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)

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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 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.

On the Lips // ft. Burberry, Chanel, MAC +

I came across this post on Get Lippie and thought it would be a good idea to share with you the lip colours I've been wearing this past week or so.

 Without thinking, this week I have been wearing very autumn/winter appropriate lip colours. Looking at the swatches, I noticed I have been wearing juicier/glossier lip looks, perhaps subconsciously trying to keep my lips hydrated in this moisture-sucking weather. I have mixed up the brands but leant towards mid to high end without realising it. More swatches at the end of the post!

 

 

Natural lighting.

I dabble in lip gloss but always come back to lipstick, and these are the chosen ones this week. Natural Compatibles Berry* is probably my second favourite lipstick EVER (second to Viva Glam Cyndi) and I have no idea why I haven't blogged about it before. It makes me feel like I can take on the world, best feeling ever. Chanel's Rouge Coco Shine in Boy  leans quite mauve on me so I find it nice for this sort of weather. I've been wearing this to work quite a bit in an effort to use it up, I just know how great the feeling will be when I finish the first Chanel product I ever bought, and I'm gunning for it!

Taken with flash!

MAC's Plumful is, funnily enough, a plum lipstick which is so flattering on my pale skin. I find it so easy to wear and it makes my lips look so smooth and flake free. The final lipstick I've been reaching for a ton this week is my Burberry Lip Mist in Copper, which was a GWP in this haul. So glossy and even though it is a colour I never would have chosen for myself, I feel like it is a nude shade that really does suit me.

Smashbox's lipgloss in Tease is a raspberry shade that was applied on me during a makeover and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make it mine. I bought this mini size and adore the formulation, and this week I wore this over Plumful when we had an early Fathers Day dinner at home. Chanel's Troublant is nothing short of amazing, I cannot fault the shade or formulation as it is out of this world. Review and FOTD is here. The final lip product is the new Sally Hansen Vita-E Lip Soother in Vanilla. The scent is delicious and it is such a juicy formulation, plus the packaging is really cute.

Which shade stands out to you most?

What has been on your lips?

 

*Sent for consideration, but as I said it is one of my favourites and it is awesome! Honesty, always.

February Favourites (Holiday Edition!)

For the better part of February I spend my days lounging around a resort in Thailand, soaking up sun (slathered in SPF of course!) and enjoying quite a few blue cocktails. My favourites have a distinctly tropical feel, naturally.

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My Thailand staple scent has always been MOR's Lychee Roll-On Oil* (review here)so I made sure it came along with me on this trip. I enjoyed Tresor Midnight Rose quite a bit also, it seemed to suit the humid climate better than it suits Melbourne weather for me.

Basic face was all I could muster due to high heat and water activities, so I leant on my sample of Invisible Zinc Tinted Daywear which has an SPF of 30+. I set this with powder as it is quite thick and shiny in appearance, but the coverage was perfect for me and I really enjoyed using this! I scrubbed my face (and Chris') a fair bit so that the residual creams didn't build up and clog pores, and took along my sample of Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant for the job. I am still undecided as to whether I like my Alpha-H exfoliant better as this one smells much more strongly, but it worked amazingly on this trip so it made it into my favourites. The Ardell brow gel was a must, my brows have been nuts lately.

This holiday was definitely all about the lips! I didn't mind having bare eyes while away (which surprised me) but with all the photos being taken of me, I needed a pop of colour on my lips to look alive. I found these shades a lot of fun, and will keep wearing them now that I'm home.

The Estee Lauder Berry gloss came from a travel set that Chris' Mum bought a few holidays ago and shared with me. I wear it all the time, it's so flattering and non-sticky. This is what I wore when I couldn't be bothered thinking. The Hissyfit Lip Service is the bomb, I felt great knowing that my lips AND my face were protected with SPF30+ and Chris used this every now and again too (when the Softlips went walkabout. FYI, he broke two this holiday ><)

Revlon Coral Reef is amazing, but you should already know that. I took Smashbox Overexposed gloss(review here) because it can never leave my sight, I love it that much. Plain lips with a vanillery amazingness is necessary on holiday, ya know.

These mini MAC glosses came from the limited edition Christmas bauble for the season just gone, I am so happy I picked it up. Like Venus Dazzleglass is a sparkly pink gloss chock-ful of pink and golden sparkles, with a distinctly purple tinge to it. Petite Indulgence Cremesheen Glass is a lovely formulation, and a mid tone pink shade which suits me so well, if I do say so myself. Compliments were thrown at me every time I wore this, so it had to be in my favourites.

