My First Primark Haul Of 2021 - Clothes, Jewellery, Hair Accessories, And Beauty

Hey everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely week x Thankfully things have calmed down here a bit, and touch wood my Mam seems to be on the mend.

Now, even though I've been doing a little bit of online shopping (check out the Instahaul highlights tab on my Instagram), nothing beats shopping in real bricks and mortar stores. Thankfully the shops opened up on the UK just in time for my birthday, so way back in May I took a quick trip to the Metrocentre to get my brows waxed and to do a little bit of shopping.

I didn't actually buy that much, I didn't really need anything to be be fair, it was more about the actual thrill of being out of the house, being around other people, and returning to some kind of normality.

One shop I did buy some bits in though was Primark, I didn't go crazy but I bought a few essentials, a couple of bit to try and a few things that I couldn't resist.

One thing that I love, and that I always buy in Primark are their stretch t-shirts. I own them in loads of different colours and I think that they are so flattering, and comfortable. I also love the length and whilst it does sometimes vary, the majority of them are long enough to at least cover my hips.

Now my aim was to stock up on basics and to a few t-shirts in both black and navy, but unfortunately the largest size that I could find in the navy was a medium (I usually buy an XL). I did however manage to get one of the short sleeve, stretch crew neck t-shirts in black which was £2.50.

Since these shirts are quite fitted, I think you could dress them up with a smart pair of trousers, and a blazer, or you can dress them down like I have here with a pair of jeans (excuse the smudged mirror).

As well as the plain black, stretch crew shirt, I also went for one of the striped ones. I have quite a few stripy tees in. my collection, and I'm actually this same colour way in the long sleeved version today. In the same crew neck, short sleeved style, this one is white, with pale blue (a lot lighter than it appears on camera) horizontal stripes. This one was a little bit more expensive at £3.50.

I also picked up another t-shirt in a slightly different style and fabric. Described as a "Printed Tee", this one is a little bit shorter, and the fabric is a little bit thicker, and less stretchy. Again with short sleeves, and a crew neckline, this navy blue t-shirt has a white star and dot design. This one was £2.50 and given the design I also think that it would make a nice PJ top.

Next up something that I saw and loved on sight! Like so many curvy people I was always told that horizontal stripes would make me look larger! Seriously though who makes these stupid rules? Needless to say I'm passed that now, and I've full embraced the horizontal stripe in my wardrobe.

I have quite a few different striped dresses in my collection now, but this one was just a little bit different. In a dark navy blue stripe, it's made of a slightly stretchy jersey. It's a full length maxi dress with a wide crew style neckline, and slightly capped almost batwing style sleeves. It has a drawstring waist and a fabric belt.

I don't think it has a lot of hanger appeal but it's really nice in the flesh and I'm looking forward to wearing it once the weather improves. It was £10.

That was it clothes wise but I also bought some nightwear, and some underwear pieces. 

I'm huge fan of Primark's nightwear, and I could resist these pretty pj's. Unlike the ready packaged and ribboned sets I actually but these pieces as separates which meant that they were a little bit more expensive than the regular sets but for me they were well worth it both appearance wise and quality wise.

They are made of the softest, mid weight fabric that you've probably ever felt. They feel gorgeous and with their gorgeous dark green / teal background, and bright tropical flower print, they look gorgeous too. The long sleeved cuffed top was £7, and the legging like bottoms were £8.

Now it's been a while since I managed to buy a bra in Primark. Quite a while ago now they used to do a range of bras in sizes D-F but they seems to disappear but as I discovered a few weeks ago, look hard enough and you might be lucky.

I love under wiring but I hate padding in my bras, and bras like this one are perfect. Made of a gorgeous soft ivory fabric I paid £8 for this but I would say that the fit is a little bit small so if your looking at these I'd either try it on first or I'd size up slightly. It's just a tiny bit tighter cup wise than I would have liked but it fits, it's wearable and I love the copper / rose gold detailing.

There is really nothing worse, clothing wise, when you buy a piece of clothing but it's just slightly too sheer. Well just before lockdown 1 last year,  I bought a gorgeous silky, nude beige top, from F&F at Tesco, the only trouble is that it's just a touch see through, so whilst you could get away with just wearing a tonal bra underneath, I don't feel confident enough to do that so I decided to get a underwear style camisole to wear underneath it.

