Product Review: Designer Brands Van Gogh palette

This is a review about a Designer Brands (DB) Van Gogh palette. That's what the back of the palette says, but I am a bit confused as it also says Colour by TBN on the front. I picked this up for $5 from a pharmacy (Guardian pharmacy) as I couldn't resist the earthy looking shades! 

Inside of the palette. The 6 shades on the left are quite earthy and I'm not sure how to describe the other 6. Interesting how it comes with two double-ended applicators. 

Swatches (dry, using applicator) above in different light settings. They are quite pigmented and surprisingly glide on easily. The white and pink shades (middle) were a little chalky. Also notice how there are two matte black shades? I think this is a good idea, black is a shade I use quite a lot. After doing the swatches, I feel like most of these shades are ones I already have in other palettes. I don't have ones like shade 7, 8 and 9 though so I guess its nice to have them!

Heres a quick look I've done with the VG palette. I've used a damp applicator for the pale pink on the lid and it came out quite chunky and uneven if you know what I mean, rather than being smooth and buttery. I used the matte black in the outer corner. I have not added any brown shadow on the outer edge in case you were wondering, thats just difference in my skin tone - my brow bone is much lighter than the skin below it! With a primer, the shadow lasted a long time and still looked quite nice. 

For a $5 palette, it is decent, but I think brands like MUA do much better 12 shade palettes for a similar price. 

Have you tried Designer Brands palettes? 

BYS Diamond Shadow 'Colour Conga'

Today I went to the Reject Shop to buy some Halloween stuff for a costume party I have coming up, and I couldn't help but take a look at the BYS stand. There is a huge range of nailpolishes around $4-5, but I prefer the Ulta3 range which are only $2 per bottle.

Anyway, I picked up the 'Colour Conga' palette for $5. The name is listed on the back.

This is the palette, 8 shades for $5, not bad right? It is still wrapped in the plastic shrink wrap here. It is roughly 10cm x 6.5cm - very compact, would be great for travel.

Top row is pink, a peachy/coral colour, yellow-orangey gold, a very metallic silver. Bottom row has purple, sky blue, light green and a mint colour. All the shades are shimmery, no matte shades. I normally don't really like doing bright colourful eyeshadow, but for the low price tag, I can afford to try this out.

Open palette - includes a double ended applicator.

Swatches in natural light. The swatches have been done dry using the included applicator. Pigmentation is okay for most shades. The metallic grey/silver is very! glittery. The blue probably has the best pigmentation. The last two shades were not very pigmented and quite chalky.

I have enhanced the photo here to give you a better idea of the colours - look at the blue!

Here is a look I have created (sorry the photos are not great) but I used the grey in the inner corner, the light green on the inner third, the pink in the middle, and purple for the outer corner and into the crease. The pink was quite annoying to work with and took a lot of packing on. No primer used here.

Reminds me a bit of those paddle pop ice creams. I've included this to show you the fall out - there was a lot of fall out. So I'd advise you do your eyeshadow first before any foundation, as I had a lot of pink dust under my eyes.

Overall, not a bad palette for the price, I would probably buy more as it gives me the chance to try out colours I normally wouldn't. 

Have you tried any BYS shadows?

Sleek Volume & Curl Mascara

Today I will be reviewing a mascara by the brand Sleek. So far I've only tried blushes by Sleek (reviews here) so I'm excited to try out this mascara. It is available from their website for $4.99. 

I am reviewing the shade 'black'. Standard tube, with 8mL of product. The tube reads 'special brush that curves and separates lashes from base to tip.' We'll see about that...

Here is the brush - it is a little bit narrower towards the middle of the brush. I like that when you pull the brush out, there is not much excess mascara on it.

This is what my eyes/lashes look like without any makeup on. I have fairly long lashes anyway.

Here is an after shot, after one coat on the top and bottom lashes. They appear a lot longer and curled. No clumping, score.

I've included this as a comparison shot - the left eye has mascara on and the right does not. The difference is substantial! 

I really do like this mascara for making my lashes look longer. I like mascaras that make your lashes look thicker, which this one doesn't seem to do, but for a $5 price tag, I can't say anything bad about it.

Have you tried any mascaras by Sleek?

NOTD: Ladybug nails

Funny that this is my first NOTD post, as I've just cut my nails really short! I had super long nails for a while but they were becoming impractical. It feels so much nicer to actually type with finger tips now.

Anyway, inspired by the warmer weather, I used a cutepolish nail tutorial to do some nail art!

Here are my lady bug nails:

This is really easy to do. I used a bobby pin to draw the straight line and to do the dots as well. No fancy tools needed!

Here are the polishes I used. Nail Tek Foundation II base coat (I swear by this product, it prevents staining, has made my nails much stronger and stopped them peeling!), Butter London 'Come to Bed Red', Sally Hansen 'Lustrous', Ulta3 'Lily White' and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (best thing ever).

Have you tried ladybug nails before?

