bingeing on shopping

So the company retreat to Beijing and Xian was a complete bust in terms of shopping (but rich in culture and history so I did learn something and overall totally enjoyed myself). I came back with 2/3 of the money I had changed. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I had heard tales of shopping escapades galore in regards to visits to China so was expecting to spend myself silly and then some. Did. Not. Happen.

Anyways, I've fully made up for it now. Firstly, went to Uniqlo during our 2-day stopover in Homeland prior to returning to Workland and got these:

I already own a pair of the Easy leggings pants in black and denim but there was a special going on at the time cos of a new Uniqlo store opening and it was going for 10 dollars cheaper than the RRP that I decided to get myself another pair in black. The unexpected get from this purchase was the khaki-hued short trench. It was going for 30 dollars less than the usual retail price of $79.90. Sis No 2 had gotten this prior to our China sojourn and had worn it to great effect throughout the trip. I have always fancied a khaki trench and the fact that I got this waaaay cheaper than my sis did coupled with the very real situation where there was only one left in my size, I just went for it. As I tried the trench on in my white Newport News tunic blouse, red skinny pants and my Marco Santi wedges, I totally saw myself traipsing around NYC in that ensemble - fingers crossed another NYC visit is due then :D This excursion came to an easy 75 bucks.

Then I went to The Body Shop cos they were having a completely M-A-D sale. I have no clue what it was in celebration of but things were going for up to 80% off. Also, for TBS members, you get an additional 10% off of the overall total. NUTS! Since my former colleague (who used to be my roomie here in Workland and who was in town for a visit) was a member, that was an additional 10% on top of the already heavily reduced prices!

I got the 2 fruity shower gels as a set(Peach & Papaya) for 5-something bucks, a coconut scented shower creme for $3.10, the Cranberry Joy travel-size body scrub for 2-plus dollars and the most expensive item in this impulsive haul is their infamous Vitamin E eye cream which was $14.40 after 20% off.

Then I went to eyeslipsface.com (LOL, where else eh?) and got myself some more makeup stuff. As usual, some insidious promo code got me. This time it was code BRUSHSET which was a deal to get the 11 piece Studio brush set (that I already own) for the low, low, oh-so-low price of $3 (RRP: $30). Catch: Spend $20 to qualify. It was pretty easy to do considering I could simply get stuff from the Essential line since it's generally a buck a piece AND I wouldn't feel bad about buying full price cos this line is usually never discounted. I did get products from that range because of this but the first thing I actually put in my cart was the $10 e.l.f. Mineral 4 Piece Bamboo Brush Set. :D. Ok, perhaps I'm bonkers for buying a brush set to get another brush set for 3 bucks but in my defense this is travel size! I have no clue why I need to justify myself :P. My Essential line products consists of the e.l.f. Essential All Over Cover Stick in the warmer shade Honey (Rosy Beige not working out for me), e.l.f. Essential 3-Piece Hypershine Gloss Set (I wanted this 3 orders ago - finally decided to get it), e.l.f. Essential Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 in the shade Honey (curious to see if this will work for me), e.l.f. Essential Brow Comb + Brush (to replace my ecoTools that has a huge gap in the comb already), e.l.f. Studio Mineral Powder Brush (for my mineral powders - I know I'm just brush-crazy now) and e.l.f. Studio Lip Lock Pencil (I'm hoping this will help keep my lip products in line). Everything (with the 11-pc brush set for 3 bucks) came up to $31.95 with S&H. I actually also ordered the e.l.f Essential Lip Stain in the hue Crimson Crush but discovered the shade went out of stock before they shipped so that portion of my order got axed.

At the same time the ELF binge was going on, I also went on another Strawberrynet run. There was a 10% off all skincare deal going on. Including my 7.5% member discount and an additional 3% off for getting 4 items, I was saving quite a great deal on my Murad stuff. I decided to stock up on my Murad essentials - the Acne & Wrinkle Reducer, Anti Aging Moisturizer SPF 20 PA++ (For Blemish-Prone Skin) and Post-Acne Lightening Gel. I also decided it was a good time to give Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream a go.

My total here came up to roughly $182.98 with all the discounts. Considering that just the Post Acne Lightening Gel sells at $60 and Acne & Wrinkle Reducer retails for 58 bucks, to have gotten the moisturizer and eye cream for about $64.98 is a deal. The Anti Aging Moisturizer SPF 20 PA++ (For Blemish-Prone Skin) is $46 and the Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream's RRP is $37. That's a savings of $18.02. Score! And yes, I just got the TBS Vit E eye cream but there's no harm in having choices. TBH, I actually forgot about the TBS tube I just got till after I had bought the Kiehl's, hehehe. But both have gotten great reviews so win-win (I think?).

Last but not least are my 2 Forever 21 hauls. Yup, two. One pre Memorial Day promo and the other during Memorial Day promo. As they say, pictures speak a thousand words :D The first haul came up to $104.88 for 12 pieces. I decided to shop the sales section not anticipating the 15% off promo that would come back to bite me later that day a couple of hours after I checked out this first order. No regrets though - I love the stuff I got and there are no guarantees I would have all of the items had I waited. I really wanted more casual stuff to wear hence there's loads of long sleeve tees and the like. What would a clothes buy be for Zlena if it did not include a stripes or polka dotted piece. We have both of those in this order :D

The second order was for $65.83 for 5 items. I put the 15% discount to good use buying that textured cardigan. That is why I actually decided to get more stuff from F21 - cos that cardi would be going for an additional 15%. Aside from the one-shoulder embellished top, the rest of the stuff in this order are normal priced items. I really wanted those red harem pants and the taupe jogger pants. If it isn't obvious, I am having a bit of an obsession with tapered leg pants. I also just figured out I'm having a colored pants phase right now. This will make my second red pants in the span of a month. I actually have 2 pairs of purple pants too. The last item is the lace overlay top. Both the tops I got in this order I chose specifically to wear with the Chanel-esque cardi. Actually, all the other stuff I got along with the cardigan was specifically chosen because I used the cardigan as my frame of reference so basically everything in this haul was chosen for it's compatibility with the cardi.

As can be seen, I truly binged. I guess this is my reaction to the flop that is China (shopping-wise). I just could not believe China was not the shopping haven I expected, let alone wanted, it to be. Hence, I overcompensated. I just needed to ;P