Illamasqua and Clinique - I hauled again - whoops

Hello my marvellous followers!  I think I've blogged before, moaning about my work, which means I have to travel quite a bit, especially to London.  I've been to London 8 times in 9 weeks now (and only once was for pleasure), so I'm getting a bit fed up of riding that train.  And I'm going again twice next week.

But I shouldn't really moan too much - it gets me out of the office, and occasionally I have a lovely day, like today, where I'm just doing site visits.  This is great, as I can set my own pace, wander about and don't have to deal with meetings or clients.  And as my clients are all retailers, mainly in the West End, it's quite a nice day out!  Today I had some slack as well.  I only had a few sites to visit, and my journey took me past Fenwicks and the new Illamasqua shop, as well as many other temping temples of consumerism... Hmmmm, wasn't I supposed to be on a beauty diet?


I spotted an advert on the tube saying that it was Clinique Bonus Time in Fenwicks, so I headed over as there were a few things I wanted.

I bought Moisture Surge, as I really need to ramp up my skincare for winter.  I've seen other bloggers rave about it, so I thought I'd try it.  I usually use Clinique Total Turnaround in winter, but it does break out my skin, and it's supposed to be an exfoliator.  I'm hoping that Moisture Surge will be kinder, whilst still doing the same job.

This is my old duo - it's hit pan in less than 18 months!

I'd also hit pan on one of my top eyeshadows - the Victorian Pink Colour Surge duo, so I needed a replacement.  My sister gave me this for my 30th birthday, and I used it daily for nearly a year, before I started buying loads of makeup, so it's been well loved!  I still turn to it regularly, despite now having a much wider choice!

The Bonus Time bonuses were well worth getting.  These included a facial soap, an eye makeup remover, some brushes, another Colour Surge due (full size) in Beach Plum, a lipstick and a High Impact mascara, all in a large makeup bag. 

I then went the new Illamasqua store on Beak Street.  It  was just as amazing as I had anticipated, from reading loads of blog posts about it, glittery floor and everything!

Two very helpful and enthusiastic sales assistants chatted to me about the brand, its history, the courses they run and recommended some products.  They seemed to genuinely love the brand and they weren't like the pushy assistants you find at some makeup counters.

I was very impressed with the products on offer, and was quite tempted to spend a lot of money.  I've certainly got lots to put on my wishlist!

I went for the Veridian nail polish - it's a stunning and very unusual colour.  I can't wait to try it out!

I also bought a medium pencil in Torment as a new lipliner.

I did go to the MAC store on Neal Street as well, but I kept my wallet shut.  Somehow after Illamasqua, MAC didn't seem so shiny!

Thanks for reading! xx