Face of Australia - Mineral Therapy Illuminators

Good things come in threes, right?

Okay, I know this set actually includes four different shades of illuminators, but at this point in time, I've purchased three of them. I have bought the shades Angel Mist (the white, classic highlighter shade), Angel Blush (pink toned) and Angel Glow (bronze). I'm missing Angel Flame which is said to be a dupe of the NARS Orgasm Illuminator. Not sure yet whether I will buy it, but they retail for $14.95 (although I paid $14.44 at Big W) so theres a good chance I will. These are 50mL tubes so they are excellent value for money. 

The NARS illuminators are $48 each (according to Mecca) which is waay out of my price range, also they are smaller tubes (30mL). Considering you can buy the whole FoA collection for $50 (see link at end of post), it makes sense to buy all 4 for only $2 more than a single NARS one :)

Angel Mist
This can be used with foundation for fairer skin tones, but I use this as a highlighter at the top of my cheekbones. It adds a sparkly glow to my cheeks which I really like! As for pigmentation, my skin is 'medium' toned, so there is not much colour evident when I apply Angel Mist. I can't confirm this, but from the swatches I've seen, this looks similar to NARS's Copacobana Illuminator.

Angel Mist swatched
Left - blended out, but on my face I would blend it out more, I didn't blend it as much here so you can see it better. 

This is what the packaging looks like, tube with a screw top lid. You can probably see that there is enough product around the mouth and in the lid to highlight my cheekbones.

Angel Blush
This was the first one I bought and after a few uses, I was hooked. It gave a peachy glow to my cheeks. This one is probably my favourite.

Angel Blush, swatched above

Angel Glow
This one is less shimmery of the three and has more colour to it. I have read that you can mix it with your foundation for a bronzed look, but I found it made me look orange. I use this as a bronzer and/or blush for a natural summer glow. To me, this looks very similar to NARS's Laguna Illuminator.

Angel Glow, swatched above

What I don't like about these - the packaging isn't great, I find that a lot of product leaks out of the hole and goes into the lid which is wasting the product. I would highly recommend laying them down flat rather than upright, because product leaks out and can get messy when you open it. Example...

After leaving it upright for a few days, a lot of product has leaked into the lid, and dried up around the edges :(

Before I end this post, I'd like to say thank you to Mishelle from Mishelle's Sleepy Time for recommending these illuminators to me! 

Have you tried these illuminators?


Buy from:
http://www.makeupexpress.com.au/cosmetic/face-makeup-face-of-australia-illuminator/face-of-australia-mineral-therapy-illuminator-collection.aspx

BYS Metallics Darks palette

Oh no, another BYS palette...luckily they're so cheap I don't feel guilty about buying them.

I am tired of hearing about how young I look. When I meet people and tell them I'm 20, they're usually like whoa I thought you were 16! Yeah yeah I know, it'll be good when I'm in my 40's and look 30. But I hate looking so young right now, no one takes me seriously. One of the main reasons is that I'm tiny - average height but I'm very petite and don't have much of a womanly figure to me. Anyways...

I bought this palette because I thought if I could do a darker, smokey eye look, maybe it would make me look more mature. For only $5, even if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be a huge loss anyway. 

I broke it by driving home too fast as I was so excited about buying this. No, not really, I must have dropped it or something. It left a powdery mess everywhere.

These colours are all really pigmented! One thing I noticed though is that a few of the shades are almost identical. I think a black shade would have been handy. They are quite powdery so fall out is a given. Other than that, it seems like value for money. 

I'm yet to try a smokey eye with this palette, perhaps you could suggest a tutorial for me? :)

Pure Destiny Aromatics cleanser review

Pure Destiny Aromatics - Complete Me 3-in-1 Cleansing Facial System

I won this lovely product from a giveaway run by The Beauty & Lifestyle Hunter (check out her blog, it's very informative and a great read!) and I'm very excited about using this as it's my first organic cleanser.

I have recently become more interested in organic and natural products. After buying coconut oil for my hair, I barely use any other hair products. I've also ditched aluminium containing deodorants in favour of natural deodorant.

This cleanser contains certified organic ingredients, and from having a quick look at the ingredients list, I see things like aloe barbadensis leaf juice, various fruit and seed oils, as well as jojoba beads. This sounds much nicer than things like ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium benzotriazolyl and other things that are too hard to pronounce. 

The packaging is sleek and simple. I think it looks very classy and a lot less 'commercial' than cleansers by many well-known brands. 

The cleanser is easily dispensed in an efficient way, and one of the first things I notice is the pleasant smell - sort of like lavender and eucalyptus (I'm probably wrong). The consistency is quite runny and contains exfoliating grains. I massage this onto my skin in circular motions to exfoliate and leave it on for up to 3 minutes (as stated on the label). In this time, the cleanser absorbs into the skin and the exfoliating beads are left on the skin. I was quite surprised to find a refreshing sensation over time - not so much that tingly feeling from menthol, but more like a cooling feeling. According to the label, this is when the cleanser is detoxifying and cleansing the skin.

After washing off, my skin feels refreshed and smooth. Also, it doesn't feel dry/tight at all which is a winner in my books as I often find myself with dry skin after using cleansers. I can get away with not moisturising but I still do. I'll be using this twice a week, but it can be used about 3-4 times a week.

Overall, this is a really fantastic cleanser and I would highly recommend it!

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?