The Touch Up Kit

To start I'm going to give you guys a summary of what my skin is like. I have oily, acne prone skin with scarring around my cheek area and a VERY dark eye area, and although there are products I use and steps I take to make my makeup last as long as it possibly can and look as good as when I first applied it (more on that in an upcoming post), a touch up once throughout the day is a must for me.

So around 6-7 hours after first application I do get quite shiny, particularly through my T-zone and I've often gotten the "You're looking sweaty" comments from people whose skin is a lot better than mine and are not above judging (you know the ones). So I get my travel mirror out and I'll use blotting tissues to remove the layer of oil thats sitting on top of my makeup. This does sound a bit disgusting but trust me when I tell you it's well worth it and will stop any possible caking that can happen when you go in with your powder. They're fairly cheap and any will do the job, I'm currently using the Swisspers ones.
After that I'll take my Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Fair and swipe this under my eyes and around my nose and mouth which are typically where my makeup tends to disappear. I like this one because its great coverage, easy to apply on the go and easy to blend out with fingers.
To lock that all in and get rid of any shine that the blotting tissues didn't take care of I use the Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder in 52 Vanille, which is one of my favourite powders I have ever tried. It locks my makeup in place without making me look too flat and absolutely never cakes up. I apply this with a Real Techniques Retractable Kabuki Brush because again its easy to use on the go and comes with a lid to keep it clean.

Finally I tackle lips and if I'm not using lip balm I go for the NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie, its a beautiful warm pink shade that is seriously creamy and makes your lips look nice and full. If I'm not feeling that one then I go for MAC Patisserie lipstick which is my favourite pinky nude in the world. 

Top 5 Summer Nail Polishes

When Summer rolls around, I can't wait to get some bright colours on my nails. I think they make your hands look really feminine and pretty and when it comes to polish, drugstore brands are the way to go. Most high end polishes are not worth the hype and end up chipping after about three hours, while you come to the realisation you've just spent half your weekly food budget on a dud.

The Salon Pro line from Rimmel is a serious winner. They have so many different shades to choose from but the most summery in my opinion and my go to is their polish in Hip Hop, which is a very bright orangey red.The formula is extremely opaque and they have a handy rounded brush which makes it so easy to cover your entire nail in one swipe. 

For something with a little bit more punch I like the Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy in Full House, a very bright sky blue, which leaves your nails super shiny (without a topcoat), and lasts ages.

Purple nails will always have a special place in my heart, and I find myself wearing some variation of purple for most of the year. Essie is one of my favourite nail brands, and this one in Play Date is seriously dreamy. Its a beautiful bright lilac thats not too pastel or neon, and probably my fave of the bunch.

Now the Maybelline SuperStay 7 Day Gel Nail polishes I think I have in every shade. They are so good! For a polish thats more on the cheaper side of things, you'd expect it to be mediocre at best, right? Wrong! The colour above is called Rose Poudre, it has that mauve-y pinky brown thing down pat and makes your hands look very royal family-esque.

Lastly, I've thrown in an amazing travel friendly nail option and this is the L'oreal Infallible Gel Nail Polish in Fuchsia For Life, it's again bright and a really opaque formula. The top coat and the individual colour separate from the middle making it perfect for the girl who is always late (me).

Beach party nails- sorted.

#strictlydrugstore

Hey Everyone! 
I know its a bit late in the month and I do apologise, sometimes life gets in the way of the awesome plans you make at the start of the year. This month I'm featuring only products that are from the drugstore and affordable using the hashtag #strictlydrugstore. So everyday, until the end of January there will be a post everyday at 9am, on everything from makeup, skincare and haircare. 

The first post will be up later today, in the mean time please comment and tell me what your holy grail products are from the drugstore, Im always open to enabling!

Makeup Menu: Saturday Night

I'm not at all seasoned in the art of walking in high heels anymore. The 7pm-12pm slot of my saturday night usually consists of eating a rather large dinner, bath time. a sneaky purchase online and then bed. However, the last few months of the year are always filled with birthdays and parties and so I thought Id share my go to products for a night out. 

Firstly, my main concern for nightly outings is skin and the best evening foundation I have tried is the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk which I wear in the shade 4. I dub this 'perfect skin in a bottle', blends like a dream and sits nicely between a matte and dewy finish. Another base perfecting product I am obsessed with is the Hourglass Ambient lighting Powder in Diffused Heat. I don't know how it does it but this powder completely blurs all imperfections in the skin while giving you an amazing glow. I also like to add a subtle sheen to the tops of my cheekbones and cupid's bow the the Benefit Watt's Up highlighter stick.