Makeup Storage

Just a quick post today - I've been a bit slack lately, drowning in uni work!

Anyway, I thought I would show you some of my make up storage ideas.

Most of my makeup is sitting on a four rack corner shelf. The top shelf holds lipsticks, a pencil holder with brushes, a basket with eyeshadows, blushes and miscellanous items. The second rack (below) holds two baskets - one with eyeshadow palettes and other eye products and some nail polishes. The third rack holds more nail polish, deoderants and random body sprays. As for the fourth rack, nothing much is on that as it is pretty much ground level.

Here are some pictures:

Above - top rack: You can see lipsticks, lipglosses, blushes, brushes and other miscellanous items! (like a razor refill)

This what is inside the eyeshadow bucket. L-R: MAC 'Naked Lunch', MAC 'Swimming', MAC 'Shimmermoss' and Kleancolor American Eyedol 'Taupe'.

This is the second rack. More eye products here and some nail polishes behind.

I thought I would show how badly my nail polish is stored. In a gift box! In desperate need of ideas that don't take up too much space. 

I would love your thoughts on make up storage!

My 10 drugstore favourites

In no particular order...

1. Sleek blushes
They are about $6-7 (AUD) and you get 8g of product in a compact rectangular case with a mirror. MAC powder blushes are 6g and don't have a mirror so I think I prefer the Sleek casing.
These blushes are incredibly pigmented. Warning - they can become addictive! I use them daily and my MAC blushes have been pushed aside for these guys.

Here are some pictures I have used on other blog posts

Sunrise (left) and Honour (right) - refer to my previous post for more info if you are interested in these two!

Sleek blushes: Sunrise and Honour 

Above: Honour 

Above: Rose Gold - said to be a dupe of NARS Orgasm blush

 Cases

If you're interested in Sleek, you can buy their products from their website.
http://www.sleekmakeup.com/



2. Milani Press Powder
I bought this for $5.75. I guess I've never really been a pressed powder girl before but I love this. It gives a flawless coverage on its own and is great for shine control. It comes with a handy mirror and sponge. I also find it is long lasting. It has 10g of product so its probably going to last me a while.

I bought this from beautyjoint.com




3. L.A Girl Pro Conceal
A fantastic concealer for $2.50. Again, concealer wasn't a product I paid much attention to but this changed my beauty routine. I use them almost every day to cover areas of redness. It has a creamy consistency to it and the brush tip applicator can be used to blend but I prefer to use my fingers.

I bought this from beautyjoint.com



4. Ecotools Brushes
Not only is this brand pocket friendly, they are doing their bit for the environment. Their products are 100% cruelty-free (as their website says) with recycled aluminium and bamboo for the handles. 1% of their profits go towards environmental organisations, so not only will you look good but you feel good too!
If you're ever used one of their brushes, you would know that they are incredibly soft. I use a kabuki brush of theirs for when I use mineral powder foundation and sometimes I find myself just aimlessly rubbing the brush on my face, because it feels so soft. Please tell me I'm not the only one...?

Their prices vary depending on which brush/set you buy, but they can be purchased from Priceline as well as on their website.

This eyeshadow brush costs $4 on ecotools.com

5. Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner

I bought this for around $9 quite a while ago and this is the third time I've repurchased it. It makes liquid eyeliner application really easy with the precise tip. I always get compliments when I use it to do a winged eyeliner look. A great tool to have in your makeup kit for doing a dramatic look.

I bought this from Big W.



6. MUA eyeshadow palettes
I have two of these so far and they are amazing. They are about 4 pounds on the MUA website. Talk about value for money! There has been a lot of hype about these lately and rightfully so. 12 eyeshadows at an affordable price. I want them all. 

Here are the ones I have

Above: The Undressed palette - read more about it here

Above: The Dusk til Dawn palette - read more about it here

7. Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara
$12.95 for this, pretty cheap (in Aus!) for a mascara. Nothing too fancy, but it does the job for daily wear. The brush is good and so far I haven't experienced clumping. 

Rimmel products can be bought from Big W, supermarkets such as Coles and Bilo, Target and I'm sure there are other stores too.




8. NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss
Soo shiny! Bought this one for $5.49 and its generous with its 11ml of gloss. It pretty much gives you everything you want in a lipgloss - shine, colour and its not all gooey and sticky. Super cute tube too.

The colour above is Spongecake. 
This can be bought from beautyjoint.com



9. Ulta3 nail polish
$2 polish. What more can I say? The formula is excellent quality, the brush is small but that can be forgiven. You get 13mL of polish which is quite a lot. The colour range is also great. With a base coat and top coat, they last me about 5-7 days. 

Above: the colour 'Jade'

Above: the colour 'Bouquet'



10. Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick
These are $10 and are one of my most reliable lipsticks. Great colour and lasts about 4 hours on me. I have quite a few of these and will continue to repurchase.

The colour above is Birthday Suit.
Again, Rimmel products are widely available in Australia.


Well, this concludes my list! What are some of your drugstore faves?