A Novel Romance – MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow in Superwatt

I’ve had this little taupe darling since it was first released in 2012, and it has just been rereleased with the MAC A Novel Romance collection (available online now) so I thought it was time to bring it out of my drawers and into the blogging limelight!

 

 

The formula of these shadows is really cool to the touch (hence the name I suppose) and they feel like a cream to powder formula. They are a bit bouncy and remind me of the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre shadows (see Epatant here) I’m not the biggest fan of the screw top lid as I think it looks and feels a little cheaper than the standard MAC fare, but the colour is very pretty for a neutral and I can see it being a hit so I don’t mind it so much. I find that it takes a bit of work to apply this with a brush as it struggles to deposit the pigment evenly, so I think a finger application is the easiest way to work this taupe shade over a well-primed lid.

Though I can appreciate the appeal of the Electric Cool range, I have to say that I still prefer the standard MAC powder shadows and would choose those over this product. Not only do the powder shadows make it easy to create a palette, the single flip-top packaging is a great sturdy option for travel and also means you can leave them in your daily makeup bag without a worry. I think that if you took this Electric Cool formula away on a holiday you'd be at risk of breaking the plastic cover - not a deal breaker, but just something to note.


Superwatt in action (sheered out, applied with a brush)

I had a bit of a browse through the new MAC collection online which is centred on the idea of romance novels, and the plum and peach blushes are pretty but nothing that screams out to me. The dark shadow palette actually appealed to me a lot more than I thought it would, but I'm still going to leave it on the shelf and stick to grabbing a few MAC singles when I head overseas in a few months time. I love the look of the large clear top palettes so I might start filling a neutral one of those up - do you have any shade recommendations?

Emma x

Longing for Spring...Stash Shopping Makeup Look

A few sunny days in Melbourne has me fiending for a tropical holiday, or at least some more nice spring days to enjoy. A spring inspired makeup look was definitely on the cards to welcome in a lil' bit of sunshine to my world.

 

I have quite a few Inglot eyeshadow palettes in my drawer and this is probably the least used one, but I've been enjoying the way that mauve shadows make my green eyes pop so I shopped my stash a wee bit for the eye look this time around. I paired it with another unloved palette in my stash, the much lauded Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay.

Face:
Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel Foundation
essence Ticket to Paradise highlighter 01 Tropical Heat
Clinique Peach Pop blush

Eyes:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Custom Inglot palette
Urban Decay Naked 3 palette
Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara*

Lips:
Maybelline Bloom Balm in Pink Bloom
Dior Dormeuse Lipgloss

Cracking out the floral headpiece screams spring to me!

Soft and hazy purple eyes teamed with a quintessentially spring lip has gotten me ready for the nice weather ahead - it's also making me feel a bit better that the trillions of FB friends over in Europe etc are finally on the way back to Australia so they can stop taunting me!

What season is your favourite?
Emma x

lllamasqua Fire Rose // Shattered Star Nail Varnish from the Glamore Collection

Textured nail polishes seem to polarize people - I tend to only reach for them when I'm rushing out the door to go somewhere and don't feel like rocking bare nails. They are easy as pie to swipe on, forgiving on crappy nails thanks to all the pizazz and they dry really quickly, negating the need for smudge-proof top coats and the like.

 

They aren't always everyone's cup of tea though, and I find it a bit annoying that the glittery ones scratch at my skin if I come into contact with anything. I still can't get past a nice bit of sparkle though, so this Illamasqua Shattered Star nail varnish in Fire Rose* is easily my most reached for textured polish. Not too pale and girly, the silver glitters give just enough edge to make this the perfect pink for grown-up Barbie nails. 

I've had a long-standing love affair with Illamasqua products, and have a good number of their palettes and blush pans in my makeup drawers. I've just rediscovered the Skin Base foundation and I don't really know why I ever stopped using it - either way, I'm almost at the bottom of the tube and need to repurchase soon. I only have a few of their nail shades, but have been pleasantly surprised by them and appreciate that they come out with fresh colours and ideas all the time. It's also worth noting that I've never received bad customer service from an Illamasqua counter, which is pretty amazing.

Illamasqua polishes normally retail for $23 from Myer but they seem to all be on sale at the moment, so hop down if you have a shade in mind (I'm thinking of picking up Nomad, does anyone have that colour?)

