Christmas Sephora Haul

Around Thanksgiving time Sephora had some great discounts - 10 and 15% off deals for those in the higher level of their Beauty Insider loyalty scheme which I have somehow spent enough to qualify for! Anyway, I made the most of having a US mailing address and got my paws on a huge haul. It meant that I saved myself 15% on items I would've purchased when I visited the US during Christmas anyway. The downside was that I wasn't able to enjoy picking them all out at the Sephora store but that was probably a good way to save myself some money!

Oh and when you order online you get a tonne of samples! That whole bottom row is samples in fact :)

So these were the things I needed: Stila concealer and Sephora brand liquid eyeliner which has become my daily staple and at <$10 is amazing quality for a liquid eyeliner.

And here were the extra things I bought because, well, I felt silly wasting a perfectly good 15% off discount voucher!

Urban Decay Basics Palette - this is awesomely sized, being smaller than my iPhone 5! The colours are a matte which is great for me, but a little too...'dusty' for my liking. The fallout is a little craptastic as well which I knew already from the many reviews I read on MUA but nevermind, it was cheap at under $30.

I love me some good NARS - and when I saw my beloved orgasm/laguna duo comes in a mini travel size I couldn't help myself. I mean, when you travel it is just perfectly sized! Plus I love the travel size items at Sephora purely because I never use a full bottle anyway so the travel size is the perfect volume for me. This is their famous tinted moisturiser I thought I would try out.

Beauty Blenders are all the craze so why not try it for myself? So far I like it, but sponges just waste product in my opinion. They soak up so much that is just unnecessary. So in that sense I prefer my Real Techniques brushes, but I do like the even complexion you get from using this. And the solid cleanser I thought I'd try for all my make up brushes to motivate me to clean them more often!

And finally, I chucked in this Deborah Lippmann nailpolish gift pack because it was cute and I thought it was about time I try her nailpolishes. I've known about her for years but never bit the bullet to buy her polishes. Well can I say I am suitably impressed and wish I had bought her creme polishes earlier! They're so opaque after even just one coat and they're quite impressive pop colours. This is She Bop and glitter Happy Birthday which I've been using this week and they're quite fun and cutesy. If a little Barbie. But there is nothing wrong with that!

Make Up Sale

So I've been spring cleaning a lot lately which is partially why I haven't been blogging as much as I should be! Does anyone else take ages to spring clean? I'm not even halfway through! Anyway, part of that is clearing out my wardrobe, shoes and make up stash. I did so well with saving in October and for November, I can't justify new purchases unless I clear some space and stuff.

So with that said, here are some things I've found that I really don't need seeing as I have never used them! Before they make it to ebay, I thought I would blog in case anyone was interested :)

A few points:
- All items are brand new in boxes and never used!
- Prices don't include postage which will be added on top based on your location
- All sales are final, and only within Australia :)

Guerlain Terracotta Lipgloss Trio $25
Three Guerlain neutral toned lip gloss trio - amber sun, nude sun and beige sun.
3 x 5ml, Made in France

Lancome Eyeshadow duo wet or dry $20
Gorgeous blue jewel tones - full sized eyeshadow duo palette.

Lancome Eyeshadow duo wet or dry $20
Same as above but pink/brown shades - full sized eyeshadow duo palette.

Lancome Quad Palette "Bronze Captive" $35
Neutral tones for a perfect daytime look, plus a pop of aqua colour for contrast. Can be used wet or dry and this is a fairly sizeeable palette.

 

China Glaze Ridge Filler $5
Self explanatory really - never used!

Contact me at ashoeaffair@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions/need further photos!

iHerb Haul #3

If you follow me on twitter you would know I made another iHerb order a month back which involved more Real Techniques brushes and a few other tidbits!

The Real Techniques brushes had previously been sold out so I thought I would snap them up now, despite there not being a 20% discount code or anything like last time.  I didn't really need them and so I probably shouldn't have bought them, but seeing as I'm lazy with cleaning my brushes I thought just rotating the use of my brushes was a good compromise. I may start using the powder brush more but I don't like it as much as the others I bought previously.

Anyway, my favourite of the lot is the infuser + lid glass tea cup which is fabulous! It was on super discount so it was only $7 from memory, and there is a glass infuser inbuilt which then sits perfectly within the teacup lid when you're done steeping your tea. I love it because I often want a single cup of tea and don't want to have to waste a whole pot, plus this goes in the dishwasher!

