Thrifty Lady: NEW LOOK SALE BARGAINS

Howdy Everyone,

I'm sure you are all feeling the pinch this month too, payday can't come quick enough. I've had just enough money to cover my rent, bills and train fare to work and absolutely nothing else! Luckily I had received some 'Love To Shop' vouchers from work so I figured I'm allowed to treat myself to something. My local New Look held a special VIP night last night with 20% off everything including sale so I couldn't resist having a bit of a bargain hunt...

My sale haul!

Firstly are these amazing shorts which are actually from the kids range! I thought they'd be perfect for summer although I pretty much live in shorts all year round. They're an over-dyed pink with neon fraying which is right up my street. The best part? They cost me £1.80 reduced from £14.99!!!

 I am very much a patterned tights fiend. I'm sure I've got over 50 pairs of patterned tights! I really love House of Holland tights and these little polka dot numbers are so cute. They were reduced from £12.99 to just £2.60! Backseam tights are another favourite and the gold glittery bows on these Gold by Giles ones are lovely. They were reduced from £7.99 to EIGHTY PENCE! yep, 80p! According to the website they're not even in the sale so I win :)

 Ok, I'm cheating a little bit with the creepers because I didn't buy them yesterday at the VIP night, I bought them last week. I was just having a mooch around town just to look in the sales and New Look had reduced ALL sale shoes to just £5. Cue to me trying on every single pair of size 7 sale shoes in the shop, that's what days off are for right!? I was torn between this pair and a houndstooth pair of creepers that weren't quite as stacked. In the end I decided that black ones will go with a lot more and although they are still a faddy kind of shoe, I think they are more wearable than the houndstooth print. I have resisted buying creepers for so long! I couldn't justify buying the Underground ones that I've wanted for years because I just know I wouldn't get my moneys worth out of a £70 pair of creepers and I've always thought the cheaper ones look...well...cheap! This pair seem to be well made and for a fiver I can't complain!

So altogether my haul cost me just £9.80! BARGAIN! The sale on the New Look website is a bit poop but I'd advise checking your local store to get more choice and see if they're hosting a discount evening.

Have you found any gems this sale season?

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx

Nails Of The Day: AMETHYST & PIZZAZZ!

Hello everyone!

I received this Topshop nail polish for Christmas off one of the girls from work (Hiii Jill) & I love the colour. I'm a huge fan of metallic polishes and I'm totally going through a lilac phase again so the 'Amethyst' colour is perfect! I've applied three coats and used a top coat too. I've never tried Topshop polishes before and it lasts quite well. Nail polish doesn't seem to last very long on my nails anyway, maybe because they're not in the best condition (damn you acrylics!) and peel quite easily. The cute polka dot packaging is a winner too :) I've just had a look on the website and it says out of stock-wah! 

 Blummin' smudged my tiny nail didn't I :( 

For the accent nail I used China Glaze in 'Pizzazz' (amazing word). It an extremely glittery polish with different size glitter particles so it looks lovely when worn over another colour. Last week I laboriously applied about 15 coats of the 'Pizzazz' to have crazy shiny nails but I found that despite my time and effort it just chipped off in huge nail shaped chunks :(  I think I'll just be using this polish as a glittery top coat instead. I bought it from Sally's hair & beauty so check your local stores as it doesn't seem to be on the website.

What is your favourite colour polish right now? What do you think about Topshop nail polish?

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx

Hair Lust: MY LITTLE PONY HAIR!

I've love the pastel hair trend but I especially love the multi-tonal styles that I've been seeing a lot more of recently! I like the grey/white undertone to these colours and the plaited styles are too cute...

All image sources can be found on my Pinterest board

I decided that I really needed some pastel hair in my life but the persistent redhead in me made it very difficult to bleach light enough to achieve the desired colour and it went a lovely shade of orange! After a little longer with the bleach on my head my hair turned a peachy colour which was nice but still not a light enough base for the lilac/blue/grey look. My hairdresser Michelle, suggested going a peachy pink colour and then when that faded we could bleach it again for a lighter colour. I have a sensitive head so the less bleaching the better! I also had a 'weave' of 'my little pony' pink, blue and lilac sewn into my head! I'd never worn extensions or anything like that before so at first they were a little annoying but I've got used to them now and my hair is so much thicker!

This photo was taken on NYE and my hair has faded quite a lot since then, more photos to follow!
This tumblr is making me want ALL the pastel hair in the world!

What do you think of the pastel hair trend? Would you dye your hair 'my little pony' style?
Thanks for reading :)
Rachelle xxx

Wishlist: HURRY UP PAYDAY!

