February Empties

Lush Rose Jam Shower Gel - This has to be my favorite shower gel of all time, it's a sweet mix of rose and citrus but i don't find it to be too sweet or overly fragrant. It's just sweet enough to be amazing and bubbly and smooth. I have another little bottle of this but I'm tempted to keep it until I know if it will be back again for Christmas or something. But I'm also not sure I can wait that long. I would repurchase this a thousand fold.

Philosophy Cinnamon Buns Shower Gel - I picked this up in Melbourne and am truly sad to see it go, but it;s not soo bad as I was gifted the Cookie Dough version for Christmas so that helps makes the loss a bit more bearable. This was a white and super hydrating shower gel that actually smelled like cinnamon buns, can't ask for a much better way of finishing of the night. I would repurchase this but I like trying different scents first.

Nivea Pure & Natural Cleansing Toner - The big thing for this product was that it was 95% natural ingredients, as well as the inclusion of argan oil and aloe vera. This has been my favorite toner so far and I will go back to it after I use up my current one, this felt so refreshing and hydrating and didn't give my skin that uncomfortable tight feeling that is common from toners. (at least for me) It smells nice too.

Nivea Milk & Honey Lip Balm - A sweet but light smelling thick balm that is probably the only lip balm I have ever finished, why? Because this is the best one I have used and I made sure not to loose it! It's that good. In some ways the reason I like this is the reason I like the Rose Jam shower gel - it's sweet without being cloying and it's fresh without being irritating. Going to repurchase today!

Face of Australia Nail Polish Remover - I took a break from painting my nails for about 2-3 months because they were so horribly wrecked and weak I could do nothing with them. Second time around I'm trying to help minimize the damage by using nail strengthening products and moisturizing or strengthening polish removers. I don't know how that actually works but if nothing else maybe it will work if I believe it does. This remover was pretty good. not stinky and not painful and I do think it made some difference to the quality of my nails. I would repurchase this.

Davore Replenish Hair Treatment - My first hair treatment ever, it seemed to do a nice job of smoothing and re hydrating my hair but was kind of annoying to mess around with since i would have a shower, wash my hair, put on the mask and have to wash it again 10 minutes later. I would perfer a leave in or dry treatment because I just can't be bothered messing around so much. I did an okay job but not enough to not be a bit of pain in the the booty.

Aveda Purifying Gel (sample) - I quite enjoying this cleansing gel and would repurchase except I am a sworn convert of using my Lush Fresh Farmacy cleanser and really don;'t need this, it was good but i still think by FF does a far better job and smells much nicer.

Aveda Hydrating Lotion (sample) - The moisturiser was nice too as far as it goes, it was quite thin and almost gel rather then lotion like. Probably better then the cleansing gel but i still like my Moo Goo moisturser bettter. Sorry Aveda

Swisspers Cotton Pads - A staple, I like these for everything from nail polish remover, to toner to all thing in between. They stay whole and don't tear apart and rarley leave fuzzy bits on me.

Lush Fresh Farmacy (not pictured) - Went through 2 bars of this and have already repurchased this. My HG product.

Review: Glossy Lip Crayons from Face of Australia

Last year the Sheer Gloss Crayons came out in a cute little 4 pack and I quite liked them for their super glossy texture and how they can just glide onto the lips, undoubtedly the smoothest lip product I own. I admit I kind of forgot about these after the Revlon Kissable balms came out but they really are two different creatures. Now however FoA has brought out some new shades and I just had to try some out. I picked up 4 of the shades that were the most appealing to me; these being the 2 darker somewhat brownish shades, the coral/nude and pink. There's is also a berry purple which i wanted (was sold out)  and a apple red.

Each one smells like a bit like vanilla and last around 2-3 hours but doesn't fade into a dry lip or into patches as it mostly just disappears with no ill effects. Their wind up crayons so there is no issue with wasting product. I think these are awesome for carrying around in your purse as easy out and about application as they are quite sheer so it's difficult to make any mistakes if you don't have a mirror.

Below are swatches of the ones I picked up;

Pecan Pie is very similar  to Sunday from the original collection although comparing the two side by side this one is slightly more Pink where as Sunday was a bit more brown based. Both make perfect my lips but better colors and are great for an everyday neutral look.

Perhaps my favorite of the lot it's like a glossy  balm version of my Illamasqua lipstick in Growl (see a swatch here). It's dark and a little bit goth but it's sheer enough that's it;s not off putting and so easy to wear in this format.

