Face of the day - trying out new products / first impressions

Today I decided to grab a handful of products I haven't used before, or items I have not used more than a handful of times. I started with Rimmel Londn Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation. I purchased this product around this time last year but haven't used it before (at least I don't think I have. Maybe once before?). It was a really good colour match for my skin (200 soft beige) but I had difficulty applying it. I ended up putting my all-time favourite foundation over the top. I will have to experiment with this foundation a bit more before I make up my mind about it. I think I need to exfoliate before using the product again...

The second product I grabbed this morning was one I had never used before. It was the Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer. I have never used a primer for my eyeshadow before and loved it! It claims to make your eyeshadow last for 24 hours. I definitely found it made my eyeshadow last longer but it didn't last 24 hours. After 8 hours the eye shadow had faded drastically. That could be due to the fact that I was using an eyeshadow that doesn't last that long on it's own...I used the Love in Paris 'Merci Beaucoup' eye shadow palette from Nyx.

The Love in Paris 'Merci Beaucoup' eye shadow palette contains 9 shadows (6 shimmery, 3 matte). I applied the matte brown all over my lid and then added some of the darkened bronze. I wore the apricot and burgundy pink shade yesterday, with no primer, and found the pigmentation to be lacking and wear-time wasn't brilliant. I am excited that the Too Faced primer made these shadows last longer because the colours in this palette are gorgeous <3

I tried Maybelline's Volum' Express Falsies Big Eyes Mascara 'Very Black' (Waterproof) for the first time today and loved it. I have never used a mascara like this before. You get a large brush for your upper lashes and a little brush for your lower lashes. Genius idea! I found the mascara to apply well, even though I haven't 100% figured out how to use the brush perfectly yet, and it made my lashes long amazingly long. I didn't experience any smudging or flaking throughout the day. Very impressed indeed. However, it is the first time I've ever worn waterproof mascara and oh my goodness, it was impossible to remove! I definitely will never buy waterproof mascara again. But that is simply a personal preference and if this mascara continues to impress me I will buy this mascara again in the non-waterproof version.

On my lips I wore Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in 'Sunbaked' which isn't a new product, but a product I haven't worn for a very long time. I was actually surprised, the colour was a lot nicer than I remembered it. Definitely something that I will be reaching for more.

EOTD #1

2014 was a year where I practically had zero amount of time to experiment with makeup so now, in 2015, I am trying to make up for that. Digging through some of my favourite eyeshadows I put together some that I hadn't worn together before.

I started with a L'Oreal Paris Infallible Eyeshadow in 'Forever Pink' along the first 2/3 of my lid. Then I reached for my Nudes palette from Chi Chi. On the remaining 1/3 of my lid I reached for a dark brown with some shimmer, In the crease I used a matte medium brown, again from the Nudes palette. Underneath my brow and in the inner corner of my eye I used a shimmery highlighting shadow from the Nudes palette. I blended like crazy, maybe I blended too much? The mascara I used was Maximum Definition Volume Mascara from Essence. This is a great mascara for everyday, I really love it.

I'm only beginning to experiment with eyeshdows (I usually only ever wear one or two eyeshadows at the same time) so let me know what you think of this...and if you have any tips :)

Thanks for reading!!!

2014 - Favourite Eye Products

2014 is coming to an end so throughout the next couple of days I am going to be posting about all my favourite beauty products of the year. I'm kicking it all off with my favourite eye products.

I've had a bit of a love affair this year with pink eye shadows. I'm not talking about bright pink but the more pale, natural looking, pink shades. I'm all for simplicity and find these neutral shimmery pinks are great for when you just want to wear one eye shadow all over your lid. I feel like these make shades make my eyes look bigger and make me look awake - perfection! The Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Inked in Pink' is a great pink cream shadow. Simply swipe a finger over your eye lid and you have an easy and long lasting eye look. I also really love the pale shimmery pink baked eye shadow in the 'Summer Fiesta Eye Palette from Kit Cosmetics'. It doesn't last all day but it does last for a decent amount of time (4-6 hours, no primer) and it is easy to apply. For some reason I always thought baked eye shadows had poor pigment but the baked shadows in this palette have great pigmentation!

