Shopping Spree: Benefit Cosmetics US Haul

Hands up if you missed out on Benefit's LE Christmas offering, the "Her Name Was Glowla" kit?

*hands up here*, even though I initially saw it in stock on the Boots website but stupidly refrained from buying it in favour of Christmas presents... clearly I'm all heart ;)

I have a tiny Benefit collection (although I wouldn't call myself a make-up collector at all), consisting of two Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liners (blooming LOVE these!) in My Date's My Brother and Sippin' & Dippin, the three pencils that came with Glamour magazine last summer, a bottle of Moon Beam and a bottle of Posietint that is almost empty. However Benefit is the one range that I have always wanted to "collect". I'm completely sucked in by the friendly, gimmicky marketing and packaging!

The more I saw "Glowla" advertised, I knew that I had to have it. And I don't get that with make-up too often. 

But surprise surprise, I had already been cursed with "youshouldhaveboughtitwhenyousawit" syndrome - something that affects me on a regular basis - and it was sold out everywhere I looked.

I accepted that this addition to my little stash of Benefit wasn't to be, and pretty much forgot about it. But look what popped up on my facebook Newsfeed at the end of January...

LAST CHANCE and LIMITED QUANTITIES??? I was on it like a shot! I hadn't visited the US site before, and it made the UK site look.... empty... for want of a better word! So many lovely products that I've never seen in the UK... sigh.          I'll be back, benefit.com!

My little box of Benefit took exactly two weeks to arrive. Impressed!

Love the packaging!

While I was online I couldn't help but pop a little bit of Bella Bamba in my basket too (especially after I converted the $ into £ !).

Her name was Glowla $36.00

(equivalent to £22.47 at time of purchase,

a saving of £7.03 on the UK RRP of £29.50)

Bella Bamba $28.00

(equivalent to £17.47 at time of purchase,
a saving of £6.03 on the UK RRP of £23.50)

A closer look at Glowla:

The message at the top of the protective film says

"keep your glow going... remove makeup tray for your collectible box"

Glowla also comes complete with a little make-up lesson booklet - uber cute!

Everything is pretty much self explanatory - eyeshadows named as above,

Coralista blush and a full-sized "Life on The A List" lipgloss

Bella Bamba:

Bella Bamba is marketed as a 3D powder, whatever that means!

It smells gorgeous - kind of like a melon-y apple-y scent.

Why on earth haven't I tried Benefit.com before?! The shipping cost was $9.97 (equivalent to £6.22) which I thought was reasonable considering that I saved a very impressive £13.06 on UK prices for those two items.

I also received a couple of little samples and a Spring 2011 catalogue.

I'll definitely be using the US site to buy my future Benefit goodies, and I'll let you know what I think of my purchases when I've had more time to play with it all! I'd love to know what you think of Glowla and Bella Bamba if you own them.

I'm not sure if the Glowla kit has sold out on the US site yet - apologies if it has and you've been lemming it!

I'm probably way behind everyone else on this, but do you shop on international sites to save money on make-up? If you do, which sites would you recommend ?

xx

**All photographs belong to me. All items bought with my own hard earned cash, 

and I have not been compensated for this blogpost, blah, blah, blah...**

Panic (and grump) over... I found them!

I know, I know... I'm ridiculously shallow to be so happy about this, but I finally got my excited little hands on the current issue...s of Glamour magazine - you know, the one with the freebie Benefit pencils that I was complaining about not being able to find?

(I gave the third magazine to my work colleague Amanda!)

I'd mooched into my local Tesco Metro at lunchtime today when I spotted an assistant stocking a new magazine delivery onto the shelves. I looked closer just in case and there they were! It was like I had some kind of tunnel vision because I just kind of homed in and grabbed all three faster than you could say "Yippee!!" (which, actually, is what was running through my mind. I may have even squealed it out loud and said "mine, mine, mine" like a complete maniac but honestly it's all a bit of a blur).

I don't have a huge make-up collection but I am very partial to lovely Benefit goodies, especially when they're freeeeeee instead if £14.00 each! (Glamour gave away a free mini Bad Gal mascara last summer too so hopefully it'll become a regular thing hehe!).

Glamour magazine, I salute you and all of your Benefit goodness. You made a down-in-the-dumps lady very happy today!

Did you get your Glamour?

xx

Oh - if you can't find a copy of Glamour and you're feeling rather glum about it like I did, don't fear! You can Benefit from a little something too (see what I did there?) because hey, I feel your pain.

Glamour also gave it's lovely readers a 15% off voucher code for purchases from their uber girly website. Type GLAMJUNE at checkout between 09/06/10 to 19/07/10 and you're good to go.

