NEON + neutral Makeup Look with Australis

note to self: hair oil exists for a reason, Ms Frizz!

 

Cheeks: Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed
Lips: Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey + Barry M Toffee gloss

As promised, I put the Australis Neutrals & Neons palette to the test and created a wearable look to show you! The colours didn’t blend away (as some affordable brands tend to do!) and I found the shadows soft and easy to blend together for this look. I popped a bit of the acid green on the inner corners and used the first 3 neutral shadows to create an easy natural look with a twist. I used the Australis Curve Ink liner* to ground the look down (a great tip for those who are frightened of wearing brights!) and used lots of mascara as well, as I always do.

 

What shades from this palette would you like me to create a look with next?

Are you excited about affordable brands bringing out amazing palettes like this?

Which of the NEON shades are you most afraid of?

*Marked items were provided for consideration. The Clinique item was won on a social media competition. Honesty, always.

What's On My Face // Placement Edition

 

I began the daunting task of my first rounds of student teaching over a month ago now, and though at first I shook like a leaf and was constantly lost, I am absolutely loving the chance to sink my teeth into what will hopefully be my future career. Since I'm used to wearing bright eye looks to work and university, the change to a teaching position means I've had to evaluate my look. I decided that though my school is quite casual in style I would still tone down my makeup, at least until I get to know the students and they are comfortable around me. I'd rather be known as 'that teacher who helped me with the tricky question' than 'that teacher with the cool eyeshadow!', you know?

 

My face staples have naturally been lazy morning staples such as Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Exposed and Australis Curve Ink liner*, but I’ve been throwing a bit of essence Hot Chocolate liner in as well. Chanel Troublant and Stila Glaze are top lip picks, and Chanel makes another appearance with the Pink Explosion JC which lasts all day long on my cheeks.

My default eye look has been a simple one that I trust will last the long work day, and I'm really happy with how it has been working and lasting for me so far. As always, I set a base of MAC Painterly paint pot to give the shadows something to adhere to and to stop them from creasing up as the day goes on. I then go in with my Maybelline Bad to the Bronze Color Tattoo, which creates a nice bronzed chocolate base for my eye. I use my fingers for both of these cream products, and then I head in with a sweet of Maybelline Silken Taupe to ice up the look a wee bit, and just add some interest. It’s quite a strange mix that I stumbled across, but I like the way it makes my eyes pop and is easy to apply.

 

What makeup look do you turn to for work days? Do you tend to wear neutrals to err on the safe side?

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

A Coral Moment

A definite inspiration for my makeup choices come from outside influences. Seeing a product on a fellow blogger can really spark up an interest for me and it isn’t long before I am hooked onto the need to own the particular formula or shade. Luckily for me, when I spotted some bright coral shades on Estee of Essie Button fame, I had the exact products she wore tucked inside my desk drawers. A big fan of the Stila Convertible Colours, I originally purchased Gerbera after hearing about it on Belle Lumiere. See what I mean about #beautybloggerproblems! The bright orange shade is so wearable but isn't a sheer wishy washy sort of orange, and I find this works best when applied with either a flat paddle foundation brush or my Samantha Chapman for Real Techniques stippling brush. I am yet to try the Stila CC’s on my lips and I doubt I ever will, nor do I see myself applying my blush with my fingers anytime soon, but it's nice to know I have the option!

Estee paired the beautiful orange cheek with one of my favourite lip products, the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stain in Rendezvous. This is definitely one of the best and brightest shades, so naturally it isn’t available in Australia and came to me by ye olde eBay. Seriously stunning and worth tracking down, this is easily buildable and I wear it sheer sometimes, but mostly I layer it up to make a bright pout and it lasts (and fades) really nicely on me. Sometimes I forget how nice it is to pair shades together on the face, so was pleased with how the two stand-out products tied a whole look together for me.

 

How often do you tie in your cheek colour to your lips? What do you think of coral for cheeks?

The Autumn Look : Chocolate Eyes with a Red Lip

Following on from the autumn edit I presented yesterday, here is the seasonal look I created with those products. I feel like rich reds and warm colours like that are perfect for autumn, and while I usually do a green and orange look for autumn, this year I wanted to do something different, and do my usual ‘fall’ look later on.

 

For this look I chose the ‘crease’ shade from the Wet & Wild ‘Knock on Wood’ palette and placed it all over the lid, with Arbonne’s Cabernet* through the crease. These colours seem that they were made for one another and I adore the look that these shadows create. The Wet & Wild crease shade is a deep shimmery chocolate that is just stunning on the lid, unfortunately the brand is not available in Australia (surprise surprise!) but eBay will help you out if you are interested in trying out some Wet & Wild cosmetics.

Products from The Autumn Edit post

 

 

A tiny flick of Australis The Curve Ink* and generous coats of Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara finished off the eye, while some Benefit Dallas on the cheeks helped bring warmth to my face. I used BYS matte lipstick in Celebrity Status* really vamp up the look, but I think this would look great with a nude beige lip, with something like Clinique’s Whole Lotta Honey chubby stick.

