Getting to Grips with Beauty Products with My Own Personal Beauty Shopper

Now I will be the first to admit I’m a bit of a sticker with make-up and have been using the same brands for years. I was an Avon Representative for a long time before I moved house (I still miss my regular customers) so a lot of the products I use are from Avon. When it comes to trying something new, I just don’t know where to start. I had to the chance to meet Rose, a personal beauty shopper at Selfridges Birmingham. Selfridges is the iconic building which is part of the Birmingham Bull Ring Shopping Centre.

I’m a big fan of the food hall there, it’s truly amazing, you can even buy jars of Fluff! My favourite place of all is Yo Sushi where I started my trip with lunch from there with my Eldest Daughter.

Then I went to meet Rose, and start finding about what beauty products were on offer. Rose is lovely, she instantly makes you feel comfortable and is so bubbly and friendly as well as beautiful. She asked me what I would like to try first and told her about how I never seem to be able to get my foundation right. I don’t like to feel my foundation it has to be as light as moisturiser and the tone has to match my skin. She took me over to Giorgio Armani where I tried the maestro in 5.5. I was instantly impressed, it felt so light that it was barely noticable, but the cover was really nice and even. If there was just one thing I wanted to purchase it was this. Rose asked for a sample for me to take me home so I could make up my mind in my own time. I did not feel pressured at all throughout my entire time there to make a purchase which was really nice.

Next up was blusher and Rose showed me her favourite brand Clinique Cheek Pop. I chose the Plum Pot which looked quite dark to what I would usually use, but as Rose showed me, it was actually quite light and if you wish you could add a little more to make it darker.

Then we popped over to Estee Lauder for some lipstick. I chose Pure Colour lipstick in Dominant which again looked quite dark, but it was lovely once on. It also felt really rich and creamy and lasted well too. We also had a little try of some of the fragrances from Estee Lauder, my favourite has always been beautiful, but I also like Modern Muse and Bronze Goddess.

Next it was time for the eyes. As an older woman I do tend to suffer from baggy eyelids and dark undereye circles, but I also have very round eyes and have never really known how to make the most of them. At Bobbi Browns you can go in for free make-up lessons like Party Makeup, Classic or Smokey Eyes or even Bridal Beauty. The lovely Tharanseet gave me some lovely natural looking eyes and some great tips on how to make my eyes look more open. She did a great job of concealing my dark undereye circles, so much so that my daughter was really impressed (And believe me it takes a lot to impress her!)

At the end of the day I came away with a really nice make-over, done just the way I asked. A real natural look that didn’t feel caked on. I was really pleased and would definitely recommend Rose to anyone.

You can contact her for an appointment at rose.gallagher@selfridges.co.uk. It costs £30 which is redeemable against any products you may wish to buy. You can also find Rose on Twitter at @MixedGemsBeauty

The advantages of having a personal shopper are that you have loads of advice about products you may of not used before, you have someone who knows exactly where everything is and knows who to speak to at each store,  you have the opportunity to try lots of different products to discover which is best for you and you are never under any pressure to buy.

I was given my Personal Shopper experience for free but I was not pressured into writing about it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.