June Favourites

Hi Pretties

It is time for my June favourites!

This month as I was on Project X Pan I had a really good chance to 'shop my stash' and some of my favourites were some old products I revisited.

You can check out the video of my favourites here!

Or you can read about them!

My first favourite of June is a product that has been in my collection for quite a while but I am just getting back to using.  This is the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder in translucent.  I went off this a little when I purchased my Mac MSN as it was new and exciting, but while doing PXP I started using up and old foundation that had quite a dewy look to it and looked awful with the dewiness of the Mac MSN.  So I pulled out the old fav and I still love it.  I've just hit pan on it too but I will be repurchasing when it is done as it is a great powder to have in your collection.

Secondly I have a repeat favourite from last month I am still in love with and using nearly everyday.  It's Benefits Thrrrob.  I love this blush so much I can't stop gushing over it every day.  It is the perfect cool toned pink for my skin tone (pale) and the perfect wintery colour.

My third favourite for the month is a blush brush by Coastal Scents that I received in my 22 piece brush set.  This brush set is fantastic value for money at only $34 USD plus shipping and I love every single brush in the set.  This blush brush in particularly I have been raving over this month as it is super soft and dense enough to give you a light application or even a heavier application of colour if that is what you are after.

I received my Naked Palette and my Inglot palette in April so May was consumed by those and I neglected my other eyeshadows but this month I pulled out Mac's Naked Lunch again and I have been loving wearing this all over the lid with just some black eyeliner and mascara for a quick and easy work look.  It is such a nice subtle colour that it doesn't require any blending to look fantastic.

My last favourite is a Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart.  When I first purchased my lip butters this was not one of my favourites.  It was pretty, but I didn't love it.  Now out of my 5 lip butters it is my absolute favourite and I am using it up too quickly!  Two swipes of this across the lips gives a hint of colour to the lips where 4 or 5 swipes gives a beautiful hot pink colour that is not tacky at all as some shades like that can be.  I will repurchase and repurchase this until they stop making I think.

So those are my favourites for June.

What are your June favourites?

May Favourites

It's May Favourites time!

This month I have all but one new product and an oldie but a goodie.

Nivea Essentials lip balm

This is a long time favourite of mine.  Many times repurchased.  It smells like baby powder, is super moisturising and smooth and gives nice shine.  I randomly purchased the Blistex complete moisture lip balms last time as they were on a super special and I'm glad to get back to my old favourite!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

This product needs no introduction.........

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfecting BB Cream


This is not a true BB cream.  It's a tinted moisturiser so if you purchase this please don't expect it to be like the Asian or German BB creams.  None the less I really like this product.  I've never liked a tinted moisturiser before this one and while the critics say it is oily and shiny I feel that your technique in applying this makes all the difference.  I apply moisturiser, wait 5 minutes, stipple and blend my BB cream, wait 5 minutes and then powder.  I find these little time breaks very important in applying this cream.  While the colour is a tiny bit too dark for me it still works well.

Benefit Thrrrob blush


This blush is a beautiful cool toned baby pink.  It's what I hoped Mac's Well Dressed would be.  It took me 5 weeks to get my Benefit order from the US but it was well worth the wait.

Coastal Scents 110 Bionic Flat Top Buffer


This brush was on clearance on the Coastal Scents website for $6.98 so I grabbed it when I purchased my 22 piece brush set.  OMG I have no idea why.  This is the best brush I have ever owned/tried/bought.  I use it to stipple and blend out foundation and it gives the most flawless airbrushed finish.  It is soft and dense and everything you want a brush like this to be.  If I can recommend one thing to you it is get this brush before it disappears!


What are your favourites for May?

Project X Pan

Hi Pretties

Yup, it's time.  I need to do a Project X Pan.  I have loads of things I need to use up and I really feel like my collection is 'complete' at the moment, so I decided it's time to get rid of these things that I'm just not really using that I've been hanging on to for a while.  I might also save some money!

PXP

For those who don't know, Project X Pan is a challenge to yourself where you choose 10 items from you beauty collection and put yourself on a spending ban until you have used up all 10 items.  10 items emptied means 1 new item.  It's a great way for those with a large collection or just those with a lot of odds and ends to use up some things that are just hanging around unnecessarily.

