Sephora In The UK

It's the moment us beauty lovers have been waiting for - Sephora now ship to the UK! I remember visiting one of their London stores way back in the day but it didn't take long for them to shut up shop and they sadly became exclusive to places like the US, Europe & China. I was lucky enough to travel to New York a couple of years ago & their store on Broadway & Prince Street was a complete revelation. Makeup heaven. So when they recently announced their plans to start shipping their products to the UK I literally squealed with delight. I decided to place a lil' order & everything went off without a hitch so I'd thought I'd share my Sephora purchases with you. I'm sure I'll be doing some full reviews & swatches of all these products very soon.



The first thing I knew I needed to order was some of the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blushes. Tarte have just come to the UK as well via QVC. However they've priced the blushes at £26.50 each & only had a couple of shades available - none of which were on my wishlist. So I ordered them off Sephora and even with the shipping & customs charges it still worked out cheaper overall. The shades I picked are Dollface, Tipsy & Exposed. Dollface is a light candy pink. You can never have too many pink blushes in my opinion! Tipsy is a bright coral colour. I've watched so many of Leesha's tutorials where she's used Tipsy on her cheeks & she always looks beautiful. Exposed is a nude pink shade. It's quite similar to NARS Douceur but a bit more pink toned. It's a lovely natural looking blush that will help to bring out your cheekbones.



Another Tarte product I got was The Sculptor Contouring Face Slenderizer in Park Ave Princess. This is basically a cream contouring product housed in the oh so convenient form of a chubby stick. It'll make contouring a breeze & I think it'll be especially good for slimming down your nose. I've never seen anything like this before but it's such an ingenious idea! I expect to see many brands copying this product very soon.



The last item I ordered was the Alterna Caviar CC Cream. I adore Alterna's Caviar haircare range & have heard so many good things about this hair cream. I think you can actually get this in the UK but it always seems to be out of stock everywhere & it ended up being cheaper ordering it from the US. CC stands for complete correction. It's a styling cream offering ten different features including heat protection, UV protection, moisture & shine. I've only tried it on dry hair but so far, so good!



They also throw in a few samples of your choice with every order. I picked GLAMGLOW SUPERMUD Clearing Treatment, Clinique Acne Solutions Clinical Clearing Gel & AmorePacific Future Response Age Defense Creme. I thought GLAMGLOW only had one type of mask but looks like I was wrong, they have several different ones on Sephora including an eye mask! I didn't get on with the GLAMGLOW Youthmud mask but I figured this one might be different. It's always good to keep a spot treatment handy so I wanted to give this Clinique one a go. The full size version of the AmorePacific moisturiser costs a whopping £123 so although I'll never be able to buy it, I thought it would be nice to try.

The shipping restrictions are fairly annoying as I would've loved to have gotten my hands on some nail polishes, NARS or Hourglass products. You also have to spend £75 to get the £10 shipping deal, otherwise you can end up paying crazy expensive postage & customs fees. I would suggest choosing the UK as your international shipping destination before browsing as it automatically converts all the prices to GBP. If you're worried about getting hit by customs charges when your parcel arrives at your door - don't be. Sephora use a company called Borderfree who add on some charges to your order so you're totally covered when your package arrives in the UK.

To break down the prices for you my order came to £80.51, I paid £10 shipping & then £18.09 on top of that to cover taxes and Borderfree's customs charges. In total I paid £108.60 which works out at an average of £21 per product. I placed my order on April 12th & it arrived on the 19th via a DHL courier. I've bought things from the UK that have taken longer than that so I was really pleased with the fast delivery. Overall I'm really happy with my Sephora buying experience. I stupidly didn't sign up as a Beauty Insider before placing my order so I missed out on another freebie. Make sure you register an account beforehand & you can pick a deluxe sample as well as the little sachets. The amount you have to spend to be able to place a UK order means you'll definitely earn enough points for a Beauty Insider reward. I can still claim it with my next order though & I'm sure I'll be buying plenty more things in future!

twitter / tumblr / youtube / instagram / bloglovin'

The Eye Care Edit

Eye products are a funny old thing. With other types of skincare products you can normally tell within a few weeks if something is making your skin better or worse. Eye creams are more of a guessing game. How do you know whether something will stop you from getting wrinkles in the future when time travel isn't an option? I think that's why so many people don't actually bother with them. It's an easy step to miss out when doing your skincare routine but it only takes two seconds & can make all the difference when you do get older. Genetics & your overall health will dictate the natural appearance of your eye area but using a separate eye product can help to reduce puffiness, dryness, irritation, dark circles & fine lines. This product roundup is aimed towards us young'uns. We might not have huge puffy bags & crows feet just yet but it's so important to start looking after your eyes in your twenties. The eyes are one of the first places to show signs of ageing & prevention is always better than cure.