I honestly thought that it would be really easy to find one but it actually took a while, and I ended up buying one from Marks and Spencer online. I can't remember how much I paid for it it now but somewhere around £12 seems about right. I had initially looked in Primark last year for one but they didn't have anything in my size, this time though they did, and it's almost identical to the one that I got in Marks and Spencer. It's nude in colour, silky soft, almost invisible under clothing and it has adjustable straps, and it was only £3!

So I got the camisole, and then I picked up some coordinating underwear to match. Yes guys, I'm showing you my knickers, I haven't got the guts to model them but I'm showing you them anyway! These super cute scallop edged, mini briefs are invisible under clothing so you can wear them under the tightest and clingiest garments without seeing a telltale VPL. This pack of 3 was £5 and whilst the colour looked identical to the camisole under the bright lights in store, it isn't quite the same, but do we really need to match our underwear all of the time? Oh and another sizing tip, I got the XL but I probably could have sized down in these because they are quite stretchy and as a result fairly generous size wise.

So that was it for clothes, pj's and underwear, now for jewellery and accessories, and first up hair accessories. I literally buy hair bobbles all the time but what on earth happens to them and where do they go? I love animal print so I picked up this pack of 3 black and animal print satin scrunchies for £2, and this pack of 20 No Snag black hair bobbles for £1.

One section that I can never resist checking out in Primark is the jewellery department. If I never ever bought jewellery again I'd probably still have too much for just one person. You know how it is though Primark just drags you in and I ended up treating myself to just a few pairs of earrings.

I love hoop earrings, and having multiple ear piercings I find them really easy and comfortable to wear. Obviously just costume jewellery this first pair are basically just a chunky gold hoop with an enamel, cloisonne, floral bead. I love enamel / cloisonne jewellery and I have a nice little collection of both modern and vintage bracelets and bangles, and these £2 earrings will work perfectly with them.

Next up the first of two sets of earrings that I picked up, and these ones are perfect for people, like me, with multiple ear piercings. In this set you get three pairs of gold tone, gem set, pear shaped studs, and three matching pairs of gold tone hoops, with slightly bigger pear shaped gems dangling from them, in pink and green crystals, and in a slightly pale blue opalescent crystal. These were £2 for 6 pairs.

The final set of earrings that I got contained a massive 20 pairs of studs. The pack contains various gold tone studs, ranging from balls, to hearts and diamond shapes, as well as studs containing clear, lilac and blue crystals, and some containing almost lapis lazuli type stones. A nice assortment, again perfect for multiple piercings and a bargain at just £3.

Finally I picked up a few bits from the beauty section, and I got a few bits from one of their new body care lines.

All of the products that I bought have a bit of a Sol de Janeiro vibe with the bright yellow packaging and coconut, summery, beach like scent

The three products that I picked up were the 125ml Clay Body Mask which was £3, the 125ml Body Cream which was £3, and the 100ml Body Firming Gel which was also £3.

I haven't had a chance to try these bits properly but I do have some of the real Sol de Janerio products so I can see if these bits are possible dupes for the Brazilian Bum Bum range x Obviously I'll let you know my thoughts in a future empties post x 

So that was it, my first Primark haul of 2021. I was actually supposed to have gone to the Metrocentre this week but that's had to be put on hold for a bit, so as per usual if you have any questions please let me know, and don't forget to keep an eye out on my Instagram and my Instagram Stories to see some more mini hauls x 

A Small Primark Haul - Fashion, Accessories And More

Over the last week or so I've experienced a lot of emotions, but I think the one that's made its presence felt more than any other is frustration! I've been a flaky blogger for a long while now, and whilst I seem to apologise for it quite a lot, sometimes other things really are more important. At last though I was starting to feel as though as I could see the light at the end of tunnel. I started post planning, and taking photographs, and I can honestly say that I was starting to enjoy the whole blogging thing again, all be it at my own pace. Then what happens? everything goes belly up! After a pretty nasty rainstorm my land line and my broadband went down - cue a week and a bit of hardly any internet access. Thankfully it was fixed yesterday and I'm back, and hopefully for good this time ;)

So instead of being up to date, I'm playing catch up again with my blog posts, starting with a long awaited Primark haul. Primark trips and to be honest shopping trips in general have been very thin on the ground this year - I just haven't had the energy and as I've said before I'm really trying to buy less and wear more but with a bit of birthday money to spend I decided to take a little trip to Primark. I didn't buy a lot but I bought a few things that will work really well with items that I already own, and I bought a couple of, shall we say experimental things.

