My Summer Essentials

It took a minute, but summer is well and truly in full swing in Brisbane! The sun be swelterin' and the sweat be drippin'. I figured now was a good a time as any to share some of my essential products for combatting the hot weather (or rather making it more bearable!). 

Empties #12

I don't know how I didn't realise it, but my empties bin has been piling up rapidly! An empties post was long overdue and I have a lot of products to go through that I've finished in the past four months or so. Feels good to get rid of all this clutter! I'm pretty sure I've talked about most of these products on the blog before, so I'll link relevant reviews where applicable! I'll try to make it snappy as I've got so much to go through! If you have any questions on any specific products, hit me up in the comments ;)

Empties #9

It hasn't been that long since my last empties, but wow - I've been on a roll! Either a bunch of products just decided to finish simultaneously or I've actually been using them (what a shocker). But yes, I'm trying to (sort of) make more of a conscious effort to finish products! These empties posts always end up being super long and rambly, so imma try and keep it short (ish) as we have a lot to get through!

The Long Night is coming, and the dead (skin) come with it

Gotta love a good ol' Game of Thrones related title eh?!? I was tempted to do 'Winter is Coming' but gosh darn that is so cliche, so I went with a quote from Jon Snow (... :'( ) in the latest season. ANYWAY, it is currently Winter in Australia, and as I type this up, I'm huddled in my onesie next to the warm coals of a dwindling fire (dat imagery). I wanted to do a post about products I love when the weather gets colder to help combat dry skin and other wintery blues, so here it is!

Empties #6

It's that time again! The rare, but fairly regular occurrence of an empties post. I seem to have had an influx of empty cleansers and skincare in general (all the more reason to buy more hey? ;) ) and it was about time I rounded it all up and shared my thoughts on all the products I've finished!

Collective Haul // MAKIN' IT RAIN

...or at least I think I am. Now that I have a job and a wee bit of spare monies in my pocket, I seem to be spending it all up! Especially that I work at Priceline, I seem to buy something every time I work... (okay, an exaggeration but my 25% off discount is SO DANGEROUS). In my defense, this is very collective and stretches back to boxing day sales, and also, a lot of it was on sale/I only paid full price for a couple of things! There are a few things that I've bought but haven't hauled which I've featured here and here. Keep reading to see what I blew all my cash on... (it's a pretty long-ass post).

The Best of 2014 // Skin & Hair

Happy new year peeps! I hope y'all had an amazing NYE. I had a rather uneventful night, though we had a barbecue with family friends which was quite fun and food-filled! I'm sure yours was much more adventurous ;) Well, today is my first "Best of 2014" post for you all, featuring my most loved skincare and haircare products from the year! I will have my makeup one up next week (probably) :).

Disappointing Products #1

Over my time as a beauty blogger, I've found plenty of products that I love and enjoy using, but I've also stumbled across some that I don't like as much. These are pretty scarce occurrences as I generally read a lot of reviews on any particular product I want to buy, or have heard in general whether a product is good or not. However, sometimes I buy into the hype and said products disappoint me, in other cases they didn't live up to my expectations or just simply didn't work out. This post has probably been long overdue and I actually had so many products I had to split it into two posts! Another will be coming soon and it actually features all lip products.

Sanctuary Spa Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser

This isn't a terrible cleanser, and I do intend on finishing it - it cleans my skin effectively but just isn't as thick or creamy as I'd like it to be. It doesn't leave my skin feeling soft or moisturised, if anything slightly dry and craving the rest of my skincare. It's definitely nothing special and I wouldn't recommend it sadly.

Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Pre Foundation Skin Primer

One of the first primers I ever used, and I really actually don't notice this doing anything to be honest. I don't find it to smooth or improve my skin's texture, nor prolong the wear of my foundation considerably. If anything it's more of a moisturising primer, but that's why I use a moisturiser! Not worth the money in my opinion. Face of Australia makes a primer with practically the same ingredients if you're interested!

Indeed Labs Hydraluron

This has been hyped up beyond belief! I'm one of the minority who doesn't like this very much because it's an essential for a lot of people. I don't think it lived up to the hype because I really don't notice it doing anything significant for my skin. It doesn't necessarily make my skin feel good when I apply it, and when moisturiser goes over the top, it honestly doesn't feel like it's done anything. Perhaps it has helped the moisturisation of my skin, but not significantly. I just don't think I have the right skin type for this! If you have dry or dehydrated skin, perhaps it would make more of an impact.