THE GELS: Personally I greatly prefer eye gels over eye creams. If dark circles & puffiness concern you then I would recommend using a gel. My eyes get easily irritated especially during the Summer so a calming eye gel is exactly what I need. Organic Surge Eye Gel* is the one I always reach for when my eyes feel really sore. It contains aloe vera, green tea, witch hazel & menthol which can help to naturally reduce inflammation, puffiness, sagging & dehydration. I think gels work best with a pump otherwise you can end up with far too much product on your finger. If the Arran Aromatics Feel Good Formulas Green Tea Eye Gel* came with a pump it would be much better. This gel has a really thick texture so you only need a tiny bit. It has an amazing scent & feels so cooling, especially if you pop it in the fridge first. As it's so thick I like to layer it on as a refreshing eye mask, leave it for five minutes & then blot off the excess product with a tissue. It's a great pick me up after a day of hayfever hell. I also like the REN Active 7 Eye Gel. The texture is very lightweight, almost watery but I find it takes a while to absorb properly. When it does absorb it effectively smooths away any fine lines & really tightens the skin. It's not so great at hydrating the area though which is why gels containing hyaluronic acid, like the next two, are more worthy of an investment.

HealGel Eye* is my current product of choice. If you can afford it then you should definitely buy this one. It sinks in immediately & firms up the skin. The problem with most other eye products is that you can't tell if it's making a difference or not. HealGel Eye has had a visible impact upon my under eye area and has actually reduced the discolouration of my dark circles. The effects are cumulative rather than just being a temporary fix. Arnica is a wonderful thing. Like I mentioned previously, it also contains hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture to the area & plump up any fine lines. Alpha-H Absolute Eye Complex is very similar to HealGel Eye but it's dark shadow correcting properties don't quite match up. Otherwise, it's pretty damn good.



THE CREAMS: Creams are the better choice if you need something really hydrating. I don't find them as effective for dark circles unless you want something that works as a temporary solution. Origins GinZing Eye Cream is brilliant at perking up tired eyes. It contains caffeine to tighten & depuff the area. I love the shimmery light reflecting particles. They help to brighten up dark circles meaning that you don't need to use as much concealer. Some of the best eye creams I've come across are from Lierac. They're a French pharmacy brand so their products are tricky to get hold of but I found mine in TK Maxx. Lierac Diopticalm is an instantly refreshing eye balm. It is incredibly soothing & gets rid of any dryness. You can use this as an eye mask too. Lierac Diopticerne is one of the few creams that works well on dark circles whilst also adding plenty of moisture. The only good thing about Clinique All About Eyes is it's moisturising properties. It does nothing for fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness or dark circles. However it does keep the eye contours well hydrated & gives the area a smooth base for makeup.



THE TREATMENTS: There's loads of home remedies out there for eye problems such as teabags, cucumbers & backs of spoons so you don't have to spend a lot for an effective treatment. One of the cheapest but most helpful things to carry around with you is a bottle of eye drops. I'm using Optrex Refreshing Eyes Drops to wash out any dirt & calm irritation. I get really bad hayfever so eye drops & baths are a must have for me come Summertime. I want to give one of their eye sprays a go as they claim to not smudge your makeup but they are a lot pricier. Something I cannot live without is Liz Earle Eyebright. It is my favourite ever Liz Earle product & it is a miracle worker on tired eyes. If I'm struggling to get out of bed in the morning I pop some on a couple of cotton pads and leave them on my eyes for a few minutes. I instantly feel more awake & ready to face the day. I've also used this to clear a mild eye infection when I couldn't get to a pharmacy. It's so cooling & refreshing - perfect for hayfever season too.

