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xxxBeautyScholar
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xxxBeautyScholar
Ok, so maybe a cucumber sandwich isn't the best example. But how about a little tube of eye colour in a funky colour? I saw these the other day and I have to say, they're pretty adorable.
They come in eight different shades, the pic up top has them all (from left to right) Bronze Briony (1), Magic Mist (2), Midas Touch (3), Electric Feel (4), Violet Delight (5), Pink Maddison (6), Tinkerbell (7) and Snow White (8). I swatched them all for you guys and it wasn't easy to get eight shades on my one little hand!
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| Colours pictured (from top to bottom) 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, 8, 7 and 3. By far my favourite was Electric Feel (4), In the tube it looks bright blue, but as you can see in the swatch it is this awesome turquoise. A really beautiful shade. You can also tell from the swatch pic that these go on a little sheerer than the colour you see in the tube, so I'd recommend you test them out in the store first to see which one you like best. Strangely enough I also found that the different colours had slightly different textures in the formulas, some were runnier than others. Of course the runnier the formula the weaker the colour pay off, so keep that in mind when choosing a shade. Now, the best part about these little babies, besides their cuteness of course, is the price. They're $7.95 at all the usual places but Priceline is running a promo and selling them for $4.48! Yup, not much more than a large coffee will cost you in the morning. But if you like them, be warned, they are only a limited edition range. They should be on sale for a couple more months yet, but I don't know how long the cheaper price tag will last at Priceline. Tell me beauties do you like things in mini packages like this? What about cream eye shadows? Yay or nay? xxxBeautyScholar |
I was randomly swatching lipsticks at Priceline one day and I came across the Colour Show Off Lipstick by Rimmel London. Zooey Deschanel's beautiful face on the Rimmel stand helped to draw me in, don't you just love her? She has the quirkiest, prettiest style.
So on the Rimmel stand were these beautiful shiny pink and gold packaged lippies, winking at me and whispering 'try me! try me!' Could you resist something as pretty as this? (love the little crown on top too!)
I've written about one of these lipsticks before in my post on dupes for MAC Impassioned, check out that post here. The colour I posted about before was Pink Fame, but today I want to introduce you to 'Tell No One'... oops, I'm telling everyone!
Here is a swatch:
You can get them from supermarkets, pharmacies and the usuals like Priceline and K-Mart. If you're having any trouble finding them call 1800 812 663.
How do you feel about wearing coral lipstick in the Winter time beauties? Have you tried any nice ones, I'm always on the look out for more favourites!
xxxBeautyScholar.
I know I do. Foundation obviously, but sometimes I vary my coverage and go for a lighter tinted moisturiser to give my skin a break.
No matter what though, I find that finishing with a dust of translucent powder is a must for that nice matte look.
I think I've found a gem in the Australis Ready, Set, Go! Finishing Powder in true translucent. It's made up of mostly silica, no talc, so it doesn't have any kind of drying properties on your skin.
Now I do want to quickly sideline here and address the issue of Silica. There have been rumblings in the beauty world about the use of Silica in products and the possibility that breathing in this stuff can have nasty health effects. (This debate was specifically focused around the brand Coastal Scents). I did look in to this at length when this controversy was going on, and from what I have researched the type of Silica that is dangerous is Crystalline Silica, an ingredient not used in cosmetic products. Silica and Hydrated Silica (which means it is blended with water molecules) are used in cosmetics but they are very different to their crystalline counterparts.
From cosmeticsinfo.org -
"The Silica used in cosmetics and personal care products is in the amorphous form. This means that there is no clear order to the arrangement of the atoms, unlike crystalline silica, which has a clear order to the arrangement of the atoms"
Sorry to bore you with scientific facts, but I wouldn't want any confusion or red lights going off when you saw that the main ingredient in this harmless little powder is silica!
Now back to the product at hand, the Australis Ready Set Go finishing powder is super fine too, and it blends into fine lines and acts to slightly smooth them out (hiding pores too!) rather than caking around any blemish like thicker powders can. This is not a super product though, it won't completely hide any indentations or lines on your face, but it does help.
