Sephora and UK Shipping

When I found out the Sephora USA site was now shipping to the UK I literally ran to my computer to see what I could buy. You think i'm joking but I assure you I am not. On my last trip to New York, over the course of 4 days I made about 6 trips to Sephora and came away with multiple items on each visit - such is my love for the place, and for the US prices.

Sadly as I clicked away on the site, my excitement slowly dissipated. There are a lot of brands that do not ship to the UK, including Hourglass, Laura Mercier, Kate Somerville, NARS and any nail polishes. The other annoying thing is it doesn't alert you to the fact that it can't be shipped to your location until you hit the check-out screen. On the plus side Clinique does ship as does Marc Jacobs Beauty. I wanted to pop a few Clinique products in my bag to see how the prices compare once you add in the taxes.

I have been lusting over the All About Shadow palette by Clinique. It retails for £32 here and the online Sephora price is £22.82. I also did a price comparison on the Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey which retails for £17 in the UK, the online Sephora price being £9.51.

Marc Jacobs Beauty is still not available to purchase in the UK, so buying this online is obviously a big bonus.

Sephora are charging a £10 flat rate shipping fee if you spend over £75. The important thing to note is that they still apply duty and tax to your order at the check-out. I was charged an additional £20.97 for my order on top of the shipping fee, making it an additional £30.97 all in (ouch). You can see the breakdown below.

It's a shame but not a surprise that this was too good to be true. I am still really excited to receive my order but I won't be placing future orders unless it is for something truly exceptional that you can't buy in the UK.

My Obsession: By Terry, Baume de Rose

I now refer to my life in two parts - life before I purchased By Terry's Baume de Rose, and life after I purchased By Terry's Baume de Rose. You know that feeling of finding something that you love so much you just can't imagine what you did without it? Well that is me and this lip product. I was amazed to find that this product is 10 years old. What the? How have I not known about this sooner?

I am an avid user of lip balms and cannot go to sleep at night unless I have some on my lips. I have tried many in the past, some that were expensive but just meh (Hourglass Lip Oil i'm looking at you), and I was reluctant to spend this type of money in case this wasn't good. When I visited the By Terry store in Paris (which you can read about here), I finally decided to take the plunge and invest. 

So why is it so good? It is quite a solid balm that you have to work up a little to get from the jar on to your fingertip. Due to the fairly solid consistency, you can still feel it on your lips when you wake up in the morning. And for the first time ever, my lips are hydrated enough to wear matte lipsticks without feeling awful. You only use such a small amount that a jar will last a long time. It smells amazing, as all the By Terry products do. 

It is not often I fall for something this hard! You can buy this here if you are in the UK, and here if you are in Australia. Once again, I am totally blown away by the Australian price tag on this compared to the price you pay in the UK. £35 versus $84 just doesn't make sense to me ....

My Favourite Things - October

I thought I would share a few of my favourite makeup  and beauty things that I have discovered throughout the month of October. 

MUA Matte Palette. MUA just keep delivering with these amazingly well priced palettes. It features 10 matt shades which was exactly  what I need as my eyeshadow collection was weighing far too heavily on the shimmery side. Seriously, it is only £4.00 pounds here and the quality is great. You can't go wrong! They ship internationally too.

Aromatherapy Associates De-Stress Muscle Gel. This stuff is dreamy. Rubbed on after a night time bath, it encourages an extra deep sleep. I got this inside the Liberty Beauty Bag a while back and it has been a great discovery. The full size of this product is currently on sale for £17.60 here, with free international shipping. I am also a massive fan of the Aromatherapy Bath Oils .. check them out, they are amazing! 

Karla Cosmetics Face Charts. Created by the amazingly talented Karla Powell, I had been searching for something like this for a long time. Having previously been using MAC face charts I had stolen off the web (i'm sorry MAC) and printed on copy paper, the paper quality on these ones is lovely. Karla is also currently holding a competition - the creator of the best face chart will be assisting Karla on one of her upcoming shoots. I am working on my entry right now! You can buy these here for £11.00.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush is the perfect berry stain for my lips right now. More details here. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette. This is still my current favourite luxe splurge. I have been using it on myself and on photo shoots and i'm loving it. More detailed review here. 

I can't wait to see what favourites November throws up for me.  

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

This post is more of a reveal than a review. I have been really sick for a horrible viral flu for the past 3 days so I have only been well enough to unwrap and drool over this, but not to actually try it out.

I use the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in 'Mood Light' pretty much every day. You can imagine my excitement when I found out Hourglass were bringing out a limited edition product with three powders housed in the one sleek palette. The palette contains:

L-R: dim light, incandescent light and radiant light

'Dim Light' a peach-beige to blur imperfections and highlight.

'Incandescent Light' a limited edition shade which an opalescent pearl to brighten.

'Radiant Light' a golden beige to enhance and give warmth. 

The size of each colour is smaller than you get when you buy them individually, but it is still big enough to get proper usage out of them and it is obvious cheaper buying them this way rather than buying them separately. Also included is a trial size of their Veil Mineral Primer.  The palette costs £56.00 here. At the time of purchase Space NK had a £10 off deal which made it a great time to buy. Unfortunately it seems this product is yet to hit Australian shores, but you can buy the individual powders here for $62.00.

I was also thrilled to see that their Opaque Rouge lipstick in Canvas is finally back in stock. I tried to buy this shade months ago only to find it sold out everywhere so I bought the shade Ballet instead. Canvas is the perfect long-lasting nude. This consistency of this lipstick took a little getting used to for me as i'm an avid lipgloss wearer. I found it hard not to add gloss over the top and found if I did, it disturbed the setting of the lip colour and ruined the long-wear aspect of it. Over time I got used to the formula and as long as my lips are well hydrated, it no longer bothers me.  

L-R: Canvas, Ballet and mini Muse

These cost £23.00 here and $42.00 here. If you are after the shade Canvas I would make haste as they are bound to sell quickly after being out of stock for so long.