My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

So starting off with two liquid lipsticks that I've had my eye on for AGES, and these are probably the most talked about and most loved liquid lipsticks of all time: Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks in Lolita and Double Dare ($20.00 - £13.70). I was extremely excited for Lolita of course, which is described as a chestnut rose. It looks like the most gorgeous mauvey rose shade for medium skintones and I am super excited to try it today. I also purchased Double Dare, which came highly recommend by the lovely Jasmine and is described as 'cocoa blush'. It's pretty much a stunning medium muted pink shade and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it. I was also planning on purchasing the shade Bow N Arrow which is a nude colour, but then I decided to try out a couple of different formulas and if I love these two, I'll place another order and pick it up next year.

 Talking about other formulas, I simply HAD to purchase at least one of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid lipsticks ($20.00 - £13.70) and as the new shades were new to Sephora, a lot of them were out of stock. I did want to purchase at least one of the pink nude shades and if I like this formula, I'll be purchasing those in the future. However another shade which stood out to me, after watching at least 10 swatch videos, was Ashton. On the Sephora site, it is described as a mid-toned yellow brown, however based on swatches I would call it more of a deeper nude shade, with orange undertones. Actually it does kind of remind me of everything nice (reviewed here) which is a shade I adore, so I'm looking forwards to trying Ashton out! The packaging of the ABH liquid lipsticks are so lovely and luxe too.

The final liquid lipstick formula I purchased is the Sephora collection cream lip stain in 13 - Marvellous Mauve ($14.00 - £9.59). I have seen this doing the rounds on YouTube for months now and after a bit of research, I saw this shade is an almost exact dupe for Stila's Patina! This is £6 cheaper, plus its a whole different formula, so I was very excited to pick it up and give it a go. By the way, I haven't included swatches in this post because I plan to review each and every product individually - but I will be doing comparison swatches and the likes when I get around to writing those posts.

 So you probably know that I have become pretty smitten with single eyeshadows, and the concept of creating my own palette! Being a regular YouTube watcher (have I mentioned that already??), ABH shadows are used so often and recommended a lot. It was really hard to settle on which shades I wanted, because initially I thought I'd be able to get a quad for free to hold them in, BUT FOR SOME REASON SEPHORA DOESN'T SHIP THE CARDBOARD/PLASTIC QUAD PACKAGING TO THE UK -_- It's really not a huge deal, it's just a bit frustrating because I understand why they can't ship nail polishes...but packaging for a quad?? Eh. Anyway what made choosing these shades a little easier was I already had the majority of my MUG shadows, so I could kind of see which shades were missing in my palette - as this whole single shadow palette will be my go-to for years to come!

The first shade I decided to go for was Sienna - described as an earth brown. I picked this over morocco, though it was a very close call. I think what helped me decide in the end was literally googling eyeshadow looks with each shade name, and thinking about which ones I could actually see myself using. First impressions are that this is in the same colour family as Cocoa Bear from MUG, which is one of my ultimate favourites!  Peach Sorbet - is described as a metallic sultry rose champagne. I chose it mainly because Katy (Lustrelux) loves this shade, plus I needed a bright pop of colour in my palette, for an intense inner-corner highlight or simply all over the lid. The final shade I purchased was Fawn - described as a neutral olive. I wouldn't quite agree with this description, it's more of a brown and again it's used and recommended so much on YT that I couldn't resist adding to my already pretty extensive collection of neutrals! The ABH shadows are a bit of a splurge, they're $12.00 - £8.22, so they're just a little more expensive than the MUG foiled shadows. Based on the price, of course I have high expectations and I'll be posting reviews for these three shadows separately by the way, as they are more pricey.

