My Personal MU Shopping Experience

I had the tremendous privilege of going on a beauty counter visit yesterday with my very own personal shopper aka Louise from Get Lippie. If you've ever read my blog post about my beauty counter fear you'll know why I needed an escort!

We started off by having a *cup of tea and a little chat about what I'd like to look at, I'd been organised and written a list to take with me. We'd also had a bit of a chat via email beforehand. Normally Louise would ask a client to bring along her make up bag to help get a picture of her likes and dislikes and possibly some of colour mistakes they might have been making. We skipped this part as the traincase would have needed a separate seat on the train and I've bored you all often enough to know what's in there!

First up was a wander round the Beauty Hall in Selfridges. One of the must do's on my list was to look at NARS blushers. I have wanted to try one of their blushers for such a long time but thought I needed to see them in person before purchasing. As it turns out I was right to wait, we looked at Deep Throat and Mata Hari, ones that I had been interested in from my online research. Swatched on my skin I wasn't sure they were right for me. However, Lokoum, a cream blush that I've been doing the basket dance with for months, was a clear winner. I didn't buy it yesterday but hope to rectify this very soon.



We browsed Laura Mercier, Illamasqua, Bobbi Brown, Trish McEvoy, Armani and Suqqu to name a few. It was wonderful to look at these ranges in detail and have opportunity to swatch and chat with Louise about which colours would be good choices for me. Louise also did a fabulous job of preventing the Sales Assistants from sending me running for the Exit. A very handy thing if you get THE FEAR like me!

I did brave a consultation at RMK. Another range that I've only ever seen online, I was intrigued to give it a try in person. I remember Pixiwoo mentioning the RMK super basic liquid concealer in a youtube video some time ago and I was interested to see how it would tackle my dark circles. The SA that looked after me was adorable, I didn't feel pressured and honestly, I could have let her put make up on me all day long! The super basic concealer was one of my purchases of the day and I was excited to get a sample of their cleansing oil and liquid soap to try.

I also have to mention the trip to the Chanel counter. Louise introduced me to their bi-phase liquid eyeshadows/Ombre d'Eau. I have never come across these before and was astonished at how stunning they are. You know when you look at something, don't buy it and then spend ages regretting it? Well that's how I feel about the Ombre d'Eau. I fear that my Boots Advantage card is going to take a battering to make one of these lovelies mine.

Next we moved to Liberty and my much anticipated first look at Ellis Faas and Le Métier de Beauté. I made my second purchase of the day at Ellis Faas. I was delighted by the feel and weight of the packaging of these products and the colour range is just superb. I picked up Creamy eyes in E105, a beautiful taupe colour. I'm just as interested in how I get on with the packaging as the colour.



At the Le Métier counter I made a beeline for Tenne blush and the Kaleidoscopes. I've had Tenne on my wishlist for months, in person I was less excited. It looked much more muddy in person than I was expecting. However, I had the swatch on inside of my arm and I kept looking at it (it lasted till bedtime) and I think I was too quick to judge. This one remains firmly on my list for another occasion. Louise gave me a little bit of a lesson in how to apply the Kaleidoscopes and after a little play myself I completely fell for Violaceous Splendor. The colours layer together to make the most beautiful shades. The only thing that made me hesitate was the cost, at £55 the Kaleidoscopes certainly aren't cheap and I've already treated myself to lots of beautiful things recently (yes, I'm looking at you Edward Bess). So, I showed some restraint and this will probably end up on my Christmas list. I did spend a couple of hours admiring the gorgeous effect I had created on my hand and I would really recommend checking these out in person if you get the opportunity.



Now, I have to share with the you the pièce de résistance of the day. Whilst we were looking at the Le Métier counter Louise spied a folder of articles and went for a little look. On the opened page there was none other than a printed blog post written by Get Lippie herself. How fabulous is that? I urged her to sign it but ever modest she wasn't having any of it.

As you can see I didn't buy much on the day but I have come away with a huge list of items that I want and know that I won't be disappointed with. Some of the things I haven't already mentioned are a Suqqu blush and Armani's Face Fabric. I've also quashed some long time lemmings which to me is just as valuable as finding things to buy. One of the best parts of the experience was having someone with me who could give a genuine opinion as to whether something was going to suit me or not. I love my husband but honestly he's not up to the job! Finding new things like the Ombre d'Eau and suggestion for different shades to try was excellent. Louise's SA defending skills are awesome too, great stuff if you're nervy like me.

If you're in need of shopping assistance, whether it's to overhaul your make up collection, or you simply need an experienced chaperone, Louise offers a professional service which I can highly recommend. Details are available here on Get Lippie or you can email louise@getlippie.com for further information.


*We were very lucky to be joined by the fabulously funny girls from Facegoop at this point. Needless to say it was an hilarious half hour or so! Unfortunately Facegoop aren't available as part of the standard personal shopping package ;).