Recently while shopping online, I found myself struggling to recall the last time I found myself in a beauty hall with a purpose - a trip to source a very specific item, rather than just stumbling around wasting an hour or so and seeing what is new. Rather I tend to spend more time than I care to wish online, trying to track down whatever beauty product that I simply "must have" without ever as much as seeing it in person.

That alone is a huge problem, if said product has wormed its way into my affections via Instagram there is no telling of what filters it has been ran through to make it a little more photogenic - not that there is anything wrong with that, a pretty photo stream is what the people want (it gets them going) but when your Instagram find arrives in person, you may be a tad disappointed. This of course is also the reality with online stores - professional lighting and staging can alter the final result but deep down we all know this and most likely will hit Google for more candid photos; that's not to say I've not bought palettes and the likes without such levels of make-up detective work because I have (see my Hourglass collection). Blind buying - as we like to call it - has caused me more beauty heartbreak than when I found out I'm allergic to cocoa butter and as such half of Lush and yet I keep coming back for more. Rashes and all.
Weirdly I am more hesitant to order from brands that offer no physical premises (or at least in the UK anyw...