Growing up, Sunderland was our ‘town’, we would go there for shopping in and around The Bridges and later when I as old enough it was my old stomping ground on a Friday and Saturday night. However since meeting Stuart and moving on to have a family etc we have always been based either around Newcastle or Durham so very rarely now get a chance to pop back through to my old haunts.
When we were invited to The Bridges for the launch of their Christmas Shopping experience this year I jumped at the chance to see what there was on offer. Having arrived early I took to walking around to try and familiarise myself with the shops and spotted a couple of the Snowdogs in situ (they leave soon so if you haven’t seen them yet then get going!) We were greeted by the lovely Sam who handed us goodie bags with snacks to keep us fueled on our trek round the shops, some information about the late night shopping and a £10 giftcard to spend on our way round too.
Our first stop was at the Debenhams beauty counters and I chose to visit Benefit. Having used their products for years now I swear by their cosmetics and have a serious love for the Porefessional primer and wanted to give their skin care a try. I have used a couple of their samples before which have been great and to know that the girls are so enthusiastic at the counter was a good start.
Also that they do brows (I hate my brows) there and then is a bonus, every thing from shaping to tinting ! (As part of another blogger event I am booking in next Tuesday to get them sorted out – pics to follow eek!)
Next up we moved around the Kiko, a fabulous and very affordable make up store which has not long been opened in The Bridges.
The girls behind the counter are all incredibly made up which only adds to the fact my make up looks like it was applied by Amelia (age 2 3/4) but they were all super helpful and even sat me down to show me how to pencil in my brows to make them look a little less lopsided than they are (I have serious brow issues!!)
I was all set to spend my gift card in here but they were having technical issues with the tills which meant cash only and since I only brought my card with me I was stuck, I hope they get it sorted before Christmas!
Next we headed to The Bodyshop to talk skincare with the girls there and found out all about the Bio Bridges that they are helping to build to help monkeys find their soul mates – how cute is that!
The Body Shop will make a contribution for every purchase (one customer transaction) made in their stores or online. Each transaction can enable The Body Shop to help restore 1 square metre of threatened rainforest. This means every square meter brings me (and my monkey buddies) one step closer to finding my one and only. Isn’t that awesome? – The Bodyshop
I am a huge lover of The Bodyshop and have worked for them in the past hosting At Home Parties so love their whole ethos and products too. My favourite at the moment being the Drops of Light range which I have already worked my way through a bottle of serum so desperately need to stock up on more! I was given samples of the new Oils of Life and was pleasantly surprised that they are not at all oily!
Moving on over to Boots we were running late at this point so left Ruth to have her skin zapped by the No7 lady and we headed off upstairs to get our personalised make up brush! This is such a cool concept and i love the fact that they can pop your name on anything from compacts and brushes to ribbon and paper!
I will definitely be back for some personalised make up as presents this Christmas and looking at the new range of make up I was super impressed with the prices… £2 for an eye shadow and £3 for a highlighter, the pigment was amazing and had such a great quality feel to it!
Lastly was Lush, you can always tell there is a Lush store in the shopping centre from the moment you walk in as the smell emanates for miles!
We were running super late at this point but the owner and staff made sure we still had a fabulous time and spend a while explaining to us about the Christmas products and allowing us to make our own little Butter bear bath bombs to bring home. My girls love these as they aren’t too highly scented but give off a huge fizz!
The lovely Ruth from Pretty Little Gym Addict and Tasha from Hello Freckles
This is where I spent my gift card, picking up a few of the Christmas range and a couple of treats to go in the girls stockings for Christmas morning! I can smell them already and its really got me in the festive mood!
A fabulous night and I will most definitely be back to the Bridges before Christmas to finish off my festive shopping!
XOXO
Debbie