I used to wonder about why someone would use a translucent powder, why not finish with an actual powder compact that has colour pigments?
Well, when you're using a foundation/bronzer/blush or if you're having a go at highlighting and contouring, adding a pigmented finishing powder can be a useless exercise.
And for $12.95 you can use this stuff every day and not worry about it burning a hole in your pocket. By far the best benefits of this powder is the smoothness and softness it gives to your skin. If you run your finger across your skin after application (which I know we probably shouldn't because every tip in the beauty book says not to touch your face too much!) it really feels like satin, and that feeling seems to last, combatting any oily moments during the day. No need to "powder your nose" with this stuff in your lunch break!
The Ready Set Go finishing powder looks like this with its super cute pink and black packaging, because I know you are ALL suckers for packaging (like me):
When I first bought this I was applying it with a brush, but because it is so so fine and soft it just wasn't working so well. Thanks to the twitterverse, Australis suggested I try applying it with a sponge, and I think that truly is the best way to apply it.
I use the base of my manicare precision blending sponge (if you haven't tried one of these, you really should, they are awesome, it's the little purple gadget pictured) which is basically a cheaper copy of the BeautyBlender which you've probably heard raves about online. The only difference I can garner with between the Manicare sponge (RRP $7.95) and the BeautyBlender is the fact that the BeautyBlender is best used wet, and expands when it takes in water. The manicare sponge doesn't do that, and I find it really isn't very efficient when it is damp. So there you have it, a handy little product to have in your beauty booty. Tell me, have you tried this powder? What about the blending tool from manicare?
If you're looking for Australis stuff and can't find it, give them a buzz on 1300 650 981, for Manicare, call 1800 651 146.
xxxBeautyScholar
So my latest obsession, which I was strong enough, (and broke enough!) to pass up today was the L'Oreal Base Magique face primer. Which looks like this:
Generally I don't wear primer, but this seems like it might win me over!
It claims to fill in fine lines and imperfections, and create a nice base which can be worn under foundation, or alone.
This is what L'Oreal says:
"L’Oreal Paris Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer is a moisturiser designed to hydrate and protect skin as well as work as primer used to mask wrinkles and uneven textures in the skin before applying foundation. The formula erases fine lines and pores, and contains soft powders to help absorb sebum and mattify skin to reduce shine. Silicon oil enables easy glide-on application with no greasy residue for longer-lasting make-up."
Sounds pretty good huh? It felt absolutely amazing on my skin in the store when I tested it on my hand, and it gave a lovely smooth matte finish. It sort of reminded me how my skin feels after I've applied a translucent finishing powder which probably has something to do with the silicon ingredient (translucent powders often contain silica).
Texture wise it is something of a cross between a paste and a gel, nice and thick, I don't think you'd need to use much. I think it would be perfect for concealing little crow's feet wrinkles, pores and under eye blemishes before makeup. I'd be interested to try it out and see if it really made a difference to the wear of your foundation though.
BUT...while I covet thee, I am going to try and be strong. This product isn't really too expensive at $29.95, but I'm really trying to be frugal and save my pennies for a trip to the USA in a few months. If any of you lovely beauties want to rush out and buy it, feel free, I'd love to live vicariously through you! L'Oreal Base Magique is available at pharmacies, department stores and variety stores like K-Mart and Big-W (basically everywhere!).
Do you have a favourite primer or have you tried this one?
Have a great week beauties!
xxxBeautyScholar
If you have an aversion to slightly soppy country pop, click away now! :)
The first time I heard this I thought it was so lovely, and so did my mum!
It's all about a daughter meeting the love of her life and telling her Mama she is going to be ok :)
Hope you guys like it!
Happy Mother's Day for tomorrow!
xxxBeautyScholar
I think it's a fun way to add a pop of colour into your outfit, and I LOVE Australis polishes! I just had to highlight it in a nail of the day (NOTD) post.
The colours are so bright and so opaque, I'm actually preferring them lately to my higher end polishes. Australis says that their polishes have a 'self levelling formula' and I can really see this when I apply them, there are never any streaks and the colour is really intense and long wearing.
