Selfridges Beauty Workshop Lucky Bags

Oh the disappointment! A few days ago I got an email telling me the limited-to-1000, Beauty Workshop lucky bags had come in stock. The description was as follows 'Just in time for Christmas, The Beauty Workshop at Selfridges launches the much-anticipated Lucky Bag. A lucky dip from the most exciting make-up, hair, skin and body brands, hand-picked within The Beauty Workshop at Selfridges. Each bag includes a minimum of five beauty must-haves, while a very lucky few contain a Beauty Workshop service gift card for the ultimate pampering experience worth £170, making the Lucky Bag the perfect Christmas gift for beauty fanatics.'


Being only £15 for Selfridges quality products, I snapped one up quick and anticipated it's arrival. I know the risk with buying a lucky bag, but with it being from Selfridges, I was still expecting high-end products...Oh how wrong I was.

I received..

Nails Inc mini nail polish in Flammable (4ml mini-size worth £2.75)

Don't get me wrong, I love Nails Inc, I have a pretty unhealthy amount of their polishes sat on my desk, but could they not have at least put a full-size in? Nails Inc aren't exactly an expensive brand at £11 a bottle.

Hair bandz 99 band ball (Worth £4.99)

I can't think of anything that could ruin a hairstyle more than sticking a horrible bright hair band into it. Looks like something I could go pick up in Claire's Accessories. It's actually a great possibility that they're actually sold there, but alas, not being a 12 year old I wouldn't know. 

Dr.Bronners Magic Soap Hemp Rose (59ml worth £1.37)

This is something I can actually see belonging to a Selfridges lucky bag. But again, with a 236ml coming in at £5.36, it wouldn't have hurt to have included a slightly larger size bottle.

NPW Nail Varnish Remover Pads (Worth £1.95)

Beauty Junky Face Mask (Worth £1.50)

Do I even have to comment? If getting nail varnish remover pads in a Selfridges lucky bag wasn't bad enough, it comes complete with incredibly tacky pink leopard print packaging. It was put straight back in the bag, where it's pink tackiness could no longer be seen to the world.

I can deal with a face mask, but this one looks like it was designed for children. I'd expect to go pick both these products up from Boots or Superdrug, not one of the most luxurious department stores in the world. Next..

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) Lip Tar in Demure (Worth £10)

Finally, a product that's worthy of the lucky bag! I love OCC Lip Tars, and a tiny bit of faith was restored when I pulled it out and realised it was a full-size product. And those of you who own their lip tars, you'll know a little goes a LONG way, so I'm very pleased. Great colour as well, I'll definitely be putting this in my kit.

My bag ending up being worth a grand total £22.56. Considering I payed £4.95 for shipping, I saved a whopping £2.61, useless! I could have gone out and bought the Lip Tar on it's own and saved myself ten pounds!

As you can certainly tell, I am thoroughly disappointed with what I received, and judging by other bloggers posts on their bags, I'm not the only one. I know it was only £15 and it's the chance I take with a lucky bag, but I'm sure you can all agree that I expect so much more from Selfridges. I was 100x more pleased with the couple GlossyBox's I've bought in the past, and they were cheaper!

Hopefully Selfridges will acknowledge and take note of the sheer disappointment everyone's feeling, and will up their game next time. Or simply stick to the Beauty Boxes they've released in the past.

[Update] Selfridges read my post and as an offer of goodwill, gave be a full refund, including delivery costs and I didn't have to return the bag. Their bags might have been a big flop, but they still have great customer service!

What do we think? Would you be happy with receiving this? Did you order one yourself?

Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the V&A London

For months now I've been waiting for the Hollywood Costume Exhibition to open at the Victoria and Albert museum. Since I was a child, my family used to get together each week for film nights; I can still remember being exposed to the film Alien as a 5/6 year old (Traumatising!), and watching the Wizard of Oz non-stop wanting to be Judy Garland. So it's no surprise that myself and brother became massive film buffs, my brother turning to Film Studies and Directing and me turning to Makeup. I am forever in awe of the magic of film making, possibly one of the greatest experiences I've had was a VIP tour of Universal Studios in Hollywood, being able to walk on film sets still in the production stages and visit street sets used in films I've watched over again since childhood was incredible.

So as you can imagine, a couple days after the exhibition opened I was straight down there. Some of the pictures aren't the best so I apologise, but I was told I couldn't take pictures even though these costumes have been on film?! Ridiculous! Of course I didn't listen, and draped my scarf over my phone in my hand so I could take pictures without them seeing. Sneaky!

 

Again I apologise for the quality of the pictures, but I was on a mini-spy operation just to get them for you! I haven't captioned them as if you know your films, you'll know who they are! These are just a selection of the costumes, there are literally a few hundred showcased. The star attractions of the exhibition were Dorothy's dress and ruby slippers and Marilyn's iconic Seven Year Itch dress.




I whole-heartedly recommend this exhibition if you love your films as much as I do. If you're a person who's film catalogue only spans over the last 10 or so years, I'd give it a miss as you'll be spending your time not knowing who anyone is! It runs until the 27th January 2013, so plenty of time to go see it!

Has anyone been to the exhibition? Can anyone recommend any other exhibitions around London?

Quick update & my halloween looks for this year!

First off I would like to thank you for the lovely comments I have been receiving about my Born This Way makeup and previous posts, I will be sure to get back to you in short notice.
Secondly I want to apologise for my abandonment of my blog recently, I have been all of a sudden overrun with LCF work and of course it prioritises over everything else at the moment.  I have an essay to write, research journals to fill, and a photoshoot to organise, all to be submitted in two weeks time. So chances are you won't be hearing much from me until then!


As a makeup artist, halloween is one of my favourite times of the year, and here's a quick photo update of some looks I created, and what I got up to..

Experimenting with makeup to decide what I would be going as!

Doing some quick slashes for housemates

Doing Halloween makeup for staff of the Drury Lane theatre. The interior of the theatre was the most beautiful i've seen

Turned my brother into a 'zombie hooker' for a night out. His words not mine!!

I dressed as Alice for halloween! Didn't want a plain makeup, so I gave Alice a 'Galliano' twist

Sugar skull trial on my housemate, for a small makeup job I had yesterday

Hope you all had a lovely halloween, feel free to show me your makeup creations, would love to see them!