January Sales Suck.

I hate shopping at the best of times. There, I said it. But the January sales in particular drive me up the wall. Why should I enjoy battling through chaos in the local shopping centre, fighting my way past nutters who have been up since some ungodly hour just so they could be first in line to blitz their way through a horrific mess of seasons-old clothes which are still overpriced in spite of their offensively unavoidable red signs promising 'up to' 50% OFF!?! I find the red signs unsettling, alarming even. The amount of people in the shops who are downright aggressive needs policing more efficiently! Why are the clothes never tidy, or organized, or even *gasp* in a good condition? Why do brands think I am dumb enough to ignore the 'From £60 to £58' tags on the item and only pay attention to the horrifically misleading, 'up to 70% OFF' sign in the shop window, with 'up to' in the smallest font known to humanity *ahem, TOPSHOP, ahem*? If I didn't want the shoes over a year ago when they were priced at the same 'bargain' price of £30 why the hell would I want them now??? I absolutely do not want to go and waste my Christmas gift vouchers on things I would never normally buy if they were full priced, so why on earth do some shops completely clear their floors of new stock, just to shove the old stuff which nobody wants down my throat??? 

*Look at the state of Miss Selfridge!*

*River Island is even worse! I can't think of anything worse then hunting through those rails to find something worth salvaging from the greasy mitts of some Sales Lemming*

*BANK just turned me off so much... even the mannequins weren't sporting the current season styles but startling red 'Sales' t-shirts... for just in case anyone had forgotten why things inside the store were slightly more affordable than usual*

*La Senza just reminded me of a street-walker's wardrobe*

*It concerns me that people are actually fooled by this kind of tag on clothes! There were worse ones around USC, but they wouldn't let me take any more photographs, in fear of being exposed for robbing unsuspecting customers in broad daylight, I suspect*

*My boyfriend thinks I am obsessed with these River Island shoes. He doesn't think this because I've been lusting after them for the past few months, but because every time I have been into the store for over a year, this same pair of shoes, in the same size, have been at the same £30 price. When is the store going to get into their heads... NOBODY WANTS THEM!!! I have also seen these shoes in other stores, so they must have massively over-produced them. The first time I saw them, I wanted them. Now, I want to be sick in them*

Amongst some of the worst offenders, I must include three of my favorite brands... Topshop and Miss Selfridges sales this year hugely disappointed me. That's not to say I didn't buy from them. However, I bought a dress from each and automatically regretted both. Upon getting them home I found that they BOTH had the wrong sized tag on them. Because I've been so busy, I've kept them. Hopefully I will shrink into them. I also need to name and shame Soap & Glory for 'reducing' their massive collection boxes before Christmas even began. If I remember correctly, they were 'reduced' by 50% in Boots and were advertised as such. However, I'm not sure I EVER saw them at the 'original price'. And even if they had been originally priced at the cost it was 'reduced' from, I want to know WHY the brand think it is acceptable to rip customers off by up to 50%!?! Their early 'reduction' meant that by the time the Boxing Day sale rocked round, there was no Soap & Glory big gift sets left at my local Boots. This whole thing has sadly shown me that Soap & Glory is quite a greedy brand, using some of the most corrupt selling techniques. Respect? Pah!

HOWEVER, my sales experience wasn't ALL bad. Here are a few bits I managed to pick up and was actually happy with...

*This sewing kit was reduced in John Lewis from £18 (overpriced) to £6 (perfectly reasonable). My Mom grabbed one for my sister too, because who doesn't need a sewing kit??? I also managed to grab these two Umberto Gianini products for just £8 in Boots, saving me about £6 in total. Result!*

*Daniel Sandler never disappoints! His sales are absolutely fab, and since I wanted to widen my foundation collection in terms of colours so I can use them in my makeup artistry, being able to get these for just £2.50 each instead of £7.50 was epic*

*My Origins Brighter by Nature exfoliating pads weren't on sale, but were totally worth the £30 spend. My Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stains were only £5 each from £7.99. Tidy or what? These two Topshop cream eye shadows were just 50p each from I'mnotsurehowmuchbutatIwillhavesavedatleast50%. The same goes for the £1 eyeshadown I got from Topshop too.* 

*I managed to grab the Benefit and Clarins skincare samples for free. The Louise Gray Glitter Pots from Topshop were just £2 from £8 and the other Topshop glitters I got were just £4 although I don't remember how much they cost initially*

*This clutch-bag from Warehouse was just £17 from £30... it's more of a maroon colour, but the light made it purple for some reason!*

*I got this underwear set from Ann Summers... I got it in black too, so the bras were reduced from £18 each to £24 for two and the knickers were two for £10 from £8 each. Bargain-alicious*

I've bought a few other bits in January with Christmas gift vouchers, but they weren't on sale. You'd probably see them in upcoming posts though, so I won't bore you with them now :) I guess I didn't do TOO badly in the January sales this year, but I can honestly say that shopping in stores was not enjoyable for me at all. Actually, I haven't enjoyed going to the shops for quite some time now, so in this coming year, I expect that I will do most of my shopping online, like I used to at uni...

How did you find the January sales? Can you name and shame any sucky sales culprits? Did you manage to buy much in the sales this year?

Love and snuggles

GabriellaSofia

x