VIDEO POST: The Beauty Diet update (AKA pan hitting extravaganza!)

 

 

Hi again!

 

Long time no video, I know.  Ling and I did attempt a filming session during the Christmas season but it was aborted due a non-cooperative video camera which left us snarling all over the place!  Of course things got all busy and chaotic and we haven't had any opportunities lately to get together for an on camera chat since then.  In the meantime I decided to trial my DSLR camera for videos and then figured why not make one to upload? Hmm, well.

 

So it's just me this time giving an update on the Beauty Diet I've resolved to do with Anissa until my overseas trip in September/October.  See my resolution post here to read the "rules" then watch the video if you're interested in lots of pan porn - and me awkwardly talking to myself... 

 

 

Products mentioned:
MAC Lipglass - Viva Glam VI
MAC Lipglass - Sizzlepeach
MAC Lipglass - Zazoom

MAC Slimshine - Gentle Simmer
Models Prefer Ultra Lip Gloss Pencil - Perfectly Polished
MAC mono eyeshadows - Vex and Shale
Maybelline - Age Rewind Concealer
L'Oreal Bare Naturale Blush
MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil - Bordeauxline
Bloom - Eyeshadow Base
Estee Lauder - Crystal Cherry Lipstick
Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Temptation
Tom Ford Lip Color - True Coral
Wet n Wild Eyeshadow trio - Walking on Eggshells
Bourjois - Volume Glamour Ultra Curl Mascara
Lancôme - Hypnose Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara

 

Until next time!

OPI: Haven't The Foggiest

Hello! Yes I'm still here! 

 

Am I the only one who finds it a little hard getting out of the starting gate in January?  To have a little introductory ramble:   this month has been a bit all over the place with the weather (just too freaking hot!), me getting back to work after a month long break at home with my boy, and getting my (no longer) little boy organised for his first year of high school - to give international readers some context in Australia high school starts in 7th grade.  It's not a giant leap but it's a milestone nonetheless.  Ramble over.

 

Now the reason I'm here - another nail polish post.  This time I'm posting one of the very few colours I bought from OPI's San Francisco collection released in 2013.  Haven't The Foggiest is a pretty amazing polish actually so I'm particularly glad I bought it.  I thought it was going to be a standard silver foil but it's much more of a pewter and that makes it infinitely more interesting to me.  It's got a darker edge to it and I can almost see a duochrome happening too - a winner for sure! I applied two coats and omitted the topcoat this time.

 

All pictures taken indoors:

 

 

 

All things going well I have a video update on my beauty diet planned for my next post :)

 

Until next time!

Natio: Peach

It's time for a nail polish post!

I've collected quite a few polishes from Australian brand Natio's Little Treasures range because the 9ml bottles are so cute and pretty affordable too at around $5.95 each.  I'm sure I've said it before but I think it's such a savvy idea for brands to sell smaller bottles of polish because there are a lot of fickle people out there like me who want to change it up, and don't have the opportunity or inclination to finish full size bottles.  Anyway, I now have lots of these so I'd better post one right now!

Peach is a self-explanatory pastel peach cream polish so no more to say there.  With regard to application this performed brilliantly for a pastel cream - two coats provided 100% smoothly opaque coverage.  If I have one - really teeny - criticism of this line it's the lack of different finishes as the overwhelming majority of the Little Treasures are creams, but heck they're still cute and the rainbow of colours just sucks me right in to collecting them!

Sun

 

 

 

Indoors

 

 

Outdoors shade

 

That's all for now!

7 days of blush. The summer edit...

After years of being blush shy nowadays I love blush but have a habit of reaching for the same one over and over (see that one with the major pan showing above?) That's the reason why I deliberately wore 7 unique blushes over 7 days to kick that habit! This isn't a unique idea but it's the first time I've tried something like this outside of swapping lipstick shades - and it IS a fun way of acquainting or reacquainting myself with some of my blush collection. 

 

My week's selection of powder blushes...



