American Haul & Review | Sephora and Bath & Body Works

Now to me Sephora and Bath & Body Works are all I thought of when my Dad told me he had to go to America on business. Gone are the days of longing for Hershey's Cookies & Cream, thanks to watching and reading so many amazing American & Canadian Beauty 'gurus' (such a funny term but what else do you say?) I long to peruse the aisles of these two beauty meccas.

Now luckily for us Sephora now ships to the UK (sorry Dad when I gave you this giant list that wasn't the case!). However thanks to pesky shipping regulations, this means we still cannot get perfumes or nail polishes delivered. Hearing so much about Sephora's Formula X Polishes ($10.50) and the Fresh's Sugar Lychee Perfume ($22), I had to pop these on my list first. 

 Oh boy - these did not disappoint! The colours my Dad picked up were like nothing I'd seen before; even on the stands of my beloved Essie. So far I've only tried the orange. Though the brush isn't a wide one, the formula was thick enough that I could easily apply this with 2/3 strokes per nail. The colour was opaque and lasted pretty much chip-free (with Seche Vite Top Coat) for 5days. 

It's notoriously difficult to describe a fragrance, but I'll try and give a description of the gorgeous Sugar Lychee Perfume by Fresh. As the name suggests this is a sweet scent that to my nose has zesty notes underneath it that stop this being a childish fragrance and turn it into quite a full bodied, summery, scent. (How was that for my first attempt?). For reference my perfume collection also contains: Estee Lauder Bronze Godess, Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh and DKNY Green Apple. 

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Now onto makeup and the beautiful Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette & the coveted Tarte Amozanian 12-Hour Blush in Tipsy.

So the Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette ($27) was actually a surprise my Dad picked out - great job Dad! I love baked shadows but actually own very few. They are brilliant as you can use them wet or dry to create a more dramatic colour payoff.

As you can see this palette has 10 warm toned, shimmer shades, including bronze, pomegranate and taupe hues. The texture of these is soft and very blendable (similar to Sleek quality). However the pigmentation of the shades varies and some of the lighter tones on the top row are extremely subtle in pay off. However for an inner corner highlight this can be a asset and you can avoid looking too glittery as you can take more control. The rest are brilliantly pigmented however without even adding any water.

My favourite shades have to be (Top Row) Peach & Taupe and (Bottom Row) Silver, Deep Brown & Plum. Overall I would recommend this palette for adding depth to perhaps a matte eye look or extra glamour on an evening smokey eye.

 

The lovely Estee of Essie Button has long since persuaded me to try anything and everything I could get my hands on from the brand Tarte. At the top of my list was unsurprisingly the infamous Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Tipsy ($26). With Spring fast approaching, I knew I needed a Coral blush. This is literally stunning. The formulation outlasts Nars and the blendability is buttery and buildable. Full Review coming soon!

Aloha Waikiki ($22) is one of Bath & Body Works bestsellers and I figured it wouldn't disappoint. This is as the name suggests, a floral, tropical scent that fills my entire flat with a fresh, summer feel. It even gets the thumbs up from Tomás who doesn't like things too floral. 

And so concludes my mammoth haul and review of American beauty goodness. If you made it this far you've won a bunny rabbit - JJ or Bella you pick!

Lily x

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