USA Trip Cosmetics Hauls

So I apologise for being MIA for the last couple of months. I was n on vacation to America. I was away for 2.5 weeks and it was amazing! I loved every second of it. And then after I came back I got sick and then things just started catching up and getting busy so I haven't had time to update my blog.

Anyway on my trip one of the things I loved was the shopping. OMG shopping was so cheap over there. I think I spent way too much and bought way too much make makeup but at the time I thought if I didn't buy I'd regret it.

Anyway here are my hauls from my trip!.

*Just a warning, this is going to be a long post!!*

Before I left for my trip I actually already went shopping and shipped a few things to my accommodation in San Francisco which is my last stop in the trip. Urban Decay had their Family & Friends 20% off sale so I took advantage of that. 

I purchased the double set of Urban Decay Primer Potion in the original colour and Sin, the Smoked 24/7 eyeliner pencil set, Vice 2 Palette and 2 24/7 full size eyeliner pencil in Crash and Lust.

From Sephora I did a few hauls… I purchased a Benefit set which contains travel sets several Benefit Cosmetics products, the Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings, Tarte Amazonian Clay 12Hour blush in Exposed, Korres Greek Yoghurt Primer, Korres Mineral Setting Powder and Benefit brow pencil. And because I spent way too much at Sephora I managed to get some points which I used to get a mini size Clinique Chubby stick.

Now I also went a bit crazy in MAC cosmetics but considering everything was so much cheaper compared to Australia I didn't regret it. All the sales assistants over there were really nice and every time I go there I got a full makeover lol. 

I've been eyeing Ruby Woo lipsticks for a while. I did try it previously a few years ago but back then I was a bit afraid to wear bold red, but this time I tried it I really love it! So I bought it along with the MAC Pro Longwear lip liner in Kiss Me Quick. 

I know it's a bit weird but I actually brought my empty cases from MAC so I could do the Back2Mac over there since in Canberra I can only swap for the Top 20 lipsticks which I already own some and the rest I don't really like. I had 12 empty cases and if I went to the Pro store I was able to swap it for either a lipstick, lipgloss or an eyeshadow. I got MAC Cranberry eyeshadow and MAC lipstick in On Hold with the Back2Mac program. Along with that I also bought the MAC Lip Primer, MAC Lipstick in Lustering, and the MAC Divine Night Collection Set.

When I visited San Diego the Divine Night Collection was just launched and they had a huge launch day with all these dancers and free makeover. It was amazing! I bought one of the sets which contained MAC fluidline, MAC Paintpot, a mascara and a double ended brush in a nice travel bag.

I bought a few Sigma brushes just to add to my brush collection. I got the F20 Large powder brush, F80 flat kabuki, E45 small tapered blending brush and E20 short shader brush..

I also purchased the Z Palette pro, 2 beauty blender sponges and the beauty blender solid cleanser. 

And lastly, on my last day I went to Bloomingdales. I wanted to try out the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation which I have heard good things about. As soon as I tried it I loved it and just had to get it. It feels so natural and light on the face. And it was only $45 so it's definitely a bargain compared to the Australian price which was around $80 I think. Then I went over to Lancome and I saw they had a special promotion going on where if you bought any 1 product from Lancome you can purchase this set with a huge beauty bag for only $60 with a value of over $300. I wasn't going to buy it at first but my temptation was too strong and I ended up getting it. I thought it would be good for hits as well for the products that I won't be using. So I ended up purchasing a Lancome mascara primer for $24 and the set.

So that's it, that's all my Cosmetics haul. I didn't really buy any skin care products because I am still happy with my current routine which consists of Antipodes and Botani products.

I will try to review most of the products that I bought as I use them. I will also do a blog post later on for the Urban Decay Vice 2 palette and provide swatches.

Bomb Cosmetics Haul

So I know I have been MIA for around a month... There has been a lot of things occupying my time and I have been sick a couple of times which has knocked me out for around a week each time.

Anyway, I am getting better now so I thought I will post about my Bomb Cosmetics haul which I got last week. I was running out of my Bomb Cosmetics solid butter bar so it was time to buy a new one. Before I bought it I contacted Paul from GetDrenched.com.au to see if there was a promo. He kindly advised me that a blogger was going to give out a discount code and for me to wait till then. I thought that was so kind of him! And as promised he emailed me the code right away so I was very pleased with the service.

