When Selfridges waived its hefty £25 postage fee for the holiday season, this finally pushed me into placing my first online order with them to the US. Previously, I avoided doing so after reading the horror stories posted on MakeupAlley by US-based members who had to provide their Social Security numbers and ingredients lists for every product in order to get their Selfridges parcels past US Customs. This seemed to occur at random as other US-based members did not face the same issues.
I placed my order on 1 January and it was despatched on 4 January by DHL, before landing on my doorstep on 5 January. Inside were Suqqu Christmas Kit A (reduced to £43 from £48), Blend Color Eyeshadow EX25 Yuuaoi (£45) and the RMK Christmas Kit 2015 (now at half price for just £27).
The great thing about shopping at Selfridges is that they automatically deduct the VAT for non-EU customers, so the Suqqu set was further reduced to £35.53, Yuuaoi to £37.50 while the RMK set was £22.37. It's a pity that the free shipping promotion has ended.
As mentioned before, I wasn't really a fan of the recent Christmas sets because of their inclusion of the eye makeup remover (any drugstore biphase remover works just as well) and the dinky tweed pouch but the palette and eyeliner will definitely get much use.
Shown below are Yuuaoi (left) and Eye Color Palette EX03 Aosaori. Typical of Suqqu, the color combinations look very easy to wear with a subtle shimmer.
The RMK kit also did not feel like a must-have because knowing RMK, the eyeshadow shades will likely be frustratingly ultra sheer. Nevertheless at half price, the set looks much more attractive as I do like their lipglosses and nail polishes.
I've also ordered the Suqqu UK-exclusive Kimono Duo from Harrods.com during their recent 10% off beauty promotion. This is supposed to arrive today by DHL. Harrods also charges a £25 shipping fee. After the VAT deduction and 10% discount, I paid £77.50 (versus the original £70 price tag of the Kimono set). Not bad considering that the duo is being offered as a member's gift by Suqqu Thailand for those spending over US$8200, which is insane. Harrods also has the UK-exclusive Beni Perfect Set with three lipsticks and a lip brush here.
The Urban Decay Vice 4 palette is currently marked down to US$39 from US$60 at several US retailers including Sephora and Ulta, so I finally picked it up. With the Ulta 20% off prestige brands coupon for Platinum members, this ended up costing just $31! Perhaps Urban Decay over-estimated the demand for this palette, and hence the deep discount just a couple of days before Christmas.
The Vice series is one of my all-time favourites for their vibrant shade combinations with Vice 4 being possibly the most gorgeously constructed with its multi-hued metal packaging. However, given the plethora of reviews that warned of glitter fallout, it did not seem to justify the original price tag of $60. Moreover, I was less than impressed with the last Vice Limited palette. But for half the original price, it's just too good of a steal to pass up with its veritable smorgasbord of 20 shades.
At Ulta, I also picked up the Becca Radiant Glow Collection which comes with a full size Raspberry/Opal Lip Shimmer Souffle, plus deluxe sample sizes of their popular Moonstone Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed, Opal Shimmering Skin Perfector Spotlight in Opal and Under Eye Brightening Corrector. With the 20% discount, this was just $25.60, a pretty good bargain considering that the Lip Shimmer Souffle usually retails for $25 by itself.
The Stila Shimmer & Shine Deluxe Beauty Set ($20 with a $45 value) is another attractive set of minis of their Magnificent Metals Foil Finish Eye Shadow in Pixie Dust, Huge Extreme Lash Mascara and Lipglaze in Kaleidoscope. I also purchased the Got Inked Cushion Eyeliner in Smoky Quartz Ink and Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Peachy Beachy ($6.99). Although I've been an Ulta Platinum member for over half a year, I've never received any of their 20% off prestige brand coupons (which are sent out randomly and never to all Platinum members) until this holiday season when they sent me two mail coupons and one email coupon code. I'll probably use the final remaining code to order the new Stila Aqua Glow Serum Foundation.
CVS was running a buy 1, get 1 75% promotion off all Physicians Formula products so I snagged the new Mineral Wear Cushion Foundation SPF50 in Light ($16) and Disco Glam Extreme Shimmer Strips ($12). The PF foundation was supposed to have a $4 instant rebate coupon on the box but this was missing. Fortunately, the cashier was nice enough to enter a store coupon so I received the discount. Elsewhere, these have been sighted with $9 rebate coupons.
Curiously, it is not stated anywhere on the packaging where this is made. The usual suspect would be Korea, given that this has the standard SPF50 seen in many Korean cushion foundations. The cushion plastic insert cannot be removed.
This haul helped to kick me out of my recent funk in which I've just been too lazy and exhausted to slap on anything aside from a cushion foundation, brow liner and mascara. I'm 22 weeks along now with the twins and already can't see below my massive bump. The twins are also kicking away merrily every day. At least I'm almost two-thirds of the way through. Just hoping I can hold them in till 37 weeks and avoid any time in the NICU.
Wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas!