Left: Kit Cosmetics Baked Eye Shadow Right: Inked in Pink Maybelline Colour Tattoo

Top: Kit Cosmetics Baked Eye Shadow Bottom: Inked in Pink Maybelline Colour Tattoo

When I haven't been wearing pale pink shimmery eye shadows, I have been wearing nude shades. This year I have loved wearing the 'Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil' in 'Yoghurt', which is a great champagne / beige /  rose gold colour...It is hard to put your finger on exactly what colour it is as it is quite shimmery  and changes colour depending on the light. I really do love the colour of it though as it is neutral and appropriate for any occasion or time. Plus, I just "colour in" my eye lid with this and I'm ready to go. Lasting power is reasonable (around 5 hours) and pigmentation is good. The only downside I can see with this product is the packaging - the plastic cap easily breaks and this means it is very easy to push the cap down too far and smudge the shadow.

I have also loved and used regularly my Chi Chi 'Nudes' eye shadow palette. With a  great selection of matte and shimmer shadows in neutral shades I have everything I could possible want or need for a neutral eye. Lasting power is fine and pigmentation is pretty good (except for a couple of the shadows that are slightly lacking in the pigmentation department). If you haven't already tried this palette out I highly recommend you do!

Top: Nyx 'Yoghurt' Middle + Bottom: From the 'Nudes' Chi Chi Palette

This year the mascara that has impressed me the most is the Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Endless mascara. It truly makes my lashes look longer and has an easy-to-use formula.

So those were my most loved eye products of 2014, I would love to know which eye products you loved throughout the year! You may (or may not) have noticed that I have added Disqus to my blog. I hope this makes commenting easier and more interactive for you.

Cheers :)

My everyday face

Don't get me wrong, I love to experiment with make-up and try out new products but most of the time  I rely on a handful of trusted products. Boring? Maybe. But lets be honest it is no fun sitting through a meeting wondering if that new foundation has oxidised and turned you orange, or if your new blush makes you look like a clown!

These are the four products I pretty much wear everyday. I do alternate between a couple of eye shadows and blushers but these are the #1's. If I'm in a rush or I just don't want to do anything different these are what I reach for.

1. Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Foundation in 'Natural Beige'.
This is my holy grail foundation. No matter how many different foundations I try, this is always the one I return to. I have probably gone through five jars of it and will always repurchase it. It's a lovely creamy formula that blends and smooths over your face easily; gives good coverage (I would say medium coverage) but is easily buildable, and; lasts for most of the day.

2. Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara
This mascara lengths your lashes like crazy and doesn't transfer anywhere despite not being waterproof.

3. Nyx Blush in 'Mocha'.
'Mocha' is a gorgeous warm pink. This is a very buildable blush but it is easy to apply without looking like a clown.

4. Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'Inked in Pink'.
A sweep of this across my eyelids and that's it! The pure simplicity, foolproofness and longevity of the Maybelline Colour Tattoos make them perfect for your everyday look.

What products do you reach for on a  daily basis?

Face of the day #1

Yesterday morning I was in the mood for doing something a bit different with my make-up for the day.

As I was in the mood for experimentation I decided to use a combination of primer and bb cream, something I don' think I have done before. The primer I used was Revlon's Photoready Perfecting Primer. I haven't used this primer much so I don't really have a strong opinion of it (yet). But I do like how it feels on the skin. Wanting something foolproof (because I was doing my make-up in a rush and in bad lighting) and natural I used my Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream in 'light'. This is the only bb cream I have ever loved using and will definitely repurchase it. I then used my holy grail blush, the Rimmel London Match Perfection Blush in 'light/medium'. Sadly I think this has recently been discontinued?! I've been on the hunt for a back-up but I can't find them anywhere! What I love about this blush is that it is foolproof, easily build-able and gives a lovely natural look.