I first discovered Talika when I tried their amazing Lipocils which is brilliant at growing back eyelashes & eyebrows. They have loads of amazing eye products including these unique Eye Decompress masks. You simply pop the white tablet into the blue fluid. The tablet absorbs the liquid so that you can then unfold it into a soothing eye mask. It really helps to reduce swelling & detox the eye area. It'd be great to take on a plane for some inflight pampering. I also like the Jamela 24k Gold Under Eye Masks*. They use pure gold leaf, hyaluronic acid and plant collagen to brighten & tighten the skin. They feel a bit weird & make you look a bit crazy. You have to leave them on for half an hour so I would suggest lying down in bed with them on so they don't slip off. Despite the weirdness, they do actually work quite well. Save these for a special occasion when you need to look your best.

What's your favourite eye product?

twitter / tumblr / youtube / instagram / bloglovin'

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara - £12

Clinque's Bottom Lash Mascara is one of my makeup bag essentials. I cannot go a single day without using this product & in my opinion it's something that no girl should be without. It's one of those things where until you try it you won't realise what you've been missing out on. I've spoken before about how my mascara always used to end up migrating down my face during the day. I love the look of having thick, black, voluminous lashes so I used to really pile on the mascara & it always resulted in ridiculous panda eyes. Setting my undereye concealer with something like the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder pretty much put paid to that happening. But this product goes one step further & stops your mascara from being able to smudge in the first place. If waterproof mascaras have failed you so far then look no further, this is the answer to your eye makeup woes.

Bottom Lash Mascara is a tubing mascara. Regular mascaras are normally wax or oil based & act like paint on your lashes. The formula of tubing mascaras is actually water-based & contains polymers that form tiny individual tubes around each lash once it dries. This makes it incredibly long lasting but it's also really easy to remove. Tubing mascaras can be taken off with just plain water yet they won't budge with normal eye watering, sweat or tears. The mascara doesn't dissolve & you can see the tubes coming off when you wash your face. I love the tiny little mascara wand. It's the perfect size & shape and it allows you to coat even the smallest of lashes. I can sometimes get a bit overzealous with my mascara application & end up with lots of blobs around my eyes. The size of the brush completely stops that from happening & I never make a mess anymore. The mascara tube is also really tiny, in fact it contains just 2ml of product. It lasts a surprisingly long time though. After using it every day for two years (I know, super gross! I binned that one shortly after realising how long ago I'd bought it!) it still hadn't dried up or run out. It wears really well without any clumping, flaking or smudging. It separates my lashes nicely, defines them & adds a good bit of length to them too.

When I first tried this mascara I really wasn't a fan. I was in the middle of an episode of trichotillomania & would compulsively pull off all my mascara shortly after applying it. If you use a tubing mascara then the tubes become more firmly attached to your eyelashes so when I started pulling off my mascara, loads of lashes would come out too. Bald patchy eyes are not a good look on anyone. Eventually this mascara helped me to kick the habit because it was slightly painful & I was losing so many hairs that I managed to snap myself out of it. I still naughtily pick at my top lashes sometimes but if I use this mascara then picking the bottom lashes is just not an option anymore. I also wasn't too impressed with how it made my lashes look at first. As I said I love thick black lashes & this didn't make my lashes fat enough for my liking. The formula is very wet so it was hard to build them up at all. This is definitely one of those mascaras that improves as it dries up a bit. After a couple of months the consistency becomes a lot better & the result is lots of beautifully defined lashes. Nowadays I'm a huge advocate of this mascara & I've not used anything else on my bottom lashes since 2011! Using a different mascara for your top & bottom lashes might seem like a bit more effort but it's worth it for smudge-proof eye makeup all day long. Forever repurchase.

twitter / tumblr / youtube / instagram / bloglovin'

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream - £28

I never really got into the whole BB cream craze. As much as I wanted to love them the coverage was always far too low and the shades were far too dark. The one I had most success with was the Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream. It was pretty nice but let's be real - that stuff was orange. Then along came CC creams. Again I wanted to give them a chance but none of them were light enough. The L'Oreal ones looked downright ugly on my skin. Luckily I decided to try out Clinique's version at their counter and it was love at first sight. CC stands for colour correcting and in my opinion this is why they're superior to BB creams - well this Clinique one is at least. This lightweight base is formulated with special optics that brighten the skin, reduce sallowness and eliminate redness. So even though the product feels very light on the skin and has low coverage, it appears to give higher coverage than it actually does. Plus it boasts SPF 30 UVA/UVB protection so this has easily been my favourite face product this Summer. I've literally not worn anything else for the past few months.

