USA Beauty Haul - Sephora and Ulta

While we were holidaying in Florida during August we could not resist a trip to the beauty stores (lets be honest we made about 5 trips but who's counting!) We always like to check out the products that are US exclusives or difficult to come by in the UK and we got our hands on some treasures!

Lets start with Sephora (also known as the Mother Ship!). Our first trip to Sephora was at our favourite Orlando shopping destination, Mall at Millenia, where we picked up some of the excellent Sephora brand make up brushes. We have tried some of these brushes in the past, I own a crease brush and a blending brush, but we had not tried the Pro Brushes nor the Value Sets so we were interested to take a look at what was on offer. I had the Sephora Small Pro Stippling Brush on my must have list and snapped up one of those up along with the Pro Tapered Crease Brush which is amazing for a precise crease shadow application. Another must purchase was the legendary Beauty Blender. Now I realise I am a little late to the party on this one and I know it is available in the UK but it's sooo much cheaper in the US and for this reason I thought it was time I gave it a whirl. After 3 weeks use I can safely say that it has changed my foundation/concealer life! I am loving it for blending foundation, CC cream, tinted moisturiser, under eye concealer - you name it! I also picked up a new Beautyblender Solid Cleaner as Mimi said I used all of her last one (!). Another potentially life changing item was then secured - the Anastacia Brow Wiz. Until tragedy struck! On the flight home the holy grail item was safely packed in my make up bag in my case however when I got home I noticed that it has somehow snapped in half during the journey. I see a repurchase on the horizon.

I really wanted to try one of the Fresh Sugar scents and after smelling all of them settled on Fresh Sugar Lemon which is a lovely blend of their traditional sugar sent with lemons thrown in. I love it! Finally, when approaching the cash register and making my way through the aisle of temptation I grabbed hold of the Elizabeth and James Nirvana perfume duo and the cute Sephora TSA Approved Travel Bag to use on the flight home.

Next it was off to Ulta where I stocked up on my favourite L'Oreal Color Riche Balms which I now own in every colour with duplicates of my top two! I was very restrained in Ulta and only picked up a couple other items including the NYX Skinny Mascara that I wanted to try as a bottom lash mascara. So far so good! (lets be honest here, I bought two!) Of course it wouldn't be a trip to Ulta without throwing in a few - okay SIX - nail polishes into the mix! I love these L'Oreal nail polishes and Essie is our favourite nail polish brand so we had to get our hands on some new shades.

Special mention to the Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation. I have seen some Beauty YouTubers praising this product and it is so affordable I thought I would give it a try. It is now my daily go-to foundation and I wish I had picked up a spare!

Since having LVL Enhance lash treatment I have steered away from waterproof mascaras. Therefore, when the new Covergirl Super Sizer Mascara caught my eye I was tempted to give it a whirl. You are supposed to 'twist' the brush as you apply at but that seems a bit weird to me so I have stuck to the traditional application method! The fine wand grabs hold of and makes all of your lashes stand out and it holds a curl nicely. So far, so good!

Usually when we travel to the US we find lots of things that are not available in the UK however I think that the UK beauty market is getting much better and we seem to be able to get our hands on most things and most brands that they have in the US with a few minor exceptions. This meant that I did not purchase nearly as much as usual - good for my bank balance!

Look out for our Bath and Body Works haul coming soon!

Have you tried any of the above mentioned products? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Elle x