2016 Empties - Fourth Quarter

Finishing my 2016 empties series with a bang - I'm quite proud of the empties this quarter and also of the things I'm choosing to toss into the bin! I definitely need to streamline my beauty stash in 2017 and alongside gifting out items I think my emptying habits will serve me well for this.

SKINCARE

I think it's quite evident that my face was kept clean in the final quarter of 2016 - I finished off a 250ml bottle of Bioderma Sensibio* which I adore, a tube of Olay Regenerist Luminous Brightening Cream Cleanser* and Griffin + Row Cleanser* which will be reviewed shortly, and two sample sized cleansers (Philosophy Purity* which I'm not a fan of and Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Cleanser* which was a bit too squeaky for me but overall decent) Also leaving my stash is a tube of the Paula's Choice Hydralight Moisture-Infusing Lotion that I won from The Belle Lumiere, unfortunately I just couldn't get past the strong scent and even when I gave it to Mr to finish up the smell drove me crazy, but I'm happy that I gave it a go and used most of it up anyway. The Cetaphil DermaControl SPF30+ Moisturiser* is only being tossed as it has expired, but I've bought another fresh bottle for this summer. 

HAIRCARE

Evidently nothing exciting happened in the realm of hair this quarter - I used up a bottle of my new staple Cedel Anti-Dandruff Medicated Shampoo (Garnier discontinued my previous staple anti-dandruff shampoo!) and a tub of the Garner Fructis Grow Strong hair mask, which was quite nice.

SHOWER & BODY

All the body washes, cleanliness is king! Palmolive Heavenly Vanilla Body Wash is thick and smelt divine as you would expect, Lush Ponche* really did smell like a cocktail, Original Source Daily Scrub in Cranberry and Honey is much more of a body wash than anything else, and the Bath & Body Works Oahu travel sized shower gel was a fun wash I took away for our anniversary to try and drum up some Hawaiian vibes while on the Mornington Peninsula...I also used up a sample sachet of Natralus Paw Paw Moisturiser* which I am really enjoying at the moment!

MAKEUP

This is definitely the category I am most proud of this quarter! I finished up two bases that I adored (Rimmel Matte BB Cream in Light* and Revlon Whipped Creme Foundation) and a gorgeous champagne coloured eye pencil, NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Silky Cashmere. I was happy to see the end of an eyeliner but was also planning on repurchasing this shade, but I believe it has been discontinued so am heartbroken! Does anyone have a good champagne liner recommendation for my lower lashline?!

I finished a Covergirl Full Lash Bloom mascara, Rimmel Fix & Protect SPF25 Makeup Primer* which was a nice daily base for foundation and am tossing a melted and bashed up Tarte lip crayon in the shade Achiote. 

Last but certainly not least...I finished a blush! Fellow blush fiends and beauty addicts in general will rejoice with me for this one, it's not the first I've finished but it sure felt great to finish it at a faster pace than I normally would. It's the Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve and it was a brilliant product, I wore it to work all the time and the lasting power was impressive, but I think that this too has been discontinued so that is a bummer!

That's it for my 2016 empties - I've already made a start on the next lot of empties, hurrah!

-Emma x 

*Products provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

May Favourites

All it takes to reinvigorate my love for beauty is a few new products to trial, finding an old favourite and seeing beauty products through someone else's eyes. A few weeks back my niece asked me to do her makeup for a party she was going to, and it was fun to rifle through the beauty drawers to find products that would suit a 15 year old, and that I was confident enough to use on someone for the first time. The star of the show for that makeover (apart from my gorgeous niece, obviously) was the Rimmel Kate Moss Sculpting and Highlighting Palette* - a surprise favourite of mine, since my typical cheek choices are distinctly mid-high end. The bronzer is what really sold me on this one, buttery and pigmented, and blends without effort which is what I need for my fair skin.

In terms of other base products I've returned to my half-full tube of Rimmel Matte BB Cream in Light*, which has impressed me so much that I recently purchased a back-up tube during the half price sale at Chemist Warehouse. It has the coverage of a foundation with the ease of application that a BB Cream would typically provide, making it a morning routine go-to when I've spent too long hitting the snooze button on cold mornings. The other face product that made it into the top tier for May was the MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural, which I'm much more enamoured with now than when I first trialled it. It gives a healthy glowing finish to the skin rather than the stark matte base I typically lean towards, which is quite refreshing for this cold weather and my dry skin seems to appreciate that.

