A Make Up Store makeover with Maria Gabriel

A while back I had the opportunity to get a makeover at the Make Up Store with the inspiring Maria Gabriel, who holds the position of Creative Director and General Manager of the Australia arm of Make Up Store. I was delighted to get a chance to learn more about a brand I wasn't entirely familiar with, and even more elated when I met friendly Maria and my makeover began.

Maria sat me down and we chatted about options for the look she was going to create. I told her that she had free range, but that I'd love to have gel liner applied as it's something I have trouble with.

A sneaky mirror shot, and you can see Maria rushing around behind me snatching up Make Up Store goodies to complement my mug. I mentioned that I did bright eye looks quite a bit so would love her to show me how to do a subdued look, so that is what we went with.

A subdued palette with a splash of purple, a colour that I find hard to use.

Maria began (after removing what I had on already) with the Skin Serum as primer, which glided over my skin and was very comfortable on.

Let me tell you, Maria had her work cut out for her because my skin has been really acting up lately, and she had a ton of bad skin to cover up! She said that my skin wasn't in as dire a shape as I believed it to be, and told me that porcelain skin naturally shows redness and imperfections more prominently than other skin tones so that it seemed much worse than it really was. Morale, boosted!

Maria used Cover All Mix which is a trio of concealer colours with high pigmentation, and can be mixed to the correct colour to hide blemishes, undereye areas and general pigmentation. Maria mixed a little of the Skin Serum in with the concealers on her metal palette in order to get a more fluid consistency for certain areas, which is a tip that I think is golden. She used this under the foundation, and said applying concealer either over or under foundation is fine by her.

She finished my face with Liquid Foundation in Cream and some Wonder Powder in Sahara. Getting to work on my eyes, Maria used a mixture of neutral shades over my lids, with a touch of purple in the outer corners. The chosen shades were Glam Peach, Sibiria, Boeme, Venus and the purple Flamenco.

Maria lined my eyes with black gel liner with brush #103 from their extensive brush range, which is an amazing teensy little brush that I would never think to use for gel liner! Stored that into my wishlist, along with some tips for application that Maria shared with me. I lamented my lack of gel liner prowess, and she said that feathering liner in from the outside inwards is the best way to go about it, as doing it the other way in one go will never work due to the natural squint of the eye! It makes sense when you think about it.

My completed look was subtle, with Maria using Old Rose lip pencil under Plumb lipstick and filling in my brows. I normally lean towards more dramatic looks with my eyes, so was happy to dip my toe into this sort of style.

Forgive the shiny forehead due to flash. This is the look complete with lipstick and brows.

It was a pleasure to have Maria share her wisdom with me whilst making me over, and she was also kind enough to gift with me a few Make Up Store products to play around with at home (I will have reviews of these up once I've used them a little more)

Thank you to Keryn who arranged this makeover, and to Maria for being so lovely. For more information on Make Up Store and to find your nearest counter (worldwide!) click here. They have great classes available as well, you should definitely check them out!

Have you tried any Make Up Store products?

I would love some recommendations! I have my eye on some of their shadows, they look amazing and I adore the sturdy and stylish packaging they are housed in.

a basket full o' makeup

This post here had me thinking about my beauty using habits. I tend to wake up in the morning bleary eyed and reach for whatever pretty my heart desires at that very moment. I decided to switch it up, and at the start of the week (which is a Wednesday for me!) fill up my tub on the counter with products I want to make a dent in. Here is what made it in this past week!

I threw in a few half-used items to see if I could finish some off, and some new items I'm reviewing to make sure I give them time to impress me.

base; Bourjois Healthymix, L'Oreal Base Magique sample
blush; NYX Peach (review here)

bronzer; Nars Laguna

Undereye; Smashbox Undereye Brightener*

Mascara; Lancome Doll Eyes (review here) & Clinique High Impact
Eyes; Sportsgirl Prom Night (pan hit, woohoo!), MAC Painterly Paint Pot, Ardell Clear Brow Gel, Mirenesse Tightliner*, BYS Brow pencil* & Rimmel pencil liner
Lips; Estee Lauder High Gloss in #11 Blush

I have almost used up both mascara samples and want to make good use of them before they have to be tossed, and the Smashbox concealer is just there to be used up as I'm not fond of it. NYX Peach and Laguna have been kicking around in my collection for quite a while and I'm looking to hit pan on them, if it's the last thing I do.

