The Lush Limited

I've been trialling a few new bits and bobs from Lush since before Mother's Day, which is the theme of this new collection of limited edition products. I'm not a huge Lush addict though I do like quite a few of their products, so I was intrigued to see some new scents I'd not tried before. I sadly haven't gotten around to a bath in recent months (seems like a lot of effort, though my achy back sure could use a good soak!) so I am yet to try the Mother Superior Bubble Bar ($9.95/180g) which is scented with cherry blossoms. I aven't had a go at the Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb ($6.25/165g) either, so will have to schedule in some relaxation time stat and use these up!

Let's get an honest opinion out of the way - bar soaps just don't float my boat! I feel like they all leave my skin 'squeaky clean' which I can't stand, even though I know they aren't drying my skin out or anything like that. I definitely prefer a shower gel but was happy to give this floral chunk of Love You Mum Soap ($6.95/100g) a go (FYI, this flower is just part of the larger design, check it out!) and adored the sweet scent of jasmine, mimosa and co...I still didn't love the bar soap feeling though, and so have relegated this to a shaving lubricant and it does a marvellous job at that!

Now I'll move onto the two products I enjoyed most from this limited collection - the Yummy Mummy stuff! I do cringe a little bit with the name of this stuff as I feel a fraud to use it without being a Mumma (does being a furMama to Charlie count?) but the scents are pretty rad! I did think about giving this stuff to Mumma Bovary but I know that the strength of the lilac scented Yummy Mummy Shower Gel ($9.95/100g) would give her an instant migraine, and that would NOT win me any daughter points!

 

My pick of the bunch, though? The Yummy Mummy Body Conditioner, mmm mmm. Of course I've chosen the priciest of the lot at $32.50/250g but man this stuff smells delicious. It's a mix of fresh strawberry and cocoa butter and so it smells like a sweet and moreish butter with a fruity twist. I spread a bit on my arms and décolletage when I apply my hair conditioner and then rinse them off for silky skin and hair - time saver! It unfortunately doesn't stop Charlie boy from wanting to lick the scent from my arms, so it very similar to a traditional body lotion in that respect ><  

 

Do you have any tricks for keeping up with body moisturising in winter?

Isn't is great that they've made an alternative scent to Ro's Argan Body Conditioner!?

-Emma x

 

*All of these Lush products were provided for consideration. Honesty, always!

 

Pushing into Purple

Do you have one of those colours that you just never reach for? I think green and blue are quite elusive eye shadow shades for most people I know, though personally I love a good navy for my smoky eye and am not afraid of a little pale blue on the eyes if it is anchored down with some eyeliner! 

 

The elusive shade for me? Purple! While I can definitely see the appeal and think that it is a pretty colour, I just find it needs more effort to look good on me than other colours. I have had some success with some lilac and violet shades though, as evidenced by the things I've rounded up to play with here.

 The Colour Theory palette in Verry Berry (not a fan of the name...) is really pretty and I'm totally loving that brand at the moment. A shadow duo I am yet to try is the Nars duo in Marie-Galante which I tend to just take out and stare at rather than actually use. I think Taylor Swift Wonderstruck rollerball fell into this image because I am interested in the new scent she has out, I think all of her fragrances are really lovely.

 

Purple lips totally remind me of Angela from One Skim Mocha Please who I just adore, and my brave lip choice is MAC Sheen Supreme in Asian Flower, which is ultra glossy and a beautiful lilac shade. For a deeper and more wearable purple lip I turn to the Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm in 260 Plum Twist*. 

 

I have a lot of fun playing with colours despite them sometimes being a bit daunting - that is what makeup is all about, right?

What colour do you find hard to wear?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty 

Lick the Icing

As soon as I saw the new limited edition lipstick shade called ‘Lick the Icing’ from Australis, I knew I had to make it mine. A pale pink/lilac shade unlike anything else I own, this sort of colour is one you either love or hate. Though some shades don’t technically flatter some people, lipsticks in shades that make me smile can do no wrong. I think I will wear this throughout summer, just for something different, even if Chris does give me strange looks every time. This photo makes my lips appear pretty large (is it the lipsticks doing...?) but it does accurately show how the colour looks on me. Check out this link to see it on a favourite blogger of mine, Angela!

 

Camp pastel lips-yay, or big ol' nay?

*Bought this myself. Honesty, always.

LA City Nights

While in Sydney (yes I harp on because I wish I was still there!) I came across CosmoCosmetics on George Street, a store selling a large range of Jordana polishes. I fell in love (and bought) a stack of the glitter polishes, and this was the first.

 LA City Nights is a glitter polish filled with small purple glitter and slightly larger blue glitter. I love that I can pair this with blues and purples easily, and have been wearing this over other polishes quite often. I haven't really contemplated travelling to Los Angeles before, my parents have just returned from overseas and visited New York for the first time, which looks exciting. Chris mentioned he would like to go to America on our honeymoon (he wants to visit Vegas!) and I think it could be fun.

 Anyway, back to the polish. The first shade I paired this glitter with was one of my very favourite shades, Nice is Nice from Essie. It is a lovely pale lilac shade that I have been using so often that Chris has commented on it!

I love the large bottle of the Jordana Glitters, it is gonna last for ages.

I used two coats of Nice is Nice and one of LA City Nights for this nail look.

 

Where are you dreaming of travelling?

Do you wear glitter polishes often?

They are such a pain to remove! I've found the Revlon remover to be the best for them!