On my eyes I used #2 from the Chi Chi Nudes Palette which is a pearl pinky nude. I don't have the Naked Palette but I believe this is similar to UD's 'Sin' colour. I also used my Rimmel London 'Endless Lash Accelerator' Mascara. This mascara makes my lashes look amazingly long and the brush is really good - very thin and long. 

On the lips I wore Maybelline Baby Lips and Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in 'Honey'. 

I was really happy with how this look came together which was nice as I often feel disgruntled with how things turn out! Usually things look better in my head than they do in real life. 

And now a question for you. I have never done a FOTD post before. I don't want to post photos of my face here on the blog. Would you prefer to see swatches on hands or cropped photos of my face? Cheers :)

January Favourites 2014

I cannot believe I'm sitting here writing my first "favourites" post of 2014. It feels like I haven't written one of these posts for ages since I skipped Decembers' because I was focused on getting up my 2013 yearly favourites. And, in some ways January seems to have lasted forever. But now it is the 30th of January and I really should get a move along and tell you all what I loved in January (and stop rambling).

• Chi Chi Nudes Eyeshadow Palette

I didn't use to wear much eyeshadow, but now that I have the Nudes palette I find myself reaching for it all the time. You can create so many different looks with this one palette from day to night time, plus the quality is great. For the daytime I love the matte browns and the rosey coppers for night.

• Rimmel London Match Perfection Blush in 002 Light/Medium 

I'm going to be honest, I never use to wear blush (strange for somebody who blogs beauty I know) because I didn't want to look like a clown but recently I have started dabbling in blush and have loved how it has looked.This match perfection blush is pretty perfect. It's nearly foolproof, lasts a decent amount of time and works well with my skintone. It's also super cheap so if you are thinking about giving blush a go, I definitely recommend this. 

• Maybelline Sea-quins Nail Polish ey

Sea-quins from Maybelline is a stunning teal glitter. Tricky to remove but it's worth it for the sparkles!I'm ashamed how long this sat in my polish drawer before I eventually got around to using it. Lovers of glitter and/or teal...you need this polish :)

• Nyx Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee 

I've raved about this before so I'm going to keep this short. Creme Brulee is the perfect pinky nude gloss. Not sticky, lasts well and feels really moisturising. 

• Nyx Lipstick in Tea Rose

If you after an opaque dusty pink lipstick this could be it! I fell in love with this lipstick after discovering it would last 2+ hours and my munching on snacks. Very impressed with this lipstick and can definitely see myself wearing this a lot in the coming weeks. 

• Nivea Pure & Natural Milk and Honey Lip Balm 

First up, it smells like honey. So I don't think I need another reason why it's in my favourites post but I do have some. This lip balm is very moisturising, lasts on lips for around 2 hours (which in my book is fantastic) and doesn't dry your lips out once it wears off unlike some other lip balms. 

• Physician's Formula Organic Wear Mascara

This mascara has appeared in so many of my favourites posts it is kind of ridiculous. But it never disappoints me so I'm going to say (for the 100th time) that I love this mascara. 

And now time for a short ramble. My final favourite for the month of January is that trolley I used in the photo. This stainless steel, exact replica of a shopping trolley (complete with plastic features, wheels and a fold out baby seat) was a gift from Mum for Christmas. Every time I see these at the shops I think they're great but it's not like you buy yourself a scaled replica of a shopping trolley when you are just out and about...anyway this now lives on my desk and I use it to keep whatever base coat and top coat I'm using plus any polishes I've swatched recently and want to write up a review of. I'm in awe okay? Love it!

Before I forget...sorry about the dodgy photo today. With this crazy heat wave this was all I managed before rushing back inside.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have had a great January. What products have you been loving this month?

Blogmas - My Introduction to Nyx Products

Hi guys!!! Today I realised I had never done the first impressions Nyx post I  had intended on doing. So... I'm doing it now :)

So when I first spotted the Nyx stand at Target early in November I was like a kid in a lolly store. The prices were a tiny bit more expensive than I thought they would be, but that doesn't mean they are expensive. Their jumbo eye pencils are $9.95, powder blushes $9.95, cream blushes $11.95 and their famous butter glosses are $9.95. Not too bad, right? 

