Mister Bovary's Current Favourites

When it comes to my husband, low-key is the perfect way to describe him! Since I've slowly been working beauty products into his routine he has enough of a product pool to pick some favourites for me, so here is his inaugural current favourites post! 

Scent is a driving factor for so many of his favourites, so it makes sense that two of his favourites are aftershaves! His very favourite is Polo Red by Ralph Lauren, but he recently hijacked my bottle of Calvin Klein CK2* that is marketed as a unisex fragrance. It doesn't mesh all that well with me but he loves the oceanic scent on himself so I was happy to let him take over use of the bottle.

Another seemingly random favourite of his? Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist, which smells divine and is another item we 'share' but that he uses more of by far. He loves that it relaxes him and his skin drinks it up, plus I love the cool mist and luxurious scent right before bed every evening.

He hardly ever does anything to his hair (beanies are his newfound love!) but when he does it's all about the MUK Hard Muk Styling Mud, which is a firm paste that tousles his short hair perfectly. I buy him the 2 pack when it goes on special at Hairhouse Warehouse so we always have it on the go for special occasions. Staples in his routine are his beloved Rexona (we share as I prefer the male selection to the floral and sweet female deodorants!) and the Biore Pore Strips - grossly satisfying, am I right?

Is your man into primping or preening? What is his favourite product? Is there anything cool you think I should buy for Mister to try out and review for you?
-Emma x


*Product provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Australian Beauty Stars

Australia Day is upon us once more, and I thought it an appropriate time to sit down and pull out some Australian products from my stash to share with you all. I will be honest and admit that I don’t really think of where a brand is based when making a decision to purchase, so I am glad to see so many stellar Australian brands that have crept into my collection.  Here are some of the Aussie beauty stars in the Bovary household!

 

Bronzers:

Napoleon Perdis Blush Patrol

Nvey Eco Nourishing Bronzer in Oasis*

Face of Australia  pressed powder in Bronze*

My favourite from this bunch would have to be the Face of Australia offering, as I adore the sleek and slim compact. The colour is quite shimmery, so a light hand is recommended to get that world renowned Aussie beach babe glow!

Face and Eyes:

Sportsgirl Get Cheeky Cheek & Eye Shimmer

Face of Australia blush in Hello Dolly

Sportsgirl Get Cheeky in Rose

Nvey Eco eyeshadow in 162*

Sportsgirl Shady Lady eye colour in Prom Night

Face of Australia Liquid Liner in black

Face of Australia Loose Powder in Outback Translucent*

My favourites include the FOA liquid liner and loose powder, they are seriously hard working and so easy on the purse that it is quite hard to believe.  

Lips:

Lanolips Lip Ointments in Apples, Lemonaid, Mulberry* and  Sunshine

Sukin Nourishing Lip Treatment*

Grown Alchemist Watermelon & Vanilla lip balm*

Face of Australia lipstick in Malibu Barbie

Lipstick Queen lipstick in Saint Red*

I am loving all of these nourishing lip products this summer, but Malibu Barbie is such a happy shade of pick that it takes the cake!

 

Indulgences:

Urban Rituelle Organic Hand Cream with lemongrass, lemon myrtle, grapefruit and eucalyptus

MOR hand cream in Cassis Noir

Endota Spa Lemon & Organic Sugar body scrub*

Sukin Wellbeing Body Oil*

Urban Rituelle Cotton Candy perfume*

The Sukin Wellbeing Oil is so amazing, I am hoping that they decide to cancel its status as ‘limited edition’ and keep that baby on the shelf forever. Massage oil, moisturiser, hair tamer, it seriously does it all and smells brilliant. The Urban Rituelle Cotton Candy is finally back out in a 100ml bottle, I have been clutching the purse sized spray that I bought and not wanting to waste it, and am so happy to now have this to clutch instead.

 

Skincare:

Sukin Facial Moisturiser*

Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist

Grown Rose Absolute, Ginseng & Chamomile Facial Toner*

The Jojoba Company Antioxidant Serum*

Australis Make-Up Finishing Spritz*

The Jojoba Company Intense Recovery Balm*

Simplicite One Step Exfoliating Cleanser*

Simplicite Plant Gel Cleanser*

Of course Jurlique had to be mentioned when writing about great Australian brands, they have products of such a high quality with beautiful packaging, and I love the indulgence they bring to my beauty routine. Sukin are also an amazing low cost brand, I recommend them to people all the time and love their clean packaging and affordable skincare.