Lush Grease Lightning

I've expressed in my review my indepth thoughts on this. I don't really think it's that effective. It is of course better than using nothing but it's just very gentle and not very potent. Also the packaging is a bit annoying, the pump is very hard to press and dispenses way too much product, mine broke anyways!

Stila Under the Mistletoe palette

This was a limited edition anyways, so I don't think you can buy it anymore. I was just very disappointed in the formulas of the eyeshadows (I do like the convertible colour included). I found them very sheer and not very long-lasting, even with a good primer. Very different from all the praise I've heard about Stila eye shadows!

Benefit Cha Cha tint and High Beam

On the whole, I was pretty disappointed in this kit to be honest (bar the lip gloss). My issue with these two very hyped and well loved liquid products is that they're so difficult to apply and blend! You definitely can't just stripe it onto the cheeks because the initial strokes will still be visible. I find Cha Cha tint actually not that long lasting, a bit drying on the lips and overall a hassle to apply. The colour is so pretty though! Besides application issues, High Beam is a bit too silvery-pink for my very yellow skintone, therefore coming off a bit ashy. I know a lot of people love these products so I was shocked when they just didn't live up to my expectations!

Benefit Coralista Boxed Powder

Well, my expectations were very high for this blush, so many people love and swear by it as their favourite shimmery peachy-pink shade. It just didn't work out for me! I actually find it to be quite sheer and on the whole a bit light, therefore it barely shows up on my skin as a blush. I will say though that the shimmer is beautiful, it lends an uber pretty golden natural glow to the cheeks. If I want any hint of colour to show up, I have to build it up. I've been using this more so as a layering blush or subtle highlighter.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation

Okay now, this product I actually did really like at one point, it was one of my go to foundations! I've since realised that it perhaps isn't totally matched to my skin type. It gives a beautiful dewy, natural finish to my skin but just doesn't last. I get shiny quite quickly with it, and I find it breaks up a bit around my oily areas. My biggest gripe with it though is how easily it transfers, especially when I get shiny. If I touch my face, it comes straight off. Really not the nicest thing! Also the shade 53 is too pale for me so I really haven't been using it much anyways. It is a lovely foundation though, just one I think works better on drier skinned peeps!

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

A much loved drugstore mattifying powder that has never really performed as well as I'd like. I find myself getting shiny around 3 hours after application, which is basically like I hadn't applied powder at all. I also find that the Transparent shade isn't really transparent, and can often make me look a bit pale. Clearly I've used it having hit pan, but I've since reached for other powders over this one.

Phew! That was a long post, I hope I didn't anger anyone with a few of my more controversial products. A lot of these just didn't work out for me, most likely due to my skintype or skintone, or I just had unrealistic expectations for them!

Do you agree or disagree with any of my picks?

Polish me Clean

Hey guys! Today I have another skincare product from Sanctuary Spa to review. It is the Brightening Facial Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser and is from the same 'line' as the Brightening Exfoliator that I reviewed last month. I picked this up after reading decent reviews, and it being one of the few hot cloth cleansers on the drugstore market here. The only other hot cloth cleanser I've tried is the Fab Pore one from Soap & Glory which I did really enjoy, so we'll see how this one measured up.

Packaging wise, it comes in a standard white tube with  screw top lid. It's practical and minimalistic, I really like the silver on white writing.

If you're unaware of what a hot cloth cleanser is, it is essentially a thicker cream cleanser that you work into dry/damp skin and massage/wipe off with a hot, damp face cloth. The Sanctuary Spa cleanser comes with a Muslin cloth, but it's nothing special. I prefer to use a thicker face cloth. The texture of this particular cleanser is pretty similar to that of the Soap & Glory, creamy and thick, but not actually that dense. Once you spread and work it into the skin, it tends to thin out quite a bit, especially the wetter your skin is. It also does have a scent, I can't really pin point it but it's almost tea like? Slightly floral and herbally, but slightly spa-like at the same time. It's not overly offensive, but I'm not the hugest fan of it.

