REVIEW: Rimmel BB Cream Matte

When I heard the magic word 'matte' bandied about in association with a BB cream I was definitely interested in trying that out.  You see, I'm usually a powder foundation fan because creamy, dewy formulations inevitably end up translating as oily on my t-zone - and then out comes the trusty mattifying powder - but I'm open to trying a matte BB cream formulation to see how that performs on my combination skin! 

 

 

Enter Rimmel who have launched their oil free formula BB Cream Matte 9-in-1 which is available in 3 shades in Australia (light, medium, medium dark).  I received a tube in the light shade to try so I've spent the past week testing it, wearing it to the office to see how it stands up to the rigours of my regular air-conditioned, artificially lit life...

 

Swatched heavily on the left and blended out on the right:

 

Rimmel's BB Cream Matte 9-in-1 makes the following 9 claims:

 

  1) Minimises the appearance of pores

 2) Evens skin tone

3) Mattifies

4) Controls shine all day

5) Smoothes

6) Soothes

7) Conceals dark circles

8) Helps prevent blemishes

9) Gives all-day coverage

 

This pretty neatly sets out the format for this review as I'm going to address those 9 claims one by one:

1) Minimises the appearance of pores?  Check! I do have some enlarged pores on and around the nose area and BB Cream Matte did a decent job of blurring and de-emphasising them. 

2) Evens skin tone? Absolutely. This BB cream provided good medium coverage to significantly disguise my cheek pigmentation and gave me an even canvas for cream blush.  I also found it was easy to dab and blend in a little more on those areas which really needed it for buildable extra coverage.

3) Mattifies? Erm, had to really try to make this happen for me and it still wasn't perfect by my matte-obsessed standards.  Through trial and error I found I got the best result applying with a brush over a primed face and while most of my face looked matte I still developed a shiny nose within a few hours.  I ended up reaching for the pressed powder but I must admit after that my nose was fine.  Interestingly when I was out checking prices for BB Cream Matte I saw Rimmel also sell Stay Matte Primer - maybe I should have been supplied a tube of that to review together with the BB Cream Matte, hmmm?   
 

4) Controls shine all day? Mostly but as I just mentioned this couldn't hold back the shine in my most stubbornly shiny area - my nose - although a single application of mattifying powder took care of that for the day.
 

5) Smoothes? Yes. I had no visibly dry, flaky patches anywhere (I so sometimes get flaky patches at the tops of my cheeks) so while this is a matte formula it's not at the expense of the drier areas on my skin.
 

6) Soothes? My skin's behaving at the moment so I can't properly judge although I can say BB Cream Matte wears very comfortably and weightlessly throughout the day.
 

7) Conceals dark circles? Check! I got away with skipping the under eye concealer all week when using the BB Cream Matte under my eyes. This happens to be a significant plus for me as I'm the first person to say my must-have is a good under eye concealer because I'm obsessed with brightening up under my eyes.
 

8) Helps prevent blemishes? Perhaps? One week isn't enough for me to judge and I don't get flare-ups too often.  Okay lets say that it hasn't provoked any blemish eruptions.
 

9) Gives all-day coverage? Check! This does stay put for the day as I noticed I didn't need to touch up my under eye circles and my my cream blush was still sitting freshly on top for the day.

************************************
Overall, it depends on what you're looking for but if you're anti-shine like me and after 100% matte coverage I suggest you start with a good mattifying primer underneath and keep your pressed powder handy just in case.

Price: $12.95AUD

Availability:  Priceline, Priceline Pharmacy, Big W, Woolworths, Coles, Chemist Warehouse, My Chemist, Target,  Kmart and various Independent Pharmacies


(This product was provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.) 



Natio: Stardust

The polish I'm wearing in this post is what I chose to wear for my birthday celebrations a few weeks ago. I wanted something glam but neutral at the same time - you know, to go with the outfit changes, right? *wink* 

 

Stardust was one of a trio of shades in Natio's tiny but stunning Metallic Nail Colour Collection released last year. Stardust is a highly metallic pewter and the perfect metallic neutral. Full stop. I really can say no more about the colour.  The fact that the polish is so metallic did mean some more of the dreaded brushstrokes to deal with - and I was in a rush doing my nails which never helps -  but the photos do exaggerate and the finish was cleaner in reality.  This is two coats with topcoat.