Eyes have been done up with either my Too Faced Bon Bons palette or my Revlon Photoready Eye Art Lid + Line + Lash in Peach Prism with a slash of Maybelline Master Graphic Liquid Liner*. I'm loving how the addition of a jet black liquid line can really frame my eyes, and I can apply it really quickly with this sharpie-esque liner which is just what I was after. Lips have been pretty low-key (read; lazy) with my NYX Butter Glosses getting a workout - possibly my favourite gloss formula of all?

NYX Butter Gloss
Revlon Peach Prism (lid colour + glitter liner)
Rimmel Kate Moss palette - highlight, bronzer and blush

Last but not least we have the sweet Britney Spears Intimate Fantasy perfume, which I alternate with my staple Guerlain scent and genuinely adore, and my very first Kate Somerville sample which I was immediately impressed with. I received the Exfolikate Cleanser sample in my Mecca Beauty Loop Box (post here) and loved how luxuriously it cleansed my skin - it's been placed onto my running to-buy list for when I work through my backlog of skincare products (so I might get a chance to buy it in the next 5 years, ha!)

Emma x

Bali Holiday Essentials

I was known as the go-to villa for all of our friends needs during our recent trip to Bali, and it felt great to have all the products on hand that we needed during our two week stay. The amount of insect repellent and sunscreen we went through was phenomenal, but I think it's the random travel essentials that really get overlooked in the beauty department so here mine are.

Sadly there has been many a time while travelling across Asia when toilet paper was scarce, and even here in Melbourne my Mumma always taught me to have a small pack of tissues in my handbag in case of an emergency. I also highly recommend scented hand sanitiser which is a great thing to use before eating, drinking, after you wash your hands and in a pinch the Palmolive Fig & Coconut  scent worked a treat for me in a stinky Balinese taxi as a personal perfume!

Another great little product to throw into your travel bag is the Manicare Nail Polish Remover Pads, which is a whole lot easier to cart across oceans than a bottle of remover and makes it so easy to switch up your nail colour during the trip. I brought along a particular polish to wear to the wedding we were in Bali to attend and these wipes were terrific for whipping off my bright holiday colour to reapply something more wedding-appropriate!

My current  favourite foundation is sadly housed in a hefty glass jar (thanks Revlon!) so I knew I needed some of these little Manicare travel pots to scoop some out into. It meant that I could still rely on my favourite base product without having to worry about smashing a glass full of foundation during my trip, and it also worked well for my Origins Drink-Up Intensive Overnight Mask and my Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner which I brought in my skincare bag.

As always, I had to bring some bits from my stash of French wonder products - a travel sized La Roche-Posay Lipikar Baume AP Body Balm which came in handy for keeping my arms moisturised in the air conditioned villa, and the Uriage Bariederm Reconstructive Barrier Cream which was used as a chafing cream and to prevent sweat rash in the heat.

Do you bring products like this when you travel to a tropical climate?
I'd love to hear what your travel essentials are?
-Emma x

Face of the Day // The January Look

I've just sat down to blog after a lovely brunch with a girlfriend from work, and I thought it worth documenting my makeup look since it was primarily based on the products that I wore throughout the month of January (seen here in this post!) I'm about to switch out my everyday makeup drawer to save things getting repetitive, but in an effort to use up some staple liquid products (like primer and foundation etc) I'll be keeping those in rotation so I can use them up. I want to switch out eyeshadows and blushes mainly, since I tend to gravitate towards the same bunch all of the time and I want to show some love to the rest of my makeup collection. I'll have a post up on what I decide to switch out next week, but for now here is the makeup look I wore today for a casual brunch with a friend.

