Retail Therapy Rach-style

I love buying make-up. No, like really, LOVE. So who wants to see some high quality make-up porn photos then? [God knows how many weird Google searches that will send my way!]

Firstly, I had a wonderful surprise again from the GORGEOUS Bastian at Flare, who sent me a goodie bag of SK II products. She always sends me a lovely little card as well… love the personal touch! (Check out the hummingbird seal – so cute!) Don’t these products look haute?!

Here’s a close-up of the products – a bottle of SK II’s Facial Treatment Essence (dubbed ‘miracle water’ by some), 10 Facial Treatment Masks (as famously sported by Demi Moore on Twitter) and a super-cute hi-tech bottle of Cellumination Essence (the bottle has this gorgeous pearlescent opalised finish which I’m in love with already). After reading loads of raves for SK II and having never tried anything of theirs before, I can’t wait to bust these out! Stay tuned for more reviews… and not just on Through The Looking Glass either (hmmm… cryptic right?!)

My friend Mirander went to Singapore recently so I asked if she wouldn’t mind looking for some Urban Decay things for me – and lovely girl that she is, she agreed! Seriously, Urban Decay is my most missed cosmetics brand out here – as you already know, their 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils are one of my make-up miracles and I love their range of exciting edgy colours together with their commitment to awesome quality, which (for me) is unmatched. Of the things I asked Mir to find, only the 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencils were in stock, so she grabbed me a few of these.

Firstly, let’s admire the cool iridescent packages. Ooooh… shiny… like a super-sexy oil slick.

Appetite whet, here they are in all their glory, from top to bottom: Delinquent, Morphine, Narc, Midnight Cowboy and Sin. They’re basically big fat versions of my beloved eye pencils (which I’ll admit to sometimes using as shadows, probably very naughty of me); Midnight Cowboy and Sin are absolutely fabulous neutrals that are anything but boring beiges, proper reviews to come!

Sadly, the infamous Naked Palette and the 15 Year Anniversary 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil set that I also asked for were sold out in Singapore. However, as you all know by now, when I decide I want something, I’ll hunt them down with more persistence than a trained assassin… or something like that. One morning, I woke up really early and after perusing Urban Decay’s Facebook page, noticed some folk saying both of these items were in stock at Debenhams. Unfortunately, Debehams doesn’t deliver to Hong Kong… but Mum Post does! So I snagged these before they sold out yet again and my mum was great enough to forward them on to me… and they are so worth it!

As you know already, I love me my 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencils. This limited edition 15 Year Anniversary 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil set contains 15 amazing eyeliners (most of which I own already), including six new shades that are exclusive to this set. So obviously I HAD to have it! There’s also a sharpener and given that the pencils usually retail for £13 and this contains 15 full-sized ones for only £60, this is an amazing deal. Love.

The Naked Palette is probably one of the most raved about sets on the web; every girl needs some sophisticated neutrals set aside for a rainy day, right? This includes twelve shades of shadow, plus a brush and a travel-sized bottle of Urban Decay’s cult favourite primer potion.

My other favourite make-up brand is Clinique – see here and here are why, for the uninitiated! I saw these Chubby Sticks advertised and loved the cute playful look of them, and once I got in the store, I loved the feel of them too. I’m a lip balm freak, always seen smearing Vaseline on my smackers, and generally go for stronger eye make-up with bare lips, meaning these tinted moisturising lip balms are perfect and ultra-convenient for on the go.

I started off wanting one shade only – Super Strawberry. Then I took a liking to Whole Lotta Honey too and wanted them both, but Strawberry was sold out. Over the next few days, I somehow ended up bagging Woppin’ Watermelon and Mega Melon too… oops… and desperately seeking Strawberry, which is apparently sold out in HK. Proper reviews to come (top to bottom: Honey, Melon, Watermelon) but for now, suffice to say, they’re brilliant.

I also picked up some Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadows whilst I was there. HK seemed to only have a limited range of colours so I went for the only two that took my fancy – Rock Violet, a shimmery lavender, and Kiwi, a glowing green-gold. I normally use powder shadows and have heard good things about how crease-free these are, so am looking forward to reporting back!

My boyfriend need some new razors so popped in for what he thought would be quick in-and-out shop in Mannings. But as you know, this isn’t really in my vocab. He was persuaded into buying me some My Beauty Diary face masks (an exclusive to Mannings Cupid’s Love Set, featuring a mix of Chocolate and White Rose ones) and an adorable Mini Teatime Set, that includes a Strawberry Yoghurt Amino Acid Cleanser, Vanilla Soufflé Face Scrub and one Chocolate Truffle and one Earl Grey Tea & Macaroon Sheet Mask. The gift box seemed ridiculously cheap (just over $30); don’t these look and sound good enough to eat?! I’ll be disappointed if they don’t smell amazing although I’ll admit I mostly picked them because they looked pretty!

Of course, no make-up haul of mine is complete without nail polish. Firstly, here are some pretty pictures of the glitterbomb extraordinaires that are my collection of Estessimo Tins. Some, dare I say it, even have a touch of the holographic about them… squee!!!

Left to right: The Neptune (already reviewed here), The Splash Blue (reviewed here), The Relax Mint, The Snow Love, The Spicy Pinwheel.

Left to right and some holographic rainbow goodness: Rich Topaz, Bon Bon Savon, Seductive Amethyst, Alluring Aquamarine, Passionate Ruby.

I also finally found some Deborah Lippmann nail polishes, much raved-about on the Interwebz. These were very pricey (over 3x the price of my usual Cher2 buys!) so I kept it down to two very special unique glitters – Across The Universe and Today Was A Fairytale, which allegedly contains Virgin Diamond Powder. Well, for that price, I bloody hope so! At least some money was spent on packaging I guess!

So, as you can see, I love make-up. I worry for the number of excited exclamation marks that pepper this post. Keep ‘em peeled for proper reviews Retail Therapy Rach-stylesoon!

(My Mum is probably shaking her head in disgust right now. Sorry Mum.)