Luxury Beauty Haul

When it comes to beauty,  like a lot of things in life, I’m a person of two extremes. I either buy nothing for ages, or I get lots of stuff all at once. I’m either fresh-faced or in full-on war paint. And I’m just as happy doing drugstore or luxury.

Both ends of the spectrum have amazing products, and both provide a different kind of pleasure to me.

This month, I’ve ended up with some gorgeous luxury beauty items- a couple of Christmas gifts that I hadn’t got around to using yet, and then a couple of orders with Cult Beauty and Space NK and here we are!

Nuxe Prodigieusement Belle Set

An oil is a winter skincare essential for me, as nothing else gives such deep hydration to parched skin. And although I’ve tried plenty of different oils, I always come back to Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse which I’ve been using for years.

For one thing, it smells absolutely divine - just one whiff has me thinking of bedtime and relaxation. Plus, I love the dry oil finish that never feels greasy or smothering.

The formula is made from seven different nourishing plant oils, with no silicone - camellia, macadamia, borage seed, sweet almond, argan, hazelnut and tsubaki- all selected for their moisturising and anti-ageing properties. Best of all it’s a true multi-tasker, you can use it on your body, face and hair.

In this set you get a large bottle with a cute illustration on the front and a spray cap, but you also get my other absolute skin essential - and SPF 50 face cream. I never go out without it, even in the winter because it’s the single most important thing you can do to care for your skin, both from a health and an anti-ageing perspective.

Plus, I use retinol treatments and they require you to wear sunscreen as skin becomes more sensitive to sun damage. This one is so light and non-greasy plus it smells of sweet orange, Tahitian gardenia and coconut, so it’s a pleasure to apply, like all Nuxe products. My love for this brand just grows and grows.

Saint Tropez Luxe Self Tan Oil

Since dipping my toe into the water with tanning products last month, I’ve started to get a little more experimental! This product has the latest in intelligent self-tanning technology fused with a luxurious dry oil formula, so not only does it care for skin but it delivers a streak-free tan.

It’s designed to give an instant hit of glow and shimmer to skin, while also deeply conditioning it. There’s no nasty fake tan smell either as it’s scented with neroli, lemongrass and grapefruit essential oils. It dries down quickly so there’s no hanging around, just smooth it on with a mitt and it develops into a really subtle glow.

I’m terrified of orange skin, so the fact this is low key but just gives you polished, supermodel skin is definitely exciting, and the beautiful heavy, frosted glass bottle is super pretty.

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eyes Palette

I’ve been completely obsessed with this since it launched, and luckily for me Father Christmas (or at least my husband Sebastian) was paying attention because this was under the tree for me. Charlotte Tilbury products are the height of luxury and I’m slowly trying to add more to my collection.

Although I love the Colour Chameleon crayons, I haven’t actually had any of the powder shadows yet, so this seemed like a great place to start. And from the moment you open the heavenly gold Art Deco style palette, this is beautiful. What I really love about this is that Charlotte has described it as an ‘eye wardrobe’ and it really feels that way.

There’s everything you need for each occasion, handily grouped together. The twelve shades are all handily grouped together in trios- Day, Desk, Date and Disco. From light and neutral to deep and sultry, it’s all there.

CT products are all designed to make looking good easy and that suits my busy life, where I no longer have hours to spend deciding how to pull a look together. It’s makeup made easy, but in the most luxurious way.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Colour Correcting Fluid

Colour correctors have been a key part of my daily face since they became popular a few years ago. Dark circles are something I really struggle with, and my under-eye area is definitely one of my biggest problems! I must have tried just about every eye cream going, but what has made more of a difference is adding a peach-toned corrector to my routine.

Okay, it doesn’t get rid of the problem, but it definitely makes it disappear for a while - I’ll take what I can get! Urban Decay’s Naked Skin foundation impressed me, so when they launched a range of colour correcting concealers, the peach tone was at the top of my list.  I do use my regular Mac Pro Longwear concealer over the top of it as well, but the extra step just helps to chase away the shadows and makes my whole face look lifted and bright.

This formulation is pretty good as it doesn’t settle into fine lines and is quite hydrating. It cheats a few more hours of sleep than I generally get, which makes it a winner in my eyes.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder - Dim Light

I’ve been wanting to try this illuminating face powder for the longest time, but it never seems like an especially good time to drop £40 on something I wasn’t sure I’d love and it kept slipping to the bottom of my never-ending makeup wishlist.

