Monthly Favourites // April 2016

Soooooo....It's May. How the frickety frack did that happen?!?? It's my birthday next week like wuuuuut?? April was a COMPLETE blur. I was super busy with assessment and then had a couple of less busy weeks (which went by like THAT) and now it's assessment time again. Pffftt. Also there were two public holidays this month that I completely under utilised -_- Anyway, enough rambling - let's get into the faves!

Haul // Priceline 40% Off Cosmetics #2

There's just one more day left of Priceline's 40% off cosmetics sale so get in quick before it ends tonight! I figured I would upload a haul of the loot I picked up yesterday in case you guys needed some last minute inspo heh. I went extra early (like 8am early haha) and managed to get almost everything I wanted! A few things were out of stock though, like the Physician's Formula Nude Shimmer Strips highlighter (why is the PF stand always SO PITIFUL???) and Maybelline Creamy Beige Colour Tattoo. So I was supposed to be on a spending ban but I don't think I went too crazy... Plus a lot of this stuff I didn't buy while I was in the US because I knew I could get it here in the sale! Justifiable enough excuse?

Haul // Priceline 40% Off Cosmetics

Another week, another haul - this time of the drugstore variety! If all goes well...I think I'll have another haul going up next week too (Sephoraaaaa hehehh). Yeeeeah I really need to get a handle on my spending. If you guys were unaware though, Priceline currently has their famous 40% off cosmetics sale on! It goes for two days and today is the last day so I thought I'd share the bits I picked up yesterday! I had a list, and I stuck to it! My savings were actually pretty great because the chick accidentally (I think it was an accident...) scanned my payback voucher twice so I got an extra $11 off haha :P Shh... It's been a while since I've hauled from Priceline though. Can't say I've been too eager to shop there since they sacked me :P Can't deny a good sale though and I picked up a few things I've been wanting to try for ages!

On the Daily

What with me back at school again, I've settled back into the routine of using similar, if not the same products during the week. My daily makeup is nothing extravagant - especially considering there is a no makeup rule at my school (shh...). I tend to opt for a natural look, covering my main imperfections and making myself look a bit healthier and more awake. I thought I would share the selection of products I've been using on the daily and my thoughts on them!

I store my daily makeup in my MUJI 2 drawer narrow acrylic box set with flip top lid so that it is all conveniently in one place and so that I won't have to go rummaging through my main makeup storage. I really love this little box set, it's nice and sleek and I wish that my whole storage was MUJI! I often rotate what is in here sometimes daily, or weekly depending on if I want to wear a particular product/whatever I'm feeling. A lot of the products here are constant though.

Biore UV Perfect Face Milk

I've already talked about this in a Monthly Favourites and a full review will be coming soon. This has been my sunscreen of choice as it is so thin it feels like nothing on the skin, and it also mattifies my skin slightly, to the point that I actually notice my skin not being as oily as usual by the end of the day! Also it has an amazingly high SPF.

Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream in Medium

For my base I will almost always reach for one of my BB creams, this one being my most used. A nice, light almost moussey cream consistency that has a satin finish. A quite light coverage and smooths on easily with fingers. 

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in Medium

My latest concealer addition. I find it really quick to apply to any spots and scars with the doe foot applicator then blend with the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush. It's a really good shade match, and while the coverage isn't totally full, it's still very good, looks natural and doesn't cling to dry patches.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Brightener

I don't use this everyday but when I feel like I have any dark circles or my face needs brightening up I reach for this. I apply it underneath my BB cream as it is quite pale and pink. It does a good job of concealing and brightening, and has a lovely thin consistency that blends well and doesn't cake/settle.

Dolly Wink Eyebrow Powder in Dark Chocolate

The only brow-filler-inner product I own and it's been fulfilling the job now for over a year. A lovely shade for my brows and I find powder looks much more natural than pencil. I use the Real Techniques Brow Brush which is a bit thicker but actually makes the job much quicker. I also forgot to photograph my Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara which I use everyday to set them. It's probably for the best actually as my tube is looking pretty gunky!

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara

I don't wear mascara everyday but depending on the weather, I will use this or the L'oreal Telescopic Waterproof mascara. If I want to hold a curl I'll use the L'oreal, but otherwise I've been using this one a lot. I really like the brush as I find it applies the product well by grasping all my lashes - it's not too big either. The formula is very natural and a bit wispy which is generally how I like my mascaras. It slightly lengthens and thickens without clumping. You don't get a lot of volume with this though.

Australis Fresh and Flawless Pressed Powder in Darkest Brown

I tend to powder nearer the end so my face makeup has had a chance to settle into my skin. This powder is really nice and one of the gems available on the Australian drugstore scene. It adds a tad more coverage, mattifies and sets with a satin finish and is a really soft, smooth powder. I think I might be hitting pan on this soon!

Jane Iredale Bronzing Powder in So Bronze 1

I've mentioned this countless times so I'll spare the spiel. It's lovely to warm up the face and put a bit more dimension back into my face without contouring. Depending on whether or not my base is a bit pale for me, I'll either go heavier or lighter with this.

Models Prefer Powder Blush in Desk to Date

One of my favourite blushes - a beautiful warm pink-peach with a slight golden shimmer that isn't too apparent on the skin. Complements my skin tone well and is just a lovely shade to add a bit of colour to the face. I tend to change up my blush shade quite often, but this one is a fail safe.

I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush for those three powder products.

Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipgloss in Bellydance

I always like to coordinate my lip colour with my blush shade and this gloss is a really pretty peachy-pink that goes well with Desk to Date. I tend to apply this lightly so that it's only the slightest wash of colour. The formula is really nice - non-sticky and even slightly moisturising.