Emma x


*Provided for consideration, but honestly my most reached for textured polish.

August Goals

Recapping July...

-Walk 52km
Managed to walk 54km this month, still had quite a few slack days but happy to have improved from my (personally) dismal effort last month.

-20+ days of stars
I got sick of sticking the stars in and found it took too much of my concentration that could have been better used elsewhere. I still stuck with good food choices (generally) and walking, so I guess it's still a tick!

-Read 3+ books
I read 5 books in July, quite pleased with that effort! A good mix of fiction and non-fiction with a wonderful travel guide to Las Vegas tucked in there (emmabovary on Goodreads!)

-Finalise wedding bouquet details
Our appointment is in August but was booked in July, so I am counting that as a semi-success! I know roughly what I want and the cost, so here's hoping it all falls into place for me in the next few weeks!

-Order our wedding bands
Complete! I wasn't expecting Mister to enjoy this but he did, and the ring we chose for him to wear is gorgeous and very classic. I am still waiting on them to arrival and can't wait to see them in person!

-Try cooking with a new recipe x3
Happy to have marked this one off, but hoping I love the next new recipes we try more. I made chunky vegetable soup (recipe from a slow cooker book), Massaman curry with my sisters homemade paste and chicken patties (which Mister has requested I make again!)

-Start filling some pot plants
We did head up to Bunnings for a look but it was cold and I couldn't work out what I wanted and where I would put the pots, so we left it for now.

walking with Charlie (and a bird we spotted!) and plant inspiration from my sister in law's garden

Now onto my goals for August!
-Walk 54km
-Donate 2+ bags of clothes to Vinnie's
-Donate 2+ handbags to Vinnie's/family + friends
-Book into the Benefit brow bar
-Organise beauty room

Wedding Goals!
-Finalise wedding stationary
-Book our honeymoon
-Buy/choose my wedding shoes in time for dress fitting
-Finalise cake design + flavours
-Book hair + makeup artists

What are you goals for August?
Emma x

The Forgotten Beauty Purchase - MAC Blush in Poised

I've been spending a lot of time rustling through my beauty room (and the house in general!) in an attempt to clear out what we don't need and whittle down my makeup collection to a reasonable sort of crazy amount. I delved into the beauty back-ups and stumbled upon a blush box that I had completely forgotten about - yes, in the Bovary camp that can happen! I found a few forgotten gems in there (MAC Azalea Blossom, essence Renesmee Red etc) but the ultimate score was seeing a boxed up MAC blush peeking through the rubble...

I had to turn to Google to find out more about Poised, as I had no idea it was a shade I owned! It was released with the MAC Strength collection which came out overseas in late 2012 as I found out on Temptalia's review here. It is described there as a muted pinkish brown and is a satin finish, and I find that it gives a nice glow to the cheeks and as on Christine it lasts most of the day on my cheeks before fading. It's the sort of wearable neutral that goes with an array of makeup looks, and so I've been wearing this non-stop for a few weeks now with bright eyes, smokier eyes and lazy champagne eyes alike.

I remember liking the look of the Strength collection, but I had totally forgotten about buying something from it! I searched my own blog archives to see that I bought it in this haul, with my Archie's Girls products which obviously distracted me from Poised until now! You know you have a shopping problem when you search your own blog for evidence of a purchase...

 

 

Finding this when I've been on a tight budget lately has been quite the thrill for me - now I get to enjoy the rush of a new product (a blush no less!) without having to drop a dime at the counters! It has certainly made waiting for the honeymoon to shop a whole lot easier, and added a spark into my beloved neutral blush stash.

Have you ever forgotten about a purchase?
I hope that it isn't just me who makes these discoveries!

Emma x

 

 

Bought in July

Keeping track of my purchases has been so helpful towards the wedding budget, let me tell you! I am looking forward to checking out a whole heap of gorgeous things after the wedding (see wishlist here!) but for now I’m showing restraint and settling for swatching all the new things in Myer rather than taking them all home with me!

 

I recently had the worst hair trim of my life (how you stuff that up I don’t know?) but I needed a nice conditioner to tide me over until I can get my next haircut. The pink packaging was probably the catalyst for choosing this Palmolive conditioner (the Intensive Moisture Conditioner for Dry Hair) I had seen the Face of Australia Cleansing Oil around on social media and blogs, and even though mineral oil is the main ingredient and I’m nervous about using it, I was too intrigued to pass up an opportunity to try it out for myself.

