Lidl Autumn/Winter Fashion Event- In Stores Starting This Thursday

Lidl launched their first fashion collection last spring, and it was a great success for them. Classic macs, coloured jeggings and smart striped tops all sold out quickly. I really liked their choice of pieces for that season, so I was excited to attend their autumn/winter fashion launch this morning. 

The showcase was held in Belfast's Sixty6 cocktail lounge, at the peak of four or five flights of stairs. I think everyone needed a sit down by the time they got up there! But the trek was worth it, to get a sneaky peek at what will be in our local stores in the coming weeks, starting with  these items this Thursday.

The rest of the collection will be released over the coming weeks until November, so if there is a specific item you've set your heart on, you might have to make weekly Lidl trips to catch it. 

This is the £14.99 leather look jacket I had seen on other blogs from the south and fancied. It's also available in tan which would be my choice. 

And you know I love my leopard. There are tops, fine knit sweater and jeans in leopard print for this winter. 

YI love this tshirt. I'm addicted to stripes so I simply HAVE to get this when it hits my local Bangor store. 

One of my other favourite pieces was the dogtooth wrap. There are wraps coming instore in various colours and designs, and the wool is great quality, it doesn't feel like it would ball up. They'll be £22.99

I love the women's collection but I find the kids wear a bit hit and miss. The quality is fine and the prices are great, but they just don't appeal to my style. This hooded top obviously did though- but I want one in my size! 

The men's wear is great too, and complimentary to the women's looks. 

So here are some of the items that should be instore from this Thursday. The leather look jackets I mentioned and the tan stretch trousers are on my list. 

The Sanitas Electronic Facial Brush from Lidl: Is It Worth Buying?

A quick Google of electronic facial scrubbers shows you prices ranging from £12.99 up to £150, so what about Lidl's Sanitas version? At just £9.99 does it do the job, and is it worth buying an electronic facial brush at all? 

The Sanitas is in Lidl this week, so they sent me one to have a go with. It comes with batteries included and three different heads, one hard and two softer bristled circular fittings. The action of the brush can be rotation, or a to and fro motion, which I found better for cleaning with. The straight 'round and round' setting felt like your skin was being twisted, but if you want a good proper exfoliation treatment, that's the setting for you. 

You apply your facial cleanser or scrub to your skin, not the brush, and it does a really good job of lathering the product. I've used it every evening this week and my skin does look brighter. It's helped me to stick to a routine, as I'm now 35 and still prone to going to bed with my makeup on. One thing to note, you have to remove your eye make up first, as even the soft brushes aren't suitable for your delicate skin around the eyes, and you don't want to spread your eye makeup all over your face anyway. 

Electric facial scrubbers then, a thumbs up, and for £9.99 it's a very fair price compared to the £159 models which when it comes down to it, do the same thing this does. If you fancy grabbing the Sanitas they are in store this fortnight, but I've a feeling the price will make them very popular, so maybe phone your local store to check if they still have them available before making the trip. 

Here's to shiny, fresh faces everywhere! 

(Someone had to get in on the act, of course!) 

Lidl Are Launching a Fashion Range. Would You Wear It?

This morning Lidl NI launched their very first fashion range, in a stylish event held in Made In Belfast. You know my Lidl love runs deep, but even I was surprised how affordable, wearable and how many of the pieces I loved. 

All those stripes and spots! My favourite! The Venice Collection is tailored for me! 

The accessories and shoes are great, and sure to be snapped up quickly in your local store.  

There wasn't a traditional catwalk show, instead a stylist talked us through some of the pieces as we had a chance to feel the quality and textures of the pieces. We all agreed that we were happily surprised. The fabric quality isn't budget at all. The pieces would look right at home in Mango or Zara, rather than in a supermarket aisle. They haven't snipped corners, some of the vests and singlets are lined! You wouldn't see that in some high street stores. And the price points are cheaper even than other supermarket clothing ranges. 

I think this is the year for a floppy straw hat, and it might as well be an affordable one.

The ranges also extend to men's wear and children's pieces for the summer. 

Ranges will preview on  

http://www.lidl-ni.co.uk/

I have my eye on these purple pumps. Sure they are for kids, but they might go up to a size 4, right?? 

And would you believe, even Lidl lingerie. 

It was also lovely to see some of my blogger pals, as I haven't been working much recently. Now I'm throwing myself back into The World of Kitsch, so hopefully we will see each other again soon! 

What's instore this February at Lidl?

Part of the fun of Lidl is never knowing what they'll be selling that week. Yesterday my son was in luck as this super soft, cosy, hooded dressing gown was in our local store for £7.99, with some cool Star Wars slippers for £3.99.

There are also some pretty smart trainers for the coming spring months. 

