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? :)

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? 

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?