Mystery Shopping Assignment - Beauty Bliss

Being one of our three Superheroes has some perks. The most enviable (other than the cape) has to be the chance to mystery shop a beauty counter, salon or shop.  Oh yes, we give our Superheroes some spending money and send them undercover in the beauty industry.

Well this time around, we decided to do something a little different.  Our members seem obsessed with online shopping, but can it really beat the instore experience?  We're going to find out.

This week -  the lovely and always up for a challenge Kirstyj.  We assigned Kirsty the lofty task of combining our Save or Splurge challenge, while mystery shopping a pretty cool NZ store.  Can you really find high end and fab budget buys in one place?

When I heard that the Mystery Shops were going to change a wee bit this time around I was a wee bit apprehensive of what BR were going to get me into! Luckily as soon as the message was in my inbox my fears were gone. Shop at BeautyBliss – do a save or splurge on two eyeshadow palettes and review the experience. A mystery shop I could complete in my pj’s!

So first stop was the Beauty Bliss website. I have shopped with them before, but it was so long ago I can’t even remember what I purchased. Initially I got distracted from what I was supposed to be doing. There are so many different brands on there! Becca, Jeffree Star, the Balm, Beauty Blenders, and many many more. Their range has extended so much since I had last shopped there. It is so nice to be able to purchase these things in NZ and support a NZ company.

Eventually I got onto the actual point of my mystery shop and had a look at eyeshadow palettes.The site is really easy to use to get right down to just eyeshadow palettes rather than eyeshadow as a general area. One of the first things that caught my eye were the Becca Ombre palettes. I hadn’t tried anything by Becca before so straight in my basket went the Becca Ombre Rouge Palette at $79 as my “splurge” (after I checked temptalia.com to see if it was any good). Beauty Bliss does have review section on the products page, but obviously with newer products it means there isn’t anything reviewed yet. Next I needed to choose a “save” eyeshadow palette. I picked out the Makeup Revolution Iconic Elements Palette which came in at $12. I couldn’t believe that there was a palette that was so cheap but I thought it would be fun to review two different matte eyeshadow palettes as well. 

The checkout process on BeautyBliss was super easy. First off I adore that they do free shipping. Whenever I go to checkout and there is a shipping charge it always makes me second guess my purchases. You can create an account with them which also makes it easier to purchase again. Also they have a points system where you get 1 point for every $1 you spend then 25points can be used for a $1 discount. I think this is great if you have a few things you like to purchase from them. I already apparently have $5 I can use! And they let you know at checkout that you can use your points. 

I ordered on a Monday night, it shipped on the Tuesday. Then I wasn’t home on the Wednesday that it arrived. I then popped down to the Courier post shop to pick it up. The packaging is super cute with a BeautyBliss purple plastic bag. The palettes were really well wrapped in bubble wrap which is apparently a eco friendly bubble wrap which is kind of cool. On the invoice it also mentions that you can post a pic onto Instagram and you can win a voucher.

Overall my shopping experience on BeautyBliss was super easy and quick, which is everything you want in an online shopping experience.

My first impression of the palettes was that I could tell what was high end and what was lower end. The Becca palette arrived in a cute wee box, and had a instruction booklet on looks you could do with it. Its packaging felt sturdy with a mirror in the lid. The Makeup Revolution is in a more flimsy plastic and comes with a sponge applicator. I know these things aren’t as important as whether the eyeshadow actually does a good job, but I think on a daily basis it really is nice to feel the luxury each time. 

I started using the Becca eyeshadow palette straight away. The shades are beautiful and all come together to make so many beautiful looks. I feel like the red tone shades really make my blue eyes stand out and they are so different than any other shades I own. They are really buttery, pigmented, and a dream to blend. The thing I found most miraculous about these shadows is how long they lasted! I couldn’t believe when I got home from work one day to find my eyeshadow looked just as good as when I applied it. My eyelids usually eat up eyeshadow and it is a creased mess at the end of the day even with primer.

The Makeup Revolution palette I wasn’t as excited about. Obviously the packaging isn’t as luxurious but the wide range of shades didn’t even get me excited. The eyeshadows aren’t that pigmented so although it looks like there are a lot of shades they don’t actually end up being that different when applied. I initially thought that these looked quite chalky but they still blended really well and created a really nice look. Although it didn’t crease that much I actually found that the colours seemed to fade a bit. But for the price you can’t expect this to do everything.

Personally I would splurge every time. The Becca shades are like nothing else I own and the lasting power is really important to me. I must say though the Makeup Revolution palette really exceeded my expectations for the price, and for $12 would be a great place to start for someone just getting into eyeshadow.

Thanks to BR for the time being a SuperHero and the opportunity to try these palettes!