Lancome Haul and Beauty Box 2013

Despite being so excited about these hauls at the time, it's taken me ages to finish the post. It's an extremely daunting task as it's taken three different days of photographing and consists of nearly 80 (finished) photos, two hauls, a gift with purchase and the Christmas beauty box! I'd finished editing the photos a couple of weeks ago, but just didn't know where to start with writing it up and that's been the stumbling block for me. I can't tell you the amount of times the tab has been open and at the end of the day, I've closed it without adding any words! I'm on a mission to complete it today though, because for starters everything in it is absolutely wonderful and well worth reading about. So grab a cuppa and feast your eyes on all these wonderful goodies.
I've already shown you the lipsticks and nail polish I ordered online from Debenhams, along with the GWP, so for more details on that, click here. These purchases that I'm about to show you are from a trip instore last month and it just happened to be the same day that they put the new collection out on the counter. Something quite exciting, yet scary about being the first to stick your finger in the testers! I'd already done my research beforehand, so kinda knew what to look for.
The lipsticks in the Christmas line are gloriously packaged. They are covered in Swarovski crystals and I seriously considered getting one just to look at. The reason I wouldn't use it is I dislike both colours. You know I'm not a red lipstick fan at the best of times but they included L'Absolu Rouge in 132 Caprice, one of Lancome's best-selling shades (which I've tried in a gwp and it is indeed very bright red) and the limited edition shade of 189 Rouge Etincelle. Again this a very bright red (and absolutely nothing like the stock photo below). I can't recall which was which, but one bordered on orange and one was more a pink-red. It's a missed opportunity in my opinion that there's not a nude or deep wine for winter thrown in, rather than two very similar shades. I know it's Christmas and red is as festive as you get, but you know what I mean.
The rest of the collection was much more to my taste though with frosted, shimmering colours. There's the illuminating powder compact, which is typically beautiful, bordering on too pretty to use! It's a very pale, frosty pink with the Lancome rose logo. There's two nail polishes (more about these later), which my counter only seemed to have one of. They replaced one shade with a red (which I knew from my research wasn't in this range), so I decided at that point, I'd order them online when I got home! Then there's the specially packaged Hypnose Star mascara, again in glitter! It's a shiny, lacquered glitter unlike the lipsticks, but absolutely gorgeous and some stick on eyeliner flicks things which I don't recall seeing on my counter.
Plus there's four Hypnose Dazzling eyeshadows. Now these took me by surprise because it's something I probably wouldn't even look at online, but once I swatched them, they really impressed me.
So much that I ended up buying two! They come in these little glass jars and have a spongy, bouncy mousse like texture. The two I bought were, Hypnose Doll Eyes DO 111 Diamant Argente (a light sparkling silver) and Hypnose Star Eyes ST 211 Quartz Taupe (shimmering taupe).  The other two are Hypnose Star Eyes ST 301 Saphir Noir, a sparkling blue toned black which I can't recall swatching and and Hypnose Drama Eyes DR 214 Emeraud Eternell, a beautiful sage green which unusually had gold glitter (unlike the others which all shone silver).  I was really tempted to buy the green too, but seeing as these are the first of these types of eyeshadows I've bought, I thought I'd see how I went first.   
They come with a small brush (so adorable and possibly a new companion for my Dior funnel!), but I find my fingers work just as well.
The texture is extremely light to touch and more so on the lids, you can't feel it, it's so airy. I've been wearing mine over Urban Decay Primer Potion but did note a little creasing the first time I wore the taupe one (after several hours). I didn't notice it on the silver, but haven't really worn either enough yet to see if it's an issue. It is supposed to be a waterproof formula that lasts for hours, so maybe I just applied too many layers. I'll have to play around with them and see.
The other item I purchased was Teint Miracle foundation in 005 Beige Ivoire because I desperately needed another. This is my third bottle and I just love it, it provides a flawless base without feeling heavy and the colour is one of the few lightest enough for my pale skin.
So I qualified for the gift with purchase and free BiFacil, more details about that in my original post (and for some reason I forgot to photograph the little DreamTone you get in the photo below).
Ok, so my main reason for going to the counter was to find the Christmas Beauty Box, which I've bought for the past few years. I love it! I've been so desperate to catch sight of the vanity case and see what's inside and was even starting to worry they wouldn't do one this year because I couldn't find any info about it! However, here it is. The offer for this is slightly different online, so I'll let you know both. Basically you buy x Lancome products and can then buy this set for £50 (it's obviously worth a helluva lot more than that). Instore you need to spend £30, online it's with the purchase of two products (one to be skincare). I explained in my other post why this was a bit of an issue for me, as they discontinued my Baume Eclat cleanser, so I was pleased to see the offer instore was better suited for me.
I've given my family the history of the Lancome festive box which they were less than enamoured with! For those that want to know (!) it is a gorgeous shiny red patent this year! It's the same shape as the gold glitter one last year and is lined in satin, with a zip (double) all around the curved sides and finished with a short handle. I really, really love it, it feels like a vintage vanity case and oh, I've just realised I could take it with me on my overnight stay in a week or so (yay).