I kind of feel like I'm cheating a little with my PXP as some of these items are almost done, but hey, its MY challenge and I'll do it however I like :-)

Skin items chosen

Nutrimetics Clear Deep Cleansing Exfoliant - 1/8 remaining

Palmers Line Smoothing Eye Cream - 1/8 remaining

Bellamer Eye Balm Sample - 1/2 remaining

Bioderma Make Up Remover - 7/8 remaining

Hair items chosen

Chi Silk Infusion - 1/4 remaining

Make up items chosen

Maybelline Mineral Powder Foundation - 1/4 remaining

Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation Sample - 7/8 remaining

Loreal Matte Morphose Foundation - Scrapings really

Perfume

Calvin Klein Sheer Beauty Sample - 1/2 remaining

DKNY Pure Sample - 1/8 remaining

I'm estimating two months to complete.  I hope sooner!!

Have you done Project X Pan?

Sunday night haul - 2 weeks worth!

Hi my pretties

So I LOVE Sunday night haul night, but I missed out last week as I was in Melbourne!  So I have a pretty big haul to show you this week.  Two whole weeks worth of purchases including my Melbourne purchases and a few goodies have turned up I ordered ages ago, and some freebies turned up too.  I also got my first Lust Have It this week so it has been a really big one!

Here we go.....

So I guess I'll start at the top left and work my way across and down;

Inglot False Eyelashes
1000 Hour Natural Lashes in Nobel Black
Furless Cosmetics Bamboo travel brush set
FOA Barbados Nail Enamel in I Like To Mauve It
FOA Barbados Nail Enamel in Calypso - Gold
FOA Barbados Nail Enamel in You Blue Me Away
FOA Barbados Nail Enamel in Another Daiquiri Please
Eyeshadow brush from $2 shop
Furless Cosmetics Brush (I have no idea what sort it was a freebie with my order)
Urban Decay Naked palette
Inglot Palette with Matte 355, Matte 357, Matte 326, Pearl 423, Matte 334 (Inglot Experience blog post)
Urban Decay Primer Potion sample
Covergirl Wetslicks in Peaches N Gleam
BYS lipgloss in Ruby Red (BYS - stepping up in the game? blog post)
Blush Amour lipgloss/liner (freebie)
Loreal Base Magique primer (freebie)
Rimnel eyebrow pencil in 001 Dark Brown
Mirenesse Tight Liner in Caviar Black (freebie)
BYS palette in Summer Sheen
Benefit Bronzer in Hoola
Benefit Blush in Thrrrob
BYS blush in Pretty in Pink

Also this week I received my Lust Have It!

(May Lust Have It blog post)

So that is my beauty purchases for the past fortnight, some freebies, and a couple of things I had ordered a while ago (cough Benefit 5 week shipping time cough).  I also had a few other exciting purchases this weekend.  I have a new make up storage set up!  Some time this week I'll be making a video on that.  Yup that's right, a video.  I don't feel like I can give you guys the full experience in just a blog post so I'll be uploading a video to my blog.


Also please don't forget my blog now has a Facebook page.  I'd love for you guys to follow :)

FACEBOOK PAGE

Hope you guys all had a great weekend!

What have you hauled this week?

Blush and Bronzer Collection

Hi Pretties As I said in my make up storage post I'll be gradually showing you my collection in more detail.  You can view my nail polish collection here!  I've been waiting on one last product to come so I could show you my FAVOURITE collection.  My blush collection!  I'm not hugely into bronzer, but I've thrown those in this post too.

Now that's the full collection!  There is a mix of cheaper and higher end products there and I have to say my favourites are not necessarily the most expensive ones!

Bronzers


As I said, I'm not overly into bronzer, and some of these I have had for YEARS, but I'll still reach for them in summer.

Face Of Australia - Outback Bronze
Benefit - Hoola
Covergirl - 315 Soleil
Designer Brands - No name

Mac Blushes


Top row
Melba (Matte)
Fleur Power (Satin)

Bottom Row
Springsheen (Sheertone Shimmer)
Well Dressed (Satin)

Miscellaneous Brands


BYS - Pretty in Pink
Models Prefer - Desk to Date
Face of Australia - Primrose
Australis - Poser
Benefit - Thrrrob







That's my collection.  My favourites are Mac Melba, Mac Springsheen, Benefit Thrrrob (even though I've only used it once!) and Models Prefer Desk To Date.  I absolutely love Models Prefer I think they are a brilliant brand.  Hmm, maybe I'll need to do a Models Prefer review.

