HAUL: MUFE, MUG, MAC, Catrice and Rimmel

I know you all got the silent treatment these past few weeks but if you think I didn't do any beauty shopping during that time, you're dead wrong.  And I'm ashamed to admit that I've gone a bit overboard the past week as wel, think concealers (two different brands!), moisturizer, some lip colors  and eyeshadowpalettes.  That's right eyeshadowpalettes, as in more than one.  Don't judge,  it's not like I'm hurting anyone here and in my defense the eyeshadowpalettes are limited edition and one of the concealers was restocked after being sold out for a couple of weeks so I had no choice but to buy it now.  You know I'm right about that!

So here's a little* haul with some first impressions and reviews.

First up I ordered some plastic make up bags from Make Up Forever.  Nothing really special about these but I really love plastic make up bags.  I use them when I travel to put in liquids because they are just so easy to clean and if a liquid was to explode the plasic would keep the product inside (as opposed to a cotton makeup bag where all your clothes would be affected).  I ordered 3 because I couldn't make out the size online.  

The material is really sturdy, which isn't a bad thing necessarily because it shows that these aren't made of some crappy cheap plastic but they will take some breaking in to get them more 'easy going'.  The largest one is a different model than the other two and I was hoping that this one was a bit taller and I could put some MUFE Ultra HD foundations in there standing but that's not the case.  

I recently discovered the charms of palettes you can customize.  Buying a prepaid palette is usually a lot cheaper than buying all the colors separately, but there are always a few colors in there that you'll hardly (if ever) use.   Making your own palette is a solution to that.  I bought a large empty Mac palette with the blush insert.  

That's one lonely Sculpting powder in 'Sculpt' you're seeing.  Sad isn't it?  Maybe I should go out and get her a new friend so she's not lonely anymore ;-)

I couldn't just order the makeup bags and in all fairness, I am lacking in the lip pencil department so I bought 2 Make Up Forever Aqua Lip Pencils.  I love these!!  I used them every day when I did my course at MUFE and they are so easy to work with but because they are water resistent they stay on like forever (unless you're eating oily stuff but since oil dissolves all makeup that's normal).  Safe to say I will be getting more of these babies soon!

I got the color 2C Rosewood (top swatch) and 18C Coral (bottom swatch). 

The iconic 5 Camouflage Cream Palette has been on my wish list for a while.  I'm not the biggest fan of camouflage but sometimes you just need a bit extra and this palette provides that.  A very creamy consistency and not tacky at all makes that these are very easy to use (when you know how to use them anyway).

I already said that I would gradually be expanding my Makeupgeek collection and this month these 3 beauties joined the ranks.  

From left to right: Grandstand (foiled), Americano and Beaches & Cream.  Like the other shadows these are great quality.  The foiled eyeshadow really surprised me, so creamy and blendable while being very pigmented.  Nothing but love for these!!

Another lip pencil but by Rimmel this time.  They recently launched new lipsticks and their lip pencils are the same (or almost the same) colors.  I had bought a few before but really wanted this color.  The only bad thing about these lip pencils is that they are really soft and therefor they break easily while applying.  It's a system where you turn and the product comes up and you really have to make sure you don't turn it too high because it will just break off.  But other than that they apply easy and are a great base for your lipstick.  I went out to dinner with this one as a base and the matching lipstick on top and after dinner the lipstick was almost completely gone but the pencil was still there.

I got the color 018 Addiction.

Lastly I got me some Catrice eye pencils.  3 Kohl Kajal colors and one Longlasting eye pencil waterproof.  This may surprise you but I don't have that many eye pencils and I wanted some Kohl pencils to use as a base for a smokey eye.  

From left to right: Longlasting Eye Pencil Waterproof in 100 Pearly Bird, Kohl Kajal in 210 Brownzer, Kohl Kajal in 140 Chocwaves and Kohl Kajal in 010 Ultra Black.  I haven't tried the Longlasting Eye Pencil yet but if it is indeed waterproof I will get some more colors, you can't go wrong for 2,39!  I do have mixed feelings about the Kohl Kajal pencils, they worked great for the smokey eye I had in mind but when I used Bronwzer at the roots of my eyelashes to accentuate them on a normal working, the color didn't stay put at all.  Not even until noon!  I usually wear an Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil and they stay put all day.  I think I'm going to get a dark brown Longlasting pencil to see how that one holds up.