 

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

Just showing my age again but this colour reminds me of the polishes I used to wear all the time in the 1990's!

 

Until next time.

OPI: Miss Piggy's Big Number

Happy Hump Day everyone! It must be time for another nail swatch post...

At first sight Miss Piggy's Big Number was my number one pick from OPI's Muppets Most Wanted Collection. This is one opulent jewel-like colour in the bottle and just the thing I like to wear when the weather gets colder - I do have a weakness for jewel shades! The shimmery sapphire blue lived up to my expectations on my nails and it has just the teensiest shift to purple from certain angles to add a little mysterious something extra.  The only downside was the shimmery formula does have a tendency to show up brushstrokes so I had to take extra care in when applying.  Be prepared to take a bit more time with this one. 

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

Miss Piggy's Big Number seemed quite familiar to me and it reminds me very much of Chanel's Bel-Argus released in 2013.  I'll have to do a comparison swatch and let you know if it is a Chanel dupe. Just kick me occasionally so I don't forget!


(This product was provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

My current skin smoothers (La Clinica, Natio, Palmer's)

Skincare can seem a bit mundane and routine depending on your age, individual needs and so on - I know when I was younger it was all about the bare minimum and skincare was as exciting as cleaning my teeth, necessary but not terribly interesting.  These days I pay a lot more attention, thanks, because as I age I can't be complacent and rely solely on good genes any more!

I'm going to talk about exfoliation as it's the step in my face and body care routine I get most excited about. It's because I can see and feel the results of a good exfoliant straight away and I know that getting rid of those dead skin cells will help all the other skin care products I use to do their job.  As I'm well into "middle" age my skin's getting lazy with cell turnover so I need things to help it along! Also - lucky me - I suffer with keratosis pilaris on my upper arms and regular body moisturiser isn't really going to do much to smooth that congested skin. 


Facial Scrub

It's only been in the past 5 years or so that I've been into exfoliating my face. Tsk! Tsk! If only I knew way back when, right? 

I've tried different kinds of either chemical exfoliants (I didn't love the intense heating sensation on my face), or granular exfoliants.  Currently I'm using La Clinica Gly C Refine Micro Dermabrasion Facial Scrub* for my twice weekly skin smoothing treatment and this superfine granular scrub is enhanced with Glycolic Acid and Vitamin C so it combines both physical and chemical exfoliants in a surprisingly gentle (not scary at all!) but effective way. 

You can see the tiny granules in the macro below - the same as are used in microdermabrasion machines:

I stumbled across my favourite way to use the Gly C Refine scrub one day absolutely by accident:  I'd been massaging the scrub onto my wet skin for about a minute, when I got distracted for a minute so the scrub just sat on my face for that extra little while and when I rinsed it off I had that truly amazing baby skin feeling *choirboys singing*.  I've been following my 'accidental' method ever since of doing a quick, gentle scrub with a small amount of product then pottering around for another minute to allow the Glycolic Acid to finish the job.  I'm slightly hooked on this stuff because it does such a good job of liberating my fresh new skin.


Body Scrub

I like to exfoliate my body at least twice a week to help keep my keratosis under control and scrub away those pesky and stubborn little goose bumpy bits from the backs of my arms.  Natio Wellness Body Scrub is one I keep returning to because it combines sugar which doesn't sting the skin and ground apricot seeds so I can use it on wet skin without all the exfoliant granules dissolving. 

The granules thoroughly exfoliate my skin without scratching or irritating and are suspended in a thick, almost stiff moisturising gel so I don't have to worry about the product sliding off my paws before I can scrub my skin - I hate losing product down the drain - and on a superficial, hedonistic, okay me level, I have to say I'm a fan of the almost candied fruity scent.   

Body Lotion

At one point I mistakenly thought Palmer's Anti-Aging Smoothing Lotion* had been discontinued and I was just a little bit (truthfully more than a little bit) devastated because daily use of this body lotion actually means I don't have to rely on a scrub to keep my skin smooth. The Alpha/Beta Hydroxy Acids act to exfoliate the upper layer of dead skin cells and also penetrate to exfoliate inside and unblock pores which can cause keratosis. 



The thick lotion has a fresh unisex scent, is quickly absorbed and still very moisturising as it contains cocoa butter (of course), and that hero of moisurising ingredients, shea butter.  Oh yeah, what was the reason I thought this was discontinued? Well...It was repackaged and I couldn't find it for looking! I told you I wasn't getting any younger...


