Hong Kong 2013 vacation haul...

Oh. My. God. I really did need to do that empties post before I did this!  I don't usually do so much beauty shopping but I didn't want to suffer travellers' regret and leave thinking of what I'd missed.  I'd been looking forward to this overseas trip so much - and planned for the spend - although I admit I should have done more research on comparing prices - it means I would have purchased most of my beauty products in Hong Kong! That vibrant city really is a fantastic place for beauty bargains.

I've tried my best to organize the pictures into logical categories although there's some overlap here and there and some standalones too!

Nails

Clockwise from bottom left: 

I.Color (VN24), Dear Rus Nobless (NM21), Revlon (Whimsical & Girly)
Arezia (unnamed purple glitter & unnamed pink crème)
Sasatinnie Minis (SPN148, SPN125, SPN117, SME301)

Let's start with my usual focus: the polishes! I purchased all but two of these from Sasa. The I.Color and Dear Rus Nobless polishes were bought from Sasa's budget beauty competitor (I guess?) Bonjour.  As I pointed out in my Instagram pictures these two stores are never far away from each other, and seem to be on every city street corner in Hong Kong.  The temptation is bound to wear down any bargain hunting, beauty-obsessed woman!

 

Jill Stuart

 

Japanese beauty brand Jill Stuart is a highly collectible brand for me and I was excited to find a Jill Stuart counter in the huge (13,000 square foot or 1208 square metres) Facesss beauty department store in Harbour City.  I instantly fell in love with Night Jewel Summer Bloom EDT, a rose floral scent with lingering notes of amber and musk and - while I walked away - it was that scent which drove me back to the counter a few days later.  My other purchase was the limited edition Cocktail Dress eye color palette, with four cool, lightly sparkly shades for evening eyes.  The other items were all incredibly generous gifts with purchase:  phone jewellery, Jelly Lip Gloss (Baby Petal) and a sample pack of blotting sheets!

 

 

Lancôme & Tom Ford 

 

These two items are together simply because I bought them both from Lane Crawford - a rather luxe department store, and the only place to buy TF cosmetics outside of the TF boutique.  There was a crazy frenzy of excitement over Alber Elbaz collaboration with Lancôme (I mean the place was literally buzzing!) and the palette I was after was already sold out! Never mind, I've been a long time fan of Lancôme mascaras so I easily consoled myself with the Hypnose Doll Eyes Waterproof mascara.   I knew I was going to buy something from the Tom Ford counter so I bought a tube of Lip Color Shine in the orange-red shade Willful.  This is my first experience with the sheerer, shinier formula of these lip gloss-lipstick hybrids.

 

Canmake & KATE

 Clockwise from left:

Canmake Candy Wrap Lip Gloss (01), KATE Shiny Eyes (BR-2),

Canmake Colorful Nails (41 & 63), Canmake Cheek Gradation (05)

Canmake Cream Cheek (CL03)

Not pictured: Canmake Eye Nuance (24)

 

All of these Japanese drugstore beauty brand purchases are me making up for my travellers' regret at not buying them when I was in Japan 4 years ago! Sasa had a fantastic selection and I bought these cute items in two separate trips.

 

 

Demeter

 

Funnily enough, when I was able to buy Demeter fragrance in Australian department David Jones I never bothered! Anyhow...I chose White Bouquet, a very clean and crisp, almost freshly laundered floral scent. Yes, I know, they do also have a scent called Laundromat...   

 

 

Balms & Removers

 

More Sasa purchases:  I bought 2 eos balms because I forgot to pack my lip balm (I'm a lip balm addict among other things), then went back for 2 more! Okay, my picks were Honeysuckle Honeydew, Tangerine, Summer Fruit (LE) and Strawberry Sorbet (LE) - now I finally, totally get why people collect these!  I didn't forget my makeup remover but bought a few bottles (2 for 1) of Cyber Colors remover because I was on the verge of running out and the 59ml bottles were a handy little size. 

 

 

Liner pens & Dotting tools

 

And more Sasa purchases: Sophia (aka The Make-up Blogette) swears by Heavy Rotation liner pens so I bought these on her advice.  There was a wall full of liners to choose from so I hope I chose the right ones!  During the same time I spotted a dotting tool so I threw it into the basket for some upcoming nail art experiments...

 

 

 Sheet Masks

 

I was on the lookout for sheet masks and Sasa (to the rescue again) had a huge range of individual masks to choose from.  I think I've got masks for every possible need here!

 

 

 Wipes

 

These Sasatinnie wipes have already popped up in my empties post! I stocked up because I love them - especially the rose scented variety.  I have a strong feeling I'll be ordering more from Sasa's website in future.

 

Are you still with me?? Phew!!!

 

Let me know if you are interested in any reviews or swatches and I'll be happy to oblige!