EOTD using MAC

Just a quick post on a look I did using a few MAC shadows - Swimming, Naked Lunch and Sable. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good photo of the complete look as it was difficult to get a clear shot at night. I have posted swatches of the shadows that I took the next day.

L-R

Sable

Swimming

Naked Lunch

L-R

Naked Lunch

Swimming

Sable

I used Naked Lunch in the inner corner and as a highlight. I also used it all over the lid as a base colour. To the inner 2/3 of the lid I applied Swimming and used Sable in the outer V and to define the crease. Swimming is a nice colour but it can be tricky to blend. Sable is a gorgeous chestnut brown that I find to be very versatile! As for Naked Lunch, it has a great texture that is easy to work with. 

These shadows ended up producing a soft spring time look.

What are your favourite MAC shadows?

FOTD: Australian products

Despite my love for trying out international brands, its nice to use products from your own country! I used a few local products for my FOTD from a few nights ago, heres what I used (mini reviews included):

L-R

Australis Creme Colour blush in Flirtatious pink RRP $9.95

Face of Australia massage therapy lip shine in Bondi RRP $10.95

Face of Australia liquid eyeliner in black RRP $8.95

Australis Mineral Inject Liquid Foundation in Natural beige $17.95

BYS Diamond Shadow Colour Conga palette RRP $5.00

I've also included the Rimmel mascara, simply because I don't own any true Aussie brand mascaras but Rimmel is widely available here. Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Swatches above of Australis creme colour - on the left it has been blended out and is quite sheer against my skin. As my face is lighter, it shows up more on my face and appears like a natural flushed glow. I like the creamy consistency of this, it has a little bit of added shimmer too. It can be used on the lips too, but because of the lavender smell, I don't use it on my lips as I am not a fan of this smell! 

Swatches of the lip shine - it is true to the tube. The formula is a little on the sticky side, but it gives a great shine to the lips. The colour can be built up too so I only use a small amount. I absolutely adore this colour. The applicator also has little bumps on it, which apparently massages your lips to provide fullness. I don't really think this does anything, it feels nice to apply, but my lips don't seem much fuller from using it. 

As for the mineral foundation, it is decent, but nothing spectacular. Here is what the product claims to do:

• For perfectly smooth, immaculate-looking skin.
• Minmises the appearance of imperfections and fine lines
• Luxuriously lightweight for superior coverage and a sensational silky finish
• SPF 12

The coverage is quite light which suits me as my skin is fairly clear. It claims to give smooth skin - yes, if your skin is already in good condition. It does minimise imperfections if they are minor, and I'm not sure about the fine lines? 

As for the FoA liquid liner, I've written about it in a previous post, which you can view here (its #5 on the list). 

I have done a complete review on the BYS palette, click here!. For this FOTD, I used the soft green to fit with a floral spring-style look :) 

What are your favourite Australian products? 

Rimmel Lasting Finish lipsticks - Temptation, Heather Shimmer & Drop of Sherry

These were pretty much the first lipsticks I bought when I started becoming interested in lipstick! At $9.95 each, it wasn't a huge loss if they didn't suit me.

L-R: Heather Shimmer, Drop of Sherry and Temptation

They are sooo pretty! L-R: Temptation, Heather Shimmer and Drop of Sherry. The last one looks like a hybrid of the first two :) Temptation is very pigmented! Heather Shimmer and Drop of Sherry are slightly frosted.

Temptation

Heather Shimmer

Drop of Sherry 

All these lipsticks have a vanilla cake like smell to them which doesn't translate to the lips. The formula is slightly drying and seems to last about 2-3 hours. Heather Shimmer is the one I've probably used to the most out of these 3. I actually haven't worn Temptation anywhere because I feel like I'm not brave enough to wear such a bold shade of red!

What are your thoughts on the Rimmel lasting finish lipsticks?

Five minute summer face

Hey all! 

What products do you use when you're in a rush to get ready? For me, it depends on what season it is. In the warmer months, I use a minimal amount of makeup (its just going to sweat/melt off anyway!). Here are some products I use...

Rimmel BB Cream in Medium - $12.95

Sleek blush in Rose Gold - $5.99

Rimmel Extra Super Lash mascara - $12.95

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in Birthday Suit (250) - $9.95

Rimmel BB Cream in Medium - on the left it has been blended out and it seems to blend well with my skin, although my face is a different color. This product claims to prime, moisturise, minimise pores, conceal, cover, smooth, mattify, brighten and protect (phew!). I'm not sure about the priming ability as I've never used a face primer before (don't laugh!) but it gives pretty even coverage although my skin is fairly blemish free. Sometimes I do add powder over the top though. This product also contains SPF 25 so you've got the added bonus of protection against the sun! One thing to be mindful of is that it may take on an orange tint - I have noticed a few people saying this in reviews. I haven't experienced this though.