I don't even need to explain the Ardell brow gel, it's pretty ratty looking. I know that it is fine and that it is just my brow powder mixed into it, but it still grosses me out. The BYS pencil is something I'm trialling for review at the moment, and the Sportsgirl shadow is much loved but needs to be in cosmetic heaven now. Painterly is something I use every single day so it has a permanent position in the basket full of awesomeness.

My Bourjois Healthy Mix has been so good to me, and has lasted so long only because I had two on the go at once. I had one in my bag most of the time for weekends away or for when I was at Chris' place, but this one is finally about to bite the dust!

Laguna and Peach, respectively.

The L'Oreal Base Magique was a sample Chris got me, haven't used it enough to know whether or not I like it. The gloss was nabbed from Chris' Mum when she split up her travel set. Estee Lauder glosses are the bomb, and this one is my favourite shade. Boring in the tube, stunning on the lips!

My neutral Inglot palette...(review here)

...and my brights palette (review here)
I chose these two palettes because I adore them, and also because I don't reach for them as much as I should. I wear brights quite a bit, but thought that throwing them in would push me to create some nice combinations that I haven't tried out before. I was right! I have a stack of FOTD's to share with you in upcoming posts, all using these palettes with other shadows thrown in.

I think this is the sort of task I am able to stick to, I don't have enough patience to complete a set pan project. I think the fact that I have enough wiggle room to use other items from my collection makes this an enjoyable effort, and still gets my mind working in order to use these items creatively. I'm not trying to use all of them up (palettes,for example) but wanting to remember the things I love about my makeup collection.

Have you ever tried a project pan? How many makeup items have you hit pan on?

Would love to hear some motivation and your pan efforts!

Items marked with * have been provided for review or were in goody bags.

Baby Lips Loves NY! + giveaway!

Maybelline has revamped their popular Baby Lips lip balm to celebrate fashion. I am a firm believer in fashion and beauty being close relations, and despite being fashionably challenged I was drawn to the new design like a moth to a flame.

The Protecting Berry scent is nice and fruity, and fans of general berry scents should be happy with it. The taste isn't very yummy, which I like at the moment as it means I won't lick all the goodness off of my lips. It claims 8hr moisture but I reapply more often than that, as this is the kind of balm that works really well under a lipstick.

Adore that this balm has SPF20 yet feels light on the lips, ever since my Thai holiday I'm upping the ante with products containing SPF. My skin is enough of a pain without adding sun damage into the mix!

The tube design is bold and stands out in pink,white and black, which makes a nice contrast to the super bright packaging of the regular line of balms. The print is on the plastic itself which means it can't peel off or fade, which may seem insignificant but really does matter when cuteness is a deciding factor in your purchase.

My future mother-in-law was entranced by this design and even slipped out of a pre-wedding mani to dash to Priceline to pick it up when I showed her my tube (no, it wasn't my wedding, I'm not that organised haha) The Protecting Berry scent is probably my favourite out of the bunch, and with the gorgeous design I think this is a must-have for any beauty or fashion lover.

 Maybelline Baby Lips balms retail for $3.95 AUD and are available at Priceline, department stores, pharmacies and supermarkets nationally. This is said to be a limited release only available for the month of February but everywhere I've checked still have shelves full.

GIVEAWAY!

If you would like to win a Protecting Berry scented Baby Lips Loves NY limited edition balm just be a follower of this blog and leave a comment below sharing with me your idea for a lip balm flavour/scent! It can be one that already exists that you think is awesome, or a totally new idea :D The one that makes me drool the most will get sent a brand new balm (still in packaging) This is open worldwide, and please leave your email in your comment so I can get a hold of you if you win. This giveaway will close at midnight next Friday the 23rd of March (AEST)

Good luck!

*These prodocts were purchased by me with my own moolah. Maybelline are not sponsoring this giveaway. Honesty, always.

Flamingo & Party Parrot - Iris Apfel for MAC

MAC seem to be pumping out the collections lately, but this is one I had my eye on from the start. My favourite YouTube ladies Allison (Amarixe) and Ingrid (MissGlamorazzi) had managed to snaffle some gorgeous pieces from the Iris Apfel collection, and I knew what I wanted before the prodz hit Australia.

