Preparing for Europe!

To prepare for my upcoming trip to Europe, I went on a little shopping spree. I was expecting to get more clothes to prevent me from looking like a tourist, but nothing really jumped out at me, so I came home slightly unsuccessful in the clothing area. However, I decided to splurge a little on some new skin care and makeup items. Nothing too exciting though. I also included some of my buys from my last shopping trip, which features more new clothing.

I have heard many bloggers (such as Estee from essiebutton.com and Vivianna from viviannadoesmakeup.com) rave about the Caudalíe Eau De Beauté beauty elixir, which sparked my interest in the product. Jumping at this opportunity I decided to purchase the mini size for $18, and even though I have only had it for a day, I quite like it. The smell is nice and refreshing, plus I love spraying it on after a hot day. After much research, I decided to buy the Origins Zero Oil cleanser to replace the Proactiv one I had been using. I like this so much better because it has natural ingredients and no harsh chemicals like Proactiv does so it feels nice, instead of leaving my skin tight and burning. It has a similar smell to the beauty elixir, clean and refreshing, slightly minty. I'll keep you updated on how I get on with it after I've had it for longer. As my beauty insider point perk at Sephora I recieved the Clinique pore refining solution, basically a serum to be applied before moisturizer but after cleansing morning or night. I noticed a difference straight away, so I'll give this product a thumbs up. At Sephora I also decided to pick up a new brush head for my Clarisonic since it's recommended to change it every 3 months and I've had the same one since Christmas. I got the sensitive skin one for $25, kind of expensive and not super exciting. I added the Rosebud strawberry lip salve to my collection of lip balms as well since I thought it would be nice to have a big tub since I tend to use those little sticks up in a week. So far it's been nice; very moisturizing and smooth. I'm not partial to the scent, it smells like artificial strawberries, maybe next time I'll go for the traditional rose flavor. My only actual makeup purchase was the Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC20, which has a nice medium/full coverage and works well at covering both blemishes and the under-eye area. I prefer liquid concealers like this as opposed to cream because I find them much easier to blend and work with, so this one was right up my street.

I bought this loose knit sweater at forever21 for $12.50. I think it will look nice with white shorts or leggings and brown or black boots. This was my only successful clothing purchase at my outing yesterday.

Moving on to my last shopping trip... I bought this denim jacket from the brand Kut to wear with dresses and scarves. It's nice and form fitting without being tight. I love how simple the design is, with no fancy buttons or details, and it's also quite thin making it good for summer time.

I bought this sweater from Nordstrom BP. It looks nice paired with leggings and brown boots. The colors are nice and summery without being too ridiculously bright. Perfect for those who don't usually gravitate toward color, like me.

I also bought this at Nordstrom BP, and it's a nice loose knit, bright blue sweater. It looks super cute with white shorts and nude sandals. Perfect for summer.


Those are all my recent purchases. Hope you enjoyed!