Shopping: Oxford Street Sales

So, this is my first ever beauty and fashion post!

My friend Sharenja and I haven't seen each other properly in ages. We thought we'd have a proper girly day and go shopping on Oxford Street. Usually, I can't face this at all, but being midweek, it felt far more manageable. I haven't had such a girly day for such a long time.

We started by going to House of Fraser which has an amazing sale on at the moment. Sharenja bought lots of dresses on sale for her graduation and starting her new job as a doctor (congratulations!)

She bought this black one which was reduced from £90 to £27

And also this this little red dress for a very reasonable £36:

I've definitely got my eye on this dress, currently reduced from £38 to £20; I'm a sucker for white dresses at the moment!

I'm starting a new job in September, so I will definitely return to try and pick up some bargains.

Sharenja was very keen to buy some foundation. She's from Sri Lanka and finds it impossible to get the right colour for her skin. More often than not, the right shades just don't exist or she finds that the makeup artist doesn't really know how to match it up properly. To try and combat it, we went to the No 7 counter at Boots and did the colour match technology. It basically involves a little scanner which is held close to your face and then detects your skin colour. Sharenja's skin was 'mocha' apparently. However, when applied, the mocha foundation was a little too dark. Sharenja asked for a shade lighter, but it was far too light. Why are there so few shades to pick from for Asian skin? The increments between the two shades are far too big!

my gorgeous friend Sharenja

I couldn't resist having a go, so my skin was matched and I came out as 'deep ivory'. To be fair it was a pretty good match, but I'm so pleased with my medium Garnier BB cream (concealer, foundation, sun protection = very happy and lazy Hazel), that I didn't purchase any. It's also pretty cheap; currently it's on offer for £6.99 at Boots. I love how light the coverage is too, it doesn't feel like I'm caked in makeup - proven by the fact that you can still my huge number of freckles through it.

I was wearing my new dress from Asos, but was having a major wardrobe malfunction (why do you never realise this in the house where you can do something about it rather than on the tube when you realising you're exposing yourself to everyone on there??) so I bought some tit tape from Boots for £4.90 (why is it so flippin' expensive?). It does do the job perfectly, although boy is it painful to rip off your skin afterwards!

Following our unsuccessful attempt to find foundation in Boots, we wandered across to the Selfridges' Mac counter, which was far more fruitful. After having her makeup done by Fabio, Sharenja bought some powder, concealer, lipstick and blusher.

lovely makeup

so many foundations

In the meantime, I went across to the Nars counter to ask for advice about wearing lipstick. I've never ever worn lipstick. Quite frankly, it's always looked appalling on me. I was convinced it was because of the shape of my lips (ridiculous I know), but now I realise it's because I only suit matt shades, where previouly I've tried glossy lipsticks. I ended up splashing out and buying the heatwave lipstick which is a bright orange red and makes a huge statement. I really hope I pluck up the courage to wear it lots, but first of all I have to work out how to avoid getting it all over my teeth!

After our morning of trawling round the shops we were more than ready for our lunch and used my tastecard to get 2 for 1 at Zizzi. We always share our meals as it's far more interesting that way. We ate pasta with red pesto, creme fraiche and spring onions and a humungous pizza primavera topped with mushrooms, olives, artichokes, red pepper and aubergine (I don't like mushrooms and peppers so I picked those off).

We fully intended to continue shopping into the afternoon but we were so knackered (shopping always does that to me!) that we ended up heading our separate ways.

In the evening, Martin and I went to the theatre to see the Cripple of Inishmaan. We very rarely go to the theatre as it's so expensive and I'm not usually a massive fan of musicals and plays, or even the cinema in general. I think my attention span is too short. However, Martin's boss kindly gave us the tickets and I'm so glad he did. The Cripple was so good. I was particularly impressed with Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal of Cripple Billy. I've never thought much of him as an actor, but his Irish accent seemed pretty spot on. The Cripple is a black comedy - like a cross between Father Ted and Angela's Ashes (such a good book!).

As this is a beauty post, I also wanted to quickly mention my latest shampoo: Platinum Strength Tresemme. I'm so impressed with it so far; my hair has never been so soft before! It's currently three for £10 at Asda.

Have you been to the theatre lately? What did you see? What sort of foundation do you wear? Do you find it easy to get the right shade?

PS I noticed in my emails this morning, that the Body Shop is giving away free lip balms, if you download this voucher from today through to Sunday. No need to purchase anything!