Friday 26 April 2013

US Haul! Sephora, MAC and TheBalm

2 weeks ago, I went a little crazy whilst online shopping and I ended up with DHL delivering 5 boxes to me today... Whilst I've done a lot of damage to my wallet, I'm over the moon and absolutely love everything :) I don't think I'll be doing this type of haul again in the near future as I've utterly exhausted my makeup budget...

I have to apologise in advance for the photos (as usual). It took me about an hour to get through all the packages and I was really exhausted at the end. I know they're of terrible quality BUT this isn't a review on anything so it doesn't really matter that much. (hopefully!).

DHL delivered 5 boxes to me :)
Box 1: TheBalm

TheBalm held a sale on April 1st to launch their new website. Everything was 50% off and I managed to place an order at 4am in the morning (the site was obviously really slow). They couldn't keep up with the online traffic so the "official 50% off sale" didn't actually go ahead until the next week but luckily for me, TheBalm honoured all orders that made it through before they closed the website to fix it.

TheBalm order
I picked up 8 things in total but 4 of them are for other people/swaps. I got myself the new Instain blush in Swiss Dot which is a peach colour, Frat Boy blush, Nude 'tude eyeshadow palette and a lipstick in Ima Goodkisser which is a coral colour. This would have cost me US$96 but I paid US$48. I don't believe Instain has been release in Australia yet but the other 3 items together would have cost AUS$97.85 from David Jones.

Box 2: MAC

Yep.. I know it's a terrible photo!
I sold the majority of my MAC makeup a few months ago as I found that I never used it but I decided to give it another go as I've fallen in love with the brow pencil in Lingering (bottom of the picture). I wanted a backup of the brow pencil as you can't tell how much is left in it (it winds up but not down) so I made a small order.

I also picked up the brow gel in clear, blot powder in Medium and 3 lipsticks (Lustering, Please Me and   Chatterbox). This cost me US$101. It would have cost me AUS$202 to get it from David Jones or Myer.

Box 3: Sephora

Sephora pack 1
I got 2 things in this order that I really wanted for awhile but never picked them up due to their prices. However, I couldn't resist when Sephora had a 15% off everything sale so I got the Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation (US$43) and the Stila Convertible Colour in Petunia (US$25). The makeup bag was on sale for $3 (reduced from $12) so I picked it up to use as a makeup brush bag. However, it's actually pretty small so I'll have to find another use for it.

The Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation is actually also a little too light for me. I read a lot of reviews that said that Bamboo Beige was the best match for NC30 but I think it might actually be closer to NC25. I'll have to save this for winter :)

Box 4: Sephora

Make Up For Ever Concealers
I made this order as I was helping Sarah from More Than Adored get the Lorac Pro Palette and I needed to bump the order up with a few items to get the free US shipping.

I absolutely love my Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in shade 8 but it's starting to get a little too dark for me so I picked it up in number 7. I also got the Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer in Neutral Beige 3 as my under eye concealer. They were both bought during 15% off sale too.

Box 5: Sephora

Sephora Box 3
Unfortunately I purchased these about a week before the 15% off sale. I picked up the Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer in shade 8 (I love this stuff!), Dior BB cream and an Urban Decay Primer that I love. I also qualified for the VIB program so I got the welcome kit :)


I definitely won't be shopping like this again for a really long time. Let me know if you want any reviews on any of this stuff :)

45 comments:

  1. So many things! I really want try more Stila products so they'll be in my big Sephora haul when I do it :D

    Have fun playing with it all :) xx

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    1. I've never really tried Stila all that much before. Hoping that the blush is really nice :)

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  2. Huge haul! You have no idea how jealous I am right now haha!
    Can't wait to read some reviews!
    xx

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    Replies
    1. haha I'm swamped with products right now!

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  3. Wow Love the haul! So many exciting goodies.
    My eyes were like O_O at all the MAC stuff, I so want to try more mac products :)

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    Replies
    1. MAC in the US is cheaper than like Revlon or L'oreal here... so it made sense to grab a few things :)

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  4. Hahaha I love how your 'small order' still consists of six MAC items. I wish I had the guts to use parcel forwarding services- you always seem to produce the best hauls thanks to parcel forwarding! MAC, Sephora and Ulta would all be so much more accessible...

