do I need a makeup tag?
The amount of willpower it took to stop at three beauty purchases from Selfridges was astounding. Normally I'm not too bad, I can just remind myself that I'm not that rich and I'll have an income in a year and it can wait until then... but the thing about the UK is that makeup here is much, much cheaper than it is in Australia, and this goes for everything from drugstore brands to designer. So the temptation to BUY BUY BUY while I'm here, in London, surrounded by a fantastic range at a decent price, is enormous. (Just you wait, UK-ers, I will end up using you all as proxy shoppers and asking you to mail lipglosses to Australia.)
But! As I said, I did stop at three.
1) NARS lipstick in Niagara, which I've been wanting to try since this Swatchgirl post about it. It's lovely, a really fresh kinda-sheer coral which goes well with my colouring, and there's enough moisture in it that it can be used as a matching cheek stain if one is feeling sneaky.
2) NARS eyeshadow duo in Kuala Lumpur, which doesn't go quite as well with blue eyes as I'd like, but I don't care because it is just that gorgeous. The website describes the shades as 'rose gold/boysenberry infused with gold' and when they're blended on the eye they look like a sunset. SO PRETTY. The boysenberry shade also looks amazing with the dark-dark matte purple shadow I have, Make Up Store's microshadow in Grape.
3) The MAC 217 brush for eyeshadow shading, which is mostly the fault of the bazillions of Lisa Eldridge videos I've been watching. I tried it out today and I'm a complete convert -- now I want MORE BRUSHES. MORE. Including a good one for smudging shadow beneath the eye in the place of liner, because I am still not very keen at all on actual liners.
I saw so many gorgeous lines of things that I wanted to check out, and tried a few things that I was very sad to put back on the display (NARS lipstick in Scarlet Empress, a couple of the Illamasqua glosses -- I had to back away very fast from the Illamasqua counter before my wallet leapt onto the counter of its own accord). And all of the staff in the (enormous!) beauty section were super-friendly and very knowledgeable.
The rest of Selfridges was just way too luxury-goods for the likes of me, I ended up scurrying through the shoe galleries and the ridiculous womenswear department and the jewellery hall, pausing only to press my nose longingly against the glass of the Theo Fennell section like a giant creeper. HOWEVER, the food hall was incredible, full of macarons and cupcakes and a deli section that made me want to just set up camp and never leave until I had tried all the cheeses.
That was fun. But I don't think I can take Harrods in the same weekend, so tomorrow can be the Imperial War Museum instead.
But! As I said, I did stop at three.
1) NARS lipstick in Niagara, which I've been wanting to try since this Swatchgirl post about it. It's lovely, a really fresh kinda-sheer coral which goes well with my colouring, and there's enough moisture in it that it can be used as a matching cheek stain if one is feeling sneaky.
2) NARS eyeshadow duo in Kuala Lumpur, which doesn't go quite as well with blue eyes as I'd like, but I don't care because it is just that gorgeous. The website describes the shades as 'rose gold/boysenberry infused with gold' and when they're blended on the eye they look like a sunset. SO PRETTY. The boysenberry shade also looks amazing with the dark-dark matte purple shadow I have, Make Up Store's microshadow in Grape.
3) The MAC 217 brush for eyeshadow shading, which is mostly the fault of the bazillions of Lisa Eldridge videos I've been watching. I tried it out today and I'm a complete convert -- now I want MORE BRUSHES. MORE. Including a good one for smudging shadow beneath the eye in the place of liner, because I am still not very keen at all on actual liners.
I saw so many gorgeous lines of things that I wanted to check out, and tried a few things that I was very sad to put back on the display (NARS lipstick in Scarlet Empress, a couple of the Illamasqua glosses -- I had to back away very fast from the Illamasqua counter before my wallet leapt onto the counter of its own accord). And all of the staff in the (enormous!) beauty section were super-friendly and very knowledgeable.
The rest of Selfridges was just way too luxury-goods for the likes of me, I ended up scurrying through the shoe galleries and the ridiculous womenswear department and the jewellery hall, pausing only to press my nose longingly against the glass of the Theo Fennell section like a giant creeper. HOWEVER, the food hall was incredible, full of macarons and cupcakes and a deli section that made me want to just set up camp and never leave until I had tried all the cheeses.
That was fun. But I don't think I can take Harrods in the same weekend, so tomorrow can be the Imperial War Museum instead.
