Mini Haul :)

I don't always show you guys what I buy because I normally only buy one or two things at a time and I always forget to do a collective haul post on them but I recently got a few things at once and I had a few things to say about them so here's a mini haul/review :)

Left to right: Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder,
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain, MAC Brush Cleanser

1) Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler from David Jones ($40): I misplaced my Shiseido eyelash curler a few months ago and I'd been meaning to replace it for ages. The Shiseido one used to pinch my eyes a lot so I decided to just spend a little bit extra this time and buy the Shu Uemura eyelash curler instead and I'm so happy that I did as it's so freaking amazing! The funny thing is, every time I curl my eyelashes, I always wince a little bit as I expect it to pinch my eyelids but it never does and I always fall in love with it a little bit more.

2) Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light from Mecca Cosmetica ($62): I was feeling sorry for myself yesterday as I went to the dentist in the morning and I left with the bottom right hand side of my face (including my nose!) completely numbed and I was REALLY hungry... so I went to Myer to buy this as I've had my eye on it for ages and I needed a distraction :P I originally wanted to get Luminous Light or Dim Light but I got talked into this as the sales assistant thought that it was better as a setting powder and that the other ones were better as bronzing powders. I've used this as a setting powder and I really like it. I can't see any difference in normal lighting but I seem "glowier" in darker lighting. The only problem with it is that it's so finely milled that whenever my brush touches the product, I get a lot of fallout and it goes everywhere!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light

3) Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous from Chemist Warehouse ($9): This colour wasn't released in Australia with the rest of the range but I'm a sucker for orange lip products and I just had to buy it when it was 50% off at Chemist Warehouse. I'm not a huge fan though... it seemed to be a little drier than the other colours.

4) MAC brush cleanser from David Jones ($20): I needed a new brush cleanser and I didn't have time to go to Daiso to buy the $2.80 one that everyone keeps raving about. I'm also a sucker for MAC's Back to Mac program so I kind of justified it as I can use the empty bottle towards getting a free lipstick :)

And that's it! I have a post about a major haul coming up shortly :) And don't forget to add me on Bloglovin! I'm not 100% sure if GFC will be gone with Google Reader on July 1 but it's better to be safe than sorry :P You can use the button below to add me on Bloglovin :) I promise it's really quick and easy to set up an account if you don't have one already!

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 :)

MAC Marilyn Monroe

When this collection was released a few weeks ago, I really wanted to buy the Love Goddess lipstick.
However, the lipstick retails for AUS$38 which I thought was excessive when it was priced at US$16.50 and CDN$20 (although they also have to pay taxes on top). The majority of the collection sold out within hours when it was released online on the US MAC website. Similarly, when Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Macy's released the collection a few days later, they also sold out really fast.

Luckily, a friend in Canada was able to get me the Love Goddess lipstick and the Legendary blush. She took it with her to California (had a holiday there) and shipped it to me from there. It arrived in 8 days and cost less than $5 in shipping! (She used USPS First Class International Shipping).

Packaging

Lipstick and Blush

Lipstick and Blush

Back of Packaging

The lipstick is very pigmented and reminds me of my Elizabeth Arden Cranberry Cream Lipstick (review here: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/cranberry-cream-lipstick.html).

In natural lighting

In shaded lighting

With Flash

I find that the Elizabeth Arden lipstick is creamier, although this comes a close second. It's described my MAC as a "midtone pink red".

The blush is very sheer so I didn't do a swatch of it as it wouldn't show up in photos. It's not very pigmented and gives my cheeks just a hint of colour. The container is also very flimsy and it creaks every time I open it. I'm not too impressed by it but I was drawn to it as it's limited edition and I didn't want to regret missing out on it.

I really regret missing out on the MAC Watch Me Simmer lipstick that was released earlier this year. I found it on eBay but I'm not sure if I trust the sellers :P Does anyone know of any reputable MAC resellers?

Rimmel lipsticks

Priceline started their new catalogue today so I picked up a few Rimmel lipsticks as they were buy one, get one free. I also wanted to buy some Bourjois blushes that were 30% off but the Priceline at Central Station didn't stock Bourjois at all :(

I bought 4 of the lipsticks for $24 in total so it worked out to be $6 each. The Kate Moss lipsticks retail for $11.95 each and the normal lipstick is $9.95.

I bought 2 of the same ones.

Kate 19, Kate 16 and Asian

 I bought two of the 16's as they had run out of 05 and nothing else caught my eye. I might try to exchange it at my local Priceline store.