 

Does this look feel autumnal to you? I don’t know about you all, but I tend to embrace each season as a reason to branch out in my makeup looks, and this deep chocolate eye and red lip is definitely something different for me.

I'd love if you could hop over to Blog Lovin' and follow me there, as we all know Google Reader is closing shortly and I'd hate to lose any of my beloved followers. If you have a blog you'd like me to check out, please pop the link in the comments for me to see!

 

*Products provided for review, and the chubby stick I mentioned was something I won in a competition. BYS matte lipsticks are available from Fashion Addict. Honesty, always.

Fresh Faced with BB Powder & Chanel Frivole

Lately, Melbourne has been struggling through a heat wave of recrod preportions. Sweltering nights spend tossing and turning are backed onto days at university with insufficient air conditioning and long walks with rays beating down on my back. Honestly, some of the nicest days of late have been spent at work in the cool air of the shop floor. We were lucky enough to have a cooler day (around 25C) a while back and I relished in pulling on my jeans and throwing on a light jumper to spend the day with Mumma Bovary doing errands and having rice paper rolls for lunch. As I often do, a mix of new release products were mixed with old favourites to get my face presentable!

I’ve been trialling the new Rimmel Match Perfection foundation* and so far I am enjoying the light-medium coverage and natural finish. I still prefer the cream-gel version in the pot (which I fear may be discontinued!) but the packaging is definitely nicer, a heavy glass bottle with handy pump opening. I’ve been setting it with my L’Oreal Nude Magique BB Powder* which is one of the exciting new BB/CC type products that the brand have recently launched. Cheeks were of course dusted with my new Chanel acquisition, the limited edition powder blush in 76 Frivole.

As always I used MAC Coquette to add some definition to my brows, it is seriously one of the most versatile eye shadows I’ve come across from MAC. I love it swept through the crease with a soft angled crease brush, but for this look I left it on the brows and used the essence duo to cover my lids and line my lower lashline as well. I finished the simple eye look off with generous coats of my new favourite mascara, the Covergirl Clump Crusher. Absolutely loving the volume and length it gives my lashes, not to mention the compliments I’ve been receiving from coworkers, family and friends.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation SPF 18 in 010 Light Porcelain*

L'Oreal Nude Magique BB Powder for light skin*

Essence 50s Girls Reloaded palette in 03 Come on Board Captain

Covergirl Clump Crusher mascara in Black

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in black brown

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Dynasty at Dusk

Mac Coquette for brows

Sportsgirl Shady Lady in Prom Night for highlight

What do you think of my fresh faced look? What are your best tips on escpaing this horrendous heat?

*Marked items were provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

What I Wore on My Face // L'Occitane Drinks Edition

Earlier in the week I spent the day Christmas shopping for all of the little ones in my family, and spent the evening having Christmas drinks with the lovely ladies at L'Occitane. I had been hanging out to sniff the new Magical Leaves collection, and was happy to finally get a chance to look at it!

The beautiful Melbourne Central store front.

Some gift packs from the new Marvellous Flowers and Magical Leaves collections.

Norlin getting a hand massage with some L'Occitane products

 

I decided to rock a taupey purple eye look to go with my purple statement necklace, but I ended up forgetting to wear the beads to L'Occitane anyway! I used a mix of brands to get my purple look, and was happy to get some compliments from staff when I was buying gifts during the day.

 

 

Eyes:
L'Oreal Infallible in Metallic Lilac
Clarins purple from the Enchanted palette*
Inglot purple shade
Physicians Formula purple liner (from the Brown Eyes Trio)
Face of Australia Impact Curl mascara

Cheeks:
NYX Peach blush
Clarins Bronzing Duo in 03 Dark*
BYS Fierce Fuschia blush

Face:
Illamasqua Skin Base
Face of Australia Outback Translucent Powder*
Maybelline Dream Matte powder (for touch ups)

Lips:
Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey*
Smashbox gloss in Overexposed*

I felt really nice with this eye look on, it didn't photograph as well as it looked in reality (in my opinion) I highly recommend every eye product I used for this look-very happy with them all! The lip duo is something I've been wearing almost every day lately, I can easily put it on without a mirror and it keeps my lips happy and goes with the dramatic eye looks I've been wearing.

What do you think of my eye look?
What is your favourite L'Occitane product? The almond range has stolen my heart!

*The Clinique product was won in a competition, and marked items were provided for editorial consideration. Honesty, always.

Watt's Up. Freshly Candy?

 

A sunny day calls for some pretty makeup, and this is what came out of my makeup drawer. 