Peach Parafait is a coral/nude shade that is also the only one which has some shimmer to it, it sticks to dry bits on the lips a tad because of that but it still a great neutral color to wear.

Lastly I picked up Raspberry Coulis, which is really more Strawberries and Cream rather then raspberry. By that I mean that it leans much more pink then purple. A nice color for the summer.

Travel Supplies

So i haven't really traveled much since getting into the whole makeup thing so i thought it might be fun to share the stuff that i decided to take along with me, what i thought counted as essentials for my time away.

So here is the list of what i packed:

Base

x MUA Matte Perfect Primer

x Korres Ginger & Vitamin Foundation

x Garnier Oil free BB cream

x Ben Nye Luxury Powder in Cameo

x Essence Breaking Dawn Shimmering Powder

Eyes

x Naked 2 Pallet (essential neutral eyeshadow for any occasion)
x Maybelline Eye Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
x MAC Star Violet eyeshadow
x Models Perfef Eyebrow Pencil in medium
x Essence Long Lasting eye pencil in teal
x Essence Long Lasting eye pencil in brown
x Maybelline "The Falsies" waterproof mascara
x Napoleon Perdis mascara (don't which one because the name has faded away)
x Face of Australia black gel eyeliner

Lips
x Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains in Honey and Crush
x Australis Long Lasting Lipstick in Foxtrot and Oogie Boogie
x Korres mango lip butter

Blush
x NARS Blush in Deep Throat
x Illamasqua blush in Rude

Brushes
x Real Techniques Duo Fiber Blending brush
x Real Techniques Blush Brush
x Real Techniques Buffing Brush
x Real Techniques Blending Brush
x Eco Tools eyeshadow brush
x Urban Decay double sided Naked 2 brush

Lush

x Godiva Shampoo Bar

x Fresh Farmacy cleansing bar

x Godmother soap

x Butterball bath bomb

Other

x Moo Goo Full Cream moisturizer

x Swisspers cleansing wipes

x Paw Paw ointment

x Antispeptic cream

x Bandaids

That seems like a huge list having typed it up but I'm pretty confident that everything there will be useful, if not I'll do an updated post with what was most useful and what wasn't useful at all. What beauty stuff do you pack when your going away?

KKCentralHk ES False Eyelashes

 * The following product was submitted freely for review by the company in question, therefore this is a sponsored post. That does not impact the authenticity of the review below.  Because it is a sponsored link (ie. these items were sent to the reviewer) this review will contain links back to the seller. These are not paid links.

A little while ago i was contacted by KKCentralHk to review some false eye lashes for them, i thought this would be fun since i hadn't done of a review of this type of product yet, and let me tell you why; i almost never wear false eyelashes because my own lashes are actually quite long (yeah i know, woe is me) which makes wearing an extra set of lashes kind of uncomfortable so i tend to save it for special occasions, on top of that i had never tried these types of "fancy" lashes. That is, ones that don't mimic lashes but create unique and fancy patterns. So for the purpose of having some fun i choose the Honey Butterfly Rose Paper Lashes  and the the Bright Peacock Paper Lashes. Basically one was a set of roses and vines and the other was a set of peacock feather like lashes, both of them made of paper and fairly stiff to the touch.

As you can see these lashes are quite long, and will more then likely need to be cut down to fit properly, also when due to the way they are packaged the edges have a small amount of glue on them to make then stick to the raised section in the box meaning those parts of the lashes may be a bit difficult to use and i recommend simply cutting them away rather then dealing with "extra glue".

My first attempt with the rose lashes i did not heed my own advice and so the corners of these had the extra glue and ended up poking me in the eye, though i think that's really my own inexperience showing it's colors here. The edge on these was a bit stiff but it this seemed to help align it with my own lashes. I decided to do this test without any other eye makeup except a little eyeliner to help blend the lash line with the rest of my eye so it didn't stand out quite so much, but as you can see it was still quite obvious, these lashes aren't subtle and there is no reason to think they will be. Initially i wasn't sure how i felt about these lashes as because of the extra glue and my own misplacement they were a bit uncomfortable and poked me in the eye a bit, 

However with my new alteration my second use of these was much more satisfying and i think a lot more fun.

Firstly i started of doing a full set of eye makeup (Maybelline color tattoo in bold gold with Mac Star Violet and Amber Lights and Face of Australia black eyeliner), i was inspired by Iron Man at the time :) This is without any mascara and here you can see the massive change these lashes exhibit.

