It's here: my big New York beauty haul! I've pretty much been saving all year and also got money for my birthday (which is why we went away) so obviously there's a lot of stuff. Although it was what I'd been waiting for, I can't say I wasn't a little horrified watching the total rack up on my first trip to Sephora... Most of you guys wanted to see this as soon as possible so this is going to be more of a 'show' than a tell, as I've tried some of these products more than others and some haven't even had a look-in yet. However I will be doing full reviews of these over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
Obviously I picked these products up in the States, though I will try to link to sites that ship to the UK or advise how you can get these products here where possible. I did try to stick to buying things not available in this country, however there were a few things I'd wanted for a while and was just feeling spendy about! I bought all the drugstore products from CVS, Walgreens and Duane Reade, most of the high-end stuff from Sephora and then I did a ColourPop order. Note that in the US, tax isn't included in the prices already. I'm not sure about the rest of the country but in New York that meant an extra 8-9% on the prices below at the till, so things aren't always as cheap as they seem however there are still a lot of savings to be had.
The drugstores are really much of a muchness - they tend to carry the same brands with almost identical aisles and you only really need to visit more than one if you can't find stuff in stock. There are no testers at the drugstore, which was annoying (especially with foundations) but you can return things so if you go to the US I'd advise to check everything is the right shade before you leave. One thing I really noticed is that the drugstore isn't *that* cheap. I think the L'Oreal cushion foundation was $16-17 vs. £15 in the UK but then you have extra tax on top of it. I'm sure there are discount vouchers online and in magazines you can use but there aren't offers just there in store in the US. In the UK it's virtually impossible to pay full price because every brand will have discounts and special offers readily available (3 for 2, 2 for £10, introductory prices and so on) but in the US everything was full-price.
Sephora was obviously the main place I went wild in, as we've not had their stores in the UK for about 10 years (though there are always rumours it's coming back, nothing ever seems to come from them) and even when we did I'm pretty sure it was more like Sephora France so we wouldn't have been able to get all the US brands anyway. It's a little unusual because unlike in the UK there aren't counters for high-end brands. You just go up and serve yourself, which I personally prefer. Ironically I tend to spend more when I'm able to browse in peace than when there's someone hovering around me constantly.
I've only included the products I got for myself, not any gifts for other people but I did pick up a couple of bits to put in a giveaway, so keep your eye out for that...
Lips
Bite Beauty Lip Lab Custom Lipsticks | $45 each
One of the things I did in New York was to visit the Bite Beauty Lip Lab to make my very own custom lipsticks. Obviously the shades are unique to me but I thought I'd still show them in here (let me know if you'd enjoy a post on the experience and some swatch comparisons of the shades I made with ones you can get off the shelf). The formula is matte but it's really creamy and comfortable on the lips with a very slight sheen. I originally was only going to make one, however we mixed another shade 'for fun' and I really fell for that too! Both are nudes, one has pinky-mauve undertones and the other is more coral-coloured.
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II | $20
I have a couple of these and they're really pigmented, long-lasting and not as dry as some others I've tried. This is a very warm-toned brown nude. I like it for me, however I can see it might look a little orange on more neutral and cool skin tones.
Too Faced Melted Matte Liquified Long Wear Liquid Lipstick in Sell Out | $21
I actually purchased this without seeing it based on the colour on the box as there wasn't a tester! Luckily it ended well because this is a beautiful medium pink-brown nude colour. I actually thought this was similar to Echo Park on first impressions but it dries quite a bit darker. On first impressions it's slightly drying on the lips but gives that completely matte finish that lasts for hours.
Lime Crime Velvetine in Riot | £13.95
I actually picked this up in Urban Outfitters as they have a really great beauty department in the States. I vaguely remembered people praising these liquid lipsticks online so thought I'd have a look. I swatched this pinky-rust colour and just had to have it! It has a really sweet scent and the formula isn't too drying, though it does transfer a little bit.
