September's farewelled products

 

This post includes a lot of travel sized products used up during my recent trip - surprisingly I even managed to finish off a few makeup items while I was away! That takes a little edge off any shopper's guilt I may have from the subsequent indulgence perhaps?...

 

Skin care

 

92) Gaia Skin & Body Foaming Cleanser (50ml travel size) - This is formulated for normal/combination sensitive skin and I found the gel formula a refreshing way to cleanse my face in my morning shower.  It wasn't overly foamy and the citrusy floral scent was perfect for the summery climate!

93) La Clinica White Brilliant Intensive Correction Hydrating Night Cream (50ml/1.76 fl.oz)* - This moisturiser feels richly moisturising, softening without the greasy feel of some other night creams I've tried over the years and it penetrates quickly so it doesn't feel claustrophobic or suffocating on my skin overnight.  I've yet to find the magic bullet that zaps all pigmentation but you know I'll keep on trying! 

94) Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes (10 travel towelettes) - It's pretty obvious I bought this pack for travel!  I've used these wipes before and previously I found them a little tingly and astringent.  My summer humidified skin tolerated them better this time around so I'd now consider them for a summertime travel cleansing option.
 

Hand and body care

 

95) Aesop Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser (50ml/1.77 fl.oz travel size) - I was spoilt with Aesop toiletries during our one-night stopover in the Tokyo Park Hyatt so once I'd used this I took the rest of the bottle with me to finish it off - they're not going to leave a half-used bottle for the next guests after all! The scent is a zesty wake me up combination of Geranium Leaf, Mandarin Rind and Bergamot Rind which certainly clears the head so I loved it.  The gel formula is low foaming so easily rinsed off and my skin felt refreshed afterwards.  In-shower indulgences are something I do feel conflicted about though because it does all go down the drain after all so I don't know if I would rush out to spend almost $50 on a half-litre bottle...but you know this one is going to tempt me because of the associated memories of Tokyo. I might drop a hint to the family if they don't know what to buy me for Christmas perhaps???

 

96) L'Occitane Dry Skin Hand Cream (30ml/1.oz) - I've raved about this silky shea butter hand cream many times before and it's still my favourite so it's going to pop up here again!

 

97) Dr Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Exfoliating Body Towel (1 textured towel) - I'm guessing these towelettes are primarily for pre self-tan exfoliation but I used this as a once-off treatment for my upper arm bumps (keratosis pilaris) and if I could easily buy a box of these I would - even if only for travel - because I felt instant smoothing results! Fingers crossed Sephora Australia stocks this line when they finally open their doors.  Thanks to lovely Larie for sending this out to me in our swap!



 

Hair care

 

98) & 99) Unico Intensive Shampoo & Intensive Conditioner (250ml each)* - This was really interesting because I was recently able to compare these directly to Aesop hair products and I can say Unico definitely hold their own.  I used the intensive shampoo and conditioner daily and I had "happy" hair - by which I mean fresh smelling, volumized, soft hair which you is just what you want from a salon shampoo and conditioner isn't it?  (Read here for my full review.)

100) & 101) Aesop Classic Shampoo & Classic Conditioner (50ml each) - More luxury hotel freebies that I had the pleasure of using! These reminded me a lot of the Unico products as they're also botanical hair care products, this time enriched with herbal oils such as Rosemary Leaf, Cedarwood Bark and Lavender and the scent is similarly green and fresh.  I had the same "happy" hair really - the only differences are the conditioner is slightly thicker, and more like a conditioning crème, and the price point is higher ($29AUD for 200ml full sized bottles). 

 

Cosmetics

 

 I'm on a break from the beauty diet but I did manage to finish a few of the makeup items I took away with me... 



102) Sportsgirl Pout About It crème lipstick (Beauty Queen) - This is a soft baby pink lipstick and not something I'd usually wear at work but it was a subtle holiday choice and a more fun, summery alternative to my usual nude-mauve selections.  These lippies aren't tested on animals and at around $9.95 are a good local budget beauty buy.

103) Models Prefer Anti-Wrinkle Concealer (Light) - Funnily enough, Light wasn't quite light enough for me so I couldn't use it as a brightening or highlighting concealer.  Coverage-wise it offers medium coverage which on the plus side doesn't settle into lines so it was good enough for everyday wear. 

