America Makeup Haul Part 2

Ok now onto Part 2 of what I bought in America! If you missed Part 1 you can click here to read all about it :)

One thing I was really keen on buying in America was nail polish as it is so cheap there and even though I buy OPI here, I struggle accepting that I'm paying $20 a bottle for it! I also managed to get a nice collection of samples to try out (one thing Australian retailers could really step up there game with), and a birthday present to myself!

PHILOSOPHY

 



 

- I have been lusting after this pack for so many months now! This is Philosophy's Birthday Girl pack and it includes a Vanilla Birthday Cake Body Wash and a Vanilla Birthday Cake Lip Gloss. Ever since I was little I have loved vanilla and used to ask my Mum for the plainest vanilla birthday cakes every year! I am saving this until Sunday for me to use as Sunday is my birthday! I haven't yet decided what flavour cake to have yet though! ($20 US +tax)

 NAIL POLISH

- Wet n Wild is a brand I hadn't heard of before going to the States. They are super cheap so I picked up two polishes: '2% milk' (a creamy nude polish) and '4th of July Parade' (a clear polish with red, white and blue sparkles).
- I wasn't planning on buying any Revlon but this polish caught my eye. 'Girly' is a pale purple polish with blue, pink and silver glitter.
- If you had read my wishlists before I went away, you would have seen I was keen to try out butter London polishes. I picked one up in 'Trout Pout' and it has already become one of my favourites.

 

 - The Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polishes I already own are fantastic quality so I decided I had to pick up a couple more. I went after more pastel colours with 'I Lilac You' and 'Peach of Cake'.
- I have read plenty about the Seche Vite top coat so grabbed two bottles when I was in Ulta. I've only used it once so far but it is super fast drying which I love.

- I couldn't leave America without getting some O.P.I polishes as they have the best range of colours and the quality of the polishes are always great. I purchased (from left to right): 'You're Such A Budapest', 'Mod About You', 'Matte Top Coat', 'Charged Up Cherry' and 'Feelin Hot-Hot-Hot!'.

I bought all of these polishes for under $10 US +tax and the wet n wild polishes were less than $4 US +tax. If you're planning on buying polishes in America the best place for a wide range is Ulta as they stock all the O.P.I colours aswell as many other brands. Walgreen and CVS are great for cheaper polishes but they don't as big a range.

SEPHORA

- The Summer Lovin' Set was a kit I bought with my VIB points. It includes a lipgloss, mascara, self-tanning body mist and a moisturiser. I also picked up two new brushes as these were used on me when I got my makeover and I loved the feel of them. They come with a travel friendly top so they won't get damaged.

SAMPLES

 

One thing I loved about shopping in America was that it's not hard to get samples to try products out. More often than not I wouldn't have to even ask for any if I had purchased something so it was always a nice bonus. Sephora is the best retailer to get samples from and they are usually quite nice about it.

So there's another haul post from America! I've realised I've got a few extra skin care items I bought so I will feature them with my next post which will feature shoes, jewellery and many random items!

America Makeup Haul Part 1

On a lovely wintery day in Melbourne, what better to do than blog about my recent purchases! As you most likely know I have just returned from a month long trip to America and I LOVED the shopping!! The makeup is stupidly cheap as are the clothes and shoes! I'm going to split my makeup/skincare purchases into two posts and I may do another post later on the random bits and pieces I bought.

If you've been to the States you would know how great the shopping is at Sephora, Ulta and drugstores such as Walgreens and CVS. I mainly shopped at Sephora as they have a great loyalty program and just bought what I couldn't find there at the other stores.

BENEFIT COSMETICS

I love Benefit and their pretty packaging seems to suck me in! I get my brows done at the Benefit Brow bar at Chadstone so I have had plenty of time to see what I was after!



 

 - The Feelin' Dandy pack is a great way to purchase lots of products to try without having to commit to the full size. This pack includes Posie Tint, High Beam, Dandelion blush and brush and Dandelion lipgloss. Perfect for lovers of pink like me! ($28 +tax US vs $59 AUS)

 - Fine One One is a three colour highlighter/blush that can be used on your cheeks, lips and lids. I love the peach and coral colours on this product. ($30 +tax US)
- The lovely ladies at Benefit Brow Bar used Fake Up on me one day and I fell in love. This is a beautifully creamy concealer that works perfectly at concealing my dark circles. ($24 +tax US vs $35 AUS)
- Part of Sephora's loyalty program is getting a free gift when you shop within a few weeks of your birthday. The current gift is a travel size version of the They're Real! mascara and Watts Up highlighter.

NARS 

These are my first ever purchases from Nars and I love them!

