Shipping to the UK: My First Sephora Haul

I'd seen the buzz around the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit and how it was a constant sell out in the US.  It has been scheduled for a July release in the UK via Cult Beauty, so I signed up to a notification email alert.

When Roxy told me that the Kit was back in stock on Sephora, a madness took over me and that was it: I was going to make my first Sephora order!

Sephora now ships to the UK.

If your basket totals over £75 before taxes, then you qualify for a flat rate of £6 postage.

If you spend upto and over this threshold amount, then you won't incur any customs fees.

You can still order from Sephora if your basket total is under £75, it's just that then you would have to pay the actual postage cost, which will vary with weight.

So I didn't pay customs fees, but I did have to pay sales tax.  I thought this would be at the UK VAT rate of 20%, though when I've added the charge up, it's worked out at approximately 21.5%.

My pokemans, let me show you them:

 

With every Sephora order you get to choose 3 free samples.  

Some of the samples I wasn't able to pick as they couldn't be shipped to the UK, like perfume vials for example.

I chose:

•   BECCA Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector™
•   Marc Jacobs Genius Gel Super-Charged Foundation And Remedy Concealer 
•  TOKYOMILK DARK Femme Fatale Collection - Everything & Nothing No. 10 Handcreme

 

There were lots of extra sample codes that could add a deluxe sample to your order.

 

I'm most made up with the deluxe sample I chose of Josie Maran Argan Daily Moisturizer SPF 47!

I wore it the other day when the sun was beating down, I was out walking for an hour and my face wasn't red at all (even Chantecaille's Sun Protection couldn't cut an hour in the sun!) so I'm very impressed.  

I pretty much blind bought this Josie Maran Matchmaster Powder Foundation, as swatches online aren't much use to me as I find coloured powders are just so hard to get a true colour picture of.

From my first few uses I'm loving it, as the coverage is exactly what I would want from this type of product: medium with a suprisingly matte finish when used alone.

 

 

The contour kit is smaller than I expected; for some reason I pictured a massive Costal Scents type palette but I'm glad it's so small as it keeps it portable.  As the casing is cardboard it's also really light. 

I really like this palette as I can use the pink and yellow powders as correctors as needed.

The mid-toned grey brown Fawn is the perfect shadow colour.

Havana is way too dark and red toned for me to use on my face but it makes a good brow colour :)  

My Lolita Style Eye-Con No. 7 Palette by  Marc Jacobs is even prettier than I could have imagined!

The colours are a perfect mix of matte browns and unique shimmer shades.  

My picture doesn't show the colours well, but hopefully you can get a sense of how luxe the item is :)

- Kerry 

P.S. Look what I found hidden under the cardboard box flaps: it's my missing sample!