What's in my makeup basket today? #1

Face
On my face today was a healthy dose of Origins Vitazing all over my face. Under my eyes, I used Bobbi Brown's Corrector in Peach, followed by L'Oreal Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer over the top. I also used this concealer around my nose, cupid's bow and on my chin. I set my face with Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, but only used this in the areas I get oily i.e., my T-zone. 

Brows
I used Maybelline Define-a-Brow in Dark Brown to fill in the end of my brows. 

Cheeks
I applied Topshop Acting Up blush stick on my cheeks blended in with my fingers. 

Eyes
A wash of Bobbi Brown Wheat Eyeshadow across my lids, with a thin line of Prestige Waterproof Eyeliner in black applied close to my lash line and a decent coat of Covergirl Clump Crusher Mascara on my curled eyelashes. 

Lips
I used the Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti on my lips today. It's a lovely bright orange that can be sheered out for a more natural look or applied more liberally for an intense look. Two swipes of this on my lips and I was good to go!

Jess

xoxo

Polish of the Week: Butter London Fash Pack

Butter London's Fash Pack is a mushroom/taupe colour with subtle gold shimmer running through. I received this free in a magazine one or two years ago. Actually, I lie... I bought the magazine FOR this nail polish. A $20 nail polish for the price of a $9 magazine? Yes please! Don't you love amazing freebies with magazines? Anyway, the colour in the bottle translates to the nails; however, the gold shimmer does not which I prefer anyway. It is a totally work friendly colour and is definitely a staple in my collection. It's my go-to taupe shade and my go-to shade when I'm not sure what to wear for the working week.

Jess

xoxo

Recent Beauty Pick-ups

I have picked up a few beauty bits over the last couple weeks from various places including MAC, Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and Woolworths. 

Priceline are actually having 20% off of their Batiste range at the moment. If you noticed from my 'Dry Shampoo Contest' battle I am currently surviving on a tiny travel size bottle of the stuff and since it is my favourite all-rounder dry shampoo it was prime time to stock up! I picked up two, Batiste with a hint of colour and the second was the Big and Bouncy XXL Volume. I have actually been keeping an eye out for the XXL volume since my hair can be quite flat and I have heard good things. Lets hope it holds up to the claims!

Next on my list was one of Rimmel's Apocalips in Celestial which have just hit the shelves in Australia (and America under the name Show Off Lip Lacquer). I have heard rave reviews from bloggers and youtubers in the UK so I could not wait to get my hands on one! I chose the colour Celestial as it was the best everyday pink colour. I really wanted to try a safe everyday natural pink colour before venturing out to some of the more brighter, fun colours. I have my eyes on Nova if it all pans out well - a lovely bright hot pink colour. 

I also picked up Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in Tough as Taupe which is a matte taupe cream shadow. I also have this in 'Bad to the Bronze' (a shimmery bronze) and have to say the staying power and pigmentation of these cream shadows are absolutely amazing even on my eyelids which seem to crease everything. 

Possibly the most exciting purchase was the MAC 217. I have had my eye on this for the longest time but the $37 price tag was not the most ideal. Let's just say that I have finally caved...

Last but not least were these Make Up Design Nail Stickers from Woolworths which I picked up for only $2 as they were on clearance. I went for one with a red base and white polka dots and one with small diamantes all over which I think would be nice used as an accent nail over any colour nail polish. I have never heard of this brand before so it'll be interesting to see how it turns out. 

What have you picked up lately?

Jess

xoxo

DIY Body Scrub - The Winter Edition

I posted a DIY Coffee Scrub recipe here a couple of months ago. However, the winter season has seen me alter the recipe to make it more wintery and cosy.. if that's even possible with a scrub. Personally, I love the smell of warm spices in the winter. Think chai, mixed spice. Doesn't the thought make you feel a tad warm and fuzzy? 

Materials
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of almond oil
2 heaped teaspoons of mixed spice
1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 container to place your scrub it. Make sure it is sealed, we don't want any water from the shower getting in! Mine was only $2.00 from The Reject Shop. 