AND WE HAVE MORE EYESHADOWS. Lemme explain okay, hear me out - I know I said I've gone off palettes since the decision to create my own using single shadows, but since this beauty was released months ago I was completely smitten. The Tartelette In Bloom Palette ($45.00 - £30.00) is actually available in the UK, from QVC however it was out of stock for a couple of weeks prior to my order so I decided to pick it up from Sephora instead. This is the second version of their palette, the first one was all matte and it didn't really appeal to me. Especially as a LOT of reviews were not so great, so although I was instantly drawn to the in bloom palette, I was kind of glad I was on my spending ban so I could wait and read reviews for this one. I've not come across any negative reviews myself, and although it was smaller than I expected, I am OVER THE MOON. The pigmentation of the shades are stunning, the formula is creamy and I just can't stop admiring this beauty! I couldn't have designed a more beautiful palette myself, from the outer packaging, to the large mirror, to the range of lights to darks with that gorgeous redish shade - yes Tarte, you did SO GOOD.

I've also had my eye on the Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector ($24.00 - £16.43) for a while now. I am all about the salmon coloured correctors, I've tried a couple but I'm yet to find one that ticks all my boxes. First impressions are that the shade I purchased - Medium-Tan is probably going to be near perfect, I'm not so sure about the coverage or formula, but I shall be reviewing it soon along with the concealer I picked up LAST year!

And finally one of the funnest things about ordering from Sephora in your birthday month, is the beauty insider birthday gift! Last year it was two decent sized NARS pencils, which I loved. This year they give you a skincare option and a makeup option. Of course, when I saw it was Marc Jacobs, I picked this - a mini lipstick and a pencil eyeliner. Do excuse the quality of this photo (RAW gone wrong🙄), but I'll be doing a post on this very soon to give y'all my two pennies. Regardless though, its a great perk and a lovely free gift from a very luxury brand.

And that is the end of my birthday haul from Sephora! I feel very blessed to have so much beautiful new makeup to play with and I cannot wait to share these things in more detail with you all ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

First Ever Sephora Haul!

Hello ladies! Firstly I want to apologise that this haul is two days late, I’ve just been very busy with Ramadan and working extra shifts too...but anyways enough of that, I am SOO excited to be posting this! This is literally a ONCE-IN-A-YEAR haul on the blog because there’s no denying that shopping from Sephora is a real treat/splurge.

Before we get into the haul I’ll just break down the payment side of things, so hopefully my fellow UK beauty lovers can have an idea of whether they think its worth it. Personally I’m not planning to make a trip to the U.S anytime soon and there are so many ethical brands that are easily available in America and not here in the UK! :c I always knew the shipping costs were steep so I decided that I would make an order for my 20th birthday and I reckon it’ll be an annual treat which, yes I’ll have to save up for, but after this experience it’s totally worth it.


Basically the actual shipping cost to the UK is £6 when you spend over £70 I believe and then they charge taxes and duties on site so you pay it all together online rather than being charged customs here in the UK. The T&Ds are what make any Sephora haul expensive, however if you don’t have family in the U.S or if you don’t take trips (and spend hundreds on a holiday) to America, this charge is well worth it in my opinion! I mean I’d rather pay £23 extra than wait till I get the urge to save up for a holiday to America y’know? It’s just not a destination at the top of my travel list personally and I’m 99% sure the main reason I would go if I DID make plans to go it would be to shop!! Just keeping it real here haha. So if I can purchase goodies from the U.S site for a small charge - I mean come on I'm not going to deny myself that treat once a year!

So justifying my spending aside (three paragraphs later) on to the haul...

The first thing that I picked up was this amazing duo from Marc Jacobs, and I should say this now - most of the things in this haul are from brands I’ve not tried yet which makes it one of the most exciting hauls ever! Anyways I purchased the Marc Jacobs #instamarc light filtering contour powder which I had seen here and there before but not heard a LOT about. This is HUGE in size, so much bigger than I expected (larger than the palm of my hand) and it contains 18g of product all together. Despite the size, it’s super sleek and the packaging is reflective of the price in my opinion. Marc Jacobs falls in the ‘luxury’ category of makeup for me and so this is one of the most expensive products I’ve bought, it costs around £33. Yah..it’s pricey...

but so far it is 100% worth it. The shade range is what prompted me to purchase this, I picked it up in 40 mirage filter which has a beautiful yellow tone (it's more yellow/bright than it looks above) and a just as amazing contour shade which is literally SUCH a great grey/brown mix. I thought The Balm’s bahama Mama was grey but nope, I had not seen a true contour grey until I tried this stuff! Upon first swatch it seemed a little powdery but I've realised that it's actually because the powder is so fine and filtering so to speak. The powder is protected with a cover on the inside, pictured to the right, and the mirror inside is brilliant. I can do my whole face using this one mirror which makes it perfect for travelling. Also the whole silver button opening thing is so cool heh.