Left to Right: Asian, Kate 16, Kate 19

Asian and 19 are very similar although Asian is a tad darker. I haven't taken great photos of the swatches but all three lipsticks are pink-er in real life and a lot brighter. I'll do a review of them on my lips later if anyone wants it.

All 3 are super creamy and pigmented. I've read lots of reviews that they last about 2-3 hours.

On a totally unrelated note, I received my $30 gift voucher from Country Road today for reaching loyalty status!

Gift Voucher

I absolutely love Country Road but I never buy it unless it's on sale. To reach loyalty status, you have to spend over $750 in 12 months. I love Country Road and rarely ever shop for clothing any where else.

On my way home today, I also bought these bottles of Lipton iced tea :) They're limited edition and have been out for about 2 weeks.

Limited Release Iced Tea

Of course I had to buy them all to try :) (the pina colada is amazing!)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/50-followers-giveaway.html and I have a new post coming up tomorrow!

MUA Haul!

I placed an order with MUA 2 weeks ago and my order finally arrived today :) The order only cost me $38 all up including shipping which was about $12. I got everything here for pretty much the cost of a MAC lipstick! The only downside of the order was that while they wrapped the palettes, blushes and bronzer really well, they didn't wrap the lipsticks or pencils. I think they should have bubble wrapped the pencils a little bit as they have a tendency to break if they're dropped or tossed around in the post.

MUA Haul!

I picked up the 12 pan undressed palette (bottom left hand corner) as the heaven and earth was out of stock. I really love this even though I'm normally not an eyeshadow person! I'll be doing reviews on it shortly.

I also picked up 2 blushes in shades 1 and 4. I would've gotten a couple more as they were super cheap but I already have too many blushes!

On the bottom is a black eyeliner pencil and a red lip liner pencil. Reviews coming soon :)

I also got 4 lipsticks in shades 2, 3, 6 and 11. I wish these had names! I went by swatches that I found on other blogs so I'll definitely be contributing my own swatches soon. I ran out of time to do any while the sun was still up.

On the top right hand side corner is the mosaic bronzer in shade 1 (natural glow). I'm not a fan of shimmery bronzers but this only has a tiny amount of shimmer.

Lastly is the 24 pan immaculate eyeshadow palette. This was included with the order for free. I don't wear bright shadows so I decided to do a giveaway with it. There's less than 2 days left to enter the giveaway if you haven't already!

(link: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/giveaway.html)

Are there any MUA items that I should definitely try? I'm thinking about another order :)

Body Shop Haul!

I finally received my Body Shop order in the mail last week after buying a number of things from their sale. A few things are for myself and a few are for giveaways :) I haven't used The Body Shop in a LONG time as my local Body Shop shut down but I couldn't resist the online sale prices!

My package!

1. Limited Edition Mini Brush Kit:

I haven't had a chance to test any of them out yet. I bought them as they're small enough to pop in my bag for emergencies.

2. Limited Edition Illuminating Face Base:

3. Limited Edition Tailored Cheek Tint:

I have no idea if these are any good. I normally read reviews about makeup before I buy it but these were pretty cheap ($6 and $4) so it's no big deal if I don't like them.

Mini brush kit, Illuminating face base & cheek tint

4. Travel sized Sweet Lemon Whip:

5. Travel sized Sweet Lemon Shower Gel:

The shower gel is part of a giveaway!

(enter here: http://shoppingqueenjen.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/giveaway.html)

The body lotion was meant for myself. However, can you see how it's missing a huge chunk of product from the top? I don't know if it's meant to be like that or not but that's what it looked like out of the box.

Body lotion & shower gel

6. Passion Fruit Facial Cleansing Gel

I had no reason for buying this at all. I just couldn't resist how cheap it was! But like the Sweet Lemon Whip I got, it's also missing a chunk of product from it. I'm beginning to think that they're meant to be like that?

Passion Fruit Facial Cleansing Gel

Passion Fruit Facial Cleansing Gel:
missing product

7. Raspberry Ripple Bath & Shower Gel:

8. Cucumber Freshening Water:

And again, these are missing a good chunk from the top. I seriously can't remember any of the bottles in the Body Shop ever not being completely full? Can anyone please let me know if I'm wrong?

Raspberry Ripple Bath & Shower Gel
& Cucumber Freshening Water

Raspberry Ripple Bath & Shower Gel:
missing product

Cucumber Freshening Water: missing product

Postage was really cheap! I'm normally really stingy with paying for postage as I can get what I want by going to the shops rather than paying for someone to send it to me but the Body Shop sale was only online and at select physical stores. Postage was $8.95 flat rate which was really decent considering how heavy the box was and how many things I got.

