I shared couple of months ago on my twitter account (hint, you should follow me) that I will be traveling to London and Paris sometime in May. And from that trip, I was looking forward to all the beautiful museums, Laudree, Miss Saigon...but Boots, Sephora, Monoprix, and Duty Free as well!
I didn't get a load of stuff, but I was able to purchase items that I was dying to try from following many European beauty bloggers.
First, starting from the products that you can actually get from United States:
I have been so curious about Atelier Cologne and one of their signature scent "Orange Sanguine" for the longest time. Unfortunately, my local Sephora rarely carries specialty items such as Atelier Colognes. Long story short, I went into Sephora in Paris and fell IN LOVE with the brand, partly because of the wonderful saleswoman I was able to talk to. Sadly, I passed and didn't purchase it at the store. However, I had some cash left over at the end of our trip, and decided to buy one at the Duty Free store! You should have seen my face while I was urgently looking for the Atelier Cologne counter! I was between Orange Sanguine and Pomelo Paradis, but at the end I decided to go for Atelier Cologne Pomelo Paradis Cologne Absolue Pure Perfume.
Orange Sanguine and Pomelo Paradis both have that strong orange citrus top note, but Pomelo Paradis had more of a sour punch to the scent and a freshness to it. There was no doubt that Orange Sanguine smelled like straight up orange juice, but Pomelo Paradis was a cross between an orange and a grapefruit. Sometimes it would smell like oranges and sometimes i would smell like grapefruit. I don't know, I just really wanted a signature summer scent for this season!
Overall, it's fresh, fun, not too girly, and casual. The problem is that it doesn't last that long. It would stay with me maximum 3-5 hours, which is sad since it was an expensive perfume that promised longevity. But I still love the perfume nonetheless.
Oh also, I got it for a discounted price! Sephora sells 3.3 oz bottle for $110, but I got this for approximately $95 dollars (86 euro). It's still expensive, but it makes me feel better if I were to think this way.
I have been craving and craving the Yve Saint Laurent Volupte Tint-In-Oil since their first release. I got the color in Pink About Me 8. I love the formula. It is not your standard lip gloss or lip tint because...It is surprisingly SO moisturizing! It is to the point where I truly say that it could replace any lip balm. It leaves your lips flake free and so smooth as well as giving your lips a tint of color. Downside is that not many people prefer the level of shine that it gives on their lips. My friend bought one as well but said that she is always hesitant to use the product since it leaves your lips looking greasy and almost too shiny. I do agree. It does look oily, but I personally don't mind the shine.
Now the things that you CANNOT get from the States.
BOURJOIS!
I have tried these three for the past week and a half, and here is what I think:
Bourjois Healthy Balance Unifying Compact Powder in color #52 Vanille was the first thing that I grabbed while in Monoprix. I love this. This would be the perfect thing to carry around to fix your makeup! I wouldn't say that it gives any significant coverage or any coverage, but it sure is mattifying without caking up or patching up on your skin. I use this on my t-zones as well as my eyes to prevent eye makeup smudging, and...it works so perfectly. Absolutely no smudging even through wearing non-waterproof mascara and eyeliner all day. Granted, I don't have oily skin or eyelids, but still. It's something to try if you can get your hands on this powder.
Another thing, this is a perfect powder to apply to your lips before adding any type of lip color to tone down your natural lip color.
Now this,Bourjois Healthy Mixed Serum Foundation in color #52 Vanille, I've been DYING to try ever since Essiebutton mentioned this numerous times last year. This is another hit. I can see this working out perfectly during the colder months especially. This is a very light weight foundation that has medium coverage with semi-matte/natural finish. When I wore this out, my friends noted that it seemed like I wasn't wearing any foundation at all, but gave a smooth complexion as well as evening out my skin tone. It also doesn't turn sticky or shiny throughout the day which is amazing. It really does what it says. I haven't tried this on for 16 hours, but it has convinced me that it can last through 16 hours. Again, I have dry to normal skin with shiny forehead so I wouldn't know how this would react to other skin types, but it is a great drugstore foundation that I can recommend to everyone. I apply this with my Real Technique expert face brush and it leaves my skin streak free if I blend very well. It also doesn't exaggerate my wrinkles or pores which is another plus. The only downside to this foundation is that it has no SPF, but it is no problem since I always wear high SPF sunscreen under any base makeup anyway.
From swatching Bourjois Chocolate Bar Gold Bronzing Powder #54, I fell in love. I love shimmery gold powders that can work as a sheer eyeshadow or highlighter. I absolutely love it. However, I tried using this as a highlighter once, but it turned out to look like a goldy bronzy tanned blush which is a great look too...but it wasn't what I was looking for. I don't regret my purchase, but maybe it's just too dark in its pigment to be a highlighter for my skin tone. The scent from this is quite strong as well (strong vanilla perfume scent)...which is little off putting for me personally.
This is it! I am enjoying everything that I have bought from Paris! I miss Paris so much, but I'm glad I am back home to write a proper blog post about French makeup.
Do you buy makeup as your souvenirs?
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