FOTD - Clubbing Winged Eye Look

 Hello Lovelies,

There's a reason I've been quiet, I've been sick with a horrible sinus infection (ewww! I know right) and also extremely run down since I just came out of some very stressful assessment pieces for uni. As well as being a wonderful student *scoff* I've been going out with friends lately and partying it up since one of my friends is leaving the country for 5 months!!!! I took a couple of FOTD style photos and this one ended up looking the best once I uploaded them to my computer. I also really liked my outfit from this night (which was a UV Paint Party) but I didn't get any decent snaps of it. In relation to my makeup, it lasted amazingly especially since I was dancing and drinking :P I can't remember all the products I used but I used a Maybelline Gel eyeliner to create the wing, which I think I'm getting awesome at.

It's been a while, what has everyone been up to?

xoxo

Favourite Makeup Products 2013

Hello Lovelies,

I know I'm a little behind the gun when it comes to doing favourites, but I think it's a good idea to share my makeup favourites for last year. I've picked one or two for each category so that you're not bombarded with a million favourites, these are just my extremely loved and worn products of 2013. This post is just makeup, I did have a few skincare favourites but not enough to justify making a whole other post, and plus I don't have the bottle anymore for my favourite cleanser of 2013 (which was Philosophy's Purity Cleanser).

 Foundation
This would have to be, hands down, the best foundation I used all last year. Of course it's Revlon's Colorstay, I'm in the shade 200 Nude and this shade suits my skin perfectly. I've never had a better coverage or consistency with any other foundation. It is extremely durable and managed to endure Australia's hot summers and long ass uni days, so it definitely deserves an award.

Concealer 
I tried waaaayyyy too many concealers last year but the winner was actually one I'd bought the year before and had been hiding in my makeup kit, and it is Estee Lauder's Creme Concealer. It is the only concealer I tried that had full coverage. I mainly used this under my eyes but it also worked wonders on blemishes and redness.

Powder
If you know me at all, you'd know that I'm sort of a powder hound, I go through them with lightning speed and can definitely pick a good one from a bad or mediocre one. Last year's winner definitely went to Rimmel's Stay Matte Powder, as you can see, it saw many a day and is need of a repurchase. It's so amazing due to the fact that it does indeed keep my face matte, which is a problem being an oily skin girl who lives in one of the hottest and not to mention humid places.

Blush
This is another product that saw a lot of light in the year of 2013 and it is MaxFactor's Flawless Perfection Blush in 220 Classic Rose. I swear I reach for this blush every day and have to tell myself that it's okay to use another one, I'm seriously attached to it. I've had this one for so long, I'm not even sure you can buy it anymore!

Bronzer
Well this was a no-brainer, I've mentioned this bronzer more times then I can remember. I learnt how to contour and work with bronzers and highlighters in 2013 and the Maybelline Fit Me Bronzer in Light Bronze has been just a treat. Since I'm quite pale it works wonders with my complexion and really helps create a natural glow.

Highlighter
I don't own many highlighters but boy am I glad I own The Balm's Mary Lou-Manizer, it works really well on accentuating my cheekbones and I'm going to be devastated when I run out of this amazing product.

Eyeliner
There may be a slight chance that I hoard eyeliners but by far my favourite and most used eyeliner is my K-Palette one that I got in Singapore. It's a pen/brush eyeliner and the pigmentation is wonderful and it never moves, and I mean that it takes me so long to get it off. I think this product is the sole reason I learnt how to do winged eyeliner.

Mascara
Now this is a little controversial since a lot of people loved the Clump Crusher and a heap hated it, me personally, I loved it. Works perfectly with my lashes and gives them amazing length and volume without clumping and still keeps them relatively natural.

Lips
Although I have loved some lip liners I've narrowed the lips category down to three products and they are Maybelline ColorSensational in 912 Electric Orange, MAC in House Wine and the Nivea Fruity Shine in Strawberry. All three of these are amazing, I'd probably say that house wine is my most worn shade of 2013.

Eyeshadows
This was a given and I suppose it comes to no surprise that the Urban Decay Naked Palette is my favourite palette and contains my most used eyeshadows of 2013. I'm not going to go into why it's so amazing because you've all probably heard it before.

Brushes
The Model's Prefer Crease Brush and the Revlon Smokey Eye Brush have been my favourite brushes for this year. Using the crease brush has made blending so much easier and I have a full review of the Revlon brush here.