Can I just say the customer service that GetDrenched provides is just amazing!! They have the best customer service ever!!! Paul and Liz are amazing. They respond to my emails promptly and provide the best service.

Anyway... although I only wanted to get the solid butter a couple of other products caught my eye so I also purchased the lip balm and a lip polish.

As usual, Paul always include a hand written card in the package. I think it's so lovely and adds that personal touch to it. The products are also packaged nicely to ensure they arrive safely.

I got the Duke Solid butter bar and the Skin Therapy solid butter bar. I love the Duke because it has the exfoliating bits! These solid butter bars are just amazing!! They moisturise my skin all day long! And I love how water beads forms when you apply these in the shower.

So that's it.. I will be posting a review shortly about the lip balm and the lip polish.

Catchup Hauls - Mecca Cosmetica and ASOS

So here is another couple of hauls that I had done in the past month.

The first haul is from Mecca Cosmetica. Around mid to end June Mecca Cosmetica online had free shipping because it was Vogue Shopping Night. Usually free shipping doesn't really attract me since there were no other specials or discounts other than the free shipping but I have been eyeing the Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask. I have read tons of reviews about this mask and have tried a sample of it which I got when I visited Wellington, New Zealand. After trying the sample out (which gave me 2 uses) I really loved this mask. Plus after reading reviews and blogs on this mask for the last 2 months I really wanted to buy it. However there is no Origins stockist in Canberra. Even though there is a Mecca in Canberra, they do not stock any Origins products. So when the free shipping offer from Mecca Cosmetica online store came up I took the opportunity to purchase this mask...  and of course I ended up purchasing other things as well.

The other products that I purchased along with the Origins overnight mask were Soap and Glory body scrubs: the Breakfast Scrub and the Flake Away body scrub/polish, and I also got the Heel Genius. I got two scrubs because I couldn't decide which one I wanted so I ended up purchasing both of them. I will post a review and comparison of these 2 scrubs once I have used them a few times.

I purchased Heel Genius because I read some good reviews on it too and since Canberra winter is so dry I have really dry cracked heels and the Heel Genius definitely works and helps with my dry cracked feet.

My second haul was from ASOS. This was also products that I have been eyeing. Since ASOS had 20% off on Queen's birthday long weekend last month, I decided to make a small purchase. I have been eyeing the Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof eyeliner for a while...especially the nude one. I know Priceline stocks these but unfortunately my local Priceline do not stock the nude eyeliner. And because I was running out of my brown eyeliner, I also purchased the bronze Rimmel scandaleyes eyeliner.

Along with the eyeliners I also purchase Barry M Eyeshadow Pencils. I was actually tossing up between the Rimmel Eyeshadow pencils and the Barry M one but I ended up going with the Barry M... I can't remember why... and I am actually quite disappointed since they creased and didn't last long.. but I will post a review and swatches on all these pencils later on.

So these are my 2 hauls from the last month. I am happy with most of the products I purchased so far except for the Barry M eyeshadow pencils. Anyway I will post reviews on all the products in a separate post. Until then...... hope you have a great weekend!!

The Body Shop Haul & Review - Dreams Unlimited Body Butter and Eau de Parfum

So around a month ago during the Queens Birthday Long Weekend I went for a long weekend trip to Wellington, New Zealand. this was my second trip to Wellington. I just love this city! My main reason for visiting though was to visit my lil sister.

Anyway, during my trip I passed the Body Shop on Cuba Street and I saw that they had 60% off sale on some items. There were not much left but there were still a few range of products from lipgloss, a few makeup products, Cherry blossom perfume and the Dreams Unlimited body butter, body lotion and  perfume. At the end I purchased the Dreams Unlimited body butter and eau de parfum.

So on to the review!

The Dreams Unlimited Eau de Parfum features notes of citrus, green chilli, white flowers and cedarwood. I love the smell of this perfume as it is not strong or overpowering. I find the smell very sweet and also has a light floral smell. The fragrance lingers around for quite a long time which is great so you definitely don't need to apply this too often during the day.  It definitely complements the body butter and the two combined together makes the fragrance linger around for longer. The body butter comes in a tub like all the other body butters that the body shop sells. It's very moisturising and I only need to use a tiny amount. It also absorbs into the skin quite quickly. The fragrance of the body butter is the same as the perfume and again it's not strong or overpowering.