 What skincare step are you most passionate about?


(Products marked * were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

Zoya: Shivon

I was in a real autumn mood when I went digging through my older polishes and found Shivon, a vintage beauty from Zoya.  I don't know if it's officially "vintage" because Zoya still sell it but it's been around for quite a while!

 

Shivon is from Zoya's 2008 (Eep! That is a while ago!) Flourish collection and to me it's pretty much autumn in a manicure. The rich reddish bronze with its subtle gold duochrome shimmer is reminiscent of the changing colour of the leaves around here.  Because of the complexity Shivon is one of those chameleon colours which somehow goes with everything and can appear either cool or warm depending on what you accent it with.  Application was excellent considering I've had this polish hanging around for easily 4 or 5 years as it painted on smoothly in 2 coats, taking care of my colour craving. 

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

 

What nail or makeup colours do you love wearing in autumn/fall?

 

OPI: Gaining Mole-mentum

You know it's not very often that I get hyper-excited over glitter nail polishes these days.  They're all variations on a theme, right??

 

Not always it seems.  Take Gaining Mole-mentum from OPI's Muppets Most Wanted collection.  I'll be perfectly honest and admit that I still wasn't that excited about Gaining Mole-mentum until I applied that first coat onto that first nail - then I was mesmerized and hooked! Some lovely person said it looked like I'd dipped my nails into a broken mirror and I really couldn't say it better myself.  These jagged silver, yellow gold and rose gold glitter pieces do look like broken mirror shards and they are so reflective that you can actually see the colour of my turquoise tee in them.  Oooh, I have renewed enthusiasm for shiny things!!  This is two coats over a black cream base.

All pictures taken in indirect daylight:

 

 

Until next time!

(This product was provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

REVIEW: SCOUT Mineral Eye Shadow and Mineral Eye Liner Pencil

I was introduced to Australian cosmetic brand SCOUT very recently when I was given the offer to review some of their mineral eye makeup products (with a nail polish thrown in for good measure swatched here). 

I literally, embarrassingly, had very little knowledge of this local brand so I did some research to see what SCOUT's point of difference is.  I'm starting this post with some background info to bring everyone else up to speed if you're like me and new to SCOUT Cosmetics too.

Pursuing her lifelong interest in natural therapies Sylvie Hutchings started the SCOUT Cosmetics brand in 2008 to create a natural cosmetics line which did not sacrifice performance or style to offer "...colour, style, luxury and effectiveness of great cosmetics and skincare without being exposed to potentially harmful or unnecessary ingredient compounds of which the long term effects are unclear."  Therefore SCOUT mineral cosmetics are:

• Formulated, tested and manufactured to meet all Australian and international standards
• A proud signatory to the campaign for safe cosmetics
• 100% Australian made
• Not tested on animals
• Certified vegan
• Water resistant and can be worn while playing sport
• Made from only pharmaceutical grade, naturally derived Australian minerals or organic botanicals
• Rated SPF 15 as a natural sunscreen
• Lightweight, non-comedogenic - allowing your skin to breathe
• Free of bismuth oxychloride
• Free of parabens, synthetic FD & C classified dyes, clays, mineral oil or petroleum derived ingredients
• Free of lanolin, beeswax or any other generic fillers



Got all that? Okay, so let's talk about some products!

 

Mineral Eye Shadow

 Clockwise from Left to Right:
Run Baby Run (matte mineral eye shadow), Sunday Girl (shimmery mineral eye shadow), Vegan shadow and brow brush

"Modern - Elegant - Colours have been created to give you a versatile palette for day or evening..."

My impressions:
The 22 mineral eye shadows are available in matte or shimmery finishes so I chose one of each finish in complementary shades.  Run Baby Run is a matte medium brown and my idea of an everyday crease shade.  I've worn Run Baby Run a few times now and I really love the colour on me so it's likely to creep into my Monday to Friday routine.  More importantly I really enjoy the ease of working with it - considering this is a loose powder shadow (and I'm a klutz!) fallout is minimal, it applies smoothly, blends out beautifully, and it lasts all day without fading or creasing.   My other choice, Sunday Girl is not as high a shimmer as I'm used to when I think of shimmers but this soft peachy gold works well as a subtle lid shade or highlight and apart from a little more fallout overall performs as well as the matte shadow.  These shadows can be worn dry as I've worn so far (and swatched later in this post) or wet for more drama.

