Not too late - NYE shindig

I'm so naughty here on my NYE break and blogging from my crappy phone! BUT had to let my recessionistas know about NYE celebrations down at the uber-trendy Bar 23 in Dalston. Entry is peanuts at £2 and they're launchin new cocktails this eve! Bound to be a good'un with a cool crowd, dj's spinning some real tunes and pure merriment. Check their website for location and full details www.bar-23.co.uk. HAPPY NEW YEAR! MetsThrifty xXx

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey lovelies!

Just want to wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR as I'm off to the "English Hamptons" (as my friend put it LOL) with the hubby for a quiet New Year's retreat. Here are my top 3 recession-busting NYE events for you all (sorry if this is rushed but I'm late!!!):

1. Fireworks in London (www.london.gov.uk/newyearseve) - of course, it's 100% free and can be enjoyed by kids and grown-ups alike. Just remember to wrap up, don't get drunk and rowdy in the crowds, and have patience - there's always thousands of people who turn up and you will get pushed and shoved a little - 2 years ago I was shouting at everyone to "STOP F**KING PUSHING" and nearly got into a fight with a 14year old girl!!! LMAO wtf I wasn't even drunk! But seriously take it easy down there, if meeting friends, meet up early in an uncrowded area and plan your journey. The official London website will help you plan your trouble-free and pleasant NYE! Don't forget that travel is FREE from 23:45 on NYE until 0430 on New Year's Day (yipeeee!)

2. NYE Dinner & Cocktail Party - for those who can't be bothered to brave the coldness outside (i.e. me!!) how about you get your loved ones together for a NYE dinner party. Think suits and dresses, cocktails galore, as much chocolate and dessert you want, fun and frolics, The Graham Norton Show with the fabulous Sarah Jessica Parker and watching the countdown and fireworks from your living room - OR even better, purchasing your own fireworks and setting them off in your garden (caution plz, no drunkards near the fireworks!). To help you on your way, Marks & Spencer's"Party in for £10" offer keeps the cost of your party recession-proof - pick up 3 packs of party food, a bottle of Cava or wine for the recession busting £10!!! So much cheaper and nicer than extortionate London restaurant prices on NYE and MUCH more fun! You know M&S food tastes scrumptious too, YUM! Don't forget to pick up some Champagne at uber-cheap prices (but not cheap on taste) check the MoneySavingExpert.Com dedicated post HERE

3. Dinner at Guanabana Restaurant (http://www.guanabanarestaurant.com/) - for those who want to actually want to go out and celebrate NYE, my choice is my fave Brazilian/Caribbean restaurant EVER! Situated in Camden, food at Guanabana is absolutely delicious and they do NOT scrimp on their portions either. Check out the NYE 3 course menu HERE - I advise the Grilled Snapper or Jerk Chicken for your mains - both DIVINE! Even better, they operate a "Bring Your Own" policy as they don't sell alcoholic beverages - so, bring along your own sprits, champs, wines, beers etc (saving you a TON as they're not charging for this on NYE) and get Guanabana to mix them in with their very own mocktails. YUMMY! The atmosphere is homely yet trendy with its mis-matching furniture which has been collected and donated over the years from random places and its Sisha Bar. You will NOT be disappointed but be quick for reservations! Ok this is secretly my TOP NYE EVENT!!!! This should be number 1 but because it'll set you back a little bit of money, I've had to shove it down... boo! Well worth the £30 set menu AND partying until 3am in the morning - you won't find anything as tasty at this price -we're not talking mumbo jumbo nouvelle cusine we're talking real SOUL FOOD BABY!! LOVE IT! If I was in London this is what I'd be hitting!


Runner up - Mango Lounge, Earl's Court (http://www.mangolounge.eu/)
If you feel to go out and boogie for the NY, head to popular Mango Lounge. For only £20 you get a champagne cocktail on arrival (worth approx £8) and a countdown shot (approx £4) which already evens out the cost of the ticket. It's quite a small bar with the dancefloor in the basement and the infamous cocktail bar upstairs. Each cocktail is mixed with pure love and affection and with drinks reasonably priced you will be sure to tantalise your tastebuds! Drawing in a mixed crowd, you are guaranteed to have a fab trouble-free night, dancing away to a great mix of music. Manager Oli will ensure everyone has a great NYE. Cop your tickets HERE. Join the FB page HERE to learn more about Mango Lounge.


