Last night was the biggest and most important Fashion night of the year, the New York Costume Institute Gala, where Kate Moss, Posh Spice and Madonna went head-to-head with their glamorous and outrageous outfits. Every other A-lister and designer were there strutting their stuff and looking gorgeous.

Many of the beautiful people were wearing clothes by the very same designers as we feature here on www.halfpriceperfumes.co.uk - Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Versace and Armani plus others. Well, you may not be on the guest list for the Costume Institute Gala or even be able to afford to go to New York but you can bet that you can afford to wear Vera Wang or Marc Jacobs EVERY DAY at our prices. .

Follow these links to get your designer-wear at everyday prices (just don’t tell Posh):

Vera Wang

Marc Jacobs

A new threat to world health has emerged over the past few days - swine flu, a deadly flu virus, which originated in Mexico and has now spread to other places such as the US and Asia. Much closer to home, there are possible cases in Scotland (yet to be confirmed). World Health Organisations are all on emergency alert and so must we all be too, with panicking too much! Be on the look out for unseasonal flu-like symptons such as fever and aching and get to a doctor if you have any suspicions at all.

If this new health threat has made you want to stock up on your pharmaceuticals supplies, did you know www.halfpriceperfumes.co.uk has a sister pharmacy site called www.sterlingpharmacy.co.uk? Established in 1996 we were one of the first on-line pharmacies in the UK.

We offer our customers 24-hour access to thousands of products including NHS and private prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, health and beauty products and exclusive skincare ranges with many at reduced prices compared with the high street.

To get your pharmaceutical requirements with the same great service as your perfumes and gifts, follow the link below:

Sterling Pharmacy On-Line

Barack Obama, new president of the United States of America, is in Britain at the moment on his first official overseas visit since becoming the leader of the free world. Barack Obama grew up on the idyllic island state of Hawaii where there’s no doubt he would not have had much need for raincoats and thick jumpers like we do here in Britain in April. Possibly he’s had to bring some of those warm clothes with him and his very fashion-conscious wife, Michelle, has got some thermals on under her much-scrutinised designer garb.

Let’s just imagine for one moment that we get to change places with Barack and it was you and me headed to Hawaii for a few weeks of sunshine, what would we need to take with us? Beachwear, flip-flops, sunglasses and of course, bottles and bottles of Hawaiin Tropic suncare products including sunscreens and aftersun moisturisers.  How very fortunate for you that we happen to stock just that very product - and most of it is less than half price. Who says that dreams don’t come true? Follow the link below to follow Barack’s example of living the American Dream:

Hawaiian Tropic

There is a report out today suggesting Botox injections can make you happier because they freeze the facial muscles that cause frowning. Researchers believe our expressions affect our mood. So the wrinkling of the brow when annoyed reinforces our irritation. If you can’t frown because you’ve had Botox - you might feel less annoyed or depressed! There’s no doubt that looking better makes you feel happier and more confident but Botox is a very expensive treatment and has to be topped up every few months as the effect wears off over time. Botox also only treats specific areas of the face - such as the eyes and forehead.

There is a fantastic product by Elizabeth Arden called Ceramide Face and Throat Time Complex Capsules which helps strengthen the entire skin’s resistance to wrinkles and contains vitamins and minerals to help in the anti-ageing process, we think it’s brilliant and - this is the bit that will make you as happy as having Botox and stop you frowning - is that, for a limited time only, you can save over 60% on the recommended retail price, £18.99 for 60 capsules instead of nearly £50.00. Hurry quickly and put that smile back on your face! Follow the link which will take you directly to the product:

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules

There’s been yet more bad news today from the government - basically, the economy is going down the pan, everything’s getting really expensive, there’s no jobs and even if you do have a job, there’s likely to be no pay rises soon!

We really are in need of small, inexpensive ways of cheering ourselves up. At the beginning of this “credit crunch” era - people looked for bargains because they felt they should, now we have no choice. Our web-site does focus sometimes on life’s little luxuries - perfume, body cream, jewellery and so on. You would imagine that these things are the first to be foregone when money is tight. Of course, this will only make you feel worse! Let’s be totally honest, no-one is saying that this is the right time to go out and buy a new car, diamonds or even a designer outfit but with little creative thinking, you can still manage to look great, give lovely presents and give yourself the odd treat without feeling guilty.

We have created a special clearance section on our web-site where you will find amazing perfume, aftershave, gifts and lots of other things at GENUINE GIVE-AWAY prices. It’s normally things we’ve managed to get at a very cheap price ourselves, things we’ve had a while, some things we have a lot of and not much room to store it and so on. It goes without saying, everything on our web-site is sold at a really great price but these are especially good. It can be your secret where you got them - or you can tell everyone you know, whichever makes you feel better!

Follow this link to find our hidden clearance bargains:

Clearance Bargains Galore!

Finally, a piece of news that makes sense - a school in Bedford has cancelled it’s much-anticipated school prom as it was turning into a showcase of one-upmanship by the parents, all competing to see who could spend the most on limos, dresses and make-up for the young attendees. A much more sedate school disco has now been planned - to the relief of some and the disappointment of others.