After the glue gave me a little trouble (as you can see on the left eye) these lashes actually sat very smoothly and didn't cause me any discomfort which I admit had been a concern as they are quite big though not actually heavy. A little bit of patience meant i was able to get both sets to look quite good together and sit quite evenly and cleanly. Below are a few photos at different angles so you can see how lovely these patterns can be.

The removal process was also very easy and both times the lashes did not tear and i was able to reuse them once again after the initial application, they stayed on well all night and i got a ton of compliments. Perhaps not the best lashes for everyday (unless your a pop star) but very fun for special events or costume dress. I can imagine quite a few new year or Halloween looks that would be fun with these.

Head to kkcenterhk to check out these and many other products from eyelashes, nail products, clothing, health products and makeup. They are based in Hong Kong and  ship internationally.

My first FOTD! uh-oh

Hmm i kind of really didn't want to do this, all in all i don't like posting pictures of my face on here as much as i can help it. But i wanted to be a little braver and i was quite happy with how this look came out and I've been trying a few different things over the past few days so why not be a bit brave and share. 

My idea behind this looks was an autumn/winter but still natural kind of feel. 

Hmm not sure what my hair is do up there, weird sort of whirly thing.

Products used:

MooGoo Full Cream Moisturizer (base)

Korres Ginger & Vitamins Foundation (LF1) spf 10

Korres Concealer (WRC3)

Korres Eyeshadow (White 02) as a brow highlighter

Face of Australia budge proof gel liner in brown

Essence - All about Matt compact setting powder 

Essence brow kit (dark brown shade) to fill in my brows

Urban Decay - Naked 2 eyeshadow (Snakebite) (YDK)

Illamasqua Cream Blush (Rude)

Australis Lipstick (Foxtrot)

hmm i just realized i forgot to use mascara....my bad

Anyhow i think it turned out well, next time i will probably spend a little more time on my brows and blend the eyeshadow more on the right (stage right) eye. In that respect taking these photos is actually quite useful in that i see things i didn;t notice or didn;t pay attention to on my face/mirror. Live and Learn.

Brown Eye Liners

Alot of my time online is spent on other Beauty Blogs, most of that time spent in wild jealousy over the stuff they are reviewing, awe at their bravery for showing their faces, or just giggle at their antics and feel better about my own shopping habits. But one blog, without fail makes me try new things, not always wild or crazy just different from my usual humdrum. This is sleep and water, something about is just very relaxing and at the same time convincing. So after reading the post linked above i of course went out and got a whole bunch of brown eyeliners to try, and Essence just happened to have some new ones so they got the brunt of my pencil eyeliner enthusiasm. Plus they were a cheaper test as to weather i like brown eyeliner then other brands.  Though admittedly i did look for the Australis 10 Hour Waterproof Eye Pencil in Bombastic Bronze but no no avail. So let's see what i did pick up;

Essence Stays no matter what in Stunning Brown is one of the new products from Essence after they discontinued a whole bunch of stuff to make some room, and it's very soft, but not too soft. It has the great staying power and is indeed waterproof, so i need to use an oil based or cream cleanser to get rid of it. It's a nice deep and very rich brown that is perfect for transitioning away from black liner.

Essence Long Lasting Eyeliner in Bling Bling also seems relatively new to their stands but i think it predates the big shift, it's a retractable pencil and the color is much more light brown almost to the point of approaching gold. It's much lighter and much softer in application so it can be used for a very subtle look or layered for more of a bang. It's not waterproof and does fade away quite quickly but it is a lovely color.

Well i was going to pick this up anyway, it's Face of Australia's Budge Proof Gel eyeliner which i have discussed before, but had a hell of a time trying to find this color. Every Priceline i went to only had the black, purple and navy shades and most were on quite low stock of those. Finally i found it at Kmart and it was the last bottle! I hope it;s not being discontinued already because it's amazing. I love how easy the brush makes everything, you do have to wash it pretty often for it to stay soft and manageable but for me that's totally worth it as it;s almost idiot-proof. The color is similar to Brilliant Bronze but obviously much more spreadable and without any shimmer.

Models Prefer is not a brand i often look to, but while i was looking through it a few weeks ago to get my paws on the Priceline bag i saw a tester for this amazing liquid liner, it's a gorgeous black/brown/gold packed with shimmer. It glides on like a dream but takes a few moments to dry so you must be careful or it will smudge (and smudge it will, like a glitter bomb went off). But it's amazing color is worth the effort. The lasting time on the actual liner is about 4-6 hours and then it tends to dissolve into beautiful glitter bomb aftermath. 

