& Other Stories

It was only a matter of time before this post popped up on my blog. The main reason I was so desperate to get back to London was to check out the newest brainchild of the H&M and Cos creators. Dubbed the 'bloggers store' the concept behind & Other Stories is very different to any other store out there at the moment. I'm sure you've all heard a lot about it, so I'll be brief! 

The store sells clothing and beauty products. Just imagine what it would look like if Ikea did fashion and beauty, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the store looks like. The clothing and bags are all pretty pricey, you're looking at upwards of £50 for a clutch bag, but the beauty products are all pretty reasonable.

The store is laid out in a way that makes shopping incredibly easy. You'll find a photographed look, and all the components of that look all together, the clothing, accessories and makeup used, handy right? If you needed an outfit for an event and had little time to spend putting it together, this is the place to go, all the work is done for you! 

As well as stocking their own brand beauty products, & Other Stories also stocks L.A. Brüket, This Works, Dr Bronner and The Balm,  amongst others. Although I was tempted by a The Balm primer, and a couple of This Works products, I decided to take advantage of their own brand instead.

The beauty section is laid out like a beauty blogger's dream. Lollipop sticks with nail polish swatches, giant sinks to try out the soaps, creams and cleansers, makeup testers paired with suggested brushes and tools, it's swatching heaven in there! I could have easily left with one of everything! 

So my thoughts on their products? All their 'beauty tools' brushes, wipes, cotton buds, eyelash curlers, pocket mirrors etc. are all really reasonably priced, and the brushes are great quality. The blushes and eyeshadows with phrases printed into them are adorable! The nail polishes are great quality (I'm talking one application needed folks, it's the holy grail) and really cheap, just £5 each! Their own brand soaps and creams are all gorgeous in scent and formula, and so hard to resist!

So what did I leave with?

First thing that went into the basket? A pot of cotton buds, since I'd run out, and this adorable pot was just a pound. This is the sort of thing I'll refill when I run out, I love that the pot says & Other Stories on it! Next up, nail polish! I could have bought them all, but limited myself to just one. I left with Pekin Cherry, a deep berry red, which with hindsight was probably a silly choice heading into spring and summer, but I loved the colour. This looks great paired with the Butter London polish 'West End Wonderland'  from the Harvey Nichols gift with purchase promotion.

I then picked up two brushes. The Universal Eyeshadow brush is super soft, and great for packing shadow onto the lid, as well as blending colour into the crease. This brush was only £7, and I love it! I haven't used my MAC 217 at all since I got this. I genuinely think I might prefer it, and it's less than half the price! I also picked up an eyelash brush and at £2 each, I'm wishing I'd gotten two, one for shaping the brows, and one for seperating lashes. It does the job and it's a lot cheaper than any other one on the market! Last from the beauty section was the Perfectly Purifying Cleansing Gel. I've been on the hunt for a new cleanser since Lush went and discontinued Let The Good Times Roll (sob) and this might not smell as good, but it's doing wonders for my skin. It's got one of those lids where you twist it up, and then the product comes out a little hole in the middle. Great for combination or oily skin as it helps remove any excess oils. And the best thing? It's paraben free! (we'll be having a little chat about parabens later on in the month!) 

The last thing I picked up wasn't from the beauty section. Since chopping all my hair off, I've been looking for ways to jazz it up, since there's not much I can do with it! These packs of hairgrips were £4 each and look really cute pinning my fringe back, or holding my hair off my face. I thought four pounds was really reasonable! 

Have you checked out & Other Stories yet? What do you think?