Sunshine + Beauty

While Melbourne stays overcast and sends me diving into my scarf collection, the thought of sunshine and laying on the sand is still planted firm within my mind. With a tropical holiday not in near sight, I turn to my beauty cabinets to inject some sunshine + happiness into my days!

Apart from the beautiful bright orange bottle of Clarins Sunshine*, I love the summery fresh scent despite it not lasting too long on my skin. I had a look at Fragrantica for the notes of this (detecting notes is definitely not my forte!) and this is what it told me:

Top notes are sicilian mandarin, grapefruit, watermelon and bergamot; middle notes are mimose, chamomile, ylang-ylang and carnation; base notes are tonka bean, patchouli, lime (linden blossom) and osmanthus.

Sicilian mandarin and mimosa, mmm mmm! I like that this smells summery but still doesn’t feel out of place in the cold Melbourne winter, which is perhaps due to the lack of coconut or strong summer fruits that ‘summer’ scents normally possess.

In terms of actually wearing orange, I can’t go past the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Rendezvous, which was originally not released with the rest of the collection but has now crept onto Australian shelves where it belongs. I bought my crayon on eBay and find it the perfect orange shade for my pale skin tone, to really brighten up my whole face! Having said that, I think this would also be amazing on darker skin tones, so I recommend a swatch next time you hit up Priceline. Another orange makeup I marvel over is the Stila Convertible Colour in the shade Gladiola, which appears bright orange but sheers out to a wearable peachy orange on the cheek. I apply this either with a stippling brush (blush brush staple, for sure) or a paddle foundation brush, and it melds in with the skin so easily.

I've also popped my little REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask sample into the shot above, as I'm very excited to try it out since nabbing it from one of the lovely ladies at Mecca Maxima Melbourne. I love the orange colour of the mask, and hope that it will indeed renew my radiance when I try it out.

 

Orange nails were my first real beauty obsession, and anytime I get a manicure I gravitate towards orange- the brighter, the better! Jinx* is one of the new Liquid Sand shades from the OPI Bond Girls collection, and when I saw it at David Jones both Chris and I found the golden shimmer in the shade just breathtaking in the bottle. I was happy to have the shade hit my desk not long after, and the textured sand finish paired with the golden shimmer filled bright orange is just stunning.

 

What shades makes YOU smile the most? Are you like me, and embrace brighter colours in the colder months to perk up your day?

 

 

 

*Marked items provided for consideration. Honesty, always.