How I go from day to night with my makeup

Excuse the messy room please! I just quickly wanted to mention how I easily transition my makeup from day to night.

Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Mascara, Ponds BB cream, Lorac Pro Palette, Top Shop Blush in Rose, MAC Paintpot in Painterly, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yoghurt, Illamasqua Blush in Disobey, Maybelline Colour Whisper in

 Above are the products I used for my daytime look at the office. Simple stuff and an easy base to go to at night. Cream products are easy to apply powder over the top of and a good base like painterly and yoghurt will mean that further eyeshadow application with go on smoothly and remain crease free.

 I then went in with my night time look. As you can see I really amped up my features with a defined brow, lots of mascara, liner and a heavy application of lipstick rather than a sheered out colour. To last all night I also went in with a powder and a concealor under the eyes. Below are the products I used to go back in with my makeup.

Top Shop blush in Rose, The Balm blush in Hot Mama, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle, Illamasqua blush in Disobey, MAC Brow Fluidline in Redhead, MAC Studio Finish Concealor in NC15, Maybelline Gel Liner in Charcoal, LORAC Pro Palette Shadows in Cream, Mauve and Champagne, Wet N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection second shade on the left down, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yoghurt, Maybelline Color Whisper in and NYX lip pencil in.

P.S. LOVED this article; 24 Hours with Valentino, check it out.

Priceline Makeup Sales Starting Thursday 29/8/2013

Sales have been a bit slow last fortnight, most likely because of Fathers Day coming up. The Priceline catalogue has popped up and all in all it's fairly mediocre but there are a couple of things I will be picking up. Quick wrap up that I think is worth taking an interest in:

Covergirl: 3 for $30 (excludes Outlast Nail Enamel, Wet Slicks Fruit Spritzers, Smoothers Concealer & Brow and Eyemakers)

Artiste, Glam & Manicure: 3 for 2 of entire ranges

Indeed Labs: 30% off

Max Factor: 30% off

Rimmel: 3 for 2 entire range

Maybelline: All mascaras $10

Bourjois: 25% off

L'Oreal: Save $5 on all face products

Revlon: Purchase a foundation & receive a free revlon primer or concealer. Purchase a eyeshadow & receive a free mascara.

Natio: 20% off

Dermablend: Buy 2 and get 20% off

Physicians Formula: 3 for 2 entire range

Almay: 2 for $30

Face of Australia: 20% off

Ardell: 3 for 2

Eylure: Buy 2 and get 30% off

Real Techniques: 20% off

Deals you should jump on:
Definitely the Maybelline mascaras for $10. This is usually as cheap as you can find in Australia. Check out the Falsies and the Colossal (my personal faves). The Revlon deal with the free concealer/primer is definitely worth looking at. Skip the mascara deal though, Revlon aren't known for their mascaras. 30% off on Max Factor is also decent.

Deals you can get better online:
Real Techniques and Physicians Formula still work out cheaper over at iHerb. Eylure lashes, Rimmel and Bourjois are also still cheaper at Asos. Ardell lashes are also a lot cheaper on eBay.

Anything that I haven't mentioned is just in the middle and not really worth mentioning! Except maybe Dermablend and Indeed Labs.. More research is necessary.

P.S. Watched three episodes of Netflix's Orange Is The New Black in two days! Too good! Really good! About a woman in an American all female prison. Interesting stuff.

NARS Fall 2013 Blush Palette & Current Wishlist

Oh NARS.... Why are you so expensive at Mecca Cosmetica in Australia? Why are you so expensive anyways? Most importantly - why are your blushes SO nice?! I've never splurged on a NARS blush but when seeing these limited edition palettes I think I'm going to have to shell out the $49 price tag for each of these..

NARS Adult Content Blush Palette

Zen, Miss Liberty, Desire and Deep Throat are the four shades in this one.

NARS Killing Me Softly Blush Palette

Gilda, Albatross, Outlaw and Orgasm.

If these palettes make it to Mecca I'm thinking they would at least be $75. I'm not willing to pay that price so I'm thinking I'll be purchasing from Kiss and Makeup NY. With $9.95 flat rate worldwide shipping with American prices it's a really good deal. They sell a few other brands and I've put together a bit of a wish list below.

Laura Mercier Eyebrow Pencil in Auburn ($22), Smashbox Try It Kit Bestsellers ($19), NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Mysterious Red ($25) and Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage ($32). 

Daily Makeup Look: Neutral Eyes, Orange Lips

Before

A makeup look I did featuring products from The Balm as above. You can see my haul post and swatches on my post here. Lipstick is Maybelline ColourSental Vivids in Electric Orange.

