I know I haven't been blogging for quite a while.
I was vacationing in Portugal with my husband. Believe it or not, when we first bought the tickets to go on vacation, my first thought was, I can't wait to get there so I can check out the European makeup scene. I know. I'm a sick person.
So when I saw a Sephora in Portugal, I nearly soiled myself. Unfortunately for me, shopping at Sephora in Europe was a sad, sad experience. Ladies, if you want to buy from Sephora, do so in North America. Sephora in Europe is a FORTUNE...and they're months behind in terms of products and promotions. So what do I mean when I say it's a fortune? Let's say you want to buy a product that in would normally cost you $20 USD at Sephora. In Portugal, no matter the brand of the product, the rule universally was that you could add at LEAST $10-15 to the original price and THEN convert it to Euros. So it'd cost 30-35 EUROS. When you factor in the current exchange rate (which hovers around 1.3 Euros to the dollar), it was $39-$45.50 for a product you could pay $20 for on US soil.
It was just so, SO disappointing. And I didn't find anything in the store that could exclusively be purchased in Europe. The only real difference I noticed was that Sephora in Portugal carries Chanel and Shisheido cosmetics, which normally are carried by the likes of Nordstrom, Neiman's, Saks, etc. over here.
I also found some L'Oreal products in Portugal. Not in Sephora...in Cosmetics "Outlets". Some of the products even seemed unique to Portugal. But I'm sorry...I'm not paying $19 Euros for L'Oreal cosmetics...I don't care how unique.
The real jewel, cosmetics-wise, of Portugal came in the form of a Kiko Milano Makeup shop. Kiko Milano is an Italian brand of makeup that, as far as I can tell, cannot be purchased in the US...not even on their website. I was already somewhat familiar with the brand, as my brother lived in Italy for several years and would occasionally bring me some of their products. Kiko makes fantastic products of excellent quality at reasonable prices.
So when I saw a Kiko shop in Portugal, I was overjoyed. I was also fortunate enough to wander into the store on a weekend when they were having massive clearance sales. It was meant to be. Check out the GORGEOUS things I found!
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| One of the two blush trip palettes I bought. This one was coral. The other was mauve. They were on sale for 5.90 Euros each! They contain two blush shades & a highlight! |
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| I got this GORGEOUS eyeshadow palette as a Birthday present for a good friend of mine. The pigmentation of these shadows is FANTASTIC. My only regret is not purchasing another one for myself. |
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| I grabbed a tube of this gorgeous, creamy lipstick for 1.70 EUROS. PENNIES!!! |
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| Picked up some great polishes for CHEAP! |
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| This is the softest blush brush EVER. And it applies product beautifully. I got it for 5.90 Euros. Not a bad deal for a brush of this quality! |
So next time you're in Europe and looking for some makeup, skip Sephora and find the nearest Kiko Milano store for some boas compras (as the Portuguese would say)!
Xoxo,
Cathy