So there you have it.  It turned out to be a bit of a longer blogpost than I anticipated but hey, it is weekend so there's plenty of time to read.  If there's anything you see that you want to know more about just leave a comment.

* little is open for interpretation ;-)

Where to buy:

Make Up Forever: makeupforever.be (or your local MUFE website)

MAC: maccosmetics.be (or your local MAC website)

Makeupgeek: Beautybay.com (Europe) or makeupgeek.com (internationally)

Rimmel: at the local drugstore

Catrice: Kruidvat.be

Airport shopping: travel exclusives

When you're reading this I'm enjoying some much needed sun.  As I'm writing this I'm imagining myself walking on the beach, feeling the sand between my toes and having a mind that's totally blank.       Just walking around enjoying the scenery and living in the moment.  The biggest issue of the day being "I'm feeling a bit hungry, what am I going to eat" while enjoying having my man all to myself.  The perfect getaway this time of year when the days get shorter, everything seems darker and my energy levels are getting low.

But there's one stop we have to make before getting there: the airport.  And at the airport there are shops.  If we're lucky we'll be able to do some shopping but since our flight is leaving extremely early in the morning I don't think the shops will be open.  But if they are, I might do some damage.

We all know the taxfree shops but I feel that if you look around for discounts and promotions, you can buy things at the same price in your local shops.  The isle that gets my full attention is the 'travel exclusive' isle.  Almost all the big brand shave travel exclusives.  Make up palettes, product combinations for a good price, travel sized perfumes ... all exclusive for the airport shops.  That's what I look for.  

Take this Dior exclusive I bought two years ago while traveling to New York, I mean look at it.  It has everything you need: nailpolishremover, a base coat, a nude color, a neutral color, a red color and a topcoat all in one kit.  You won't be able to find this at your local beauty or department store.  So next time you're in the airport, think about keeping an eye out for the travel exclusive isle, lots of fun things are stored there.

Shop log Lille, France

Rule one of friendship: make time for one another.  Easier said than done most of the time.  Working full-time, having a household, a man that needs his attention … everyday life is just filled with time-consuming "must do’s".  But making time for friends is a top priority for me and combining girlfriend time with a day of shopping, well that’s just the perfect day.  Time to wander around, talk a lot, eat and drink, do some shopping … what more does a girl need really?  So yesterday I went to Lille, France with a friend to do just that, enjoy some much needed quality time.  

Now, some of my friends accuse me of encouraging them to buy things and coming home empty-handed myself.  That’s not entirely true.  I like to shop but I work in Leuven, a lot of things I want or need I can get there and I’m out in the city every lunch break (I need my fresh air).  A lot of my friends don’t work in the center of a city, they go on a shopping "day-trip" once every two months or so and come home with bags filled with clothes and things.  I don’t, simply because I come home with a (little) bag at least once a week.  So when I go on a shopping trip, I usually only buy the things I can’t get in Leuven.

Back to yesterday and our day in Lille.  I wasn’t the one suggesting Lille but I immediately jumped at the idea because Lille to me equals Sephora and cheaper Pharmacies (the beauty beast in me awakened in a sec).

long lasting stick (8 hour no-transfer eyeshadow) in 06 €6,90

power pro nail lacquer in 82 €4,90

purifying pads (66 pcs) €7,90

First stop: Kiko Milano.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with the brand.  Kiko is an affordable Italian makeup and beauty brand.  I got the purifying pads (because I love my acids and the ingredient list on this suggested that it’s packed with acids - the good kind), a nail polish (duh) and a long lasting eyeshadow pencil.  I’m really excited about the eyeshadow pencil, I swatched a few colors on my hand and several bathroom stops later (and I’m a good girl so I wash my hands after every bathroom visit) they were still on there, they hadn’t even fade a bit.  So big hopes for this one!

Galeries Lafayette nail polish from left to right: Hubert n°63, Felix n°15, Germain n°12 €3,90 

Wallet €9,59

Next stop: Galleries Lafayette.  Strolling around their beauty department I noticed that they had their own nail polish range.  Lots and lots of colors to choose from and all of them have French men names.  I took home 3 colors and a much needed wallet.  I really needed a new wallet to replace my old travel-to-the-USA wallet.

That’s right, I have a special wallet for when I go to the USA and as you can see it’s only hanging together by a thread. There are some left over dollars in there along with my Sephora VIB card.  Next time I’m going to apply for more fidelity cards, my address might be in Europe but I don’t want to miss any deals while I’m over there.  Since I only use this one for traveling I didn’t want to pay a lot for it.  Original price for this one was €29,99 but it was on sale for €9,59, good deal huh?