 

Did you know that all of these products were true blue? If you are a fellow Aussie, I would love to know how you are spending today (or the public holiday on Monday!) If you are one of my beloved International readers, I am curious to know what your perceptions of our country really are? Would love to hear from you in the comments!

*Marked products were provided for editorial consideration. Honesty, always.

Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist // The Ultimate Refreshment

 

As well as loving the aesthetic of the Jurlique brand, I am yet to be disappointed with the products I have tried from them. My stand out product is definitely the Rosewater Balancing Mist, which comes in a beautiful frosted glass bottle. Not so great for travelling with, but a beautiful looking product to keep out on my desk without a doubt. When I first begun dating the Mister I was using this, and when he was searching for some Christmas gifts for me last month he remembered the scent, and picked it up for me once again! The mist is really fine and smells delightfully rose, but not in a very overpowering way, in my opinion. I use facial mists to set my makeup, refresh my makeup midway through the day, and to calm and soothe my face late at night. This doesn’t irritate or upset my skin at all, and is something I highly recommend as a luxurious treat.

 

Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist retails for $35 for 50ml or $48.99 for 100ml and is available at Myer, David Jones and Adore Beauty. They have a large range of other toning sprays if rose isn’t your thing, so you should still be able to find a winner. For your reference:

-Purely Age Defying

-Lavender (Hydrating)

-Citrus (Purifying)

-Chamomile (Soothing)

-Purely White (Skin Brightening)

-Herbal Recovery (Night Mist)

 

Are you a fan of facial mists? Which of the sprays from the Jurlique range would suit your skin?

*This was a gift from Mister, and the first bottle I bought was purchased by me. Honesty, always.

What I Received this Christmas

I’m still full from all of the turkey and fresh fruit I gorged on during Christmas & Boxing Day, but I thought I’d pop in and give you a quick post before I get into the swing of regular posting again! I wanted to show you some of the beauty related gifts I was lucky enough to receive this year, as I love peeking into others peoples days and thought you might feel the same. Chris requested a wish list from me early on in December, and naturally I managed to come up with some beauty products I wouldn’t mind seeing underneath the tree. He took the list into our local Myer and is now firm friends with the ‘nice chick from the Chanel bit’, and I am very proud of him.

A Chanel JC blush was something I’d always lemmed over after seeing Pink Sith rave about it, but I could never decide on a shade when I was at the counter. I took myself out of the equation and asked Chris to select a shade for me, and he went for the bright and summery Pink Explosion! He bought the Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist off his own back, when we started dating years ago I used to have a bottle and he loved it, so he wanted me to have it again. So sweet!

I’d been eyeing off the YSL Sheer Candy range and fell in love with the deep red shade Sweet Fig, so Chris chose that off my list without even knowing what sort of colour it was. He was pretty much dragging the Chanel lady all over the place to find things that I’d like, he is pretty clueless when it comes to cosmetics (though he is a fan of Garnier concealer and Maybelline Dream Matte powder!) The Inglot pans were something I picked up myself for under the tree, I am a little bit frightened of how intense the blush is but every time I go into the store I am drawn to it like a moth to flame, so I think it wanted to join my blush family.

I am so grateful for all of the beautiful gifts I received this year, as well as the delicious food and the time spent with family. As well as the beauty related gifts above I received pajamas, Tupperware, a stack of board games (fam are looking forward to us moving in together I think!) and an iPad 4. Elated that I will now be able to blog on the go more often, and blog read on my lunch break every day!

How did you spend Christmas Day? Did you receive any cosmetic gifts as well? I’d love to hear about them!

 

Sydney Skincare // What I Packed for IMATS & BBU

As those of you who follow me on Twitter (here!) would know, I spent the last week in Sydney to attend IMATS and Beauty Blogger Utopia. IMATS is a trade show for makeup artists that travels the world and is a haven for makeup lovers, while BBU was organised by Makeup Utopia and is a beauty bloggers conference to learn more about both beauty and blogging, while spending time with likeminded folk. I was a good girl and took care of my skin while on holiday, and thought I'd share what I took with me!

Oh, there is also some haircare and body care in there, but ya know they have skin too!

I knew that this wasn't going to be like my tropical holidays where I take basics and make do. I wanted my skin to look its best for the weekend, but as luck would have it my skin decided to be a little shit anyway. At least I tried my best! As you can see a lot of these are sample or travel sized products, most of which I use at home but some I just brought because of their size. A sidenote, the tub of Alpha-H is actually my Kerastase Nectar Thermique sachets decanted ;) Cheeky!

