USA Sephora Haul!

As you may know if you follow me on social media I spent last week in the incredible city of New York. I have a little photo diary coming soon for you but first I thought I'd dive straight in and show you my cheeky Sephora splurges. You may recall the wishlist post I published a few weeks ago (see it here) which gave me some ideas and I did purchase a couple of things from that, I also made a few extra purchases. It's rare for me to buy high-end products as I always feel guilty but as this was kind of a special occasion and I'd been saving my hard-earned cash especially I feel really content with my purchases and am really excited by them.

Starting with skincare, I picked up the Clinique Acne Solutions Mask, something that was on my list. I've used it a few times already and I think it's a great product. I slather it onto my face some evenings, particularly on areas where I've had some breakouts, leave it for 5-10 minutes and the next morning the blemishes have reduced in redness and size. It's a huge tube which makes it really great value for money.

People always say that high-end bases are the thing to spend your money on and this is something I took on board when deciding what to buy. While I still think that the Max Factor 3 in 1 is a great foundation, I was finding that it was clinging to dryness on my skin and just not working for me as well as it used to so I thought this was a good time to invest in a high-end base. As we can't get Tarte in the UK, I decided to pick up the Full Coverage Amazonian Clay Foundation as so many people rave about it. I've tried it once so far and it's pretty good so I will get back to you with a full review soon. To go with this I picked up the Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer. What I love about this is that you only need a tiny amount to erase any blemishes and it's a pretty big tube, so what at first seems fairly pricey comes out as a good investment.

As promised, I picked up another Formula X Nail Polish as I think they're a great formula. I was after a nude shade and it took my forever to choose- there were so many ever so slight variations that baffled me- but in the end I went for Evocative, a beige-toned nude. I'll let you know how i find it!

Probably my post exciting purchases come in the form of contouring products. I knew I wanted a cream contour shade and the Clinique Curvy Contour looked like my best bet as I need something easy (my contour skills need some improvement, I can't lie!). Again, I'll probably do a full review of this soon (or maybe a contour/highlight routine) but the shade is spot on for me as you can see in the bottom picture. To go with it I picked up a brush from the Sephora collection called 56 Flawless Airbrush. It's slightly domed and ever so soft and makes blending out so quick and easy. While it was pricey, the saleswoman convinced me as she says it's a very versatile brush.

I recently signed up to the Sephora Beauty Insider scheme which means that you get a free gift during your birthday month. Luckily for me my birthday is later this month so I was given my super exciting gift- a set of 2 mini Nars Lip Pencils. I've been wanting to try these for ages so it's a really great deal as the shades are their most popular. Cruella, a velvet matte red is beautiful, easy to apply because of the pencil shape and really long lasting without having to wear a lip liner or base. Rikugien is a satin finish and I genuinely think this is my perfect nude- it's 'my lips but better' and feels creamy and moisturising but equally the colour sticks around. Happy birthday to me indeed!

Olivia Ellen XXX