What you really want to know though, is what's inside! As always there's a nice mix of skincare, makeup and fragrance, so hopefully something for everyone. Like the recent GWP, I am really pleased to see Lancome add some new items and change colours instead of handing out the same products in every gwp/beauty box. Content wise this could possibly be my all-time favourite beauty box of the...four I've got.

Starting with the 'standard' skincare items if you like, there's a full size (125ml) BiFacil eye makeup remover worth £21, 50ml of Galateis Douceur (cleanser) and Tonique Douceur (toner), 7ml Advanced Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate and a 15ml glass jar of Hydra Zen Neurocalm SPF 15 moisturiser.
Aside from the eye makeup remover (which if you don't wear eye makeup you'll never use), they are all 'universal' skincare items that anyone could use. In addition you have this adorable mini bottle of La Vie Est Belle fragrance. The 4ml comes in a glass bottle identical to the full size version, right down to the little organza ribbon around the neck. I think it's a lovely little collector item and just this week, I've fallen head over heels for the scent, it's gorgeous!
For makeup items, you receive two 2ml mascaras, Hypnose and Hypnose Drama and a mini Le Crayon Khol black eyeliner.  All items that I use regularly.  
New for this set are mini versions of Rouge In Love lipstick (159B Rouge In Love) and Gloss In Love (146 Peach Show). The lipstick is a very bright red, which I probably won't get much wear out of. I love that they included the details on the case, like the full-size one. I didn't expect the lipgloss shade to be so bright considering it's in a set like this. I thought they'd want to appeal to the masses with a nude or rosy pink, rather than this bright peach. I haven't tried Gloss In Love before though, so I'm quite excited to have my own little mini.
Then we move onto the two compacts in the collection. The description of the box contents listed on several sites contradicts the stock photo of the blush. In the photo it is clearly a Blush Subtil Palette, whereas it's described as Blush Subtil (02 Rose Sable). I was praying it was the former, as I already own Rose Sable and by the looks of things the palette was different to the other one I bought in the summer. Thankfully it was the Blush Subtil Palette in 02 Nectar Lace. How jammy is that, that I bought the other colourway recently and not this one?! This is a full size item, so it's worth £27. Contained inside the compact is a peachy blush (centre) and either side is a highlighter and contour colour, perfect for my HaCing!
I really wanted to capture how pretty this looks in the light, when you can see all the sparkles, it's just lovely.
I'm really pleased they added a newer product like this into the set. Last but definitely not least is this eyeshadow palette billed as an 'exclusive' but the shade is available to buy separately, so I think they are referring to the special compact it comes in.
It's Hypnose Doll Eyes 5 Color Palette in D01 Fraicheur Rosee, which again is full size and retails for £37. It's filled with nudes and purples to play around with to create various looks. You can see the lovely shimmer in the light with the flash.  It's something I can see myself using a lot.  
Wow huh? I personally think it's a great set and excellent value considering the three full-size items alone would set you back £85. I've also seen the beauty set available to purchase on it's own for varying prices (anything from £80 to £160), but it seems pointless not to spend that extra £30 on Lancome products you'd like and get the set for £50. Roll on next year I say!
I bought that haul the same day I got my Dior items, so I was as happy as a pig in s*** when I got home to ogle everything! However that's not all. Like I said at the beginning of the post (if you've stuck with me for that long), I ordered some more items online when I got home (well actually the next day, so I could qualify for another £10 gift card in a promotion they were doing at the time).
As you can see, I got the two nail polishes from the Christmas look. Vernis In love 071 Etincelle D'Argent (smokey pewter) and 520 Etincelle De Neige (white) and they have the strangest finishes! They are sparkly as you can see in the bottle (I've taken all of these with and without a flash to illustrate), but actually apply matte. A complete contradiction I know!
I'm wearing the grey one throughout this post. It feels slightly rough to the touch and I even tried my Paul & Joe glossy shimmer polish over the top and it still dried matte. To me, it looks like a metal nail file or diamonds in the rough. I'd imagine the white will look exactly like snow.
It wasn't as difficult to remove as I expected and I felt it was quite hardy and lasted longer than a glossy coat would. It's an interesting finish and one I don't have in my collection, which is why I was drawn to them. Finally, I've perhaps saved the best until last. From the Autumn collection (remember I said in this post that my counter never got it?), the fabulous Blush Rose Desir Illuminating Smooth Powder.
In the ultimate tribute to Paris, the outer compact is totally lust-worthy with it's gold Eiffel Tower, lips and rose detail. Then you open it up and the powder is absolutely gorgeous.
An orangey base shade with metallic pink lips and sporadic gold sparkle throughout, mirroring the outer compact design. It's absolutely stunning.  I'm not sure if I can ever bring myself to use this, but the beauty collector in me, just had to have it.
So that's the end of my mahoosive hauls and phew I managed to get through this post (it was actually pretty cool to write up once I found my stride and minus the paragraph that disappeared and I had to rewrite)! The beauty set is available at all Lancome counters, but the offer (or qualifying products to be purchased) may vary. I got mine in Debenhams.  If you have any questions or thoughts, then let me know below.  I will also be bringing you a brand new beauty feature which I'm slightly (no, hugely) terrified about but I suspect you'll be quite excited.  Clue: it could involve a certain item in this post.