Topshop eye shadow in Mercury is one that I wore when out at night in Thailand, and it definitely deserves it's own review. In short, it's amazing, and makes me feel like a million dollars when I wear it.

What is your dream holiday destination?

Have you tried any of my favourites?

Girls On Film!

Smashbox are a company that I have a soft spot for, as I think that they consistently create meaningful and interesting collections with high quality products. One of their recent releases is no different, with a theme built around the idea of a studio and the act of capturing, you guessed it, girls on film! The palettes and liners look really nice, and I was kindly sent a gloss in Overexposed to try. The natural toned gloss and cinematic theme got me thinking about my favourite film stars of recent years, and the first gorgeous girl that popped into my mind was Kate Hudson. I think she would adore this Smashbox gloss from this collection, she tends to rock nude style lips with a bit of a smoky eye and this fits the bill perfectly.

love the film tie in with the product names- a cinema students dream!

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a shot in artificial light to demonstrate how peachy this can be

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As this is a sheer colour gloss, it doesn't provide a strong pigment but washes the lip with a glossy peachy pink tint that is ultra flattering. This has hardly left my handbag since I received it, as I find it is the best gloss to pop on without a mirror and have on the run because it would suit so many looks. I have a stack of strong coloured glosses in my collection, and this little beauty was something I really needed for that everyday lip look. I've shown it above next to Nars Turkish Delight to demonstrate how peachy it is in comparison- I think that is what makes it so naturally wearable.

Not as opaque as Turkish Delight, and much more of a peachy pink shade when compared to the candy floss pink of Nars. I find that I reach for my Smashbox gloss a lot more than shades like Turkish Delight because though I do like it, it doesn't go with everything the way Overexposed does.

The gloss is quite thick and has a sort of waxy feel in its slight stickiness, but compared to super sticky glosses (MAC Dazzleglasses, etc) it is much more comfortable on the lip. I have a few lipglosses from Smashbox, and I love them all so I feel confident in that aspect of the brand. The smell of this gloss is phenomenal, it reminds me of the well-known vanilla smell that MAC lip products have, but this has something else to it, perhaps a caramelly edge, which makes it a joy to reapply during the day. I would highly recommend this gloss if you don't mind a bit of stick in your glosses and are a fan of moreish scents in your lip products.
*
Overexposed retails for $26.95AUD and is available from Kit Cosmetics (link here) in Australia. Search for international Smashbox stockists here!

*This product was provided for consideration for review from EGPR, which in no way affects my opinion or review of the item. Honesty, always.

Burlesque!

I was lucky enough to win a Kit Cosmetics/Smashbox competition this week, that saw me watching Burlesque before the masses in the beautiful director's suite in Melbourne Central. The venue was a great choice, central and great for public transport. Having never been to the directors suite up there I was pleasantly surprised to see myself in what looked like a bar and Kit Cosmetics combined!

Sipping at my complimentary white wine and ogling the AMAAAZING shoes the Kit girls were rocking, I was pulled up to have my make-up touched up. I took along Christopher's brothers gf, and she was beyond excited to get her mini makeover! Here's what was popped on me (permanent collection was used):
* Pink blush of unknown name, with Fan Brush No.22 which was oh so soft!($26.95)
* Champagne shadow
* Khaki shadow in my crease
* Jet Set Waterproof Eyeline (gel,$32.95) with Arched Eye Liner Brush No.21 ($29.95)
*Lip Enhancing Gloss Sheer Colour in Tease, which is a sheer raspberry that I have fallen in love with and NEED to have ($26.95)

The Kit girls were kind enough to hand out goodie bags, which contained:
*Burlesque Fisnets (Legs by Jonathan Aston, fishnet backseam hold up in black&gold)
*Sample size O-Gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss
*Sample size photo finish primer
*Sample size Photo Op Under Eye Brightener

As well as an invitation to visit the girls in Kit for a Burlesque inspired makeover.Image nabbed from Musings of a Muse

After all the lovely ladies had their new faces on, we walked up the spiral staircase to the cinema itself. I could get used to pushing a button and having my seat recline, let me tell you that right now. A complimentary choc-top/popcorn was offered (popcorn, natch!) and the lights dimmed.

I won't ruin Burlesque for you, but trust me, it's a film you have to see! I found everyone and everything in it so beautiful and mesmerising, my concentration never wavered and it's something I would love to own on DVD. I agree with others I heard who said that it was better than Moulin Rouge. Let me know if you agree?

Big thanks to Kit, Smashbox and Burlesque for hosting an entertaining night=)