Foundation rotation

I can't explain why, but lately I've had a fascination for foundation. I want to try them all. But now I have something like 7 or 8 foundations, I only have one face, is this really necessary?! Anyways, I've been leaning towards a few lately so I'll give you a bit of a rundown...

L-R

Maybelline Super Stay Foundation

Rimmel 25 Hour  Lasting Finish

L'Oreal True Match

Rimmel Match Perfection

Maybelline Super Stay

So this one is the newest to my collection because apparently I could not resist the recent 50% off sale at Chemist Warehouse. I bought this 'blindly' - what I mean by that is that I didn't do any research on it or look at any reviews of it beforehand. But luckily, I'm liking it so far. Some have said that it's a cheaper version of Revlon Colorstay and I think for the most part I do agree. It applies very well and doesn't feel overly cakey. It probably doesn't have quite as much coverage as Colorstay though, but I'm okay with that. It still is medium-full coverage with good lasting power, although I get a bit shiny by the end of the day. I'd rate it an 8/10.

Rimmel Lasting Finish

Alright, where do I start? I really want to love this. I'm trying so hard. But you know what they say, you can't force love. I read so many great reviews (especially on Beauty Heaven) and I was like omg I need this foundation. I just don't get excited about it. It feels very thick and it takes me time to apply and blend it because of how thick it is. The coverage is medium-full, but its kind of...flat. I find it boring, if that even makes sense. It makes my face feel tacky for a while after applying. It's also not particularly buildable as I did notice caking at the end of the day on the areas I tried to cover more. Funnily enough, I actually think it looks better at the end of the day (when its not cakey) when its had some time to wear into my skin. So maybe if I wanted this to look good, I'd put it on and go for a run? Hmm. I'll use it up, but I doubt I'll repurchase. 5/10

L'Oreal True Match

This is my favourite foundation right now. I bought it because I know Lauren Curtis raves about it, and shes always got a flawless base. It dries to a semi-matte powder finish, but the thing I love most about it is how light weight it feels, how easily it applies and that it's buildable! I haven't worn this for photos yet so I'm not sure how the SPF holds up under flash photography, but other than that, I'd rate it as a 10. 

Rimmel Match Perfection

I've had this for some time, but I find myself reaching for it on my days off when I want a fresh look without too much makeup. It's light coverage which gives a really natural glow. Initially when I got this foundation, I didn't like it but now its one of my favourites. The only downside to it is that it doesn't have the best wear time, so for that I rate it a 9/10.

Do you have any of these foundations and if so, what are your thoughts on them? I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments below. 

Limited Edition: Maybelline NY Color Tattoo in 300 Gold Shimmer

Gold Shimmer is one of the 2012 Limited Edition Color Tattoo's. Being a huge fan of gold shadows, I had to try this out...

The name gold shimmer is misleading - this is more of an antique, brassy metallic brown - but I LOVE the colour so I had to share. Here is a comparison with Bold Gold, the permanent gold in the range.

Top - Gold Shimmer

Bottom - Bold Gold

 Left - Bold Gold

Right - Gold Shimmer

Bold Gold (sorry, it looks a bit darker in this photo!)

Gold Shimmer!!

Left - Bold Gold

Right - Gold Shimmer

You can see that they are both beautiful colours, but I think I will get more use out of Gold Shimmer because of the brown undertone, so it would be suitable for daytime wear and at night. The formula is amazing - creamy and smooth, similar in texture to Bad to the Bronze (which is probably one of the most popular shades in the range?).

There is another limited edition gold color tattoo from the 2013 collection (Gold Rush), but it looks waayy too yellow for my liking. What do you think?

Have you got any of the LE Color Tattoo's?

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. 

Experiments with lipsticks of the wrong shade (for me)

If you're anything like me, a large percentage of your beauty buys are either online or inspired by something you've seen online. I have fallen victim to buying quite a few things online and they turn out to be awful for me. Lipsticks seem to be a particular issue for me, so I have a bunch of them sitting around doing nothing but collecting dust! 

Today I thought I would try to mix them with other lipsticks to see if I could make these shades more wearable.

First up is NYX Round Lipstick in Tea Rose. I bought this one online after having a look at a few swatches. It's a shame the colour doesn't work for me because I really like the creamy consistency. I expected it to be a bit more peachy pink but it is more pink than anything else.

Yikes. You can probably see why I can't/don't wear this! Bubblegum pink doesn't suit my skin tone. That, and I don't have the confidence to pull off crazy shades anyway.

So I have tried to mix this with a darker colour to make it a darker berry pink, something I am more comfortable with. I have added Rimmel Lasting Finish in Temptation. I don't use this Rimmel one much either, it's a nice red but probably too blue toned for me. Mixing them together produces a deeper pink.

Sorry about the blurry photo! But the main thing here is just that this pink is a bit more in my comfort zone. This colour is something I'm much more likely to wear.

Alright, moving on. This one is Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Coral Desire. The lipstick itself is a gorgeous pale coral but when swatched - what?! Where did the colour go?! 

Yes I smeared my lips in vanilla frosting here. No, not really, but that is how Coral Desire turns out. I don't fancy wearing white frost on my lips, to be honest.

Again, I have mixed it with another lipstick that I don't use too much. I have added Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Sienna, a chocolate brown. This translates to a bronzey shimmer.

I actually really like this combination. It is something I can definitely wear and not be paranoid that I have alien lips.

What are your thoughts on mixing lipstick shades? Do you do it too?