It is only when I get my skincare together for its family photo that I realise how French-heavy it is-what can I say, I love the stuff! Kiehls is also heavily featured (though most was left at home for this holiday) and I am enjoying trawling through their products and finding what my skin likes to snuggle with. The Bioderma Sebium H2O is similar to the Crealine cleansing water but contains more ingredients, colour etc and is therefore not eye safe. I decanted some of my (crappy) Garnier eye makeup remover to use on the eye area as a substitute but it leaked before we even left for the airport! I went to a store and bought some Clinique dual phase eye makeup remover to replace it and I am impressed so far.

Had to bring one of my Haus of Gloi sample pots along for the ride, I used this a lot while lounging around in the hotel room and the Ghost Puffs scent is approved by Chris' nostrils as well as mine! The Jurlique mask tube is neverending, it's the Intense Recovery mask and I use it to hydrate (and say sorry to my skin if I have a glass of champers!) I couldn't go anywhere without my Mario Badescu goodies, I pop the Drying Lotion on any spots before they erupt to make them vacate, and I use the Buffering Lotion every second evening to stop the bumpy skin action from happening!

 

So this turned into a skincare ramble (I love to read these, hope you do too!) but if you would like to know details of products I took with me, ask away in the comments below and I can elaborate (ie chat away some more with you!)

 

Hope your skin is lookin' ace today!

 

 

My Current Routine

I will happily admit that I am a snooper, and love seeing what is in the cabinets and handbags of others. I usually squeal when Natalie posts over at The Mustard Jumper, and when she posted this I was riveted, and decided to follow suit. Here is the products I'm using right now, but keep in mind that I change up my makeup and skincare frequently!

Face

01. Cleanser:  Environ AVST Cleansing Lotion

02. Toner/lotion: Environ AVST Moisturising Toner

03. Cream/moisturiser: Environ AVST1 Moisturiser

04. Facial Mask: Jurlique Intense Recovery Mask + Sukin Purifying Facial Masque

05. Exfoliator: Soap and Glory Greatest Scrub of All + Alpha-H Gentle Daily Exfoliant 

06. Make-up remover: Face of Australia Gentle Make-Up Remover (review) + Alpha-H Cleansing Oil

Body

07. Shower gels/soaps: Lush Glogg, Kiehls Coriander Body Wash, L'Occitane Cherry Princess Pearlescent Shower Cream

08. Body lotions/creams: The Body Shop Moringa Body Butter + Sukin Hydrating Body Lotion

09. Nails: Essie 'Nice is Nice' (review) + Darling 'Hot Diggity'

10. Body exfoliator: Burt's Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Scrub + Botani Spirulina Salt Scrub (review)

11. Foot cream: -

12. Lip balm or lip treatment: Korres Jasmine Lip Butter (review)

13. Perfume: Thierry Mugler Angel EDT (review) + Kim Kardashian for Women

Hair

14. Shampoo/conditioner: Garnier Fructis Sensitive Anti-Dandruff Shampoo + random conditoner sample sachets I am trying to use up before I buy my beloved Terax Crema.

15. Mask or other treatments/products: Moroccanoil, Girlz Only Dry Shampoo, John Frieda Frizz Ease

Make Up

16. Foundation: Bourjois Healthymix Serum, Clarins Ever Matte Liquid, Maybelline Dream Liquid Mousse.

17. Powder: Maybelline Dream Matte Powder + Clarins Ever Matte powder.

18. Blush: Benefit Dallas, essence Swirlpool, YSL Creme de Blush in Powdery Rose

19. Mascara: Australis Lash Lengths

20. Lipstick/lipgloss: Natural Compatibles 'Berry', essence 'me&my icecream'

21. Eyeshadow: MAC 'Jaunty' eyeshadow (review), L'Oreal Infallible in 'Sahara Treasure', Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Poison' pigment.

22. Eyeliner: essence gel liner in Midnight in Paris

Many of these products were sent for consideration and I am in the process of trialling them for this blog. Honesty, always.

April Empties

Each month I'm emptying more and more, it's such a great feeling. It's forcing me to think about whether or not an item is worth repurchasing, and making more room in my bathroom for the things I really love. Here is what I used up in the month of April:

Sunsilk Purifying Scalp Care Shampoo and Conditioner-This wasn't the worst anti-dandruff product I've used. It was much more nourishing and didn't dry out my hair like others, but it also didn't completely rid me of the flakes. Light dandruff sufferers would probably be best suited to this.


Garnier Ambre Solaire Preparation Scrub- Loved this, smelt great and was a good rough scrub. Won it ages ago and it came alongside fake tanners, but I used it as a regular scrub as well as a preparatory one. Will repurchase.