Because the cleanser tends to thin out, I don't find it that moisturising or especially effective at removing my makeup. I double cleanse with this to get all of my makeup off and that tends to be sufficient. It leaves my face feeling slightly dry, not tight, but definitely not as soft or moisturised as the Soap & Glory one did. To be honest, my face doesn't feel great after using this cleanser. You know the feeling, when you just can't wait to slap on a moisturiser. Yup, that. As for the "brightening" effect, I definitely don't notice that it does anything to brighten my skin in any way, or give me a 'glow' at all.

My skin has been in pretty good condition since using this cleanser for the past 5 ish months, but I'd more so attribute that to other skincare products I'm using. I don't believe this cleanser has done anything special for me, it's not terrible, I mean it cleanses my skin decently and I'll finish the tube, but I definitely won't be repurchasing. I've definitely become accustomed to cleansers that leave my skin feeling soft, at the very least, and in the case of Lush's Ultrabland, super moisturised.

The Sanctuary Spa Brightening Facial Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser retails for AUD$19.95 at Priceline.

Spa Perfect Scrubbin'

I am quite big on the whole exfoliating front, whether it be chemical or manual. I have a lot of dark spots, and acne scars (as well as acne and a rather uneven skin surface) and exfoliation definitely helps in that department. It helps unclog pores, as well as sloughing away dead skin to reveal smoother and brighter skin. The sole scrubby scrub I've been using for the past few months has been the Sanctuary Spa Brightening Facial Radiance Exfoliator and it's time to share my thoughts on it!

The packaging of this scrub is nice and practical - a slim plastic tube with a green flip-top lid. I actually also really like their branding/titling of the product, how it is clean and minimalistic.

What drew me in straight away to this scrub was it's name - Brightening Facial Radiance Exfoliator. A lot of scrubs are marketed towards pore-unclogging and acne-prone skin so this was a nice change in claims. Another incentive that I found with this product was that along with "Ultra-fine apricot granules and grape seed" that help exfoliate and refine the skin, there is a "trio of pumpkin, pineapple and papaya extracts [that] work naturally to help increase cell renewal", sort of like a chemical exfoliant. The citrus-y components give the scrub a very nice light, slight citrus-y refreshing scent that I quite enjoy. They say it's been "naturally fragranced with plant extracts and essential oils" but it could be a trigger for those of you with particularly sensitive skin. 

The actual scrub has quite a gel-y base but one that doesn't foam up at all, but sort of just acts as a slippy base to carry the granules. I wouldn't say that the granules are "ultra-fine" but actually quite gritty, which you can see in the photo above. They aren't scratchy or 'sharp' but they can be quite rough. They say you can use it 2-3 times a week which I would agree with, but I wouldn't suggest any more than that. That also, of course, depends on how vigorously you are scrubbing. I tend to just go around the face with slightly more than a pea size, in circular motions for about thirty seconds or so. I then like to leave it on my face while I wash my body just so I can give the fruit extracts an opportunity to do some exfoliating. After rinsing, my face feels quite soft but also a tad dry. It also looks a little red but that is to be expected with the combination of friction and warm water. My skin isn't irritated or aggravated afterward at all.

This has been a lovely scrub that I've been using 1-2 times a week. The results I've seen haven't been drastic but I do think that a manual scrub is essential, and I like this as I know it's doing more than just ridding my skin of dead cells. My skin is softer and I will admit slightly more radiant-looking after use, and with consistent and prolonged use, I think it will help with the fading of scars. Overall my skin has been in pretty good condition since starting using this, and a scrub I will continue using, and update progress later or in an empties post! It retails for AUD$19.99 at Priceline.

Monthly Favourites // February 2014

The shortest month of the year is near its end, and so comes the Autumn season! I'm not sure if I'm that excited for the cooler months, but since it has been SO bloody hot here, I'm definitely ready for a break. I'm here to bring you my collection of favourite products for the month. I don't have very many, but I do have some new products and some rediscovered.

Sanctuary Spa Brightening Facial Radiance Exfoliator

My scrub of choice for the month. I've been using this 2-3 times a week and have been enjoying it. I'd say it's medium on the scale of abrasive-ness, it's composed of a gel base and scrubby granules as well as fruit extracts to help chemically exfoliate. The granules aren't very dense though, so I find myself using more product than usual (maybe 1.5 peas?). My skin feels very soft after use though, in terms of brightening, I'm yet to see significant result.

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara

For the days I've been wearing mascara it was most often this one. I really like that the brush is thin(ish) but still very bristly and grabs all the lashes. It lengthens, defines and thickens the lashes, looking very natural and without clumping. It says with "fibres" but I actually don't notice that it contains any.