UPDATE: I emailed The Body Shop and asked about why the bottles weren't filled up. They replied that "they couldn't fill them up as the bottles would leak". I still think that they were too light handed on the body lotion haha. A good chunk has been left out of that one!

Myer Haul!

I splurged a little yesterday as Myer have started their mid-season sale and there were so many discounts in the beauty department!

I bought a few things but I won't be able to show them all to you today as some of the things I bought, are actually for an international swap that I'm doing with someone and I don't want to ruin the surprise for her! (check out her blog at minandmegs.blogspot.com.au). Megs and her friend Min are Canadian bloggers who do not use products that have been animal tested and products that contain phthalates (fragrances) or parabens. I had an amazing time looking for beauty products that ticked all the boxes.

For myself, I bought:

1. Natio camouflage tinted spot cream:

I've been wanting to try this out as it claims to "attack blemishes, cover up redness and blends in with skin". I'll do a review of it once I've used it for a little while. This was $9.95 RRP but I got all my Natio products for 30% off yesterday.

Camouflage tinted spot cream
by Natio

2. I picked this up at Illamasqua. I thought it was an eyeliner but after reading some reviews online, I think the medium pencils are also lip safe? I won't be using black on my lips though! This was $12.50, discounted down from $20.

Illamasqua Medium Pencil
(in black)

3. I picked these up for $4.15 each (after my discount). I thought they were adorable and I'm keeping the peach for myself. I'm giving the rose one (and some chocolate!) to one of the girls at work as a thank you present for swapping shifts with me :)

Natio nail polish in rose and peach

4. On the way out of Myer, I spotted this and I had to have it! It's the Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Terracotta Gloss in Porto Fino. It's a gorgeous pink coral colour and swatches beautifully! The photos do no justice. Check out the lid! It's so pretty.

The RRP was $46 but I got it for half price at $23.

Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Terracotta Gloss
in 10 Porto Fino

Favourite purchase of the day

5. Bloom lip balms. I snapped up the peach and grapefruit ones for $5 each (RRP $10). They smell amazing!

Bloom lip balms

Group photo: forgot to add the Bloom lip balms in.

I have some more hauls to show you guys soon! The post man's been really busy delivering packages to me :)

Evo Hair Review and Haul

I was first introduced to Evo by Lust Have It! a few months ago when I got the therapist calming shampoo and conditioner in small 50mL bottles.

 It's probably the best thing I've ever gotten from a beauty box as it's completely changed my hair! I used to use whatever was on sale at Woolworths or Priceline and wasn't loyal to any one brand. My hair was knotty every morning when I woke up and it was super duper dry.

Evo is a salon brand that has totally saved my hair! It's tangle free now and I don't have to brush it too much in the morning as there aren't any knots! And for some reason, my hair is growing like crazy! It might have something to do with the fact that I had a big haircut about 8 weeks ago BUT it's pretty much grown back already whereas in the past, it would grow super slowly.

It costs $24.95/300mL bottle from the website or from hairdressers and salons (there is a store locator on the website). The website stocks 50mL bottles and 10mL sachets so you can trial them before you buy the full size.

I ran out of my trial size so when I was in Surry Hills, I popped into a hair dresser who stocked Evo and she actually recommended that I use ritual salvation instead of the therapist as she recommends it for people who have badly damaged and dry hair through bleaching. She suggested that I give ritual salvation a try as it's also more popular than the therapist.

So I bought this:

It's aimed towards people who have dry damaged hair but isn't as intense as the therapist. I can't wait to use it and give you guys a review on it. Hopefully it's just as good as the therapist :)

As a side note, I havn't dyed my hair for almost 5 years and wash it with shampoo and conditioner every 2 or 3 nights (it doesn't get oily). However, I do like to at least wet my hair in the shower every night as I feel dirty if I don't.

Mini haul

I have a mini haul to show you today :) I also have a beauty haul that's coming up soon but I'm just waiting on the last few packages to arrive from the US and then I'll post pictures here :)

Country Road have their Mid-Season sale on right now and I couldn't help myself! I scored 2 pairs of flats for $52 each (RRP $99).

I bought the Letitia soft leather ballet in black suede and camel (sorry for the bad photos. I'll try to replace them later with better ones). I went to Sydney QVB at about midday on the first day of the sale and they had sold out of pretty much all the sizes already.

 I also recently bought the La Source exfoliant from Crabtree and Evelyn using their Facebook promotion. They gave me $10 off my purchase and a free 25g hand cream in Wisteria. They ran out of Pomegranate and replaced it with this without telling me but luckily, it smells nice and I havn't tried it before.

I can't wait to post reviews on it :)

- Jen