Some supermarket goodies that I wanted to include was the new Palmolive Fig and Coconut Hand Sanitiser (just realised that I bought two Palmolive products in a month, I don’t think I’ve ever used their stuff before!) and a travel can of the Rexona for men deodorant.

Seeing Models Prefer come out with new products always makes me excited, and when it’s a blush? Stop the press! I bought only one shade of the new Stick Blush, in the shade Love which is the brightest one and looks matte in the tube, but actually has some kinda chunky glitter hidden in there. I also bought the Rimmel Blush in Tuscany after seeing that it was half price – as if I need any more neutral blushes!

Speaking of things I don’t need more of…pink lip products!

I knew I had to pick up one of the new L’Oreal Extraordinaire lip products and the shade Fuschia Drama called out to me the most. I also added my first Revlon Matte Balm into my collection with the bright pink shade Showy – I’m still trying to get the hang of this and think my lips need TLC before I try it out again.

The Models Prefer Nude Eyeshadow palette has 10 shades and I’ve not had another powder shadow on my lids since I bought it. Some of the shades need improvement, but most are above what I expected for a mere $12.99 so I’m all aboard this train! I prefer these shades much more than those in the darker palette (which has a grey/black/blue kind of vibe instead) Most of the time I’ve been wearing the Australis Cray for Colour Eye Stick in Soiling the Fun underneath those, but for the past few days I’ve been all about wearing it by itself with a good swipe of chocolate liner and a neutral blush. It’s seriously good stuff and the colour is amazing, but without a primer it does crease on me quite quickly so be sure to prime the lids, ladies!

Mister Bovary and I went out tie shopping at Uni Hill Brand Junction over the weekend (the joys of wedding planning, amiright?) and I didn’t need an excuse to pop into the cosmetics discount store there. I picked up the essence coral camo blush in 01 Ap-ri©ot from the Be Loud collection, along with the eyeshadow duo in 03 Rock the Block.

Have you picked up anything nice this month?

Are you impressed that none of the products I bought were high end? I am!

Emma x

 

Too Faced A La Mode Eyes Palette - Sexy St.Tropez Shadow Collection

I have this insane weakness for Too Faced palettes - they release limited edition tins all the time and I'm equal parts ashamed and proud of the fact that I own most of them (see the Boudoir palette + the Summer Eyes palette)The latest launch here in Australia is the St. Tropez inspired A La Mode palette which I stalked the Mecca Cosmetica website for...

just unwrapped!

First off, that tin is a thing of beauty. The whole of Mecca Maxima in Doncaster was wrapped in the same pink and orange hued stripes and the gorgeousness of it all made my eyes water. By far, this packaging is my favourite from Too Faced thus far.

A pretty adventurous lot of shades mixed in together, with the usual 3 colour schemes mapped out by Too Faced as 'Day', 'Classic' and 'Fashion', which can be helpful for those oft overwhelmed by choice in a palette like this one. I have to say that Classic is my favourite line of shades thanks to the beautiful Cote d'Azur shade that was the shade that prompted me to buy this.

St. Tropez, Cannes and Soleil. Cannes is my least favourite from the palette, with the most fall out and a strange texture which is evident in the swatch photos. Soleil is a real winner though, a gorgeous wine-toned brown that is a bit different to other neutrals in my collection.

Riviera, Jardin and Cote d'Azur. The smoothest trio by far, and the colour scheme that works best for me. There is a lot of potential with these shades and I can't wait to play around with Jardin to see what looks I could create with it.

La Croisette, Monaco and De La Mer. After the bright pink Totally Fetch in the Pretty Rebel palette, I was surprised to see Too Faced launch yet another pink shadow in a limited edition palette with Monaco. Then I swatched them side by side to see that they are the same shade! I did some digging and saw this post mention that Soleil is very similar to the Amaretto shade from the Chocolate Bar Palette. Is it wrong to find it cheeky for Too Faced to rehash shades so frequently without mention...?

The Too Faced A La Mode palette retails for $53.95AUD and is available at Mecca Cosmetica. I spent over $75 on my haul which entitled me to free shipping - something to keep in mind if you are looking at buying online!

What do you think of the Too Faced A La Mode palette - which trio of shades is your favourite?
Would you like to see my entire Too Faced palette collection?

Emma x