Tuesday 27 August 2013

Paris Haul | City Pharma, Sephora, MAC, Rituals & Thomas Sabo




Hi Ladies, or should I say Bonjour? I have recently returned from my long weekend in Paris and thought I would share with you my purchases. I made a wishlist of things I had my eye on, which you can find here and I can safely say I bought everything I wanted and more! I'm not going to go into much detail about each products as reviews will be following shortly. I have been suffering with a bit of 'bloggers block' as of late; but I have got the bug again!!

The first thing products are from Rituals, which is a brand I had only really heard of because Fleur was raving about the Honey Touch Body Cream. Curiosity reached the better of me, so I dragged my Mum into the store at the airport to have a whiff. The lady who worked there was absolutely delightful and I think definitely sold the products! We immediately fell in love with the scent of the Honey Touch and also bought the Touch of Happiness Body Cream as there was a deal which was if you bought two Body Creams you got a free shower foam- we chose the Happy Buddha Shower Foam. Purchase 1 made and we weren't even out of the country!
Body Creams: £12.50 each
Shower Cream: usually £5.40
 
The second purchase was made in the Champs-Élysées MAC store. I hadn't intended on buying anything from MAC, but in the end I couldn't resist! I bought two new eyeshadow pans for my palette in the shades: Satellite Dreams and Satin Taupe.

Palette Refills: €13 each (£11)


Next is Makeup Forever Smokey Lash Mascara. The Sephora on the Champs-Élysées is not only next door to MAC, but is absolutely huge! I didn't know where to start! I knew there was a chance of me spending a hell of a lot of money in there if I browsed too much, so I headed straight to what I went in there to get. I'll let you know how I get on with it!
Makeup Forever Smokey Lash Mascara: €20.90 (£18)

I'll next move onto my bits from City Pharma. These are the things I was most excited to purchase. I knew I wanted to go to City Pharma, as I am well aware it is the best value pharmacy. It took us a while to find it (including a night of hoofing around Saint Germain, only to find we'd had literally only just missed the turning)! But we finally found it- and I fell in love...
I'll quickly whizz through what I got by brand:
I firstly purchased the two pack 500ml normal Bioderma Micellar Water  as no beauty blogger would go to Paris and return home without it. I also picked up a 250ml Bioderma Sebium Micellar Water which is formulated for oily skin. I then bought Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner on recommendation of Lisa Eldrige. I then repurchased a 30ml bottle of Caudalie Beauty Elixir and also from Caudalie, Zoe spoke about the Caudalie Vinoperfect Enzymatic Peel Mask. I picked up another mask which is the Ducray Triple Action Mask. Another must for me was the Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm: a beauty blogger cult favourite, and I can now see why! I then bought the La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo Moisturiser which I have very high hopes for. And finally I got a La Roche Possay Thermal Spring Water Spray.
Bioderma Micellar Water 2x500ml pack: €15.50 (£9.50)
Bioderma Sebium Micellar Water 250ml: €5.95 (£5)
Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner: €11.30 (£9.70)
Caudalie Beauty Elixir: €7.99 (£6.88)
Caudalie Vinoperfect Enzymatic Peel Mask: €19.90 (£17)
Ducray Triple Action Mask: €8.90 (£7.60)
Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm: €6.90 (£5.90)
La Roche Possay Effaclar Duo Moisturiser €9.40 (£8.10)
La Roche Possay Thermal Spring Water Spray €5.99 (£5)

I then bought a Thomas Sabo Eiffel Tower charm for my bracelet, so that I will always have a lovely memento from my amazing trip to Paris!
Thomas Sabo Eiffel Tower Charm: €24 (£20)

I hope you enjoyed this haul!
Eleanor
xox

Friday 9 August 2013

Paris Wishlist


Next Wednesday, my family and I are travelling to Paris for a 4 day break. I am so excited, as I have never been to Paris, and what with it being the city of love and a renowned shopping paradise: what girl wouldn't be excited?! I've put together a little wishlist of products that have a lot of hype surrounding them, that I am hoping to pick up whilst in Paris.

1. Bioderma Sensibio H2O- This product needs no introduction, so I'm not going to give it one. Every beauty blogger, makeup artist, model etc have tried and loved or at least heard of Bioderma. Whilst it is becoming more readily available throughout the UK, I have refrained from buying it, as there nothing quite buying it in a little French Pharmacy! Also, it is so much cheaper in Europe!

2. Bioderma Sebium Pore Refiner- I don't know much about other Bioderma products, but on Lisa Eldridge's French Skincare video, she mentioned this product and how it is excellent for oily skin. It is supposed to be a 'moisturiser' which perfects your skin. Airbrushing your pores and keeping skin oil free for longer. Sounds right up my street!

3. Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel- I'm unsure whether I am going to buy this out in Paris. It's a product that I have always lusted after but I can get it very easily in the UK, and you don't save that much money by buying it abroad. I'm unsure. Maybe I'll see how many pennies I have left at the end of our trip...

4. Ducray Keracnyl Triple Action Mask- For a relatively cheap product, I have heard amazing things about this mask. I am willing to try anything that promises perfect skin, so I will be sure to pick this up.

5. La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo- I really can't wait to try this. Everyone seems to be raving about it lately and to me, it looks very promising! This is a spot treatment/ all over moisturiser that is formulated especially for blemished skin that is going to help achieve an all over better complexion.

6. Makeup Forever Smokey Lash Mascara- This is something you cannot easily get your hands on in the UK and I have heard amazing things about it, so I will be sure to pick one up when I nip into a Sephora.

7. Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipsticks in Pink in Paris & Corale Intuitive- I know you can get these easily in the UK too, but I love the name of the first lipstick, it's very fitting! I also really like the colour of the second one.

8. Embryolisse- Like Bioderma, this is another cult French Skincare product. I did think this would be to thick and heavy for my oily skin, but I found out it is for all skin types. It makes a brilliant makeup base and will banish any dry patches which I am prone to when the winter months hit.

9. Caudalie Enzymatic Peel Face Mask- I am imagining this will be similar to the REN Glycolactic Radience Renewal Mask. Whilst I loved the idea of the REN mask, when I was sent a sample of it, as much as I liked using it, I didn't notice a difference in my skin. I am hoping that this Caudalie mask is going to be my holy grail mask.

10. Caudalie Beauty Elixer- I have used and loved this before. I have a review of it which you can read here. I have recently finished my bottle so I am definitely picking up the large one!

11. Thomas Sabo Eiffel Tower Charm- I have had a Thomas Sabo bracelet for about 4 years and haven't worn it for the past year really. This past week I have rediscovered it and fallen back in love with my charm bracelet. I located a store in the heart of Paris and will be sure to purchase this gorgeous little charm as a memory!

When creating my wishlist, I managed to leave off the Vicky Idealia BB Cream and Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm. Again, two very hyped about products that I cannot wait to try!
 
Have you ever been to Paris? Do you have any recommendations?
 
Eleanor
xxx