104) Revlon Lash Potion by Grow Luscious Waterproof Mascara (Blackest Black) - A reasonable waterproof mascara that thickened my lashes and held fast through exercise although it didn't do anything to the length of my lashes - I don't need longer lashes anyway! Unfortunately I managed to bend the wand after only a few uses which was annoying, although prestige makeup houses now sell those bendy wand mascaras so...

 

Fragrance

 

 105) Balenciaga Rosabotanica EDP (1.2ml sample) - This fresh and summery spicy floral fragrance is going to be the scent that reminds me of my holiday and I bought a full size bottle at the airport. Top notes: blue hyacinth, fig leaf & petitgrain; middle notes: rose, grapefruit, cardamom & pink pepper;  base notes:  white amber, cedar, vetiver, patchouli & woody accords.

 

106) Shiseido Zen EDP (1ml sample) - Yes, I know it's clichéd but I packed this vial for Japan!   Top notes are grapefruit, sweet bergamot, orange, pineapple,  and blue rose. Middle notes are freesia, gardenia, violet, lily-of-the-valley, Chinese rose, red apple and lotus blossom and the base notes are patchouli, cedar wood, musk and white musk, amber and frankincense.

 

That's it for the latest empties then...Japan drugstore shopping post next!

 

 

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

 



Sally Hansen Miracle Gel: Sugar Fix

Hello, I'm back again!

 

I'll warm up with a manicure post featuring one of Sally Hansen's recently released Miracle Gel polishes - and my personal pick of the colours.  Sugar Fix is one of those irresistible (to me) periwinkle blue creams which I just keep quietly accumulating.  This is my first experience with any kind of gel polish so I didn't have any particular expectations apart from extended wear.  With this polish you skip the base coat, apply two or three coats of colour then finish with Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel top coat - this step is a must.  The polish will then 'cure' in natural light without any need for a special UV lamp. 

 

I found the colour polish a little on the thicker side so a little care was needed to avoid any streaks, and the top coat is not a particularly quick dry formula so took over 30 minutes to cure to my satisfaction.  Once dried the manicure was certainly long wearing and the fresh looking finish easily lasted a week for me with no sign of tip wear or chips.  I was impressed enough to wear another shade from the range for the first two weeks of my vacation and it stayed in fresh condition until around the 10 day mark when a few little cracks appeared in the finish, although it hung in there pretty well for the next few days by which time I was bored and well and truly ready to remove it! Speaking of which, removal is just the same as regular polish as the polish is easily dissolved with standard polish remover. 

 

Enough about the product - onto the pictures...

 

Sun

 

 

Shade

 

My next post will run through my vacation empties so I can get them out of the way before I share my Japan and Hawaii buys!

 

Chat soon :)

 

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

Vacation time again!

This is a bit of a 'Hi! Bye!' post because I'm heading off overseas for a family holiday - TONIGHT!

 

We'll be starting off in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and back to Tokyo) then flying to Hawaii for some more laid back holidaying.  I'm keeping it brief because I'm packing as I write!

 

Normal posting will resume after the 4th of October but you can always keep up with my adventures on Instagram and Twitter in the meantime.

 

Until next time!!!

Natio: Tangerine

As soon as spring rolled around it was like, "Right! Let's go bright!" for me and as orange is still the thang at the moment it was my first logical colour choice. 

 

Tangerine is another one of local beauty brand Natio's 'Little Treasures' nail polishes and it is a little gem too!  Such a juicy vibrant orange and just the antidote to the dreary old winter we endured in Melbourne this year.  Anyhow let me get back on track: two coats glided on beautifully and this lasted well over the week.  I swear I may just collect all of the shades when no one's looking because they're so cheap and cheerful... 

 

Sun

 

 

Indirect daylight

 

Now take THAT winter!

 

Until next time...

 



August's farewelled products (and Beauty Diet update)

Ah the irony - another unattractive pile of empty products I've used in my mission to make myself more beautiful...

 

Skin care

 

81) Maybelline Makeup Remover Eye & Lip (70ml/2.4 fl. oz.) - Maybelline have gone and repackaged and reformulated again and have reverted to the blue and clear dual-phase liquid.  It does a perfectly gentle job of removing my eye makeup, and even if it's not quite as effective as Lancôme Bifacil (which I keep saying is too expensive) I'll be buying another bottle soon because it's a handy size for travel and it's cheap!