The double ended vegan shadow and brow brush (my bad for only showing half the brush above!) does a great job of picking up and packing the shadow on the lid and placing colour into the crease although I did find I needed a crease brush (say MAC 217) to really blend out the crease and soften it the way I prefer.

Mineral Eye Shadow Ingredients:
Mica (CI 77019) may contain (+/-) Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891) Iron Oxides (CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499) Chromium Oxide Green (CI 77288) Ultramarines (CI 77007) Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289) Pigment Violet (77742)

Mineral Eye Liner Pencil

Mineral Eye Liner Pencil (Grey)

"Glides on effortlessly to outline and define your eyes.  Soft and creamy formula will not drag the skin as you apply."

My impressions:
I always think of eye liner pencils as sleek skinny pencils, so these pencils are more like jumbo crayons to me and confused me at first.  Obviously they're not going to be your thing if you're into precision lining! I've tried Grey on my upper lash line and it gives a nice soft-focus definition along the lashes which is something a little different for me but different in a flattering way - no smudging required.  The pencil doesn't drag at all because of the oils and waxes in the formula - even over powder shadow - although because it is so soft I'd suggest setting it with matching shadow if using it on the lower lash line to keep it in place.  Sharpening keeps the tip tapered for lining. 

SCOUT Mineral Eye Liner Pencils are available in 6 shades (black, brown, grey, violet, green, and white).

Ingredients:
Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil* Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax Tocopherol Mica (CI 77019) Zinc Oxide Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Seed Extract may contain (+/-) Tin Oxide (CI 778161) Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891) Iron Oxides (CI 77491 CI 77492 CI 77499) Chromium Dioxide Green (CI 77288) Ultramarines (CI 77007) Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289) Pigment Violet (77742)

 

 Swatched dry on the back of my hand. Left to Right:
Mineral Eye Shadows (Sunday Girl, Run Baby Run), Mineral Eye Liner Pencil (Grey)

 

And in action for a daytime look: 

Overall I think this range is a good quality choice for women who have sensitive skin, or want to stick with a natural mineral product and still want to play with colour on their eyes. 

 SCOUT Mineral Eye products can be purchased from their online store here.


(Products were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

Rimmel Space Dust: 006 Moon Walking

I was going to ignore Rimmel's Space Dust line of nail polishes but then I saw someone sporting Moon Walking on their nails.  Of course I had to ask what they were wearing and - of course - once I knew what it was, I had to have it! Just to reassure you this was a few months ago before I swore off buying any more polish for a while...

  

Moon Walking is a super duper sparkly, glittery, textured silvery-lilac hued polish.  It's a very dense polish filled with multi-sized glitter which gives nails that crazy rendered look which I still love - the only downside was removal was on the stubborn side due to the larger glitter chunks.  I've forgiven it though because I enjoyed wearing it so much!

Sun

Shade

Thanks for putting up with my glitter obsession again.

Until next time!



Guerlain Meteorites - Light Revealing Pearls of Powder (Beauty Wishlist buy)

 I can't tell you exactly how long I've been wanting my own little pot of Guerlain Meteorites.  It must be just about all of my adult life?! It turns out not to be an exaggeration at all either as Meteorites have been around since 1987 so - yes - I've been dreaming about these for a very, very long time. It was largely about the dressing table appeal, and significantly less about the need for them because I'd gone perfectly well for all that time without using colour correcting products or finishing powders.  It was all about the French allure perhaps?  It shouldn't come as any surprise that these were going to be on my luxury wishlist this year! 

Meteorites are so covetable that they sell out almost as quickly as they're stocked so I literally bought the last pot of shade 2 Clair available at the counter.  Clair is the second lightest of the four shades in the current range and is a cooler toned mix of coloured powder pearls with a "...blend of matte, rosy and radiant blue-toned white pearls, combined with corrective coloured pearls – yellow to counter redness, pink for freshness and mauve to catch the light".

Knowing very little about these I was surprised by the heavy violet scent when I first opened the tin - it's quite powerful actually - but the scent very quickly disappears once on the skin.  It's something which only adds to the sense of luxury I think, along with the delicate pastel floral embossed tin.  Everything about this speaks to the chic lady I aspire to be (I'm laughing at myself here)... 