The erythritol is my sister's request - apparently its a replacement for sugar? She's all into her health foods!

Don't forget to check out iHerb and use the discount code RLN426 to get at least $5 off your order ($10 if you spend enough). 

Travel Tip Tuesday: Make Up!

If you follow me on twitter you would have seen me post a picture of this, but this seriously is one of my favourite travel tips so I just had to share it again.

Years back I was reading a magazine and came across this 'model's secret' tip for make up on the go - storing all your make up essentials in contact lens cases.

This seriously works for anything - lipstick (just chop a bit off and bring your lip brush), concealers, foundations or even powders (though this turns out a little more messy). As you can see I used mine for my MUFE Face & Body Foundation and Garnier BB Cream, but I also already had a mini sample size of my MAC concealer otherwise that would have gone in another container.

It struck me as crazy when I was camping at Glastonbury that ladies were bringing their whole make up bags with full sized everything. No wonder their make up bags were so big! This I think works great for your handbag essentials for touch ups as well :)

Make Up Haulage

I'm on holiday at the moment so don't have time to post properly about this but I went to the Estée Lauder sale the day I flew out overseas and managed to spend a pretty $200 or so on make up I didn't need. But of course, right?!

Anyway, it makes up for not usually spending much on make up. And with some of the items it was completely justifiable. A proper post when I get back describing it more in detail and my purchasing strategy, but for now, here's a preview of my 'haul' (excuse the upside down picture, no matter how many times I rotate it on my photo storage account, it won't rotate on blogger)

If you look carefully you can see that 75% of the haul is eyeliner - what can I say, I love eyeliner. The amount I was paying for Bobbi Brown eyeliners was less than Rimmel at 40% off from Priceline. And I regularly use a combination of gel, liquid and pencil eyeliners (some days I even use all 3 at once in a careful harmony) so it seemed justified.

iHerb order #2

I made a second order with iHerb recently when they had the 20% off Real Techniques brushes which I blogged about a few weeks back. I had credit to spend so my haul came to a grand total of $8 including postage which is bargain bargain bargain if you ask me!

I forgot to change the f stop on my camera setting so the photo is a little blurred but you get the idea!

It is pretty ironic that I ordered the Tea Tree oil antiseptic, a product from Australia, and had it shipped from the US. It cost US$8 from memory and I've never actually seen it in stores here (not that I've tried hard to look) but my threading lady uses it on me and I quite like it. Then again, I love anything tea tree oil related!

The middle is the Expert Face brush which people rave about though I haven't started using it. I think I'll use it for my liquid foundation to see how it fares against the stippling brush. I've been using BB cream more recently instead of foundation though so for that I've just been using a normal flat foundation brush.

On the right is cheapo US$5 rose hip oil. I get the feeling (based on colour) that this stuff is not very potent, but I wanted a cheapie to use on my body rather than wasting my expensive Trilogy stuff.

And finally in the middle was a freebie - a lip balm that I thought might be handy. It was free anyway!

Remember if you want to order at iherb use the discount code RLN426 to get $5 off your order or $10 off if its $40+.

Priceline 40% off Haul

Apologies for my tardiness with posting this - a few weeks back Prieline had 40% off all make up/cosmetics. I really didn't need anything but I went to take a look because I needed some retail therapy and got a few items I had actually been wanting (though didn't need).

Rimmel Liquid Eyeliner
I have 2 other liquid eyeliners - a Sephora one which I bought cheaply and had started using almost weekly, and a Dior one which is amazing but annoyingly time consuming to apply so not great for working day wear. So I thought I might as well stock up on a cheapie liquid eyeliner for those occasions I just want to fineline for going to work (which is quite a lot recently!). It came down to $6 or so I think so I wasn't expecting much, and it does an OK job.

Rimmel Lipstick
I just wanted a fun punchy lipstick so bought this one again for $6. I actually haven't tried it yet because my lips have been uber dry but will report back once I have!

I went to another store and got a few other items

Models Prefer falsies was just because at the cheapo price they are, I thought it would be useful to have in case I ever wanted falsies for an evening look.

Essence eyebrow pencil was again because I haven't got an eyebrow pencil and at $3, it was a worthwhile investment I think!