 

82) Kirkland Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes (30 towelettes) - Damn, I'm getting a bit bored of these now but I still have a few packs to go.  One really annoying thing was a packaging fail:  the resealable lid came away from the pack so that makes me reluctant to take these away on my upcoming trip.

 

 

83) Pond's Flawless White Lightening Day Cream (50g) - This was the biggest disappointment of the year because I NEVER GOT TO USE IT. The expiry date is February 2015 but the cream had separated into a solid mass surrounded by watery liquid.  I gave it one valiant, stupid try but realized applying this grainy stuff was a risky prospect so washed it off and tossed the jar into my empties bag.  I don't have a sales receipt to exchange the product and after that experience I don't want to repurchase it.

 

84) & 85) La Clinica White Brilliant Intensive Correction Hydrating Day Cream (50ml/1.76 fl. oz. and 10ml sample size)* - I've used this day cream as part of the White Brilliant routine and it penetrates quickly, making my sleepy skin look just that little bit more radiant in the morning.  My pigmentation which is still my primary skin concern hasn't deteriorated so that's comforting.  Of course I wish I could completely eliminate my pigmentation but I'm not at the point of resorting to Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments just yet and anything that keeps me away from that point is a good thing.

 

Hand and body care

 

86) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120ml/4 fl.oz) - My seventh bottle and counting.  I couldn't get a full size bottle recently so I've resorted to a tiny travel size.  That tells you (and me) what I think about this remover. 

 

87) MOR Snow Gardenia Hand & Body Wash (500ml) - This bottle moved from the shower to the hand basin after a while only because it's so big and my caddy was getting crowded! A very heady floral scent, luxuriant in lather, and lasted an eternity so I enjoyed it both for showering and for washing my hands.  MOR never skimp on their fragrances and this is no exception.   

 

 

88) Crabtree & Evelyn Avocado, Olive & Basil Hand Therapy (25g/0.9 oz. travel size) - A beautifully "green" scent and one of my many C & E hand creams.  I'll tell you again why I'm a fan:  these hand creams are rich in scent, rich in moisture without being greasy, and gentle on my sensitive skin.

 

Cosmetics

 

This will be my last beauty diet update before I head off for my Japan-Hawaii trip next week!  Sophie, Anissa, Norlin are planning to continue for the rest of the year so I may well be resuming when I get back.  I've been a little obsessed with makeup decluttering and downsizing YouTube videos lately so my attitude to makeup shopping is changing - maybe?

 

89) L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Powder (Medium Skin) - This is the month for fails it seems because this was another packaging fail.  Cosmetic companies please take note: Clear plastic packaging just doesn't stand up to everyday wear and tear because it's just too brittle! I can't carry a powder pan in my makeup bag once the lid has broken off now can I? Getting off that particular soapbox the powder itself offered less coverage than I've come to expect from a bb powder and it didn't work well for mattifying either so I won't be repurchasing.



90) MAC Cremesheen Lipstick (Modesty) - A great mauve-nude MLBB lipstick with a creamy, glossy finish.  Love.

 

91) Wet n Wild Coloricon Trio (Walking On Eggshells) - The perfect palette for everyday with its combination of ivory, warm pink and golden brown shades.  I'm not feeling too sad this time because I have a backup!



 

Fragrance

 

91) Tom Ford Rive D'Ambre EDP (1.5ml) - Weirdly enough this came in a Plum Japonais holder so I was almost disappointed until I smelled the rather crisp, zesty fragrance.  A lighter, easier to wear daytime fragrance from the TF wardrobe and I wasn't at all surprised to read this is unisex.  Notes are:  citruses, amber, bergamot, lemon, bitter orange, tarragon, mint, cardamom, cognac and tolu balsam.

 

 

So that's it for another episode of empties!

 

 



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







BK Nail Polish: Natural 15

I have to laugh at this nail polish from BK being called Natural 15 because it's anything BUT natural in appearance!

 

Just one coat of this insane holographic yellow gold glitter turned a nude cream manicure into disco ball madness!  The downer was most definitely the smell...or should I more accurately say fumes - 100% toxic scariness so I was careful not to get too close with my nose.  I tamed the texture this time with two coats of top coat and there you have it...