Benefit They're real in brown €25,50

Sephora nailfiles €3,50

Too Faced Chocolate bar palette €44,00

Formula X nail polish in Ignite €12,90

And then it was off to Sephora!!  There are 2 Sephora stores in Lille, one on the Place du Gal de Gaulle and one in the shopping center Euralille. The one in the city center is very small, so I only picked up 2 Benefit They’re Real Mascara’s in brown.  One for me and one for the bestie.  I did look for Marc Jacobs nude lipstick in Understudy but it was sold out.  

On our way back tot the train station we stopped at Euralille and did some more Sephora shopping.  I finally, finally, finally caved in and bought the Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palette by Too Faced.  It’s one of those palettes that I always want when I see it on the net but for some reason never buy it when it’s in front of me.  This time was no different, I started to think (always a bad idea when you’re in Sephora) but when I saw there was only one left I told myself to get it.  Understudy was sold out here as well, but I got Sephora Formula X nail polish in Ignite as a comfort present instead (not quite the same thing but oh well).

Bioderma photoderm bronze spf 50 & 30 €15,39 (vs. €18,09 on newpharma.be, €20,10 on IU.be)

Klorane eyeshadow remover 200ml €6,96 (vs. €8,99 on newpharma.be, €9,10 on IU.be)

Bioderma Sensibio H2O solution micellaire 100ml €3,04 (vs. €7,64 on newpharma.be, €5,4 on IU.be)

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo 40ml €9,29 (vs. 14,31 on newpharma.be, €14,45 on IU.be)

La Roche-Posay Redermic Yeux R 15ml €22,79 (vs. €21,78 on newpharma.be, not for sale on IU.be)

Last stop for me was Pharmacy De La Déesse (26 rue Esquermoise).  This isn’t the most comfortable pharmacy to shop in, it’s very small and since it’s one of (if not the) cheapest pharmacies in Lille there’s always a crowd in there.  But you have to get over that, the prices make it really worth your while.  I got 2 travel size bottles of Bioderma Créaline Micellair water (I still have plenty of back ups of the big size at home but this is so easy for traveling), my favorite eyeshadow remover from Klorane, some sunscreen products (wasn’t planning on this but the 2nd one was 50% off) and then 2 La Roche Posay products: Effaclar Duo (holy grail to many on the internet) and Redermic eye cream.  The La Roche Possay products were in the 50 best beauty buys under £20 list by Sally Hughes so I just had to bring them home (you can find the list here).

I compared the prices with 2 big pharmacy online shops in Belgium, usually they have lower prices than in pharmacy stores so retail prices in store should be higher.  I was surprised to find that La-Roche Poasy Redemic Yeus R was more expensive in France than on newpharma.be but overall you can tell prices are so much lower in France.

And that was it.  I think I kept it pretty decent.  I kept back a bit because I have another quality day time in Antwerp planned with my bestie (you can visit her Dutch blog here) in August and unfortunately, money can only be spend once …

Exchange rate worries …

Those of you that have been reading my blog know by now that I’m a big USA fan.  I love traveling to the US.  I love the county, the nature and of course the shopping!  When I first went to the US I bought almost everything I could get my hands on simply because it was so much cheaper that in Europe.  Many thanks to the EUR/USD rate that until a few months ago was an extra reason to buy as much as my credit card limit would allow*.  But at this moment the EUR/USD rate isn’t what it used to be and many theories see it going to a 1/1 rate.  Boohoohoo … me no want that!  I already noticed it on my last trip that especially hotel stays were a lot more expensive than the year before (when converting them to EUR).

Aussie shampoo: 

+/- $3 for 400ml (walmart.com) or €7,49 for 300ml (bol.com)

So, with the exchange rates doing what they are doing, is it still worth it to shop in the USA?  Hell yeah!!  Just look at the pictures included! Even with a 1/1 rate you’ll still get more value for your money in the USA.  Just try to focus on American brands and leave European brands alone, you won’t get a lot of advantage when you buy those in the USA.   

L'Oreal nailpolish:

+/- $4,5 for 11,7ml (walmart.com) or €5,99 for 5ml (bol.com)

But when it comes to online shopping in the USA, I’m afraid that’s a big no-no for me these days.  When you take into account the shipping costs and taxes, it’s just too expensive.  Now, if sephora.com started shipping to Belgium I might make an exception but for now I’m just waiting for when the tide shifts on the exchange rate market.