Garnier Sensitive Skin BB Cream
So I'd read amazing things about this BB Cream and even though I already have enough Foundation/Tinted Moisturisers to last me a decade, I thought this was my perfect chance to try it as it came down to only $14 I think from memory. I also realised the sensitive skin option (50ml) was the same price as the normal option (30ml) so of course went sensitive skin, seeing as that is also the best description for my skin type. I've been using it fairly regularly recently and while the coverage is a little too light for me I like the feeling on my skin and how natural it looks. SPF is always a plus also! I think the reason why I think coverage isn't so good is because I'm comparing to my workable MUFE Face & Body Foundation which I can layer to a coverage necessary for whatever blemishes I have at any given time.

Revlon Photoready Skinlights
This was more money than I really wanted to spend, but I've been looking for an illuminator that wasn't going to set me back big bucks seeing as I would barely use it. This is known to be a good dupe for Benefit High Beam in the pink light tone, but I ended up getting the bare light tone as it is more natural on my more tanned skin. I'm liking it so far though it is indeed very subtle and was quite pricey ($18 from memory)

Did you stock up at Priceline?

Real Techniques 20% off!

I got an email yesterday to say that iHerb has 20% off Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman until 1 May!

I'm going to make an order because I've been wanting to buy their cheapie Rose Hip Oil (only $5 for 30ml!) as a body moisturiser, rather than using my more expensive Trilogy version which I use on my face.

A few months back I was also excited to see they now stock e.l.f cosmetics so I don't need to find a way to order from the US via my American friends anymore :) Woo!

Don't forget you can use this discount code - RLN426 - to get $10 off your first order when over $40, or $5 if less. Plus shipping is only $4 flat rate now to Australia - so happy!

But now my make up ban starts...

Strawberrynet purchases

A few weeks back I was feeling naughty and just wanted to buy some new make up (despite never needing anything new!). So I bought two items I had contemplated purchasing before...plus my sister had some good 'bonus' discount codes so it felt like a sign saying 'buy me buy me!'

Anyway the first is a Dior Lip Glow. I posted about a similar product a while back that looked awesome and I'd never bothered trying. Well this beauty seemed worth the buy if only for the cute packaging, and on Strawberry net it was at least $15 cheaper than in stores.

Its feels quite hydrating and almost has a bit of a 'zingy' feeling on your lips when you first put it on. I can imagine this will be good for the cooler months ahead. I am a faithful Kiehls #1 Lip Balm user, but this will be a nice non potted option.

The second item was a Chanel rouge allure lip glass in emoi which is a really pigmented pinky red colour. Its not quite a dark red, but it can be built up to that level if desired. I was lazy so didn't take any other pics, but this packaging must be the international/old packaging because when you buy it in Sydney stores its clear. I much prefer the elegant black barrel :)

Now I've decided my next make up purchase cannot be until the second half of the year because I have a holiday to save for! I can buy skincare, but no make up as I have tonnes of it already that I don't even use.

Sephora haul

My lovely Australian friend living in the US returned home over the Summer so very graciously agreed to bring home some of my online shopping. Conveniently for me, her trip home coincided with a $15 email voucher from Sephora as well as there being sale items!

I couldn't help myself and stocked up on some stuff I needed, as well as some other random goodies...

You'll see in the pic too that I got some SD cards - they were purchased from Best Buy during their Black Friday sales so for US$30 I managed to get a total of 48GB of SD card storage. I don't think I'll be needing SD cards for a while (and they were purchased in anticipation of my next holiday!).

So a lot of the stuff there were free samples - all those perfume samples, beauty flash balm and the mascara in bubble wrap.

I only got this because I thought I might need it going travelling and it was on sale - it turns out to look pretty dodgy but it could still be pretty useful on the go. From memory it was around US$12?

As someone who doesn't use much make up, I love Sephora's sample size items. This duo of Diorshow mascara + primer was US$20 and considering it will probably dry out before I finish using it, I thought it was worth a try.

Terrible photo, but I love this purchase. For the grand total of like US$8, I got this Sephora liquid liner which I've been using a lot. I have an expensive Dior liquid liner which is painful to use, but this brush applicator is much like the more expensive luxury brands versions but for cheap as chips. It doesn't budge or crease which is great too, though the colour payoff isn't maybe as good as the luxury brands, but you can just rectify that with extra layers. Plus for tightlining as daytime wear (which is what I've been using this for at least twice a week) it works a treat as I don't want to look cleopatra eyed to work.

Plus the mascara base below is from the amazing Lancome Cils range which I already own. But I wanted to try this base primer to see how it compared to the Dior. It was free anyway! So far its been working pretty well, though I don't think its the most amazing product ever.