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?

Monthly Favourites | July 2013

Wow guys - over halfway through the year! I have a few favourites to share for the month sooo here we go!

First up some skincare bits:

I have been in love with the Soap & Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth cleanser this month! I reviewed it in full here so I won't go crazily into detail. I love that this pretty much gets everything off of my face and it leaves my skin feeling really nice and softly moisturised. I also think that this has improved my skin quite a bit!

To help with Winter dry skin blues I've been using the Origins Drink Up Intensive moisture mask on a weekly basis. This is a very talked about product which is an overnight treatment that provides and replenishes the moisture in the skin. I wake up the next morning with soft, supple and moisturised skin. I only have a sample but thanks to Cherie who kindly decanted some of hers for me, I don't think I'll need to purchase the full size for a while.

This month my lips have been SO dry, more so my lip line and the skin around my lips. It has been dry, flaky and super itchy - gross, sorry. Oddly enough I don't have an unexpired tube or tub of Lucas Paw Paw ointment hanging around so the only lip balm that has been soothing my lips relatively well has been the MOR Lip Macaron in Passionflower. Its not a super intense lip balm but it does provide good moisturisation to the lips and I use it regularly every night regardless of how dry my lips are.

For the face I've been reaching for my Sonia Kashuk Concealer Palette (review here) which is a good standby. It's not my favourite concealer formula - tending to cling a bit to dry, flaky skin and accentuating it throughout the day. However, the shades are easy to match to my skin (I do use the corrector quite a bit too) and it is pigmented and long lasting.

I have been using the Jane Iredale Bronzing Powder in the shade So Bronze 1. I'm really not a bronzer person, I don't ultimately have the desire to look tan all the time and tend to only use them for contouring. However my sister gave me this one which is satin at its base and has some golden shimmer particles. It isn't overly shimmery but more so individual particles. The colour is a warm light brown (not dark enough and too warm for contouring). So - I've been using it for its purpose! When I have a slightly lighter foundation, or when I look washed out, I sweep this over my lower cheeks, around the forehead, temples and neck. It warms up my skin and gives some dimension to my face. 

For blush I have pretty much been using this one exclusively for the whole month. It is the Models Prefer blush in the shade Desk to Date which I've featured here. It is really the perfect everyday peachy pink that gives a natural and warm glow to the face.

For eyes I've been wearing the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Stay on shadow paint in the shade Halo whenever I wear eyeshadow. It is a beautiful beigey champagne cream shadow with a slight pearlescent/shimmery finish. It is so creamy and actually acts as an efficient primer preventing creasing, etc (unlike the Maybelline Color Tattoos). I'll have a full review up too but I really do love this!

Also on the eyes I've been using the Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof kohl kajal in Black. This is a super pigmented, creamy pencil with great lasting power. I've been using this in my tightline and although it does smudge down only the lower lashline a bit, it's not as bad as others and it doesn't fade despite the smudging. It great on the lashlines too!

As I mentioned, my lips have been super dry so lipstick hasn't been a front runner this month. I've been using these MAC cremesheen glasses quite a bit. I talked about their formula a bit and have swatches here. I like Color Saturation for a bit of a bolder berry lip and Going Casual for a more natural pinky lip. They are a little bit moisturising, rather long lasting and comfortable on the lips.

What were your guys' faves this month!

Model's Flush

Hi guys, today I have a blush-y post for you all! I was very excited when I saw the Model's Prefer Beauty to Go kits at Priceline. They are excellent value for money and just super cute little kits! I picked up the blush one which was only $4 (at the time I bought it, I think they go for $5 regularly, awesome price though!). So, on to the review!

The set contains a powder and cream blush, both in a very pretty, wearable shade. The compact blush is in the shade Desk to Date which is a permanent shade, however I feel that the actual blushes are different. The full size one is a lot more glittery/shimmery so if you already own Desk to Date, they are actually a bit different. The cream blush is in the shade Tickled Pink.

The packaging on these is super cute! Both plastic containers, the powder compact is very reminiscent of NYX powder blush packaging. It contains a good 4g of product which is a pretty standard amount. The cream blush is packaged in a tube in a stick form, easily wound up and it closes very securely. This one contains 6.2g.

Colour-wise, they are both very pretty peachy-pinks. Desk to Date is pigmented (but not overly so), smooth, blendable and just has a really nice formula in general! It has a bit of gold shimmer but overall it gives off more of a satin finish and the shimmer is hardly detectable. It has a pretty good lasting power too!

Tickled Pink is slightly more metallic with a stronger golden sheen. This is a great colour for a blush-highlighter hybrid applied to the cheekbones. In terms of its formula, it is really nice! I haven't tried too many cream blushes but this is one is quite good. It is creamy, but a little bit stiff to apply straight to the cheeks. I prefer using my fingers to apply it to the face or a stippling brush. It is not sticky but still dewy, is not a cream-to-powder formula. I find you can also wear this on the lips but the metallic finish is a bit frosty on my skintone. I think this would be really great for popping in your bag and touching up! I didn't find this to be particularly long wearing though, okay as far as cream blushes go (hey that rhymed!).

Tickled Pink, Desk to Date

This was my first experience with Model's Prefer and I really enjoy these products! I really like the look of the Beauty Addict blush (a super pretty berry-purple with golden shimmer). The full size blushes contain 6g of product for $10, so you are getting a really good deal with this kit! They have a bunch of the Beauty to Go's with nail polish, lipsticks, etc. These are both great daily blushes and I'm sure I'll get heaps of use out of them (peachy-pinks are my weakness!).

What are your favourite Model's Prefer products?