Exclusives all round

Back in the summer, I splashed out and bought an exclusive Chanel perfume for my wedding. I justified it as being worth it for my wedding, and indeed it was, I absolutely love it still and am only about a third of the way through it. However, there is another Les Exclusif I have wanted for the last six months: No 18. Another bottle of 200ml perfume at £173? I just couldn't bring myself to do it especially since I am not exactly suffering from a lack of perfume in my life.

Then I heard a rumour. Bendel's on Fifth Avenue stock the exclusives in 100ml. Be still my beating heart. So this trip to NY, I hot-footed it to Bendel's and raced up to the Chanel counter. By the way, Bendel's is the nicest department store I've been to. Yes, it's even nicer than Fenwicks on Bond St. I just wanted to move in. But disappointment awaited. Only regular old Chanel perfume at Bendel's. However I was told Bergdorf's had it. Luckily Bergdorf's is right next door so off I went (dragging my poor friend with me) and YES! It was there. All the exclusives in 100ml. For $119 (including tax). At current exchange rate, this is £74. Not bad. So I bought No 18. You can read more about it here. It's not a scent for everyone, it's quite a challenging one but I simply love it. It really grows on you and I can't stop sniffing myself when I wear it. Also, it has a magnetic lid. That's worth it alone, right?

From the sublime to the ridiculous. I bought a new Essie colour in Walgreens called Dive Bar. I didn't think I'd come across it before so I Googled it and it's exclusive to Walmart! That made me laugh. It's a very pretty colour - like a peacock.  You can see a swatch here. I am amazed Essie is doing an exclusive with Walmart but I had heard they had been bought by L'Oreal so maybe that's why.

Also, there was an Essie sale on in another pharmacy I was in - $6 a bottle. That's is so much cheaper than here in the UK. It makes me angry how much we have to pay over here. Anyway, I bought three bottles to celebrate such a bargain.

Finally I bought a packet of Sally Hansen Nail Effects for a friend who asked me for them. They must be the hot ticket in town as they were sold out everywhere. But I am no quitter and I tracked them down for her. She wanted the butterfly ones. You can read more about them here.

I didn't even go into Sephora. Shocking I know.