Empties: August 2013

I don't usually do Empties post (read : never) because my apartment is small and i have enough stuff filling it up without keeping junk that;s empty or used up. However this month i set myself the challenge to do it and i ended up finishing enough products to make it worth posting.

The products are as follows:

Swisspers cotton wipes

++++ repurchase: yes

Go to cotton wipes, i find them soft and easy to use though i prefer the pads, especially for nail polish removal, but those are a little expensive. The work just as well but can be a bit fluffy when it comes to nail polish.

Savvy makeup remover wipes

- - -  repurchase: no

These made my skin sensitive, i don;t usually have sensitive skin so no way am i repurchasing this. They smelled fine and worked okay but after a swipe or two they started to make my skin feel raw and achy, sort of like how your nose area feels when you have a cold and have to keep wiping it.

Bastise Dry Shampoo in Tropical

+++ repurchase: yes

Great dry shampoo, i sometimes forget to use it though because i perfer to just wash my hair but on the odd days i forget or get lazy this is a god send, i'm currently trying out the cherry one and i really love the scent so i might look for a full size of that rather then my go tropical.

Models Perfer Mattifying Primer

+ repurchase: no

This worked well as a primer, not exceptional but not bad. The reason i won't repurchase is because after about two months the lid would no longer stay screwed down and started to get gel over items in my makeup bag. Not fun so this one is a no go.

L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara in black

+++ repurchase: yes

I love this mascara and will repurchase as soon as i have gone though a few others or they have a sale on L'Oreal as the thin brush makes it so easy to get the lashes on your lower lid but does a great job separating lashes in the top lid. My lashes are naturally long so i don't need a huge amount of volume but this still does add extra oomph.

Schwarzkopf Brilliance Conditioning Sample

- repurchase: no 

This was okay, i noticed my hair color leaked a lot after i used this, i 'm not sure if it was because of this or because it had only been my second wash since dying it but this didn't do anything special, smell especially nice or give me any other reason to repurchase.

Aveda Conditioning Sample

+ repurchase: no

This conditioning cream was a bit nicer in that it smelled good but there honestly wasn't enough product for me to tell if it was any good so i might try the brand at some point but feel no inclination ti go out and try this any time soon.

Lynx For Her Deodorant

+ + repurchase: yes

I like this, it lasts throughout the day and the lock cap makes it great for travel. You can even take it on a plane because of that. It smells pleasant enough and works, with good packaging. Not sure if this is still limited edition or not.

Honey I Washed the Kids shower gel

++++repurchase: yes

A great honey smelling gel, it's a gel version of the solid soap that Lush have had for a long time and i will surley repurchase this again, however right now im rotating Philosophy's Cinnamon Buns shower gel and Victoria's Secret Pure Seduction shower gel both of which are super yum.

Not pictured

Fresh Farmacy

+++++ repurchase: yes

I go through at least one of these or more in a month and i will continue to buy this until i die because it's the most amazing cleanser. That is all.

Preview: Illamasqua "The Sacred Hour" Collection

I found out about this collection in the morning one day after my birthday. God Damn it, i have no idea how, in my illamasqua fevered brain i missed the buzz going on about this upcoming collection. Bad Blogger! now i have to go sell my kidney so i can afford the palette and one of the blushes at least! so without further ado here is Illamasqua's new collection: The Sacred Hour.

The Reflections Palette -
A warm neutral palette, featuring Precipice - a soft lemon, Acute - a Ash Taupe, Graphica - a graphite grey and Dart - a toasted bronze. It seems to have the same spongy/creamy consistency as their Paranormals palette. I need this in my life. $53.97 (Not yet available at Myer Australia)

Velvet Blush in Sleek & Peaked -

These two are a new type of blusher from Illamasqua. Velvet blushers are a cream to powder, designed to last longer on oil prone skin. I imagine this is because their Cream Blushes are so popular but those who are oil-prone often can't use them. These seem pretty amazing though i don't know if i could choose which one is nicer.

Nailpolish in Hemlock and Facet -

Some very interesting colors going on here, Hemlock is the pale opal green and my favorite of the two, the other is Facet - gray crystal. From what i have seenboth can be built up and layer quite nicley over each other or other polishes

False Eye Lashes in Lush -

The are a new addition of their range as well, a rough slightly feathered lashes that emphasize the natural tone of this collection.

Lipstick in Shard - 

A lovely autumn lipstick with deep berry notes, it is like most of their lipsticks a matte product. Looks like it would go well with many skin tones.