Recently, both Sephora (USA) and Beauty.com ran their 20% off sale events so I broke my no-buy to pick up some holiday sets. If you follow the MakeupAlley boards, you would have seen that the Sephora sale was a mess of poor communication and mismanagement, resulting in much unhappiness and board dramas. Rouge members got early access to the sale from 6-9 November, while VIB members could shop the sale from 13-16 November. Some Rouge members were unhappy that they could not shop the second sale for VIB members, so Sephora ended up making an exception on a case-by-case basis for those that complained.
I'm a Rouge member but sat out the first sale. On the last day of the VIB sale, I happened to drop in at my local Sephora and got drawn in by their wealth of Sephora Favourites sets. The Skin Wonderland (U.P.$68 with a value of $228) looked especially tempting with their array of 16 deluxe samples, mostly from high end brands. The SA readily agreed to give me the 20% off, so I ended up adding a few other items to my basket.
Some of these products are my tried-and-tested favourites like the Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist, SKII sheet mask, Kate Somerville ExfoliKate, Caudalie Divine Oil and Fresh Soy Face Cleanser. Also included are some much newer products that I've been wanting to try sch as Sunday Riley Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment, REN Keep Young and BeautifulInstant Firming Beauty Shot and Nude Skincare ProGenius Omega Treatment Rescue.
The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit palette (U.P. $80) gets a lot of flack for containing less product (0.294oz) than one full-size Ambient Lighting Powder (0.35oz, $35). However, for someone who hasen't hit pan on any powder product in a decade, having a variety of shades to play with makes more sense. $80 is certainly a tad overpriced, but at 20% off, it becomes more palatable.
The Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment Illuminizing Trio (U.P. S$26 with a value of $44) contains deluxe mini sizes of the three illuminizers that she had earlier launched for Fall 2015. Again, it's a great way to sample the different formulas, and the generous sizes means that these can last even the most heavy-handed strobing devotee a long time.
From Beauty.com, I purchased several of Anna Sui's Holiday 2015 offerings as I loved this year's sets, especially the Makeup Box which is a relative steal at $22.
It's sturdy and well-made, with an embossed pattern on the lid. Anna Sui sold a black version some years ago, which had an additional inner tray that is lacking in this white box. That black case has held up very well over the years without any rusting or dents, so this white box leaped to the top of my holiday list.
The Moisturizing Care Kit (U.P. $20) is a nifty little set containing a tri-layered Nail Care Oil, Rose Hand Cream and lip balm.
Below is the Holiday Snow Collection 02 Thawed Heart (U.P. $59), which turned out to be much less orange toned than it looked online. The lipstick and blush usually retail for $30 and $36 individually. The box is surprisingly hefty and solidly constructed. This has sold out on Beauty.com.
The Paul & Joe holiday makeup coffrets were an easy pass for me, so I settled on one of their Luxurious Bath & Body Collection 01 Columbine (U.P. $50), which has a sweet floral aroma composed of notes of citrus, black currant, rose, jasmine and amber. This has also sold out.
Finally, these are the free birthday gifts from Ulta (the Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie lipgloss) and Sephora (NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella and Rikugien, plus a Larger Than Life eyeliner pencil).
Ulta also gave me a $10 voucher which I used together with my points to redeem this Tarte Total Lip Service set.
My apologies to my regular readers for the long absence of review/haul posts aside from the updates on upcoming collections. Most of my days are taken up with my son, plus I have been blessed with the surprise of being pregnant with twins. Although I'm only 16 weeks along, I look more like I'm 6 months pregnant. My makeup purchases have drastically reduced as I hardly have the energy to put up makeup most days, so this is the first year in many that I've skipped getting the Suqqu and Addiction coffrets (which were much less impressive compared to previous years). There's a long, long road ahead, but I'll still try to post here whenever I find something worth sharing.
Thanks for reading!
Today was the start of the Bath & Body Works Semi Annual Sale in stores so naturally, I grabbed the toddler in the morning for a quick jaunt to the nearby mall. I just finished burning all the glass candles that I had shipped over from Geneva, so it was a good time to restock.
All these candles were $10 originally and currently at 75% off. In fact, four of these rang up at an astonishing 50cents each at the register. According to the SA, these would be the ones that were released quite some time ago. To top it off, I had a $10 off $40 coupon, so they were even cheaper than 50 cents *score* I didn't pick up any of the 3-wick candles, which were 50% off, as BBW puts these on sale regularly in my area at least every other month.
The handsoaps were $3 each (originally $6.50), including the new American Summer collection. So much cheaper than the Singapore sale price of 2 for S$12 or 5 for S$25. We go through at least two bottles per month. Thanks to the super cheap candles, my items initially rang up at just over $39, so I grabbed an extra bottle of Island Margarita hand soap (which smells divine) to make the $40 minimum for the coupon. All in all, my haul of 17 items was just US$31.61 with 'savings' of $71.50. When the SA told me how much I had saved, I went 'Yes!' with a small fist bump. She chuckled and gave me another $10 off $40 coupon, plus a free signature item with $10 purchase for July. BBW really knows how to keep the customers coming back.
This was an earlier haul of the Coastal Summer collection two weeks ago, with a BBW voucher for an extra 20% off sale items. So we're well stocked until the next Semi Annual Sale at least.
Mummy's little helper keeps taking the cap off and blowing at the wick :-)