Daily Makeup Look: Green Eyes

It looks like my skin is expressing one emotion and one emotion only: pure anger.

Yep, it's nasty and I am disheartened as I thought my skin was getting clearer each and everyday. Back to the drawing board for me. I wanted a medium coverage foundation look with minimal contouring and blush. I was also in the mood for some lime green eyes. Let's see how I went..

I was in a rush so my eyes/brows aren't perfect but that's okay. I'm all about fast, everyday looks that are EFFECTIVE. You might be surprised that I didn't use any concealer, just a medium coverage foundation with powder. It's the new Revlon Nearly Naked foundation and I am a fan! Watch this blog as a review is coming soon.

Prestige Eyebrow Kit in Light/Medium (lightest colour used), Lancôme Blush in Subtil, Illamasqua Powder Blush in Disobey, Revlon Nearly Naked Powder in 010 Fair, Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation in 110 Ivory, NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in 

Lancôme Hypnose Mascara, NYX Eye Pencil in 911 Emerald City, 908 Seafoam Green, MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Jade Pearl, Inglot (dark green shade) Pearl 414 and Inglot (matte white) 373     

Maybelline 50% off at Priceline Haul!

Quick guys, head into Priceline!! 50% off ALL the products from Maybelline. This is usually the lowest price that any Australian retailer would go down to and it's very close to American RRP's. Check out what I got here:

Just lip products and eyeliners for me! Unfortunately I find that their foundations run VERY dark (check out Revlon foundations instead if you have ivory skin tones) so I had to give them all a miss. I really recommend what I got as most of these are all repurchased items; Baby Lips, Gel liners and the Masterprecise liquid liner (which is a felt tip). The other liquid liner and the colour whisper lipsticks are all new to me.

I also jumped on the 2 for $30 Revlon Nearly Naked foundation/powder deal. This is a REALLY good deal. Would cost you $50 normally. I've tried them out and so far, so good. I actually really like them, if you're NC15 check out the lightest shade - I found it to be a really good match.

Deal ends 26th August 2013.

Does Em Cosmetics ship worldwide? Nope.

Super professional iPhone pic

If you are one of Michelle Phan's 4.5 million subscribers you would know that she has launched her own cosmetics line named Em. If you haven't seen her latest video click here.

Em Cosmetic's website features a decent range of products ranging from lipsticks to powders but what they are really trying to push are the Life Palette. It comprises of a range of blushes, eyeshadows and lip colours. I've already got a couple of issues with this palette. I HATE when lipstick are pushed into pans and are placed within a palette with any powder products, if one smashes you suddenly have speckled lipstick. It's also very expensive - $75 anyone? Yes I know this is a regular price point for premium brands but as Em Cosmetics has just launched and have not been reviewed I highly doubt they warrant this price.

Unfortunately I can't back up my claims as they don't ship to Australia or anywhere else outside the US. I had $125 in my cart for reviewing purposes but alas shipping is not available worldwide.

Have you guys checked out the website? It's impressive! So, so much work must have gone into it all. The videos are also worth checking out, they feature a video per makeup item.

Mid August 2013 Beauty Bargains From Australian Retailers

As a kid living on a dirt road in the middle of suburbia I sadly never got junk mail. The shiny catalogues of the latest sales still to this day intrigues me and I LOVE looking through them all. Luckily I live in a more central location to get these great gems and today I thought I would share what I think are worth looking at from Target, My Chemist and Terry White.

Target (15th August - 21st August)

• 25% off Chi Chi
• Have a look at their lip liners and new palettes. I reviewed the Chi Chi Nudes palette
• Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation for $14
• You save $5.95 for a decent foundation. It has a pump and whilst it isn't a holy grail it's not bad.
• Rimmel Lipstick for $8
• Save $3.95 off an okay lipstick. Good range of colours (especially matte) however I find them a bit drying. Get them on a 40-50% off sale to get your monies worth.
• Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation for $13
• With a saving of $4.95 it might be worth checking out if it's your go to. I've never tried and probably won't until it's on sale for under $10
• Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer for $12
• LOVE! Definitely worth the $12 (you're still saving $4.95). I wrote a review on them here.
• Max Factor Foundations $19
• A really, really good deal here from Target as there's a maximum saving of $17.95 from their most expensive foundations.