Being part of Clinique's Moisture Surge range, this product really delivers on the hydration front. As it is oil-free, it is suitable for all skin types. It gives my skin such a healthy natural appearance. The colour correcting powers this provides means I only need a bit of concealer & powder under my eyes when I wear it. I have some bad scarring on my chin right now but you can barely see any redness in that area. My nose is usually the first area to show redness as it does begin to break down on my T-Zone after a few hours. Otherwise the staying power is extremely good for something that's not a proper foundation. I was surprised at how well it held up during the recent heatwave. I tried using a primer underneath but my usual thick ones actually made it go patchy. Things like Clarins Instant Smooth & Benefit The Porefessional don't work very well with this. Something lighter like the Laura Mercier Primer or Hourglass Mineral Veil are better choices if you want to extend it's wear. I really don't think a primer is necessary with this product. You might want to powder your T-Zone if you have combination/oily skin though.

One of the best things about the Clinique CC Cream is the range of shades available. All my fellow pale faced girls out there will know that pretty much every BB & CC cream is too dark for them. One shade definitely doesn't fit all when it comes to base products. Clinique's offering comes in nine different shades and 'Very Light' is one of the best skin colour matches I've ever found. It's just perfect for me. My favourite way to apply it is with a BeautyBlender but it's just as easy to blend in with your fingers. If you like a light base or need something easy to take on holiday with you I'd wholeheartedly recommend trying this out. As someone who used to only ever smother her face in Estee Lauder Double Wear I never thought I'd enjoy wearing something this lightweight. I'm a complete convert from full coverage to colour correction & my skin is definitely thanking me for it.

twitter / tumblr / youtube / instagram / bloglovin'

May Favourites

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair
As my skincare stash grows I sometimes forget about some of the things I really like. I hadn't used this serum for quite a few months but I dug it out of my drawers a couple of weeks ago and I don't know why I ever stopped using it. It is expensive but I've had this bottle for well over a year now and there's tons leftover. You only need a few drops each night anyway. Advanced Night Repair is intended to be an anti-aging product but I use it to soften my skin, even out my skintone and it also helps so much with my blemishes & scarring. Everyone needs to try this at some point in their lives!

Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream
I'm not normally one for a sheer base product but as my closed comedones continue to disappear with the regular use of chemical exfoliants & facial oils I've not felt the need to smother my skin in so much foundation. This product was really surprising to me because the coverage is brilliant for such a sheer formula and the shade Very Light is actually light enough for my skin colour! I'll be giving this a full review soon but this is definitely my favourite base product at the moment.

Pukka Organic Castor Oil
I bought this because I'd heard that castor oil can help improve the growth rate of your eyebrows & eyelashes. I'd previously had a lot of success using Talika Lipocils when I used to overpluck my eyebrows & pull out my eyelashes (bad I know!) but I wanted to try something a bit cheaper this time. The growth isn't as noticeable as with the Talika product but it has helped with the thickness and overall condition of my eyebrows & eyelashes. As I researched this it was interesting to discover that castor oil has many uses. You can make something called a castor oil pack with it to reduce pains, scars and cysts within your body. Wish I'd known about this before I had to have half an ovary removed! I even used it to stop a stye in it's tracks so this is a really useful product to keep around the house.

Trilogy Organic Rosehip Oil
After falling back in love with the Clarins Lotus Oil last month I decided to try out the Trilogy Rosehip Oil. Embarrassingly it was actually a Daily Mail article which prompted me to buy it. Needless to say I love this oil too! After using it for a couple of weeks my scars have faded a lot already and my skin feels amazingly soft & hydrated. My face looks brighter the next morning after I use this and it balances out any redness. I haven't had as many spots crop up and it really helps with cystic ones under the skin. Using facial oils has dramatically reduced the amount of little bumps under my skin too. It doesn't smell as nice as the Clarins one but otherwise this oil is just as lovely.

Korres Wild Rose Lip Butter*
I love absolutely everything about this lip balm! The colour, the pigmentation, the staying power & the hydration levels are all immense. It gives your lips an incredible shine & makes them feel kissably soft. Really wish I'd tried these sooner!

twitter / tumblr / youtube / instagram / bloglovin'