As parents, what messages are we giving our children if we lavish them with material goods at such a young age and don’t even try to teach them the value of money? It may seem obvious but we are creating a generation of spoilt monsters and I applaud this school in Bedford for taking a small step to counteract that phenomenon. And here’s where we at www,halfpriceperfumes.co.uk can help - we have a wide range of perfect products and pressies for your cherished children - all at POCKET MONEY PRICES and they can save up and pay themselves!

It’s a pity the parents at that school in Bedford didn’t know about our offer on The Quickie Chronicles - The Life of the Party - Glamorous Make-up Palette reduced to £4.99 from £20.00. You can be the first to know and the first to tell your budding partygoer that personality is everything and beauty is in the eye of the beholder (the beholder doesn’t have to know about the help we’ve given you!)

Be the Life of The Party

A new survey out today reveals that many blonde ladies are dying their hair a darker shade of pale in order to be taken more seriously in the workplace. It seems that blondes may have more fun, but brunettes get better jobs, so in these days of rising unemployment as the recession grows, blondes are turning to the bottle in order to keep their jobs. Apparently employers see brunettes as more professional and many blondes think their former hair colour has held them back in the past from getting better jobs.

Well, I’m not sure I agree with that, it all seems a little bit predictable and stereotypical. We here at www.halfpriceperfumes.co.uk would never of course be so superficial as to judge anyone on their hair colour but we absolutely think that there is no excuse whatsoever for not having perfectly clean, conditioned, coloured and styled hair (whatever colour you think is going to earn you the most money!) once you have seem our amazing range of hair care products - at these HAIR-RAISING prices (I just can’t resist a good pun) you simply can’t afford to say no. Brands featured include TIGI, Andrew Collinge, Fudge, KMS, L’Oreal and many more. Some products are normally only available in salons but our brilliant buying team has managed to get hold of them for you and much cheaper too! What could be better? So whether you are a blonde, brunette, red-head or a murky shade of mouse -just follow the link below, then you can wash and go……

Amazing Hair Care Range

Whatever you think of the dying, gobby Big Brother contestant Jade and her very 21st Century celebrity - famous literally for being famous - you cannot help but feel sorry for her and the members of her family as Mother’s Day approaches. Very prominent in her life are her own mother and she is, of course, the mother of two young boys herself. However superficial her ‘career’ seems, she does appear to be a very loving and caring mother and daughter to those three people who will be left behind when she does eventually and inevitably die. It may seem a little morbid and inappropriate to include this sad demise on a blog promoting perfume and gifts - however in true Jade spirit, we ask you all to take a moment to think about your own mothers and children and reflect on your relationships with them. As Jade’s family will very unfortunately know in the not-too-distant future, memories will be all they have. Let’s try for her to make those memories great ones for all of us, try and forget any squabbles and disagreements we may have with our loved ones and make Mother’s Day extra special this year.

Mother’s Day - Sunday 22nd March

Wow, unbelieveable. Yesterday, it looked as though Britain was finally emerging from what has been one of the longest, most depressing winters on record. With temperatures going up to 63 degrees, it was as hot as Greece! A good weather spell will do wonders for this country, both physically and psychologically, people feel so much more positive when the weather is nice. The current economic slump is causing unprecedented problems for people all round the country and some good old-fashioned, simple sunshine will be one more reason to get out of bed every morning and make the best of life. However, let’s be realistic folks! How long will this spell last? One week? Two weeks? Maybe three and then it’s likely to be back to the rain again. That’s where we come in - we have an amazing deal on Calvin Klein cK one Summer 100ml Eau De Toilette, the most fantastic light scent that will make you feel summer is all around you when in fact it disappeared at the end of March! To prolong that summer feeling all the way through to autumn follow the link below:

Calvin Klein Summer 100ml - only £19.99

We will let you into a little secret, perfume manufacturers spend A LOT OF MONEY on fancy packaging, expensive marketing, glossy advertising and prolofic promotional material. This adds HUGELY to the cost of the product - the product would remain exactly the same without all this additional expense. We do understand that for some people buying a fragrance is like buying a little bit of a lifestyle that you can’t really afford so the packaging and image is an important part of the excitement of the perfume purchase.

However, manufacturers also produce the same products in an unboxed version (usually for in-store testers) - so you get exactly the same bottle and fragrance at a greatly reduced price due to the basic packaging. Possibly not suitable for a gift (unless you warn the recipient!) but a genuine bargain for yourself.

We sell many unboxed and tester versions of fragrances on our web-site so do check them all out, your favourite perfume may be among them. At the moment we have a great offer on 100ml Agent Provocateur Eau De Parfum testers, the best-selling perenially popular fragrance from the sexy underwear makers - £29.99 down from £60.00. Comes in a basic brown cardboard box. Click here to purchase while stocks last:

Only while stocks last - 100ml Agent Provocateur for only £29.99