Who else loves Sephora? Actually I've been meaning to post about the Sephora opening in Australia rumours - maybe I'll post next week (yes I realise this post has been slated for 6 months but I keep on forgetting)!

iHerb + Real Techniques Brushes!

I've always been meaning to check out Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman make up brushes but never got round to actually buying/trying them. Well, of course when I found out that iherb.com was getting rid of their free international shipping option on 31st December, I just had to order!

iHerb.com sells the brushes for such a discount on the normal Australian Retail price of these brushes - if you can even find the brushes in Australia! I know of only two places that sell them, one being Priceline which I realise is everywhere, but still that's not very much choice!

I took the plunge having never even seen them in real life but I did extensive internet research and figured I was only spending US$45 anyway. Samantha Chapman is a make up blogger whose range of make up brushes are renowned for being good quality, not too expensive, and fabulous for make up application.

To my excitement, the brushes arrived yesterday just two weeks after ordering! Not bad for free shipping from the US...

Anyway I ordered in total 11 brushes - 2 sets and 2 individuals for just US$45. At Priceline just one of the sets costs approx A$40-45 so really I'm saving myself a tonne of money even though it seems excessive to buy so many brushes.

Excuse the tonne of photos ahead but I wanted to show you the packaging and the brushes themselves. So I went for these two sets because they seem like great 'starter' packs with all the kinds of brushes I would use, plus the cases are uber portable and act as a make up stand. There is actually a make up base/foundation set (3 brushes) but I didn't buy that as I preferred to buy the two individual face brushes I wanted (see further down).

The brushes themselves are awesome to hold and where possible, stand by themselves due to the chubby rubber bases. I like the cool colours they come in too which makes them easy to identify.

And you can see in the pic below that each brush has the name of the brush on it so you can also identify what it is best used for.

And in case it all wasn't enough as well, the back of the boxes for the two sets come with useful pictures, details of each brush and how you may want to use it. She has on her website useful 'how to' videos, not that I've actually visited them yet (but I will!)

Here is a pic of the two individual brushes I went for - a blush brush and stippling brush. If there are three make up items I wear regularly (at least a few times a week), it would be blush, light buildable foundation and eyeliner. So of course these two brushes are great for the first two!

The blush brush is amazing even just to look at - it was so tempting to just open the box and brush it against my face because of how plush and decadent it looked. I tried it lightly tonight and I found the application to be very soft and natural, which is great for everyday. I'll have to see how buildable I can make my blush without needing to pile it on my brush otherwise I may stick to my kabuki type retractable brush for stronger pigmentation.

As for the stippling, I use it for the airbrushed liquid foundation look. I only briefly used it today for the first time and it felt great against the face and felt like it would allow me to build my make up well (as I prefer light foundation most of the time as a spot treatment on blemishes).

If you want to buy these brushes I would suggest you 1) buy on iHerb.com and 2) BUY NOW! If you buy before the end of 2012 (i.e. in the next 24 hours or so!) you can get free international shipping if you purchase over $40 worth which is really worth it in my books.

And in case like me, you like a good deal, here's a discount code for any new customers to get $10 of their first order of $40 or more.

RLN426

iHerb.com also sells all sorts of other chemist/supermarket like stuff (vitamins, grocery items etc) if you don't feel like making your order all make up brushes!

Shop shop shopping

I've not done much shopping lately, but I did take a recent trip to Myer to stock up on some everyday useful goodies :)

I love Trilogy Rosehip oil and when they had a Trilogy deal recently I snapped up 3 bottles since I use a few drops of the stuff everyday. It wasn't the best deal I've seen (ages ago they were buy one get one free) but good enough to stock up. Do you use Rosehip oil and if so, which brand? I've heard good things about another brand (escapes my mind for now) but I first used Trilogy so have continued despite them not being the cheapest on the market.

When I was in the US I was on the lookout for a portable retractable or lidded foundation brush. Can you believe they're pretty difficult to find! I did know Ecotools make it, but they're hard to find stockists unless I ordered online (which I wasn't willing to pay postage for) but then I came back to Oz and found this el cheapo Manicare version! It's flat and skinny and not too long so perfect makeup bag size and great for travel. I hate when you travel and makeup brushes get all over everything else.

