Friday 5 June 2015

Fragrance Direct Haul

I recently discovered any beauty junkies nirvana - Fragrance direct! I thought I was onto an underground, up and coming website, but soon realised I've been living under a rock. Well, in the words of Lana Del Ray, later's better than never. 

The website is full of makeup/skincare/haircare from drugstore brands at a fraction of its retail price. As their selection is so vast, a little overwhelming and at the time I was down in the dumps, I made a rather sizeable purchase. The thing is, items are so cheap that you can't afford to NOT buy them! All in all, I bought *gulp* 15 products, yet spent a feeble £31. Here's what shopping with the blues leads to...

I don't know about you, but I had no idea Calvin Klein had a makeup range. Their lipstick's were only £2 a pop, so I opted for these three:
L - R: Eros, Cosmopolitan & Ethereal

They're from CK's delicious luxury crème lipstick line and I have to say, I'm seriously impressed with how moisturising they are!

When I first began reading blogs around six years ago, I remember reading about the elusive Jemma Kidd, but could never get my mitts on any. I was over the moon to see a few of her infamous products available so jumped at the chance! I picked up a lipstick duo and two stardust crème shadows.


L - R: Titania, Orion & Galaxy

There's something so magical about her sleek noir packaging and cosmic inspired names. The lipstick duo was £2.50 and is a 'my lips but better' shade and incredibly pigmented - I'm also obsessed with its name, which is derived from the queen of the fairies from Shakespeare's A Midsummer night's dream and is also a moon in Uranus! The two STUNNING crème shadows were £2 each and are practically identical to the By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Frozen Quartz and Bronze Moon - which retail at a staggering £29! 

Sticking with the whole dupe / frugal Fran theme, I spotted this shimmer brick which looks conspicuously similar to Bobbie Brown's! For £1.50 I had to give it a whirl. I was umming and ahhing between the two shades Beyoncé and Rihanna, but opted for the latter!
As I expected, it's quite sparkly and a little goes a long way. I used this as a highlighter the other night, but best leaving it at home otherwise tipsy touch-up's will leave you looking like a disco ball - learn from my mistake!

I read a Buzzfeed post a few days ago and my mind was blown - did you know that on the back of most makeup products there is a number which let's you know how long the product is good for?!?!

Although Rimmel is an easy access brand, I was past the point of no return and snuck these into my basket:
L - R: Luna & Mercury

I actually used to own Luna and would rave about it, but lost in somewhere between Berlin and Amsterdam :'( I've never tried any of Rimmel's scandaleyes eye shadow paints, but have heard they're a dream.

I've been eyeing up L'Oreal's glam shine lip glosses for months. In store they're £8 but on fragrance direct they were just £2.50, so I went to town!
L - R: Juliet, Lolita & Romy

I finally picked up two Essie nail polishes as they were only £2.50 each and I adored the spring shades - eternal optimist and urban jungle.

I was naturally a little sceptical when I first discovered the website as the prices seemed too good to be true, however all items were in mint condition and sealed. I only had one issue which was that I ordered a fourth vampy red Calvin Klein lipstick called Venus which won't roll up - but luckily, lipstick brushes exist! 

If there's any products here that you'd like a more thorough review of or want to see in action, just badger me!


On a bad day, there is always lipstick.