The Holiday Collection: Holt Renfrew Paramount Beauty Bag

Image courtesy of Holt Renfrew

Next up on the Holiday Collection (and Cheap and Chic) is Holt Renfrew’s Paramount Beauty Bag.

From Holt Renfrew:

For the ultimate beauty buff or even the girl on the go, it doesn’t get any better than the Paramount Beauty Bag. Complete with two luxe removable pouches —one patent and one mesh— and deluxe-miniatures including a shu uemura mini eyelash curler, Sisley Hydration Intense Moisturizer, and Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, its truly the must have of the season! Plus, you’ll receive a $10 beauty voucher that goes towards your next purchase at Holts!* Over $100 value, only $25.

Okay so for all of my non-Canadian readers, Holt Renfrew is our version of Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, etc. It’s a Canadian luxury department store. My dad was recently in Calgary and I told him that he had to stop by Calgary’s Holt Renfrew because a) the store is gorgeous (they recently renovated it I believe), and b) I wanted this bag!  We have a Holt Renfrew where I live but it’s not like the other ones in larger markets. It’s basically just personal shopper suites and they sell some cosmetic lines like Laura Mercier, La Mer, Deborah Lippmann, etc., nothing like the offerings of regular Holt Renfrew stores.

I believe that Holt Renfrew puts out a beauty bag every year (I may be wrong). I remember seeing last year’s in Montreal but it is nothing compared to this one.  This product comes with three bags, a mini-sized Shu Uemura eyelash curler, a sample of Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, a sample of Sisley Paris Hydra-Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration moisturizer, and a $10 voucher to use off any beauty purchase of $10 or more.  Oh, and did I mention that it’s all $25?  According to the hang tag, it has a value of $129.50.

I don’t often get excited over bags themselves because I have a million of them.  They are seriously like a dime a dozen, but this bag is very impressive.   You actually get three bags with this item.  The biggest bag is plastic and has that patent feel and look.  I love how it has feet on the bottom so that the bottom of it won’t get dirty and it adds a luxe feel to the whole look.  As for the inside, the lining is the same colour as their iconic shopping bags, a burgundy with the HR logo and the best part, it’s actually plastic so if something spills you can easily wipe it up.  There is also a back zippered pocket and a pocket inside. The second bag is a standard sized cosmetic pouch with the patent look and feel on the outside and with a fabric lining.  The shell of the pouch also has Holt Renfrew embossed in black all over it.

The third pouch is a mesh one that snaps inside the largest bag.

As for the goodies inside the bag, you get deluxe samples of Laura Mercier Foundation Primer (.5 fluid-ounce) (full size retails for $40 CDN) and Sisley Hydra-Global Intense Anti-Aging Hydration moisturizer (0.35 ounces) (1.4 ounces- the full size- retails for a whopping $250 USD.  That makes the sample worth $62.50) as well as a mini-sized Shu Uemura eyelash curler (I believe this is actually discontinued as it is unavailable on their website, I have heard it retails for around $15).

Sized compared to Laura Mercier's Silk Creme Foundation

Mini Shu curler compared to full size Sephora brand

And last but not least, you also get a $10 voucher to use towards your next beauty purchase of $10 or more.  I don’t have the voucher as my dad used it to buy my mom a YSL lipstick, but basically you are getting the bag for $15. Crazy, hey?

I think this bag would be a phenomenal gift for really any beauty buff or anyone.  They are only available until December 31, 2011 or while supplies last.  Last year’s bag only included the bag itself and the $10 voucher, so with the samples here you are getting it for a steal.  I still cannot get over the price of the Sisley Global moisturizer.  The sample is 10 ml and a full-size is 40ml, so even if you wanted to get a full size you might as well buy four bags, it’ll be cheaper and you can use the rest as gifts for family and friends, plus you will have four vouchers to use towards other goodies.  That’s totally what I would do if I used that moisturizer on a regular basis.  Also, I really like the Shu mini curler (basically the reason I bought the bag), it gets those hard to curl lashes.  I’m going to do a review on that on an upcoming post so I will reserve my comments until then.

Have you gotten the Holt Renfrew Paramount Beauty Bag?  What were your thoughts?