So I returned from Los Angeles a few months ago and spent a lot of time editing the vlogs but I can finally show you what I bought from Ulta, CVS and Sephora whilst I was over there. Cue a warning now that I did spend way more than 1. I anticipated and 2. that most people do, partially because we won the trip over there. You may have seen on Twitter back in September that Soletrader and Adidas hosted a competition to win a 7 nights stay I won and got to bring along my boyfriend Andy who you may know as he's also a blogger.


This is the terrible photo I took in the hotel that I had to include as it was the only full photo of everything I picked up for myself. The reason behind this is, including the delays in my blog, is that my memory card broke not long after I came back and I lost everything. All my photos that weren't already copied onto the laptop, upcoming brand collaborations and photos of family. Gone. Two people looked at the card and nothing could be done so it had to be reformatted and here we are today. You may notice products such as the Makeup Eraser, Beauty Blender, ABH contour palette and many other products that will all have individual posts up as soon as possible.



 Nyx Lip Lingerie in Lace Detail, Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Color in Addiction and Passion, Too Faced Melted Matte in Feelin' Myself and Drop Dead Red, Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams in Manilla, Seoul and Moscow, Too Faced Melted Chocolate in Chocolate Milkshake.

Unfortunately I forgot to swatch the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks but they'll be up in a separate post soon anyway so don't forget to look out for that one. These swatches don't include other lipsticks I bought that are not of the liquid persuasion or the Sephora Cream Lip Stain but you can see another version of the product here. Although it's been a few months since I bought these products, I've still not had the guts to wear Nyx Soft Matte Cream in Moscow as I'm a bit conscious of wearing blue lipstick outside. I have an older post on all the other Nyx liquid lipsticks including swatches if you want to jump on the bandwagon like I did, no shame!


I've spoken in depth about the beautiful Tartelette In Bloom palette before, and if you've read my review you'll know how much I love this palette. Partially for the packaging and also due to the quality of the eyeshadows too. This was one of the items that I had planned to buy since I found out that we were going to America, so it doesn't half feel good to have it in my hands and to be using it almost everyday. They're just so blendable and it makes me want to try a ton more of beauty items from Tarte.


From all of the lip products combined, you can tell I didn't opt for just one colour. I tried to pick products that vary in colour and finish because I already have plenty of light pink and nude shades. Obviously you can't have too many lipsticks but you get the gist. I was so happy when I went into the fourth Sephora and saw the Tom Ford stand and picked up one of the lipsticks. I picked a pretty coral colour as there were only around six to choose from but I'm so glad because it goes so well with blonde hair, a tan and my blue eyes. To be honest I only picked up the Estée Edit lipstick because the news had only broken out in the blogging community about a week or two prior to my trip so I needed to pick something up.


I had heard about the mini Hourglass and Becca highlighters before so when I could pick up the travel sized versions for a fraction of the price of the full sized I went straight for them. I say this all the time but it's true, I barely hit pan on things unless it's face powders so it would have been a waste of money to buy larger sized items. From Target, I picked up the Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls for around $14 and it's one of the best highlighters I've used so far. I didn't realise until I was messing around with the packaging but underneath it has a little brush and mirror which is so adorable. Finally, I spent a long time thinking about a blusher I wanted to pick up and settled for the Too Faced Love Flush in How Deep Is Your Love. I've been using it almost daily and barely made a dent in the product and the pressed image in the pan is barely even smudged.


The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit was also on the list of items to pick up as I knew the Nyx and Kat Von D alternatives were out there but having heard so many good things about the ABH version I went for this one. I know a bunch of bloggers raving about the cream contour version but having combination skin I knew it wasn't a good idea to invest that much money into something I wasn't sure would work on me. I also picked up the Brow Wiz as I've been using the Soap and Glory alternative and needed something that would last a little longer.


I actually picked up three primers whilst I was away, including the Stila One Step Correct, Too Faced Hangover Primer and the Nyx Angel Veil Primer. They're all fantastic primers and I'm having trouble deciding which one is my favourite. I chose the Nyx one as it's a supposed dupe of the Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer which I am yet to try. The Stila primer is amazing at evening your skin tone out, whether it be dark circles under the eyes, pigmentation issues or red spots. The Hangover primer is amazing for combination skin and makes my makeup stay on for so long. Even with using my Urban Decay De Slick Setting Spray it lasts an amazing amount of time. Now that I've tried them out I'm starting to use them for different days (or nights) out.



The item I least expected to pick up was the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit in Gleam as by this point I'd already picked up three powder highlighters and one mini liquid version that came with the Becca highlighter. I was not about to spent nearly £40 on four highlighters but I swatched it on a whim, maybe hoping it would be rubbish so I could justify picking something else up. It was the most pigmented highlighter palette I've swatched. It made my decision hard but Andy was insistent that I should pick up items that I wouldn't normally go for since I'd saved up for a while. This is my go to highlighter palette, with my most used shade being Crushed Pearl as it's the lightest shade. It works so well with eyeshadows too, especially in the inner corner.

Keep your eyes peeled for my other beauty posts!

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