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in the shade Medium

I've been thoroughly enjoying this concealer lately. It's much quicker and more convenient that having to dip from a pan. The shade is a good match, it has a good coverage (not totally full though) and works well for both under the eyes and around the face, without accentuating dry patches.

Topshop Head over Heels, theBalm Frat Boy

Topshop Cream Blush in Head over Heels and theBalm Powder blush in Frat Boy

I've been on a serious peachy-pink blush kick this month (aren't I always though?) and I pretty much wore these two exclusively. Before this month, I hadn't worn HOH for so long mainly because I never really knew the best way to apply it. I've since found the best brush to apply this cream-to-powder with (which I will talk about next). I also wasn't wearing Frat Boy nearly as much as I should have been as it's in a palette which I keep in my eye drawer and always forget about when it comes to applying blush. I made a point of putting the palette on top of my daily makeup storage after seeing it in so many b/vloggers favourites and have worn it so much since. It actually pulls a lot more peach when applied to my face, it's also very long lasting!

Real Techniques Multi-Task Brush

I recently made a few purchases off of iHerb (my sister was making an order) and picked up a few of the RT things I've been wanting. This is in the Travel Essentials kit and what I've been using to apply the Topshop blush as well as my face powder. Lily Pebbles recently described it as being a mix between the Blush brush and the Buffing brush, and I couldn't agree more! It is still fluffy, but is also a bit more dense than the blush brush. It's density picks up the product really well, but it's fluffiness blends it out effortlessly. I don't use this for more pigmented blushes though as I think it's probably a bit too dense.

Australis Fresh & Flawless Pressed Powder in the shade Darkest Brown

A long time fave right here and one that I've been reaching for pretty much everyday this month. It's perfect for topping off BB creams or sheerer coverage foundations. It sets and mattifies with a natural matte finish and adds a tad more coverage. It's a very soft, and creamy powder that never looks cakey or powdery on the skin.

Chvrches The Bones of What you Believe

Lastly I have a music favourite! I've been listening to this album pretty much on repeat for the month. A band I discovered through the Triple J Hottest Hundred (which I've also been loving listening to) and one that I pretty much fell in love with immediately! I love their style of synthpop and their songs are seriously awesome. Not a single one on the album I don't like. It's been making studying a lot less dreary!

Collective Haul // January 2014

Hallo people! Today I have quite the large haul to share which I've accumulated throughout January and also the end of December. The after Christmas period is the best for sales, and y'all know I love a good sale. It's a long'un...

Of course I had to pick up a few nail polishes...

Essie Marshmallow 

I found this in the clearance bin at my local Myer for only $5! This is actually a shade that I've wanted for a while - a white jelly that would work really well in combination with a lot of different glitters for a jelly sandwich. They also had a few other shades but I decided I didn't need them :P

Sportsgirl Pink and Space Jam

These were both on clearance and came down to about $2 and $3 respectively. I've already done a NOTD with Pink here. 

Ulta3 Stop the Press

This is from Ulta 3's glitterati collection from July last year and I only happened across this polish at the end of December. This was the only one I wanted from the collection so I'm super glad I found it! It's a mix of black and white matte glitters which are starting to filter down finally into mainstream brands!

Skincare stuff...

Trilogy Rosapene Day & Night Collection (Limited Edition)

I found this in my Priceline for half price which brought it down to $18. Considering the Rosehip oil alone retails for something like $30, I thought this was an excellent deal! I'm also nearing the end of my Kosmea Rosehip Oil so I'm excited to try the Antioxidant +!

Sanctuary Spa Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser

I actually bought this full price :( ($20) haha, but I realised I was in desperate need of a new cleanser. I haven't heard an awful lot about this one (some good, some bad) but - please correct me if I'm wrong - it seems to be the only Hot Cloth Cleanser available in a drugstore setting. I didn't feel like ordering online again and I do like trying new products!

Sanctuary Spa Radiance Exfoliator

I purchased this in the Priceline 40% off skincare sale so it came down to $12. I haven't tried many face scrubs and none aimed specifically at radiance, so I decided to pick this up.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo

Again purchased in the 40% off sale. This is my third tube so that should speak for itself!

On to the makeup!

Stila Under the Mistletoe palette

I've already reviewed this here and if you've read it you'll know I'm not too impressed with this palette. It was only $12 so I'm not too sad but I was caught up in a whirlwind of wanting to try some Stila products!

