Making up on a budget: How much is your face worth?

Hello everyone :)

In my last How much is your face worth? post I calculated that my average workday makeup was worth a total of $340AUD!  That jolted me into trying to replicate that look on a more limited budget.  After researching other beauty blogs, magazines, and trawling through discount beauty stores I've managed to bring the total down to less than $100AUD (none of these purchases were made online).

Face:

• NYX The Twin Cake Powder (CP10 Sand Beige) - $22AUD
• Revlon Spa Age Defying concealer (001) - $26.95AUD
• BYS Blusher (#4 Candyfloss) - $4AUD
• Subtotal:  $52.95AUD  (Original subtotal:  $140AUD)
• Saving:  $87.05AUD

Overall I was very satisfied with the face products.  The NYX powder was a shade darker than my usual MAC NC20 (I do switch to NC25 in summer) but it blended beautifully to give a gorgeous light coverage, was not powdery at all and my skin actually had a glow to it - love it! I'll have to go back to Groove store and pick up the lighter shade for winter.  The Revlon concealer has a slightly heavier coverage than YSL's Touche Eclat and is more obviously a concealer than a concealer/highlighter hybrid, but still a good substitute.  The BYS blusher was gorgeous and gave me a lovely soft natural colour on my cheeks.  A fantastic bargain at only $4 - love this too!

Eyes:

• Maybelline Eyestudio (Bronze Blowout) - $13.95AUD
• Face of Australia eye definer pencil (Brown) - $7.95AUD
• Rimmel Volume Flash x 10 Mascara (Black) - $15.50AUD
• Subtotal:  $37.40 (Original subtotal:  $150AUD)
• Saving: $112.60AUD

 My eye makeup lasted all day without fading, creasing or flaking.  The Maybelline eyeshadow was well pigmented but was noticeably more difficult to blend than my MAC shadows.  However the end result was quite wearable.  The FOA eyeliner was smooth in applying, blended well and did not run.  The star product for me was the Rimmel mascara.  This mascara has a velvety feel to it, didn't clump on application, thickened my lashes nicely and didn't flake or run.  I'd actually go so far as to say I personally prefer this to my Lancome mascara so I'll definitely repurchase!

 Lips:

•  BYS Longwear Lipstick (Rebellious) - $4AUD
• Essence lipliner pencil (01 Soft Rose) - $2.95AUD
• Subtotal:  $6.95AUD (Original subtotal - $40AUD)
• Saving:  $33.05AUD

I actually wanted to try out the $3 BYS lippies but the colour selection was cleared out at my local Reject Shop! Oh well, for an extra dollar I found a suitable brownish-rose shade in their Longwear line.  The colour was a great work-appropriate shade and this lipstick lived up to its name not bleeding or coming off on my coffee cup.  My one criticism of this is it felt a bit drying on my lips.  Finally the Essence lipliner was the perfect nude lip shade for outlining my lips and it glided on as smoothly as butter - another winner from Essence.


My total expenditure for this post came in at $97.30AUD which is a total saving of $242.70!  I can say I didn't make any major sacrifice in quality and I've become acquainted with some new beauty favourites.  I've also got to say this exercise was lots of fun and would recommended everyone have a go at doing this.

Until my next post.

Vita :)

I'm shattered again...OPI Silver Shatter

I'm quite literally shattered and extremely tired so this will be a quickie post to show you my Silver Shatter NOTD.  I bought this yesterday and immediately put it over my dark green Berlin mani:

Indoors daylight

Lamplight



This nail polish takes around an hour to reveal the fullest shattered effect so some patience is required.  I wore this without a top coat.  Opinions in the office were mixed on this look.  Some girls prefer this to Black Shatter, others prefer the Black Shatter.  I'm reserving my opinion until I try Silver Shatter over bright shades and pastels.

What do you think?  Or are you just over it altogether?

Vita :)

Rimmel 60 Seconds: Portobello Pink

OK, this isn't an autumn shade at all!

Rimmel's Portobello Pink polish was a gift from a friend who decided it was too 'Barbie' for her against her olive skin.  The slightly shimmery candy pink didn't scream as loudly on me so the colour was fine and quite wearable but the formula? Aaarrgh!!
These pictures were taken the morning after I'd applied this and I'd had to disguise the sheet prints on my nails with an extra layer of top coat - 60 seconds, huh??  I had a feeling I was in trouble when I was doing this mani.  I applied the second coat of colour after waiting MORE THAN 60 seconds and it pulled at the first layer causing an uneven finish.  Fast drying top coat and drip dry drops didn't work either and I went to bed two hours later with soft nail polish....