Please excuse the cheesy Starbucks product placement, but I thought the colour would show up better with the white mug behind it!
Here are some more quick shots of Blue Tiger:
I picked up my Australis polish at K-Mart for only $7.75, but they retail officially for $7.95 and are available at Big W, K-Mart, Priceline and some pharmacies.
If you have trouble finding them you can always call the Australis stockist number (1300 650 981).
Here are some of the other colours they come in,
there are a total of 21 shades in the range:
I have the cute pink at the top of the picture (Bombshell), and I've been wearing it on my toes for the past week or so, it makes me happy every time I look at it! (it is pink after all).
I'm coveting the light green colour on the right (called Sweet Pea) but really, most of the shades in this line are totally fab. How cool is Australis lately? It's fast becoming one of my fave brands.
You can check out the polishes on the Australis website by clicking this link.
Happy Friday beauties!
xxxBeautyScholar
But sometimes a girl needs a colour for her lips that doesn't scream "look at me!" For instance, I teach, and I don't want my students focusing more on my lip colour than on what I have to say to them about poetry, so I'm always on the look out for a good MLBB shade. For those of you who haven't come across this term yet, this handy acronym stands for "My Lips But Better" : describing a shade of lip colour that is natural, but enhances your already present lip colour.
I recently bought some of the Maybelline Colour Sensational lipsticks. I know they've been out for ages, but I hate paying close to $20 for Maybelline, I always just keep thinking about how it's available elsewhere (the USA) for a quarter of the price. But I caved when Priceline was having a buy one get one free special on their Maybelline lip products a few weeks ago. Two for around $16.95 wasn't too bad.
Now I have to say, I was really impressed with the two I got. They were Totally Toffee, and Pink Petal. I really liked the look of another colour they had, Warm Me Up but they were out of stock at Priceline. After having the two for a week or so I headed to Big-W and picked up Warm Me Up as well, and I just had to swatch them and see what you guys thought. So here they are:
(from left) Totally Toffee, Warm Me Up and Pink Petal
Now for the swatches!
From top here we have Totally Toffee, Warm Me Up and Pink Petal.
In this shot pink petal looks almost corally, but it really is just a soft pink. They all have the lovely sheen you can see on the Warm Me Up swatch in this photo.
Here's Pink Petal on the lips:
...and Warm Me Up:
lastly, Totally Toffee.
I really love all of these shades, I find them to be totally wearable and well pigmented. The tint of the colour stays on your lips for a good few hours which is good for a lipstick that isn't sold as a colour stay. For 'drugstore' lipsticks I think these are fabulous, and I have to mention the wide variety of colours in this range. There are 44 shades in four categories, pinks, plums, naturals and reds. Click here to check out the shades on the Maybelline NY Australian site.
I should probably also mention that there is a newer version of this range that has just come out (the ones I've mentioned are still available though, the new range is just in addition to the originals). This is called the ColorSensational Pearls collection which apparently has the added benefit of 'Micronized Pearls' in it, whatever that means! I'm not a fan of this range though, it's mostly sheers, nudes and light lipsticks which I can never seem to pull off. You can check out the Pearl shades here.
I'm curious to know beauties, do you have a favourite MLBB shade? Which of the three colours I have do you like best?
xxxBeautyScholar
Sometimes I even manage to find the closest things to beauty products in the weirdest stores, I remember spending twenty minutes sniffing all the car air freshener scents in Super Cheap Auto once while my boyfriend looked on in horror. Who knows right? One of them could have been a CAR dupe for Marc Jacobs Daisy or something. What a blog post that would have been!
So anyway when I go to the supermarket I am hopeless. I always come home with something extra in my green shopping bags that wasn't on the list, hidden under the toilet paper and tea bags.
But every now and then one of these random purchases is really worth it. I usually keep these little splurges under the ten dollar mark, so it is a relatively harmless treat, and this week I picked up a super little product for only $3.89! It was the Nature's Care Paw Paw Balm.I have to admit a big part of the reason I spotted it in the corner of the top shelf (where they always hide the good bargains) was because it is in a totally adorable bright pink tube, and I love pink things, as I'm sure a lot of you beauties do. I thought 'what the heck' and threw it in my basket.
