Walking through hay fields in Wisconsin...

One of the most unfortunate things about going on a long, wonderful and relaxing holiday, is that one day soon after you return, you will feel like you never went in the first place...

Although before I left I could not contain my excitement about visiting New York City, one of our most cherished memories from our US trip was visiting our dear friends in Minnesota and taking a day trip to stay on a our female host's parent's property in Wisconsin.

Cardigan - MARNI for H&M

Necklace - MARNI for H&M

Jeans - Nudie "High Kai"

Boots - Country Road
(regrettably culled during our holiday to make room for new stuff).

For a while there we racked our brains trying to figure out how we too could lead a simple life on a beautiful property.  Fast forward one month and nothing has changed to how it was before...  We are back to the rat race and I'm listing culled items on eBay *sigh*.

My USA beauty haul and the resulting cosmetics shopping commandments

Upon returning from the US and putting away all of my purchases, I have set down for myself a number of commandments with respect to shopping.  Or rather a list of what I can and can’t buy, because let’s not kid ourselves any longer – it’s abundantly clear that I like to buy stuff. 

If I break any of these commandments, I may not burn in the pits of hell, but I will deem myself to be deserving of electric shock therapy... seriously.

So here are my new shopping commandments (for the rest of this year) with respect to cosmetics. 

Thou shalt not buy anymore eye shadow *insert lightning and clap of thunder*

OMG, how good is Sephora?!  I don’t know how I resisted, but I only came away with 4 eye colour products from this magnificent store!  Granted I now have over 20 new eye colours to play with (on top of my already extensive eye shadow collection) having bought BOTH Naked palettes by Urban Decay along with a couple of other products.

I also bought a few STILA eye colour products at Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5^th (AKA home of bargains galore... more bargain buy stories courtesy of this store in a future post) in Minneapolis since that they were only $5 each.  I have, however, given most of them away seeing that I would need to be an eye makeup wearing spider to ever use up all of these eye products.

Thou shalt not buy anymore lipstick *insert lightning and clap of thunder*

I am the *proud* owner of 10 new lipsticks.

I loaded up on Revlon Lip Butters (given that they were only $6.50 in the US vs $21.95 in Australia!) and MAC Sheen Supreme lipsticks.  For the record I prefer MAC's formulation of the lipstick/balm hybrid over Revlon’s take, as they are way more creamy, shiny and moisturising.

Also I bought a cheapie from Rimmel (Kate No 12 for only $3) and NARS in Dolce Vita (a lippie that has been on my wish list for years).

It is now my new ambition in life to wear lipstick everyday and to reapply it constantly.

Thou shalt not buy anymore concealer *insert lightning and clap of thunder*

I have the perennial appearance of looking tired, so I'm always searching for my HG concealer.  I have gone through tubes and containers of MAC, Biotherm, Dior, YSL and Giorgio Armani as well as lower end brands in my quest to find it.  Whilst in the US I decided to splurge on products which I wouldn’t dream of buying in Australia since as already demonstrated with respect to Revlon Lip Butters, we get ripped off here. 

I came away with Total Concealer by Chantecaille , Mr Light by Givenchy and an Ellis Faas concealer.

Here's hoping for a more rested appearance.

Thou shalt not buy anymore nail polish *insert lightning and clap of thunder*

... Or at least not coral shaded polishes... I bought quite a few from the likes of Chanel, L’Oreal and Deborah Lippmann.

Speaking of nail products, I bought a few items that have really impressed me...

Sephora’s Instant Nail Polish Remover will revolutionise my nail routine. Inside the coral red container is a pre-moistened foam - nail polish removal is made easy with minimal mess and smell.  If only I had discovered this product sooner I may have spared the World the vision of my chipped nail polish, which I always lazily left on for one extra day then another because I hate using regular nail polish remover.  NO MORE!

Also Butter London's Nail Foundation Flawless Basecoat and Hardware P.D. Quick Topcoat are both top notch products . I am most impressed by the topcoat.  It is the *best* I have ever used - dries hard and shiny.

* All images from Sephora