Sleek blush in Rose Gold - yes I know I've mentioned these blushes before but I absolutely adore this colour. Its a peachy/coral blush with a hint of pink that adds a healthy glow. 

Now next to the swatch of the blush (on the right), I've swatched Birthday Suit. This is my go-to 'nude', its a very wearable caramel frosty lipstick with a hint of orange. I've swatched it next to the blush to show you how nicely they go together (well, I think so anyway). The colour is true to the tube. I adore this lipstick and am ready to repurchase this!

Some days, if I'm looking super tired, I'll add some concealer to hide dark rings and add a bit of black eyeliner to give my eyes some definition.

Feel free to share your favourite 'safe' products that you use when you're in a rush! :)

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania

Good evening all!

This is going to be a post on NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in shades Mink, Oro and Walnut. I've never tried pigments before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I purchased them from ebay, for 3 in total it only came to about $10 with shipping, soo cheap!

L-R: Walnut, Mink and Oro. These bottles are tiny! About half the size of my index finger. The lid is a screw on cap with a tiny mouth so you won't be able to fit a brush inside or pour it into the lid. 

I've poured a little bit of each into this box above with small compartments, I've never used it for anything so its come in handy. A little bit goes a long way. You can re-pot them into a larger pot if you have any handy (a clean, empty lipgloss tub would work). The mouth of the actual tube is very small as you can see, this packaging is totally impractical but for the $2 RRP price it can be dismissed. 

Above are swatches, L - R: Mink, Oro and Walnut. They have been swatched using a slightly damp brush. Absolutely stunning colours and quite pigmented. 

Heres a quick look I have done using Mink (damp brush), sorry its a bit messy. I absolutely love how this colour looks with my eyes and can't wait to wear it to work! 

Do you own any of these? Are you in love with them too?

Halloween looks

I know Halloween has been and gone, but I thought I would show you some of the looks I did. Nothing too fancy, but something different to the usual...

The eyes - the pink and purple from the BYS Colour Conga palette (see my review here)

Blue and blended black on the outer portion from the MUA Undressed palette - probably my favourite palette out of the ones I own (see my post on Undressed here).

Now I need some help from fellow bloggers - I have dark areas next to the inner corner of my eye - any products that would help reduce the appearance of them?

The nails - the navy blue is Orly 'La Playa' from the iViva collection. And on my ring finger, I painted Boo, the ghost from the Mario games! I have used a cute polish tutorial to do this design (click!)

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! 

Itchy underarms - how to deal

This is a deviation away from my normal type of blog post, but I felt it would still be useful to blog about.

About 2-3 months ago, I started experiencing really itchy underarms - sometimes I would scratch so much, the skin would break. Obviously this was both painful and an inconvenience, so I had to change something.

After doing some research, I found several reasons that may have been causing the uncontrollable itchiness. I decided it may have been due to shaving my underarms daily (the hair grows so quick!) as this can often cause irritation to the skin. 

So I decided to epilate my underarms instead. 

Yes, it hurt a LOT when I first tried, it probably took me about an hour because I had to keep stopping from the pain. Sorry if this puts you off, but its true. The hairs in that area are quite coarse, which is why it hurt a lot initially. I think another thing that scared me was that you could hear the hairs being plucked out (as your underarms are close to your ears). I did experience a few spots of blood but nothing too much. Make sure you pull your arm back as far as you can to stretch out the skin, it makes it easier. I found that for a day after this first-time epilation, my underarms felt quite sore when I stretched out my arms. But things definitely improved.

I am still epilating my underarms a month later, and I'm getting great results! The hairs have been growing back much finer and I only need to epilate once a week (much better than shaving every day). It doesn't hurt much anymore as the hairs are so fine. If you're willing to deal with the initial pain, I would recommend epilation. 

Despite this change, my underarms were still itchy. 
So the next culprit was deodorant.

The deodorant I was using before (a Garnier roll on) was the reason for the itchiness. I tried a few others, but still had the same issue. I noticed that when the roll on dries, a white powdery residue forms. Is that normal or was it just me?

Anyway, I had heard about natural deodorants before so I decided to do some further investigation. There is a huge amount of information online suggesting that most deodorants contain aluminium which has been linked to cancer. Also, anti perspirants block your sweat glands to stop you from sweating using a wide variety of chemicals, surely that can't be good for your body! 

