Colour Families // The Grungy Greiges

Back with another Colour Families post! I'm hoping one day I'll eventually chronicle my entire makeup collection through this series... haha! Today we'll be looking at the grungy greiges (as you can see, I'm still loving that alliteration) which I was super into maybe a year or so ago. After shunning cool tones for the longest time - I suddenly embraced them whole heartedly! Well, on the lips that is - I'm still not really a fan of taupe eyeshadows (but gimme mauves any day). I'm less obsessed with them now, but I've amassed a decent enough collection of them that I can do a post! Also, I've taken a bit of freedom with 'greige' haha. Some of these are cooler brown nudes, some veer a lot into the purple/mauve family, but on the whole we're basically in the same colour family! 

Monthly Favourites // May 2018

I literally CANNOT believe it's the end of May. Wheeeere tf did that month go. To be fair - I've been super busy this month, so I guess I just didn't notice it flying by?? This month was my bday month - I turned 21! - and a lot of my friends' birthdays too, so this month was a lot of social events! Also I am DEEP in assessment currently. To say I'm VERY STRESSED would be an understatement. So I'm gonna make this blog post quick ;)

The Best of 2017 // Beauty

I'm a little bit late to the 2017 roundup party, but better late than never! I'm also thinking of doing a skincare favourites of 2017 since I haven't done a skincare routine post in a while! Anyway, I tried to keep my 2017 favourites to products I actually discovered in 2017 and were new to me last year, but there are a few (three to be exact) repeats from 2016, and also a few products that I got in 2016 (perhaps toward the end of the year), but really loved in 2017. Do check out my 2016 favourites because I still absolutely love all of those products and many of them are still in my everyday rotation and could have easily been mentioned here! Also it wasn't purposeful, but I've actually got 17 products here, so it's my top 17 from 2017!

Bridal + Bridesmaid Makeup

A couple of months ago, my sister got married and I had the honour of doing her makeup! When my sister first suggested that I do her makeup, I was very hesitant...Me?! Doing your makeup on the day that you'll forever look back on!? But what if I screw it up! I'd like to think I'm pretty good at makeup on myself, and on other people, but hey, I ain't no makeup artist. That being said, I have done both of my sisters' makeup numerous times in the past, and they both seem to really like the finished results. So, the more I thought about it, the more I warmed to the idea. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a makeup artist when I can do it for free? I mean, we all know I have all the products and the fact that I could do a bunch of trial tests on her was appealing to the both of us - and trust me, we did a bunch of trials (she's fussy!). Eventually though, we settled on this look which thankfully, she really liked and was super happy with. I also had to do mine, my other sister's bridesmaid makeup and my mum's so to say I was a bit rushed the morning of is probably an understatement, but luckily everything turned out amazingly!

What's In My Travel Beauty Bag(s)?

So I leave tomorrow for my three week trip to the US! I feel like I've been waiting forever for this trip to come, and now that it's here, I feel so unprepared! Why must I procrastinate in every aspect of my life?? I'm pretty sure I've never shared with you guys what products I've taken travelling in the past, usually it's nothing exciting, especially makeup wise as I'm never really bothered much in that department! I figured this trip I'd put more effort into my face as I'm going to some big cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Denver!). I tried to pack light, especially considering I'll be buying a WHOLE LOT while I'm there, but I may have overdone it on the skincare... :P My excuse is that my skin is actually pretty good right now and I don't want to mess it up! Plus I'm gone for three weeks so I cant just switch it up for an off week, y'know? Also, ignore the weird lighting in these photos. It was raining pretty heavily today! Plus, my camera decided to start acting up and basically died. Just before my trip of course!! I had to wipe the settings and I have no idea what they were to put it back to what it was lol. Ended up being a bad connection between the lens and the body which a quick clean fixed (for now...). 

HAUL-I-DAY 2015

'Tis the seeeason....FOR ALL THE HOLIDAY RELEASES. To be honest, the only reason I'm excited for this time of year is because of the holiday releases...just kidding (not really). On Tuesday, Mecca dropped all of their gift sets so I bought the last thing I wanted from this round of releases (can I just say though that Mecca's holiday decoration is BE-YOU-TI-FUL. THE BAG IS DRIPPING GOLD). I would say I was fairly restrained? Fairly??!? Well, none of my purchases overlap (ie one set for eyes, lips and face!). There are a bunch of things that tempted me but I've managed to resist (thus far). Things like the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit, the Laura Mercier baked trio palette with the highlighter/bronzer/blush, the Too Faced and Bare Minerals sets (the set of 10 mini lipsticks for $53 is amazing value!) and a bunch more. Here are the three things that actually made my basket...