Clinique Anti-Blemish Moisturiser- Doesn't last long enough, but it great for my super-dry skin. Feels light but gives me enough moisturisation. I have a feeling I will succumb to this bad boy again soon.

Botanical Creations Scrub, Rose and Sandalwood- LOVE!So cheap, a great scrub, stunning scent, feels expensive but is cheaper than coffee! On sale at Priceline for $2 (more scents available) so RUN! (I purchased 4, am going back to get more to stash away/give as gifts)

Jurlique Rosewater Mist- Review to come shortly, all I will say is that I love this product, it makes me smile.



Revlon Colorstay UnderEye Concealer-Review here. Am going to test run a few other concealers before I purchase this again.



Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater bath&shower gel- A realistic rose scented bath/shower gel, a review to come shortly.

Burt's Bees Radiance Body Lotion sample- Adored this, reviewed here.

Rexona Girl Tropical Energy (mini)- I'll go out on a limb and say this is my fave deodorant. Smells grand, and the mini cans last for ages and fit snugly in my bag.

be Yourself eyeshadow palette- Throwing this, I have so many beautiful shadows in my collection that this shares a drawer with, it disrespects them. Don't trust them on my eyes, either.

Colour Co Hot Pink blush- My darling mother posing as Santa bought this for me last year, and for the same reasons as above I am throwing it. Cannot make the bright pink suit me, it's patchy, and I fear I will breakout if I used it. Plus, it broke!> >

So there is what I used up in April, feel free to link to your 'Empties' in the comments so I can have a sneak peek (I love reading these sorts of posts:))

the lust list

the things I'd love to own:

*MJ Lola *MJ Daisy Eau So Fresh* *YSL blush pots *neon orange lips *a bright orange wardrobe *MAC Quite Cute blushes *Illamasqua Creme Blushes *Jurlique Rosewater Mist *Rouge Coco Shine *Leopard blouses *Clinique Citrus Rose *Estee Lauder Orange Crush Eyeshadow

Have any of these? Want any of these? Feel like gifting me any of these;)?

And yes, I realise I have a slight obsession with blushes and the colour orange. I'm suffering badly!

Orange FOTD

Orange is pretty much my favourite colour, so here is a FOTD using some of my favourite citrusy prodzLook was partially inspired by Mister Christopher's t-shirt, which I wear to bed sometimes=)

Products used:

*Face of Australia Primer

*Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in #52

*Stila Convertible Colour in Gladiola

*Face of Australia Translucent Powder

*Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Facial Mist

*MAC Slimshine in Missy

*Elianto eyeshadows in Light Salmon & Coco Orange

*Maybelline Falsies mascaraMAC Slimshine in MissyElianto Light Salmon as a wash and Coco Orange in corner&crease

Finished off with Maybelline Falsies

I love this look as I think it's nice to brighten up your face in this dreary weather, with someone a little bit different. Are you into orange at the moment?

emmabovary xx

Woe is Me

In Melbourne, the change between the seasons is not clean-cut. We have blazing hot days in winter and frosty ones in summer, making it hard to make the transition without getting ill. I usually fall sick over the crazy Christmas period, but escaped unscathed this year. End of March, it seems, was the substitute. Now for the whinge:

My throat is on fire, I'm coughing like a smoker (never puffed on one in my life) my body is aching,my ears are throbbing...diagnosis? Terrible case of the whingies, with a cold thrown in for good measure. I am lucky I do not have the sniffles (*touches wood*) and have thrown together a few essential items for when you just feel crappy.

Suvana Paw Paw and Honey Balm

I first learnt of this balm from Zoe Foster over at Primped, and I picked it up at Target last week with the loose change from my handbag. Cleaner than infecting a gloss with my germs, I use a small amount of this on my fingers and apply to my lips. A full review will be up soon, so for now all I will say is that this is a winner!

Benefit High Beam (free in a magazine promotion)

My glow is all but gone right now, so this little princess works wonders at faking it for me. I apply on the top of my cheek and brow bones and voila! I'm awake!

Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist

I live for this product, I really do. My skin is super-dehydrated and this really hydrates me throughout the day, as well as smelling lovely and making me smile. Full review up soon.

NARS Laguna Bronzer (free as a Mecca Maxima opening promotion)

Deathly pale at the best of times, when I'm sick every comments on how drawn I look. A quick swipe of this and I'm alive again, thank goodness.

Soothers Orange and Mango Liquid Centre Lozenge

Delicious and helpful, I love these juicy-tummied bad boys!

So there is my list of what's keeping me sane right now. Feel free to comment with sympathy and pity to make me feel better about myself.

xx emmabovary