Skin Base Lift -

Skin Base Lift is a new addition to the skin Base range and works as a creamy concealer designed to brighten, illuminate and conceal. It's available in 7 shades so most people should find a suitable match, the other option is to find something close and use the "white" shade to mix.

Review: Pond's Flawless White BB+

Now you may know that I'm a fan of bb creams, and i was a fan tinted moisturizers before BB creams were a thing. So unlike some people it doesn't bother me when a new BB cream comes out and it is little more then tinted moisturizer, that's cool with me, so long as it does what i need it to do: even out my complexion, match my skin tone, not look like cake, not sink into pores, and not make me break. For the most part this isn't too difficult, for about a year my go to product was the Garnier BB oil free miracle skin perfecter, and it worked pretty damn well. It was however quite thin and the new packaging meant a lot of product flowed out of the tube and made things quite messy. Over time it also seemed to take a bit of an orange tint, not sure if the formula changed or i just got paler but there came a time when i really wasn't as impressed with it as in the past.

BB creams being a weakness for me i became very excited when i saw the shiny and pink new Pond's stand go up at my local Priceline, and then my excitement immediately plummeted again when i saw the one product my eyes had locked onto, the bb cream was not available and according to the shop assistant would be available when it was available. Not helpful. So i checked back every few days and no luck, so i went to Melbourne for my trip and there it was. Yay!

The product is great, even though i got the Illamasqua skin base at around the same time i have used this much more because i really don't like using full coverage everyday. I had terrible acne as a teen and used to cover it up, now i can't stand having heavy foundation on and fear the cake look of my high school days. This doesn't do that. It is very similar to the Watsons BB Collagen Cream ,even which i reviewed a while ago. It has the same thickness and the same creamy consistency and even similar packaging. I really liked Watsons and I really like this one too.

The opening is  a narrow tube, similar to the Garnier BB but the product isn't as liquid so it doesn't leak out, and is quite easy to control how much of the product you want to squeeze out, the case is quite soft so that isn't a problem either. There is no strong scent, if i stick my nose up to the only way i could describe the smell is "clean" but i can't really smell it on me so there is no irritation. It comes in two shades and there is also a Mature Age version which i got for mum and it seems pretty similar. 

The version we have here is Australia is SPF 15, but i know for a fact the US had a SPF 30 version, so that makes total sense that the place known for it's massive sunlight and rising rate of skin cancer gets the lesser SPF version. Mind boggling.

The craziness aside it's a around medium coverage in terms of BB creams, but probably sheer verging on medium when compared to full on foundation. For me it lasts 8 hours when set with a powder and then i usually wash it off but it seems to hold on pretty well as i don't really notice much wear. It's quite easy to blend and i would recommend using fingers or a wide haired stippling brush, I always apply this with my Real Techniques one because i don't like getting my fingers dirty but finger application works great too.

Oh it also claims to whiten skin, but meh, i have not seen evidence of that, wasn't expecting it to, and that's not why i got it. So if your looking to whiten skin i don't think it's good for that. Although i will say it does have a somewhat bright-ning effect. As for oil control it's good for up to 5 hours after that you might start getting some oil coming through but it's not really marketed as such either. I will repurchase this once I'm done with this.

Wearing Ponds Flawless White BB+

WIN: Nice consistency, good delivery system, cute package, not too expensive, brightens complexion

LOOSE: Seems light as if there isn't much product, doesn't whiten.

REPURCHASE: Yes

AVAILABILITY: Priceline $13.99

Gold/Plum Eye Makeup Tutorial

Hey Beauties, i decided to take a shot at doing a tutorial with some of my eyeshadow recent and not so recent as eye makeup has very much been my focus, especially since i purchased 10 of the Color Infallible eye shadows and have been over the moon about them since.

Products Used:

MAC Rubenesque paint pot

Color Infallible eyeshadow in Goldmine

MAC Amberlights

MAC Star Violet

Essence Cappuccino, Please!

Urban Decay Blackout

Models Prefer Liquid Liner in Brilliant Brown

Physicians Formula Eye booster in Ultra Black

Maybelline the Falsies mascara

1. Starting with a makeup ready face, ie. foundation and primer in this case it was Ponds BB Cream as foundation and Illamasqua Hydra Veil as a face primer.

2. Apply MAC Rubenesque as a eyeshadow base to the base of your eye lid. Not into the crease. Smudge it out so it's not too thick.