Monthly Favourites // October 2015

October faves comin' at ya today! A wee bit late (by my standards haha :P) due to exams and me werkin' all weekend but MY EXAMS ARE FINITO NOW! I'M DUN FOR THE YEAR! EVERYBODY CELEBRATE! Enough caps yet? Anyhow, October was a quiet month for the blog which I'm so sorry about but I promise y'all, I'm gonna get back into it in full force! I have quite a few new things to share with you this month, but I was also feeling VERY spendy so I'm sure next month will be even more exciting! ;) (oh god, it will be december by then WHAT IS HAPPENING)

Empties #7

Slowly, but surely, I've been making my way downtown through quite a few products! Sort of justifies the huge amount of hair and skincare products I've come into the possession of...right? Anyway, let's dig into the empties!

The Standouts of 2013

Hello 2014! I hope you guys all had a happy new year! I cannot believe another year has been and gone, and it will probably take me a while for the fact that we are in 2014 to sink in. Anyways lets live in the past and take a look at my most favoured products from 2013! I haven't covered all categories as I didn't necessarily have a FAVOURITE favourite for every area. Despite that, I still had trouble narrowing things down so you're in store for quite a few products! Also, I haven't touched on tools or skincare, haircare, bodycare or nails. For tools, pretty much all Real Techniques and for skincare, check out my skincare routine posts here, here and here. Reviews have been linked where applicable! Let's jump in!

Face:

• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
• Maybelline Dream Pure BB cream in shade Medium
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in shade Light Beige
• Neutrogena Healthy Skin liquid makeup in shade Natural Beige

I find the Laura Mercier primer generally good at prolonging the wear of foundation and keeping it looking better for longer. My BB cream favourite was hard to choose, but I found myself reaching for the Maybelline a lot. Good colour, coverage and finish. Foundation wise, for a lot of the year the Bourjois was a go-to but I found the shade quite light towards the end of the year. I've used it by mixing with other products and a hefty load of bronzer. Lovely finish on the skin and a nice light-medium buildable coverage. The Neutrogena is pretty much a spot on colour and offers a good medium coverage with a very natural skin like finish. Not too dewy or too matte.

Cheeks:

• Models Prefer Desk to Date
• The Balm Instain Blush in Toile
• Essence Silky Touch blush in Natural Beauty
• Sleek Contour Kit in Light
• Jane Iredale Bronzing Powder in So-Bronze 1
• The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer

I am a self-professed blush junkie but these three were probably my most worn. I like Desk to Date for an easy, goes-with-everything light peachy pink, Toile for something slightly brighter but still natural and Natural Beauty for a bit of a 'nothingy' cheek - it's the perfect blend of a blush, bronzer and highlighter in one. For contouring my main favourite has been the Sleek (mainly just the contour shade), a nice brown that isn't hard to work with and creates a natural looking shadow. For bronzing all over the face, Jane Iredale has been my pick. A nice warm brown that is only slightly darker than my skintone and gives warmth and colour to the face. Highlighter fave is hands down Mary Lou-Manizer. It provides an amazing champagne-golden glow which I love.

Eyes:

• Essence I love Stage Eyeshadow Base
• Estee Lauder Pure Color Stay-on Shadow Paint in shade Halo
• Maybelline Color Tattoo in shade Bad to the Bronze
• MAC eyshadow in shade All that Glitters
• Essence Gel Eyeliner in shade BBC All Night Brown
• Napoleon Perdis Ultimate Nude Palette
• Lorac Pro Palette, particularly shades Taupe, Espresso, Gold, Lt. Bronze and Pewter
• Dolly Wink Eyebrow Powder in shade Dark Chocolate

The sadly discontinued Essence eye primer has been my most used and loved this year. My two favourite cream shadows were from Estee Lauder and Maybelline. Bad to the Bronze made the perfect single shadow eye look while Halo was both a great base and all over lid shade. All that Glitters was definitely a favourite - I love the pinky-beige metallic colour! Also discontinued is the Essence Gel Liner which I used quite often for both a winged liner and smudged on the lower lashline. The deep bronzy brown made for a perfect casual liner look. The Napoleon palette is filled with matte shades which I used both on their own or to accompany other eyeshadows. Also filled with mattes is the Pro Palette which contains a bevy of shades to create a multitude of looks! Also some of the best formulas were found in this palette. Pretty much the only thing to grace my eyebrows was the Dolly Wink powder - perfect shade for my black hair!

