London haul - Review

THE PICK

As I spent last month in the gorgeous capital, it was time for a huge haul; make-up, skincare, clothes, all of it. Yes, I got a bit (a lot) nut, but I've been planning it/saving money for a very long time. Here's a review of some of the make-up related products that I picked up in London, mostly in Boots, Superdrug or Selfridges (except for MAC, Topshop and Kiko).

BOBBI BROWN- CREAMY CONCEALER KIT

                        Tint : Warm Ivory // Price :  £24

I'd be surprise if this is the first time you see that bad boy, as most beauty bloggers already raved about it in the past. As a fairly fan of the brand, that product has been on my radar for quite a while and after my experience with the corrector I had to give this one a try.

In term of texture, I have no fear or regret to call it a holy grail product; its name was very well chosen, because it undoubtedly is the most creamy concealer I have ever tried. Therefore if you suffer of dry patches under you eyes or have a very sensitive skin, I highly recommend it - it almost feels like applying your eyecream. Almost.

I bet you're now waiting for the "but" before thinking about investing £24 in a concealer, aren't you ? Fair enough. I'll start by saying that I'm a freak when it comes to concealer ; I have very, very impressive dark circle on a daily basis (yes, even if I'm being a good girl and have my much-needed 10 hours of sleep) and am always going for a  quite heavy coverage on that area. Being used to the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer it is almost impossible to find anything more covering, but still, I had great expectations for that one, too great. I'd say you get a medium coverage when applying it,  it works very well on any blue-toned patches, but not so well on my purple dark circle. Now, don't take me wrong, it does the job and I guess most people would be pleased with it, but I  can't help myself of using a tiny little bit of my Collection concealer where the issue is the deepest, just to be sure (which I know, is a shame to ruin such a beautiful texture and polished finish). So if you're like me, you may not be a 100% satisfied with that baby. Plus, it has a tendency to slightly crease, even when applying the powder of the kit, but hey, I guess it's always better than a caky concealer right ? I really am a harsh one when it comes to "high brand"because of the price, but also the hype that surround those products - a good review is all about honesty isn't it ?

Otherwise, what always impress me with the Bobbi Brown products is their range of shades; there's something for everyone, even for the palest skin tone like mine, which is rare, believe me. Bobbi brown will always get a big thumbs up from me, for the quality of their product, their texture and shade, even if I haven't found my soul mate concealer yet.

RIMMEL - KATE MOSS LIPSTICKS

Rimmel - Kate Moss lipsticks in 101,110 and 05 // Price : £5.49

Again, those babies are more than famous in the beauty blogger world and for a reason ; they really are that good. Specially for their price. My first experience was with the over-hype Kate Moss 107 and to be honest, I wasn't that impressed when I first put it on ; it was hard to blend all over, kinda drying and I wasn't a huge fan of the scent. I definitely think that it was just a bad-lips-day because when I tried again one of those, the 110, I was amazed ; super pigmented, nice matte finish, last quite well (even if matte lipsticks are always a bit drying, that's what they're about) almost as good as an ol' good MAC Russian red ! Yes Sir ! And I'm sure you'll fall for at least one of their shade - there's a bit of everything really - from a very nice dupe of Please me to a bright orangy red, you'll find your type for sure ! Oh and there's something about their packaging that give such a charm to the product ! If you're from the UK (lucky you !) you can find them in any Boots or Superdrug - if you're not you can order them on feelunique.com 

MAYBELLINE - BABY LIPS

Maybelline - Baby lips in Peach kiss and Mint fresh // Price : £2.99

God knows I've been waiting for those one ! As soon as I spotted them in Superdrug, I couldn't not buy them - and I'm so glad I did. First of all, the price is more than reasonable, no one can complain about it. Then, the packaging is so damn cute and original, who thought a cheap lip balm could be that attractive ? About the product itself (finally!) I've nothing bad to say about it; it is moisturising and the sheer one that I've tried (the green one) does a very good job as a lip primer before applying a fancy lipstick (in plus the fresh scent of mint is amazingly . The tinted one does add a tiny bit of color indeed and a shiny finish, any nude-lip addict will like it,  I even almost got used to it myself (which is very, very surprising, as I can't stand nude lips on myself in general). I just wish there were a wider range of colors.

