Dancing Coral

Hello all! A bit of a coral lip centric post today! I have a couple of Australis lip products to share with you guys that are both super appropriate for the now Summer time!

The two products are both from the Colour Inject Mineral line; one being a lip gloss in the shade Bellydance and a lipstick in the shade Salsa. They have very cute dance-related shade names! The packaging is nicely matched between the products. They both come in cylindrical tubes that widen toward the top and have a slanted lid. It's very sleek and I like the classic Australis bright pink band around the middle. 

The lip gloss in Bellydance is a really nice, rather natural bright colour (little bit of an oxymoron?). It's a bit of a hard colour to describe - it's like a corally-peachy-pink with a bit of red thrown in. The formula itself is quite sheer but slightly buildable. You can achieve a very subtle hint of the colour (giving the natural effect) or build it up slightly to a pretty translucent, juicy pop of colour. The gloss is medium in thickness, non-sticky and nice and moisturising feeling on the lips. Lasting power is actually pretty good for a non-sticky gloss (4 hours max with light eating). Like I mentioned in my November favourites, this smells exactly like Lipton Peach Ice tea which I love!

The doe-foot applicator is quite different and one that I really like. I find traditional shaped applicators can have quite a small surface area that require a lot of dippings back and forth to get the right amount of product. This one is flat and long - still giving a precise application but holds more product on the wand.

Salsa is very similar in colour to Bellydance - a little less red and more peach. The shade looks unassuming in the tube but is actually very bright on the lips. I was very drawn to the colour when swatched, but for some reason it looks a little odd on my lips. I'm not sure, maybe it makes my teeth appear a tad more yellow, and just doesn't sit well with my complexion. This is when it is applied to its full opacity. I think it looks better applied sheerer and blended out a bit. It looks great when topped with Bellydance! The formula of these lipsticks though is lovely - very pigmented, creamy and slightly moisturising on the lips. Lasting power is decent on this. 

Bellydance, Salsa

I like both products quite a lot and the formulas are very, very nice. I would be interested in checking out other shades of the Mineral Lipsticks but I already have a ton of lipsticks in my collection! I would definitely recommend checking out both ranges from Australis! 

Have you tried either of these products?

Skincare Routine | Night

Hello all! The second part of my little skincare 'series' is up today and it is my nighttime skincare routine! I've reviewed most of the products I mention in full so hopefully the post won't be too rambly! This one is a little more involved than my morning routine so let's dive in!

First up for cleansing:

I really like using creamy cleansers at night to help remove the majority if not all of my makeup (other makeup removal products will be mentioned in my next skincare post!). These two are my most used. I remove both with a face cloth. 

Soap & Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser

I've already talked a bunch about this and done a full review so I will spare the nitty gritty! This is super nice and creamy and it melts away makeup! It leaves my skin feeling nice and soft and is a really great, basic cleanser.

Natural Instinct Cream Cleanser

I've also reviewed this here. I find this thicker and heavier than most typical cream cleansers, so I find it works very similarly to the Soap & Glory. It doesn't remove makeup as well and doesn't leave my skin as soft but it is still a really great cleanser!

Clarins Gentle Exfoliant

I do apologise that I still haven't done a review of this yet! Hopefully with a bit more testing I will do a post! I use this as a typical toner and it feels like one too. It is super gentle but I definitely feel like it has helped the overall condition of my skin - including its brightness.

Garnier Dark Spot Corrector Night

I've done a review on this guy here and I'm still loving it! With the bevy of other dark spot, skintone evener outers I feel like my acne scarring is fading (slowly but surely) and the overall tone of my skin improving! This product, I think, is definitely a substantial factor!

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo

Again I've spoken soooo much about this product and done a review. Basically, it's one of my Holy Grail products, this is my second tube! I love this for helping clear blemishes and keeping them away.

Kosmea Skin Clinic Rose hip oil

Review here, love this rose hip oil! I find it helps hydrate my skin immensely and is in general a great all rounder skincare product.

Soap & Glory Night in shining armour Cream

Great night cream that I've reviewed here! Not too thick (great for nighttime use) but very moisturising. Nice and basic!

Trilogy Eye contour cream

This is a nice eye cream that is relatively thin in texture and sinks into the skin well. I find it mediumly moisturising and after late nights, I don't wake up with my usual puffy eyes - so that's a plus! I could see it being effective for both day and night use as it's not too rich.

Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment

Again, reviewed here. Not the hugest fan of this but I'm using it up. I don't find it particularly amazing at clearing acne but it's better than using nothing!

Not too many steps to my nighttime routine...but probably more than your average sixteen-year-old. 

What do you guys love using at night?