Now it was certainly one purchase I don't regret. Not only does this little baby smell divine (so sweet and fruity) the balm is super nice to use and totally multi-purpose, making it the perfect addition to your handbag or night stand.
Massive bonus too (given that can be used as a lip product) is the fact that it is ALL NATURAL! It's free from any of the nasty petrochemicals that you sometimes find in lip balms. It consists of lots of yummy natural things including shea butter, jojoba and macadamia nut oil, cocoa butter and mango seed butter, as well as paw paw of course!
I've been using it on my lips for a few days now and they are feeling really soft and moisturised. I've also been rubbing it into my hands at bedtime and savouring the truly fresh and delicious scent. It really is nice to have something in your beauty booty that smells like a tropical escape, you can close your eyes and just image you aren't approaching winter....Would I like an umbrella in my drink?.....sure... make it a pink one!
Back to reality now. The only downside is that this is only a 30g sized tube so the way I've been using it, it won't last long! However, this does mean that it's nice and compact and fits easily into your purse. A great tip for using it over larger areas is to put a bit into your palms and rub them together to warm the product, this makes it become more like a serum and it spreads a lot easier.
Nature's Care Paw Paw Balm retails for approx $4, and to my knowledge is available at Coles and Woolworths/Safeway supermarkets. Let me know if you try it beauties!
xxxBeautyScholar
After reading a lot of reviews online I decided to go with the L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss which retails for about $16 and looks like this:
I went with the shade called 'Mahogany' which isn't pictured here, but basically it was a dark brownish purply red, if that makes any sense! It was probably a little darker than what I should have gone, as my hair is a dark blonde/ light brown shade, but the box said it could be used on light brown hair, so I jumped in! So without further adieu, here was my hair before (It looks quite blonde but if you've seen my YouTube vids you will know it is more of a light brown):
And after application of the L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss in Mahogany, we have this!
What do you guys think? I was pretty happy with the result, but I think it is probably going to fade pretty fast! Maybe I might have to look into something more permanent!
As a product, the Creme Gloss was pretty easy to use, I liked that you mixed the colourant and creme in a tube instead of a bottle and then applied from that, it meant you could use all the dye and it was easy to squeeze out. No big spurts like you get when you apply too much pressure to dyes that come in bottle applicators. The royal jelly conditioner it came with was pretty nice, and my hair was a little dry afterward but not too bad (My hair is quite dry generally anyway). Be sure to post a comment and tell my what you think of my new do'! Thumbs up or thumbs down??
Hope you're having a great week beauties! :)
xxxBeautyScholar
I'm trying with all my might to save money as I'm heading to the USA in a few months (Sephora - whoo!) so the buying of higher end products has been stopped. Sadly, that means no M.A.C. So for the meantime I've been trying to find cheaper alternatives (even though I shouldn't really be buying these either!).
One lipstick I really love, but haven't purchased yet is M.A.C's Impassioned. You can see the colour on the lovely Lilit over at her blog Makeup and Macaroons (she totally rocks this colour!).
So I searched far and wide for a possible alternative. Close colours included Revlon's Luxurious Living Lipstick in Hot Coral, which is actually somewhere between Impassioned and MAC Vegas Volt.
Another similar colour comes from the Max Factor Colour Collections range and is called Bewitching Coral (#827). Check out a swatch of these colours here.
But finally, I found a (similar) dupe I was happy with. It is slightly pinker than Impassioned but I think that works well for my fairer complexion. What do you guys think, is it a close enough match?
The top colour is Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick in Pink Fame, the bottom is Impassioned.
For more possible Impassioned dupes, check out Ebrushka's blog here, though I'm not sure if the lippies she mentions are available in Australia yet.
Does anyone else know of some great dupes for M.A.C lipsticks? I'd love to hear about them!
Happy Monday beauties!
xxxBeautyScholar
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