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?

 

Beach House

Some old favourites, some new products from my collection and a free morning at the beach house.

Chopped the poor fiance out of this one, cheeky!

Flamingo was one of the lipsticks I purchased from the Iris Apfel for MAC collection, and a few of you mentioned that you wanted to see more of it so here you go! My original post with swatches is here.

The pas des copper eye souffle from essence (haul here) is something I've been using under my neutral eye looks quite a bit, and I think it's going to look great underneath the new Illamasqua neutral palette as well. (Click here for a FOTD with the eye souffle paired with Bronx from Illamasqua.) This time around I used the eye souffle by itself with a lick of mascara, liquid liner and a shimmery shadow for a highlight, because I couldn't be bothered doing anything complicated while we were away.

Benefit Hervana was the only blush I took away with me, and I was hoping it would become my new NYX Peach, aka staple in my collection. I like it, but I'm not sure whether or not I love it on my face yet. It sure is pretty though! The Garnier concealer is actually Chris', and he stole it back not long after I took these photos. His skincare products are really appealing to me lately, they're just so quick and easy to use!

pas des copper is really pretty, I think it's a great product for a subtle eye look as well as the full on bronze smokey eyes I like to do. Nice and versatile, and worth grabbing if you can find one in store.

Do you wear makeup when you spend lazy weekends away?

Do you play around with crazy looks, or go bare faced

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me, except for the Face of Australia liquid liner. Honesty, always.

copper and beige : : a FOTD featuring essence, Illamasqua and YSL

I really wanted to crack out my essence pas des copper eye souffle (post here) and show you how it faired. I like wearing this by itself over MAC Painterly paint pot (review here) but I wanted something a little more striking today, so applied a little bit of my favourite bronze Illamasqua Bronx over the top.

I have been having so much trouble with my skin lately, it has gone from it's previous dry and dehydrated state to being oily and dehydrated, so I've been using my BareMinerals powder foundations a lot more recently.

I have no idea where my Model's Prefer Glitz and Glamour highlighter (review here) has gone, and so have turned to using this Revlon Colorstay Mineral Finishing Powder in Brighten as a highlight atop my cheekbones. I layer it on quite a bit as it's a much more natural finish than the Model's Prefer. I've actually fallen in love with another highlighter which I am reviewing soon, it's amaazing so keep your eyes peeled.

As you can see the look is still quite subtle as I was light handed with the eye makeup, but I like the way it looks and happily wore it to work. I generally wear bright makeup to work as they are quite encouraging, but this more typical work-appropriate look would be nice for the office, in my opinion.

Trialling this new Australis Lash Length Extension mascara and I must say, I'm loving it. Drugstore win, and it must also be mentioned that Australis is really picking up their game lately, I am very impressed. The Mirenesse Hydra Gel Eye Liner in Black Caviar is something I've been using for a while now, I will have to get around to reviewing it soon.

Since hitting pan on my staple blush NYX Peach, I've switched over to another blush as an 'everyday' blush choice. Benefit Hervana is a swirl of colours which leave a peachy pink tone to my cheeks, and I find it really wearable. I'm not as in love with it as I thought I'd be, but I do like it.

My lipstick love of late is YSL's Rouge Volupte in 1 Nude Beige. It's such a gorgeous nude that leans pink, and I've been wearing it to death lately. I have a review coming up of this one, too.

I wish the Rouge Volupte ends looked like the display models, it would be so much nicer!

A close up view of my bronze eye look.

The completed look! I love the way the YSL 1 Nude Beige perks up my face but is able to be paired with bright, dark or neutral eyes. I am loving delving into my collection and finding gems like the ones I've used in this FOTD.

What gems have you found lately?

Have you tried the YSL Rouge Volupte formula?

What do you think of my FOTD?

A Giant Benefit Haul

I had seen Hervana online and since I'd been looking for a new pink blush to depend on, she became it. Sadly, being in Australia means we have to wait an eternity for products to hit our shores. I decided to make my first order from the U.S. Benefit online store, which had free shipping when you spend $95 (normally free when you spend $115) Candice wanted a few things, too, so we combined our order and ended up spending just under $150.

I've never tried the Benefit Creaseless cream eyeshadows before, and when I saw this brand new golden shade Farenheit Fab I decided I would give it a crack. I recently realised I have a shortage of gold in my cosmetic collection, so I'm working on rectifying that.

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Knew I needed to try the new They're Real mascara after hearing raves from some of my favourite bloggers, including a YouTube review from Amarixe here!

I ummed and aaahed over which boxed blush to choose in my order, I was contemplating Coralista and Chris voted for it as well, but I went with my gut instinct and chose Dallas instead. It's a plummy sort of shade, and reminds me of Nars Sin a little. I love blushes like this on my fair skin, so I'll see how I go.

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Candice purchased the High Beam highlighter, and the Pocket Pal Benetint which is in pen form and contains their classic Benetint with a clear gloss on the other end. You are able to choose two samples with your order, and I chose the Stay Don't Stray shadow and concealer primer for Candice and the Hello Flawless powder cover-up for myself. (I don't have any pictures of Candice's items, she will have them up on her blog when she reviews them!) 

*

So this is how you receive a pressed powder sample! It's a sheet of it pressed onto the cardboard, with a cute little powder puff included.
Now, onto the reason for the haul, the beautiful Hervana blush!

*cue angels singing*

Could this be any cuter? It smells like lollies and has four shades in a pinwheel design, and the box says the blush has good karma! I'm elated to have this in my hot little hands, and to have saved money overall despite hauling all of these beauties. I've shown the price comparisons below so you can see what you'd save if you chose to buy from the online U.S store as opposed to a counter in Australia.

Hervana/Dallas: $28 USD each / $51 AUD
They're Real mascara: $22 USD / $38 AUD
Creaseless Cream: $19 USD / $35 AUD
Pocket Pal: $20 USD / $39 AUD
High Beam: $26 USD / $45 AUD
Total haul: $143
What I would've paid here? $259

The price difference between countries is quite astounding, and makes me think about how expensive cosmetics in Australia really are.

Do you have a favourite from Benefit?
What do you think of the price differences?
Are you lemming Hervana,too?

Friday fawnings

the birthday money edition

Benefit Hervana, Elie Saab parfum, YSL lippies and lots of them, z-palette for my depotting and pressing adventures, MAC Snob and Patisserie, Urban Decay Naked2 to pair with them, Jimmy Choo Parfum to snuggle in.

I may or may not have already ordered some of these, and may or may not be heading on a shopping spree tomorrow for a few of them.

happy friday!

tell me what you're fawning over this week?