Big Paris Haul

I've been saving most of my purchases to put them all into one giant shopping post. Now, the main point is to show you that even in Paris, stuff can be cheap of you know where and when to go and to let you know about interesting products you might want to try yourself. So start making your shopping list for the next time you go to Paris!

Here are some pics from Sephora during their winter sale - I thought it was kinda meh this time, but if you buy high end make-up (Sisley, Clinique, Armani, Urban Decay etc.), lots of their products were on sale - mainly foundation, lipsticks, eye shadow mini palettes and nail polishes. As for eyeliners and Benefit products, the discounted things were dark or strange shades. I found two mascaras too - one was Armani (I think, for about 15 E) and I got Lancome one for 14 E.  Sephora's own brand is very cheap during the sales, stuff goes as low as 5 E and less. So, check if your trip is during the sales - the dates are announced online and all shops have to respect them, they are held always in winter in January and in Summer (I think it's end of June/beginning of July, but you can check it yourself).

I don't have a picture of the Lancome mascara, but I'll be reviewing it anyways, so you'll see it later and the other item I got was concealer (light shade, 5 E).

One of my best finds was this dress in Belleville in the shop next to E.Via (the Korean one) - it was... Guess how much?

10 E. Yeah, I'm not kidding. In my opinion, it looks like it could have cost 30 or more. It's really adorable and I can't wait for summer to wear it (I left it in Prague, because my traveling really limits my wardrobe capacity).

This coat was bought in Prague - I really hesitated if I should get it or not, because though on sale, it was still 32 E. >____< In the end I came back for it, because it fits my style quite well and blue goes perfectly with my color theme for this semester. And it matches the shoes I'll show you later (style-wise), so I plan to bring it with me during next year's summer semester as well. It's from Ann Christine in Palladium.

I went to Deichmann (after checking 101 other stores) to get cheap boots to wear in Dublin,, preferable heel-free as I was going to bike (lol, the worst idea in my life!). On the way, I saw these for 14 E, so I got them too. I'm saving them for next year's summer semester too.

I really wasn't gonna buy anything, but then I couldn't help it. I found these in Guerrisol one rainy afternoon and in the end, I got them (5 E). They have no brand and look like they might have been custom-made or be from an indie brand.

I'm never too lazy to create yet another paypal account (now I have 3 - Czech, French and Irish) - so eBay was my best friend during studying for exams. It took a lot of bidding, but I won this sweater for 3 E (shipping was free). The lace around the neckline is kind of badly sewn, but otherwise, it looks pretty nice.

Under the pretense of studying Japanese with these, I bought (or got as gifts) lots of Japanese magazines.

Cutie was on sale as it is an older issue, so I paid around 7 E (almost the same price as in Japan). It came with a mirror.

JJ was pretty old and without any gift, so it was only 2 E.

Spring was new and therefore around 13 E, I would never have bought it myself, but I got it as a gift. It came with a lovely tote bag, but the brand logo fell off in a couple of days.

Cutie is one of my favorite magazines ever, it also came with a tote bag and the price was similar to Spring.

All of the mags are from Book Off, so check it out if you're near the Opera!

Right in front of the Cité Universitaire campus (Moroccan house), there is a second-hand book, DVD and CD store. It has manga for 2 - 3 E and I managed to get these two CDs - Utada Hikaru and AUra Dione - for 1 E each! However, the UH one doesn't play very well, I will try to clean it or copy it to my PC when I get to Prague again....

This is the cutest perfume tester I've ever seen! It's from Marrionaud.

OK, another item from Prague - Missha opened a store there and surprisingly, the prices are quite affordable. This mascara was 5 E, I haven't opened it yet, but I will review it after I use it. I also got the Missha lucky pack (called Missha Box in CZ) from my brother for Xmass, but it's in Prague while i'm in Dublin (yeah, and still posting about Paris - don't worry, it will end this Friday), so I suppose I won't see it until I go back home or somebody comes to visit me re.