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    Replies
    1. Parcel forwarding is actually really really easy. If you ever want any advice, send me and email or tweet me on Twitter :)

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  5. My jaw dropped when I saw the thumbnail picture! So jealous of all the goodies you got :) can't wait for the next posts on them!

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    1. Haha I can't wait to play with all of it and do some reviews :)

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  6. wow you got so much stuff :D I love getting packages in the mail :D Lovely haul girly :D

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  7. Replies
    1. haha I'm always jealous of other people's hauls so it felt good to do a big one :P

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  8. Great haul, Jen!!! Feel the need to do one now, but must resist!!

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    Replies
    1. haha resist! You have an amazing holiday coming up :P

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  9. This is by far the best haul I've ever seen! I'm oozing with jealously right now!

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    1. My wallet isn't too happy though :P But I'm insanely over the moon!

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  10. Replies
    1. Yep :P I was exhausted unpacking it all!

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  11. Hoping tomorrow, those sephora boxes would be on our front door too! lol

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    Replies
    1. haha don't you love Sephora? Wish there was one here in Aus!

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  12. I love lustering! Amazing haul of stuff Jen, you are a crazy woman ;D

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    1. I didn't realise that I already had Lustering! It was one of the only ones that didn't sell (it was the one that melted a teeny bit when the postman left it in the sun). If you want my spare Lustering, shoot me an email or tweet :)

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  13. wow!now that's what you call haul! ;D would be really interested on your review with the concealers,the bb cream & the primer that you got. ;)

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    1. I did a review of the concealers here http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/concealer-rave.html and I'll definitely keep those other products in mind for a review (the BB cream will probably get a review soon!)

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  14. Wow! I'm sad I missed out on the Balm sale, but am up to my ears in makeup from swaps! I love Sephora- I got some goodies during their sale too - even having a Sephora near me hasn't helped me get VIB status

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    Replies
    1. Same! I've been swapping so much that I have too much stuff haha

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  15. Hi!
    What parcel forwarding company do you use?
    Thanks!

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    1. Hey, I used HopShopGo :)

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    2. I've never used a forwarding company before. How does it work?

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    3. It depends on the company that you choose. With the one I use, I buy my things online and ship it to an address they assign me. Once they receive the packages, they forward it onto me and charge me only the shipping costs. If you can't buy the products yourself (no US billing address.. company doesn't take international credit cards etc), they can buy it for you and charge you a small fee for the service.

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    4. How much do you usually pay for the shipping?

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    5. It really depends.. Hopshopgo charges $24 for the first 500g and then $4 for each subsequent 500g.

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    6. How did you become a VIB with Sephora? Doesn't the billing address have to match the delivery one? Can you use the same address as the one HSG gives you? Sorry, I must sound like a total newb haha.

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    7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    8. Hi, please have the courtesy to email me before using my blog to spruik your services. Thanks :)

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  16. What an amazing haul! And you saved quite a lot as well through the MAC products. I hate that Aus has brands like MAC, Laura Mercier etc priced so high! It's much more economical to purchase it from overseas

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    1. Yep it definitely is cheaper to get things from overseas. I always get MAC from the US for about half the cost that it would have cost me here in Aus. Laura Mercier, however, have lowered their prices but even then.. it's still more economical to buy it from the US and have it shipped here if you have a big order.

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  17. A 'few' things? This is an epic haul, love it, you got such a great deal on everything! :)

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    1. Haha it definitely felt like it was only a few things :P I bought a few other things for other people so I kept putting their stuff aside and being all like "where's my stuff?!"

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  18. Yeah... I hate you after reading this but that can easily be changed by giving it all to me ;)

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  19. whoaaaa, masive haul, I love all your choices, if I could shop like that. heavenlyyy.....

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  20. This post made me wanna go crazy with hauling!!! (My poor pocket)

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  21. What fees are involved in hopshopgo? :)

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