So it turns out i like brown eyeliners, who knew? What's your favorite liner? Color or brand!

Haul - Who cares why?

So over the past few days I've acquired a few things, mostly for the purpose of this blog and to try out something a bit different and outside my comfort zone. Specifically a different makeup remover, dark or bright lipsticks and brown eyeliners as opposed to my usual black. Also my Illamasqua blush finally arrived!

So here's what i got and here's where to get it'

Rimmel Lipstick (Kate) in 04
Rimmel Lipstick (Kate) in 20
Australis Color Inject in Foxtrot
Lush 9-5 Cleanser and Makeup Remover with Orchid oil
The Face Shop's Jelly Apple Peeling mask(?)
Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude (!!!)
Face of Australia Budge Proof Eyeliner  in brown
OPI Liquid Sands Stay the Night
Essence All about Matte compact
Essence Stays waterproof eyeliner in brown
ModelsPrefer Liquid Eyeliner in brilliant brown
Lush Sexy Peel Soap
Lush Fresh Farmacy


Let me know if you have a preference for any reviews :)

10 Products I Would Repurchase or my Top Ten Favorite Items

So i was recently watching missglamorazzi when I came across this tag and though it sounded like fun. The basic idea is that if a magic fairy (as opposed to a non-magic one) stole all of your make up what would you 10 products would you repurchase. (after the heart palpations stop). So i thought about what my favorites in my stash are and here is the list i came up with:

#1 The Garnier Miracle oil-free BB cream

Can't start to redo my makeup without some sort of foundation and i know i can trust this product, i know it works for me and that it won't fade away, crease or oxidize on my skin.

#2 The Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stains in Honey

Lip Products are always a bit of a secondary concern for me so i like something that lasts a lot and won't need a lot of effort or care on my part. Honey is my favorite neutral my lips but better shade.

#3 Lush Liquid Eyeshadow in Sophisticated

Again the easiest and fastest way to put on eyeshadow, one swipe and you have hours of beautiful neutral eyeshadow that can be used on it's own or as a base.

#4 NARS Orgasm Blush

I would not go back to any other blush as the NARS blushes are so fine that they beat any other powder blush out of the park.

# 5 Naked 2 Eyeshadow Pallet

For powder eyeshadow i don't think i can think of a single pallet that can been out the Naked pallet. I was skeptical to begin with but it's hard to argue with perfection.

# 6 Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze

Surprising amount of eye shadows, but my favorite is Bad the the Bronze as it's not too creamy like the the Cream and Pink but not as hard as the Taupe. Again a great by itself product or a base.

# 7 Nivea Lip Butter in Vanilla and Macadamia

I initally though that the caramel would be the one i loved the most but it can be a tad too sweet sometimes so i use this one before bed and in the morning. where as i carry the Caramel in my bag and use when I'm out and around. Lovely relaxing scent.

# 8 Face of Australia Budge Proof Gel Eyeliners

I talked about these recently and i would highly recommend this, it lasts an age and is amazingly easy to apply. Great for those like me who are terrible at eyeliner.

#9 L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Powder

The best powder i have come across, it's light and seems to disappear on my skin while still holding my makeup in place.

#10 MAC Star Violet Eyeshadow

No surprise here, i fell in love hard with this color and i would not happily give it up.

So what 10 products would you repurchase?

May-hem Haul

So shortly after i posted my wish list earlier this month i decided to try pick up one of the items that was on there, this was before my boyfriend surprised me with my oh-so-loved MAC Star Violet. Initially i was only going to pick up one item but because I'm a terrible human being with no self control i picked up another; as the photo above shows i got the Revlon Photready Cream Blush in Pinched and i ordered Illamasqua's Cream Blush in Rude. Can't help it, cream blushers have been on my mind lately and i thought a comparison of them might make an interesting post. So below is the list of stuff i got;

1. Garnier Oil Free BB Cream (previously reviewed) on sale at Priceline for $6.99. At such an amazing price I couldn't let this pass me up. This is my go to foundation/bb cream and although i keep trying others i know this is where my heart is. I'm not sure if i would quite say HG product but very much in the ballpark.

2. Limited Edition LYNX deodorant for women in Anarchy. I actually really like this, i hope they decide to keep it or bring out some more ladies products because i would totally switch to using this. It smells nice, maybe a tiny bit flower-y? I think this was around $5 at Priceline

3. Revlon Photoready Cream Blush in Pinched. (review coming soon) Such a nice peachy color, it's not super strong but i didn't want it to be. Build-able and super soft. Also makes a great base for powder blush. I was originally wanting to get the coral but somehow i had missed that this color even existed. $13 at Chemist Warehouse.

