London Shoplog #1 (books, CDs, make up, beauty & accessories)

Just to break up my travel log from my trip to London, today’s post will be showing you some of the things I bought while in London. This post will feature books, CDs, accessories, make up and some beauty products. I also bought clothes, but those will be featured in a separate post because else this thing would be massive.

Shopping bags

Whenever I travel I like to keep some of the shopping bags. Not as a keepsake, but because in most bigger cities stores will give you paper bags instead of plastic ones. They are prettier in my opinion and handier too, but the reason why I take them home is because I reuse them to recycle my waste paper. It’s easier than reusing paper boxes and you have something pretty to look at at the same time. And now you also know some of the stores that I went to.

Books: David Nichols – One Day, Don De Lillo – Cosmopolis, Paul Auster – The New York Trilogy, Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games (complete series), Christopher Winn – I Never Knew That About London

One thing I MUST do whenever I’m in London is buy books. They are cheaper than at home and the selection to choose from is vast. In most Dutch bookstores only a small section of the store is devoted to English language books (unless you go to Amsterdam or The Hague). In London it’s all in English (well duh!) and Waterstone’s and HMV stock everything you could possibly want to read. I like going to HMV for books as they are usually 5 pounds each or because you can get some good deals. I especially like the HMV on Picadilly Circus for book shopping and the largest Waterstone’s of London is right near it too.

CDs: Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Hurts – Happiness, The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar, The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient, James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning (2 Disc edition)

Another thing I must buy when in London is music. This trip has been the first one where I only bought 5 CDs. Other times I bought at least 3 times more and a bunch of second hand ones too as London has some great second hand record stores (try Soho!). This time I bought a few CDs which I already knew because I downloaded them before and loved it (I download stuff to sift the good from the bad) and I bought a few that I haven’t heard yet, but which I have heard people rave about. I finally got my hands on James Vincent McMorrow’s album so I’m thrilled about that. It was sold out every time I tried buying it from my local record store.

Beauty stuff: Batiste Dry Shampoo, Aussie Frizz Conditioner (x2), Lush Flying Fox shower gel

I went to Superdrug on Monday and besides some make up (see below), I also bought some beauty products. I wanted to try Batiste dry shampoo as it’s supposedly the best one out there and I’ve just started using dry shampoo so I’m trying to find which one I like best. I’m also running out of conditioner and I have heard people rave about Aussie hair products so I thought I’d give those a shot. Aussie is also available in NL, but this was a 2 for 6 pound deal, which I think is less than the cost of one product in The Netherlands. Another thing that was cheaper was Lush. Flying Fox is my fave shower gel by them and I had run out so when I found out it was cheaper by 2 – 3 euros after conversion I decided to take it home.

Collection 2000 cream shadow in Platinum Bling, Sleekglitter liner in Steel, Collection 2000 glitter liner in Le Freak, Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner in Teal.

The reason why I went to Superdrug is because they sell a bunch of make up brands that are not available in The Netherlands and even products from brands we do have that aren’t available here. I wanted to try some Collection 2000 products as it used to be a brand I bought when I was 12 and it was still available. I heard their liners are good and there was a buy 2 get 1 free deal so I threw in a cream eyeshadow just to give it a try. I already own a purple glitter liner by Sleek and love it so I decided to get this dark gray one to try.

Urban Outfitters W.I.P. nail polish in Mustard, Topshop lipstick in Confession, Barry M Dazzledust in no. 90 (Pearly Mauve), MAC Lip Erase in Dim

Some other make up products I bought come from other random places. Not the Barry M Dazzledust, that came from Superdrug too, but I also found some make up at Topshop. I didn’t even know Topshop sells make up, but they do and OMG can you say amazing? The minute I saw that bright coral lipstick (it’s coral but it looks orange on my screen) I knew it was going to be mine. I also found the perfect creamy mustard colored nail polish at Urban Outfitters. I have never seen a color like that anywhere before. The only high end make up product I bought is by MAC. I have been wanting a Lip Erase for months now, but since it’s only sold in the Pro Store and I haven’t been to Amsterdam for about as long, I hadn’t been able to get my hands on it.

Topshop cream blusher in Neon Rose, Famous by Sue Moxley single shimmer eyeshadowin shade no. 7 and smokey eye shadow palette in Cafe Culture

One brand that I was curious to buy more from was Famous by Sue Moxley. I bought a baked bronzer from that brand last year and loved it, so I wanted to see what else they had. The shimmery turquoise/ sea green color immediately popped out at me and has some great pigmentation. The palette is also gorgeously pigmented and comes with a great taupe, dark brown and a shade that in the picture looks gray, but which is actually a duochrome eyeshadow that reminds me of MAC’s Club eyeshadow. The blusher by Topshop is a cream blush which is very creamy in the pan, but once applied looks a bit powdery. Again a bright coral color, just like the lipstick above: coral is THE make up color this spring season.

Sleek Blush by 3 blusher palette in Pumpkin

When browsing the Sleek stand my eye was immediately drawn to these blush palettes. They had 5 or 6 different ones, but the one above looked like least of any of the blushers I already own. It comes with a corally pink shade, a bright pink and a bright orange. They all look very similar to the regular Sleek blushes, yet they have different names. From left to right you can see: Lantern, Squash, P Pie. Pigmentation and quality is comparable to regular Sleek blushes which is really good.

Accessories: Forever 21 white flower earrings, Forever 21 silver three finger ring, Primark bangles, Urban Outfitters triangle earrings and Forever 21 goldearrings with spokes

I was hoping to find some great accessories at Primark and Forever 21. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed at what was on offer. I only found some earrings and a ring at Forever 21 and Primark was especially dreadful. I only found these bangles worth taking with me. The rest was all so campy looking or not what I wanted to find. My favorites in this picture would have to be the earrings from Urban Outfitters. UO has some of the best edgy clothing and accessories and can be quite pricey, but I thought these earrings would definitely be worth their 8 pound price tag.

Topshop matte dark coral wayfarer style sunglasses, short tarnished gold coiled necklace from Spital Fields market and a necklace by Monki which I received free with purchase

The very first day in London I found this great necklace. I was hoping to find some cool short necklaces. I only found this one, but I think it’s incredibly cool. It’s simple yet the coils give it that bit of spunk that I like. I really don’t need another pair of sunnies, but I just couldn’t resist this colorful pair from Topshop. The frame is matte which is why I like it and it’s a very dark coral color. Again, great for spring and summer this year.

Seafoam green scarf from Urban Outfitters

As I said before Urban Outfitters do some great edgy stuff and I just loved this scarf the minute I saw it. It’s incredibly soft and I think the lose structure and tassles give is a bit of extra fun. Seafoam green is my favorite color this spring and I can already think of a few outfits to wear this with.

That completes part 1 of my London shoplog. There is more to come in a few days’ time. That’s when I’ll show you which clothes and shoes I bought. But before that I will also tell you about what I did on my final day in the UK capital and home to the 2012 Olympic Games and remember that I would hold a giveaway contest to celebrate my 500th post as well. So that’s what’s to come in the next couple of days. For now, I’m just going to enjoy the rest of my vacation and take some well-deserved rest.