Sephora Haul

As I say the word Sephora I giggle slightly and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. As a beauty blogger I feel a little embarrassed to be making this statement but I never realised Sephora was in France. Oops. For this shocking statement I apologise. I don't know why but I thought it was only in America as that is only where I had heard of people visiting it before. I've never been to America or seen a Sephora store so I'm going to put that down as the reason to my silliness. Living in England we don't have any Sephora stores so when I discovered that they were located in Paris - in fact Paris was crammed full of them - I got a little excited and dragged Mum in. In fact we visited three days and we were staying in Paris for four so that says it all really. After her first visit I don't think Mum needed much persuading to return.

For those of you who don't know what a Sephora store is I salute you and don't feel ashamed of that statement, be bold and proud ready to be educated. A Sephora store is a store of beauty dreams. It is almost like a supermarket or a department store composed entirely of beauty products ranging from skin care, perfumes and make-up. It contains Sephora products as it's own brand yet it includes all of the other essentials such as Clinique, Clarins, Urban Decay, Benefit, Too Faced, OPI, Marc Jacobs etc. etc. the list is endless. The only way to tackle a Sephora store is to grab one or possibly multiple baskets and simply crack on and work your way through all of the aisles thoroughly. I would recommend that you only bother visiting a Sephora store with someone else who wants to go otherwise it will be rushed and you won't be able to take in all in. Luckily for me my Mum was more then happy to visit.

I thought I would write a mini haul of some of the goodies that we picked up. There were so many more items that we could easily have also indulged on however you suddenly realise that you have baskets and baskets of products which do actually cost money. Shocking - I know.

Sephora Face Masks
I had seen these previously mentioned on other beauty blogs where bloggers have raved about them. They look really fun and colourful I was more then excited to give these ago. There are so many different scents and formulations to choose from it is really hard not to get carried away and get one of each so I thought that six (three of each remember) was well restrained by us. We picked up two honey masks which claim to be nourishing and balancing on the Saturday and we had a girly pamper evening in our hotel room. After a long day of sight seeing and traveling all we wanted was to wash our hair, make-up off, magazines and face masks. Pure bliss for two pairs of two little feet which were exhausted.

These are really easy to use. The face mask has a similar texture to a make-up wipe and it is filled full of nourishing goodness that soaks into your skin. The hardest thing about using these is keeping a straight face whilst wearing these and not cracking up in hysterics because you look ridiculous. They have little sections cut out for your eyes, nose and mouth. The moisturiser in the mask allows you to shape the mask to your face. You leave the mask on for 15 minutes and sit back and relax. Before using the mask you should cleanse your face after taking your make-up off. Once finished remove the mask and massage any remaining product into your skin. You don't need to wash these masks off. To finish all you have to do is apply your toner and moisturiser and boom you're all done.

The honey mask was just as it claims nourishing and moisturising. Our skin felt so soft after using these which lasted for days and days afterwards. We were so impressed that on our final day we returned and picked up another four. Another two honey as we knew that they were amazing and would both happily use these again. If we could have I would have brought this one in batches and boxes. I then chose a Pomegranate mask which claims to be energising and to have anti-fatigue properties so possibly one to use in the morning? Mum chose a Lotus mask which claims to be moisturising and soothing which sounds like heaven.

Sephora Hand Creams
After indulging on face masks a swish move to the right was made where we discovered rows, rows and more rows of hand cream. After putting our eyes back into our sockets a decent amount of smelling was done and we each chose a flavour. I plumped for Coconut of course. Everything I use at the moment is coconut whether it's beauty products or food. I think the only thing that I am lacking is a coconut perfume which I sure do need in my life. I'm just obsessed with it end of. Mum chose blueberry which also smelt incredible. So much so that I just had to get one as well - rude not to really. You don't tend to see many blueberry beauty products in England (she says whilst using a blueberry body butter from The Body Shop) yet blueberry products are everywhere in Paris so it seemed like a sign and very fitting to go for blueberry. We have tested these hand creams - of course - and were thoroughly impressed with both. They are so creamy and moisturising yet non sticky or greasy. They also absorb into your skin instantly so the perfect hand cream to keep in your hand cream. I would highly recommend that if you can get to a Sephora store you pick a couple of these up.

Sephora Eyeshadow Trio
At the checkout we were presented with this trio of beautifulness as a freebie. Well you can't say no can you not to three gorgeous nude shades. I said that Mum could keep these as it was her birthday weekend and she dose suit her nude shades. What a nice thing to do, I wish that, that happened more in the UK. Three perfect shades to be used together all with a hint of shimmer. You have your golden highlighter, a milk chocolate praline shade and a darker rich cocoa shade that you could use in the outer corner of your eye for contouring.

YSL Lipsticks 
Here we have it, the grand finale. Both of us have been staring at these lipsticks for what feels like forever, dreaming of being spontaneous and making a splurge. YSL is a luxurious high end brand so not the sort of thing you would buy everyday just by popping into Boots or Superdrug. I guess we just thought if we don't do it now we're never going to. What could be more special then picking up this duo whilst celebrating Mum's 50th birthday in Paris. So we took the plunge and went for it. After a whole lot of swatching we each chose a shade from the Rouge Volupte Shine range. I plumped for 17 Rose In Tension which I have had my eye on for years and I mean years now. It is a beautiful rosy brown shade with pink undertones to it. It is a my lips but better shade perfect for Autumn/Winter or evenings out yet I would still wear this shade all year round. If I could only own one lipstick it would be this as by having darker toned lips I find it hard to find lipsticks that suit me. I can't wear pale nudes, peaches or corals so this definitely floats my boat. It has no shimmer in it and it feels really moisturising and glossy. All praise the YSL Gods. Mum chose 9 Nude In Private which is a beautiful and I mean beautiful rosy pink shade with a hint of shimmer to it. Like me she has dark lips so she goes for rosy pink shades yet her lips are less 'pigmented' then mine so she suits slightly paler shades.

These lipsticks are just gorgeous. I mean just the packaging alone is stunning with the golden case and beautiful colourful ring running around it which I love as each shade represents the lipstick and is so unique to that lipstick. Just imagine rows of these - amazing. The lipstick quality itself feels so luxurious. I'm having a battle going on inside my body I want to wear it now all the time and everyday yet part of me see's it as such a special product that I want to save it only for special occasions. I'm going to write a separate blog post on these as they are in a league of their own and so special I feel that they deserve it and it would only be fair.

So there you have it my lovelies. A few little goodies from Sephora to show you all. As I said earlier we could have gone on and on but we were well restrained. I think Mum also did a little bit of private shopping for a special event that it is coming up in two months. Yes two months till Christmas my lovelies only 9 Fridays to go. EEK. Christmas is my favourite time of the year so I have been on countdown since the end of August. Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these products and what you thought of them. Thank you for reading this post my lovelies and I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I'm just about to tuck into a curry and watch a bit of Doctor Who with my Mum - heaven. Perfect Saturday night in, in my eyes.

XXX