Just don't blame me if you spend too many pounds ;)

(Sorry to my international lovelies but I don't know if this code is UK only)

Bingo! I won! A good excuse to buy some loot...

Last Saturday I spent the day with my Daddy and his partner who live about 45 minutes away. We went to their local bingo hall before going for lunch, and I have to say, having never been before I was a wee bit sceptical about spending a few hours playing bingo... not somewhere I imagined myself going but hey, that's just me!

I was impressed by the venue though - clearly a disused 30's cinema with most of the original features... and the fantastic obligatory sparkly gold backdrop! I could only take a couple of sneaky phone pics though because people were giving me strange looks...

Bingo was actually a lot harder than I thought (don't laugh!), because we had a zillion books to play from and the caller read the numbers so quickly that I kept getting left behind... I soon got used to it though and I ended up really enjoying it :)

Aaaand, I won!!! £50 for a full house!! I couldn't believe it. I was actually a bit scared to call it because the other players always groaned when someone won (it gets very tense!), and then I was worried that I'd got it wrong because woe betide you.... the regulars were quite mean I thought when a lady called house by mistake. I guess it's tiresome if that happens when you play regularly, but.....

.... I needn't have worried. Yes, I won :)

After lunch, Dad and I went to the local discount outlet mall and I had muchos fun spending most of my winnings! This was my loot:

Nude pink top, £15 reduced from £23, Pilot

(also purchased a pair of black leggings for £7 but you all know what they look like!)

I have had a bit of a spree lately buying long casual tops to wear with leggings - this one had to be mine as I loved the lace and the diamante sparkles :)

We were just leaving to go back to my Dad's when, tucked away down a lonely "alley" I found a little independent discount beauty shop. Typically it was literally 10 minutes until the shopping mall closed but I dashed in anyway.....

Oh my gosh, I wished I had found the shop at least an hour earlier :( I was running around as if I was on a manic trolley dash with no time to decide on anything. All of my purchases were instant decisions and I just threw them into my basket.

St. Moritz self tanning mousse, £5.95; Revlon ColorStay in no. 150 (Buff), £8.95

I have NEVER tried wearing fake tan before, although I have always secretly wanted to try it. I've heard that St. Moritz is supposed to be as good as St. Tropez, and at that price I thought it was a good time to bite the bullet and buy! (ANY ADVICE WELCOME PLEASE!!)

I've wanted to try a new foundation for ages, but wouldn't buy one whilst I had lots of my existing one left. But now my Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse has almost run out, I made a beeline for this! Thank goodness I picked the correct colour...

I'm not all that impressed by the Dream Matte Mousse any more tbh, even though I've been using it for a few years. My skin has been very dry over the winter months and no matter how much I moisturise beforehand, this foundation looks cakey/flaky in places. It doesn't look too bad from a distance, but up close... *shudder*

Unlike Revlon's new PhotoReady foundation, ColorStay does not have a pump applicator, and being a bit of a make-up novice I was initially unsure how to apply it without wasting vast amounts. Good old youTube saved the day and the general consensus seems to be to pour a bit onto a piece of clingfilm and apply using a wedge. I haven't had a chance to try it yet so if you have any tips on how you use this foundation I would really appreciate it!

Benefit Cream Eyeshadow in Moon Doggie, £3.95

There was a whole Benefit stand AND I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT IT!!! :( I adore Benefit! With two minutes until the shop closed I saw this leap out among all of the other shadows and I just had to have it... plus it was the last one left in this shade and I felt sorry for it ;)

By this time the assistants were hovering by the doors ready to close up, so I went to pay. Then what do I see by the till? An overflowing NYX stand and a small Bourjois counter!! I could have cried.

I made a last-second grab for these whilst an assistant scanned the other bits and pieces:

Bourjois 3D cosmic shine lipgloss in no. 34 Rose Mythic, £1.95;

NYX Goddess of The Night mega shine lipgloss in no.127 Pink Frost, £3.95

They both smell A M A Z I N G.......

Excuse the Bourjois label - for some bizarre reason they annoy me

and I have to pick them off!

I thought they were both £1.95 but closer inspection of the receipt tells me otherwise.

However, I'm still smiling at these bargains!

I'm planning on another visit to this little shop soon - I cannot wait!

I also bought some bits and bobs in Claire's Accessories as extra presents for my little sister Olivia, who was 14 this week. Happy Birthday (again) Liv xxxxx

All in all it was a fantastic day.

Bingo + winnings,

yummy lunch,

walking around in the warm sunshine wearing a vest top for the first time this year,

shopping,

quality time with my Daddy

= a very happy Jo!

xx