A couple of weeks ago, the lovely team at Westfield London invited me over to help celebrate their fifth birthday. Seeing as it’s been about 20 years since I’ve actually celebrated a fifth birthday, I couldn’t resist. Besides, this was a little less pass-the-parcel and much more shop-til-you-drop with a side of delicious food. Westfield is on my way home so I need little no persuasion to make a detour to head inside so popping in with a legitimate reason for retail therapy was very welcome. I was greeted by lots of smiley helpers who gave me a handy guide to all of the discounts which were available for the night as well as a cute pop-up featuring all of the limited edition birthday jumpers which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.
I started my evening with some food, after all you can’t shop on an empty stomach you need fuel! Between Wagamamas, Busaba, Balans, The Meat Co and Bill’s, I was spoilt for choice with some of my favourite places but Byron just cinched it. I went for “the usual” which is the chilli burger with courgette fries and chocolate milkshake – incidentally I love a restaurant where you can order “the usual” and it’s delicious and consistent every time. I’m a huge burger fiend and a total Byron devotee, the chilli burger is one of my favourite burgers in London, I think the green jalapenos and chipotle mayo work so well with the juicy beef and cheese. And don’t get me started on the addictive courgette fries.
Suitably fuelled, I began shopping. I won’t bore you with the details; I’d rather share my purchases. I went a little tartan crazy like most of the high street stores and picked up a super cute red tartan kilt from Topshop and a pair of more muted berry tartan trousers from Zara which have totally become my work favourites. I also picked up a basic slate grey jumper from River Island which has some cute elbow patches. I have a secret penchant for grey jumpers, they tend to go with everything and they’re a great grounding for my wardrobe which is a mix of colours and prints. I also got a chunky gold chain necklace from Topshop.
Suitably clothes shopped out, I needed a lipstick to pep up my face to match my new tartans. A bright lipstick aficionado, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try a more muted shade suitable for daytime but I wanted it to be very matte. I thought Mac would be the answer to my lipstick prayers but alas, the Westfield store is almost as busy as the Pro store in Carnaby Street so I stood around forever unsuccessfully swatching lipsticks on the back of my hand. Same problem at Bobbi Brown too. The secret to buying lipstick, I discovered, is heading to House of Fraser who sell most brands (bar Mac) under one roof. I ended up trying a Nars lipstick which I absolutely love and it’s been on my lips pretty much since I bought it. Super matte and very pigmented, it’s slightly more expensive than Mac but worth it if you want a deep colour. I can’t wait to head back and try a bold shade in matte.
After that tiring spot of retail therapy, I ended my evening with a trip to the cinema. I settled down to watch Captain Phillips which is an incredible movie, Tom Hanks has to be in the running for an Oscar. Weeks later and I’m still raving about it, now it’s your turn so book tickets and tell me what you thought!
Thank you to Westfield London for a lovely evening of delicious food, retail therapy, beauty treats and a pirate tale as the cherry on top.
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