I have been in London for a few days now and I have walked many miles, seen many sites, and bought a number of products that are not easily attained in the states. So far I have bought mostly makeup, some nail polish, and a few odds and ends. I haven’t gone crazy with the amount of purchases I’ve made (I do have a limit of space in my bag) and I would say that many of my purchases were made thoughtfully.

For makeup I bought quite a few things, one being Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Serum ($29) in shade 53. I have used this product two days in a row and so far I really like the formulation. It doesn’t look or feel like heavy makeup but it certainly covers well, it also lasts most of the day even with my oily skin. Another product I purchased was Collection’s Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 2 (￡3.99 and is only available in the UK). I find this to have an excellent and easy to blend texture that lasts all day without creasing, and does a pretty good job of covering up imperfections. I also bought Collection’s Eyes Uncovered Nude Palette (￡3.99), which I haven’t used yet but I’ve heard good things from various bloggers. Another product I purchased was Soap & Glory’s One Heck of a Blot (￡12), which is a touch up powder that comes with a puff for application that does a good job of reducing shine. The packaging is pretty good as well since it is quite compact and comes with a good sized mirror, although the puff that comes with it is pretty cheap so I plan on switching that out asap. The last makeup product I bought was & Other Stories’ Complete Face Palette ($15) in shade Festoon Classics. This is a cream palette that can be used all over the face. The berry shade is good for blush or as a lip color, the light champagne color works well as a highlight, the silver is good as an eyeshadow, and the black works as an eyeliner. Over all the pigmentation and ease of application make this a great product.

For nails I bought two polishes from Nail Berry. I had never heard of this brand until it was brought to my attention by Fleur de Force, and her rave review made me want to pick this up. I ended up choosing Stone and Raspberry from the L’Oxygéné (￡14.50) line which is supposed to be far healthier than your average nail polish. I believe you can buy this online but I found their salon in South Kensington so I was able to choose the shades in person.

The last two items I purchased were fancy eyedrops and a fancy hairbrush. The eyedrops are Optrex’s Eyedew Dazzling Eyedrops (￡3.99), these are a funny product I heard about while reading a blog (a very dangerous place) and were mentioned as great for brightening up your eyes before taking photos or for special occasions. I have used these once so far and the results are not instantaneous but are dazzling once you give them some time. The drops are blue in color and when applied they make you look like you cry blue tears. It is also important to know that these should not be used every day or just before or after applying contacts. This little detail probably means that they are not the healthiest but if you are looking to make your eyes sparkle now and then these are great to look into. The last product I purchased is a very fancy hairbrush, Mason Pearson’s Pocket Brush (￡49.25). This was extremely expensive (even for the small version) but I must say it is amazing. It leaves the hair smooth, shiny, and soft to the touch. I have noticed that my good hair days have become an almost daily occurrence when they used to be few and far between. This is a splurge but if you want a product that will make your hair shiny and manageable it is worth it.

*The lighting in my hotel is not the best so I thought I would hold off on posting any photos of swatches, but let me know if you want to see any and I’ll try to find a better set up.