ColourPop Ultra Satin Lip in Echo Park | $6
I really wasn't sure if this was going to be for me, having Googled swatches, as in some pictures it looked really light but in others it seemed like something that might work for me. I really love the Ultra Satin finish so for $6 thought I'd give it a go and I'm very glad I did. If it was slightly lighter it would be a little bit 'concealer lips' on me but it's just the perfect peachy-brown nude. The Ultra Satin formula is really comfortable and non-drying but still so pigmented, which decent staying-power. I've shipped ColourPop to the UK three times (one time, when I spent over $30 I did get a customs fee though) and you can read about how I do it here.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipsticks in Soft Lilac & Kathryn | $20 each
I've heard so much about these liquid lipsticks that I just had to get some! You can pick these up in Sephora or Macy's but I didn't know for sure at the time and stocks did vary so I ordered them online to my hotel (with their permission, of course). I took a break from the nudes and picked up two bolder colours: Soft Lilac and Kathryn. Soft Lilac appealed to me as I really fancied trying something like MAC Snob, but that shade was just a bit too light for me and this is just that bit deeper and more vibrant. It's definitely a 'weekend' colour but I really like it! Kathryn is an evening shade for me; a deep rosy plum tone. I will definitely update you on how I get on with these but my first impression is that they're a little bit tricky to apply; they're very pigmented and have a slightly thicker formula so the standard doe foot applicator doesn't work very well. However hopefully they'll be worth the effort.
Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipsticks in Clay Crush, Lust for Blush & Touch of Spice | $7.99 each
I looked in every single drugstore for these and completely gave up when none of them were in stock. By chance, on the way back to the hotel before our flight home, we popped into Duane Reade to get some sweets and chocolate and I couldn't resist having a peruse along the beauty aisles. There they were: every single shade I'd wanted! The formula, as the name suggests, is very creamy and comfortable whilst still giving you that matte finish. My only negative really is that they aren't as opaque and pigmented as I'd like. Clay Crush is a gorgeous warm-toned nude, Lust for Blush is a mid-toned lilac and Touch of Spice is a deep mauve-rosy-brown.
Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Rum Riche | $7.99
I actually picked this up after I gave up on the Creamy Mattes because I've never seen this shade in the UK. It's pigmented but has a sheen to it and the colour is a really pretty medium-toned wine.
Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick in Sweet Cream | $26
I really wanted to try the new Bite Beauty lipstick formula as I've heard so many positive things. I wanted something a little different from my usual for summer so went for this coral shade. It's very creamy and although it's has that sheen, it's still opaque in colour.
ColourPop Matte X Lippie Stix in Cami | $5
I personally find the ColourPop Matte Lippie Stix to be more of a satin finish so I decided to pick up one of their new Matte X formula. This definitely has a more true matte colour however it still isn't overly drying. The shade itself is a pinky-mauve.
L'Oreal Colour Riche Lip Liner in 471 Eternal Mauve | £9.87
I've heard so many people talk about this lip liner that it was at the top of my wish list. Although the name says 'mauve', it definitely has rosy tones to it as well. The formula seems very creamy but I'm yet to try this out fully.
Eyes
Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadows in Glisten, Red Earth, Truffle & Deep Plum | $12 each
I didn't even plan this as a quad to be honest, but I put it together and it was just my perfect plum-toned smoky eye palette. I've used these eyeshadows a couple of times and I'm so impressed with the formula. The pigmentation seriously gives that impact on the lids. They're also very easy to work with, long-lasting and the colours are beautiful. I'd say Makeup Geek is the closest formula I've tried to these. Glisten is like a deeper, more bronzed version of MAC's All That Glitters, Red Earth is this gorgeous browny-pink matte, Truffle is a deep brown-purple with a subtle shimmer and Deep Plum is a matte. You can order these directly to the UK from the Anastasia Beverly Hills website but I'd probably recommend Sephora because if you spend over £80 before tax you get flat rate shipping and no surprise customs fee (whereas you may have to pay one if you order from ABH). Read about my Sephora ordering experience here.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadows in Topaz, RTW, Warm Taupe & Cognac | $12 each
These aren't really all designed to go together, they're more just lots of warm shades that I like, however you get a free quad with every 4 eyeshadows you purchase (both in Sephora and directly through ABH). Topaz is a true antique gold colour, RTW is a really warm caramel tone with a subtle gold shimmer, Warm Taupe is a mid-toned greyish-brown matte and Cognac is a really rich red-brown shimmer.
