Massive Beauty Haul (Lancome, YSL, Hello Kitty)

Hello! On Thursday, I went shopping with my Mum. Lately shopping has purely existed of buying baby things for my friends kids and my nephews and getting a head-start on the Christmas gifts; so it was nice to be somewhat selfish and shop for myself (although that's not to say I haven't bought anything for myself lately)! It was beauty products I was after and although I had my MAC Marilyn Monroe haul recently, I've not been in Boots for months and tried hard not to buy anything other than freebies with my Debenhams beauty rewards, because we all know I'm drowning in cosmetics and don't exactly need more. This time I had £20 on my card (burning a hole in my purse) and with news of new Christmas collections, GWP's and a festive beauty box, it was safe to say the £20 went fast!

This is a mammoth post and I wanted to get the pictures up as quickly as possible, so there are no swatches yet.  I can, if you're interested, swatch them this week?  So, I'll start at the end of the 'shop' and work my way backwards because that gets the small things out of the way first.  After Debenhams and on the way to Boots, we popped into Superdrug. I wasn't looking for anything in particular and then we spotted the Hello Kitty stand, which I'd completely forgotten was exclusive to the store. I haven't tried the items yet, so can't comment on the quality, but I think I'm correct in saying the items are not aimed at tweens. Hello Kitty appeals to all ages and although the colours are fun and 'young' perhaps, the prices aren't necessarily what I'd want a 5 year old asking for and breaking the lipstick on first application! The packaging is ADORABLE, really gorgeous. Not practical really, when you see the size of the lipstick, but so cute I can almost forgive that. Everything was 3 for 2, so I picked up one lipstick in Baby Doll-at this point I'll add, there are no testers on the stand, so check yours before purchase because several had already been used as testers!  The other colours were a mauve which applied browny and a lighter nude, which was similar to Barry M 101 in that it was quite chalky and an almost white-pink.  I can't recall trying the others. Baby Doll is no Creme D'Nude, but it looked the most likely that I'd wear.

Super cool packaging right?  I got two nail polishes too, in Got Dat Thang (bright pink) and Respect (pearlised deep blue). There was a great choice of colours including, bright yellow, super-bold green, an industrial looking but pretty grey and lovely lilac. I love that the glass bottle is shaped like Kitty and I'll be keeping these sitting out, because they're so gorgeous!

Onto Boots and it was their Christmas event and can you believe I didn't buy a single thing? Normally I'd have not blinked at dropping £200, but I'd kinda decided before going that I would opt to buy my Lancome in Debenhams instead and nothing else took my fancy. Sooooo.....Debenhams! You know it's my guilty pleasure-I just feel sooo happy in the beauty department, the girls on the counters are nice and helpful and it makes the whole experience an experience rather than a chore. I had a quick squizz at the counters first, then we decided to go for lunch, because I knew I'd be buying a lot and it gave me time to work out what I wanted. Cue mahoosive haul pic...

I'll start with the smallest first. I went to YSL to get the new Golden Gloss in 55 Arctic Blue, which is a stunning bright turquoise with beautiful glitter and the La Laque Couture Top Coat in 33 Premiere Neige, which is beautiful, classy, grown-up shimmer for the nails. Sadly the gloss had sold out, but don't fret the YSL lady took my number to call me if she got one in-but me being me, I went home and ordered it from the website because I really didn't want to miss out on it! So in the end I just got the top coat (£18) using my points, so it was FREE! We likey.

The collection is absolutely stunning and I've been desperate to get instore to see it. It's themed around the Northern Lights, so the products all have amazing shimmer which transforms with movement and light, like the Aurora Borealis. There's lots of deep purples and blues of the winter, night sky with light twinkling accents and it totally appeals to me. Just to note here, the collection at my counter wasn't promoted on the desk like usual because of all the Christmas sets and things that are available right now, so I found it on the stand with the rest of the regular YSL line. I would not have seen the top coat if it wasn't for my Mum (the perils of being stuck down low in a wheelchair when shopping). I was expecting it to look like it does here, but you need to shake the bottle to activate the silver pearls or else it just looks clear with shimmers stuck in the base of the bottle, so that's why I didn't initially spy it. I can't wait to try this out over loads of different shades; the Guerlain lady came over to help and tried it over her glossy black polish and I could see blues, purples and greens in the light; it's just beautiful.

Now Lancome; the biggest haul of all. Lets get the technical things over with first. There was 750 bonus points when spending £40 on beauty. There was a Gift With Purchase when buying two (and three) Lancome products. There is also a Christmas Beauty Box available for £45 when you spend £30 on Lancome. Did you get all that? The box is available at all Lancome counters, but the GWP is exclusive to Debenhams and until 18th November. The new Christmas Look was out, 'Happy Holidays', I believe it is called, so it was perfect for my purchases! Here's what I bought.

This is my third Vernis In Love nail polish! I'm not usually one for this type of colour, I prefer brighter or darker, but for some reason it really appealed. The shade is 532 Ginger Swing and you can't really properly see the lovely shimmer in it. My Mum has already warned me that she'll be stealing this!  There were two other colours, a rich shimmering wine and a lighter (if I remember correctly) gold.