(Clockwise from the top)
Wall-Mounted Clothes Rail: In my new room I don't have enough space for a freestanding clothes rail so a wall mounted one seems like a perfect solution. I like this one but I can't find out the price. I've had a look on eBay and other places and they seem to be going for around £40-£60 which is a bit much for a glorified pieces of metal if you ask me so hopefully I'll be able to persuade my dad to build something similar!
Black Ballet Shoes: I need some new shoes for work, my Carvela ones are looking a bit scruffy now so they need replacing. I like these velvet ones from ASOS as I'm a bit of a velvet fiend.
Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel: I've been trying out the mini size of this wash & I love it. It seems to be clearing up my awful skin. It's very gentle yet I feel like my skin is really clean and fresh afterwards. I've been using it with my facial buffer from The Body Shop which is amazing!
Aura Tracie Ellis Bedding- I need some new bedding and I saw this gorgeous set in TKMaxx the other day. I'd never heard of Tracie Ellis but she has some really pretty designs on her website. The set was £24.99 RRP £100!
Wooden Leopard Glasses- I know I've just got some new glasses but I want more in my collection! I adore this wooden pair and I think I need them on my face! They are $68 from Firmoo but I think they look so much more expensive.
Wooden Heart Ear Tunnels- I have my ears stretched and I've had some pretty wooden lotus tunnels in for the last 2/3 years! I'm not sure how the heart shaped ones would stay in my round holes but they are super cute. They are from this seller on eBay & there are loads of other great wooden designs.

So these are a few of many things that I would really like in my life right now! Every time I see something that I really want I write it down and I'm going to see if I still actually need it at the end of the month. I'm sure there will be quite a few wishlists in the next few weeks on here! I'm not one to splurge my money but then I don't really have a budget either. Isn't money a strange thing?!

Do you budget and save for specific items or do you tend to impulse buy?

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx

Charity Shop Chiiiic-DECEMBER FINDS

Hey guys!

So I have quite a few bargains to show you. I bought some great things from the charity shops last month. I wrote a few tips for charity shop shopping last year. I'd say I now buy about 60% of my wardrobe second-hand! Also I'd really recommend having a look in the charity shops at the minute as most of them will be having sales especially on the sparkly, party wear :) Sequins galore! 

Here's what I bought last month:

1) Furry Next Coat-This was £10 from the PDSA charity shop in Ulverston (which is awesome by the way). I don't usually spend that much on one thing in a charity shop but it's SO FLUFFY! (& I'm helping the cats & dogs!) Its a great quality coat and it keeps me toasty on the morning commute.

 2) High-Waisted Check H&M Wool Skirt- I spotted this skirt in the reduced section of Age Concern in Grange. It was only £2.75 and it is made of super-duper thick wool material so great for the chillier weather with some fleecy-lined tights!

 3) Lee Denim Jacket- I've never owned a denim jacket that I'm really happy with, I always get the wrong wash of denim or it looks really boxy and strange but I love this one. I actually found it in the mens section but it is definitely a ladies jacket, not that I mind wearing a mans coat ;) It was a bargainous £3.

 4) Glittery Pinstripe Pencil Skirt- I picked up this skirt to wear to work. It has shiny, silver pinstripes which I thought were festive enough to wear over the Christmas period! I think this one was about £2-£3 I can't remember exactly! It's now actually waiting in my 'to-sew' pile because I thought I could leap over a huge puddle in a tight skirt and, yep you guessed it, I ended up ripping it all up the back :'(

 5) Chilli Pepper Black Denim Cropped Jacket- Who remembers Chilli Pepper?! I had a Chilli Pepper coat when I was about 14! I saw this cute, little cropped jacket and thought that I'm missing a blackl jacket from my wardrobe. It was £4 from Cancer Research in Lancaster. The label says 'Guaranteed to raise more than a heart rate' oo-er ;)

I'm planning on volunteering in a charity shop this year. Lancaster has loads of charity shops so I'm not sure which one to go for! Do any of you volunteer? If so I'd love to hear your experiences :)

Have you found any gems in the charity shops lately?

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xxx

HAPPY 2013!

Happy 2013 everyone! 

I hope you all had a fantastic night saying goodbye to 2012 and welcoming the new year with open arms :) My NYE plans changed last minute and instead of going out in Preston doing the same old pubs & clubs we decided to go out in Lancaster & attend a vintage speakeasy theme night! I've only lived in Lancaster a couple of months and with my hectic Christmas work schedule I haven't really been able to go out so it was a welcome change! I wore a dress that I picked up last minute from Cancer Research & my sequin bomber jacket from eBay! I can't believe that I haven't even shown you all my new hair! I decided that 'my little pony hair' is my calling so I had it done before Christmas(!) but I'll talk about that in another post. I know I mentioned it in my last years 'resolutions' but I really do want to dedicate more time to Inspired By The Retired as it is such a wonderful community and I know what incredible opportunities are out there for us bloggers :)

 Sparkly vodka, sparkly outfit :)

 I stole a cool hat :)

The motley crew!

So instead of proper resolutions I've set myself a few goals that I think are achievable and fun! Too many people start the new year with a negative list of 'I Must' resolutions which feel too much like hard work and are often 'broken' within weeks! So here are my wishes for 2013:

*Visit London for Fashion Week
*See a live comedy show
*Travel to Budapest
*Go to Lowlands festival
*Go to Dalton zoo & meet the snow leopard & the lemurs!
*Go camping
*Get my first tattoo
*Go hiking in the Lake District
*Visit Brighton again
*Start my own business venture
*Read all the books from my to-read list
*Watch the top 50 films
*Megabus to another country
*Get a paid styling job
*Start project 365! (was meant to do this last year oops)
*Blog more frequently
*Be more organised
*Volunteer in a charity shop
*Do more DIY/crafts
*Embrace Lancaster
*Go to the theatre

What are your new year resolutions? Do you feel optimistic about 2013? I do!

Thanks for reading,

Rachelle xxx