Marketed as an Instagram filter in a compact, the Ambient Lighting Powders were one of the first products in a wave of ‘photo perfect’ cosmetics that promised to blur, illuminate and perfect your skin as well as Photoshop.  Using ‘Photoluminescent Technology’, this powder diffuses and softens light as it hits your face, so you always have that nice, lit-by-candlelight look. There are six different powders, but I’ve always been the most intrigued by ‘Dim Light’, which blurs out imperfections (of which I have many, many…).

Space NK actually offer a travel size powder for £19, which is still pretty expensive but seemed a bit easier to swallow while I decided if this is a must-have or not for me. There have been plenty of dupes I’ve tried out, like Makeup Revolution’s Radiant Lights or NYX #NoFilter, which are great, so is the OG still worth it?

Well, the Hourglass powder is probably a little longer lasting in its effects and just gives such a pretty finish to the skin, plus the sleek packaging definitely gives that thrill of luxury when using it. Powders are always a good luxury buy as they have such a long shelf life.

Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow - Illusoire

After first spotting this in a magazine a couple of years ago, I’ve always wanted to try it. The shade is a stunning purple taupe colour that’s unique. It sort of reminds me of a shimmery version of Mac’s Slate colour.

It’s a non-crease Cream shadow that you can easily build up the intensity with or wear as a more sheered-out wash of colour and has a unique, mousse texture that feels slightly bouncy in the pot. There are the most beautiful multicoloured reflects subtly shot through the formula that come to life and sparkle under the lights.

Like all Chanel products, these feel so special to use! Pack this on with a flat synthetic brush and smoke the edges out with a fluff shader and it looks stunning.

GlamGlow #Glittermask GravityMud Firming Treatment

So, I’m not really one of these girls that is deep into glitter, but when I saw this face mask I’ll admit I was a little obsessed. It was low-key haunting my dreams until I cracked and ordered myself one. I mean, would you look at it?!

The GlamGlow brand is much buzzed over in the beauty world, and this mask went off the scale. It’s Instagram crack. But it’s not just a beautiful, sparkly pot of joy- it’s also a really good treatment. Who says skincare has to be serious?

The best-selling GravityMud Firming and Tightening Treatment has been given the glitter treatment, with a marshmallow and liquorice complex that smooths and contours the face instantly, it’s ideal pre-party skin prep. I had a travel size of the original in my Cosmopolitan Party Starter Edit and I was impressed. I love me a peel-off mask (is there anything more weirdly satisfying in this world?).

The effect is of noticeably lifted, glowing skin that makes you feel like you’ve had a professional facial, so even though GlamGlow products are fairy dear, they do work. The glitter just takes it way over the top to the next level - but why not have fun while getting your skincare benefits?

Tarte Tartelette Toasted Eyeshadow Palette

Okay, like I don’t have enough warm-toned eyeshadow palettes. It might be an illness, I’m not sure. But who could resist this tortoiseshell beauty?

Warm, rich sunset shades are the easiest to wear and always look good, so I knew I’d get lots of use from this. There are twelve shades - seven mattes and five shimmers, which is a really nice mix. There are fiery copper shades, gleaming golds and all manner of rose and apricot colours - all supremely wearable.

Being Tarte shadows, they’re super creamy and blendable, which makes getting a pro finish much easier. This palette is a thing of beauty!

Tarte Tarteist Pro Glow To Go Highlight & Contour Palette

Finally, I picked up this super-cute little highlight and contour palette. I tend to use these as multi-taskers during my morning rush - the bronzer I use on my eyes as well as a crease colour, and the highlight shade on my lids. It just means less products when I’m in a rush.

This little palette is compact, and contains a deep matte bronzer shade (Chisel) and two pearly shimmer shades to highlight (Gleam, which is a cool-toned pearl, and Burst, a warm champagne colour).

The shades have been designed with undertones that mimic natural light and shadows to give a polished, natural look. They use the Tarte Amazonian Clay formula, which is renowned for its long-wearing colour payoff. The powders are really finely milled and not too glittery, which I like, and the contour shade is the right balance between cool and warm.

So thats my little deluxe haul. What beautiful products have you been loving lately?