Tis the season....to treat yourself?

Unless you've been living under a rock the last few weeks, you will have noticed that the festive season is well and truly upon us, the time to start spending your hard earned money on those nearest and dearest to you instead of yourself.

Well I'mma leave it to RuPaul to summarise my thoughts on this one...

Can I get an amen up in here?

Okay, so strictly speaking it probably isn't the best idea to be making trips to MAC and Zara when your boy has presents to be buying, but when you've got a slight shopaholic problem, what's a boy to do? With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to be thinking of others. But can y'all just appreciate the nice things I bought myself first?

Let's start with this jumper from Zara. Why? Because it is gone with the wind fabulous, of course. Anyone who knows me knows about an obsession with a certain Versace for H&M bomber that never quite made it into my wardrobe and has been coveted on eBay ever since (but seriously, no matter how much I love it, I just can't justify spending 6 times the RRP on something that, at the end of the day, is H&M quality with a Versace label attached). This is the perfect alternative, just the right amount of gaudy Versace-esque baroque print on the sleeves and something that I'm having to ration myself from wearing too much. With Zara, you run the risk of dipping your toes in the water of the "generic gay" look that seems to be so prominent, and of course you always have to go up a size (thanks, Zara), but totally worth it. This is definitely the favourite addition to my wardrobe this autumn/winter.

What next? Well, there was a fateful day last weekend which involved a trip to MAC. A £15 concealer was all that was needed, so why did I leave £80 lighter? Well, let's just say that this particular trip to MAC was a success. A few days previous, I had went in (on a quiet morning one day during the week, at which point the normally mobbed store was dead), but the girl who ended up serving me did nothing more than slap a few samples of concealer on the back of my hand with little explanation of what they were and what all the NC, NW and other colour names meant, never mind what each particular product would do and why I should buy it. Needless to say I left empty handed that day, but returned on a particularly busy Saturday. This time, the girl who served me couldn't have been more helpful (whether or not this was due to being accompanied by my makeup artist boyfriend who always manages to ensure whoever is lucky enough to serve us gives us amazing service), sat me down at a chair that wasn't in use (the less said about her draglicious manager who told her she shouldn't have done this as it was busy and they had bookings - in front of me - the better) and tried out a few samples on me, talking me through what she was doing and the benefits of each product. This resulted in me not only leaving with a concealer, but a brush and two bronzers (one for me, one for the boy - see, I'm not too bad at present buying). It just goes to show the difference good customer service makes, which is something I'm always very particular about. If you give me bad or no service, you don't get my money. Simples.

Yes, in the picture, these hot black leather joggers are modelled by a girl. But so what? When you spend 40+ hours of your life every week in a girl's clothes shop, you end up getting caught out by things that you want to wear. These leather joggers are from Forever 21 and are the perfect addition to my winter wardrobe. The bonus to such purchases is that the definitely don't fall into the "generic gay" category as you'll rarely see another guy wearing the same things you've found in a womenswear retailer, definitely not as much as if you'd been hitting up Zara or Topman. They are perfect, and I am excited to start wearing them.

At this point, you may be wondering why everything is black. Do you even have to ask? However, this biker parka from River Island is probably my least favourite of my November purchases, which is ironic as it is the most expensive at a cool £85. Having stalked this jacket online, I couldn't wait for pay day to get it in my wardrobe. When I picked it up from the store and opened it, the excitement I had ancipated fell flat. Yeah, it's nice, but it's not as amazing as I'd hoped. However, I like the biker and zip detailing and it will be fine for the winter. If not, eBay it is.

For December, my resolution is to buy nothing for myself until my Christmas shopping is complete. We'll see if this happens, but I'm going to give it a good shot.

Until the next time..

xoA

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