Products:
Face of Australia Face Base Primer (Napoleon Perdis dupe alert)
Revlon Colorstay Whipped Crème Foundation (repurchase, yay!)
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25HR Powder Foundation* (always worn as a finishing powder)
Chanel Joues Contraste 'Jersey' (my true blush love)
Inglot Freedom System Neutral Trio (can't stop using this, argh)
Maybelline Master Graphic Liquid Liner* (finally back into black liner)
Covergirl Full Lash Bloom Mascara (why is this so hard to remove?)
Smashbox Overexposed Lip Gloss* (still a firm favourite for me)

-------------------

I recently painfully broke my toe after a spate of bad luck in our household, and so I've been loving Netflix (how good is Making a Murderer?!) and just finished reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty which I really enjoyed. What are you watching and reading at the moment? Would love some recommendations!
-Emma


*Product provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

What I Wore // January 2016

For a chunk of January I was away with friends in Canggu, Bali having the time of my life and enjoying a bare face, but when I have worn makeup after the new year ticked over, this has been the face of choice. I have been enjoying playing with some other blush shades and will have a post up on those soon, but in general these were the staples I relied on during the month of January!

Inglot Freedom Palette Trio - perhaps the best fluke ever, these colours are utter perfection and were just chosen on a whim at Inglot after they applied my makeup for an event. January saw me using the third and lightest colour all over the lid, and the matte chocolate shade thrown through the crease if the need arose for something a bit more 'done up' 

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Crème Foundation - I caved in and repurchased this after seeing that it was half price at Chemist Warehouse, and I don't know how I managed without it for so long! I'll have to drum up a full review of this at some point as it's just so good. 

Chanel Jersey Joues Contraste - Chanel, need I say more? But in all seriousness, this has become my favourite go-to blush and I took it away on both of my recent overseas trips as it goes with every look you can think of!

Covergirl Full Lash Bloom Mascara -  I usually only have a mascara or two open at any given time and right now this is the one I'm trying out. Love the cute packaging and it works quite well with my lashes, but it does seem a bit harder to remove than some of my other mascaras so I'm still undecided about it.

Maybelline Master Graphic Liquid Liner* - This is a surprising winner in my books, and has gotten me back into liquid lining, and black liner in general after my long stint with chocolate eyeliner crayons. It has a slanted sharpie-esque tip that I find really easy to manoeuvre, and I'm finding it faster to apply than my Face of Australia brush tip liner, so that's a definite plus.

Inglot Trio &
Chanel Jersey Joues Contraste

I have a heap of new goodies to play with after our holiday as well as my usual trial products, so I'm looking forward to changing things up and getting creative with my makeup again. I'd love to know what eyeshadow/palette you've been loving this year, too, so let me know!
-Emma

*Product provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Shopping my Stash

I've been working diligently on using up some of my staple products over the past few months, but I get antsy every now and again and bored of wearing the same exact look day in and day out. With the hopes of some new makeup hitting my collection over the Christmas season I decided to hold out on buying something new (touch wood!) and instead turn to my own makeup collection - that's right, I shopped my own stash!

As my long-time readers will know I'm a true #blushfiend, and so shopping my blush stash is usually a pretty exciting endeavour for me. It never fails to bring a smile to my face when I revisit an old cheek love of mine, truth be told. I first hauled Cream Soda from the MAC Archie's Girls collection in early 2013 (see the haul post here!) and find it funny that it looks so pale in the pan (even for me!) but on the cheek it makes me look so healthy, and is definitely pigmented enough once you build it up. I admittedly travel through stages with this shade where I wear the heck out of it before returning it to my makeup drawers, and the same can be said for the palette you see above...

I've never fallen head over heels for the Lorac Pro Palette in the way that everyone else in the beauty community seemed to, but I can still appreciate the nice mix of textures and Garnet sure is a showstopper shade in my collection. I keep giving it a go in the hopes that it will grow on me, so we'll see how I go with it this time around. Any tips on colour combinations you use with this one?

Another eye colour I've shopped my stash for is the stunning Chanel lllusion D'Ombre cream eyeshadow in Epatant, once again a product that falls in and out of use with me but that I love using with a matte chocolate shade through the crease for a great 'peppermint chip' eye look (see my representation here if you like!)

Lastly I went for that cliché holiday red with the Revlon Balm Stain in Adore (original post here) which is a gorgeous deep red with a minty kick that I adore. Mumma Bovary wears this shade quite a bit and inspired me to pull mine back out from the Revlon lip drawer and give it yet another whirl as I get myself pumped for Christmas.

When did you last shop your own stash?

Has anything from the 2015 holiday collections caught your eye?

Are you already pumped for Christmas?