LAURA MERCIER - LIP GLACE

Laura Mercier - Lip glacé in Bonbon// Price : £18.50

After lipstick and lip balm, let's talk lip gloss ! That product has been such a revelation to me as it almost was the first time that I've tried, bought and wore some lip gloss. Yep, I was a twenty-something lip gloss virgin - how outrageous ! I have good reasons though ; I'm a bold matte lips kinda girl who rarely wear "nude lips" (for the simple reason that if I do, I look terribly washed off and sick. Not so glamourous is it ? ) so lip gloss never were pigmented enough for me. Plus I found them sticky and hated the smell of the few I've tried . That's when once upon a time this one caught my eyes, first on youtube, then in Selfridges. Honestly, I could have bought it just for its ridiculously compelling smell - the scent of Bonbon, literally. From now on, I always carry it with me and regularly grab it from my make-up bag to smell it. Sad, I know. What about the actual color and texture then ? The color is a perfect warm coraly pink, without to much shimmer in it and it surprisingly is quite pigmented. It last very well, even if you'd rather pretend it doesn't, just for the pleasure of reapplying it again. It is slightly sticky, but come one, which gloss isn't ? I have no fear to say that I'm a fully converted lip gloss addict now, or at least, the biggest fan of those Laura Mercier ones (and yes, I think it was worth spending £18.50 and I'll do it again - troubles coming). Who knows, I might get adventurous and try some others ? 

MAC - CAPTIVE

MAC  - Satin lipstick in Captive // Price: £15

I swear it's the last lip product ! And it'll be short, because what is there to say about MAC lipstick that we don't already know ? So far, MAC remains my only love when it comes to lipsticks - they're super, super pigmented, they last forever, only a few are drying (any Ruby Woo fans out there ?) and the colors are...inimitable. For the price, let's just keep in mind that Tom Ford lipsticks are £36 pounds, that way MAC's ones don't seem that pricy do they ? ;-)

BARRY M - NAIL PAINT

Barry M - Nail paint in Peach Melba and Matt White // Price :  £2.99

Another pleasant discovery has been those Barry M nail paints. I've tried one of them a long time ago and shamefully forgot about it, dumped it somewhere among my (too) large nail polishes collection. In London though, I picked those up in Boots and that's how I realised my mistake ; they're damn amazing, so worth any fancy/pricy OPI one. The formula is impressive, I was looking for one of those gel texture and this one is perfect. The other thing that convinced me is how heavenly long it lasts ! Almost a week without any scratch ! Trust me when I say that I wore some Chanel ones before and they weren't that long lasting...Now have a look at the price...yeah ? See the difference ? Good. For sure, next time I'm heading to London I'll enlarge my collection even more.

HOURGLASS - AMBIENT LIGHTING POWDER

Hourglass - Ambient lighting powder in Dim Light // Price : £38

Last but not least,  Hourglass' lighting powder. I wanted that one for so long ! Actually, the whole brand was giving me the eye for quite a while. Put off by the price, I randomly added this one to my wish-list and finally ended up buying it in Space NK on my very first week in London. I had a hard time trying to figure out which shade I was going to take, I eventually went for the most "natural" one, the one that I thought could be the most multi-tasking, Dim light. The texture is magical, one of the finest powder I've ever tried, the one who never gets caky during the day or after touch-up. I adore it. Having a combination to oily skin, more on the oily side, I've tried many, many powders and this one is definitely on my top 5. You can use it as a very subtle highlighter on your cheekbones or on the bridge of your nose for example, or as an overall powder for a glowy kinda look. Beware though, I was so thrilled to find a non-caky powder that I once wanted to fix my concealer with it - but even if it is a lightening powder, the slightly pinky tone of Dim light made my under-eyes look...weird. It definitely didn't make me look more awake, on the contrary, maybe it was just due to a bad lighting though, but I'd rather try that trick with the more yellow toned one called Diffused light. Otherwise, I have nothing to complain about, it does a wonderful job at making your pores appear smaller, your skin smoother, your look healthier. I definitely don't regret spending £38 and the other shades are definitely in my radar I'm afraid...

That's it for my London haul's pick ! Of course it doesn't mean that the rest is rubbish, but those are the products that I love the most and that I've used long enough to be able to review them properly. If you catch any other product that you'd like to know more about, please comment and let me know which one(s), I'd be glad to give this haul's review a round 2 ! 

Lots of love xx

M'