Take your pick lovelies!!! It's a very small top list but I'm happy these picks will fulfil your recessionista budgets! I'll be back on the 2nd January so from then on, the blog will be updated on a regular (pinky promise). Once again wishing you all a very very HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2010 is the year of opportunity, all things great and the year of success and achievement for all! Say goodbye to any negativity and leave that all behind. Stay safe, don't drink & drink and see you on the other side.

Love your No.1 Recessionista, Mets Thrifty xoxo

PS thanks so much for all your support this year, 2010 is going to be even BIGGER

Smashbox comes to the High Street

FINALLY the day has come where American make-up brand Smashbox is now available to purchase on the UK highstreet. I am ECSTATIC! Walking through Debenhams to do some last-min Xmas shopping, a SMASHBOX COUNTER caught my eye!!!! I was so excited I actually ran up to the stand (SADDO!) luckily nobody was around to see this lame act (or maybe they were, who knows?? lol). I was jumping for joy to find Smashbox Anti-Shine - my lifesaver - at the counter!

For those unfamiliar, Smashbox Anti-Shine is a gel to powder formula that swallows up any grease/oil or any type of shine off ya face in like a second! Applied sparingly, it keeps your face looking matte for hours. It's available in neutral or light (my preference is for the neutral solution) and will last you months on end. In my experience (which trust me, for someone with a frying pan for my face is a LOT) this is by far the best anti-shine product on the market. There was no price tag, no consultant AND the anti-shine is not available on Debenhams.com (slight fail there Debs!) so selling price is TBC.

Previously only available from QVC, JustBeautyDirect, eBay and other online sites [yup even their own Smashbox website don't dispatch to the UK - I've begged them already though!], the availability of Smashbox on our high street this makes life so much easier - no more extortionate prices (I'm guessing from the selling price of the Primers etc!) and no more waiting around for delivery. Furthermore, QVC even stopped stocking the Anti-Shine (WTF!!!!!) The cost of Smashbox beauty has just been reduced and its convenience levels have just increased 2-fold!

This is a great day for Smashbox loving recessionistas!! If you don't know much about Smashbox, get to know HERE . I really urge you to visit the new counters @ Debenhams and try out their products - it may not be everyone's cup of tea but at least now you can have a play before buying. Smashbox is renowned for its infamous Primers so check them out! Kudos to Debenhams & extra kudos to Smashbox for upping their game & keeping me shine free for less LMAO! No more having to wait until a trip to foreign lands to visit Sephora for my top up or grudginly purchasing online. :-)

XoXo MT XoXo

Ding Dong the AVON Lady

I've never been a fan of AVON, the brand has never appealed to me, I've never really used their products before and I have never understood the premium prices on [some of] their products... that is, until now!

The hubby & I went to Egypt in early December and he brought along AVON's Skin so Soft Original Dry Oil Spray. Now before you judge (lol) this was his aunt's and she had told him that this repelled mosquitos (no, I wasn't convinced either but I actually only got bit once.. coincidence?!)Anyway I used this product and OH MY GOSH, it gave me the smoothest legs EVER! I'm a Palmer's Cocoa Butter kinda gal and thought THAT made my legs soft, boy was I wrong! AVON's Skin so Soft Original Dry Oil Spray transformed my legs into two luscious limbs, I was truly amazed! My entire body was so supple but really my legs, they were in another world of their own! I said goodbye to the (ever so slight LOL) scaliness of em, slight roughness to the touch and I welcomed with open arms my new babysoft pins! The oil is seriously lightweight, non-greasy and quickly penetrates my skin. It also has a very light, easy-on-the nose fragrance :-)

I ended up rinsing off the hubby's spray and as soon as I was back in the UK, I visited AVON's website to get hold of some of that sh*t! I had a good nosey around and ended up buying a loads of stuff (ooops) all priced around £1 (I KNOW!!) Here's what I picked up:

1. Avon Senses Winter Warmth Shower Gel - 250ml - 99p (now back up to £2 or "Buy 1 choose 1 for 50p across selected bath & body"). I'm loving this shower gel, it makes me smell like my Hot Apple Pie Yankee Candle :-). It's perfectly foamy with a lovely warm and Christmassy aroma and makes my hot showers that much more relaxing -think the lavender effect but obv not lavender LOL! Not particularly extra moisturing but left my skin feeling balanced nonetheless. LOVE!