Overall I love the Dreams Unlimited range. The smell is really beautiful and sweet. It's definitely a great buy and at 60% off it was a bargain. The body butter only cost me NZ$15 and the perfume was around NZ$27.

Adore Beauty Haul plus a prize!

So earlier this week Adore Beauty had their 13th Birthday and they had a discount on their full price products. Anyway I decided to buy something and I went and bought a Tweezerman slant tweezers. I have heard good things about these tweezers....and the current tweezers I use aren't that great.
After purchasing I entered the competition that Adore Beauty was holding as part of their birthday. It was called Pass-the-parcel competition.

I found out a couple of days later that I had won something (through the beautiful Coconal on Beauty Heaven forum) and that my name was on Adore Beauty's facebook page.

I was so excited and the prize that I got was the NP Set Day to Night Palette. Adore Beauty said this prize was going to be included in my order.

Yesterday I received a package from Adore Beauty and I got my Day to Night Palette with a couple of samples and a Tim Tam! But my actual order was not there... However I called them today and they said it was getting shipped separately and I was glad when I came home to find another package from Adore Beauty. Of course it was my order and included was 2 samples and a secret Deluxe sample that was included in my order.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase from Adore Beauty. They ship really quickly and their shipping fee was only $5.95. I was a bit disappointed with the "Deluxe" sample since I thought it would be slightly bigger but I guess that's just me.

I'm really excited to try out the palette that I won. The palette has 8 eyeshadows, 4 for day time look and 4 for night time look. It also comes with 2 blushes nude and pink, although I think the nude blush looks more like a bronzer. The eyeshadows in the palette looks gorgeous and great for everyday look.

Then below is the tweezers that I purchased. It's a limited edition zebra print Tweezerman slant tweezers. This is the full size tweezers. And yes, I know at $30 it is a very high price to pay for tweezers but I have been thinking about getting these for a while since I have heard people raving about them. I guess I will just have to try them out and I will see if they live up to the raves.

 So that's my haul from Adore Beauty! I will use the palette next weekend when I am going out for a party and will give a review then.

Wellington, New Zealand Skincare Haul

So I mentioned in my last post that I was in New Zealand for a long weekend last weekend. I went for 3 days and 3 nights to Wellington. My main purpose of visiting Wellington was to visit my younger sister who just moved there last month to study. However, the other purpose was just to have a nice weekend away and the return flight was a birthday present for me from my mum.

Because I only spent 2 days and a half day I didn't get to do much. The places I did visit were Zealandia Sanctuary, Te Papa Museum, Wellington waterfront, Wellington city and Botanic Garden. Wellington is such a beautiful city. I loved it there and I definitely would love to visit again.

Anyway, during my visit I did a bit of shopping (even though my intention was not to go shopping). On my last day, since I spend a few hours waiting at the airport I bought a few skincare products. I bought a Rotorua Mud face pack with Manuka Honey (NZ$18) and I bought a few Antipodes organic skincare products.

The Rotorua Mud Face Pack is basically a mud face mask which you apply, leave on until just dry and then rinse off. The product claims to deep cleanse the skin and restores skin tone and vitality resulting in a refreshed and revived complexion. I've only used this mask once so I still can't give any opinion whether the product is true to its claim. I will be using this mask 1-2 times a week for the next month. After this I will post a review on the product and the results, if any.

The other skincare products I purchased was from a brand called Antipodes. It's an organic brand from New Zealand. I discovered this while I was waiting for my flight at Wellington Airport. I was not going to purchase anything at first but my temptations could not be resisted so I purchased 2 products. A cleanser and a face oil. 

The cleanser I purchased was the Grapeseed Butter Cleanser. This cleanser is yellow in colour and looked very buttery. The instructions that was on the package was to massage the cleanser onto dampened skin and then use a wet warm face cloth to rinse off. The cleanser comes in a jar and I sometimes do not like these kind of packaging since you have to use your hands to get the product out but this cleanser came with a spatula. 

The Antipodes Divine Face Oil is an organic avocado oil and rosehip. The oil claims that "it has been scientifically shown to stimulate Type I collagen in human skin fibroblast cells by up to 51%". I don't really understand what this means other than the oil helps to stimulate collagen in the skin. The sales assistant advised me that I can use this oil twice a day before applying moisturiser or if I use a serum, before applying the serum and moisturiser.