-Emma

Beauty News // Shop + Report

Though I’m just back from a weekend away with Chris for our 5^th anniversary, I kept true to my title of beauty blogger and had my eyes peeled for new beauty news in the area while we were away. I thought it might be helpful to share some of the exciting beauty news with you all, and if you would like to keep up to date with the news faster add me on Instagram (@emmabovary) or Twitter (@emmabovaryblog)

 We spent Friday wandering around Rosebud, and I was elated to see tickets on the shelf and space cleared for some of my most loved French skincare brands! Uriage, Bioderma and La Roche Posay make some products that really work for me, and I can’t wait for these brands to roll out across all Priceline stores so everyone can take advantage of some lovely French skincare. For those who are yet to try any of these brands, I would recommend these products:

Uriage

Eye cream

Day Cream

Facial Spray

Bioderma

Crealine H2O

Facial Scrub

La Roche Posay

Effaclar Duo

I’m planning on picking up another tube of LRP Effaclar Duo as mine has just run out, some Bioderma H2O and a new moisturiser or sunscreen from LRP as well.

Speaking of exciting Priceline developments, they have finally rolled out Hydraluron and Eysilix (which I was very happy to receive from Priceline!) and us Aussie’s now have regular access to some top notch skincare. For information about the famed Hydraluron (which will no doubt sell out fast so run!) see the amazing Caroline Hirons, who is always recommending it as a serum to use underneath moisturiser to lock in hydration. It retails for $35 AUD- if you have tried it, let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below!

It is becoming quite evident that I don’t mind a gander in a pharmacy, fair to say? I was in Rosebud Terry White when I spotted a new Bubblegum themed nail collection from Revlon, including the famous Whimsical nail polish that I have had in my saved searches on eBay forever! I also ended up getting Girly from the same collection, and I am mighty pleased with both shades.

The new range of Ulta3 nail polishes have also been spotted at a few pharmacies (including TW Rosebud) and I grabbed a few of the shimmer + glitter shades, one of which was the amazing black + white dotted topcoat called Stop the Press. For a mere $2 these polishes are great quality and some of the shades are really unique, so I highly recommend picking up a few if you can.

Do you have any beauty news to share?

What is the latest beauty item you’ve purchased?

 

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?

Instagramming #2

Queen Helene, saving me from spots // Flash byJimmy Choo, having a nosy around the Myer Fragance Hall // New IntenseHydration range from BB is mighty tempting // Checking out the new Maybellinemakeup remover

Party animal on a Saturday night // Australis Pout Paste– dare I say, an OCC Lip Tar drugstore equivalent? // First time trying Ben& Jerry’s!

Sweet Valentine gestures // A bright blush face of the daywith Illamasqua Morale // What I Wore for Valentine’s Day date night //Some much loved products that are copping a hiding this week

Froyo time, favourite topping was the popping mango balls //Bargains filling up my basket // Oogling the new Rimmel duochrome nailshades at Priceline // Revlon Honey & L’Oreal The Muse’s Blush-apicture so nice you saw it twice ;)

 

It has been a while since my first Instagramming blog post,so I thought I would update you with what has been happening over there! If you’dlike to follow me, my name is emmabovaryon Instagram.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend, I’d love to hear yourplans in the comments below!

Last Haul of 2012

 

Happy New Year to all of my beautiful readers, I sincerely hope that 2013 holds great things for all of you! I thought I would make my first post for the year a haul post, showing you the things I picked up during the few days after Christmas, my final purchases for 2012.

 

Chris and I spent NYE AM at Chadstone looking at handbag options for my birthday, and he treated me to a Burberry shadow I’d been interested in for a while. Rosewood is such a stunning colour, I’ll be sure to have a full post on this along with swatches of Pale Barley as well. The Burberry SA was also nice enough to apply Rosewood in store for me, and popped a sample of the concealer in with the eyeshadow. The Covergirl palette was a sneaky supermarket basket treat, and Maybelline’s Sparkling Wine was a cosmetic warehouse bargain.

I hardly ever buy from Lush, but when their 50% off sale rolls around I make it my mission to try some of their products. I needed a new lip scrub so Sweet Lips is now mine, and I also grabbed two bath melts as I’ve never tried a bath melt before! You’ve Been Mangoed and Melting Snowman were my picks.