* this may be exaggerated for dramatic purposes ;-)

Beauty shopping in the USA my way

I just got back from a 3-week road trip in the USA.  The last 7 years I’ve been to the US almost every year I think.  Road trips with the man and New York with the girls (because the man doesn’t want to go to NY again any time soon, "been there,done that” is what he says — BUT IT’S NEW YORK!!! there's no such thing as "been there, done that” is what I say) so I think it’s safe to say that I have gained a bit of experience when it comes to beauty shopping in the USA.

First of all, let me say that I always make a wish list but when I come home I probably haven’t bought half of it.  "Why” I hear you ask?  Because it’s one thing to make a virtual list and another one to actually spend the money on it.  The first times I went I really didn’t focus, I just wanted everything that was cheaper than in Europe.  Unfortunately for my bank account that is almost everything (even with the current exchange rates, so can you imagine what it was like a few years ago?).  Nowadays I try to focus on the brands or products we can’t get in Europe, are hard to get or aren’t available yet.  I also always look at the products that I can get online but can’t see in real life (like Hourglass, Urban Decay, Makeup forever, Too faced), if I like it than I know I can always order it online later.

So where do I shop?  First of all WALMART !  My absolute favorite store to shop, prices are ridiculous (especially compared to Europe) and they carry my all time favorite budget brand Neutrogena.  I love their foundation and skincare!! And I always bring back some Revlon nail polishes, lipstick and eyeshadow because, well because it’s almost half of what we pay in Europe for it.  This time I was also lucky enough to find the blush nudes palette by Maybelline.  And don’t forget the Lady Speedsticks deodorants, I haven’t found another deodorant to match this one yet.  EOS, Covergirl, Sally Hanssen … you can go all out at Walmart and still keep it affordable.

Next up are the pharmacies, CVS and WALGREENS.  Now, one thing I don’t understand in the States is the way products are priced.  In Belgium we have a 'recommended retail price’ and usually products cost about the same in every store (with sometimes minimal differences) but not so in the USA.  You can buy an EOS lip balm at Walmart for a little less than 3$, if you turn the corner and you go to your local CVS, the same lip balm could cost 4.75$ (happened to me) which is over 50% more!!  And online they retail for a different price.  I’ve stopped trying to make sense of it.  I just try to get as much drugstore products as I can at Walmart and shop what’s left at the pharmacy.  Usually that would be NYX (at CVS) and some Milani and whatever catches my eye.

And then there are the mothers of all beauty stores: SEPHORA and ULTA.  My Sephora experience is kind of a ritual: I need -at least- 3 trips!  The first time I’m always so overwhelmed that I can’t buy anything.  It’s always the same: I go in thinking I’m going to buy the things I wanted but when I’m there it’s just too much.  I know it sounds ridiculous but that’s just the way it is.  I walk around, feeling all intimidated and when it gets too much I just leave.  The second time I’m more relaxed and I can actually look at the things I wanted, only to think "but you already have so much, do you really need this?" (the answer to these questions is no of course) or "doesn’t this cost too much?" .  You know, rational questions, the one’s we don’t want to ask ourselves while shopping for beauty products.  But the second time I force myself to buy something and once you’ve put the first item in you little Sephora basket, the others follow easily.  The third time (usually our last day) I buy what I really regretted not getting the second time (and I admit, sometimes I just blow what’s left of my travel budget).

Ulta is different as it isn’t that easy to find.  They are usually located outside the city so we have to drive there for the soul purpose of me shopping.  I have only one chance there.  Luckily they carry a lot of the same brands as Sephora so I  focus on the one’s that are exclusive to Ulta (like Lorac, it-cosmetics, ZOYA, China Glaze, more NYX …).  

Bath and Body works and Victoria’s Secret need no introduction or explanation I think.  They speak for themselves.  Bodylotions, shower gels, hand sanitizers and candles that smell divine.  Here I always curse the airlines and their baggage restrictions.  Shame on you for not allowing me to bring home as many 3-wick candles as I’d like!!

A picture is worth a thousand words and the picture in the top says it all for me.  I think I did well, I don’t think I went overboard.  I bought what I liked and so far I have no regrets.  

Let me know if you see something on the picture that you want me to write about or if you have any remarks. I'd love to hear from you!