In addition to the 2 products above, they had a promotion going on at the time where if I bought 2 products I get a hand cream for free. So the hand cream that I received in the promotion was the Deliverance kowhai flower hand cream. It was a decent size so I'm very happy with the purchase. 

I am really looking forward to trying out these organic skincare products from Antipodes. I will post reviews on all these products once I have used them for at least a month.

Have you used any of the above products before? If so, what do you think of them?

iHerb Haul

So I didn't have time to upload any post last weekend since I was away. I went for a long weekend trip to Wellington, New Zealand. This was my second time visiting Wellington. The first time I went there was over 12 years ago when I went there on a high school band trip and all I remembered then was going to a museum and that it was cold and wet the whole 2 days we were there. Anyway it was nice and beautiful on the weekend I visited this time. I had a great time. And after I came back I finally receive my iHerb package I ordered a couple of weeks ago.

This was my very first order from iHerb and since I spent over $40 I received $10 off the total.

So here's my haul:

So here is a list of all the products pictured above:

• Ecotools Ecopouf bath sponge
• Ecotools Sustainable Moisture Gloves
• Ecotools Sustainable Moisture Socks
• Acure 100% Certified Organic Argan Oil
• Energizer Hair Follicle Stimulator
• Real Techniques Your Base/Flawless Core Collection Face Brushes

I know I already have way too many makeup brushes but I have been wanting to try the Real Techniques face brushes, particularly the buffing brush for liquid foundation and iHerb sold the core collection for only US$17.99, so I had to get it. I will be posting a review on this collection once I have use them a few times. One thing that I do want to say though, is that they are smaller than I expected.

I wanted to buy the Argan oil because I've heard so much rave about Moroccanoil argan oil but it is too expensive so I decided to find an alternative and I came across Acure 100% certified organic argan oil on iHerb. It says on the bottle that it can be used for the hair, skin care, hands and nails, and the cuticles. 

Anyway, since I just received this iHerb haul today, I won't be able to give much opinion on them but as I get to use them, I will be posting reviews on them as I go.

I am very happy with all the purchases I got from iHerb and will definitely purchase from them again. There's a big range of health products including skincare and makeup. If you do want to purchase from iHerb.com, you can use the code HJP750. This code will take off $10 for purchases over $40 or $5 off for purchases under $40. The shipping rate to Australia is quite cheap too so it's worth buying products from iHerb.

Happy Shopping!

IMATS 2012 haul - Brushes

So I know it's a bit late since IMATS Sydney 2012 was on 29th-30th September but I wanted to post my brushes haul on that weekend. I was actually happy that I didn't spend too much.

Most of my purchase were brushes. I bought a few brushes from Royal & Langnickel (R&L). I also got to meet the amazing Emmy Award winning makeup artist Kevin James Bennett (KJB) and I bought one of the R&L Revolution brushes that was created through his collaboration with R&L. I bought the BX-30 Kabuki blush brush for $18. I kinda regret I didn't buy anymore brushes from this line but I already had so much brushes.

The other brushes I bought was a small stippling brush ($6), a small crease brush ($4) and a finishing fan brush ($4).

R& L Revolution BX-30 Blush Brush

BX-30 Blush Brush (From side)

R&L SILK Pro Small Stippling C255

R&L SILK Pro Crease Brush C420

R&L Finishing Fan Brush BE05

Out of all these brushes my favourites would be the crease brush and the BX-30 brush. The crease brush is really good at picking up product and placing it on the crease and blending. It's not too big but yet not too small either. The BX-30 Blush brush is really good not only for blushes but also for contouring. It picks up a lot of products and blends it really well too. I love it! When I bought it, I asked KJB for a contouring brush and this was the one that he recommended. Although this brush is synthetic it amazingly picks up powdered products really well. And it's nice and soft too and not scratchy.  On the other side I did find the Fan brush a bit scratchy and not that soft. 

And even though I already did have tons of brushes I was so tempted and ended up buying one of Rae Morris's brush, the mini Kabuki brush.

The mini kabuki brush is very cute! It was $19.60 but I got a 10% discount at IMATS. I wanted to buy the deluxe kabuki but it was all sold out. This brush can be used to apply bronzer, blushes or highlighter. You can also use it for contouring as well. It's really nice and soft. I really want to buy a lot more of the Rae Morris brush collections but some of them are quite pricey!

So I think that was all the brushes that I bought! Let me know what you think of these brushes if you've tried them.