Miami haul

So it's not exactly a secret that I'm a bit (or a lot) of a shopaholic and so when let loose in a gigantic Miami mall, it's not surprising that I went a bit mad (especially after 3 weeks of no shopping before that) and spent over $1,000. But I'm reasoning with myself that by buying all this in America rather than England, I've actually saved money!

So I decided to make the big purchases first! Initially I wanted to buy my dream Valentino shoes before I had a look online and found that they're $1,000 over there or £600 here, making them £200 more expensive to buy there! So I had a look at handbags instead and narrowed it down to the brands I love (excluding the ones like Givenchy or YSL which are way out my price range) and then compared which ones were cheaper over there. So I decided on a Kate Spade bag and I am just so in love with the colours of this one that I just had to have it. Plus it's the perfect size for a day-to-day handbag like for work etc. It would've been £340 to buy it at home and it cost me $400 to buy it there, making a saving of £40! I nearly bought a Rebecca Minkoff chanel-style-boy-bag too but decided to leave that one and I'm so glad I did because it was $400 and I found this black one (that I actually love even more) in Aldo for only $50! I also got these two pairs of court shoes from Aldo; one black pair with cute cross over strap (perfect for work) and then one nude pair with a perspex heel which gives it a nice bit of detail. I also got some nice new underwear from Victoria's Secret including 5 pairs of 'panties' for $27.50!

Then I went in to MAC to look for some new lipsticks. It's getting harder and harder for me to buy new lipsticks in MAC because I literally only like the Satin and Matte finishes and I have so many of them already! When I'm picking up testers thinking 'oh that's nice', I look underneath and it turns out to be one that I already own. So after a lot of testing, I decided on Photo and Bowl me over. Photo is a satin finish in a really gorgeous chocolate brown colour. I've wanted one like this for ages but all the ones I've got are either too nude or too dark so this is perfect (especially going in to Autumn). Bowl me over is a retro matte finish so it won't be moving or smudging at all and it's a really nice warm plum, again a perfect Autumn shade. These are $17 rather than £15.50, making them £3 cheaper each. By the way, if you're wondering why I've swatched them on my arm rather than my lips like I normally do, it's because (as you will see), I got rather a lot of lip products so it would take too much time to swatch on my lips. Plus all that putting on and taking off would really hurt!

I absolutely love Lorac eyeshadows (as you may have noticed if you've ever read my beauty blog posts) but they're so hard to get your hands on in the UK! So when I saw that they'd brought out a third palette, I just knew I had to have it. I was really disappointed when Nordstrom said they didn't stock it because as far as I knew, that's the only place that sells it. But then I looked online and found a place called Ulta beauty that sells it so the palette is mine! And it came with a free Urban Decay eyeshadow too which is really nice, and I also picked up an Urban Decay eyeshadow primer because I've heard great things about it. The palette was $44 which I would have to pay either way but by buying it here, I've saved on $25 shipping fee!

Then in to Sephora, where I went a bit mad! First up is these Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks I got, in the shades Dusty rose and Ashton. These are a really nice creamy texture and the colour goes on nice and thick. Dusty rose is the kind of pink that I just love! Similar to Twig lipstick or Posie K lip kit, it's one of my favourite shades. And Ashton is a really nice dark warm nude colour which is working really nicely with my tan right now and these were $20 each.

I've been wanting to try the new benefit brow range for a while so I picked up the Goof Proof brow pencil in shade 06 and the Gimme brow in shade 05 which are both amazing and then I bought a cheeky sharpener as well because mine is broken. The 2 brow products were $20 each (rather than £18.50 each here, saving £3 on each one) and the sharpener was $5.

Kat Von D has only just launched her make up in the UK so up until now I've never had chance to try it so I thought I would buy it over in America anyway! I got the shades Lolita, Lolita ii, Bow and Arrow and Double Dare (swatched in that order from top to bottom). The formula isn't quite as thick as the ABH ones so it may need a bit of building so it doesn't go patchy but it's really nice and creamy still. Lolita is a light plum shade, Lolita ii is more of a terracotta (I was pleasantly surprised by how different they were), Bow and arrow is a lovely nude which I'm currently too tanned for but it'll look amazing when I'm paler again and Double dare is a nice rose pink. These were $20 each aswell and they're £16 in debenhams in the UK so you still save like 50p on each one!

As you know, I'm not someone who likes to try new products really. But if you're going to try anything, it makes sense to try them when they're cheaper! So I got a ABH concealer in shade 03 which is amazing - you only need the tiniest bit so I'm sure it'll last ages and it was only $20 so really good value! I also got the Urban decay setting spray because I don't have one and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I also picked up this Too faced bronzer/highlighter. I can't lie, I pretty much just wanted it because it's heart shaped and super pretty but the actual product is really nice too and gives a nice sun kissed glow!

And the final thing that I bought while I was stateside is this super cute Chip mug! I got it while I was at Disney's Magic Kingdom and honestly how cute is it?! I will never drink my tea out of anything else ever again!