This was my first experience with Rimmel's 60 second formula.  Maybe I was unlucky?  I hope so because I have a few more of these in my untrieds.  Has anyone out there had a similar experience with these polishes?

That's all for now.

Vita :)

Autumn/Winter eyeshadows

As the weather gets colder I prefer to wear richer colours on my eyes such as shimmery golds, bronzes, khaki greens and warm browns.  Interestingly enough I was reading that these colours are also on the mark for this Northern summer! I delved into my makeup case to share my collection with you, along with some swatches of course:

L'Oreal

L-R:
Turquoise Shimmer
Sepia Sparkle
Cacao Mania

L'Oreal eyeshadows are reasonably good quality drugstore colours however they do have varying levels of pigment.  The star in this selection is Sepia Sparkle which is a gorgeous sparkly copper and looks great on its own or applied in the inner corners of my eyelids to lift deeper shades.

MAC

Clockwise from top & swatched L-R:
Soft Force (Veluxe Pearl)
Tempting (Lustre)
Wedge (Matte)
Vex (Frost)

Satin Taupe (Frost)

Sorry, I can't fault MAC eyeshadows.  They have intense pigment, a velvety texture, glide on, blend seamlessly and stay on all day without primer.  Looks like I've probably got most of the different finishes covered here.  I'm partial to a bit of shimmer, so that's why there's only one matte shade whch I use  for those lazy days when I just want a quick wash of colour on my lids.

Revlon
(Neutral Khakis)

This ColorStay 12  Hour eye shadow is very well pigmented and has great staying power (12 hours??).  The texture is not as fine as MAC but the colours still blend reasonably well and I really like this colour combo.  It looks quite dramatic on my eyes and works well with a nude lip.

Napoleon Perdis &

Essence

L-R:

Napoleon Perdis - Private Storm

Essence - Party All Night

The Napoleon eyeshadow is a lovely subtly soft taupey brown with very fine sparkles.  It has a silky texture and works well as a wash of colour all over the lids.  Essence's Party All Night is a gorgeously smooth metallic copper which I use as an accent shade in the eyelid crease.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these.  What eyeshadow shades do you like to wear for Autumn/Winter?

That's all for now.

Vita :)

A near dupe for Chanel's Black Pearl: Nail It! Berlin

I think my NOTD is a pretty good imitation of Chanel's Black Pearl nail polish.  I thought Chanel's Black Pearl polish looked pretty interesting, but 9 times out of 10 I'll back away from spending $39AUD on a bottle of polish.   It's got to be better than merely interesting for me to hand over that kind of money, it's got to be spectacular! 

So...I was in Sportsgirl the other day when I spotted a shade in their Nail It! line called Berlin that looked pretty darn close to that Chanel.  It had that deep grey/teal metallic shimmer that I recognise.  Best of all I only had to spend $7.95AUD.  This polish applied quite smoothly, with good depth of colour.  It may be a shade darker than the Chanel but it still has the elements of Black Pearl.

Here are the pics in different lighting - alas no sun!

Outdoors shade



Lamplight

Flash

What do you think?

Vita :)

OPI: Lucky Lucky Lavender + I Juggle...Men

I couldn't help myself and I went and bought the newly released Cirque de Femme minis from OPI.  These are sheer pink shades and very pretty but it was the subtly sparkly top coat I Juggle..Men that really caught my eye in this collection.  This polish has very fine pink and blue microglitter suspended in it creating an ethereal glow in the bottle.

I layered three coats of  IJ...M over Lucky Lucky Lavender (Hong Kong Collection) for a subtly pretty result.   Because the glitter is so fine I was a little dubious as to whether I'd be able to get it to show its beauty in my pictures but I think I just succeeded:

Late afternoon sun

Indoors daylight



A very soft and pretty look!

Until my next post.

Vita :)

REVIEW: Products farewelled in April

April was a big month for beauty product consumption.  I've emptied eight products this month so my yearly product tally is now at 23 empties. Four months into this year, I'm starting to see some trends:

Lets start with the repeat empties, and there were three of those this month:

16) OPI Polish Remover

 (non-oily, moisturizing formula)

Yes, this is my third bottle for the year.  I really wish I could get my hands on larger bottles of this stuff than the standard 120ml/4 fl.oz. I can see myself finishing a lot more bottles this year now that I'm changing my nail polish more frequently.  For my previous review click here.