I rave on Twitter about Lidl's fruit and veg. The quality and prices are amazing compared to the main supermarkets. I find if I buy fresh vegetables from another supermarket, if I don't use them that day or the day after, they go soft or gross really quickly. Lidl fruit and veg is significantly cheaper, and LASTS. I challenge you to do your fresh produce shop there this week, and see the difference for yourself. Especially if you love grapes. Mix and match two punnets for £2; in other supermarkets you wouldn't even get one punnet for £2. 

I also love Lidl for my smoked salmon fix. You get a lot of salmon for your £. These packs with mustard and dill dressing are just £2.29. The little pots of various antipasti are £1.79.  Lazy-mummy pregrated cheese is so handy and it's £1.99 for this big bag.

Lidl has a lot in for Valentines. I don't know if I'll get any Valentines this year yet, so I bought myself my own chocolates! Just £2.99 and very much like Thorton's Continental Selection. 

The Heat, Eat & Enjoy range has been expanded. I picked up the honey roast root veg (£1.79) and the honey mustard ham (£3.99) for a delicious and easy midweek meal. 

Finally, sometimes you just can't beat a dinner of chicken nuggets, chips and beans. Lidl nuggets are just £1.99 for a family pack. 

Halloween Fun at Lidl- You Can Win £50 Each Day Until the 31st

Lidl NI are giving away £50 of vouchers every day until Halloween, but you'll need a laptop or PC as the game is Flash-based. I called into the Bangor Lidl store this afternoon to check out what fun, spooky wares they have in, as last year we had some ghostly shaped nuggets! The nuggets are back this year too, but my favourite product by far are the sausages with pumpkin prints through them.

There are lots of trick or treat supplies at great prices, and party supplies for next week.

The frozen section also holds some surprising Halloween themed treats.

There's also a selection of costumes for all ages, and home decorations.

Lidl Prove They are the Sassiest Supermarket on the Internet

The other day this image was doing the rounds on Twitter. It's a staff motivational poster for Sainsburys, which should have been displayed in their behind-shop-floor area, but had mistakenly found it's way into a window location.

Well, my favourite budget supermarket chain Lidl replied with a poster of their own. Well played, Lidl PR!

United Tastes of America at Lidl Week Inspires Me to Serve Everything on Skewers!

It's been American Week at Lidl, with lots of treats in store.

Of course I had to stock up. I don't know if anyone else felt inspired by this Buzzfeed post about skewer food last week, but as a mother of a picky eating six year old, I was keen to try some of the ideas out.

I picked up all the ingredients in my Bangor Lidl store. For savoury skewers for the adults I bought the outstandingly delicious sirloin steaks, a red pepper and baby potatoes.

I simply boiled the potatoes then tossed them in butter. I fried off the red pepper in olive oil, so they still had a little bit of crunch and wouldn't fall apart when I added them to the skewer. The sirloin I chopped into pieces and fried in the super hot pan, adding a dollop of honey thirty seconds before the end to give it a lovely taste. They were SO GOOD.

For my son's savoury skewer I added Belgian waffle quartered, cherry tomatoes in coloured varieties and hotdog sausage chopped up. What do you know, instead of fighting over eating, the novelty of the presentation had this meal demolished in minutes.

The easiest and yummiest looking dessert idea was this brownie one.

I had run out of clean skewers at this point, but for soft foods you can use drinking straws. Also a safer plan if you want to avoid giving six inch metal or wooden spikes to kids! Again these were a success. I might make dozens of these come birthday party time in October.

If you're into your healthy snacks then you can pick up a popcorn maker which uses hot air, not oil, for just £8.99.

For bakers, there are cake pop makers and doughnut makers, £11.99 each. Plus ready made doughnut batter in store.

I also spotted, but didn't pick up, these 'Nutella' filled cookies. If anyone tries them let me know are they worth trying on Twitter, I'm @rudedoodle.

A couple more products caught my eye, some very Ikea-a-like meatballs, and almond tarts. Also fancied this big pork fillet to make pulled pork, it was £4.99.

Another taste-a-like, a bag of Starbucks' type hard waffles for less than the price of one waffle bought in their chain! These are a spot on taste match.

Lastly, you may wonder how I'm even finding time to blog, what with school holidays and no moment of my own anymore, well, Lidl to the rescue once again. For the past hour Michael has been busy colouring in this cardboard playhouse we picked up with our Lidl shop for £7.99!

Don't forget you can check out the Lidl NI website to see what themed offers are coming up in the next few weeks, influding some fab duvets and jammies boys and girls in July.

Lidl & the Emergency £9.99 Hairdryer

Our hair dryer exploded this morning about two minutes into drying my mane. I'm already pathetic at hair styling, so I just whacked a tonne of Aussie Mousse into it and hoped for the best.

Unfortunately the best was a wet look perm, one Michael Jackson would have been proud of. I actually went out to a church fete with my hair as below. 

Luckily I'd spotted a hair dryer in Lidl yesterday for £9.99 in black, pink, blue or orange. So tomorrow I'll be back to my usual self.