Tuesday 4 December 2012

{Diamonds and Thrills: Glasgow Loves Christmas}

I was invited to a have a special day out in Glasgow city centre as part of Glasgow Loves Christmas. Glasgow is widely known for it's style and shops, and for a stressed, busy mummy I was very excited to be spending my child-free day having a personal shopping trip for a party outfit, followed by a mini-facial and makeover, some afternoon tea (& champagne!) and a browse round the shops on Glasgow's Style Mile!

What better way to start the day... (well, I can think of some things, but a cup of tea will have to suffice!! Haha)

The personal shopping suite at House of Frasers

The personal shopping service at House of Fraser is a free styling service, and can be used to find that one special thing (for me I fancied a new sparkly jumper for the winter season) to a whole new wardrobe (which is what I did previously - here and here!). You can set the budget, and there is no pressure at all to buy anything (honest!). At Glasgow there are now three personal shoppers, each with very different styles, so there will be someone for everyone! And yes, you read that correctly - the service is free... you only pay for what you buy.

New jewelled jumper from Warehouse (as seen in Elle apparently!)


Although, I have just discovered that Warehouse have 25% off all full price items on their website using the code xmasgift. So I've just ordered it from there instead and will return this one to HOF (with standard delivery at £3.50 - I've managed to save £8! You can also pay using PayPal, so it's so easy & straightforward).

I did also buy another sparkly jumper (I just couldn't pick between them), a pencil skirt for work and an amazing dress which I will be wearing on my work Christmas do! I'll keep the dress a secret until then... watch this space!!

Sequins wool jumper from Mango (Again, this jumper is £10 cheaper at the moment if you buy direct from Mango website - free delivery and you can pay with PayPal too! - sorry HOF, but this one is coming back also)

I guess that would be the only downside to personal shopping that I can think of - you may miss out on some bargains that you might find online. I've managed to save £18 by getting two of the items direct from the store online. However, the other two items I bought were part of a special promotion at HOF and I saved 30% and 20% off, which I wouldn't have got if I went direct to the store. If you time your visit well, you could really make the most of the Christmas sales!

For a busy working mum, the personal shopping service is ideal. I don't have time to trawl the shops anymore, so having someone at HOF knows their stock is the perfect solution. I walked in and told Emma-Jo exactly what I was looking for, and within just over an hour I was leaving with not one, but two amazing sparkly jumpers, a party outfit and a pencil skirt. A very productive morning!

After the personal shopping, I headed down to Lancôme for a mini-facial and makeover with Marc, stopping on the way to absorb some of the Christmas atmosphere and enjoy the fairy lights.

As you all know, I'm obsessed with fairy lights... check out all the lights at HOF. I was in heaven!! The store looks amazing and very festive.

All the Lancôme goodies!

My skin is in a bit of a mess right now and so Marc was filling me in on the products that I should be using. I admit that I've never really used Lancôme before, but I have to say I was rather impressed. Marc has assured me that the Visionnaire serum will 'change your life'. A powerful statement, and I will see if it's true! I purchased a Hydra Zen Neutrocalm moisturiser (soothing, anti-stress - just what I need right now!) and it came with a small Visionnaire sample bottle.

Lancôme Vissionaire Recovery Serum - wrinkles appear visibly reduced, pores look minimised and imperfections such as uneven skin tone appear more even.

Marc certainly had me convinced, but the scientist in me wants to try it out to see for sure! I'm not sure I believe all the beauty buzz words from the advertising campaigns.

So, with my make-up done and looking fabulous I headed to Argyll Arcade to meet two of my friends for afternoon tea at The Thrill Room at Rox. The Thrill Room features an exclusive Moët and Chandon champagne bar (don't mind if I do!) and on Sundays there is afternoon tea! We were looked after by the lovely bar staff and Stephanie brought us a selection of fashion jewellery to try on. It was great fun!

Moët and Chandon champagne bar

The Thrill Room at Rox

Champagne & strawberries? Yes please! 

Which was closely followed by tea, tablet & mini mince pies:


We were all loving the gold plated vertebrae bracelet by Shaun Leane

We were also loving the Shaun Leane Hook Talon earrings, which have been seen on X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger:
  
The three of us - me, Becky & Lauren (loving the fact that we're all tall!)

I got a little bit carried away (it was the champagne, and Lauren's bad influence!!) and ended up buying myself a beautiful ring... like this one, but in silver:

Alexis Dove Wild Rose Ring (hopefully it will arrive in time for Christmas)

The morning of activities was organised for me, the champagne & afternoon tea were complimentary and as always, opinions are my own!

5 comments:

  1. Sooooooo what did you think of Visionnare in the end? Has it made a difference?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sooooooo what did you think of Visionnare in the end? Has it made a difference?

    ReplyDelete

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