 

...clockwise from top left:

• Australis blush (Baby Doll) - Now discontinued so that gives you an idea of how long it's been sitting in my makeup drawer.  Baby Doll is a vibrant almost electric, ever so slightly shimmery pink in the pan yet it imparts a pretty, healthy flush to the cheeks. I bought it because it looked so pretty, then decided it was scary, and now having actually worn it (Duh!) I really should have trusted my first instincts.  Bright pink blush actually translates as amazing on the cheeks! The funny thing is I already did know that because I'm often reaching for the bright pink blush in my Laura Mercier Lingerie palette (see here).
• Face of Australia (Nutmeg) - FOA still carry this blush in their core line so I'm not in trouble here.  Nutmeg is a medium brown-peach and a great natural looking way to warm up the complexion when I'm wearing cool toned shades on my eyes and/or lips - if it was slightly less peach I think it could work as a contour shade too.  An obvious choice for every day wear so I've decided to bring this one out on high rotation again.
• L'Oreal True Match Blush (Nude Pink) - My favourite every day shade as you can see by all the bare pan and because it sits on the fence of contour/blush/highlight perfectly.  The pink is a very neutral and dusty beige shade and there are - yes really - pearlescent particles in the formula, giving a natural glow to the cheeks.  I was probably cheating by including my go-to blush in the 7 day rotation but then again you probably want to know what my go-to blush is right?  Okay so a blush which does a little bit of everything is a good everyday choice for me and I'm planning on using this one regularly to the very end because it's the fool-proof understated blush of the lot.
• theBalm (Hot Mama!) - theBalm describes this blush as pinky-peach but I think of it as almost rose-gold as it has a lot of golden shimmer.  I was a little hesitant thinking it might be unnaturally shimmery on me but with a light application it's not out there at all.  I wore it as a weekday blush but with a heavier application I think it would come into its own as a shimmery cheek shade for evening.
• Smashbox Blush Rush (Chiffon) -  Another one I've had for ages and just doesn't get enough attention from me.  I go through phases where I love it then suddenly it's too bright for me - infinitely better on summer skin when I have a little more colour.  Chiffon is similar to Hot Mama! a bright peach although minus the same level of gold sheen. It goes with any eye or lip but can look a bit garish on me when I'm sporting my cooler weather pallor.   
• Illamasqua (Naked Rose) - I love this blush because it's a cool dusty matte pink and probably the most true matte blush in my collection.  In the pan it looks very similar to L'Oreal's Nude Pink but it is more distinctly pink when swatched.  It's very pigmented and powdery so a little pat of the brush in the pan easily picks up enough colour for my cheeks.  Very natural without being too neutral.  I think this would work equally well, if not better on pale winter cheeks too.
• Tom Ford (Love Lust) - Coral, with fine gold sparkle and not as scary as it may sound.  I've only worn it once - being precious because it's Tom F-F-Ford probably - but seriously it's coming out for a good airing this season because this is such a flattering coral on my skin and most definitely a summer shade. The sparkle is more subtle than I expected on my cheeks and a light application provided a lovely hint of warmth. 

Swatched L -R:

Baby Doll, Nutmeg, Nude Pink, Chiffon, Naked Rose, Love Lust



 

What are your summer blush picks?

OPI: Far East Fuchsia

We're on the verge of our first bona fide heatwave down here in Melbourne so summer has finally hit full stride.  With four days of 40 degrees Celsius on the way I've got nothing better to do than relax on the sofa with a cold drink and a warm laptop and clatter out a blog post about nail polish. 

 

I dug Far East Fuchsia out of my collection a while ago when I was in the mood to wear pink.  Far East Fuchsia is a case of pink and how! It's a hot pink with blue shimmer and the kind of shade I would have worn a lot of years ago - not so much these days.  Enough of the musing already right? What can I tell you about this polish?  Far East Fuchsia is one of OPI's older, now discontinued shades and was initially released in their 2000 Far East collection.  A very glossy, very bright pink and perfect for this time of year.  This is two coats plus top coat.

 

Sun

 

 

Shade

 

 

Until next time.

 

Revlon: Chroma Chameleon - Cobalt (plus Hearts of Gold FX)

Now for a belated post on my NYE manicure...

 

For some reason deep blue seems to represent New Year's celebrations to me because I think of it as an equally glamorous, slightly edgier party alternative to vampy red so I chose Revlon's Cobalt as my base manicure.  Cobalt is a deep indigo blue with a very subtle violet duochrome shimmer and one of two shades I recently bought from Revlon's Chroma Chameleon range.  The Chroma Chameleon polishes are all duochrome metallic and from this first impression promise much more duochrome in the bottle than deliver on the nail - one of my pet peeves when it comes to nail polish. I applied three coats to get good coverage because this was a little sheer - the other issue was brushstrokes although I largely camouflaged this with a sweep of topcoat. 