Monthly Favourites | November 2013

Can you believe it!? We're at the end of the year and are knee deep in the holiday season! By the time this post goes up I'll be in my last Chemistry exam for the year, and have one more exam after - then I'm done for grade eleven! :O Pretty shocked and I am NOT ready for grade twelve, aaaaaaaahh. Anyways onto da faves. I don't have too many this month as I've been using mostly the same things as always (featured in previous favourites posts) and I didn't want to mention things again.

I've been really enjoying using the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening toner which I will have a review up for after ample testing time. This is really nice and has filled the gap in my routine for a chemical exfoliator (though I am also using the Garnier Dark Spot Night serum, which could be counted as one). It's very gentle and feels like any other toner, no stinging or tight, dry skin after use. So far, I fell like my skin's appearance is brighter and a little more even, but only time and continual use will tell!

Olive oil has been featured on quite a few Beauty bloggers and vlogger blogs and channels. I recently ran out of my waterproof eye makeup remover without a replacement waiting in the wings. I wasn't able to buy another so I decided to try out some Extra Virgin Olive oil which is known to be rather effective as a makeup remover. I have to say, I really like it! It removes waterproof mascara really well, gently and my lids and lashes feel nourished after. It is quite oily (that's a given) but I wash my face immediately after so it doesn't bother me. I've put mine in an old Rosehip oil bottle so it's easy to use too!

A new addition to my concealer collection is the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in the Brightening shade. I really don't have any brightening concealers as I've not really had the need for them. I don't have terribly bad dark circles at all, however I've had quite little sleep lately staying up and studying so I've noticed circles appearing. That and one of my friends said I looked like I'd been punched in the eye :P ...(thanks Tam !) Anyway! This concealer is very light and pink toned so it's very brightening - especially on my medium, yellow-toned skin. I tend to use it under my base so it's not too stark, but I've been enjoying it! There's no creasing and it is a nice thin, slippy texture that doesn't cake up.

My most used blush is still probably my The Balm Instain one, but a close runner-up this month is the Napoleon Perdis Cream Blush from the Instyle magazine freebie. It's a lovely natural pink that looks nice and dewy on the skin. It also applies fine over powder, though I usually top it off with translucent powder to try and make it last longer. I typically find that cream blushes aren't typically long lasting on me, but I still really like them!

I received this Essence Sun Club shimmer Bronzer in the shade Sunkissed (for Blondes) in a giveaway pack I won (thanks Sarah!). I was going to give it away as it was too light for my skin (as a bronzer) but I thought I'd give it a go as a subtle, natural highlighter as it is pretty close in colour to my skin colour. It then dawned on me that I could use this in a similar way to something like an Hourglass Ambient lighting powder - as a light finishing powder. The shimmer is quite fine and is really more of a sheen than anything, so it's totally suitable all over. I have been dusting this lightly mainly over the typical highlighting spots, and blending it all over the face. It offers a really nice soft focus glow to the skin, and makes me look slightly glowy - and overall I think it just makes my skin look better! I don't think I ever would have bought this on my own, so I am very happy I got to try it and get a taste of what an Hourglass Ambient lighting powder might look like (I wish!!!). It is definitely a good shade for those of fairer skin - it's very natural, rather light and not orangey at all!

Last up for lips is the Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lip Gloss in Bellydance which I won from Candice's giveaway (thanks hun!). I've actually been reaching for this on the daily. It's a lovely pinky-reddy-coral that is quite sheer. I apply it very lightly to give the subtlest hint of coral to my lips, but the colour can be built up to be a bit more noticeable (but no real opacity). It's not too sticky (has a thickness but not sticky) and very comfy on the lips. It also smells EXACTLY like Lipton Peach Ice Tea - love! A full review of this will be coming up soon!

Dark Circle Eraser in Brightening, Shimmer bronzer in Sunkissed, Cream Blush

A movie favourite this month too! I saw Catching Fire last Friday and by God was it GOOD! It was pretty dang perfect if I must say so. They stuck extremely close to the book which is EXACTLY what I want to see in a book-to-movie production. The new director was great - no shaky camera business that makes me feel motion sick :D. The casting was awesome, I LOVED Sam Claflin as Finnick and Jena Malone as Johanna! I just, the feeeeeeels were all there and it was amazing! I'm very excited for Mockingjay pt 1! This video pretty much sums up all my feels about the movie. I also saw Thor: The Dark World at the beginning of the month, and we all knew I would love that one. Please, it has Tom Hiddleston in it - love me some Sassy Loki. It was amazing too (maybe even my fave Marvel movie :o I dunno, but very close to the Avengers), lots of unexpected twists that had me SCREECHING in the cinema - a must watch!

Anyways, what were your favourites? Have you seen Catching Fire yet? If not, DO SO ASAP!