I finally got my hands on a round brush for blow drying (I know, a bit behind the times!) This was from one of my favourite shops, SA Health & Beauty which is a treasure trove of beauty steals and deals. Not only that, they have available professional products in bulk which are difficult to find elsewhere.

What are your latest beauty buys?

Missing life in the US...Sephora!

I'm not a huge make-up person - I wear concealer, blush and eyeliner as an absolute max for everyday wear (and usually its just concealer). But that doesn't mean I don't love Sephora! And that's one of the things I miss the most about being in the US - all the online shopping and being able to just walk into Sephora and buy exactly what I want at reasonable prices.

I still am a 'beauty insider' with them and so still get their emails seeing as they're trying to get me to use all my reward points. Everytime I see something awesome, I wish I could just fly myself there to take a look!

These are on my wishlist at the moment:

Dior Addict Lip Glow
I love the packaging of this and the idea that it's a glossy hint of colour while being a moisturising lip balm. I haven't tried this but I really want to!

NARS 'Foreplay' cheek palette

This is a new Limited Edition NARS palette. I love the range of NARS at Sephora and of course I love love love NARS! This has Orgasm and what looks to be a candy pink dupe of Gaiety (one of my faves!) plus a few more highlight colours. If this also had Laguna I would be buying this in an instant as my travel companion palette (though I have heard bad reviews about how small this palette is).

Who else thinks Australia is hugely deprived of affordable international make up brands? I know Mecca is really paving the way and doing their best to give us access to at least a decent range, but by golly the prices are extortionist!

Urban Decay!

I already made a huge Urban Decay purchase a few months back when I ordered online for myself and another friend...

Urban Decay's famous UDPP has finally changed their packaging after years of complaints from loyal customers so they're selling the old packaged items at half price!

Plus I just got this email from them... 20% off for the rest of the week!!

Guess who's going to be buying more make-up...yes, me!

US: Make Up Shopping!

So I've been naughty and done more make-up shopping despite not needing anymore! I just couldn't help myself at the fantastic US prices, plus these were things I've actually been wanting to buy for a while so it was justified.

I hit up Sephora a few weeks ago on a rainy Saturday when shopping was the only thing worth leaving the house for.

I went to the NARS counter looking for the infamous 'Orgasm' blush, or any other natural looking shade and she suggested Gaiety a new shade that has been released for Spring. Let me tell you, it looks ridiculously candy pink and Barbie like in pan but it is AMAZING on. I'm going to buy it this weekend hopefully so I'll post when I do get my paws on that but for now, you'll have to settle for my Sephora purchases.

I only purchased two items with the third being a free sample that I'm really happy with! The concealer brush was just something I needed to buy (I've been just making do with my crappy brushes for now), but the main item was of course...

Nars Orgasm/Laguna Duo - exclusive to Sephora! At US$41 it is such a bargain compared to buying each item separately (the blush alone is $29) especially when one item in Australia costs $50! Yes, we continue to get ripped off. 

I love the contouring that can be done with Orgasm and Laguna for everyday wear so I'm excited to finally have my hands on one of the most loved items in the make up world.

Then the freebie sample was a sample sized duo of Fresh lip balm in clear and rose tinted. I had never heard of Fresh before but they've been around for a while and their lip balms retail for $20+ each! I know this is sample sized, but these are a really great way to try it. I love the zingy freshness of the balm which is ultra moisturising without feeling sticky or oily. And the rose tinted hue is perfect for a little bit of colour!

Who else loves make-up shopping in the middle of Winter?

Make Up Haul

I was a bit naughty and bought a whole lot of new make up recently...most would say there's nothing wrong with this except I barely wear make up as it is and have enough to last me the rest of my life!

But I just couldn't help myself with the MAC items, most of which are now hard to find and I got them at an amazing price so I don't feel so bad.

I'm most excited about the two pigments - in shades Later and The Family Chest. I am quite tanned naturally so a lot of pale 'wash' type colours barely show up against my skin so I love MAC's punchy colours, especially the pigments.

I swatched both and they come out beautifully as a smoky eye with a bit of difference. So The Family Chest has gold flecks in it, and Later has a bold electric purple undertone which just 'pops' when used wet. Love!

I only managed to get a good swatch of The Family Chest:

I'm thinking it will be great for a smoky eye look with a bit of a difference. Excuse the terrible application, I was just trialling it against my eyeline first.

I haven't had a chance to try the Lipglasses yet, but they're both very popular shades - Painted On and Indigo Pink.