There are always shocking aftermaths when you get back from a holiday - heavy tans with itchy sunburns, unforgettable memories with people you'll miss (for another 5 years or so), and the feeling of an anorexic wallet!
But you know what? I happen to appreciate those aftermaths when the feelings become of those for being grateful for the time I got to have being away for a couple of weeks.
Staying at a hotel and then a close relative's place which was abundantly close to the best mall of the Philippines, Mall of Asia, was quite a highlight for a girl with a heavy shopping addiction like myself.
Voila! The damage that was done. Oh god, I know I'm going to regret this soon, but to be absolutely honest, I have "no ragrets" (if you know where that's from, HI-FREAKING-FIVE!)
Clearly Forever 21 was my first stop at the mall. As if I haven't been raving enough about it to come to Australia, once I actually stepped in the store, all that ran through my mind was "Australia needs this, Australia needs this, Australia needs this" because it was an absolute dreaaaaam! As you can see, I happened to love it there.
Topshop is a top shop (heh I'm so punny), with great quality products, and when overseas, even better prices. I happened to be eye-ing off these high-waist Joni jeans for months now, but couldn't justify spending almosst $80 here in Australia for them, so when I was overseas, and saw they were being sold for a great price of $60, I knew it was fate telling me I had to get them. On my way to the register, I found myself lingering around the shoe rack because I couldn't take my eyes off of these black point-toe slingback flats.
Personally, I have always liked the products Zara sells. Maybe a little over-priced, but nonetheless, I'm sure the quality of the products are top-notch. Whilst I was in the Philippines, I found a Zara at Mall of Asia and died. It felt pretty good to walk in and actually be able to afford something. Believe it or not, this top was only $15, and these shoes were only $30! What a bargain!!! I walked out of there feeling like top shit because Zara always happens to be completely isolated in the Philippines, which is pretty sad.. Well, every time I went there, it was.
In the Philippines, there's a shoe and bag store called "Celine" (I know what you're thinking, excuse me, what?) but before you say they're trying really hard trying to copy the French luxury house, their items are incredibly adorable and affordable (op, did I just cheesily rhyme?)
I have been looking for sturdy glitter flats for so freaking long now, so once I laid eyes on these at the mall, I immediately came to a halt, dragged my boyfriend inside with me, and tried them on. Lucky for me, in the Philippines, everyone has small feet therefore they stock more of the smaller sizes, and these fit magnificently! For $30, I was not going to pass that up, at all.
You know how they say "if you wait for the perfect moment to wear that perfect piece, you'll be waiting forever"? Well that's exactly what's been going on with these babies because every single time I want to wear them, I feel like there will be more of a special moment to debut them at!
Okay, first off, I have to say that Benefit is most probably my favourite make-up brand, mainly because of the fact that without fail, every single product that I have tried has surprised me beyond measures. I'm the type of person to be pretty gullible, so if one beauty guru raves on and on about a product, I'm going to go out, buy it, but actually hate it because my opinion of it is different from hers - but when it comes to Benefit, I feel like it caters for the every girl, which is absolutely perfect because who doesn't love products that are just real and so true to their marketing? Absolute love!
I took it as a sign that it was my time to finally invest in MORE Benefit products - especially the classics - so I bought the They're Real mascara and the Porefessional primer. I couldn't pass it up because these overseas products cost an arm here in Australia so if I wanted to stock up, I had to do it in the Philippines (and considering it's shipped in from the US, it's still the same product, just cheaper! Win!)
As a MAC fanatic, I'm not that big of one, only because everytime I try their foundations/concealers, I'm not impressed with the smell. Smell is an important thing for me when it comes to cosmetics because I have an extremely sensitive sinus, so a bad smell will just set me sneezing for an entire day. Although I'm not a big fan of their foundations/concealers, I absolutely love their blushes and vanilla-scent lipsticks!
(Note: there is a sneaky Smashbox liquid eyeliner there, so just disregard the fact that I photographed it with the MAC products because it just looked very lonely on its own, but much happier with its buddies at MAC (I really did just talk about these cosmetics products like they were actual human beings.)
The blush I got is called Fleur Power, the hot pink lippie is called Lickable, and the subtle red lippie is called MAC Red.
This is probably the only thing you guys care about seeing in this post, so it's about time I finally got to it, hey? Did you just scroll past all of the other pictures to get to this one? If so, you suck! Just kidding, but seriously, I understand, I'm guilty of doing the exact same thing.
So finally, here we are. Here I am, one Louis Vuitton, one Prada and one Cartier luckier! Definitely my favourite buys from the Philippines! There was just such love and care for these items when I bought them and carried them back home. They were like my second babies!
In absolute pristine conditions, and aaaaamazing quality, it was hard to not want to take them out for a play as soon as I got back.
The Louis Vuitton is originally for my mum, but being the almost-sisters that we are, obviously some pass-the-parcel is going to be played with this beauty of a bag.
As soon as I laid eyes on this Prada wallet, I fell in love. Prada? Pink? HELL YES!
There you have it, loves! All of my holiday shopping in a crammed blog post for you, specifically!
I'm curious - what was your favourite buy on your recent holiday? Let me know in the comments below!
Until my next post,
lots of love,
Danica xo