Now I tend to avoid browns, neutrals and gold/bronze eyes. I prefer those shades on my lips, but for eyes I usually go with colour or silver/grey. So with three eyeshadow compacts and two loose shimmer powders for the eyes in metallic shades, you'd think I would have avoided this launch. The compacts are ridiculously pretty to look at including the wonderful 3-d design of the powders, but I wasn't going to let that sway me. I tried all three shades and the powders are so soft, with a gorgeous metallic quality and shimmer that I decided I really wanted Petit Tresor in S112 Fil d'Or. Isn't it just gorgeous?

The gold lid of the compact is 'smooth' glitter, it's super sparkly, but doesn't feel gritty or rough.  Although this image (below) does the colour no justice, I thought you could see the powder design best.

Generally I try to avoid purchasing eye powders and shadows because I literally have thousands and will never be able to use them all, but I rather stupidly tried this shimmer powder and reacted like a kid in a toy shop!! I was jumping up and down, mouth open and oohing and ahhing! The Lancome lady was laughing! I never get like that over this type of product! The Les Paillettes aux Yeux in 20 Lumieres de Paris is a taupey metallic and the shimmer (especially under the shop lights) is unbelievable. It's not massive glitter chunks, it feels very classy but totally twinkly!

I probably should have shown you inside (although can do that with swatches), it has a tiny little hole, so the product isn't going to spill out accidentally. All of these products (the YSL too) are limited edition, so get them while you can. The lipsticks in the Lancome range, which I would normally fall for, just didn't appeal this time, but I'm over the moon with my slightly unusual haul. So, I'd qualified for the bonus points (I actually earned at least another £10 in points) and the GWP. You get a choice of pink or silver makeup bag (I got silver) and a choice of lipstick or Juicy Tube (I own both already but opted for the gloss). As I'd bought a third item, I also got a full-size bottle of Bi-Facil eye makeup remover. The GWP contains, two makeup brushes (which feel of a good quality), a cleanser, toner, rather large 30ml Hydra Zen moisturiser and Genefique and Visionnaire serums along with the lipgloss (17 Fraise) and a mini Hypnose Star mascara. It's a fabulous GWP as usual and thankfully I always use the products in them, which is why I always succumb to them!  My only gripe is, it's shame they don't mix up the lipstick/lipgloss colours a bit more, because there's only so many Fraise JT's and Rose NU lipsticks a girl can have!

I also seem to have started my own tradition of buying the Lancome Christmas Beauty Box every year. This is my third one! Again, it's all products I tend to use, so it's really worth it for me, considering there is £165 worth of items inside. It includes full sizes of the eye makeup remover (yep my 2nd free bottle of the day), blush compact and limited edition eyeshadow palette (which happens to be in the same gold shimmer compact as my individual shadow above). Here's a rundown of exactly what you get inside, Bi-Facil (125ml), Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate (7ml), Mini Crayon Khol Noir, Hypnose and Hypnose Drama mini mascaras, Tonique Douceur (50ml), Galateis Douceur (50ml), Hydra Zen Neurocalm (15ml), Visionnaire (7ml), mini L'Absolu lipsticks in 132 and 006, Blush Subtil 02 Rose Sable and Color Design eye palette '103 Golden Frenzy'.

Like I said, it's available at all counters for £45 when spending £30 on Lancome products.  It's also on the Lancome site for £75, but obviously you'd be better spending that extra £30 on qualifying products, it makes no sense to buy it separately.  For me they absolutely outdid themselves with the case this year.  The first year I got it, it was black dimpled 'leather' in a rectangular shape, the next time it was black with silver glitter through it, in the same sort of shape (which makes me wonder if I ever showed you last years haul?). This year it is a more traditional shaped vanity case with gold satin lining and the outer is super, spectacular gold sparkles!  It's the most sparkly, glittery thing I've seen in a while, it's super! It comes boxed with all the info regarding the products inside and also comes with a look book of ideas on how to use the products.

I spent an absolute fortune but as shallow as it sounds, I was the happiest I'd been in a while!  It's probably best I didn't partake in the Christmas Event at Boots and I was rather disappointed that by the time we got there (early afternoon), the food and drinks had already been cleared away.  Not a single Quality Street to be had and I really fancied one after all that shopping!  We went into Primark and bought bucket loads, but ended up returning most of it (I kept a super cool maxi dress) and I also got a wee Henry Holland dress in the sale at Debenhams.  I keep saying I'll stop spending, but it's just that time of the year when between Christmas and sales, I can't help myself!  I felt like I'd totally treated myself and been rather indulgent with this lot without feeling guilty about spending so much, so that's all-good in my book.   I'm set-up for the year ahead with beauty products anyway ; )  Have you bought anything for yourself lately or started your Christmas shopping?

*Swatches of the Hello Kitty lipstick and Lancome palette, eyeshadows and blush can be found here

*Swatches of the Lancome, YSL and Hello Kitty nail polishes can be found here