2. Skin So Soft & Sensual Replenishing Body Lotion - 250ml - 89p (part of "5 Skin So Soft & Sensual products for £5", normal price £3.25 - currently reduced to £1.60) A light textured body lotion which IS replenishing but it doesn't win over Palmer's Cocoa Butter or the dry oil spray and unfortunately lets me down due to the strong fragrance, it's a bit too overwhelming for my sensitive nose - I won't be buying this again. HATE!

3. Skin So Soft & Sensual Dry Oil Body Spray - £150ml - £1.08 (part of "5 Skin So Soft & Sensual products for £5", normal price £5 - currently reduced to £2.50) No need to bang on about this one as it's pretty much the same as the original spray above - although part of the "& Sensual" line it didn't differ from the original dry oil spray. I'm not complaining though, definately purchase again for reasons above. LOVE :-) :-)

4. Skin So Soft & Sensual Creamy Body Wash - 250ml - 98p (part of "5 Skin So Soft & Sensual products for £5". Normal price £3 - currently reduced to £1.50). An extremely moisturising and creamy body wash indeed! Smell? Pretty much like the other Skin So Soft & Sensual products but not as overwhelming as the body lotion - thankfully! LIKE

5. Colourtrend Mini Mobile Lip Gloss (Crimson) - £1 (reduced from £3, can't find it on the website now though...boo!). Now when I opened my big AVON box to find this lipgloss, I was disappointed at how small it was!!! But that was stupid of me, being a MINI MOBILE lipgloss, what did I expect? Anyway I bought loads of these for my lil cousins as extra Xmas gifts and they went down an absolute treat! Result! The colour is subtle but provides a lovely sheer crimson gloss, so it's actually a bit of a thumbs up - it's an emergency lipgloss - I'll never be left with naked lips again woop (well until it runs out which I'm guessing will be sometime soon as it's so teeny!) Would I buy it again though? Probably not.... LIKE but not THAT much.

6. AVON Car Intense Protection Hand Cream - 75ml - 99p (reduced from £3.50, now back up to normal price.. blah!). This is definately up there in the good hand cream stakes in terms of moisturising abilities, with its mix of silicone and beeswax and it easily diminished the dryness between my fingers (blush). On first use it had an overpowering smell but I've got used to it now and it's a handbag essential to protect my hands from getting chapped in this cold weather.

So ultimately, as a recessionista, have I done myself justice? Considering the savings I have made on the normal price, this was a recessionista bargain! This lot alone without any reductions would have set me back £14.75 but with the reductions, cost me a mere £5.93!! Being the absolute hoarder/discount wh*re that I am, I had to purchase multiple of the above (don't worry not all for me!) so I won't need to buy any of the above essentials for a while! With my actual total just going over £20, I benefited from free delivery too - usually £3.50 (for standard 5 working day delivery).

I think I did well...but what do YOU think? But don't hate because the prices have gone up! LOL ;-) I'll be quicker in telling you next time so we can all snap up these basement bargains... promise!

x MT x

Longchamp... I LOVE!

On my way back from Paris from Christmas, I picked up this CUTE lil Longchamp backpack at Charles De Gualle airport. Part of the Le Pliage collection, it folds away into the teeniest-tiniest thing and then folds out into the most convenient, chic French accessory. It really is a great sized bag for all your essentials and more - this can easily hold my purse, satnav, hand cream, anti-bac, lipgloss, mirror, big hairbrush with plenty of room left over LOL! It's even got a lil pocket inside :-) I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! I love the Longchamp Le Pliage collection altogether - a collection of the most classic, affordable (being the key word) and convenient luxe bags.

What do you think? Je pense c'est la opitomy du chic français

Isn't it adorable? It was a choice between the classic go-with-everything brown and the spring colour of lavendar - I stuck with brown for obvious reasons! Not sure if it's out in the UK as it's not available online via the UK website.. YET (so yes, I am feeling a lil exclusive please, don't burst my bubble!)