 



 
- The Multiple in Portofino is a beautiful product that can be used on your lips, cheeks and lids. I love products that can be used for more than one purpose! ($39 +tax US vs $58 AUS)
- The Orgasm Blush is one that I was told that I had to buy so of course I did when I saw how pretty it is. I will get plenty of use out of it. ($29 +tax US vs $45 AUS)

 

MAC COSMETICS

Mac is another brand that I'm a newbie to but that doesn't mean I haven't been lusting over their products!



- Prep + Prime BB cream is another BB cream that I love (my BB collection is getting big!). This also highlights my skin really nicely ($28+tax US vs $48 AUS)
- I knew I had to get at least one lipstick from MAC and this one in Impassioned is so me! I managed to try a friend's one before I left and I knew it was the one! ($16 +tax US vs $36 AUS)

CLINIQUE, BOBBI BROWN, URBAN DECAY & MAKEUP FOREVER

 



- I bought the Clinique Chubby Stick for lips in Plushest Punch as I knew a chubby stick was a must have in my makeup collection ($16+tax US vs $35 AUS)
- I had a makeover in Sephora one day and they used this Bobbi Brown eyeliner on me. It is violet which is not something I would normally try, but then again I wouldn't normally try eyeliner so I'm going to do lots of practice! ($26+tax US vs $35 AUS)
- The Urban Decay Naked Skin BB was something I saw on tv on The View and I knew I had to have it. There is just one shade that works on every skin tone and I love it. It does need to be blended in but once done it is flawless. ($14+tax)
- I bought the Make Up For Ever Pro Finish powder because I have never owned a powder! I can't believe it has taken me this long but I am glad I finally got one and a great quality one too!


Alright so there's the first lot of what I bought in America! My next post will feature plenty of nail polish, perfume and Philosophy!

I'm Back!!

A few days ago I returned home from the most amazing trip to the United States. I travelled with my boyfriend for a month and it was so so much fun! I enjoyed most places and bought a heap of makeup, clothes and souvenirs (there will be some posts on my hauls this week!).

So, where did we go?

- Orlando, Florida
First stop was the east coast, and a massive eight days of theme parks!! I love Disney, Harry Potter and rollercoasters, so Orlando was an obvious choice for me! We stayed at a Disney hotel, which made everything so easy as they have buses to take you to every Disney theme park (there's six of them!). Being a Harry Potter fanatic I loved Universal Islands of Adventure as I got myself a wand and drank butterbeer (yes I'm crazy!).

 

- Washington DC
We were lucky enough to be in Washington on the 4th of July so we got to see a parade and a fantastic firework display over the Washington Monument. I really enjoyed the short two days we spent there as there was so many great historical things to see.

 

- Baltimore and Philadelphia
We drove from Washington to New York and along the way we dropped into Baltimore and stayed in Philadelphia for one night. I love Ace of Cakes the tv show, so we stopped into Charm City Cakes in Baltimore which was amazing! I thought Philadelphia was a gorgeous city, even though we were only there briefly. We had Philly cheesesteak too and I could definitely get used to eating them often!

 

 

- New York
An amazing 10 days was spent in New York and I fell in love for sure. We did all the touristy things including seeing a Broadway show, Staten Island ferry, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square. We walked the Brooklyn bridge and had a delicious pizza at Grimaldi's and got the ferry to Hoboken and got sweets at Carlo's Bakery (from Cake Boss). My grandfather was born in New York, so we went to see where he lived and where his parents were married. I enjoyed every single minute in New York, whether it was riding bikes around Central Park or trying the many burger joints.

 

 

- Las Vegas, Nevada
Of course if we were going to head all the way to America we had to check out Vegas. We stayed at the Bellagio and it was so beautiful! It is in the perfect position on the strip -next to Caesar's Palace and across the road from the Paris hotel. We saw David Copperfield and Cirque du Soleil's "O". If you ever have the chance to go to Vegas you have to see "O". It is the third Cirque du Soleil show I have seen and it blew me away. Of course in Vegas we drank, gambled a little and did plenty of shopping!

- Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles was the only place I probably wouldn't go to again, which is a shame because it's the closest! While I enjoyed Disneyland and Santa Monica the rest we saw was very dirty and quite sad as there are so many homeless people there. Every corner there would be people asking for money. Thankfully I knew a bit of this beforehand so we were only there for four nights. We did get to drive around in a Chevrolet Camaro (pretty cool), but I don't think I would recommend LA to people unless it was somewhere they just had to go.

All in all it was an amazing trip and I can't believe I'm back home already! My boyfriend didn't get sick of me - always a bonus!- and I think he had a fantastic time too.