USA SHOP AND BOX HAUL 2

This is my second Shop and Box haul from the USA (again) [you can see my first one HERE], and the main driver were those bloody Tom Ford holiday 2016 limited edition Soleil Eye and Cheek palettes! >_<  Once you see them on IG, or wherever, you can't resist 'em!  My haul was prompted even more by my eligibility for Shop and Box's "Second-timer discount" (i.e. 25% off service fee)!  Need I say more.

There was a bit of a delay with the Tatcha items being shipped domestically in the USA, which subsequently delayed the international shipment of all goods to me.  However, I'm thrilled that they finally all arrived securely via DHL.  Pretty pleased with my new boxer Leia.  She was very quick to identify that one of the Tom Ford palettes was out of stock from the TF site by the time my shopping list was ready to be purchased by her and quickly rectified it by finding it in stock at Nordstrom.  I'm so happy I didn't miss out!  Although my wallet feels differently.  These were *significantly* more expensive than for me to get them from the UK (the exchange rate is a bit better there and there's no need to pay VAT), but it turns out that these palettes were already sold out there anyway.  I ended up buying both palette offerings (i.e. the Warm and Cool) as at the time there weren't any reviews or decent swatches of them to help me pick!  Let's hope they're both worth it.  >_<

The super luxe Tom Ford palette looks like an expensive clutch on the outside.

Above L - R: Tom Ford Soleil Eye and Cheek Palette in 01 Cool and 02 Warm.

Anyhoo, the second main reason had to be to restock my Nyx Micro Brow Pencil in Ash Brown collection for the next several months.  I've been through at least three of these over the past year!  After failing to find any during my Europe trip and failing to find any in stock at my local Priceline stores (save for online - they seemed to have them there!), I decided enough was enough and bought four at Ulta.  I should have bought at least six, but even I I had my limits.  Haha!  :-P  My life is now complete, but I'm sure my anxiety levels will go back up when these start to run out.  Oh, the thought!!  :-O  After trying so many brow pencils over the years (mostly all high-end brands), the Nyx Micro Brow Pencil is the most affordable and best product I've come across so far.  I just wish it didn't run out so quickly and also wasn't so hard to get a hold of!  This is a must-try if you haven't already!

I also took the opportunity to finally try a couple of brands I'd never tried before and couldn't get access to otherwise.  These are the much talked about brands: Tatcha and Glossier.  You can get Tatcha Blotting Papers from Mecca here (which are excellent BTW), but that's about it!  I'm really getting into skin care nowadays, so I'm excited to try a few of their much raved about skin care line.  Actually, it was a little hard to choose as ALL their products have excellent rating, but I went by what I personally needed the most first, and thankfully, they allow you to custom select travel sized versions of their line into a little gift pouch rather than investing in full size products.  How awesome is that!  I wish all beauty brands would do that.  Even though these are deluxe travel sizes, the packaging is quite hefty and looks and feels luxurious!

I picked up their Luminous Dewy Skin Mist (12 ml / 0.4 fl. oz), Pure One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil (25 ml / 0.8 fl. oz), and Polished Classic Rice Enzyme Powder (10 g / 0.35 oz).  Can't wait to pamper my skin with these!  I have high hopes. ^_^

As for Glossier, well, it's perfect because I've always loved the no-makeup makeup look and with my skin currently being the best it's been EVER(!) [knocks on wood], I can't wait to sport their minimalist look.  Again, it was hard to choose which products to try first - except for the cult-fave Boy Brow - that was a no-brainer must.  I purchased the black shade to match my eye brow hair colour.  I decided on their Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick in Jam, a couple of their Balm Dot com in Coconut (one for gifting), which is another cult favourite; and two of their new "Super" serums: Super Bounce and Super Glow.  Again, can't get enough skin care and these sound like exactly what I'm after.  They do have a value set, called the Super Pack containing their entire Super set (there's three), but they were out of stock at the time, and anyway, I feel the two I have are the ones I really need at this stage.  (The other serum is called Super Pure - designed for breakouts).

They also happened to just released their limited edition holiday gift set (pictured below), called the Black Tie Set, and who could resist that!  This contains their Haloscope (highlighter stick), lip gloss, No. 1 eye pencil and nail polish in the signature Glossier pink.  These look gorgeous!

So far, loving the minimalist packaging and the extra cute stickers for a bit of fun personalisation from Glossier.  Much excite!

Once again, I'd been disappointed by my local Zara store by not having enough stock of their item, so I had to get it from the USA (as previously!) - thank goodness for parcel forwarding!  The item is this wonderful navy and white striped skirt WITH pockets(!!).  I love this and I can't wait to wear it in summer!  Of course, my boxer Leia pointed out that I could take advantage of free shipping by buying more...(haha!), I'm such a sucker, so I bought the pair of dusty pink Zipped Fringed Sneakers I spotted for my daughter.  Just as well because these shoes are so adorable!!!  It's actually a zip closure so it's super easy to put on and remove.  Also, I love that the fringe detail is detachable so it's two styles in one.  The quality looks great, too and we can probably be twinsies now if I also wear my Adidas Originals Stan Smith Nubuck in Vapour Pink (which I've been obsessed with) when we're out and about!  It's better to do that now before she's old enough to find it totally uncool to dress similarly.

The new Giorgio Armani Lip Magnet: I swatched these during my recent trip to Europe when they first came out, but proceeded to ignore these as I didn't want yet another liquid lipstick and I already had my trusty go-tos (i.e. Chanel Rouge Double Intensité and Jouer Long-Wear Lip Crème Liquid Lipstick) after trying so many!  But, after all the rave reviews, I just had to buy one for blogger research purposes.  LOL.  Also, one can never have enough liquid lipsticks these days. ;-)  I went with the nudish/MLBB warm pink shade (which I've been really into lately) in Fusion #506 - a shade which was out of stock at my local DJs (the current story of my life so it seems), so I made sure to add it to my USA haul.

If I ever did a USA Shop and Box Haul again, I think I would definitely use Leia again - I highly recommend her.  She was nice and swift in her purchasing and boxing service and responses to queries.  She also made a really cute effort in including a hand-written thank you card and zip locked my samples for me with a cute little note to enjoy them. ^_^  Everything seemed to be packaged well and carefully.

Well, enough ranting (sorry!) and time for me to try out and hopefully enjoy these new goodies!  I will (guiltily) admit this was a quite an epic haul (*obvs*) and pampered (aka over-indulged) myself this Christmas already.  Ha!  Let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like swatches and/or my reviews on and I will do my best to get it out there (toddler permitting)! ;-)

What have you hauled recently?  Have you tried any of these purchases?  Do share your thoughts in a comment below.