 

Shade:

 

 

Full sun

 

That's all for this post folks! Enjoy your weekend :)



Transforming your look from daytime to date-time (featuring INIKA Mineral Makeup)

If you're rushing from one activity to another on a regular basis and you like wearing makeup most days then you'll probably relate to this post. I'd like to say that when I'm going out after a long, busy day I take off all my makeup before I head out and start again - I'd like to say that but the reality is more often than not I don't have the time so I've mastered my own method of adding a few elements to my daytime makeup to change it up and transform from natural to glam. 

For this post I'm using products from luxury Australian Mineral Makeup brand INIKA.  To give you the briefest of brand intros all INIKA products are 100% Certified Vegan, Halal and Cruelty Free and many are also Certified Organic.  This is my first experience with INIKA makeup so it's going to be a bit of a first impressions post too. 

Daytime face

I'm a big, HUGE fan of the '5-product face' for everyday so this natural makeup look was every bit as easy to create as it appears.  This soft eye and lip combo is more a weekend-appropriate look for me but the same rules very much apply for the working week too - simply by choosing a brighter lipstick to make me feel more put together in that harsh fluoro lit office I "choose" to work in.   Best of all for me a pared down look like this just takes a few minutes which is the point really because I never have the time in the morning to do elaborate multi-tonal makeup.  Yes, I wish I could but this is my reality. Read on to see how it's done...

Products used:

I started by applying Liquid Mineral Foundation in Beige and quickly blended it out with my fingers out to and below the jawline.  Most of the time I do my eyes next (sometimes I like to do them first) so I applied loose Mineral Eye Shadow in the soft golden flecked caramel Whisper with a medium fluffy brush all over the lid and blended just slightly above the crease to create the softest accent - a standalone shade like this does all the work of accenting and brightening the eyes during the day.  Finally I applied two coats of Mineral Mascara (Black) to my upper lashes for length and definition.  This mascara has an unusual z-shaped brush to give you options of thickness or length depending on the way you wield the brush - I prefer length over fat lashes so I figured out using the flattened side of the brush does the job of dressing my lashes the way I like them.

 

I like a natural peachy pink on my cheeks day or night so I applied the super cute and fun little powder puff style Mineral Blush in Pink Pinch - sorry I had to say that because this blush packaging tops my cute list now!  This blush is so easy to use (and would take extreme effort to overuse) because you simply pat the puff over your cheeks and gradually build up the colour to the desired depth.

 

To finish off the entire look I applied Mineral Lipstick in natural pink/mauve Warm Dusk straight from the tube and that's about as simple as it gets.

 

Colour swatches from left to right:
Warm Dusk, Pink Pinch, Whisper

Date-ready face

This evening look uses my daytime makeup as a base and builds on it with the addition of just two extra eye shadow shades and a change of lipstick!  After seven hours of wearing my daytime face I just embellished a little to end up with a much more colourful and dramatic look...

Products used:

I checked my Liquid Mineral Foundation for wear and it really didn't need any touching up so I moved straight on making up my eyes.  Working with Whisper Mineral Eye Shadow already on my lids as my base shade I applied Autumn Plum, a deep warm plum shade with a crease/blending brush into the outer-v of my eyes, then applied the light and shimmery Gold Dust with a smaller shadow brush into my inner corners and tear-duct area for a brightening effect. As INIKA Mineral Eye Shadows can be used wet or dry, for a bit of fun and a change from my usual pencil liner I used a wet angled brush to apply Autumn Plum to line my upper and outer lower lash lines.  I then used a pencil brush to apply Whisper along the middle section of my lower lash line to soften and blend in from the dramatic metallic plum on the outer lash line. To finish my eyes I added another coat of Mineral Mascara, this time for a bit of extra thickness.

To freshen up my cheeks I applied a little more Pink Pinch Mineral Blush and then - although it doesn't show up in the pictures - I added a little touch of Gold Dust Mineral Eye Shadow as a cheekbone highlight.

The final touch was a coat of Mineral Lipstick, this time in the plum/red Bordeaux Bliss to give my lips some more emphasis without being too over the top.

 

Date-ready colour swatches from left to right:

Bordeaux Bliss, Pink Pinch, Whisper, Gold Dust, Autumn Plum

While I appreciated the luxury quality of all of the products I tried my favourites were the versatile, superbly pigmented loose mineral eye shadows and the easy to use mineral blush - I will definitely be collecting more!

INIKA products are available online from Facial Co.


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