The lipsticks and nail polishes in Paul & Joe Menagerie collection for Spring 2015 are now available on ASOS.com. ASOS has also marked down the Holiday 2014 collection products, including the Illuminating Pressed Powder with the cute owl print (£17, down from £27) and eye and lip sets (£22, down from £38). More details of the Menagerie collection can be found on the official website.
ASOS is running a flash 24-hour sale on lots of beauty products from Paul & Joe, Ren, Pixi, Pop, Percy & Reed, Eyeko, Korres, Bourjois and Rimmel. Benefit and NARS are included as well but these are restricted to shipping within the UK. Check it out here. Perhaps it's time to finally indulge in those Paul & Joe Eyegloss Duos, now at £11.50 instead of the usual £16.
The ongoing ASOS sale has some great beauty bargains on offer, including the Anna Sui Minnie Mouse holiday 2013 collection all at half price, Paul & Joe eye and lip gloss duos at just £8 (down from £28) and my favourite Pixi Iridescent Iris eyeliner pencil, also at £8. With free international shipping and an additional 20% off sale items with the code 20MORE (until 10 March). Check out the sale here.
After learning about a 20% discount code ELLE20 for Zuneta.com, a UK-based online retailer that offers prestige brands like Becca, Hourglass, Nude and Rouge Bunny Rouge, I placed my first order. Zuneta orders free international delivery for orders over £65. My order was placed on 8 January, shipped via DHL on 9 January and I received it on 10 January in Switzerland, less than 48 hours after placing the order!
I've been curious about trying out more Rouge Bunny Rouge products after WorshipBlues Curator gifted me with their Orpheline blush. This Best Things in Beauty review of their Milk Aquarelle Liquid Foundation convinced me to take the plunge. I purchased this in 025 Almond Milk Parfait.
Nude is another brand that I've always wanted to try, in particular their Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum which received positive reviews on The Beauty Bite and London Makeup Girl. It is super pricey but the discount code enabled me to finally take the plunge. Zuneta is currently offering a Miracle Mask (15ml) with a 30 purchase of Nude skincare. The ELLE20 code is valid until 28 February. If you are based outside UK/Europe, you also pay lower prices less the VAT.
From the current ASOS sale, I picked up a Bliss Snow Wonder Scent-sational Set of a body butter and body wash for just £15, a 50% savings. My order was placed on 1 January and I received it today by UK Royal Mail post. ASOS offers free international shipping.
The Pixi Autumn Winter Essentials set also looked like a worthwhile deal at £19, down from £31. The price has gone up slightly since I placed my order and is now £21.50.
The set includes an All-Over Magic Radiance Powder No.2 Rose Radiance (7.09g/0.25oz), Flawless & Poreless primer (15ml), Endless Silky Eye Pen No. 1 Black Noir (1.2g) and Lips & Line No.2 Fresh Pink.
As ASOS.com was the first online retailer to launch the Paul & Joe spring collection, I also purchased the new Lipstick C in #77 Catwalk and #75 Sex Kitten (£16 each). Each lipstick is engraved with 10 paw prints. I skipped the Face & Eye Colors as the gradational color schemes did not look that attractive to warrant the £21 price tag.
The prices of Paul & Joe makeup on ASOS are cheaper than the counters in Singapore, where the lipsticks usually retail for S$39. However, the drawback is that ASOS never offers any cute gifts with purchase. They also do not wrap cosmetics properly to prevent breakage, so I would not order anything that is too fragile from them.
Accessories from Lipsy and French Connection.
Over at Sephora in France, several holiday sets had been marked down. The Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV, which was originally priced at €58, was now just €40.60. The BOSIV hasn't been as well-received as the Naked palettes and the 15th Anniversary palette, which is much more compact with a more vibrant selection of shades.
I wasn't too keen on BOSIV, as I already own the 15th Anniversary palette, BOSIII New York and the Alice in Wonderland palette. However, at the sale price, BOSIV looked like a pretty good deal considering the number of products in it, including a mascara and a full-sized liquid eyeliner. Plus I always have a weakness for pretty butterflies!
The mini speaker is pretty nifty, and works perfectly with my Samsung Galaxy Ace phone for playing music. It was a real struggle trying to get the speaker out of the box though, as it is squeezed in so snugly.
The Fred Farrguia Midnight Kit, which includes the Pearlized Twinkle Eyeshadows #15, Illuminating Powder #1 and Creme Lipstick/Lipgloss #24.
A Yes To Cucumbers Ultimate Calming Facial Kit comprising the Calming Facial Moisturiser, Soothing Eye Gel and Natural Glow Facial Towelettes.
And finally, at Carrefour, I spotted the new Dream Nude Mousse foundation by Maybelline. This doesn't seem to have very positive reviews online but still, I was curious to see how it compares to the Face Architect Sheer Refining Mousse Foundation by Shu Uemura , which is also owned by L'Oreal. The US and UK version is called "Dream Nude Airfoam" with identical packaging but I don't know if the formula is the same. The Dream Nude Mousse version sold in France is made in Belgium.
Thanks for reading!
The Paul & Joe Parasol spring makeup collection is now available on ASOS.com, which ships internationally. In the US, you can find the collection on Beautyhabit.com.
Came home to find two parcels waiting for me! One was my Sleek order of four Sparkle i-Divine palettes, one Acid palette and a blush. Not all the items are for me, some are for friends.
Everything was quite nicely packaged, with no breakage. I placed the order on 11 December. It was despatched on 15 December and took just one week to arrive. Luckily it managed to escape the delays caused by the snow in the UK!
Sparkle is the limited edition palette for this holiday season. Both Kas (Shine, Shimmer & Sparkle) and Sophia (Make-up blogette) have just featured this palette on their respective blogs so do check out their reviews. I'll probably get around to trying this only next week.
When I saw the Acid palette in London, I thought it looked too much like those bright watercolour palettes for kids. But after being impressed by the other Sleek palettes that I purchased, I figured I might as well get this to round out my collection.
The second parcel was my ASOS order that I placed while I was still on vacation in New Delhi. ASOS was offering free international shipping at that time. Coupled with the low pound, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. I have a second order that should be arriving soon as well. My order was placed on 9 December and despatched on that very day.
The Lipsy jersey dress feels very soft and comfy. Originally priced at £50, I purchased it for £40. It has since been further reduced to £35 on ASOS.com. Lipsy is also available locally at Robinsons (Raffles City).
As my Swatch bracelet watch was already missing a couple of crystals, I decided to get this Lipsy Charm Bracelet Watch as well. At just £35 (about S$70), I thought it was very affordable!
It is slightly chunkier and heavier than my Swatch version, but I love the crystal embellishments and attached charms. You can find it on ASOS here.
It sits quite loosely around my wrist so it does slide around quite a bit.
The final item is this ASOS ring (£12) which was featured on the website's front page when I was shoppng. I was intrigued by the wing-like pattern and placed it in my basket immediately. The S size turned out to be a perfect fit for my middle finger.
Very happy with all my purchases! :-)