3. Apply Goldmine to the lid by patting it on with flat and rounded brush.

4. Apply Amberlights to the crease and corner of the eye, going over some of Goldmine.

5. Apply Cappuccino, Please! to the brow bone and blend out slightly, apply some to the inner corner and blend out.

6. Apply Violet Star to the upper lid and blend out into Amberlights and Cappuccino, Please!  Finish off with black eyeliner, i used Physicians Formula Eye booster in Ultra Black on the top and Models Prefer Liquid Liner in Brilliant Brown on the bottom lashes. Lastly top with  Maybelline the Falsies mascara.

Illamasqua Lust List

I've made no secret of my recent love affair with Illamasqua, and with a love affair such as ours it is hard not to want more. So if i was to get some more, and in time i will what purchases would top my list? Well I'm glad you asked. Mostly this list is not in priority order except for the Blush it brush which is seriously testing how long i can live without it.

1. Blush up Brush

2. Paranormal Palette

3. Gleam in Aurora

4. lipstick in ESP

5. lipstick in Salacious

6. Sealing Gel

7. Powder Eye Shadow in Livid

8. Powder Eye Shadow in Burst 

9. Powder Blush in Naked Rose

10. Powder Blush is S.O.P.H.I.E

What is your most lusted for Illamasqua item?

Review: L'Oreal Color Infallible Eyeshadows

So as i mentioned in my pre-birthday post i picked up two of the L'Oreal eyeshadow at a target clearance sale, those two colors were Sahara Treasure and Naughty Strawberry for $4.83 each. I then tried them both over the next few days and realized what i had been missing out on, and it was a lot. So of course i went back for a more thorough search and emerged victorious with 6 more colors. I'm so in love with these right now, i honestly must say that in terms of pigment and ease of use they approach Urban Decay levels of awesome. Having said that i usually hate loose pigments, in fact loose "powder" anything is usually way more work then I'm willing to put in due to the mess, the difficulty, the packaging.

Usually it just doesn't work for me. These however are not like that, they are pressed pigments which means they don't throw around quite the same levels of mess, the container is big enough to dip a brush or a finger, and there is no mesh plastic to get in your way so the control is all in your hands about how much you use. The packaging is plastic, fairly light and holds 3.5g of product and a stopper to push the pigment into place.

The product itself is very soft and almost spongy in it's consistency, it's odd to describe a powder product as creamy but these really are. Supposedly they last 24hr, i don't know but they lasted 10 hours easily enough and personally i experienced no creasing using Illamasqua Hydra veil, Illamasqua color pigment or a Maybelline eye tattoo as a base.  They are very shimmery but i would say most are still work safe though i have read that there are a few matte shades out there somewhere. 

Most bloggers seem to have had better luck with using fingers over brushes but personally i have had great luck with both, and i would say that using a slightly harder flat brush works very well at picking up the pigment and blending is a breeze no matter how you do it.

Now let me share my awesome stash with you:

021 Sahara Treasure

 Sahara Treasure is a warm shimmery bronze that almost approaches a taupe color. I leans a little towards gold and makes a lovely everyday shade. The base color seems to be a golden sort of beige and then when you blend it out it is mostly gold. Despite this and the shimmer the color is still fairly neutral and wearable.  Cost $4.83

022 Emerald Lame

Emerald Lame, which is quite an odd name is a dark slightly olive toned green that could be described as a dark khaki color. Greens aren't my usual forte but when they blend this smoothly and sit so well i am willing to make an exception and give it a try. Also known as Golden Emerald in the US.
Cost $0.83

027 Goldmine

 Goldmine is a perfect warm toned gold that has a hint of a creamy almost beige base, a close inspection reveals a few dark orange sparkles but they don't show on the lid and seem to mostly just add depth to the warm gold overtones. Sadly this one had it's stopper removed but the product doesn't seem to have been harmed at all. This one also calls itself Gold Imperial in the US.
Cost $0.83

031 Innocent Turquoise

A faintly warm toned blue/green shade from the Miss Candy collection. It leans more toward blue then green with tiny specks of golden yellow that do not really show up on the lid but do add shimmer and dimension. It's a lovely shade and i personally found it showed up quite well. Cost $4.83

032 Sassy Marshmallow

This was one of the colors from the Miss Candy collection, it's a cool toned silvery blue with a hint of lilac and is just gorgeous. I can see this working well with a bright pink or blue. I believe this one also masquerades under the name Sassy Chamallow in the US. Cost $4.83

033 Tender Caramel

Tender Caramel is a somewhat darker version of Sahara Treasure, it's a bit richer then Sahara as well with a noticeable lean toward a red almost plum color visible in the sparkles. Taupe might be a good descriptor, it's an attractive shade that beautifully mixed gold, brown and red into a very wearable shade. Despite the red and gold elements i do think it's still a cool leaning eyeshadow but could certainly be warmed up next to a coral or warm gold. Cost $4.83