I've really gotten out of the habit of wearing dresses, I don't know but over the years I've gone through lots of dress phases, where it's all I've bought is dresses, and then I'll go through phases where I don't wear dresses for month. Style wise I'm not at all sure about this one, it's quite form fitting, but loved the pattern, the midi length, and the slightly stretchy fabric. I'm sure it's going to show off every bulge and bump, but I kind if thought what the hell, it was only £8 and I'm picturing it with sandals, or even with short Converse, I just need to be brave enough to wear it now!

Now something that I've always enjoyed in fashion is layering - from playing with jumpers, tops, and cardigans to wearing shirts as jackets to wearing vests over t-shirts I've always enjoyed experimenting with layers, and teaming different fabrics and textures, and this top just screamed Louise from a more playful, and experimental time. With an almost animal print, tie dye esq design, in a host of neutral tones, on the surface this appears to be quite a 'safe' purchase. Look more closely though and this boxy style t-shirt is actually made of a sheer mesh. If you're being brave, and you're wearing super pretty underwear than this could be a real statement piece, I think though I'm going to take the safer option and wear a vest or a camisole underneath it - whilst you could experiment with colour I think I would personally go for something in nude, coffee or black. Let me know if you have any other suggestions though, I'd love to hear your ideas x This top was £5.

From two slightly brave options, to a quintessential safe Louise option - a striped t-shirt. Although I'm not as brave as I used to be with clothing, I'm a firm believer that any rules about not wearing horizontal stripes when you're curvy should be thrown out with the rubbish - break those rules and enjoy fashion that's what I say!

Apart from the unusual combination of the peach, green, and black and white stripes, I love this t-shirt because it could be something that you've stolen from your boyfriend, it has a great over sized feel, but at the same time it's quite fitted, and as you see from the picture below it's long, and it covers my hips. Primark isn't the worst offender by any means but why are clothes so short at the moment - I know cropped t-shirts are all the rage again but I seem to pick up and put down so many items because they only seem to come 3/4 of the way down my back- what is going on? Is it a general sizing issue or am I just a funny shape? That's why when I find a long vest or t-shirt I buy it in every colour - indulgence or just sensible shopping taking advantage of clothes that actually fit you? Anyway enough ranting - the fabric is also super soft, it was only £5 and I love it!

I did see a few more nice clothing bits but bar a couple of additions I think I have enough clothes to see my through summer in the UK, especially if the rain keeps up. I did buy a couple of accessory bits though, and who'd have thought it, scrunchie is back! When I was at school I had so many scrunchies that I made my own scrunchie holder out of a kitchen roll tube so I could display them all, sad huh? and wearing about 3 at once? what was that all about? Anyways bar some bad fashion moments scrunchies are pretty practical when you think about, they very rarely get caught on your hair and they definitely cause less of an ouch factor than a conventional elastic bobble, and they don't hurt your head. I've always been partial to a scrunchie and even though they've went in and out of fashion I've still worn them for bed, but I think I can still rock a scrunchie in public so I picked up this pack of 3 for just £2. They're made of a nice textured fabric, and the colours work perfectly with so much of my wardrobe, I love coral, who doesn't need a neutral and you should now by now that I love mustard! Could I wear them all together? Maybe, but I think I leave the 90's and 00's behind, for now anyways!

I had a good look through the jewellery but as I said in my last Primark haul (read it here if you haven't already) I'm feeling a little bit overawed by my jewellery collection at the moment so I'm trying to shop my stash a bit but I thought these earrings were just too cute to leave behind. I don't own a lot of jewellery in rose gold or rose gold tone, and I think that it just complimented the design of these earrings perfectly. Small textured, filigree butterflies with a central crystal stone - I don't always do pretty and feminine but for just £1 these earrings are exactly that.

I don't know whether it's because my trips to Primark are a lot more sporadic than they used to be, but every time I go in now I seem to be more and more in awe of their beauty range, so many new items, high end dupes, collaborations and brands - the latest brand to join the Primark stable is 3INA and whilst some of the eye shadows looked amazing I couldn't really justify buying anything make up wise. Even though I had no intention of buying anything else I took my usual look at the reduced section and whilst it can sometimes be a shelf of broken eyeshadows and stained packaging, I think I found myself a little bargain.

Yes, my make up brush collection is verging on the obsessive but I do love a bargain and this big fan brush was only £1. It wasn't particularly expensive at £2.50 in the first place but come on a £1!

As bargaintastic as it was though, it isn't a bargain if it's no good, and you'll be pleased to know that this is a nice brush, for adding a bit of loose powder or a touch of highlighter. It has an easy to grip, rubberised handle, and super soft, synthetic bristles. Did I need it? Not really but it's decent and I'll definitely use it.