A swirl of the Meteorites brush (separate purchase) in the pearls very easily picks up a mix of the powder. The brush I bought is the new version and apparently more 'scratchy' than the previous version - I can't compare but can only say that if it's coarser it would be to more effectively 'scratch' the powder off the pearls and it definitely still feels perfectly soft enough on my skin.  No complaints from me there!

I'm also aware my Meteorites themselves are the newly released formulation and there's been a lot of chatter around about their more powdery texture (more crumbly etc.) but as I can't compare I'm not going to engage in any debates about new versus original here.  I did notice a lot of loose powder at the bottom of the tin when I spilled them out for my shot above but all of the pearls are still intact and haven't disintegrated - I think I will be careful about storage though and not even think about travelling with them because I couldn't bear the tragedy of an expensive spill!
 

So, what do Meteorites do for me?  As I said, I'd never really thought about colour correcting or finishing powders until recently - Hourglass Ambient Light was my first ever finishing powder purchase and that was only last year - but they do make that subtle difference.  I'm sure that no one else would be able to put a finger on what exactly it is but I can see how Meteorites seem to blur the imperfections in my skin and add a subtle radiance to it.  As long as I can see it, no one else needs to know but I can definitely tell the difference.  I started off using Meteorites for special occasions - isn't that always the way when something's new? - but now it's become the last step of my daily makeup, because it adds just that little bit of light to my face.  I don't regret buying these at all.

The heavy swatch on the inside of my poor parched arm is pretty hopeless although I think you can see the centre of my arm is slightly more illuminated than the rest.  

 

Is there a beauty item you've been coveting for a long time?



Scout 5 Free Nail Lacquer: Never Tear Us Apart

Let's just turn the colour dial all the way around from pastel nails shall we?

 

I received Never Tear Us Apart as part of a review package from cruelty free Australian brand Scout Cosmetics and I was drawn to it as a great autumn-winter manicure shade.  For those not familiar with Scout their nail lacquers are 5 free so they don't contain the following nasties:  Formaldehyde, DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor or Parabens.  Further they're 100% Vegan and, obviously, cruelty free. 

The formula of this polish was a little thicker than some, but very smooth and I found it easy to control the placement of colour on my nails without any risk of flooding.  The colour was super pigmented so two coats easily provided totally opaque coverage.  And the colour itself...I love oxblood at this time of year and Never Tear Us Apart is that classic warm oxblood I'm craving in all forms at the moment.  As per usual I finished my mani off with a quick dry topcoat to give it the high gloss lacquer finish. 

Sun:

 Shade:

Scout 5 Free Nail Lacquer is available in 21 shades.  Click here to view the range and purchase from the Scout Cosmetics online store.



(This product was provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

Orly: Lollipop

I'd fallen in love with Orly's Lollipop nail polish many months ago so I almost literally pounced on it in excitement when I spotted it recently at the well-stocked Orly stand at Salon Melbourne.  Ah, nothing like a little obsession!

 

Lollipop was originally released in Orly's Sweet Collection in 2010 and has since obviously become a favourite.  This utterly flattering pink-lavender cream was a dream to apply and the finish was smooth and opaque in 2 coats.  I'm so glad I pounced on this polish because it's simply, understatedly pretty and a lovely alternative to pastel pink.

Outdoors

 

 

Indirect daylight indoors

 

Until next time.

April's farewelled products (and beauty diet update)

Here we are again with another load of empties.  Let's see if I can talk about these without getting too wordy...

 

Skin care

 

34) Kirkland Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes (15 towelettes) - Something happens to me whenever I go to Costco.  I always get caught up in the multi-pack mentality so without ever trying them before I bought a massive box of these!  They're not the best wipes I've tried but they're not the worst either.  They actually smell quite refreshing and one wipe is usually enough to take off the day's makeup base.  They seem to be quite heavily laden with moisturiser which my skin will probably appreciate more as the weather gets colder. Expect many more of these empty packs to pop over the months because as I said, I bought an entire box!