Next comes eyes, and although I like to keep it neutral most of the time I do like to add shimmer in the evenings. Firstly I apply a sticky note from the outside corner of my eye to the end of my brow just to keep everything in a nice feline shape, and also make winged eyeliner SO easy. I add a base shadow and define my crease using my trusty Urban Decay Naked 1 Palette and then I spritz a flat brush with this cute bottle of Fix+ from MAC and go in with the most exciting thing about my night out makeup, a pigment. This Makeup Geek pigment in Nightlife is a beautiful bronze colour and gives your eyes the most amazing pop and with a primer it last all night without flaking away or smudging. To finish eyes, I give them a quick curl with the Shu Umerua Eyelash Curlers and add false lashes, the ones Ive used twice now are the Ardell Glamour Wispies which I apply with a little Duo glue. 

Finally, were on to lips and on nights out I do enjoy giving my bold colours a dust off because thats the only time I really get to wear them. The two Ive been obsessing over recently are the Dior Addict Fluid Stick in the shade Wonderland, which goes on the lips very wet and then dries to a beautiful satin finish and is so comfortable on the lips. My second favourite is the Nars Audacious Lipstick in Grace which is a similar colour but dries a little more matte and rarely needs a touch up. 

Everyday Makeup Routine

Chubby Cheeks, New From Nars and Beauty Launches

Here is a roundup of all the things that have been happening in the beauty world and have had my attention in the past week. 

1. New from Clinique, they have expanded there range with there Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm, everything you want in a cream blush. It's creamy, easy to blend out with fingers and perfect for touching up. I have the shade Robust Rhubarb which instantly wakes me up and gives a nice healthy glow.

July 2014 Favourites

Hey guys! A little delayed I know, but here are my beauty favourites for the month of July. 

Chanel Perfection Lumiere Velvet foundation: A natural finish, skin like foundation perfect for oily skin. Its watery formula makes it easy to blend, keeps oil in check and the finish is velvet indeed.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer: The best concealer I've ever tried. Covers dark circles, blemishes, acne scars, you name it. So easy to apply and blends beautifully.

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural: A gorgeous setting powder that never looks too cakey or powdery on the skin, no matter how heavy handed you are. Keeps oil at bay and gives a nice glowing finish.

Maybelline Brow Drama: One of the better brow products from the drug store, a mascara like gel that keeps hairs in place while adding a touch of tint to them. Quick and easy, perfect for natural makeup days. 

Revlon Brow Fantasy: Another brow product I have really been enjoying. The pencil on one end is firm and allows you to fill in and shape your brows exactly how you want and the setting gel on the other sets everything down while adding little bit more colour.

Too Faced Natural Eyes Palette: The first palette I ever owned, and used it to death so of course I had to pick it up again. Too Faced shadows are up there with some of the best. Buttery soft, pigmented, and blend ridiculously well. Theres not a shade in here i wouldn't use and I'm in love with the sleek tin packaging.  

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet: One of the best liquid lipstick formulas around. They came in a range of different shades but for me the brights are where its at. Not at all drying on the lips, even though they are matte and when they dry the colour sticks around forever. No touch ups required

Maybelline Color Elixir: I need these in every shade. A balm/gloss/lipstick hybrid that make your lips look nice and full. 

Garnier Micellar Water: The Bioderma dupe. Read my post here.

The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil: Literally melts makeup off your face. No need to fuss with cotton pads and remover. Just rub into your makeup and wash off, perfect for when you come home from a night out. 

A Bioderma Dupe

So by now we all have heard that Garnier have released their Bioderma equivalent. But does it actually measure up? I was quite sceptical at first because whenever other brands release a new cleansing water competitor they never really hit the mark. Being either too greasy, having a funky smell, you get the drift. 

The Lip Scrub

A Rimmel Affair

Rimmel have been a stand out drug store brand for me over the past six months. I tried some of their products years ago and they never wowed me, and ever since then I had no interest in trying anything from the brand.

The first thing I picked up was the Match Perfection foundation, after seeing it in a lot of Tanya Burr's videos. It feels really lightweight on the skin while still giving a decent amount of coverage and blends very easily. The shade range is quite large compared to other drug store foundations. I have the shade 100 Ivory which is perfect for me and for girls with oily skin this dries semi-matte and will last all day. Ive been enjoying this so much I think it has become my favourite drug store foundation ever!