 

 

purple people eater

 

I've never been much of a purple girl. My favourite colour is orange, and I wear warm colours (or black) the majority of the time. In recent weeks, however, I've fallen in love with purple-toned taupes and browns, shimmering dark violet shades and most heavily for lilac. Here I share with you a selection of my brighter purple shades, and I'd love for you to share your picks in the comments!

 

 

The first shadow is In Deep by Kit Cosmetics, which I bought on sale as a brave move to step into the world of purple AND darker eye shadows! The next one along is Quartz by Face of Australia, which is a stunning lilac shade. My MAC Dame Edna palette is next, which I love for the inclusion of three version different types of purple.

 

 

Another beautiful palette I own which contains very different types of purple shades is my Elianto palette. The beautiful Emily from Emily's Anthology brought this back from Malaysia for me quite some time ago. I fell in love with Elianto when I visited Malaysia for the first time, and I am so happy to own this beautiful palette. This palette was customisable, and I love the shades I chose and really need to use them more.

 

 

You can see the various intensities and shades here.

 

 Quartz is so so pretty!

Elianto have such beautifully pigmented colours, I highly recommend visiting them if you're in Malaysia! 

 

I have a post with my newer purple acquisitions coming up, featuring beauties from Laura Mercier and Illamasqua, among many others!

 

Do you have a colour that you gravitate to in your makeup?

Which shade of purple stands out most to you?

 

I bought all of these shadows myself. Honesty, always.

Lively Lilac // Rimmel Lasting Finish NOTD

Lately I have been loving lilac in all of its forms, and most of all adorning the tips of my fingers! I bought a few of the Lasting Finish shades when I hauled polish a while ago, and my favourite from the lot is definitely this one. Lively Lilac is a creme two coater that goes on easily and is the perfect spring or summer shade to brighten up fingers without being a neon. For some reason I adore lilac or periwinkle shades right now, and think they flatter most skin tones from pale (like me!) to deeper complexions.

What nail shades are you loving right now?

Do you wear lilac on your nails?

 

 



Nice is Nice

I was lucky enough to receive a mini bottle of Essie's Nice is Nice polish from my US Makeup Swap (post here). I hadn't tried Essie before that, though I did have some other minis in my collection.

A gorgeous pale lavender shade, this applied with ease and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the formula of the Essie shades I've tried so far!

I chose to top my accent nail with The Face Shop in PK107 which is a pink tinted jelly base with round glitter, small bar glitter and a few stars for good measure. I didn't realise that the base was so tinted and it really changed the tone of the lilac underneath, which made me regret doing it!

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Candice chose Nice is Nice as well, we were house sitting and watching Interview with a Vampire and eating Crust Pizza. Lilac was indeed the colour of the night indeed! The photo above was taken when we had parked the car, she wasn't driving don't worry! She got engaged a few days after Chris proposed,  hence us showing off our rings in that photo.

Candice chose to coat her accent nail with essence Space Queen which is fine glitter in a clear base, I prefer the look of it to my own accent nail as it kept the lilac underneath intact.

Which accent nail do you prefer?

What other Essie shades do you recommend?

 

MAC Asian Flower- Swatches, Photos, Review, FOTD

When my sights are set on acquiring something, I become obsessive about it. I saw Asian Flower on Nancy here and could not stop thinking about from that moment on. Each time I was at a MAC counter I would enquire about the shade and its release date, but the SA's never knew what I was talking about ><  Then I stumbled across it on counter, and never looked back!

The new Sheen Supreme formula from MAC is housed in a tube unlike the other lipstick offerings from MAC. This Sleek tube is cold to the touch and looks great in my lipstick holder. A word of warning though, this is a tube you really have to pull on to be able to open, you have to be careful not to hurt your lipstick or have it go flying out of your hands.

The Sheen Supreme formula is very moisturising, and because of that I don't find that it lasts for a long time on my lips. It lasts for a reasonable amount of time, though, so I'm still a happy camper.

A creamy lavender shade, I thought Asian Flower might not work with my pale skin tone, but I find it flattering most of the time. Sometimes I find myself falling in love with a product despite it not 'suiting' me- it's just like falling in love, sometimes it just clicks, ya know?

Asian Flower has enough of a pink edge to make it something I reach for quite often.

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Would you wear this sort of shade? What are your thoughts on lilac lipsticks? How have your dealings with the MAC SA's been in the past?

MAC Quite Cute

Being a recent convert to MAC, I wasn't aware of just how many collections they release throughout the year. I was hyped for Cham-Pale and hauled some goodies, but since then the collections haven't wowed me into purchasing anything (Peacocky and Wonder Woman)

This collection seems similar in idea to Illamasqua's Toxic Nature collection, but without the edge. I have my eye on a few of the items, and have a feeling excitement will grow before the collection hits counter in April.
I think the mineralize blushes are darling with the heart centres (sense a cute-blush theme lately?) as well as the lilac toned lip prodz. The palette looks nice but I'm not sure I would get a lot of wear out of these shades...

Are you lemming anything anything from this collection?

emmabovary xx

Here are some great links if you're interested in Illamasqua's Toxic Nature collection:

Lilit at Makeup and Macaroons shares her thoughts on the event with some beautiful pictures

Jade from Jade Musing has a great Toxic Nature inspired FOTD
Tara from Keeping Up With Me was lucky enough to go to the Toxic Nature event!

Lara from SwatchGirl had the most amazing mani done at the event