Clothes Show Live 2011 (pt2)

As I mentioned in the first part of my Clothes Show Live blog post, I attended on the last day of the exhibition, and everything was reduced. As a result the place was heaving with people (I kid you not). Ok, I have seen large crowds of people, but this was unbelievable. Everything was marked down to amazing prices, to which I took full advantage of.

My first stop was the Elle magazine stand. I only buy this magazine now and again so when I saw that it was on offer, I thought I'd pick up a copy. Expecting to only get one magazine, I managed to get issues December 2011 and January 2012, £20 Kurt Geiger gift card, Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Wash, Jemma Kidd Lipgloss and a £2.00 coupon off the February issue. The goody bag was being sold for £5.00, but as Wednesday was the last day I got it for £3.00. Bargain! Goody Bag Value - £51.60

 

  At the time of booking my ticket, Clothes Show were offering a gift with every ticket purchase. With the option of a free book or a 15% off dancewear voucher, my friend and I opted for the book. Expecting to only receive one book (Tara Hyland), our goody bags included 2 more free books; Dannii Minogue 'My Story' and an iBook 'Bridesmaids'. Goody Bag Value - £23.58

 

 Walking from stall to stall, my friend spotted this little invention. It has been created to put on top of drink cans to save the fizz, prevent spillages and prevent bugs from entering your drink. I think its an ace little thing, and was only £1.00 or £5.00 for 6. 

I Love . . cosmetics are a brand I have always seen in Superdrug and Asda, but never really paid much attention to. I saw their stall with interesting looking goody bags, but at discounted prices. I opted for the larger bag (I wanted the bag mainly to carry the other bits and bobs), and I got all of the above for £7.50. I thought it wasn't a bad price considering the miniature bubble bath set is rrp £4.99. I am however not sure how much the candle retails for, or the lipgloss or the face mask, but if anyone knows, please do let me know. 

This has to be one of my best bargains. I have never used Illamasqua products before, so when I saw the stall, I immediately went straight over. I will admit, the selection wasn't huge, but they had a fair few products (cream blushers, eye shadows, mascaras, eyeliners, eye pigments, lip glosses). I picked up a cream blusher 'Betray' (rrp £16.50), mascara 'Nocturnal' (sale £5.00 originally rrp £15.00) and powder eye shadow 'Truth' (rrp £15.00). And the best bit - this all cost me £10.00! Yep you read that correctly £10.00 - absolute flamin bargain! The offer originally was 3 for £15.00 but because it was the last day, they knocked it down to £10.00. Total Value - £36.50.

How cute are these? You just want to eat them . . . (unless you want to start foaming at the mouth) . .they are in fact bath bombs created by a company called Miss Patisserie! They are 100% handmade, very cute and smell absolutely divine. These retail for £9.95 but I managed to get this for £3.50 which I thought wasn't a bad purchase.

Saving - £6.45

Another fab bargain was Models Own. Some of you may have seen me tweet earlier in the week regarding their exclusive Clothes Show offer. If you didn't see it, then fear not as I purchased it. The offer was buy 3 nail polishes and receive another 12 free! I thought ''No way, there must be a catch somewhere'', but nope there really was no catch and that was the offer. I picked up nail polishes 'Peacock Green', 'Slate Grey' and 'Mystic Mauve' and the other products were already in the goody bag. This offer has the value of £85.00 but I got it for £10.00. Saving - £75.00. Bargain!

There were other stalls, such as Benefit, Rimmel (had to cue to get in, no joke!), Helen É but you could not move. I wanted to see what Benefit had to offer, but it was rammed. So my friend and I decided to call it a day. Whilst heading back we came past Cosmopolitan/Company. 

  Like Elle, they were their goody bag for £3.00 (originally £5.00), with a few goodies thrown in. I thought the £3.00 was for one, but the girl told my friend and I that it was for 2 goody bags. When I got home, it was actually double of everything and was nothing in comparison to what is advertised on the Cosmopolitan website. My only conclusion to this is because it was such a popular offer, they ran out of the other goodies?

Goody Bag Value - approx. £29.48

Because I had a platinum ticket, I automatically got a Clothes Show goody bag, which as usual is filled with lots of freebies and samples. I had a few edible items, but consumed those before taking this picture (Haha, sorry!). However I have to say I wasn't too bowled over by the goody bag this year, felt it was slightly naff; for one the t shirt, which is sized 9-11years!

. . .And that's it! Phew . . what a long blog post, I hope I haven't bored you all. Ooo just another few points to make - you have probably noticed I didn't purchase any clothes; personally none of it was my cup of tea, I found a lot of it resembled that of in/outdoor markets, and not very nice.

Quite a few people on twitter have expressed their keen interest for going to the Clothes Show 2012, and I thought I would offer a few tips for you all:

• Go early! - Going early, i.e. doors open at 9am (10am on the first day of the exhibition) - gives you the opportunity to explore/purchase anything before the masses start to arrive. At that point you'll be able to get the last of the best bargains (if you go on the last day) without being let down, or told ''Sorry, we sold out early this morning''
• Book a later show - Booking a later show gives you the opportunity to browse plentiful before the fashion catwalk. If you arrive early and book an early show, you'll be rushing around the arena
• Plenty of cash - Make sure you take enough cash to last you the day; I made the mistake of withdrawing cash at the NEC, and at £2.50 a withdrawal, it adds up!
• Go on the last day of the exhibition - I can't emphasise this point enough; if you are a serious bargain hunter and want to skim that little bit extra of purchases then go on the last day. Everything (as you've seen in this blog post) is reduced, as sellers want rid of the stock.
• Keep your eyes peeled - This year a lot of the exhibitioners used social media (twitter, facebook) to draw in interest; informing all of their offers. I made a mental note of what each exhibitioner offered, so I knew what I was looking for and what I wanted to try and purchase. 
• Comfortable Shoes - If you a pro in walking in heels all day long, then fair play to you, but I suggest wearing comfortable footwear as you will be doing a lot of 'foot work'. The arena is huge, the stalls are all well spread out, and if you take the train, walking from B'ham International to the NEC is a long long trek!

Hope this blog post has been interesting, fun and helpful to you all. I am definitely going to Clothes Show 2012. Hope to perhaps see some of you there, or maybe turn the day into a  bloggers day out at the Clothes Show? .  .If you have any questions, then please do fire away, and I will answer as best as I can.