Lips:

• Essence lipstick in shade All about Cupcake
• L'oreal Nutri-shine balm in shade Nudy Coral
• Estee Lauder Signature Hydralustre Lipstick in Venetian Rose
• L'oreal Nutri-shine Lipstick in shade Pink Nude
• Estee Lauder Signature Hydralustre Lipstick in Soft Amethyst
• NYX Butter Gloss in shade Peaches and Cream
• Witchery Lip Gloss Wand in shade Blossom
• Nivea Lip Butter

All about Cupcake and Nudy Coral were probably my most worn lipsticks of the year. All about Cupcake being the perfect my-lips-but-better (and more pink) and Nudy Coral being a lovely tinted lip balm with the tiniest hint of colour. Venetian Rose is sadly discontinued but is probably the best peachy nude I've come across so far. It's not really nude but it's really the perfect neutral peach for my skin tone! Pink Nude is just a beautiful colour. It's got hints of pink and peach, with a neutral tone - lurve it! For the wearable purply-plum lip, my fave has to be Soft Amethyst. Lovely formula and really flattering! It's purple without being PURPLE. The NYX gloss has a lovely texture and the colour is just really lovely. The Witchery gloss however, is the lipgloss that got me liking lipglosses. Probably my favourite lipgloss formula yet (though the NYX is rivaling it) - thin, non-sticky and pigmented. The Nivea lip balm has definitely been my fave. My lips have been very fussy and lip balms that I used to love seemed to irritate my lips. The Lip Butter saved my lips and has been pretty much the only balm I've used since!

Fragrance:

• Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Camellia

This scent has definitely been my most used. It's light, summery and really nice for every day wear.

So that concludes my beauty favourites for the year that was! I will be doing a part two concerning more 'entertainment' favourites I guess you could call them, including favourite TV shows, books, movies and other varying ways to procrastinate.

What have been your favourite products of 2013?

Half as Fancy

Hi guys! So I got back from my trip to Hong Kong and Vietnam yesterday! If you hadn't gathered, the posts from the last two weeks were scheduled and now I can finally sit down and write my semi-formal post! My grade 11 Graduation Dinner Dance (a.k.a Semi-Formal) was on the 30th of November (the day before I flew out!) and I wanted to share my outfit and makeup!

Products used:

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Brightener

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in 53 and Revlon Colourstay Foundation for Oily/combo skin in Natural Beige

Sonia Kashuk Concealer Palette

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent

I used a mix of two foundations as the Bourjois is slightly too light while the Revlon is a tad too dark. Also I find the Revlon can be a bit heavy on its own, they both don't contain SPF (well the Colourstay has SPF 6) so they didn't flash back in flash photography!

For the Eyes:

Lorac Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow Primer

The Balm Balm Jovi Palette shade Metallica 

Chi Chi Nudes Palette, second last shade

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk

Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeliner in Black

The Body Shop Eye Definer in Moonstone

Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner

L'oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara

Ardell 120 Lashes and Lash Grip

Because my dress is black with some silvery jewels (photos down below!!) I chose to go for a mainly silver eye with a gunmetally shade in the outer corner/crease - sort of smokey but not. I popped the MAC powder over top for a bit more sparkle (also in the inner corner and browbone). I did some winged liner and put on false lashes! I actually did a practice run of the makeup which was my first time putting on falsies and I was suprised at how well I did it haha, went pretty smoothly on the day too! I don't particularly love the mascara I used but it's waterproof (didn't want any smudging!) and I was wearing falsies anyway. I tightlined with black liner and put some champagne coloured liner on my waterline. 

Face and Brows:

Dolly Wink Eyebrow Powder in Dark Chocolate

Essence Lash and Brow Clear Mascara

Sleek Contour Kit in Light

BYS Blush Trio in Coral Me In

MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk

I contoured and highlighted with the Sleek kit to eek out my non-existent cheekbones. I also topped off the highlight with the MAC powder for a little extra glow and the silver shade complements the rest of my makeup, accessories, etc. I opted for a blush that would complement the lipstick shade I wore and I used the far right shade which is a rather bright coral. I applied it extremely lightly though so it didn't detract from the rest of the makeup.

Lips and Nails:

Yardley Lip Definer in Pillar Box Red

Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivids in Vibrant Mandarin

OPI Nail polish (shade unknown)

I wanted to go all matchy matchy with my lips and nails but sadly the nail polish actually dried more red than in the bottle - oh well! Haha, they were similar enough. I wanted to go for a rather bright and bold lip as my outfit was all black and I wanted to add more colour! 

YEaaH...those selfies...haha

These photos are actually from my practice run of makeup a couple of days before so my hair isn't done here! It looked pretty much exactly the same on the day. I'm glad I took these photos though because it was pretty hectic on the day because I actually did two of my friends' makeup! Yep, it was like Salon Tasha up in here, haha! 

