Our destination was not one but two of the North East premier outlet shopping areas - Royal Quays, which is an outdoor outlet centre with all kinds of unusual and high street stores, and Boundary Mill, which is a huge store that sells everything from Jaegar, to Evans, to Yankee Candles, and Kitchenware. I mainly went to make a dent in my Christmas shopping but I did buy myself a few home bits in Boundary Mills (blog post to come), and a few beauty bits in Royal Quays.
It was a freezing cold day, and being so close to both the coast and the River Tyne, only the hardiest shoppers were braving the icy blasts of Royal Quays. Nothing warms my heart though then spotting a Beauty Outlet store. Unfortunately this wasn't one of the CCO (Cosmetic Company Outlets) that are owned by Estee Lauder, but after visiting their Dalton Park store earlier in the year, I knew that something would be sure to catch me eye.
If you like nail polishes these stores are well worth a look, one wall in this particular branch was covered in nail polishes for brands including, W7, Essie, OPI, Revlon and Nails Inc. It really was like a polish rainbow and although I saw several polishes that I really liked, I was good and just picked the one shade from Nails Inc.
This is the shade Edwards Mews and I think it's one of their polka dot colours, that you can either wear on it's own or over the top of other colours. It's a clear polish that contains lots of semi matte, small pieces of round glitter in black, pale blue, pale peachy, lemon and an orange. I love polishes like this and I regularly use them to revive a tired manicure or add a bit of interest of a ring finger. I can't seem to find this polish online more so it's obviously a discontinued shade but it was only £2.99 so I'm not complaining.
To be honest I could have spent a lot longer in their looking around, it really is an Aladdin's cave for beauty junkies, but because was some slightly less beauty obsessed people I tried to be as I could. A couple of display stands catch me eye though including one, with a whole load of Clarins boxes on it.
I couldn't resist a little peek and I came up trumps..
I don't own a lot of Clarins items but something that I have always using is the lipsticks. A little while ago now their Joli Rouge Long - Wearing Moisturising Lipstick range was given a bit of a makeover, the packaging changed and a lot of the shades were discontinued. The Royal Quays Beauty Outlet store had such a huge selection of colours to choose from on the old style, silver packaging that there really was a colour to suit everyone.
The colour I ended up going for is one of the shades that has been completely discontinued, 709 Parisian Pink.
This is one of those beautiful blue based pinks that suits most skin tones and ages. In fact my godmother who is in her mid 80's even bought the same colour.
This lipstick has a subtle fruity, rose scent and taste, and whilst it isn't the most hydrating lipstick I've ever worn, unlike a lot of long wear lip colours it doesn't leave your lips feeling like the Sahara Desert. The pigmentation is excellent and I've already worn this lipstick an awful lot, it's just the perfect Louise colour! Apologies that I haven't managed to snap a picture of this one on my lips but the winter light is definitely working against me. Hopefully the swatch below will give you some idea, and if you want to see it on my lips, then have a watch of most recent unboxing videos here and here x
The final thing that I bought in the Beauty Outlet store was a product that literally made my heart skip a beat, when i saw it.
I've been lucky enough over the years to pick up quite a few Wet 'n' Wild items from both swaps and from friends and family travelling to the states, and I've picked up the odd bit on eBay but for whatever reason this is one of the brands that's yet to make it's way across the Atlantic. I already have one of the 8 pan Color Icon Eyeshadow Palettes in the neutral toned Comfort Zone which I love but i always wanted the plum toned Petal Pusher.
With eBay and Amazon prices pushing £17 for what in essence is a drugstore palette, I'd just about given up hope of ever owning this one, but nestling at the end of one of the larger display stands was a small selection of US brands including Covergirl and Wet 'n' Wild.
I literally snatched it off the shelf and took it straight to the till and boy am I glad I did, and I was even happier still when I found out if was reduced to just £2. It contains a lovely mix of matte, shimmer, and out and out sparkly shades in some beautiful pink, purple, plum and grey shades. The pigmentation is pretty decent for the price and I can honestly say that there is only one shade, a matte warm, white that didn't live up to my expectations.
If you have a Beauty Outlet store near you I would definitely recommend that check them out if you haven't already. They do have a website (find it here) which seems to be under construction at the moment but you can sign up to their newsletter to find out when they go live. I have my fingers crossed for an online store but in the meantime, I can definitely see myself visiting my local stores again in 2017.
Other than the Beauty Outlet store, Royal Quays is a touch lacking if beauty is your thing but they do have one other store that I couldn't resist going into, The Body Shop Outlet.
I love The Body Shop at the best times but you know me if I can save a bit of money bring it on. They had a lot of bits and pieces including past season Christmas items, and some current lines but I headed straight towards the Cocoa Butter. I love The Body Shop Cocoa Butter range but as I mentioned in a previous post, it is becoming harder and harder to find! I looked on The Body Shop website today and they only have one product from the Cocoa Butter range in stock! I've been told by a couple of staff members that as far as they are aware the range is not being discontinued but unless they're having some supplier or packaging issues, it isn't looking good.
Thankfully the outlet had a few bits in stock so I but a few bits to keep me going, including this duo pack which contained a 250ml Shower Cream, and a 250ml Body Lotion, which was just £8.40 instead of £12. Not a huge saving I know but these are two of my holy grail products.
I also managed to pick a full size of one of the Cocoa Butter Body Butters - Apologies I can't remember how much this was but it was slightly less than retail. I really hope that the range isn't been discontinued and I'm going to keep asking until I get a firm answer. You can read why The Body Shop Cocoa Butter range is my Holy Grail in this post from way back in 2011 x
I've made a little video to accompany this haul which you can see below or via this link. Don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel, for lots of beauty and lifestyle videos, and some exclusive content including some unboxings, and coming soon an exclusive festive haul from The Body Shop.
I'm a bit of a bargain hunter so I do love a bit of outlet shopping when I get the chance. It's very much a case of you pays your money you makes your choice, sometimes you can get a real bargain and you could buy everything, and sometimes you'll come home empty handed it really is the luck of the drawer. Are you a fan of outlet shopping? Let me know your thoughts x
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