MAC Pro Palette Refill Eyeshadow Pans in Honey Love, Saddle, Twinks & Embark | $6 each & 4x Pro Palette | $8
MAC eyeshadows have fallen somewhat out of favour with me; in my personal opinion I think they've been overtaken in the quality stakes, often by products at a much cheaper price-point. I built my MAC 15x palette before Makeup Geek was available in the UK, however if they'd been in this country sooner I think realistically I'd probably only have 5 or 6 from MAC. However the $6 eyeshadow sale was just too good to pass up on and I could definitely justify picking up a few shades at that price. I had high hopes for Honey Lust, imagining it would be a more glitzy All That Glitters (I initially didn't want to get it as I couldn't remember if I had it in a pre-made palette or not!) however I did find the texture a little glittery and flaky. It works well enough and definitely does the job with some Fix+ but I can't say I'm fond of the Lustre finish. Saddle is one I knew I had in the Warm Neutral palette, however for some reason you can't get it individually in the UK and I use custom palettes so much that for $6 it was well worth getting this warm brown matte crease shade. Twinks is a gorgeous deep plummy-burgundy with a subtle shimmer. Finally I picked up Embark, a deep matte brown colour with a very slight reddish tone to it.
ColourPop Super Shock Eyeshadow in Cornelious | $5
I actually picked up this warm mid-brown eyeshadow hoping it would be a crease colour, however it's definitely too light on me and not pigmented enough for that. I do think though that it works for me as a matte base for a brown-toned eye look. ColourPop eyeshadows are a kind of cream formula with a spongy texture so they aren't greasy at all and wear well without creasing.
L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows in Amber Rush & Bronzed Taupe | £6.99 each
I'd heard amazing things about the foiled cream eyeshadows so they were right at the top of my wish list! It took several trips to the drugstore for me to track down Amber Rush (I actually thought it might have been discontinued!) however my perseverance payed off. It's a bit similar to ColourPop LaLa but I do still really love the rose gold shade. On our last night in New York I used this it as a base with the plum Anastasia Beverly Hills quad and I really love the look it created. Bronzed Taupe is that perfect not-too-cool tone and I'm glad I picked that shade up too. I will be giving these a go on their own to see how they wear but given the name, I have high hopes!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown | £15.50
Obviously you can get this in the UK and it wasn't a purchase I actually wanted to make but I lost my Soap & Glory brow pencil somewhere in our hotel room! I couldn't find it anywhere and really didn't want to go out for a nice meal with bad eyebrows so grabbed this in Macy's in the shade Dark Brown. It's almost identical in every way to my Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil in Hot Chocolate - the only real difference is that the ABH spooly is a little larger and firmer. It has the thin twist-up pencil, allowing precise application and a texture that's the perfect balance between waxy and soft. I really like this for a natural look and am glad I finally tried it as it's so talked-about however I will be sticking to my cheaper alternative going forwards.
Cheeks
Physicians Formula Argan Wear Bronzer | £16.48
I couldn't go to the drugstore without picking up a cheek product from this brand and I just loved the pattern on this one. It does have a spray-over so my swatch is a little more shimmery than it actually is once that's gone. It's definitely more of a highlighter for me but it's a pretty, natural gold tone that looks really nice on the skin. I have to warn you though: the argan oil scent is very strong!
ColourPop Cheek Shock Bronzer in Carry On | $8
After being so wowed by Bronze Me from ColourPop's range, I decided to try a slightly lighter colour with a true matte finish. Again, it's a cream formula and it applies so beautifully and smoothly to the skin with just the right amount of pigment to give my skin a natural warmth. It's non-patchy and wears really well throughout the day. It looks like I'm onto another ColourPop bronzer winner!
Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in Brilliant Light | £34
Obviously I knew this was available in the UK but I'd ummed and ahhed over buying it for a while. I totally love the blushes but was left a little underwhelmed by the famous powders. This is less of a setting powder and more of a proper highlighter, so I saw it in Sephora and decided to just go for it (#feelingspendy). Brilliant is a bright, light gold and was the obvious choice for me. It actually doesn't apply as glittery as it looks in the pan and is very natural on the skin (in comparison to something like the Becca highlighters) but still gives real radiance.
Laura Mercier Face Illuminator Powder in Indiscretion | $44
This actually came out as a Limited Edition product in the UK last year but sold out and I'd been kicking myself ever since for not picking it up when I had the chance. There are actually several shades available in the US and Addiction (the gold shade) had my name written all over it but something still drew me to the more champagne/rose gold tones of Indiscretion. It gives a beautiful natural, dewy finish to the skin so my first impressions of this are that it's a hit. It's also nice to have a different sort of colour in my collection.
ColourPop Cheek Shock Highlighter in Dream Catcher | $8
Like almost all of ColourPop's products, this is another cream-based formula. You can just dab this on your cheekbones and it doesn't feel greasy in the slightest and has the perfect level of pigmentation. It also blends out really easily. What I love about this is the unique shade; it's gold in appearance but when it catches the light it has this really interesting peach-toned iridescence.