034 Pepsy Coral

Pepsy Coral is certainly a unique eyeshadow color, i have similar shades in blushes and lipsticks but i can't honestly say that i have any similar eye-shadows. It's a distinctly warm toned coral with specks of gold and yellow to add depth. It's not as shimmery as many of the others but paired with a brown or taupe would still be fine for work. Cost $0.83

036 Naughty Strawberry

Naughty Strawberry was the first color that caught my eye and is largely responsible for my sudden increase in L'Oreal color infallible eye shadows. That said Naughty Raspberry might have been a more apt name. It's a warm deep pink in the pan but closer to a blue toned pale Barbie pink when swathed, the color is very build able and can be built up to be quite vibrant. The shimmer is mostly golden with a few visible silver glitters thrown in too.

013 Burning Black

 Burning Black is a very dark rich plum.  This one is an interesting color as it's quite clearly a plum but at first glance, and indeed when you wipe it away it looks black It;s a lot less shimmery then the others but the formula remains fantastic and it blends out like a charm without loosing it's vividness.

Cost  $9.95

408 Gleaming Bronze

Gleaming Bronze is a deep almost green toned bronze. It's darker and deeper then  Tender Caramel and Sahara Treasure.It has less shimmer but it has an almost glossy look and would make a oretty awesome neutral eyeshadow. Cost $7.50 for 2 (The second color i picked up looked like it had been used and was quite nasty inside so i will be returning it shortly)

The swatches are not very accurate as they were taken a bit later in the day and the color seems to have washed out quite a bit, it does however show you how pigmented these are, each of these was only a single swipe. I will certainly be on the lookout for more.

Here's a look i did using Goldmine, Naughty Strawberry, and Innocent Turqoise with a bit of bit of a dark blue (Dusk till Dawn MUA pallete) in the crease. I love how it turned out, looks like a starry night/galaxy type of look.

Rainbow Tag

The Colours of the Rainbow Tag has been making its way around so, I thought I'd give it a go, and also it's my birthday today :) So a rainbow tag seemed wholly appropriate. Hope you are all having a great day too.

 Red:

Illamasqua Deamon eyeshadow - a gorgeous deep matte red. Goes on and stays smoothly  on for ages, an impulse buy from Illamasqua, one i am totally happy with and i love using it with the gold Maybelline eye tattoo/

Orange:

Korres Lip Butter in Mango, i had no idea what to do for orange until i looked through my photos. and duh! of course it would be this, my first ever Korres lip butter was a magical and wonderful experience and i always keep this in my makeup bag.

Yellow:

Lush Brazed Honey face mask, i don't get a lot of masks from Lush because of the time restriction but they always feel great and i haven't had a bad experience with any, but this one if probably my favorite, it's a great detox mask and a pretty reasonable ex foliation mask too.

Green:

A England St George nail polish, perhaps the greatest gem in my entire collection, and I'm not usually a fan of green, my photos of this nail polish don't even do it half justice. It has a depth of color that i have never seen in any other polish and it has a beautiful multicolor shine in sunlight.

Blue:

Lush's Calm liquid eyeliner, I no longer use this as much as i used to as it is approaching it's expiry date which i find terribly depressing because for the price i would like it to last longer but for a colored liner this is unparalleled by anything else i have tried, Great for a pop of color when your makeup is a bit drab.

Indigo:

Lush's Sweetie Pie shower jelly, is on this list because i had nothing else i really liked in this color, and the scent on this thing is absolutely amazing, i was a body spray in this scent. However as a soap it's not awesome and really hard to use, but if you put it in the fridge it's quote awesome for hot days.

Violet:

This was a no brainer, it's right in the name Mac's Star Violet, my lust product for the longest time i love it still, it's a beautiful color perfect for lid or transition colors and even though it looks a bit red in this photo it does lean more toward a violet plum. Looks great paired with bad to the bronze eye tattoo.

Pink:

There was alot of contenders for the pink section, but my most loved and missed shower gel from Lush, called Rose Jam is a missing part of my heart. It was gorgeous, it was love at first scent and it was limited edition. I pray this comes back, it smells like the condition cream Ro's Argan Body Conditioner.

Multicolored:

My Maybelline eye tattoo collection has grown significantly since i bought tenacious teal on a whim, these are great bases or their own eye shadows. Although the formula has a bit of variation I'm still quite fond of the colors i have and would happily purchase some of the other colors out there, assuming Australia ever gets them. My top 3 would be bad to the bronze, tough as taupe, and pomegranate punk.