My Overseas Beauty Treats

I got asked by lovely Nadia from Durban to contribute a beauty post to her blog – an old favourite. She is off on a trip to the UK so asked me to do a few must-have beauty indulgences that I put on my shopping list when I head over. This is what I had to say…

You know how some people get overly excited about trawling a grocery store overseas? Well that’s how I feel about trawling pharmacies and apothecary’s overseas. The packaging, variety, great offers and new releases get me (and my wallet) every time!

Even though I always allow for the odd spontaneous purchase, below are a few products that I always on my shopping list and have been for a few years. They range in price, but are all absolute essentials in my mind and not available in South Africa therefore a real treat in my mind.

This image is from Nadia’s post – she’s creative like that 🙂

Soap & Glory

This range is available at the well-known UK pharmacy, Boots, and is an absolute favourite. The packaging, quality and price point is amazing. A few favourites are the Foam Call Body Wash, the Hand Food cream and A Great Kisser Lip Balm in Juicy Peach! Well worth the added luggage weight else try and get these in duty-free.

Dyptique

The Dyptique candles have been my pick of scented candle for ages and are probably the brand that made me fall in love with candles. They are pricey at R600 each (urgh that makes me feel ill saying that) but if you are wanting to treat yourself then pop one of these on your list. I am not going to say they are ‘wprth it’, because how the hell can I candle be worth this amount, but they are amazing and I adore everything about what this brand is about.

Barry M Nail Varnish

I don’t know much about Barry M as a make-up range but I do know that their nail colours are amazing and pretty good quality, They are also chip as chips which makes it fun to buy some colours you possibly wouldn’t usually splash out for. Pink Flamingo is my best colour – such a pretty coral/pink.

Rimmel Instant body bronzers

I love these. They are sold in South Africa sporadically but they have an amazing selection overseas – from water-resistant one’s to matte/shimmer – all of which come in a great variety of shades. These bronzers really are the perfect product to slap on when you in need of that emergency tan – this is always the case with me as I hate the thought of self-tan on clean linen!

Deborah Lippmann Nail Lacquers

Again, I can’t really tell you that spending R250 on a nail polish is ‘worth every penny’ but treat yourself to one of these. Trust me. They are such amazing nail varnishes and add something different to your normal nail look. I got the gold flaked one which looks great on top of virtually any colour. It’s minimal and quite chunky which makes it a lot classier (according to me, at least).