I picked up their jumbo eye pencil in yoghurt, butter gloss in creme brulee and a creamy round lipstick in tea rose. 

I am planning on doing a full review of these products once I have worn them more but so far I can tell you that that the butter gloss is amazing! Not only does it smell like cake mixture and cupcakes (yummy) but they feel really moisturising, don't dry your lips out, don't feel sticky, have good pigmentation and are super easy to wear. The lipstick feels really creamy and has great pigmentation and the jumbo eye pencil is a really lovely colour, easy to use but without a primer or setting crease after 4-5 hours. 

What Nyx products should I pick up next?
Cheers :)

Chi Chi Nudes Eye Shadow Palette + BARGAIN Alert

Today I have swatches from Chi Chi's 'Nudes' Glamorous Eye Shadow Palette. Consisting of 12 different shades,  2 matte and 10 shimmers and housed in a sturdy plastic palette, with a clear lid it's a great palette and very good quality...especially considering how cheap it is! I don't personally own the Naked Palette by Urban Decay but I believe it is very similar...

I only recently picked this up so this post will only be swatches but I will do a more in-depth review once I've used it for awhile. Before I get stuck into the swatches though I want to let you know about how YOU CAN GET THIS FOR A BARGAIN!!!Yes I know...I probably went OTT with the bold and the underlining but, seriously, give me a second to explain and you'll be rushing down to the shops to score yourself a bargain :) This palette can be brought alone for $22.95 or you can get it in a gift set with a RRP of $24.95 that also includes a full-sized blush and 4 mini lipglosses. And now here comes the clincher, there is 25% off Chi Chi gift sets at Target at the moment meaning that this palette + full sized blush + 4 mini lipglosses will only cost you $18.71. So you can either buy this palette individually for $22 or buy it in a gift set with a blush and 4 mini glosses for $18.71. Kind of absurd really but nonetheless a great bargain! 

Okay now onto the actual swatches that I promised you...forgive me for getting side-tracked by bargain, pretty please :)

(Shade)

Cheers and have a great weekend!

Maybelline Eye Studio - Copper Chic: Product Review

Generally speaking, I am not an eyeshadow person. When I was a teenager and was first getting into make-up I use to whack on the eyeshadow like it was going out of fashion. Black shimmery eye shadow was my favourite....I guess it went with the whole 'emo-look' thing I had going on. I wasn't emo or gothic but I liked pretending. I guess when we are teenagers we don't want to be ourselves? Anyway, I haven't worn eyeshadow for a very long time but after starting this blog earlier this year and reading a heap of amazing blogs reviewing all kinds of make-up I decided I wanted to buy a new eye-shadow palette and toss out all of my old eyeshadows because they were all bad quality and horrible when I first brought them and now they are just a rainbow of powdered mess. Think purple,black, blue, pink...... 

So I set out to buy a new eye-shadow;  I read reviews on blogs and spent hours on Priceline's website. I decided to get Maybelline eye studio copper chic. It wasn't the cheapest but I figured since it was going to be the only eye-shadow in my arsenal of make-up that it was okay to spend a little. It was on sale too....... 

I have actually only worn it once, and I forgot to notice how it wore :( I know, epic blogger fail!!!! So this review will be based on application, quality and vague memories. Sorry, sorry, sorry. 

The palette contains 4 tones: a white-ish shade, a red-ish copper, a golden-copper and a darker brown. All are metallic and have good pigmentation. They are all neutral tones but look special and can be worn in multiple ways. I only wore the golden-copper tone as I am not skilled at eye-make-up but I'm sure you could do great things with these. Since this is my first eye-shadow review my photos don't properly show how pigmented the shades are and the pictures themselves are kind of bleh. Overall, I was impressed with how pigmented the eye-shadows were (all of the colours). The applicator thingy that comes with it works well and is a good size. They apply easily and wore well { I can't give you specifics because I was too busy having fun to notice my eyeshadow, hahaha } 

Overall score: 9/10