My Chemist (12th August - 1st September)

• Spend $30 on Revlon and receive 2 Kissable Lip Stains
• This is a free gift valued at $35.90. I don't know what shades they are specifically so I will have to check when in store. I actually don't like the ones I got and after trying so hard to make them work I don't think I'll be picking up on this really good offer. 
• Spend $15 on Rimmel and receive a free gift
• I can't tell you exactly what this free gift is (picture too small) but it is valued at $39.85. I do think this is different to the free gift with purchase from Priceline that I blogged about here. Seems like a good gift, check it out!
• Maybelline Colour Sensational Whisper Lip Colour for $8.99
• This is an introductory offer so there's a saving of $5.96 to be had. My tip, pick up one see if you like it and then go back to get more (before 1st of September)
• Take $10 off all Revlon lips, face and eye products
• This is a great deal when combined with the free gift as mentioned above. Time to stock up on Revlon's amazing foundations!
• All Maybelline BB Creams half price
• At 50% off they come to $7.99 each. Make sure to swatch them in store, as there isn't a lot of shade range you might not find your perfect match.

Terry White Chemists (8th August - 21st August))

• All L'Oreal foundations 35% off
• Pretty good deal,  the best would be 40-50% off but if you're in the market have a look. I quite like lumi foundation (however stere clear if you like heavy coverages and oily skin)
• Free 4 Piece Napoleon Perdis gift with the purchase of $75
• Valued at $280. Gift includes: Cream blush compact, Camera finish powder foundation, Lip patrol in brown sugar and a limited-edition bag. The whole "valued at $280" is bull. We don't know how much this bag actually costs and I'm fairly sure that the only current product is the Camera finish powder foundation. Don't get too excited over this deal, instead make sure to get your monies worth and get them to do your makeup with the products that you're purchasing and also get the free gift. I presume this would only be at Terry White chemists that have a NP counter.

So, what am I getting?

From Target I will be looking at getting some Chi Chi lip liners and lipsticks and probably a foundation too. I'm going to have to double check what lip stains come from My Chemist as the gift. If they're worth it I might take that offer onboard as well as the $10 off lips, face and eyes. I haven't tried the new Colorstay with the pump yet! I'm also going to swatch Maybelline BB creams to see if there's a shade light enough to match my NC15 skin. I'm also going to check out the L'Oreal true match foundations at Terry White.

My First Face of the Day!

Are you ready? Am I ready?! It's the first time I'm showing my face here!

Yep that's me. Transparent lashes, stubborn pimples that won't go away and uneven brows! I had an awful threading experience with a particular lady that had no idea what she was doing. Epic sad times and I am STILL trying to grow them out to where they once were. In terms of my skin, it's not sensitive and I would describe it as "normal". My mild acne is hormonal and is affected greatly by birth control (might go further into detail on that in another post).

I went and saw 100 Bloody Acres at Cinema Nova in Melbourne. It was actually pretty good! Definitely some Aussie humour thrown into a very professionally filmed movie (I was surprised, sometimes the Aussie ones miss that). It's said to be a horror/comedy film and whilst the story line might have a horror twang to it, it wasn't actually that scary. So if you're a horror detester (like myself) don't let that throw you!

I used Bioderma to clean up my skin a little bit, argan oil (review coming soon!) to moisturise and Nude By Nature's Professional Airbrush Mineral Primer to prime. I'm not head over heels with this primer but I needed one that was water based so it would work well with my Illamasqua Skin Base in the shade 02. That's the second lightest (lightest being white). I also used the Essence 16 hour concealer in the lightest shade to hide blemishes.

Used MAC's Mineralise Skin Finish in Lightscapade as a highlight, The Balm's blush in Hot Mama as a blush and Rimmel's Natural Bronzer in Sun Bronze 022 as a contour.

I used Inglot's AMC Eyeliner Gel in 76 as a base for my eyelid. I don't recommend this at all!! My liner actually transferred onto my eyelid. So sad! I then used MAC studio finish concealer in NC15 from crease to brow as Inglot's white is very pigmented and looked a little silly on my brow bone. Going all over the lid I used Australis' 10 hour wear pencil in Bombtastic Bomb, followed by Silly shadow. Sleek  and Sultry was used in the crease with Serious as a liner. 

Brows were filled in with Prestige's eyebrow kit in Light - Medium. Lips were lined using Essence's lip liner in 07 Cute Pink followed by Rimmel Apocalips in Nova. I wrote a review on it here.

David Jones - Free Gift Purchase With The Balm

Ooo do I have a good deal for you today! When spending $27.95 on The Balm at David you Jones you have the choice of receiving the Shady Lady palette volume 2 or 3 (worth $49.95 AUD, $39.50 USD). Now I already had Volume 3 so I instantly got Volume 2. You can see Volume 3 in the picture above (I'll also feature it on my blog in the near future). The purchases I made to get the gift were their liquid liner (desperately needed a new one!) and one of their new range of blushes, "Instain".

Both Volume 2 & 3 have some solid neutral shades to make a base with. The rest of the colours can be used as a pop of colour. However if you are a neutral person, go with the volume 2 and if you're a colour person (and a lover of sparkly jet black) go with volume 3.