So those are my makeup favourites of 2013, I can't wait to see what products I fall in love with this year. Don't forget to enter my giveaway which is still running and is open internationally. You can find it here.

What were your favourites of 2013? I'd love to know

xoxo 

10 Desert Island Items - #SBBC

So in this scenario, all my makeup was taken and I can only repurchase ten items, crazy right? I think so. I'm not quite sure what the guidelines are with this like do I get to keep my brushes, is a palette allowed or only single shades? I dunno maybe I'm breaking all the rules, but let's go with it. I'll attempt not to go into full review mode and give a short quick sentence as to why I would repurchase these items.

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - As you all know, I flippin' love this powder and I would probably say it's the best one I've used, even go as far to say that it's better then my MAC pressed powder.

Estee Lauder Disappear Smoothing Creme Concealer or MAC Studio Finish Concealer - Clearly I can't make my mind up, I love both of these concealers and they both last a long time, both on the face and in the packaging, and plus great coverage. As you can see (or not see which angle you want to take) The MAC one has been completely exhausted, from love of course.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation - If I'm purchasing powder and concealer then I've got light to medium coverage covered, now for full coverage I don't think I'll stray from this foundation.

Urban Decay Naked Palette - Does this even need reasoning? I think not.

Maybelline Fit Me Bronzer in Light Bronze - Perfect light bronze to the face, I could rave about this product all day, from here to Timbuktu, but all in all this a great bronzer to add just that little bit of glow.

MAC Lipstick in House Wine - I know I've mentioned this before, but the color is perfect and easily buildable.

Nivea Lip Shine in Strawberry - Moisturizing with a tint of color, yes please, Love this little baby.

Maxfactor Flawless Perfection Blush in Classic Rose  - Believe or not this was the first blush I ever owned, I got it for a present and then never used it and now, I practically use it every day, I find the shade very complementing to my skin tone

Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara - We need a mascara in this mix and my current favourite is this little beauty, so it's going on the list.

Maybelline Eye studio Gel Eyeliner - Amazing eyeliner, can go from simple and slim to HOLY MACKEREL EYELINER, did I mention amazing?

Those are my 10 desert island items that I would repurchase if all my makeup was taken, stolen, burnt in some crazy person's fire. I think it's a pretty good selection and would definitely help on getting my collection back on it's feet. Now, I'm very curious to know what you guys would repurchase at the dreadful thought that all you makeup was gone, so let me know :)

DIY Tinted Moisturizer - #SBBC

This is fairly self-explanatory, I sincerely couldn't think of anything DIY Beauty other than my brush cleaning method which is featured here, an then I thought about my own way of making tinted moisturizer, since I don't own any. I would definitely recommend not using a really heavy moisturizer because it might make your skin really shiny and unless you're normal to dry skin, that's a real problem. You really don't need to use very much foundation at all. In regards to actually mixing the two products, i normally put both on the back of my hand then combine together with a foundation brush of some sort.

I'm fairly new at making little graphics like this and I want to know your opinion. What do you think of them and do you prefer them to me posting photographs?

Beauty Pet Peeves - #SBBC

Well this is so very broad. Since getting myself educated in the world of makeup and beauty, I tend to pick on somethings. Sometimes good and can appreciated peoples' efforts in greater detail but on the whole there are some very not so admired beauty elements. I will condense this to the top three things that peeve me.

Way Too Much Bronzer or Fake Tan

Now this isn't a great example, but this is what I see when girls (or even guys with really bad fake tans) load up their face and neck with bronzer or get a fake tan that is way too fake. The number of people that go from a piece of paper to a Jamaican national is way too many, I can name over a handful of girls who 'experimented' with fake tans during middle school and turned into temporary oompa loompas. When it comes to bronzer, for the everyday, try and find a bronzer that will complement your skin tone and remember to blend and work with your face shape.

Foundation shade doesn't match neck 

Once again not a good example but I heard from an ad campaign by Estee Lauder, that over 80% of women are wearing the wrong shade of foundation. I can personally say that I am one part of that percentage, at one point I did where the wrong shade. It looks bad, firstly, it's not you and the purpose of foundation is to smooth out skin and perfect the imperfections, not change your heritage. The best thing is to test out shades, find out your undertone, whether it is cool or warm. Also when swatching foundations test it on your jawline so you can see the difference between your next and face and also match for your neck so that everything blends together.