If you're wondering why I choose to do a Sephora haul for my birthday, you probably haven't heard about the birthday gift system they have. Every year they give out a free birthday gift to those who have signed up and the fact that this year it was NARS Lip Pencils only urged me to order more. I'm not sure how they afford it because there are a LOT of Sephora loving ladies out there, but hey I'm not complaining in the slightest! Each pencil is 1.8gs and such a perfect size for the handbag. The Satin Lip Pencil is in the shade Rikugien and I was worried that it wouldn't be my cup of tea - much to my delight I absolutely love the shade. It's such an easy to wear pink which pulls my whole face together and feels super comfortable too! The matte shade is in one of their most iconic colours Cruella and I haven't actually worn this yet but upon first swatch it looks like a wondeful deeper red which I really dig. These are great sample sizes which will last ages and I love that they're part of the permanent line so I can purchase either shade in the future should I fall in love with it - thanks NARS!

I also really wanted to try the Tarte Maracuja Creaseless Concealer and I bought the shade medium sand to use as more of a highlight shade rather than one to match my skintone, which I already have plenty of. It claims to be full coverage and waterproof so I have high hopes! This costs £17.24 so it's certainly on the high-end spectrum. I love the packaging and the cute wooden lid - lets hope it performs as well as it does ascetically.

I HAD to pick up one of the beautiful Too Faced palettes, so opted for the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette which I had seen over and over again on the net and experienced serious palette envy. Yas that's a thing .__.  Honestly if you've never seen these palettes in real life you won't be able to imagine how adorable they are. These are the ultimate travel friendly palettes and just look at those gorgeous shades! It comes with a decent sized mirror and a little booklet with eye make-up inspiration and how to's. I've used this twice, once for an everyday look and another time I went for a quick smoky eye and I'm so impressed with how speedy yet beautiful it turned out. It costs £24 on the Sephora website which is slightly cheaper than here in the UK and so far I'm very pleased to add this to my collection.

Finally one of the most exciting things in my haul HAS to be the Kat Von D Shade and Light Contour Palette which cost me £31.72. I decided to purchase this over the Anastasia Beverly Hills palette because I watched a few comparison videos of the two and this one ended up being the favoured palette. Especially from Nicole.G on Youtube, her video really swayed me towards this and I wasn't a big fan of most of the shades in the ABH alternative. The palette is large, includes a guide sheet and has amazing shades in it which I am incredibly excited to try out! This is the one that I've not used yet as I've been loving my Marc Jacobs duo, but I will be of course posting a thorough review as soon as I've used it enough ^_^

That concludes my first ever annual Sephora haul, there were so many other things that I was semi-tempted to pick up but I have more than enough beautiful goodies to use here and I cannot wait to share detailed reviews with you all!  Oh I should mention that unfortunatly they didn't include the samples I picked out which was a bit of a shame, why make you choose a few and then fail to deliver? But anyways, aside from that small annoyance, I had a great experience over-all and I think it's the perfect birthday present to one's self!

Have you tried anything here? I’d love to know what you think! ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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First Ever Sephora Haul!

Hello ladies! Firstly I want to apologise that this haul is two days late, I’ve just been very busy with Ramadan and working extra shifts too...but anyways enough of that, I am SOO excited to be posting this! This is literally a ONCE-IN-A-YEAR haul on the blog because there’s no denying that shopping from Sephora is a real treat/splurge.

Before we get into the haul I’ll just break down the payment side of things, so hopefully my fellow UK beauty lovers can have an idea of whether they think its worth it. Personally I’m not planning to make a trip to the U.S anytime soon and there are so many ethical brands that are easily available in America and not here in the UK! :c I always knew the shipping costs were steep so I decided that I would make an order for my 20th birthday and I reckon it’ll be an annual treat which, yes I’ll have to save up for, but after this experience it’s totally worth it.