debenhams // the big reveal

if you subscribed to a zillion high street emails like me, you will have seen that recently debenhams on oxford street have celebrated the launch of their new and improved flagship store with a fortnight of festive and fabulous fun! kicking it all off on monday 2nd december and running through until yesterday, each day was packed full of specials, festivities and -- best of all, hundreds of store-wide discounts!

the days i was really looking forward to joining in on were the beauty indulgence day on the 6th and the home sweet home event on the 8th... except, i was in copenhagen for both of those days so i missed out on all the fun! nevertheless, boyfriend and i decided to head on over after work on tuesday, to soak in some of the new and shiny things, and see if we couldn't bag ourselves a few bargains!

first impressions: it's definitely a lot shinier than it used to be on the inside, but from the outside, it still needs some work. with stiff visual competition from the likes of john lewis and another high street department store who don't want to be named unless i include a link to a pre-approved landing page apparently (thanks random seo guy who's to blame for that one - merry christmas!) on the next block, shimmering and sparkling in all their christmas glory, the new façade of the store is a bit of a let down! the new exterior is supposed to look like running water, but without lights on it and in the darkness of winter's 5pm, it was just... whelming. not to mention the fact that there's still a fair amount of scaffolding up on the first level, well, i was disappointed, and had expected to be blown away!

the ground floor is still the beauty zone. with white walls and counters and stainless steel fixtures, it has all the bases covered as far as sterility and luxury goes. with a hundred different perfume testers in my nostrils, my fresh eyes went in search of the benebabes and the lancôme counter. have to admit, the benebabes are on their game. i wasn't even within an inch of their territory before being harassed about my primer and "omigodyeah isn't it amayyyyzing?" moving on.

completely bypassing menswear on the first floor, we moved straight to the second and third - womenswear! all the favourites are present and accounted for; h! by henry holland, miss selfridges and red herring where i wandered the rails for what boyfriend tells me was ages... before finishing our trip up on the fourth floor - my heaven; home.

that night there was store-wide discounts on just about everything; most of the homewares were upto 30% off. that's like... bad news for me, but with a bit of christmas money burning away in my back pocket, i did manage to snag a few last minute presents for friends and... well, me too. not showing you those until after christmas though! did i buy that pretty yellow kitchenaid? no, no i did not.

we did have to get out of there to get to winter wonderland to meet our friends, but i have planned a return trip for this week, where i can spend as long as i like - alone, to wander and peruse and purchase at will... and omg, i can't wait.

do you love a bit of debenhams at christmas too?

*written in collaboration with brand. all lustings are my own*