So after a week of frustration I've finally got a post up. It wasn't the biggest of hauls but I think I got some nice and interesting things, I just need to get my experimental fashion, or should I say style mojo back x Have you been to Primark recently ? Let me know your top finds x

The Colours Of Autumn - Outfit Of The Day / Night

As much as I love fashion, clothes, accessories and shoes, unlike a lot of bloggers I don't really post that many outfits of the day. There are many reasons I guess why I don't do that many ranging from a lack of confidence in front of the camera, to poor body image, and a not very skilled principal photographer (sorry Mummy Lou) but with a big birthday approaching I'm trying to be a bit more accepting of myself and a bit braver all round.

So just before I headed off to Monday night's Intu Eldon Square Fashion Spooktacular, the mother ship kindly shot a few pictures so I could cobble together a very rare outfit of the day post and this was the result...

What I Wore

Joe Browns At Simply Be - Autumn Leaf Wrap Dress

80 Denier Black Opaques - George At Asda 

Madia Tan Buckle Ankle Boots - Dorothy Perkins

Lola Rose Sloane Square Beaded Bracelet - Fire Agate

Olive Wood Wooden Bracelet - Somewhere In Cyprus 

I ordered this dress a few weeks ago now after seeing it on the Simply Be website. Joe Browns don't carry the plus size line on their own website (Why not though? How weird is that??) so I think that this dress is a Simply Be exclusive. It's not hard to see why I ordered it, it's just perfect for this time of year.

In a faux (essential if you're on the curvy side) wrap style, it's made from a stretchy jersey fabric. The dress has a black base which is a perfect foil for the flower and leaf print. Thanks to the brown, yellow, orange, tan, and grey tones, this dress fits perfectly into the traditional Autumnal colour palette, that gets its influence from the changing colours of the leaves and foliage, and those fabulous Autumn sunrises and sunsets.

Outside I teamed it with a black PU bomber jacket, and a black Michael Kors tote bag to tone in with both my holy grail black George opaque tights, and with the background of the dress.

Instead of going for a black boot or shoe though, I teamed this outfit up with one of my favourite pairs of boots, a pair of past season, tan, brown, buckle detail ankle boots from Dorothy Perkins, that coordinate perfectly with the colours on the dress They don't have a huge heel and they aren't too flat either so they're really comfortable which is great when to you need to walk around a bit, as I did on Monday night thanks to a fire alarm. They're quite a classic style so it shouldn't be too hard to find something similar in stores this season. Sticking with the tan theme and thinking of how I can wear the dress in the future I could also potentially wear it with my Clarks Hamble Oak Brogues (see my post here) for a different look.

Because the dress had such a busy and I didn't want to accent my cleavage too much, I decided not to wear a necklace and instead I wore, a bracelet on each wrist. On one wrist I wore a slightly, chunkier stretch bracelet which I got on holiday in Cyprus a few years ago, which is made from a varnished, golden brown toned olive wood, and on the other wrist I wore a Lola Rose bracelet, which I received as a Christmas present a few years ago now. I don''t think it's the easiest one to find anymore but it's the Lola Rose Sloane Square Beaded Bracelet, which originally came from QVC UK and mine is made from Fire Agate,  which with orange and brown tones, again perfectly with the print on the dress.

I know lot of bloggers let their pictures do the talking but you know me I love to talk and I thought it might be nice for you to find out a little bit about the pieces that I wore and why I chose them, even though in most cases here it is down to colour coordination ha ha. I'm really going to try and do more outfits of the day to try and be brave and boost my confidence a bit. Why shouldn't I ? After all human beings do come in all ages, shapes and sizes and we all clothes so if we love clothes we shouldn't we have the confidence to show ourselves off and put ourselves out there. Are you a fan of autumnal tones in clothing, jewellery and accessories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments x 

Late August Primark Haul - Clothes, Beauty And More

Operation catch up resumes today with another haul. As I said before I've got quite a few beauty hauls coming up over the next few weeks but I don't want to bore you so I'm going to try and break it up a bit with some reviews and some non beauty related hauls.

Today I'm going to share a little or should I say largish, Primark haul with you. I've been feeling a bit mehh about clothes shopping lately but thanks to the new autumn and winter arrivals, I can at last feel my enthusiasm returning and as a result I picked up a few pieces that I'm really looking forward to wearing.

The first thing that I got is this ribbed Bardot style dress. I already got this in black in a previous Primark haul (have a read of it here) but this is the dusky pink version which was £8.