Hmmm.. ok I admit it wasn't entirely a recessionista purchase, it put me back 62Euros BUT my justification... I had 15Euros left over, this was my Xmas & New Year's gift to myself AND I haven't seen this style in the UK. And anyway, I have to splurge and treat myself every now and again, especially with the ££'s and pennies I've managed to save over the year :-) :-)

Xx Mets Thrifty xX

Merry Christmas!!

Recessionistas,

I know this is overly-late but I hope you have all had a Merry Christmas! Hope you spent precious time with the family and have taken some time off to relax! I was lucky enough to goto France for the festive season (oh la la!) to spend with my my fave French frogs (err family) and got so caught up in the merriment I didn't update the blog.. FAIL! BUT I promise 2010, I will update this baby on a regular! Stay tuned as I've got more posts up my sleeve which will be up before the New Year (yes, really!) Make sure you EAT & DRINK LOADS but always remember to stay safe over the holidays, don't drink and drive and remember, when intoxicated, your actions will always come back to you (especially if you've got friends like mine that never let me forget lol)

Lots of kisses (under the mistletoe), Mets Thrifty xXx

PS don't forget to to follow me on Twitter

Fab FREE Pampering from Wahanda

Wow! So, like, I LOVE Twitter! I was Tweeting away begging someone to buy me some Wahanda spa vouches (desperately needed!) and Wahanda twittered back the following:

Wahanda @MetsThrifty Until they do, why not treat yourself to some free pampering? The Ark Age Aware facial is especially good! http://www.wahanda.com/products/price-under-1-gbp/

Anyway off I went to visit the link, because you know can never get enough FREE pampering and low and behold a list of 37 FREE pampering sessions! I had a quick butchers and my top 3 are:

1. Free Skin Assessment and Mini Facial with latest Ark Age Aware Skincare (worth £25)
2. Free Beautcamp Pilates session (worth £25)
3. Free Style Assessment with Jasmine Sekhon (worth £40)

For me, that is the perfect top 3! 1) get into a good skin care routine for 2010, 2) get into shape & maintain a healthy balanced lifestyle in the new year 3) get my 2010 style in order. What more could I ask for to kick start the new year? I need to get my appointments booked ASAP!

There's plenty of other offerings - free Powerplate sessions, pilates sessions, free days at top gyms, luxe skin care consultantations, even free ski-fit sessions! So what are you waiting for? Go get your free pamper sess NOW >> Click here <<

What's Wahanda all about anyway? One of the best, if not THE best wellness site around (www.wahanda.com) offering spa days/breaks, health & beauty offers etc. Check it out and hint to your loved ones if they haven't got you a Xmas pressie yet! I'm a right sucker for the spa so no doubt I'll be on this website seeking the best spa deals at every opp!

Enjoy fellow recessionistas, you deserve it X x X

FREE tickets for Pied Piper - a Hip Hop Dance Revolution

Apologies, I've not been around for a while but hopefully this will be a good'un! I really wanted to go and see the Pied Piper - A Hip-Hop Dance Revolution over the holiday season and lo and behold I found some FREE TICKETS! If you don't know about the show here's what The Independent had to say,

'Pied Piper is hip-hop theatre at its most confident...There's no snow or tinsel, but its bold dancing and muscular storytelling make this a cracking Christmas show. ' [4*s!]

The Barbican are offering FREE TICKETS for 16-25year olds that are members of their "FreeB" scheme. It's 100% FREE to join and it takes all of 2 minutes to sign up. Click HERE to register. Once registered you'll get a membership number. Log in, select your seats from the seating plan and BOOK (2 per member, your companion must be 16-25 too), it's soooo easy! Pick up your m'ship on your first visit - don't forget your ID!

There's SUCH a wide variety of other fantastic shows/cinema screenings - they were even offering free tickets to the BBC Symphony Orchestra! I can't wait, now that I'm a member I can guarantee that I will be at the Barbican at EVERY opportunity. I'm already following freeB on Twitter to stay updated.

I really can't believe I didn't find this one before even though I blogged about FREE THEATRE TICKETS back in June (FAIL). There's really no excuse, it's the perfect opportunity to have a great FREE night out over the Christmas holidays.

Thanks freeB - I LOVE YOU! X

PS - I'm all up on TWITTER so follow me HERE [www.twitter.com/metsthrifty]