my beauty valentine...

Beauty bloggers, I know you get that feeling. You're eyes lock, your heart quickens, and your palms begin to sweat. You reach out, breathing heavily, and try to grasp for that beautiful shadow/blush/lipstick.
Once it hits your face, it's even better.

My Valentine this year, apart from zee fiance, is this bad boy:

my treasure, indeed

I have quite the collection of L'Oreal Infallible shadows, and find the texture to be incredibly smooth and buttery when applied. They come with an insert which keeps the loose powder compact, and I apply this shade, Sahara Treasure, with a dense synthetic brush all over the lid.

You can tell I wear it almost all of the time, right? But there is nothing nicer than seeing a well-loved product.

I wear MAC paint pot in Painterly under this, and find that it's deep enough to be a stand alone shade, but the way it glints champagne in certain lights makes it look like you've put in more effort than you actually have.

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A neutral with a lot of sexy sheen!

Looks quite light here, the sun coming in from the window caught the champagne sheen.

I'm just head over heels for both the Infallible formula and this shade. I was so happy when Chris bought me some for Christmas, and this one was a random that he chose so it's even better! I'll be sharing my Infallible collection (yes I have enough for it to be a collection!) soon. I also have a FOTD coming up which features Sahara Treasure, so look out for that.

What is your beauty valentine?
A Chanel cherie? A Dior darling? A beautiful balm?
Tell me the one product that's making your heart beat fast!

one of my other loves

When I began emmabovarybeauty, my intent was to fill the online pages with all of the things I loved in life- food, beauty and adventure included. As most of you would know, it is now primarily beauty based, with some snippets of my life thrown in whenever the mood hits. I find beauty in cosmetics and it is definitely a major passion of mine, but I also find joy in things some might find mundane... 

One of the big things that brings beauty into my everyday life is always tucked into my handbag next to my powders and glosses-stunning stationary! My love for 'back to school' season cemented my nerd status among my family, but nothing filled me with more joy than perusing the stationary isle to choose my new school notebooks and pens. This love hasn't waned as I've grown, and has actually intensified since this newcomer hit the block...

TYPO!

Pure heaven for stationary lovers, Typo is a cheeky concept from the Cotton On group that is a favourite of mine. They constantly refresh stock so each visit will bring new items to add to your wishlist, and the best part is their reasonable price tags. They stock such items as laptop bag (which are great, Candice has one) desk clocks, folders and dividers, notebooks and diaries, stamps and canvas prints among a range of other things. They always have French themed goodies which set my heart aflutter the most.



A Parisian Dreamer indeed

The notebooks are very sturdy yet still flexible and fit really well in even my smaller handbags. They have an elasticated closure to keep any notes you place inside safe, and as you can see the designs are gorgeous! One of my most recent aquisitions is the notebook above, in which I write list after list after list as well as any blog related information. I always have it on me, I'm one of those people ;)

 Just a small selection of some of my spinout notebooks. I use them for uni and for writing exercises, I adore them. The small spinout notebooks retail for $4.95 each but you can pick up 3 for $10 which make them even cheaper.

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On my last trip to Typo I saw these little self inking 'tramp stamps' at the registers and couldn't say no to the little one that said 'bonjour'. It was only $2.95AUD and they also had a cute moustache stamp among heaps of others.

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Typo is one of the first spots Candice and I hit when we go out shopping together, and I love that they are an affordable way for me to nourish my stationary love.
Are you a fellow stationary lover?
Have you picked up any favourites from Typo?

(These items were all purchased by me and I am in no way being compensated for my review (though it would be a dream come true if I was!) ) 

Viva La Colour with Kit Cosmetics!

I was lucky enough to be invited along to Kit Cosmetics to get my face made over, to celebrate the Mexican-inspired Viva La Colour collection they have instore. I went along with the beautiful Melissa , who has also blogged about the experience here. Kit is always one of my first stops when I visit the city, the staff are super helpful without being pushy and the range is kept fresh. The store stocks the Kit brand as well as other winners such as Mario Badescu, Smashbox and Too Faced. If you have never been into a Kit before, try and swing by- it's amazing in there!

