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. 

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 

Bourjois Lip Crayons

I've never bought anything from Bourjois before or had any interest in it but the cuteness of these lipsticks drew me in and I had to try them. 

I love a good crayon-like lip product because they're easy to apply and you can just chuck them in your bag and touch up on the go. These Color Boost Lip Crayons are so smooth, feel amazing on the lips and have a really nice glossy finish. They come in four shades, Peach on the Beach, Orange Punch, Fuchsia Libre and Red Sunrise (which was sold out so I'll have to go searching for it), and are SPF 15. The colour pay off on these are way too impressive especially for a crayon, and last for ages.

Fuchsia Libre is definitely my favourite and I think they'll be really good in summer when your'e taking your makeup from a day to night look.

MAC Haul

As I've been reading more and more beauty blogs these last few weeks, my list of MAC products grows rapidly.

I ordered some things from the online store in a moment of weakness and the rest I went and picked up a day later because patience is not a quality I possess.

My online order included the 'Teddy' eye khol pencil, which is a beautiful bronze shade, a pencil sharpener (to go with my pencil, duh), lipstick in 'Lustering' and my favourite by far the Illustrated by Rebecca Moses face kit in brown.

If you're a MAC lover like myself and you live in Aus you of course know that all their products cost double than what they do overseas. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this palette, which contains a blush (Melba), four eyeshadows (Orb, All That Glitters, Smoked Sepia, Showstopper), two lipsticks (Ravishing, Myth) and a double sided brush. If i were to buy all these products separately it would have left my poor uni arse living on 2 minute noodles and crackers for a week, so this was a pretty BIG bargain. Highly recommended.

The other products I got in store were the 'Mythology' eyeshadow, blush in 'Blushbaby' and the '217' brush which I haven't tried yet but I'm sure it will be AHMAZING.

My list is still longer than the river Nile I can assure you. 

The Newbies #1

My week consists of working and going to uni so the only thing I REALLY look forward to is my deliveries. Especially, if its new makeup that awaits me at my door. I don't know, its like a magical beauty guru who knows exactly what I like and want brought me my new toys, and I forget that I was the one that clicked confirm order over a week ago. 

Don't judge me, you do it too. 

Nars Radiant Creamy concealer in Light 2 Vanilla

Nars blush in Deep Throat (LOL)

Nars Bronzing powder in Laguna

Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow pencil in Bad Girl Bronze

Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara

My other products are my old faithfuls. I mixed the Verve shadow from my Naked2 palette with my bronze pencil and blended which created a nice neutral colour as they're both quite strong on their own. 

I only get my Nars products from Kiss and Makeup , if its something like foundation, I colour match in the stores here first.