 

I decided to go for a pretty pink lipstick that was one of the first lipsticks I ever chose (and was recommended by Zoe Foster) the stunning L’Oreal Colour Riche in Freshly Candy. I’ve since snapped this poor little thing, and it is in my drawer with the other broken lippies waiting to be mended. I paired it with Benefit’s Hervana, which when swirled together is a pale pink flush that isn’t my favourite, but goes with a lot of looks and so is still worth a spot in my collection.

 

Benefit’s Watt's Up* is one of the best highlighters I own, and the colour is pretty much perfection. I went for one of my favourite eye shadow palettes for my eyes, No.7’s purple smoky palette (bought in Thailand from Boots) I also popped some of my L’Occitane Pivoine Délicate Roll-On & Gloss Duo* on top of my lipstick. The duo roll on is great for perfume touch ups and for adding a bit of pale pink shine to my pout. I’ve swatched both below for you.

 

 

 

The No.7 palette  isn’t super pigmented, which isn’t too bad because it means it helps me create a subtle eye look. It is something I hardly do, and I must admit I’ve been enjoying it.

What do you think of subtle eye looks? Do you tend to play up your eyes, cheeks or lips most often?

 

My Shopping the Stash Look

I will just come right out and say it...I am not a morning person. Even with a coffee in my system I am a slow starter, so having a 'go-to' look is key to being able to take part in pre-12am activities on my days off. My mum always waits until the last minute to ask if I'd like to head out for a coffee, and she gets ready in about 2 minutes flat so it is always a rush to get ready-fast!

I basically reach for things that are fail safe, and that I can literally throw onto my face and still walk out of the house looking presentable. I'm trying to use up my Bourjois Healthymix #52 even though it is a tad too dark for me at the moment. It leaves such a lovely finish and though I powder it when I wear it to help it last longer, it leaves me glowy (in a good way, not a shiny way)

MAC's Jaunty has been featuring heavily on my lids, I think I wore it 4 days last week and am still loving it (in fact I have it on as I'm writing this!) I have been throwing MAC's Coquette through the crease and along the outer third of my lower lashline, and I must say I am loving the effect.

After feeling a bit 'meh' about my Revlon Grow Luscious mascara I threw Face of Australia's Impact Curl mascara into my daily makeup bag, and so far it is love <3 I picked up the Clinique Bottom Lash mascara for $2 when I visited the Estee Lauder staff store recently, and the teeny tiny brush is great for coating each and every bottom lash, so I've been looking pretty wide eyed!

I've been choosing lipgloss over lipstick as I am scared that I will break another lipstick (2 so far, including a Burberry Lip Mist!) Gloss is so much easier to carry around in any weather, and the Sportsgirl Liquid Lipsticks have great pigmentation and I love the way they smell. I've been wearing Luscious quite a bit with this look.

 This look is from another day during the week which uses all of the same products except I have Nars Turkish Delight on my lips. I went out with Melissa for brunch the other day and she had it on, and it has been in my handbag ever since because it looks great on her. The blush I'm wearing in all of these photos is my Covergirl True Plum, which is one of the greatest blushes in my collection, and my Clinique Superbalanced bronzer.

Having a quick and easy look that makes me feel a million dollars is the key to a little extra sleep in the mornings, and being able to make use of things in my collection that haven't been getting much love is a bonus.

How often do you shop your stash?
What do you think of my quick and easy look?
How could I change it up?

 

 

 *True Plum came to me by way of a swap, and the Clinique bronzer was sent for review. Honesty, always.

 

Moth Brown - MAC By Request // Swatches, Face of the Day

I have only been a beauty lover for a few short years, so when the MAC By Request idea was announced on Temptalia here, I had not owned or swatched any of the mentioned shades. I thought they were nice, but I was not taken with any shade in particular until Jessica from Getting Cheeky showcased the shade Moth Brown here.

Moth Brown is described on Temptalia as a purple tinted shimmery grey, and I would say so also, but note that it leans taupe and brown as well. It is much more purple than something like Satin Taupe, and I don't own anything else like it.

 

 

 

 

Moth Brown swatches smoothly and the pigment is easy to sheer out, but equally easy to build up for a darker, more dramatic look. Though it is a frost finish, I find it quite satin in finish.

 

 

 

I chose not to sheer Moth Brown out too much, and vamp it up with a deeper lip shade as well. I like the overall effect, and though Moth Brown can easily be an everyday taupe shade, I like that I can use it for a deeper night time sort of look also.

 

 

Face:

Face of Australia Face Base primer

Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus foundation*

Illamasqua blush in Hussy

 

Eyes:

MAC paint pot in Painterly

MAC Moth Brown eyeshadow

Laura Mercier Pale Pink eyeshadow to highlight

Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara in Black Shimmer

 

Lips:

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Vernis à Lèvres in #4 Mauve Pigmente

 

Hair:

Toni & Guy Dry Shampoo for volume*

 

Moth Brown is limited edition and is $33 AUD here.

 

What are your thoughts on 'request' collections?

What discontinued products would you vote for?

What do you think of this shadow?

 

*I purchased this myself. Honesty, always.