 

On my accent nail I topped Cobalt with three coats of Hearts of Gold FX, another Revlon polish from their Top Speed line.  HOGFX is a glitter topper comprising superfine gold glitter with rather large holographic hearts.  It takes a little fishing with the brush to scoop up the hearts and some deliberate placement on the nail but overall I was happy with the result. 

 

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

Not really a duochrome but the wonderful shade of blue almost makes up for that disappointment.

 

Until next time.



My 2014 luxe beauty wishlist!

Hi again!

 

As you'll very likely know by now I'm on a self-imposed beauty diet this year, and the reward for every two makeup items I finish will be the purchase of one luxury or high end makeup item from my wishlist.  The purpose is to stop my makeup collection from increasing further, largely by preventing impulse buying by sticking to my wishlist. 

 

Now for the fun part:  the wishlist! I took my time poring over 'best of beauty' posts, watching high end makeup YouTube videos, and going back over my own mental wishlist of things I've been curious to try or favourites I simply want more of, trying to cover every possible type of makeup item I could possibly (and impossibly?) want to buy over the next 9 months or so (until I head overseas again).  As you can see from my collage above, the list is long, but that's because it covers everything and even offers multiple choices in products such as lipsticks and blush - I'm trying to anticipate here!  I've listed them below by category:

 

Base products

• By Terry - Touche Veloutee Enlightening Concealer Brush
• Dior - Diorskin Nude BB cream 
• Guerlain - Meteorites 
• Hourglass - Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15 
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Sensual Skin Enhancer 
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Celestial Powder 
• Laura Mercier - Loose Setting Powder

Cheeks

• By Terry - Blush Terrybly
• Dior - Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush
• Guerlain - Terracotta Bronzing Powder
• Hourglass - Ambient Lighting Blush
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Sculpting Powder
• NARS - Powder blush
• YSL - Rosy Blush Collector Face Palette (Spring 2014 collection)

Eyes

• Chanel - Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow
• Chanel - Le Volume De Chanel Mascara
• Lancôme - Artliner Sapphire or Amethyst
• YSL - Pivoine Crush Ombrés 5 Lumières Eye Palette (Spring 2014 collection)  

Lips

• Chanel - Glossimer
• Ellis Faas - Hot Lips Lipstick
• NARS - Schiap Semi Matte Lipstick
• Tom Ford - Pink Dusk Lip Color

Now it's time to get my act together and focus on using up my first two products! Just in case you're interested in those, the products on my must finish hit list are (in no specific order):

 

MAC Lipglass - Viva Glam VI

MAC Lipglass - Sizzlepeach

MAC Lipglass - Zazoom

Models Prefer Ultra Lip Gloss Pencil - Perfectly Polished

MAC mono eyeshadows - Vex and Shale

Maybelline - Age Rewind Concealer

L'Oreal Bare Naturale Blush

MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil - Bordeauxline

Bloom - Eyeshadow Base

Estee Lauder - Crystal Cherry Lipstick

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Temptation

Tom Ford Lip Color - True Coral

Wet n Wild Eyeshadow trio - Walking on Eggshells

Bourjois - Volume Glamour Ultra Curl Mascara

Lancôme - Hypnose Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara

 

************************************************************

 

What's on your beauty wishlist this year?

 

December's farewelled products (2013 edition)

So this is my final empties post for 2013.  To tell you the truth I'm a lot more excited about my 2014 beauty wishlist which I've also been working on so I'll try to keep the rambling to a minimum.  We'll see if I can reign it in!

 

Skin care 

 

139) Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (1 litre) - The third bottle of my favourite in-shower soap-free body cleanser used up this year. Just realised this should be included in my hand and body category where it usually lives but I've slipped up here. Whoops!

 

140) Dior Instant Gentle Exfoliant (75ml/2.6 oz) - This was one of my skincare splurges in 2013 and it was well enjoyed too!  This creamy white exfoliant is permeated with the scent of pure lily extract so it was a sensory pleasure while exfoliating.  I used this twice weekly in the shower and it did a thorough but gentle job.  I'd love to repurchase this - when my skincare stash dwindles just a little!