Method
1. Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix. 
2. Transfer into your container.
3. Scrub away!

You can always alter the scrub to suit your preferences. If you prefer a less grainy texture, add more almond oil and more sugar if you prefer it more coarse. Just eyeball the consistency. If you prefer the scent to be stronger, add more mixed spice and the opposite if you would like the scent to be more mild. 

The almond oil in this scrub will leave your skin moisturised and the sugar will leave it smooth. 

Enjoy! 

Jess

xoxo

The Dry Shampoo Contest

I am an avid dry shampoo user. My hair tends to get very oily at the roots but since it is not good to wash your hair everyday, I rely on the stuff to extend the time between washes which lets be honest here, is only every two days and not every three to four days (my hair would be serious grease ball styles if I left it that long). I use it every second day when I haven't washed my hair the night before. I have tried many different dry shampoos in a bid to find the perfect one. In this contest, I will be comparing 4 of the most recent dry shampoos that I have used which are easily accessible from Priceline, Woolworths etc. I will look at 3 different areas in particular: effectiveness, smell and value for money. 


Toni & Guy Cleanse Dry Shampoo - $15.99 (250ml)


Effectiveness: The effectiveness of this dry shampoo is decent; however, I feel like I need to use quite a bit of product to get my hair to the point where it doesn't look like a hot mess. Does it's job, but nothing to dance around about. Rating: 3/5. 

Value for Money: This dry shampoo is on the slightly higher end in terms of price when you compare it to other dry shampoos in Priceline and Woolworths, but there are always sales so I suggest to wait until it goes on sale. Rating: 3/5. 

Smell: Loveeeee the scent of this. It smells like a salon and lingers in your hair for a few hours after spraying it. If you're not one for scents or are sensitive to scents, skip this. Rating: 4/5. 

Overall Rating: 10/15



Batiste Dry Shampoo - $9.99 (200ml)

Effectiveness: The effectiveness of this dry shampoo is decent; however, I feel like I need to use quite a bit of product to get my hair to the point where it doesn't look like a hot mess. Does it's job, but nothing to dance around about. Rating: 4/5.  

Value for Money: I feel like for the price and the amount you get, it is great value for money. Rating: 4/5.  

Smell: The great thing about this dry shampoo is that there are many different scents for you to choose from. I'm sure you could find one that you like. My favourites are the tropical and the blush scents. Rating: 4/5.  


Overall Rating: 12/15


Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo - $13.50 (115g)

Effectiveness: This dry shampoo does a decent job at soaking up the oils and adds some volume to your hair while it's at it. This one is a little different in comparison to other dry shampoos as it is a white powder. I find that this is best for night time use because it's too fiddly to use in the morning. In fact, every time I use it white powder falls on my face. How I use it is to apply this to my roots at night, sleep on it and let it soak up the oils at night which means no white cast and less dry shampoo use in the morning. Rating: 3.5/5.  

Value for Money: This product will last f.o.r.e.v.e.r. I have had this product for several months now but does not look like it's been touched. Rating: 5/5

Smell: For me, the downside of this product lies in the smell. It says it's meant to be a light citrus scent but to me it smells like lemon-scented toilet cleaner. Luckily I don't find that the smell lingers in the hair. Rating: 1/5.  

Overall Rating: 9.5/15



Tre Semme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo - $11.49 (170ml)
This product is not pictured because well, it's in the trash. I tried it several times before succumbing to the fact that it just did not agree with my hair. I have heard numerous people say great things about this dry shampoo but for me, it did not like my hair. It is an aerosol can, like most dry shampoos out there. 

Effectiveness: To put it bluntly, this product made my hair look oilier than it originally was and left a sticky, tacky product-laden feeling in my hair. Not effective at all for me. Rating: 0/5.  

Value for Money: This product is not too bad in terms of value for money for the amount of product you get, but did I mention the sticky, oily feeling that I got in my hair after using it (Nope? Didn't think so!). In that sense, this wasn't value for money but a waste of money for me (sorry, Tre Semme). Rating: 3/5.  