ColourPop Cheek Shock Highlighter in Glo Up | $8
I was pretty surprised at how dark this is, as it looks very much a gold colour online, however it's actually more bronze-toned in real life. I've not given it a go just yet, however I think I'm going to love the colour for summer.
Stila Perfect Me Perfect Hue Eye & Cheek Palette in Medium Tan | £28
I'd been eyeing this up before I went away, and even if you're in the UK I think £28 is a really reasonable price for it. I love that they do several shades in this for various skin tones. I haven't had a chance to try this one out yet but I love the Eyes Are the Window Palette in Soul, so I'm hoping it's going to be just as good as that. You get 5 eyeshadows: a matte off-white base, a medium-deep warm brown matte for the crease, a amber/rose gold shimmer for the lid colour and then a pop of colour with the plum-purple matte. There's a orange-gold shimmer blush and a matte pinky-mauve shade. Just from swatching, the texture of the amber shimmer eyeshadow (Daring) in particular is as pigmented and creamy as the ones in Soul so I think I'm going to love it. I was a little disappointed with the purple Magnetic, as it just didn't layer up properly (it seemed the more I applied when swatching it, the more the existing layers broke down). I was hoping it was going to be the show-stopper of the palette as that little pop of colour in the crease so my fingers are crossed that it'll work better on my eyes than it did swatching with my finger.
Tarte Tarteist Blush Palette | $38
I looked in every single Sephora for this and it was always sold out, so I gave up and got a single. Then as soon as I did I saw it available in Macy's! This just looks like the perfect Spring/Summer blush palette and I love Tarte's formula; it's one of the very few matte blushes that applies to my skin evenly and lasts all day without going patchy. I was also intrigued as this contains a shimmer colour and I've never actually used one by Tarte before. I've tried two of the shades so far; the pink with gold shimmer called Laugh (which is nice but for me there are single shimmer blushers in similar colours that I prefer, however it's good to have it in the palette for variation and to layer on top of a matte) and Love, which I love! (I'm so funny!) In the pan it looked a bit like Exposed, which I already have, however once applied it's far more vibrant and bright. It's one of those shades that just lifts my face and I discovered it's the perfect pairing with ColourPop Echo Park on the lips. I look forward to trying out the rest of the shades - the cooler-toned matte pink Dream and the almost neon peachy-pink matte Live.
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Achiote | $28
This is the single blush I picked up and personally I felt it was different enough to the shades in the palette to justify me keeping it too! It's a deeper, almost reddish pink matte. I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet but if it's anything like my other Tarte blushes then the formula is going to be amazing and I think the shade will be beautiful for the summer months.
Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Fig Pop | $22
I constantly rave about the formula of Clinique Ginger Pop, however that was the only blusher I ever owned in the range because despite a few tentative new additions to the line, we don't have as many shades in the UK. When I spotted Fig Pop it was an instant 'yaaaaas' - it's a deep mauvey-plum shade that could have been designed by me. The formula (it's kind of matte-look but has a very subtle sheen) is just as pigmented, easy to blend and long-lasting as Ginger Pop so I think this is well on its way to being an absolute favourite for me.
Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in 60 Coffee Cake | £8.19
I actually didn't realise this was going to be a cream formula. Clearly the name of the product didn't encourage any brain activity! It's a really nice warm brown tone with a subtle shimmer, however I've not given it a go yet. From swatching it I'm not exactly excited by this blusher; the pigmentation is not very strong against my skin tone and it feels a little greasy to the touch, however I'll give it a fair go and report back. There are just so many products that I picked up and am more enthusiastic about trialling.
ColourPop Cheek Shock Blush in Fox | $8
I've tried a few blushes from ColourPop because although they're a cream formula, they're almost cream-to-powder and have quite a matte finish. This was another 'try something different for summer' colour choice! Fox is pretty much a hot pink shade with more of a sheen than the others I own from this brand. I haven't had a chance to give it a go yet (I only have one face!) but from swatching it, it's definitely not as scary as it looks in the pan so I hope to enjoy using this.
Base
L'Oreal True Match Lumi Cushion Foundation | £17.99
A version of this foundation was actually launched in the UK a month or two ago, however the shade range was pretty poor and I was lukewarm on the formula so it went on my 'nope' pile. Having tried both the UK and US versions of another L'Oreal foundation, I found the formulas and shade ranges to be completely different between the countries so thought the same might be the case here. The US version comes in a wide array of shades and I picked N5.5 at random because the little colour image looked most like my skin tone and as I mentioned they don't have testers for drugstore products in the US. The shade looks a bit light when I swatch it but seems to dry slightly darker so it's a pretty decent match and despite the neutral name, it's warm in tone. I definitely need to give it more of a go but I do feel like the formula is a little more to my taste; it's a very healthy-looking, light-coverage finish.