Below is Shady Lady Volume 2 swatched dry with no primer.

The Balm Instain in the shade Swiss Dot ($26.95 AUD, $22 USD)

The Balm Schwing liquid liner ($19.95 AUD, $17.00 USD)

This is a FANTASTIC deal with excellent value. There actually isn't too bad of a price markup  Please do head into your nearest DJ's before they sell out of stock! I went to the Chadstone store today (after not having any stock yesterday) and there weren't a lot left. I was so excited when DJ's started to stock The Balm. I used to buy off eBay. When I checked out the websites to get the American prices I noticed there was an Australian section. It's under construction at present but it will be interesting to see what happens. Maybe they'll do what Benefit does - being able to purchase at American prices? Who knows, but I'm excited to find out.

Chi Chi Nudes vs Urban Decay Naked Palettes - Review & Swatches

I was putting together a little welcome home goodie bag for my sister. I set myself a limit of $50 and I spent awhile finding the perfect makeup items to go in it. I knew I wanted some kind of eyeshadow palette featuring neutral shades but my beloved Urban Decay Naked palette would have completely blown the budget. Enter, the Chi Chi Nudes palette for the price of $22.95.

Let's state the obvious here - the quality of the packaging is nowhere near as good as Urban Decay. However for the price that you're paying, can you really expect more? It still feels sturdy when held in hand and is sleek and non obtrusive in design.  The pans that the shadows are set in are also good candidates for depotting and slipping them into a Z Palette.

The main difference I found between the shade formulations is that Chi Chi did not include the visible chunks of glitter. The biggest culprit was in the UD shade Bootycall. However when swatched it wasn't as noticeable. 

These swatches are all DRY with no primer. Urban Decay on bottom and Chi Chi on top. As you can see Sin and Virgin are not as vibrant as the Chi Chi alternative. The rest of the shades are very good dupes of the other.

These swatches are all WET with no primer. Urban Decay on bottom and Chi Chi on top. Both of these palettes perform magnificently when applied wet. I did find the Chi Chi matte colours (third and fifth from the left) did not like being applied wet and were disappointing. I would put this down to the quality of the shadows not being as up to par on the Urban Decay equivalent. 

If you have been lusting after the Urban Decay Naked palette but not the price tag you should definitely pick up the Chi Chi Nudes. It is a bargain for what it is and you shouldn't have to pay full price as Myer, Target and Gloss cosmetics regularly have 25% off (not usually at the same time I've found). The swatches speak for themselves in terms of how similar and saturated the colours are and the quality is fairly good throughout the whole palette. Soft and blendable is how I would describe these shadows. I wouldn't mind swapping my Urban Decay palette for my sisters Chi Chi if it wasn't for the packaging - I do think UD wins out on that. I presume though that Chi Chi would have to raise their prices to also rise to the standard of packaging.

Check out what Chi Chi has to say about this palette here. 

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer - Review & Swatches of Apocaliptic & Nova

Rimmel London have recently launched  Apocalips Lip Lacquer. Rimmel say that they are "neither a lipstick nor a gloss... It's BIGGER than both! ".  Unfortunately Australia (as usual) are a bit late to receive these absolute gems from Rimmel as they were released about six months ago overseas. The RRP is $15.95. There are 8 shades in total in Australia and I have two for review today that I think are just lovely.


Apocaliptic is a bright fuchsia pink.

Nova is blue based mid toned pink. 

The applicator is definitely not typical doe-foot in style. It has a sharp tip with soft curve that fits the contour of the lips perfectly that aids in a beautiful application. There is also a well in the centre of the curve that holds some of the product without dripping out. A really nice touch. 

The longevity of this product is truly impressive. As to be expected the colour isn't as bright after eating but the stain of the colour still remains. I think you can expect 4 hours of good wear with touching up after eating. The colour also didn't transfer onto cups I was drinking out of. The photo below is of me wearing Apocaliptic after five hours. I had devonshire tea, a  latte and spent a good two hours outside in cold, windy weather. Obviously there's some wear around the the centre of the lip however the outline has pulled up very well. There's some miner feathering but nothing I was too worried about.  

All in all this is a FANTASTIC Rimmel product that I really recommend. I'll definitely be picking up some shades when I see them on sale. I think a good deal for these would be a BOGO (buy one get one free) or for when they're on sale at or below the $10 mark. Remember that Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist in Australia ALWAYS have 15% off Rimmel. So if you can't wait for a sale, check there first. If you like buying online click here which will take you to Asos. They've got them for $10.51 with free worldwide shipping. Gotta love Asos!