more gentle on your precious, expensive brushes. I mix a little bit of baby shampoo into a cup of water and mix it around (like you did when you painted in primary school). Again, after doing that for a couple of minutes I run my brushes under the tap until all the shampoo is rinsed out & the water runs clear.

NOTE: I’ve found that drying the brushes with the head hanging off an edge of a table or something, like this…

… The brushes dry MUCH better than drying them upright & even flat on a table. By doing this, they look & feel brand new :) Make sure you wash your brushes atleast ONCE every 1 to 2 weeks… This’ll keep the magic in your wands ;)