Ahhh, isn’t it nice to come back from holiday in 35 degree heat to the rain, wind and drizzle that the UK has right now. Oh wait no… it’s a good job I bought some new ‘toys’ to soften the blow of this terrible weather! I bought a few little bits from duty free on the way out and a few small beauty bits whilst I was there!
OPI My Voice Is A Little Norse
I carefully made a decision on which nail varnish was going to go best with my bikini, and left painting them ’til the last minute, but by the time I got to the airport almost every nail had peeled off – meaning by the time I got to duty free I HAD to buy another to see me over. This is from the new Gwen Stefani Holiday Collection, and is a pretty taupey-grey with holographic glitter. Review and swatches will be upcoming, as this was on for the majority of the holiday!
OPI Green On The Runway
Launched with the Coca-Cola range (I thought that was weird considering it was green, but turns out its ‘sprite’ inspired). I’d had my eye on this for a while but wasn’t sure if it would look in person as it did online, it did look the same in person, so took a gamble it would look good on the nails too. Review and swatches also upcoming too as this has also been worn!
OPI Acetone Free Mini Nail Polish Remover
I’ve never tried a nail varnish remover from OPI before so when I saw this little bottle for £2 I thought I would give it ago. It’s very overpriced at that, but I will keep the bottle handy for travelling with after it’s been used up, as it’s a lot easier to take away that an un-necessary big bottle! So far I’m really enjoying using this, I don’t know how much better it really
Swarovski Pen
A necessary extravagance, I used to have this pen and it was taken out of my bag at Uni, I’ve wanted it back ever since, but have only ever seen in airports – never in swarovski shops. Whilst it’s extravagant, it’s really nice to hold and write with. I had planned to try and get another one in duty free and checked in the swarovski section of duty free in the airport, and they had none, but they did on the plane (yay!), I can’t remember exactly how much this was, but it was an extra 20% off – I think about £16ish.
Golden Rose
I found a shop in a small shopping mall called Golden Rose which sold purely cosmetics, it reminded me a lot of Kiko in it’s style and choices. I went in there once and walked away with nothing, and decided a few days later to go back – my boyfriend thought he had got away with me not buying anything.
Precision Liquid Eyeliner
I forgot to take one with me, and saw this, I really liked how thin the nib was, which makes it far easier for me personally to get a smooth line. It claims to be waterproof and long lasting. I do find that it is quite long lasting, however it does tend to transfer a bit into the eye crease. The line stays there and still looks black, it can just be annoying to look at your makeup after 10 minutes and notice this big black mark. I wore this to the beach/pool and it didn’t stay on, so I’m not sure how waterproof they’re expecting it to be.
Eyeshadow – 125
I saw this in the store and it reminded me a lot of MAC’s Patina eyeshadow which is one of my all time favourites, and something I have hit pan on, so when I saw an equivilent for a hell of a lot cheaper I thought I had to give it ago. Re-swatching again at home, I either picked up the wrong one – or the store light made it look paler than it is. It’s still similar shade, and is more like a couple of shades darker than Patina, which actually means they work really well together. I have only tried this out once so far and only had it on for an hour or so, so will leave to pass comment on that in future as to whether it was any good.
Nail Varnish
This was the bit which really got me, they had hundreds, and I mean hundreds to choose from, everything from your basics to your downright unusual. I tried to be sensible and pick things which I knew I didn’t have anything similar to, I could have come away with 30, so I’m proud it was only 5 (ha!). And coming home and comparing I think I did a good job as I can’t find one of these which compares to something else in my collection. So far I have tried one of these out and I am hugely impressed, (review of that will be next up!) They only thing I wish was that they had names, they are just all shade numbers.
In case your interested (White with multi coloured glitter – Jolly Jewels 115), (Green/Purple/Gold Glitter – Jolly Jewels 106), (Khaki Green Colour, Rich Colour 116), (Blue/Silver Glitter, Holiday Nail Color 55) & (Purple/Gold Glitter Holiday Nail Color 58)
Now I can’t remember the exact prices for everything, but I know this was the most expensive was the eyeliner at 15.50 TL, which is about 4.50-£5. But the total of everything I bought was around £16. £16 for 5 nail varnishes, an eyeshadow and an eyeshadow. The packaging I should also note is of a really nice quality for that kind of price too. I want a Golden Rose in the UK now! There is a website selling some Golden Rose stuff, (here) – but the range is much more limited than what was in store, and when you’re flicking through nail polish shades, it doesn’t actually show you what shade it is!
Victoria’s Secret Make Up Bag
I discovered I needed a new make up bag, as when I was packing I couldn’t find mine. I saw this in the airport on the way home in lots of different patterns and colours, so had to make sophie’s choice as to which one to buy. I liked this one as it was nice and bright so should be easy to find. It’s big enough that I should be able to get everything I need in it, but will hopefully be small enough to stop me packing my entire makeup collection, as I normally pack 4 different mascaras for no reason. I really like that it has two separate sides, which are clear – it should make finding things a little easier if you can see everything that is in there. This was priced at 32 Euros, I wasn’t sure how much that converted into £ as I was working in turkish lira all week, but turns out it was £25. Eek, a bit pricier than I would have liked especially as it’s not that big, but hopefully it will last well!
Has anyone tried any of these before?
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