L'Oreal True Match Foundation | £12.08
For some bizarre reason the shade W6 doesn't exist in the UK and for me W7 and W6.5 were never quite right, nor was W5 so I was stuck! I decided to finally see if W6 was the perfect shade I'd been looking for. When I swatched it in my (admittedly poorly-lit) hotel room, it seemed an ok match but now I've tried it at home I have to say it's way too neutral in tone, despite the name. I think the formula is more akin to the old UK True Match as there's no shimmer to it. I've linked to Vitamin Grocer for this version of the foundation and most of these drugstore products in this post, as I've ordered with before and had no issues. You can read about my shipping experience here.
L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation | £14.32
I picked up this foundation in the shade 104 earlier this year and was amazed at how easy it was to get a match in the US range and how much better the formula was! Honestly, it's like a completely different product and now I can finally see what all the hype from across the pond was about. It's matte but not drying and is a medium coverage with a flawless finish that's insanely long-lasting. If I could liken it to anything then it would be a more matte version of Nars Sheer Glow. I grabbed the colour 106 and it's the perfect shade for my summer skin tone.
Urban Decay Naked Skin Colour Correcting Fluid in Peach | $28
I've heard so much about this new range of correctors and, whilst I'm sure they will make their way over to the UK eventually, as a huge fan of the concealer I couldn't resist trying this for myself. It's definitely quite light on my skin tone, however on first impressions this has a very similar formula to the concealer and it does mask some of that darkness under my eyes so I only have to go over it with a more skin-toned shade before I'm good to go.
LA Girl Pro Conceal Corrector in Orange | £5
From a really light under-eye corrector to a really dark, scary, pigmented one! You can get this on BeautyBay but I've never caught it in stock and I was in Ricky's on 5th Avenue and this was just there so I decided to grab it whilst I could. Whilst I appreciate the shade range at such a low price with their skin-toned concealers; the jury is still out on the formula. However I'd heard so many people go on about the correctors that I wanted to see what all the hype was about. You really only need the *tiniest* amount ever but this really does work at masking my dark circles and I definitely notice the difference when I put my concealer on top of this. I think deeper skin tones will love it too as it's so hard to find correctors that are dark enough, however if you're fair to light you'd be better with something like the Urban Decay.
Skincare, Haircare, Tools, Bodycare & Everything Else
Morphe M509 Deluxe Pointed Blender Brush | £10.25
I picked this up in Ricky's as a bit of an impulse purchase as it looked good for highlighter. So far I do really like it just to blend out the product for a very natural look, as my other highlighter brushes are all much more precise than this one.
Sephora Pro Airbrush Concealer #57 | $24
I regularly bang on about how much I love the Pro Airbrush #55 for applying light bases, so I decided to pick up the concealer version. The bristles are more tightly packed than my Real Techniques Setting Brush but a little looser than my Zoeva Concealer Buffer, which make it perfect both for blending out concealer naturally under my eyes and on blemishes. So far this is another amazing brush from this collection and my only regret is not getting more of them.
BeautyBlender | £16
I have mixed feelings on the BeautyBlender in all honesty. It's good but I think for the hype, I was expecting it to change my life and it just didn't! However recently I've been liking it more and more for concealer whilst I've been away, because you can just pack this and do most of your base with it. Mine had seen better days so I decided to grab a new one as it's a little cheaper in the States. I'd seen it in Sephora for $16 but just forgotten to grab one. When I was in Macy's they had them at the till and though there was no price, I assumed it would be the same and grabbed one. But when it was scanned it went through at $20, which I was so annoyed about! I'd definitely recommend getting this in Sephora instead.
MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ | £17
This is one of those products I've been meaning to try for a while so I decided to finally pick it up. It's a multipurpose spray and I'm still in the process of playing around with it and discovering its uses. However my first impressions are good; I've used it a couple of times to finish off my makeup and it makes everything look more natural, blended and just better overall.
L'Oreal Infallible Pro Makeup-Extender Setting Spray | £18.74
I picked this up to see if it was any different to the one release in the UK like the foundations. I quite like the UK version and have used about half of it already so even if it was the same I wasn't going to be any worse off, really. I'll report back properly soon but on first impressions, this seems to have a bit m