The Wake Me Up concealer also became another favourite. I love this for under eye circles especially on mornings when you can tell Ive spent too long in front of the computer the previous night. I blend this in with fingers and it never creases or looks cakey on me.

I hit pan pretty quickly on the Stay Matte powder in Transparent. I use this with a big powder brush, swoosh it around in the pan and then I stipple it on my face to set everything. Again, never looks powdery and has gone on the 'Must Always Repurchase' list. 

Finally, the Scandaleyes kohl liners have been a standout to use. They're probably the smoothest pencil liners I have ever tried, they never tug on your eyes or look too heavy. I love using the nude colour in my waterline because it doesn't budge and makes me look more awake. 

I'm looking to try more from Rimmel but every time I go I can never decide. Let me know what you guys have tried and what other products you recommend. 

New to the Handbag

Hand cream is one of those few products that when I put them in my bag or on my bedside table, I forget to use them. However, this offering from Grown ensures I will never do such things again.

This is such a beautiful hand cream to use. it smells ahh-mazing and sinks in to the skin fairly quickly so you avoid problems such as your iPhone slipping out of your hands post application. I've also used it on other areas of dry skin and grazes and it smoothed those out instantly, I love a good multi purpose cream and this ticks all the boxes.

October Favourites 2013

I am a bit delayed as we are already nearly two weeks into November, but I did have A LOT of faves this month. It was my birthday and I did get a tiny bit spoilt which only enabled my makeup addiction (YAY!).

I said I had a lot of favourites, but I'm only gonna focus on skincare, because I want to go over the others in a bit more detail with swatches and things like that. 

Firstly, the L'oreal EverCreme Nourishing Leave In Spray saved my hair. I have quite thick hair and I haven't cut it in a while (hairdressers are scary), and it was starting to look very dry and dull. I used this after I shampooed and conditioned with the products of the same line and it is impressing stuff. It smells heavenly and left my hair feeling very smooth and looking shiny. It also made it much easier to blow dry and straighten. I would recommend being very light handed with this and combing it through your hair to avoid it weighing your hair down.

Origins is a brand I've wanted to try for ages and I'm so glad I started with these two. The Ginzing Moisturiser is really light, hydrating and sinks in really fast and makes my skin glow. The High Potency Night-A-Mins has a super cute name and feels great when you use it at night. It's thicker than the Ginzing and leaves your skin so soft and refreshed when you wake up. They both smell like oranges which is awesome and they do exactly what they say on the tin. A little goes a long way with both.

Lastly, the Clarifying Clay Cleanser by Ren I'm also so glad I discovered. I use it at night and you can really feel it deeply cleansing the skin and getting rid of all the junk from the day. I wet my hands and take one pump of this and massage it into my skin for a minute or 2 and it has cleared my skin dramatically. It does smell like clay which I'm not overly fond of, but once you wash it off it goes away.

My MAC Quad (Complete)

Look at the beauty! Filling up the empty spots in this palette was more fulfilling and exciting than I'd care to admit. 

From left to right: Nylon, Naked Lunch, Honey Lust and Sable. For an everyday look, I apply Naked Lunch all over the lid with a 217 brush and then blend Sable into the crease and outer corner, then I use Nylon to highlight the inner corners of my eye, and Honey Lust is for days when I'm feeling a bit more shimmery. 

Iv'e been reaching for this palette everyday this month, I'm dreading the inevitable day when I hit pan on one of these shadows. It's unclear at this stage if a tear will be shed.

I loved filling up this palette SO much that I may or may not have purchased a 15 pan bad boy which may or may not be featured fully loaded in the coming months ;)

Bobbi's Makeup Bag Essentials

Surprisingly I haven't tried many products from Bobbi Brown even though I've had a few things on my makeup list for a while. Quite a few bloggers have included Bobbi Brown products in their favourites videos/posts so I headed to their online store to trim my list down (ever so slightly).

Bobbi's Makeup Bag Essentials, immediately caught my eye. This exclusive online set includes, Wild Rose Shimmer Brick, mini Face Blender Brush, Twilight Night Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner, mini Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush, mini Extreme Party Mascara and Nude Rose Rich Lip Color. 
Let's also mention the amazing gifts with purchase - samples of Hydrating Face Cream, Soothing Cleansing Oil, Instant Long-Wear Makeup Remover, Hydrating Eye Cream and a clear makeup case. IMPRESSIVE.