 

35) Montagne Jeunesse Cucumber Peel-Off Masque - I bought this on a whim to treat my slightly oilier than usual skin and it worked! My post-vacation skin was a little oily and congested so I spread this on, and (very easily) peeled it off 20 minutes later. My skin immediately felt cleaner and the next morning I noticed my forehead bumps were visibly diminished.  I've bought some more of these to keep on hand for those times I need a more clarifying mask - and when I just feel like a little bit of fun!

 

 

 

36) La Clinica Gly C Refine Gentle Facial Cream Cleanser (10ml/0.35 fl.oz sample size) - One of my travel bag products.  This cream cleanser is a great balance of rich creaminess with skin smoothing Glycolic Acid and Vitamin C.  First impressions of this product is it felt gentle enough on my skin and rinsed off easily. 

 

37) Lancôme Bi-Facil Non Oily - Sensitive Eyes Instant Cleanser (30ml/1 fl.oz travel size) - Another travel bag item.  It's been a long time since I've used this Lancôme version and now I grudgingly have to admit I think this might be the best dual-phase remover out there because it removes the most stubborn mascara (Benefit's They're Real! anyone??) formulas like nothing else. What a shame I'm a cheapskate when it comes to removers but $60AUD is a bit too much for me even for 125ml.

 

38) Face of Australia Gentle Make-Up Remover (125ml/4.23 fl.oz) - Another dual-phase remover and much more affordable than Lancôme as it only costs $8.95 for 125ml.  Okay, so this will take a little more elbow grease to remove the most stubborn eye products but at the price it doesn't matter if I need to use more product.  This is a repurchase and I will continue to repurchase because it's great value for money and is oil and paraben-free.  

 

39) Bioderma Crealine H2O (250ml) - So don't shoot me but after all the hype I just couldn't 100% love this product.  Sure part of me wanted to bathe in it because it felt so soothing and refreshing when removing makeup from my face - however...  It just didn't cut it with waterproof eye makeup removal.  I even tried leaving Bioderma-soaked cotton pads on my eyes for 60 seconds as I'd heard somewhere but it was still to no avail. I can't tell you how many times I woke up with residual mascara smudges! My verdict is obvious:  a great alternative to makeup wipes for cleansing my skin but not tough enough for waterproof mascara.  I won't be rushing to buy another bottle.

 

Hand and body care

 

40) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120ml/4 fl.oz) - My fourth bottle for the year and counting. 

 

41) MOR Passionfruit Body Butter - I threw this into the travel bag too because the little tub (around 50ml) was just the right size for a week away.  These are now discontinued.

 

42) La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP (400ml/13.5 fl.oz) - This massive bottle of anti-irritation body balm lasted me months!  I used it as a soothing lotion for my dry sensitive skin and loved how easily it absorbed and how well it soothed any itchy or flaky skin - a must have for winter skin and I can see I'll repurchase this in future.

 

43) Ecoya Body Exfoliator (200 ml) - I won this gorgeous jar in a giveaway.  I loved the rich scent of white lotus flower, vanilla and patchouli and this really felt like a luxe body product with its creamy texture. My criticism is that it was a little too gentle an exfoliator for me - I like to feel instant results - and the exotic floral scent faded away very quickly.  I guess it's just an excuse to layer really because Ecoya do have the matching body cream!

 

Cosmetics

 

Here are this month's additions to my beauty diet empties.  Don't forget you can also check in with Anissa and Norlin to see how they're progressing too!

 

44) L'Oreal True Match Blush (Nude Pink) - I've posted about this blush before (here) as it's an everyday staple which adds glow as well as natural colour to the cheeks. It's a great choice for fairer skinned women and I'd buy it again if I didn't have so many other options! 

 

45) Models Prefer Lip Gloss Pencil (Perfectly Polished) - These pencils provide the optimal mix of shine and colour.  Perfectly Polished was my first MP Lip Gloss Pencil purchase but I've added a few more since then because I love these!

 

46) MAC Lip Glass (Viva Glam VI) - I remember loving this so much that when I lost my original tube a few years ago I was so distressed I had to replace it then and there! I've gone off and back onto it a few times but recently I was really loving it layered over MAC Modesty Cremesheen lipstick.

 

 Culled...

 

 BYS Lash Fibre Pre-Coat - My one fail for the month.  Now that I have a much safer lash primer option (thank you again blinc!) I can toss this scary dry fibre product out.  I was always paranoid of those loose fibres falling into my eyes so out it goes!

 

 

That's it for another month...