Nordstrom haul!

Nordstrom is one of my favourite US online department stores to spend my pennies on!  Living in Dubai, I have my orders sent to my US office address who send it to my forwarding address in the US who courier it to Dubai and it works really well.  Shopping in the US is not only cheaper than Dubai but also gives me access to brands that are unavailable here.

The service I have received from Nordstrom has always been flawless.  Standard shipping is free and always includes 3 free samples.  Their customer service is also exceptional.  I recently ordered two Christmas candles and when they arrived at my US office unfortunately the glass cylinders they were in were both smashed.  I could have decanted the candles and used them in an old Bath and Body Works jar but I contacted Nordstrom on twitter so they could feed back to the courier they had handled the package roughly and Nordstrom immediately issued replacement candles to me which I thought was very impressive.

I haven't done a haul post for ages so here's what I recently picked up.  I haven't had chance to try any of these things yet as I have been travelling this week so reviews are to follow!

Nars Guy Bourdin Cinematic Lipstick in Goodbye Emmanuelle and Guy Bourdin blush in Daydream

The only two items I purchased from the Guy Bourdin collection-'Daydream' reminds me of a daytime version of Nars Orgasm which is probably my all time favourite brush.  'Goodbye Emmanuelle' is a bright pink and this lipstick is a new formula from Nars so I am looking forward to trying it.  I've always liked the Nars formula on other lipsticks I own.

Chanel Rouge Allure in Exaltée and Illusion D'Ombre in Initiation and Fatal.  

I saw Exaltée on Fleur De Force's blog and thought it was a really beautiful bold pink.  I also wanted to try the two newly launched Illusion D'ombre's after seeing good reviews and loving the ones I already one.  Sadly, you can see that Initiation is a funny shape and looks dried up so I need to try it this weekend and see if it's ok.  This is quite poor from Chanel I think-it's a luxury brand and I expect better quality control from them when they issue products.  I'll let you know what it's like.

Fatal is a plummy burgundy colour and Initiation is a medium golden bronze.

Philosophy Just Release Me

This is a repurchase!  I picked this up in Sephora in New York in March on a whim and really loved it.  It's so effective and soothing and I really enjoyed using it.

Butter London Petrol Overcoat

I think Butter London is my favourite nail polish brand.  I recently saw this newly released 'Petrol' overcoat and can't wait to try it.  It can be used alone or over other polishes-I want to try it over a black/very dark plum.  I saw some lovely swatches on Rebecca's Be Beautiful Beauty Blog of the whole new collection.

Hanae Mori Butterfly

Finally I managed to pick up this Hanae Mori Butterfly perfume.  I got a sample of this in my last Nordstrom order and fell in love with it!

I searched every perfume retailer in Dubai for it and no one had it and none of the UK retailers had it either.  It's kind of fruity with top notes of blackcurrant, strawberry, blackberry and blueberry.  It also has jasmine, peony, almond and vanilla.  It's not sweet and sickly, it's kind of grown up sexy fruity and gourmand-reminiscent of the Jo Malone Sugar and Spice collection from earlier this year.  It's delicious and I would never have known how good it was if I hadn't have received the sample from Nordstrom.

You can't beat a good haul, I know most of mine are online but it's like Christmas when the box arrives and you open it up!  I will get reviews up of my purchases as soon as possible!

Don't forget I am currently hosting an international giveaway on my blog to say thank you/Happy Holidays and celebrate my blogs first anniversary.  You can enter here