So I decided to purchase natural deodorant. I bought two bottles from Fresca. They offer hand made deodorant, free of aluminium, alcohol and parabens, and blended with essential oils. Also, in 2012 they received the award for the best aluminium free natural deodorant. 

I received the two bottles a week later ($15 each), Jaisara and an unscented one. Unfortunately, one broke in transit but I received a replacement very quickly! I was happy with the customer service. I was a little hesistant about using them at first - they are not anti perspirants so you will still sweat, but the deodorant will make sure you don't stink! I'm finding that they do last most of the day and are very gentle to the skin - no stinging but most importantly...no itching! 

I'm really happy that I've finally solved this problem as well as changed a few things about  my beauty grooming routine.

If you're still reading this, then thank you for reading this word heavy post!

Seven Shades for Summer

This is a post about the seven nail polish shades I'll definitely be wearing over the summer. None of these are new shades, so you may already have them in your collection. 

Without any further delay...

The seven shades I pulled out of my collection when I thought of summer. 

L-R: China Glaze 'For Audrey, Maybelline Mini Colorama 'Coral Rose', OPI 'Strawberry Margarita', Essie 'Bikini So Teeny', Essie 'Fear or Desire' and Ulta3 'Purple Pumps'

First up - China Glaze 'For Audrey'. I have been lusting over this colour (and pastel shades in general) for a while now, and finally it arrived in the mail today. This colour is associated with the jewellery company Tiffany & Co., it is actually a trademarked colour so it will be a little bit different. Anyway, as I only just got this, I haven't been able to do any swatches for you, but there are dozens of swatches for this shade!

Maybelline mini Colorama 'Coral Rose' (56). I have already done a post specifically for this colour (see here for more info/pics) but this is a perfect peachy colour for warmer days. The sun makes this colour look beautiful. 

Just for fun - Coral Rose matched my summer fruit juice! 

No 3: OPI 'Strawberry Margarita' - now how can I not choose a pink nail polish! This is my go-to pink, it is so bright and I always get compliments on it. I refer to it as my Barbie pink shade. I've already mentioned this polish in a previous post, so to see a picture, have a look at this post. 

No 4. Essie 'Bikini So Teeny' - this is one of the six shades from the Bikini So Teeny 2012 Summer Collection. I think this colour is super unique! I've only worn this once, on my toes, but I had a sales assistant from a shoe store tell me what an awesome colour it was. No swatches for this one, but theres plenty on other blogs :)

 No 5. Essie 'Fear or Desire' - again, this is from the 2012 Summer Collection - the perfect eye catching orange. This is a true orange, one of the most vibrant I've seen. I have not worn this alone, but I've included a picture where I have used this shade for nail art.

On my pinky and ring finger, I have used 'Fear and Desire' - totally pops against the white! Like my Yoshi nails? :P

No. 6 is Orly 'Bailamos' - it doesn't look that exciting in the bottle, but it is a gorgeous aqua turquoise (I'm so bad at describing colours) shade. 

Bailamos above - pretty much could not stop staring at my nails when I had this on. (excuse my straightener/junk in the background)

Annddd lucky last is Ulta3 - Purple Pumps. I'm wearing this now, its an amazing shade. I got lots of compliments on it when I wore it for a night out (even from males!). 

The picture speaks for itself!

That concludes my seven shades.

What shades will you be wearing this summer?

Maybelline mini Colorama polish: Coral Rose

Happy Friday everyone!

I recently bought one of the Maybelline New York mini Colorama polishes from the supermarket for $5.95. I don't have many coral polishes so I thought this would be a good addition to my polish family. 

The bottle itself is such a handy size and I really like the sleek design. Bonus points for the excellent brush, it makes application simple and quick. 

The colour I purchased is Coral Rose, and depending on the light, it can look either more pink or orange. 

Coral rose only

Here I've added some flowers - I've used the end of a bobby pin to do the white and black dots. You can see in the top photo, it looks more orange while the second photo it looks more salmon-pink.

The reason I felt like writing this review is because I have experienced minimal chipping after 9 days of wear. I used a base coat (Nail Tek II) and Seche Vite Dry Fast topcoat. With OPI polishes, I can usually go for about 6-7 days before I get major chipping. It is day 9 right now, and only one nail has chipped very slightly, I'd like to keep it on as long as possible just to see how long it lasts, but I need to change my mani to match my party dress for tomorrow night!

For $5.95, this is a reaally great nail polish! I love the colour and I'm sure I'll be using it more in the future.