NOTD | Sweet Coral

Time for my monthly NOTD! Have you noticed I've done them monthly? Haha, anyway, today's NOTD features a Witchery polish in the shade Sweet Coral. This shade is currently available and is perfect for the Spring and upcoming Summer weather!

Sweet Coral is a very vibrant, neon orange-y, peach, coral colour. This is actually my first neon polish! It is so bright that it practically glows in the dark, and is borderline blinding in the sun, haha - I love it though! I think it would make for an amazing pedicure shade and in general is perfect for the summertime. I love this particular colour too and I think it's quite trendy. I've seen a lot of clothes, accessories, etc in this colour.

Being a neon, I was actually expecting a nightmare of a formula. Suprisingly though, it was very easy to work with! It was a tad streaky on the first coat, but everything was evened out with a second. It is nicely opaque and looks nice and smooth on the nail! I have topped it with a topcoat (Revlon Colorstay) as it dried to a semi-matte finish (typical for neon polishes). 

Also this wore super well, keeping in mind it had the Revlon topcoat which works extremely well. I wore it camping (yeah way back then) and after the whole week of setting up tents and other camping, bush and beach activities it hadn't chipped horribly! It was passable actually haha, but the beauty obsessor in me couldn't wait to change it.

I'll definitely be pulling this out again to wear during the Summer!

What are your favourite neon nail polishes?

Skincare Routine | Morning

Hello all! Today's post will be the first in my skincare routine 'series'. There will be three; my morning routine, night routine and extra products I often use. In this post I'll be sharing the skincare products I use every morning!

Starting out with cleansers:

Clearasil Daily Clear Vitamins & Extracts Daily Wash

Lately, this cleanser has been my pick for morning time cleansing. It is a nice light, creamy texture that smells divine! I find it very gentle, and if I have any eye makeup that has appeared after sleep, I can remove it with this. It doesn't dry out my skin at all and in fact feels moisturising. My skin feels clean and refreshed! I also think that is does help somewhat with acne, my skin has been quite well behaved since using this consistently. It also functions as a mask, but I don't find it too effective in that regard.

Some other cleansers I like using in the morning are:

Clarins Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs

This is a really light, liquidy milk that is very gentle and can also be used around the eyes. In the mornings I look for very light cleansers as there isn't much dirt or makeup that needs to be removed, just the previous night's skincare and any yuckies that have accumulated overnight. This work really well!

Natural Instinct Foaming Cleanser (Full review)

When I feel like my skin is a bit oilier, I use this cleanser as it is foaming. It doesn't dry out my skin at all but it helps if my skin is feeling particularly oily. Like the others, it is light, refreshing and gentle around the eyes.

Toner time! I have full reviews of both of these toners which will be linked so I won't talk too much about them.

Natural Instinct Clarifying Toner (Full review)

This is my preferred of the two, but I'm running out of it! I'll probably repurchase it once I get the chance. I find this tones and refreshes the skin well, and doesn't leave the skin feeling dry or tight at all.

T.N. Dickinson's Witch hazel toner (Full review)

This one does contain alcohol so I do find my skin is left on the dry side, not tight or uncomfortable, but it is dry. It is an effective toner and I will continue to use it, but won't be repurchasing.

Indeed Labs Hydraluron

This is a hydrating serum that has gotten so much hype and good grace throughout the beauty community, particularly from Caroline Hirons ie. skincare goddess. To be completely honest, I'm not really sure I notice any difference in my skin when I use this, possibly my skin feels a little softer and slightly more hydrated, but nothing substantial. My skin is combination, oily in the t-zone and normal everywhere else. Maybe it's not really suited for my skin type, and I guess I was expecting miracles from this product.

Garnier Dark Spot Corrector Daily Illuminating Moisturiser (Full review)

I love this moisturiser, and this is my second tube. I find this helps brighten my face, even out my skintone and help fade acne scars. I have been using this for a long time (since the beginning of the year) and I can't really say that it totally makes my scars disappear, but it helps a lot. It's a nice moisturiser for day time too. It's lightweight and doesn't make my skin oily.

Lush Grease Lightning (Full review)

I don't hate this product nor do I love it. I find it works decently but not amazingly. I'm using it to finish it but won't repurchase. If you have spot treatment recommendations, let me know!

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Suncreen

This is my second mini sample tube. I actually got my mum to get the gift too haha so I've been scraping out every last drop. I really like this sunscreen and it's not greasy or thick like others can be. I would purchase the full size, but I'm going to Hong Kong later this month and would prefer to try out some Asian SPFs which seem awesome! This one is definitely my favourite that I've tried so far though.

I hope you guys liked my first installment of my skincare 'series'. The others will be up soon!

What are your favourite products for the morning?