Although this is sold as a dress, on me it would be way too short, so I will be wearing it as a tunic, over leggings, skinny trousers or skinny jeans.

The next thing that I got is another dress come tunic, but I think I could probably get away with wearing this one as dress.

I love the paisley, floral print and I love the silky smooth fabric. I already have a tunic / dress in a different print but in the same fabric from Primark and I love. It has a such a light and airy feel, and feels gorgeous against the skin. This was £9 and I think it comes in a few different colours and patterns.

My name is Louise and I'm addicted to shirts and blouses! Over the past of couple of years I've fallen in love with shirts and blouses in a big way. One of my go to outfits is a bright or a patterned shirt and a pair of skinny jeans or jeggings. It just works for me and people always remember me for my gaudy shirts. I love my bright and floral print shirts but I fancied a bit of change so after seeing on a few blogs and instagram accounts, I decided to hunt it down.

For me this is very subtle but I couldn't resist the tiny, ditsy black and white bee (or are they wasps?) print. Primark shirts are never the most generous of fit on me and despite going for the largest size it's still very gappy and bursty so I'll probably be wearing this slightly unbuttoned and with a white vest underneath it. Still it was just £7 and I can't resist a cute print, speaking of which...

Another cute print and this time it's a navy blue vest covered in tiny white stars, I know we're moving into autumn but I wear vest tops and camisoles all year round, whether they're under shirts, jumpers or even cardigans. I like layering and this is a cute piece that I'll get a lot of wear out of. It was £4

Thanks to being ill so often and feeling permanently exhausted I have a lot of duvet days and I spend a lot of time in my PJs - I currently have 5 drawers full of nightwear but I just can't stop buying more, and especially love cute pj's like these ones.

I'm a huge Miffy fan, and I couldn't resist these PJ separates. The over sized, raglan style, stripey top was £7 and on the front it has a fluffy Miffy design which is super soft and stroke able.

I also got the matching legging style, cuffed PJ pants, which are £8 and are charcoal grey and have a white Miffy design printed on the legs.

That was it for clothing but I did buy one jewellery piece, these sparkly hoop earrings which were just £1.50.

You can't see them too well in either of these pictures unfortunately but they are basically just a gold tone hope, with 6 gold tone, rings which are covered in clear crystals, threaded through them. I'm trying to wear more exciting earrings and I think that these hoops work perfectly with the gold, and silver hoops that I normally wear.

Seeing as I was in the Newcastle store, I had a little look at some of Primark's new home wear additions and although there were plenty of things that I liked, I stayed strong and just bought a throw for my mam and some stationery. I love Primark's stationery selection and they have some lovely stuff at the moment, including the new collection from Gabriella aka VelvetGh0st but if your loving the copper and rose gold tone look at the moment then Primark is where you need to be. As well as some gorgeous hangers and coat hooks they also have a few copper tone stationery pieces and I couldn't resist jumping on the bandwagon with this cute set.

Packaged in a reusable craft style, organiser box. This set contains a slim ruled notepad, some drawing pins, some paperclips and some bulldog style clips all in a gorgeous rose gold. It also contains 5 pencils, with different words embossed on them including Plan, Own It, Boss, Believe and Because. At £5 this isn't the cheapest set you can buy but when you look at rose gold, and copper toned bits in other stores it looks like a bargain.

I said at the beginning that this wasn't a beauty haul but I did have a good look at the beauty section and I did end up buying a few make up brushes.

I've already bought a few brushes from this range at Primark and I have to say that I'm really impressed with them for the price. The brushes are good quality and the matte black and rose gold makes them look a lot more expensive than what they actually are.

I already own one of the PS Concealer Brushes but it's such a versatile brush that for just £1 I had to pick up another one.

I honestly can't remember if I already have this brush  but eyeshadow brushes never come in wrong so I also picked the PS Double End Smokey Brush, it has a rounded flat end and it has a thinner more pencil shaped end for more detailed application. This one was just £1.50.

The final brush that I got was the PS Precision Eyeliner Brush which was also £1. I'm trying to get back into wearing liner and I'm a real cream or gel eyeliner girl, I normally prefer a short, flat ended brush but I also use and love the Real Techniques silicone, thin tipped eyeliner brush. The tip of this brush is almost identical to the Real Techniques one which is nearly 6 times the price, so I'm interested to see how it compares.

So that was my latest Primark haul as per usual I've made a video to accompany this haul which you can watch via this link or below.



I'm definitely planning another Primark trip in the next week or so, so I'd love to know what bargains you've picked up recently, so leave me a comment or a link below and let me know xx