Onto my dress! Please excuse that the photos are not up to par with most fashion bloggers - I'm not one and my mum was behind the camera, haha. The dress is from ASOS and I actually bought it near the beginning of the year (risky, because it might not fit come the day or tastes may change, but luckily neither of those happened but it was pretty tight...). It has an open back and jewelled detailing on the front so I opted for minimal jewellery and an up-do. It also has a tulle skirt which was VERY puffy and big, so my mum ended up cutting a layer off and sewing it down at points to the lining haha. You can't tell it's been altered and I like it much better! My friend Tam did my hair in exchange that I did her makeup hehe! It's a french braid crown essentially and I really like it so thanks Tam! I borrowed both the clutch which is from Mimco and the wedges which are from Wittner from my sister. I really like the detailed wedge (which you can't really see) but it's gunmetal so it matched other bits of my outfit!

The earrings are my mum's and the rings I got from Lovisa. I really like the assortment of midi and normal rings and I think they added just the right amount of pizzazz.

The Gal Pals!

I hope you found this post somewhat interesting as I spent a while compiling this post! I had a really great night and it was an amazing way to end the year off - heaps of fun! It was pretty exciting to get all glammed up haha! Now to start hunting for a formal dress...

Monthly Favourites | August 2013

And so comes the end to another month! We are getting closer and closer to the end of 2013 - shocker!! I don't have very many new favourites this month, but I have also been testing quite a few new products which will probably crop up in next month's faves. Onto the goods!

First up my skincare favourite of the month has been the Soap & Glory Night in shining armour cream. I haven't done a full review on this yet but it's a work in progress! I've been thoroughly enjoying using this cream lately (not just through August). It's a pretty basic night cream as it does what it's meant to - moisturise the skin really well. I've also really been liking mixing in Rosehip oil to add a teensy bit more moisture but also to aid with dark spot correction.

A new product I've been using is the Laura Mercier Foundation Primer which my sister gave me. I hardly use primers, the only other one I've tried is the Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot which I honestly found to do nothing for me. This one I find helps more so in the longevity department. I find my foundation just wears better and looks better by the end of the day when I use this primer. I'll probably do a full review on this one also, so keep an eye out!

My brush fave this month has been the Real Techniques Deluxe crease brush from the Starter set which I just reviewed. I really like using this for applying and blending out concealer. It's much quicker and easier than using fingers and it lends a much more flawless finish.

I've also really liked using the Neutrogena Hand Cream this month which I got in the sample pack a few months ago. I don't love this all over the hands, but more so in particular dry areas. The texture is quite weird, very thick and ointment like. It doesn't spread very well over the hands. It doesn't leave a very greasy or sticky residue though. Lately parts of my hands have been quite dry and itchy and I find this has been soothing those areas quite well.

A repeat offender in the favourites department is the Lancome Hypnose Precious Cells mascara. I seriously love this stuff! I am treasuring my little sample tube, haha, despite my love I don't think I could ever (at least in the near future) shell out that much on a mascara. I've talked about it enough but I seriously love the natural, thickened and fluttery lashes this gives me. Also no smudging - bonus!

The blush I've been using pretty much everyday this month is the Estee Lauder Tender Blusher in Fresh Plum. This has been discontinued unfortunately :( and it's actually my mum's haha, but I adore the shade! It is a lovely dusty plum/mauve perfect for the cooler weather (which will soon be gone)! Despite its deeper, cooler tone it was still quite brightening on the face and also quite natural. 

The perfect complement to that blush is the Estee Lauder Signature Hydralustre lipstick in Soft Amethyst. I've worn this lipstick all through Autumn/Winter so it's more of a seasonal favourite than a monthly one, but I still wanted to mention it! It's a gorgeous plummy mauve shade that is purple but very wearable and nice for any occasion!

The other lipstick I've been reaching for a lot this month is another repeat fave, the Essence lipstick in All about Cupcake. This is a great shade that I gravitate towards all the time. It's a pinky-nude shade which I find is a great My-lips-but-pinker shade. It is sheer and glossy with a slight moisturising factor.

Hand cream, All about cupcake, Soft Amethyst, Fresh Plum

I also want to sneak in a bit of an UNfavourite this month - not makeup related- but it was hands down the The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie which came out recently. I have been reading the books (currently on the latest one!) and have been really enjoying them. I was super excited for the movie but honestly, and many a fan (of the books) can attest, that it was a complete and utter fail. It did not stay true to the plot of the books, most of the acting was poorly and there was hardly any chemistry between the main couple. They completely butchered the plot! They put things in from two books away, and spoiled major aspects of the future story lines. The only good thing about the movie was Robert Sheehan (who played Simon) because he is such a cutie and honestly one of the only good actors in the movie. I would not recommend seeing this movie, but if you do, please don't judge the books on the merit of the movie! The books are very good! Rant over, haha.

Ugh, I can't bear to look at it.

Those were my favourites for the month of August! I expect I'll have a much more exciting one for next month - yay Spring!

What have you guys been loving this month?