 

141) Milk Beauty Wipes (25 wipes) - After all this time I think I have finally met the HG of cleansing wipes! These are extra large, alcohol and paraben free, and are beaded on one side for exfoliation - let me tell you they did a fantastic job of declogging the bumpy little pores on my chin! Great resealable packaging and a lovely gentle baby powder scent too. 

 

142) The Face Shop Real Nature Mask (Aloe) - This sheet mask was refreshingly aloe-scented and lightly moisturising.  Not the most intensively moisturising I've tried but not a bad skin pick-me-up for $3AUD either! 

143) Eos Lip Balm (Honeysuckle Honeydew) - Yup I finished one of these little spheres! I found this 'flavour' very silky smooth (smoother than the medicated Tangerine I'm now using) and pretty darn addictive.  I'm usually a single swipe kind of gal when it comes to balms but with this I would just keep swiping and sweeping it over the lips - I think it was a combination of the spherical shape and the super smooth moisturising formula.  In any case these aren't expensive so I can swipe to my heart's content - besides I have four more flavours to try in my little collection! 

Hand and body care

144) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120 ml/4 Fl.oz) - Another bottle bites the dust! I've recently found out this formula is recommended for GelColor removal, hence OPI's  "superior performance" claim.

 

145) L'Occitane Ultra Rich Shower Cream (75ml/2.5fl.oz travel size) - I was pretty pleased to find this GWP lurking in my bathroom drawer because I love this for the ultimate creamy shower indulgence! I have raved about this previously - the only reason I don't repurchase all the time is the equally indulgent price for a product that gets washed away down the shower drain.

146) L'Occitane Dry Skin Foot Cream (10ml/0.3oz travel size) - I found this during the same purge of my bathroom drawers and put it to use immediately for an overnight foot treat.  It was fantastically rich and silky on application, not surprising given the 15% Shea butter content and scented with lavender which makes for slightly fresher scented tootsies! I plan on pricing this one for a future purchase.

147) Nivea Intensive Nourishing Hand Cream (75ml) -  This rich hand cream is targeted at dry hands with its Macadamia Nut and Vitamin formula.  I'm a fan of the classic Nivea cream scent so I loved inhaling it with every application.  Despite its claims of being quickly absorbed I did find it to be on the greasy side so I used it for my overnight hand cream. 

Cosmetics

148) Mirenesse Tight Liner Hydra Gel Eye Liner (Caviar Black) - I'm absolutely kicking myself that I didn't use this gel liner more often because it dried up on me and I really did love it. Oh well. See my original mini review here.

 

149) Rimmel 100% Waterproof Mascara (Black) - My everyday workhorse waterproof mascara and not bad for a budget product. See my mascara comparison post here for more about it.

150) Essence Glossy Lipbalm (Toffee Frappucino) - This lip gloss tube was on my hit list of products to use up in 2014 but I got there earlier.  These have been discontinued a while ago so I won't bother with an unnecessary review.

 



Fragrance

 

151) Dior - Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet EDT (1ml/.03fl.oz) - This didn't make a lasting impression on me - I can only remember the lightness of the fragrance.   From the Dior website: 
"Delicate and light, Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet is a tender, floral bouquet. The Sicilian Orange Essence top note comes together with a tender floral heart, unveiling dominant notes of Peony and Damask Rose. As a finishing touch, white musk delicately envelops this springtime composition..."

 

So that's it for another month and another year's worth of empties! Now onwards with the new year and my plans to reduce my makeup collection just a little to make way for a little more luxury beauty this year as per my Beauty Diet.  Knowing that I have quite a few well used makeup items - and knowing that I finished 23 makeup items (including 1 tossed item) in 2013 - I'm pretty excited I'll succeed and can't wait to finish my first 2 items so that I can earn my first luxury makeup reward!

 

Next post:  My 2014 wishlist!

 

Face Of Australia: Midnight Fireworks

A very Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post for 2014!

 

It's the appropriately named Midnight Fireworks I've chosen for my first nail post of the new year.  This polish is another one of those textured polishes I'm currently addicted to and is from Face Of Australia's Carnivale range.  It's one of those sugary looking blends, the overall effect a white gold with silver glitter which glints madly in the light.  Rough finish? Yes.  Dull? No.  It was long wearing too - two coats lasted me through a full week.

 

Sun

 

 

Indoors

 

 

Here's to a great year ahead!