4. Clairol Foaming Hair Dye in #2 Black. I like the foam hair dyes, i always make a mess but i kind of miss my pink hair every time i do it. Worked really well and i will totally repurchase this as it was really easy to use and didn't take longer then 25 minutes. $7 at Chemist Warehouse

5. Dove facial cleanser in Citrus. My first time trying this, the consistency is very slippery and similar to other Dove cleansers but this one smells very nice, a fresh and not overwhelming citrus scent. It foams like crazy though, it's actually a bit insane how much this foams.

6. Face of Australia Budge Proof. I reviewed this the other day, the purple is a really nice shade and had the same awesome formula as the black, the color is slightly less pigmented but it makes a nice change from black.

(This pircture is the wrong color, i stole it from the Myer website)

7. I caved and bought the Illamasqua Cream Blush in Rude, it hasn't arrived yet but i couldn't it as part of the haul as it was all purchased on the same day. Hopefully it will arrive soon (coming from Sydney). I can't wait for it to arrive! $28 at Myer online

8. I got am email that same day from Strawberry Net with massive sales and wanted to try this, it's the Korres lightweight ginger and vitamin foundation in LF2. Seems quite nice and i like korres, plus i was willing to go on a limb for $12.95 but stopped myself getting anything else. This also has not arrived yet and the picture is cutesy of korres.com. Let you know how it goes.

So that's my May haul, it was nice to blow of a little steam and get a pile of stuff. i'm usually way to poor for hauls, but it IS a lot of fun. Hope you are all having a great day.

Review Face of Australia Budge Proof Gel Eyeliners

I recently purchased the Face of Australia Budge Proof Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black and then more recently for some fun i also purchased the Pure Purple since i liked the black version so much. I believe these have only been out since early March or so but they are quite good and luckily for my terrible eyeliner application skills also very easy to use.

Now, admittedly, they look a bit weird. But actually they are a stealth secret weapon of awesomeness, the long top part is actually the brush which lifts out and the lid is a screw top, making it very travel friendly just not so stacking friendly but i am willing to overlook that.

The color pay of is quite nice and it stick very well, it really is quite budge-proof and the brush makes application so easy it's almost idiot-proof a swell. I include myself in that category, I'm terrible at eyeliner but this product really makes me feel like I'm a lot less fail then i actually am.

The formula is very impressive, soft and creamy which makes the product just glides on and stays put. I've tried gel eyeliners from Essence (not bad) and from Maybelline and i like this one the best, in fact next week I'm going to and get myself the bronze version. (It also comes in navy and a sparkling black). The brush i also surprisingly good for drawing shapes, getting between lashes and making a winged eye look.

I use the black basically everyday now with any look at all because i know that i can trust this product  and it's really helped me warm up to Face of Australia a lot. I love it, and I'm very sure you will love it too. If you haven't tried it yet then do so, it's worth the $10.

New & Upcoming Products

So i feel like i have been seeing quite a bit of new stuff these last few weeks and i thought i would share them with you, if you've tried em let me know!

L'Oreal - They seem to be expanding their Nude Magique Range with a new(ish) bb and cc cream, a bb blush and bb powder. I actually have both the blush and powder and will hopefully get reviews up soon but i;m totally dying to try the bb cream as it my mum's favorite bb cream. So of course when she bought it she gave me her old Garnier oil-free bb cream which i feel like i need to finish before i can buy yet another one.....but it seems really nice from what i have tried, Any thoughts?

Australis - Compared by most bloggers to the OCC lip tars these seem pretty damn pigmented and crazy bright, i'm considering the pink one.

Maybelline - Just recently hitting shelves is the Colossal Cat Eyes Mascara, like kinda cool. They are currently running a promotion to win these; enter here http://www.maybelline.com.au/medition

Some new bright colors in the Mabeline lip range; the new ColorSensational Vivids.

Rimmel - Rimmel is now adding matte versions to their Kate Moss lipsticks which were released earlier this yes, they look a bit more wear-abe then their glossy counterparts.

They are also rocking some new "match perfection" foundation.

And a set of (4?) Duochrome metallic nail polishes called "Metal Rush".

Face of Australia - has added some new shades to their lip quenchers line. I've never tried these, but they seem popular.

Nivea - Lip Butters! 

Revlon -  The Colorstay Suede look pretty interesting, i wonder how long the actual product is since the packaging is non standard.