H&M in Paris is disgusitngly expensive even during the sales, at least compared to Vienna. I swear I saw the same stuff differ by as much as 50% in price. So the only thing I got were these tights, 1 E was low enough for me. =D

I thought I will toss my Secret Santa gifts in there as well - this year, I totally won. My Santa was amazing, I got a beautiful card, Pepero candy, beret with cat ears, violin hair pin and white ring! Sooo amazing, I was really grateful to have such a generous person as my Santa. <3

Some forgotten food haul - From top to bottom, you can see tapioca pearly (they become clearish pink after cooking - no rainbow :/), some cheap fruit and veg, spicy tofu sauce for Mapo Tofu (it's veeery salty, so it's better to just make your own from scratch), Thai frying mix, kimchi instant noodles, sesame, sesame oil, rice vinegar and seaweed-flavored crackers.

More veg, soba noodles, rice flour. The pumpkin is dirt cheap in Chinatown, the piece I got was like a couple of cents.

Who could resist?

Korean food haul - Korean stores are really expensive. >.< I got custard, Hello Kitty candy, seaweed chips (my favorite salty snack ever) and corn soup - I've only had the Japanese Knorr one before, but I loved it, so I decided to try the Korean version too.

Yummy strawberry bear crackers and disgusting bean drink. Yuck.

I am totally disappointed in sympa - they don't have the cute and very Asian-fashion-friendly Suncoo brand anymore. At least I got this top before it was gone - it was 8 E, which is kinda a lot for something so small and light, but the message has kind of a special meaning for me.

I also got these socks - for like 2 E?

Scarf from I Am ,it was on sale for 8 E I think? It's very warm and fluffy so it's very useful here in the windy streets of Dublin.

These fruit chips are the perfect snack when you crave sweets - the portion size is just enough to sate your cravings and it doesn't have that many calories. And recipe leaflets from Paris store. At the bottom, there is a tea collection for about 3 E, yummy coconut flavored soybean drink and not so yummy pumpkin dessert.

Shoes from a small store in Okabé shopping center, they were 5 E.

And my favorite French mag!

Used the box to store my hair accessories. :)

Another eBay find - I bought Shiseido's Ma Chérie shampoo in Tokio and thought it was really good, so I tried searching for it on eBay. I managed to find a store that sold the pack of 380 ml of shampoo and the same size of conditioner for 25 USD including shipping, so I got it even though I knew I'd have to transport it to Ireland - it was the last set and the price was quite good, considering it's almost double the size of the usual shampoo. I already have the mini bottles, so all I needed were these refills. It is still quite expensive for a shampoo, but not that much more than in Japan and I wanted to treat myself.

Well I couldn't help it, and I justified me spending 6 or 8 E on a mag by thinking it will improve my French.

Freebies from Samsung's Xmass event.

Lovely gift from Sara - I sent her some DIY supplies and she used them to make me some beautiful treats - she even remembered I didn't have a coin bag, so she made me one! Both came with me to Dublin, so when I do an apartment tour, you'll see them. :) Thanks again a million times, Sara!

More food. My fave fruit chips, frying mixes, bamboo skewers, dried Shiitake mushrooms and some sweet bread with cream I bought and then wolfed down on the train.

Sympa in Montmartre - hope Suncoo will be back by the time I graduate!

Big TATI one station from Montmartre (I think it's on line 2) - the clothes are very cheap, but also pretty bad quality. Primark price, but about 1/5 of Primark quality for most things.

And more Belleville off brand Asian clothes - you've seen all of these already. These jeggings were 14 E, which is the maximum I was willing to spend, and I still feel kinda guilty about it.

Blouse for 13 E. Pics taken in MIAA kitchen - it was the best-lit place I could find. =D

Jeggings for 10 E. They're super warm and comfortable and are not see through.

Sweater for 13 E.

Kiko - finally, brown eye liner for reasonable price (7 E).

Cup noodles and Filipino chips.

Japanese tea made in the USA. ROFL.

Yours truly

Vita