17) Loreal Gentle Make-up Remover
 for Eyes & Lips

My second bottle for the year.  I'm still happy with this product and consider it good value for money so yes, I'm into my third bottle.  Click here for my full review.

18) YSL Touche Eclat

I've just finished my second tube for the year, which is a little worrying.  At $55AUD per tube this is a bit of a luxury for me.  But the thing that concerns me most is the texture of this product seems to have changed of late.  I don't know whether I've scored a bad batch of product but the formula has certainly become thinner and not as creamy as I've come to expect, to the point of dripping off the end of the brush after dispensing it.  I know in my original review here I wrote that this is my desert island product and a good concealer/highlighter is a must have, but I have a feeling that after many years it may be time to move on from this one...

19) OPI Drip Dry drops

This is the alternative to using a nail polish drying spray.  60 seconds after applying top coat I apply 1 to 2 drops of drip dry to speed up the dry time of my nail polish.  According to OPI nail polish is, "...dry to the touch in 60 seconds; thoroughly dry in 5 minutes or less".  I find it works consistently when used over OPI products and generally when used over other brands of nail polish.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Dropper is supplied for accurate application
• Moisturises cuticles as you drip it on
• Works consistently with OPI nail polish
• No unpleasant smell

Cons:

• Does not always work over other nail polish.  Some polishes just will not dry no matter what!
• Price - this retails at approx $24AUD per 9ml bottle

Would I buy this again?
Yes.

20) Shiseido White Lucent

Brightening Balancing Softener

This balancing softener is the second step of my cleansing routine as I'm currently using Shiseido's White Lucent range in an effort to brighten my middle-aged skin and prevent pigmentation.  It's applied much like the toner step in my skin care routine, as this product is wiped over with cotton pads to brighten and hydrate the skin.  To be honest, as I'm on a budget this was a sample sized bottle as part of a gift with purchase.  I originally purchased the full range but have found it a bit expensive to justify spending large dollars so I skipped this step for a while.  Now that I've finished this bottle I'm skipping it again.

Pros:

• Ingredients in this softener (m-Tranexamic Acid) help to brighten skin and promote even complexion
• Hydrates and soothes the skin prior to applying moisturiser
• Pleasant fragrance
• Gorgeous packaging

Cons:

• Price - the entire range costs a few hundred dollars

Would I buy this again?
No. I'm now looking for a more budget-friendly alternative.

21) MAC Lustreglass

(Little Vi)

For a swatch please click here.  This shimmery violet lipgloss was one of my favourites over the summer. Unfortunately it was a limited edition!  My review will apply to MAC lustreglass generally:

Pros:

• Multidimensional colours
• Look great on their own or layered
• Great range of colours
• Pleasant vanilla fragrance
• High shine
• Doesn't feel tacky on the lips

Cons:

• Medium wear in terms of longevity
• Price - Retails at $35AUD

Would I buy this again?
Yes, as the range of colours is extensive and my empty containers qualify for the "Back 2 MAC" program.

22) Prada Infusion D'Iris

I bought this as part of a travel size set from a duty-free store last year.  I love Prada fragrances generally and this was no exception for me.  It's a gorgeously sophisticated yet soft scent so it's appropriate for any occasion.  The notes in this fragrance include mandarin, orange blossom, galbanum, iris, incense, benzoin, cedar, lentisc and vetiver.

Would I buy this again?

Yes. 

23) MAC Select Sheer pressed powder

(NC20)

This powder is another of my tried and true products.  I used to buy my pressed powder from Clinique years ago then switched to this as I preferred the sheerer finish and finer texture.  I use this lightly over my face in the morning along with concealer to subtly even my skin tone and reduce shine and also to set my lipstick.

Pros:

• Light texture, because it's sheer it doesn't give me a 'powdered' look
• Great range of colours to match my skin tone perfectly
• Doesn't cake

Cons:

• Does need to be reapplied mid-way through the day to reduce shine on my nose

Would I buy this again?

Yes.  It's easy to find the perfect match for my skin and the empties go towards "Back 2 MAC".

Whew, I think I've said enough!

Until next time.

Vita :)