Smell: This product does smell amazing. It smells like you have just been to the hairdressers kinda smell. This didn't make up for the fact that my hair looked worse after. Rating: 4/5.   

Overall Rating: 7/15




CONTEST WINNERS

Overall
The overall winner has to go to the Batiste Dry Shampoo. They are the most effective and convenient dry shampoos in my books with some great scents. I will always have one of these on my dressing table. Honourable mention does go to the Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo as I tend to use both on the days I don't wash my hair. Lush's dry shampoo is used at night to soak up those oils overnight and Batiste is used in the morning to tend to those oilier sections. 

Value for money 
Hands down, Lush's No Drought Dry Shampoo is the most value for money dry shampoo I have tried so far. Who knows when I will need to purchase another one. It'll probably expire before then!

Smell
Toni & Guy's Cleanse Dry Shampoo. Mmm.. salon smelling hair...

What dry shampoos do you like?

Jess

xoxo

Polish of the Week: Revlon's Teak Rose

Apologies for missing last week's 'Polish of the Week'. Work has been super hectic and I have been working 6 day weeks which has been extremely tiring! This week's Polish of the Week is Revlon's 161 in Teak Rose. I'd have to say that this is one of my all time favourite polishes. It's a muted rose colour with hints brown. I love this colour in the autumn/winter time and when I'm after something neutral-ish but provides some pop of colour. 

Jess

xoxo

June Favourites 2013

So let's start off with the products that have made a reappearance. Firstly, Origins Vitazing is making another appearance in this month's favourites. It does not provide much coverage but it evens out my complexion enough that I only need to apply concealer to the darker areas of my face e.g., around my nose and chin. Secondly, is Revlon's Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie. Perfect everyday berry colour with a moisturising formula. A staple in my collection. 

Concealer of choice this month has been Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer. I bought this a few weeks again during Chemist Warehouse's massive 50% sale off various makeup brands including Maybelline. I can't remember how much I bought it for in the end, but it was definitely under $10. I apply this under the eyes and it immediately wakes up my tired eyes. I also apply this around my nose, cupid's bow and down the bridge of my nose to also brighten up those areas. I have literally been wearing this concealer everyday. I do set this with a powder because it will crease if I don't (I learnt this the hard way and got a fright when I looked in the mirror during my lunch break!). My dark circles aren't too bad so I find that even though this isn't designed to conceal, it does the job for me when I wake up and those pesky circles aren't too obvious that day. I will however, apply a proper concealer under this if I find I need more coverage. My only gripe with this product is that there is only 1.5ml which means that you don't get a lot of product at all and I've already made a considerable dent in mine.  

For eyes I have been loving my Too Faced Shadow Insurance coupled with a mid-tone warm brown (bottom row, third from the left pictured above) from my Sleek Oh So Special palette. I find that the Too Faced Shadow Insurance stops my eyeshadow from creasing and helps it to last throughout the day. In terms of the shadow, I apply this to my entire eyelid as a wash of colour. Now don't get me wrong.. I still love MAC's Bamboo eyeshadow that I wrote about last month, but I find that it can be too warm to apply all over the lid. 

For brows I always use my Maybelline Define-a-Brow and has been repurchased on numerous occasions. The tail of my brows are stubborn little things, so this product allows me to fill in the end of my brows. It is quick and easy in the morning and the product is thin enough to make hair-like strokes, PLUS it lasts all day on me. 

A gadget that I have been loving is the Models Prefer Lipstick Organiser. I store most of my makeup in those A4 drawers that are made for filing. Definitely not the prettiest thing out there, but it is cheap and practical and allows me to store my entire collection in a 5 drawer set. The problem with this is that I forget what I have and gravitate towards the same lipsticks over and over again. This organiser reminds me to use a variety of my lipsticks so that more lipsticks feel the love :)

I have had a few spots this month and have been relying on Origins Super Spot Remover which I find helps clear up my spots quicker. It's great for those surface pimples as opposed to the pimples deep under the skin. It is a gel consistency and applies clear. It is my spot treatment of choice and has been for the last couple of years. 

What products did you enjoy during the month of June?

Jess

xoxo