Duty Free and overseas make-up purchases

As promised, here is my beauty purchases while I was holidaying away in the Philippines that I wanted to share with you guys. Somehow I managed to buy significantly less than I thought I would. I left Australia with a hefty list of all the beauty products that I was dying to buy. However when I got there, I'm not sure what stopped me from buying so much but I just didn't. Although I think to blame is the presence of Forever 21 and Topshop for distracting me (cheap clothes won this time) and the amount of clothes I bought resulting in very few remaining kgs for make-up in my luggage. Nevertheless I did manage to get some stuff on zee list.

So funny story, I nearly missed my flight out of Australia all because of you guessed it, duty free shopping! I don't know how it happened, but somehow my mum and I spent over an hour in the perfume section trying on various perfumes (it could only happen to us really). While I was purchasing these two babies at the counter they were calling out my mum and I over the PA to board the plane, and my GOD did we freak out. I've never ran so fast in my life, hand carry luggage whacking everyone behind me all the way to the boarding gates - but whatever. I bought these two because they are my absolute faves, they smell almost the same but I DO NOT CARE. So worth almost missing my plane (kind of ...).

My next purchase was Maybelline Baby Lips. I bought these because one, they're not very heavy and two, they are bloody cheap there! In Australia I think the retail for about $6 (not 100% sure) but in the Philippines I think these were less than $2 - so pretty damn cheap in my opinion. I did snap up a few more in these two shades, colour Berry Crush and Baby Pink Glow (I'm not too fond of the others) so hopefully I won't need to buy anymore in the near future.

Next is my MAC purchases. I will start off by saying I didn't own many MAC products previously, simply because they are pretty pricey here in Australia and I always feel a little intimidated by the MAC girls at my local counters. Being intimidated is more than enough to stop me from buying something, stupid I know but I HOPE I am not the only one. Most of the products I bough were a result of getting my make-up done by the guys at the counter. Here's what I bought:

Fix+ skin refresher and finishing mist- This spray is meant to be kinda like a setting mist and face primer all in one. It should be used before and after applying make-up to keep foundation look fresh and anti-cakey throughout the day. I've used it a few times already and really think it does make a difference. 

Mineralize tinted lip balm in Rosy Romance- This wasn't on my list, but I bought this because I've always wanted to try out MAC lip balms. I like the colour, especially for winter. 

Studio Fix Foundation powder in NC 20 and NW 20- I've been dying to get these for quite awhile now. I bought both NC and NW because my skin colour tends to vary with the seasons. In summer, I do have a much more pinky red tone, whereas in winter my face is much paler, but generally I am always pretty pale. There is a significant difference between the NC and NW colours and I will do a post in the future highlighting the differences.

Prep and Prime BB cream in light- Bought this simply because I love BB creams and trying different ones from various brands. I have yet to use this yet but I am extremely excited to see how it goes.

Face and Body Foundation- I've heard great things about this. I will probably wear this more in the evening or when I go out somewhere as I am not really into the heavy face make-up during the day, but I think this will turn out to be a great product. 

 

Lipsticks- This is probably what I was most excited to buy. I have a lot of coral, nude and red lipsticks already but I have been dying to get my hands on these, especially Brick-o-La. It was on my Wednesday Wishlist and I have been so eager to try it since reading so many reviews on it. I also bought Angel and Russian Red as staples. In my opinion these were quite a steal, in Oz I think they are about $36 each, but in the Philippines they were slightly less than $25.

So there you have it, my beauty buys while I was in holidays! Do you buy a lot of beauty products when you go overseas? Do you have any funny duty free stories? Comment below!