Topshop Melbourne

Yesterday was the opening day of the first Australian Topshop in Melbourne. Today I visited the store in the hope that it was better than those that I saw in Singapore. The ones in Singapore were either much smaller or much larger than the Melbourne one and carried many of the same lines at the same price (taking the exchange rates into account).

The disappointing aspects of the store:

• The Topman section was very small when compared to all of those in Singapore, for me this isn't a problem but I can see many men visiting being underwhelmed by the hype as a result.
• There was no maternity section that I could see, again this isn't a problem for me, but why should the mum's to be miss out on this range?
• The Shoes! There was a big range, don't get me wrong but all the over-the-top styles and colours that were available in Singapore and online were not there, there was a huge selection of flats and boots (considering Australia is currently in Summer) but I didn't see all the stripper-heels that I loved in the Singapore stores.
• Like all other women's clothing stores there were huge lines for the change rooms.

Reasons to brave Chapel st. to visit the store:

• I found out from one of the makeup staff that ALL of the Topshop brand makeup is made from the people that make the MAC makeup. This means pigmented eyeshadows, long lasting everything and creamy, dreamy lipstick.
• All year round 10% discount to student card holders.
• No line for the checkouts!
• Melbourne-exclusive designs in the store that you can't get online or in other countries (the floral dress exclusive to Melbourne is TO DIE FOR!)
• A very good range from the UK topshop on offer, and when taking to account the exchange rate, not too much more expensive than the UK stores.
• The staff are wonderful. Seriously you guys, they are. The women helping at the makeup area was so friendly and helpful I wanted to give her a cookie and a pay-raise.

I didn't buy any clothes, for my current financial state I couldn't afford the dress that I liked, but not to worry, I'll be back next year with my birthday money :P
I bought some makeup though because the quality is so amazing and it is so insanely cheap for how good it is (and how it doesn't aggravate my contact dermatitis) I bought more than I planned to.

Lipstick in Moccasin. This isn't as dark as it looks on the lips, it leaves a light bronzed colour on the lips and looks amazing ($15AU).
Eyeshadow Quad in Smouldering. The dark purple in this quad needs to be seen in person to be believed, it has the most beautiful dark red shimmer to it I couldn't convince myself not to buy it ($19AU).
Single eyeshadow in Dirty Martini. This may look brown in the image, but it's a dark green/khaki colour that I was wanting in Singapore. The name alone was enough to draw me in, not to mention how amazing this will look with some gold eyeshadow mixed with it ($12AU).
Eyeliner brush and Eyeliner ink. I couldn't find an image of the eyeliner ink pot itself but according to the sales assistant it doesn't smudge and will stay on all day and all night (Brush: $8AU, Eyeliner ink: $15AU).

I think I'll be getting much of my makeup there in future, at the moment I swear by Lancome, but it's very pricy, if these items are up to the MAC standard I'll never have to pay $50 for an eyeshadow pot again!