England beauty shoplog

Two weeks ago I hopped on a plane to visit my friend Alison in England and one thing we did when I was there was shop. I do not dare counting the number of Boots and Superdrugs we went into, myself being the main instigator. Of course I had to figure out the UK drugstore beauty offerings and when I was in London I also splurged some money on some more high end make up. Today I’m letting you have a look at everything I bought.

I managed to pick up a bit of everything. I got plenty of things on sale as both drugstores had several discounts on. But there are brow products, nail polishes, face products, cheek products, lip products and even a few tools. Let’s have a closer look as the picture above was taken right after I unpacked everything late at night.

Real Techniques Bold Metals 200 Oval Shadow & 201 Pointed Crease

I had to try and find the Real Techniques Bold Metals brushes of course. They were quite difficult to find and it seems as if only the bigger Boots stores have them in stock as well. So I had to really hunt these down and I finally found them in Manchester. The Bold Metals are slightly more expensive than other Real Techniques brushes and I can’t wait to try these.

Ecotools Eye Enhancing Duo Set

Part of the tool offerings in UK drugstores is Ecotools. A brand I have heard of before and which is sold in Holland, but a bit difficult to find. I thought these would be handy as travel brushes, because I never want to take any full sized brushes as I find it such a hassle. These are short and double-ended so I’ll finally be able to do some more elaborate eye looks when I am traveling.

Nails Inc The New White White Horse Street
Orly Tangerine Neon
Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Eat my Dust, Stop the Clock, Pit Stop
Barry M Gelly Hi-shine Fondant, Huckleberry, Kiwi
Next Glitz & Blitz Bling Top Coat

You know I had to stock up on nail polish when I was in the UK as Barry M is one of my favorite nail polish brands. And when there is also a buy one get one half price deal on I’m all ears. I also picked up a Nails Inc polish which is a more high end brand which I still wanted to try. The Orly polish was just so fun and bright and I am thinking it will be a great toe nail color. I picked up the Next glitter on a whim, but a rose gold/ copper glitter is one I did not own yet.

Sleek Face Form in Fair
Make Up Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter Peach Lights
Rimmel blush in Pink Rose

For cheeks I didn’t go too much overboard. I bought the Face Form palette as I was curious to try it out and the bronzer actually looks really nice and light. I spotted the Rimmel blush on a whim and thought it would be a pretty every day color. Finally I bought the Make Up Revolution highlighter as I heard a lot about it from blogs. I already used it a few times and this color is really pretty on my skin.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Nude foundation in 010 Light Porcelain
Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer in Ivory
Rimmel Radiance BB cream in Very Light

Face product wise I went with a bunch of Rimmel products. For one because Rimmel is cheaper in the UK and their range is so much larger. In Holland, the lightest shade available is 200 Soft Beige in most foundations which is much too dark. But in the UK they also do the lighter shades, so I picked up the lightest shade of foundation and a newly launched BB cream. The Wake Me Up Concealer is not even available here, so I’m curious to try that.

Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude palette
MUA Elysium eyeshadow palette
L’Oreal La Palette Nude Rose

Of course I had to pick up some eyeshadow too. I’m a true eyeshadow junky and I knew there were a couple of new eyeshadow releases. The Collection one is very pretty and the shadows seem to be of a great quality. I had heard quite a few raves about the L’Oreal palettes and after a browse I opted for the Rose palette as it has some very pretty taupe shades. Finally, I bumped into this pretty MUA palette that seems very similar to the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette.

Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint & Brow Pencil

I even picked up some brow products. I truly had to stock up on my favorite Soap & Glory eyebrow pencil. And I first couldn’t find it and then I found out they do two different types. So now I have one with a tint on one end and a pencil on the other and then I also have the pencil with the spooly, which is my favorite. I still have to review it, but this has been a game changer for my brows.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm Unapologetic
MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer Kooky, Atomic, Reckless
Collection Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream in Fairy Cake

On to lips! I got some lip products from Revlon, MUA and Collection. I had been eyeing up the Revlon Matte Balms for a while, but it is a brand that is hard to come by and so I hadn’t really tried any yet. Make Up Academy have released these super pigmented lip lacquers which looks so good in a swatch and I can’t wait to try these on my lips. Finally, Collection also has a liquid lipstick out and I was taken by the name and the color straight away.

Illamasqua Ore pigment
Illamasqua Scandal matte lipstick

I went to London for the day and paid a visit to the Illamasqua counter in Selfridge’s. The ladies there were super nice and so I went away with two different products. When the MUA applied Scandal on me, I immediately loved it as it looked gorgeous. Then the eyeshadow pigment will not become an every day product, but this color is so amazing and when applied wet it is even more stunning.

MAC Mehr lipstick
MAC Soar lip pencil
NARS Audacious lipstick Bette

Then I also visited the MAC and NARS counters. I created a MAC lipstick wishlist a while ago and so I wanted to check some out. I came away with a lipstick and a lip pencil, both of which aren’t on my wishlist, but both colors are stunning, look great on me and go really well together. Finally, I bought a NARS lipstick. I really wanted a dark red lipstick and this is the best option I found.

Kiko mixing medium
Kiko cream eyeshadow sticks 19 & 38

Just around the corner from Oxford Circus is a Kiko store. I went in to pick up some more eyeshadow sticks, because I already own one and love it. I also found two more out there shades, which I decided not to buy as I wasn’t sure when I’d wear electric blue and bright teal. So I opted for a charcoal grey and a pretty taupe instead. I also bought some mixing medium and I hope that will make life easier when I try to use pigment eyeshadows.

Maybelline Baby Lips lip balms

Last but not least, I had a few pounds left when I was at the airport and so I wanted to use them up. I also had some badly chapped lips due to airconditioning and I had packed up my lipbalm away in my luggage, so I decided to use my last pounds to buy some lipbalm. Maybelline was doing a 3 for 2 deal on their Baby Lips lip balms and so I picked up two from the Dr. Rescue range in a minty flavor and a coral tint and one from the regular range in a more hydrating formula.

That’s it! Did you make it to the end? Of course my question to you is which products you’d like me to review first. You can expect reviews to be rolled out in the next few weeks. I have been rather busy, but I have already started testing some products this past week. I will try to get the first review up this coming week.

Which item would you like me to review first?