I haven't tried the skin care bits yet, *slaps self* but the shimmer brick and gel eyeliner are my favourites of the bunch, I have been using them everyday since I got them. 

Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo

If you read beauty blogs you will know that almost everyone who features the Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo adores it, and of course I am no exception.

Amongst the drug store brands there really isn't a very high variety of cream eyeshadows. I have very oily lids so finding one that will stay on is a bit of a mission. And I believe it has ended.

This eyeshadow is the most long lasting shadow of tried in cream form. It comes on very opaque and I just use my fingers to apply it and it dries within about a minute. I had it on from 7 in the morning till around 11 in the evening and it still looked the same as when I put it on. YAY.

I got the shade 'Bad to the Bronze', it kind of looks smoked out when you apply it alone and that appeals to my laziness when I have an early start. 

Mood: impressed 

Sugar Crush

I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to body care products, smell is everything. These were the first two things I bought from Soap & Glory and my decision was finalised based on their hunger inducing scent. 

The Sugar Crush Body Scrub has in it smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains and the texture is really thick and grainy which I like in body scrubs. You can really feel it exfoliating your skin and after it washes off I promise you feel smoother than a baby's butt.

Same thing goes with the Sugar Crush Body Buttercream. Also with a VERY yummy lime scent and so moisturising and not sticky at all. I don't know about other users but if I use it in the morning I sorta get the urge to lick myself throughout the day. A little creepy? Maybe, but this is seriously good shit.

Bourjois 'Rose Cupcake'

Bourjois is soon becoming a favourite drug store brand of mine. Their 1 Seconde Nail Polsih comes in a cute little variety of colours and the brush is quite thick, so you get most of the nail in one careful sweep. 

I got the shade 'Rose Cupcake', it's much brighter on than it looks in the bottle, and they go on ridiculously smooth. 

They're on sale at Priceline at the moment for $9 and I'm not sure how long that lasts for so don't be crazy and get one.

MAC Palette Construction

If MAC is a brand that you have no interest in (are you sick?!) there's one thing they offer that has got to tickle your fancy, their Pro Palettes. 

They're just empty eyeshadow palettes that you can get in different sizes and you just pick shades you love that you can get in the refill pan or de-pot the ones you have and pop them in. They also do this with their blushes and it's such a cool idea because I find with most palettes I buy I tend to stick with some colours more than others. Problem averted.

I got the empty quad and to fill it 'Naked Lunch' and 'Sable'. They're really good everyday shades and go well together. However they're looking pretty lonely next to the empty spaces, and I've got my eye on a few (15, actually) shadows that I think will work well with the brown theme I've got going on. I can feel another trip to MAC in the near future.

I also bought a paint pot in 'Painterly' as a base, and a travel sized Fix+, which I have no idea how to use so if you have any idea please let me know.

The Review #1

Since I've started wearing makeup the only brushes I've ever used were either Sigma or MAC. I bought the Sigma 'Make me Crazy' set first, and then I bought the F80 kabuki brush for my foundation, a highlighting brush and blush brush to complete my set. I also have a a few eyeshadow brushes from MAC which were a little treat to myself. 

I've seen the Real Techniques brushes for a while but never thought to pick them up or try them because I was content with my own little set and also because they are ridiculously overpriced in Australia.

I got two to start with, the powder brush and the blush brush. I have to say I'm so impressed with the quality of these brushes they are seriously giving my Sigma faithfuls a run for their money. They are so soft and each brush is synthetic and washes so well (my Sigma brushes take so long to dry). 

I've found a site called iHerb.com which has all the individual brushes and sets for the American price and they only charge $8 shipping to Australia (bargain). They're so cheap and amazing. I have 100% been converted.

The Makeup #1

Who else gets excited when you find makeup that you've forgotten about? 

Uh, everyone!

This MAC eyeshadow in 'Banshee' was limited edition (found on eBay) and is a dirty pink/brown shade. It is a lustre finish so that means lots of shimmer. 
I packed that all over my lids and blended with my beloved 'Teddy' eyeliner on the top lash line and outer corners of my bottom water line. 

Next I applied a lot of Mega Plush mascara and to finish the look, I applied Nars satin lip pencil in 'Rikugien' which is one of the easiest shades to wear and enhances your natural lip colour.