Florence and Mary: High End US Beauty Haul

When my BFF Rose announced she was moving to America I should’ve been distraught. And of course I was that she would no longer be a short drive away when we wanted to catch up but on the other hand I was over the moon that I now had a ‘US Beauty Shopper’. Any beauty product that I would previously lust after longingly could now be mine without the costly expensive of an international fight or worries about customs charges. Fantastic news!

I must say in the time that Rose has been living in the US she has been amazing at helping me tick items off my US Beauty Wishlist and recently I put in some requests for two ‘must have’ products, one of which I certainly would’ve struggled to get hold of had it not been for her US mailing address. That is of course the Lorac Pro 3 Palette. Which you will have had a teaser for in last months favourites.

I’m lucky enough to have all three of the Lorac Pro Eyeshadow Palettes thank to my lovely American dwelling friends. Rose sent me the Lorac Pro Palette for my birthday and Grace was kind enough to send the Lorac Pro Palette 2 as an act of kindness last year. I mused whether the lust and love for the Lorac Pro Palette is as much for them being so hard to get hold of. As more and more US brands are accessible to us Brits, Ulta the stockist of Lorac still does not ship to the UK, nor does the brand itself and the stores are typically in locations outside of the usual tourist shopping malls.

As soon as I saw the Lorac Pro Palette 3 I put Rose on standby and she went above and beyond when she received an email from Ulta advising her that she was able to take advantage of an early release date. Yay for me. As I said in my favourites videos this palette is no different in format to the previous two. Slim, sturdy packaging that makes them ideal for travel, in fact this is currently on holiday with me in Italy. You have sixteen shades, eight mattes, eight shimmers and there are so many ways of wearing them that even an eyeshadow amateur such as myself can do great things.

Admittedly when this palette arrived I wasn’t as excited as I thought I would be as I thought it was a little boring but those initial reservations have long gone. This is the ‘little black dress’ of make up palettes, the perfect selection of neutrals, the comfy black pants you’re wearing under that killer outfit. As I’ve said I chose to take this on holiday with me as one of the reasons for my trip is a christening. So whilst many of the days away will be spent ‘casually’ I wanted to ensure I had the make up to make a little more effort for the special occasion and this is just the ticket with its pigmented and buttery formula. Any novice can go to work with these shadows with minimal mistakes.

The Sephora Lip Cream in the shade Strawberry Kiss was actually a gift from my sister-in-law when she visited the US for work and was a request after enjoying Always Red and wanting to add another to my collection. I really love this shade and it’s a great alternative to red when I still want a bright lip but some pinks look a little garish on me. I was so happy with the colour I actually gave space to it in my make up bag when I went to Menorca last month and wore it often. I do find that after prolonged wear by the end of the day my lips can be suffering a little and this is perhaps one of the worst lip products that I can be left with nothing but a stark ‘lip liner’ look if I’m not careful but that doesn’t stop me loving them.

Finally in my small ‘haul’ is the much hyped product, the BECCA x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette, a brand/YoutTuber collaboration that has sparked much controversy but nonetheless has lot of love and hype around. I’m not really a highlighter person, or when I say that it’s an area that is so very new to me I’m only just finding my feet. If I were to walk into the office with a beam of light coming off my cheeks I’m sure my colleagues would question my sanity but highlighters are a product I’m growing to love and are becoming part of my everyday make up look.

When Champagne Pop was first released the blogging world went crazy and everyone was praising how amazing it was but for my aforementioned reasons I was happy to hold back. If I’d been in the US and stumbled across a Sephora I’m sure it would’ve made its way home with me but it wasn’t something I was desperate for and when it was made available in the UK I was worried about the delicate nature of it leading to many smashed pans and the fact I’m not really one for online beauty shopping.

Fast forward to the palettes’ release and I decided now was the time to jump on the bandwagon. It made sense, not just the ‘famous’ Champagne Pop but three blushes and a new highlighter shade all encased in some pretty amazing packaging. A side note on this packaging it was very luxurious but weighty. I did have in mind that this would make a perfect travel accessory but I’d be cautious now due to its size.

We’ll start by saying that I’m not overly enamored with this palette. It’s nice, and I don’t know if I can blame the hype, the controversy or my make up skills but I’m just not feeling the love. As many have reviewed the powders in this palette are dryer than the individual pans and I’m so used to hearing Jaclyn Hill talk about how ‘buttery’ her highlighters are I’m a little disappointed.

If you’re a fan of the palette or have investigate thoroughly you will know that there are five shades for you to play with, two highlighters and three blushes. The two highlighters are the famous Champagne Pop and the newer Prosecco Pop, both shades of gold the former with orange undertones and the later yellow. For me, an amateur MUA at best, there isn’t enough of a difference between these two highlighters to make me go ‘wow’ and where gold highlighters are concerned my preference is Mac Magnetic Appeal and the yellow tones would be Charlotte Tilbury’s Bar of Gold Highlighter.

Moving on to the blushes which again don’t spark any joy unfortunately. I have enjoyed using Rose Spritz a little but in comparison to my newly purchased Make Up Revolution Rose Gold Lights it leaves me wanting. I don’t find there’s enough variation in this palette to make it something I can’t live without nor are the products achieving anything I can’t find elsewhere and with more pleasing results. I will continue to play with this palette as I’m sure I just need to find the way it can work for me but if I had the opportunity again I don’t think I would’ve hit ‘buy now’.