Messy Lipstick

This would have to be my biggest pet peeve, people who have applied they lipstick too heavily, gone out of the natural shape of their lips or have overdrawn their lips. Personally, I find this very unattractive and it just looks messy, especially when working with bright or dark lip shades. Instead of overdrawing your lips go for a darker lip liner then applied a slightly lighter lipstick and they will look fuller. Now I'm not saying that slighting overdrawing your lips is bad but going over the top, well yea, that's not a good look.

Those were my top three beauty pet peeves, these are my opinions and I know that some of you might not agree but this is what peeves me off and therefore from my perspective. What are your beauty pet peeves?

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation and Powder - First Impression

This starts off a little sad since the main reason I was even looking for a new foundation is because I'm nearly finished with my bottle of Revlon Colorstay which as you all know, is amazing and I absolutely love it. I was seriously just going into Priceline to get a refill but their new foundation and powder combination caught my eye. One, because they had a special to get both items for $30 which is crazy since each product retails for about $26 each so I was stoked and jumped at the purchased and two, because from all previous experience with Revlon foundations, I was fairly certain that I would like their new line.

With every makeup purchase comes a makeup promise and with Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation and powder there is no exception. Revlon's byline for this foundation is:

"Makeup so refreshingly light, it melts right in, creating a fresh even look. So the only one that knows you are wearing makeup is you. Blends seamlessly, buildable coverage."

Alongside the ad campaign featuring Emma Stone, I was drawn in and their promise of a 'nearly naked' finish that is also buildable.

When I met inside Priceline with the product line I was firstly impressed with the very helpful color wheel that accompanied the display as well as readily available and well labeled testers. I also pulled out my phone and went on their site to ensure that I picked up the right shade, which happens to be 130 Shell for the foundation and 010 Fair for the powder.

In regards to the packaging, I think that the simplistic design is great and very appealing to the eye but I must say that I am quite disappointed that there is no pump included but I suppose with such a lightweight formula is might've been hard to include it. The powder's packaging is a little big for my taste since I do like putting my powders in my purse when I'm on the go but it is very consistent with the foundation is staying simplistic and nice on the eye. My only bad thing to say in regards to the packaging of the powder is the little powder puff that's included has kind sharp edges, so learn from my experience, only press down, don't swipe underneath your eyes.

Today was the first time I used both products separately and together and I feel that I'm just going to fall head over heals for this one just as I did with Colorstay. The coverage is medium to light but definitely buildable and from the small amount I poured onto my hand (about 10-20 cent coin size) I felt that I got adequate coverage. Paired with the powder, everything just came together and it added a sense of being polished but at the same time flawless. I didn't find it cakey at all but I suppose on the amount of product you use that might change. I have oily/combination skin and I felt that at the same time is was controlling the oils it wasn't bringing out any of my dry patches.

In my opinion, this foundation and powder combination is perfect for people that want light to medium coverage that would be perfect for everyday work/school wear.

Foundation Routine

July Favourites

I know everyone says this but I can't believe that it is August, and it's not just because this year is traveling so fast but the fact that I turn 18 this month and August is normally really packed with things to do so I am super duper pumped. With August starting it calls for a few favourites and I am trying really hard not no mention too many things because I feel like favourites should be what i was addicted to for the majority of the month. So I have a few beauty items and a few randoms.

• Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 200 Nude Combination/Oily  - So I picked this at the end of June when uni took it's break because I was in desperate need for a new foundation and well what can I say, this baby is flippin' amazing. The coverage is exactly what I need and I feel that the formula is perfect and am 100% glad I picked up the combination/oily one because it helps matteify as well.


• Philosophy Purity Cleanser - Needed a new cleanser and I wanted to try something a little bit high-end and boy was I glad I payed the $15 dollars for this little bottle. It makes my skin feel suuuper duper soft and clean. When I used it at my boyfriend's place I came out and he touched my face and said it felt like a baby's bottom! Loving it and gonna be very sad when I run out.


• Maybelline Fit Me Bronzer in Light Bronze - I've had this for ages but only have just started learning and loving how to contour and highlight and I just love this for the days I don't want to do too much for my face makeup but still wanna shape and add a little color to the paleness. As you can see I've hit pan, which I think speaks for itself when I say I love it.


• Chi Chi Quad in Showstopper (Top Left Shade) - It's that shade in particular I've been loving since in July I have been embracing my brows and been using that shade to help define and fill them in.


• Models Prefer MPP120 Crease - Finally bought a blending brush (well at least that's what I use it for) and since buying this brush I have been nothing bar impressed. Love the density and the bristles are super soft and I haven't had any fallout :)

For randoms