Maybelline Fit Me concealer in shade Medium

I'm running semi-low on my concealer (I've hit considerable pan) so I thought I'd pick this concealer up. I've heard some pretty darn good things about it and it seems like everybody owns it! I payed full price ($15) for it which I'm pretty annoyed about as Maybelline goes on sale all the time but oh wells.

Benefit Go Tropi-coral Lip and Cheek kit

If you remember my wishlist, my friend bought this for me from America (thank you Yasmin!). It was about USD$30 (with tax) and actually, considering the dollar rate is actually pretty bad, I don't think I saved that much. It retails here in Australia for $40 so I probs could have bought it here but regardless I'm super happy to have it!

NYX Powder Blush in Terra Cotta

I was really excited to hear that NYX was rolling out into Targets around Aus but sadly my local Target isn't stocking it! I find that really annoying as it's pretty much a brand new Target...grrr. So anyways, I only managed to get to a stand recently. I bought this as I've heard about its similarities to NARS Lustre and also it's just a gorgeous shade! It retails for $9.95 which isn't too horrific.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12hr blush in Exposed

Another item Yas picked up for me. I had my heart set on either the Tarte blush palette from the holiday collection or the Stila convertible colour palette, but both were sold out. This guy was my next preference because I knew I had to try something from Tarte considering they are extremely hard to get a hold of in Aus. These blushes are raved about by anyone who has ever used them and Exposed is a popular shade that is different to my typical peachy-pinks!

Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch in Shimmering Sand

I've seen this floating around in the clearance bin for a few months now, but finally picked it up upon seeing the $2 sticker on it. It actually rang up to a mere $1 at the till so even better! It's quite a moussey-liquid texture that is slightly glittery but overall a nice warm golden-tan shade.

Illamasqua Concealer in CC 325

I saw this at the Illamasqua counter in the sale section (which by the way had some amazing products for really good prices!) for only $6 so I decided to grab it. It's a deep brown shade that I thought I would use for cream contouring. So far, so very good, but I'll save the deets for a review!

Face of Australia Glossy Lip Crayon in Berry Brulee

After seeing a few swatches, I knew I wanted to pick up this shade from the limited edition collection of lip crayons. They retail for only $5 and Berry Brulee is a gorgeous wearable berry-purple. The formula is amazing too!

Revlon Living Lipstick in Blase Apricot

I saw - what I assume - was the whole line being clearanced at Myer for $6 a piece. I initially dismissed them on account of their old lady looking packaging, but this shade caught my eye. It's a really pretty pinky-peach with a lovely soft, creamy and pigmented formula.

Clarins Rouge Hydra Nude in Nude Caramel

I stumbled across this at Terry White for only $10. It has a formula akin to the Revlon Lip butters or L'oreal Nutri shine lipsticks. The shade is a peachy-brown nude that comes out slightly lighter that it appears in the tube.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Antwerp

Of course I had to buy this. I've heard a ton about these and this shade in particular. I'll save it all for a review! It retails for $12.95 which I thought was a bit steep...but girls gotta do...

I'm also very happy to have a Sephora bag. Teeheee :D

Non-beauty stuff!

Kikki.K Fun for Everyday set

This was reduced to $11 which is AWESOME for Kikki.K stuff! It's from the Christmas sets but the stuff inside is absolutely adorable. Inside is a notebook, cards and envelopes, two pens and two magnetic bookmarks.

Kikki.K Celebrate Today Iphone Case

If you sign up to be a Kikki.K member, you get a $10 voucher on your initial sign up and on your birthday. There's no minimum spend, only that they have to be full price. This case came down to $2.95 and I love the pastel, simple pattern. It also came with a screen protector which I was in dire need of haha.

Dusk Tropical Summer Mood Reed and Candle set

This set from Christmas was marked down to $12. I love the scent a lot. It's a fresh and crisp, slightly fruity but also sexy scent that is perfect for summer.

Phew! That was a long post! Props to you if you actually read it all! I'm planning on going on a spending ban as I'm really content with my collection right now, and I really don't desperately want anything (shocker) for now. I'm also starting to save up for a possible trip to New Zealand at the end of the year (fingers crossed!). It shouldn't be hard to stick to the ban as I'll be back at school anyway, leaving little time for shopping!