Party Parrot (bright red-pink) seemed like it would be an excellent bright to add to my collection, while Flamingo (light milky bright coral) would make a lovely pink to swoon over.

Matte formula, my first from MAC.

(Party Parrot)

(Party Parrot)

*

(Flamingo)

(Flamingo)

Flamingo and Party Parrot

Flamingo in top and Party Parrot below, I really like the matte effect of Party Parrot though I was a little worried when I ordered it. I've tried it on and don't find it to be drying, but haven't had a proper go at it so expect a FOTD soon.

I compared the two next to MAC's Ever Hip to compare, you'll see that Ever Hip (last swatch) is much peachier than Flamingo which I'm really happy about. Have been obsessed with pink lips lately, Flamingo is a winner.

Did you pick up anything from the Iris Apfel collection?
What are your favourite MAC shades? I have a voucher to spend and unsure what to choose!

L'occitane Lavande de Haute Provence- Eau de Cologne

Serenity, relaxation and great sleep are all associated with the scent of lavender. A naturally anxious person, I appreciate the calming qualities of lavender products and so love to surround myself with them.

I was sent the new L'Occitane Eau de Cologne which has come out with their 'Lavande de Haute Provence' Lavender range. The range is quite extensive with items such as candles, hand creams lotions and shower gels among other items. I have my eye on the candle and hand cream next, though a few of the L'Occitane collections are calling to me at the moment...

This Lavande Eau de Cologne comes in a gigantic 300ml glass bottle, which sits prettily on the table next to my bed. The scent is quite light and L'Occitane recommends using it liberally, which is why I am happy to spray myself over and over as I sit in bed reading before bed each night. I've begun to look forward to my little moment of serenity, soaking in novels and relaxing to the citrusy tinted lavender that surrounds me. Here is how the scent is officially described:

Brightened by the radiant freshness of citrus fruits, the Lavender Eau de Cologne has a light, breezy scent, underlined by a woody, musky base with a captivating trail.

I would agree with that description, as I find this scent far from the cloying and grandma-esque notion many people have about lavender.

This is fresh, but to be honest the lack of staying power does upset me as I wish I could smell like this all day through. I am contemplating decanting some of this into my Travalo atomiser (review here) to drown myself in while at uni and work, but I know I'll have to refill each night and I'm such a lazy Larry about it. For now I am happy to have this of a night time and have another product from the range in my handbag for during the day.

Overall I think this is a brilliant cologne, and one that I might not have paid attention to instore so I am very grateful for the wise minds at L'Occitane for placing the bottle into my hands.

L'Occitane's Lavande Eau de Cologne retails for $70 AUD for 300mls. Search for stockists here, and find the rest of the Lavande range here.

*This item was provided for consideration for review which in no way affects my opinion. Honesty, always.

the week

my week in review

a free blueberry blast because my name is Emma? Don't mind if I do!

Snapping shots in the car on the way to uni as the sun rises, pink lips and heavy lashes. Wore this blue scarf every day this week, am really obsessed with it. And don't worry, I was the passenger, wasn't taking photos while driving!

My everyday lunch at uni, a vegie pack chock full of carrots, celery, cucumber, almonds, walnuts, sultanas, dried apricots, cheese, rice crackers and a big strawberry. All served with a side of hommus, nom.

Drooled over Joy Cupcakes. Flavours like lavender honey, chocolate with marshmallow and pavlova had my heart racing, despite me not being a sweet tooth. Their store is along Southbank in Melbourne and also at Doncaster shoppingtown, where I'm heading next week to treat myself to one or two.

 My bestie and her fiance decided on a whim to drive down to our side of town (2 hrs away!) and stay the night over the weekend, and it was great to spend time just chilling with them. The next day we all went to Moomba, a free festival here in Melbourne that celebrates water skiing. Sitting by the river, eating poffertjes and watching the skiiers was a heavenly was to end a week, and getting a sleep in the next morning due to Labor Day was awesome :D

I spent most of my time this week studying for my last semester of uni, I am really enjoying the subjects I've chosen so am really happy.

Did you get up to anything exciting last week?

boost, moomba, burrito party, winning at casino,vegie pack, uni,