Products in the Viva La Colour collection

My gorgeous MUA Caitlin was rocking a seriously bright face, including a fuschia lip using a lippy from the collection. I chose to incorporate bright eyes as well, but with a tangerine lip to mix it up a bit.


The empty Kit stand, as we were using most of the goodies!



My skin was cleansed-toned-moisturised before the fun began!



The base being applied.

I have the biggest lemming for the new foundation Caitlin chose for me, the new Mineral Liquid Powder Foundation ($44.95) I was matched to the shade Light, and I found that my flakies weren't accentuated and my skin looked great well into the night. Very impressed with the kabuki that was used, it was so soft I sighed when my foundation was being applied!

Colour was introduced

I was fascinated with the yellow that Caitlin had used on Melissa before me, and so we used that paired with the pink above, and lined the lower lashline with the purple from the top of the image. I don't usually choose purple for my eyes, so was happy that Caitlin had made me branch out.

'Wow Factor' eyeshadow



The completed look!



Caitlin, Melissa and Moi



A dopey face, but how bright is that shadow! Squee!



Flash made me super-shiny, looked much better in person. Was at home at this point, hence the change in lighting.

 

Caitlin and myself, in front of the gorgeous Viva La Colour stand

At the end of my makeover Caitlin asked what my two favourite products were, and wrapped them up for me! I chose the cheek and lip duo I'd been lemming for ages, and the Fire Lighter lipstick.


My beautiful gifts!



Fire Lighter and 'Pretty Cheeky' duo

Overall the whole experience was wonderful, and reminded me that bright makeup doesn't have to be scary and intimidating. With the right technique you can pull off looks you have always dreamed of, but you never know if you don't try! A big thank you to the EGPR beauties, Caitlin and the Kit team for having me.
emmabovary xx

*All images were taken with my camera and belong to me. I was a guest of EGPR and Kit Cosmetics for this event, and though I was kindly gifted two products it in no way affects my review of the experience.

Essence-Return to Paradise

Introducing a brand that I have a huge cosmetic-crush on right now- ESSENCE!
A German brand, this is what they have to say about themselves:

Essence cosmetics, the must have in beauty: trends, fun, unique – but never expensive! With a striking range of quality cosmetics, essence is the ultimate brand for all beauty queens.

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I've always thought this brand was a cutie-patootie, but could never get my hands on more than a few items at my local Priceline. I then saw that my local Target had the new range!!

Return to Paradise



 Essence stand at Target 



Essence Return to Paradise display





I picked up a few items from the collection, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have since returned twice to pick up more from both this range and their permanent range. Gorgeous products at crazily affordable prices are my weakness, it seems! All of these hover around the $5 mark, which is awesome.



Essence Oil Control Paper



Essence Oil Control Paper packaging

These papers retail for less than $5 from memory, and I've found them to be great to touch up with during the day. The slim packaging fits into my makeup bag with ease, and they leave no residue on the skin after use.

Essence Shimmer Powder in Flamingo Pink

I have a huge crush on this product, I love it so much that I've already picked up a back-up (darn limited editions!) A separate post on this is warranted, and will be up next week. It's love, guys.

 LOVE!

$5.95



Essence Teal Liquid Liner

A gorgeous colour that I couldn't resist, the super fine line applies well on hand. Am yet to try on eyes, will include this in a FOTD soon.



Essence Trio palette



Essence palette with swatches



Pigmented and smooth, these are great for the price though the packaging is slightly bulky, it's nothing too major. Love all of these colours, especially when paired together.

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The packaging and design of this limited edition range is ace, such summery looks that are brightening up my winter mornings. I highly recommend Essence and suggest you head down to your local stockist to peruse this fabulous new collection (if I haven't hauled it all up already!)

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Bourke Street Priceline down in Melbourne has a decent Essence range, though no limited edition collection as yet. Find more stockists at the Essence Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/essence?v=app_6009294086#!/pages/Essence-AU/162437847112357

emmabovary xx