Even though the last thing I need is more polish, these were $2 each and I couldn’t resist. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in 480 The Real Teal and 460 Wet Cement, K.K polish in 30 and 21.

I’ve always wanted to try the Maybelline palette in Designer Chocolates, and the lipstick in Juicy Bubblegum. Okay, I’ll admit the awesome lipstick packaging drew me right in! 50% off at Chemist Warehouse, sounds good to me! Rimmel Match Perfection Cream Gel Foundation in Ivory is something I’ve used up once before, and was elated to see it on the discount shelf at my local factory outlet.

The last things I purchased in 2012 were some new cheap baubles to dress up my plain clothes. I want to start wearing more costume jewellery this year, I tend to just stick to my regular old diamonds but I’d like to start changing it up a bit! These were heavily discounted from Equip.

What was the last thing you purchased in 2012?

 

 

Revlon Haul (including Myer GWP!)

I’d had my eye on a few things from Revlon, and I generally like to wait until they have a good sale on or a worthwhile promotion before I hand over the money. As luck would have it, Myer has a great gift with purchase (GWP) on right now until Christmas Eve, and you get a choice of two metallic clutches filled with products when you spend over $39.95. I chose to pick up the new Colorstay Whipped foundation (150 Buff) as I’d read a few blog reviews and they seemed positive, and I threw in the Colorstay eyeshadow quad in Siren to bring the purchase up to the correct amount. I ended up spending around $60 AUD, which is not bad when you consider how much I got in the clutch as well.

 

 

I chose the blue clutch set as I like the look of the palette and gloss more than the items in the other pack, even though that bag is more attractive. Ever since the Colorstay quads were released I’d had my eye on them, but since I’ve indulged in the beauty that is high-end eyeshadows, I was afraid I would be disappointed with the pigmentation. I haven’t had too much of a play around with them, but since I received the Addictive neutral quad and am now the owner of 2 palettes, I will be sure to let you know how I get on. I was happy with initial instore swatches, so only time will tell. The Colorburst gloss in Orchid is a pretty purple toned pink filled with shimmer, and as a lover of most Revlon lip offerings, no doubt I will love this gloss and it will fall into my regular beauty line up for summer.

The clutch also holds a Colorstay nail enamel in 280 Blue Slate, a PhotoReady 3D Volume mascara in Blackest Black and a PhotoReady Perfecting Primer sample. The clutches contents are valued at over $99, and I think it is a pretty good deal if you are thinking of picking up something from Revlon anyway, or would like to get a Christmas gift from there and pick up a bonus for your efforts!

 

If you were telling someone about Revlon and they had never heard of them before, what would you recommend they try?

 

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!

 

 

Cheek Week // blushes that graced my face

I've been rotating the same group of cheek shades this month, now that I'm getting up early each morning for work the less choices the easier it is choose. Essential for work days are long-lasting, easy to wear shades, hence my cream-centric choices!

I picked up all three of the new Revlon Photoready Cream blushes when they launched in Australia a few weeks ago, and I posted a full photo-heavy post on them earlier this month! I've used the pale peach Pinched most out of the lot, and though it is a very pale colour I can get away with it if I build it up. Flushed is a nice pop of pink for these spring days, and Coral Reef goes really well with the gloss of the same name.

The longest lasting blush I own is the YSL Creme de Blush in Powdery Rose, which also happens to be my very favourite blush. The texture is second to none and I feel put together whenever I wear this shade. Though I hardly wear bronzer, I do go through stages where bronzer is an everyday appearance. I have been using the Clinique SuperBalanced Powder Bronzer, it's one of those nifty ones that you shave a fresh slice off each time you use it. I like the way it looks on my skin (I use the lightest shade) and it lasts well on my skin, as it absorbs oil and is mineral.

I am enjoying the fresh look that my cream blushes leave on my cheeks, but I've recently picked up a few new cheek products so will be switching them in in the next couple of days. The Clinique bronzer is staying in my everyday stash as I've been loving the healthier look it gives me, but I won't be bringing it to Sydney with me as it's just too bulky for light travel.

What has graced your cheeks lately?

Are you as obsessed with blushes as I am?!

*The Clinique bronzer was provided for review, which doesn't affect my opinion of the product. Honesty, always.