Duty Free Haul ft. Smashbox Full Exposure palette and Benefit Lip Lovin’ Tinted Lip Balms

Hi everyone, I have a little duty free haul I picked up last week when I was on the way to Spain for a few days for my birthday!

First off is the Smashbox Full Exposure palette which includes fourteen eyeshadow shades and a double ended brush. Now I remember when this first launched and I saw all the reviews, I though it looked amazing but then heard the formula of the top row of glitter/shimmer eyeshadows wasn’t great so I didn’t want to part with nearly £40.

Fast forward to last week, I was sat on the plane reading the magazine with all their offers in and saw the palette advertised for £29.50. Now this was still a little too dear for me so I put it to the back of my mind until about halfway through the flight when they announced they were having 20% off all cosmetics! That was the little push I needed to decide it would be mine! I also got the Smashbox #Shapematters palette back when it was star gift in Boots and have been loving it so knew the quality would be great!

I do have to agree with other reviews I’ve read of the glitter/shimmer row in the Full Exposure palette, I used the second shade from the left on the top row one night on holidays and the pigmentation wasn’t great and the fallout was awful with it. The shades toward the middle and right hand side of the top row seem to be a little better though!  

The mattes on the other hand are what I mainly bought this palette for and they have a lovely formulation with the shades being right up my street! I particularly love the three shades on the bottom right hand side for an all over wash of colour, deepening my crease and as a liner!

I had also heard really good reviews on the brush included with this palette but I still need to give it more of a test, I love the Cruella De Vil-esqe half while half black brush head but both sides are a little more rigid than I usually use so it will take me a little more time to get to grips with it!

As well as the palette, I picked up the set of three Benefit Lip Lovin’ lip balms while I was on the plane because I have the full size Benebalm and Posiebalm and love them but hate taking them out of the house in case I lose them (it’s happened one to many times with other products in the past) so this way I won’t be too heartbroken if they do get lost! They also give a gorgeous tint to the lips and last a fair amount of time too! I think these were down to about £12.50 then had a further 20% off!

L-R: Benebalm, Posiebalm, Chachabalm

All in all I’m so happy with my purchases! Did I need them – no! I’m still glad I have them though but I think I will need a serious spending ban soon (after Christmas – too many cute Limited Edition sets and offers to attempt to stop spending before!)

What do you think of what I picked up? Have you tried anything or got any good bargains on board a flight?

P.S. I finally upgraded my blog template last night! Still need to add a few bits in but I'm really happy with it and installation was unbelievably easy!

Danielle xx

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