If you would like to see any of these blushes with swatches and in details please leave me a comment and let me know :)

FOTD Tutorial - Make up for shopping

Hi pretties

I thought today I would do a face of the day for weekend shopping!  This is also a fairly neutral look that could easily be worn to work or any occasion really.

How to:

1. Prime - I used David Jones Primer

2. Foundation - I used Benefit Hello Flawless that I received in my April Bellabox.

3. Powder - Natio pressed powder

4. Blush - Mac Melba

5. Lips - Revlon lip butter in Peach Parfait

6. Prime eyes - Mac Paintpot in Bare Study

7. Brow highlighter - Mac eyeshadow in Blanc Type

8. Inner Corner Colour - DB Palette (bottom left colour)

9. Lid colour & Crease Colour - Intensifeye Quad Choc-a-Block shade two from the Australis Nudist Palette

10. Liner - Essence Gel eyeliner in black

11. Eyebrow - Savvy by DB liner

12. Waterliner - Chi Chi in Virgin

13. Mascara - Loreal Extra Volume Collagen

Eye Close up!

That's my look for shopping.

I hope you enjoyed and if you have any suggestions for a look please contact me :)

April BellaBox - Road Tested

Hi Pretties

The time has come for the April BellaBox - Roadtested blog.  (You can read my open box post here!)

April's box had a nice mix of skin care, beauty and scented items.  I didn't love this box as much as March, so hopefully May will improve a little.  I've now signed up for Lust Have It as well so Bellabox, you have some competition!

Comvita Brightening Facial Exfoliant
The texture of this is quite nice.  Again the size of this sample with its consistency makes giving this a proper trial very difficult.  I only got one use out of it.  I do feel I was left with a 'glow' afterwards though.


Comvita Brightening Facial Serum
I disliked this sample for several reasons.  1) It's too small to try properly.  I like to use samples at least 4 times and you normally can with a 1.5ml sample, but this product didn't last me more than 2 uses.  2) It had the consistency of a foaming cleanser.  What the?  3) It went on sticky.  4) I still had to use my moisturiser as well.


Comvita Brightening Moisturiser
This moisturiser is quite a strange consistency.  When I squeezed it out of the sachet it kind of reminded me of clay but spread surprisingly well.  Again - too small a sample, but the one use I did get was quite nice.  Initially my skin felt a little sticky but it did absorb in about 15 minutes.  As the packet said it was quite a nice base for my make up.


Ulta3 Nail Polish
I received this in the colour Jade which is a pretty Christmassy green.  I find Ulta3 nail polishes to be a little hit and miss, and this one is a miss.  It went on nicely and fairly streak free, but 8 hours later I put my hand into my bag to pull out my keys and scratched every nail on my left hand!  That could probably have been prevented with a top coat, but I don't use them at the best of times so I'm not going to when I already have to do two coats.  I've read some people are not too impressed at getting a $2 nail polish in a luxury samples box and I have mixed feelings on this.  I'm not overly stoked to get it as a 'luxury sample', but I'd prefer to get a full sized nail polish as opposed to another sachet of something.


Benefit 'Hello Flawless' Foundation
When I saw this foundation in the box and read other reviews I originally thought this would be too yellow and too dark for me but it actually blends into my skin quite well.  The colour that it.  I find this foundation quite hard to blend both with primer and no primer.  I don't like using foundation brushes as I'm usually running late of a morning and find it much quicker to use my fingers and this doesn't seem to spread out that well.  Once it is on it does look quite blended though.  I don't feel that this leaves me flawless and I kind of feel I look a little shiny when it is on where I prefer a matte foundation.  It is light wearing and doesn't make me break out which is a plus.  While I like this foundation, I wouldn't go and buy it.  Looking forward to trying other Benefit products though!  I am quite interested in the Erase Paste.


pureDKNY Verbena
This perfume is quite nice.  It's not a scent I would buy a full sized bottle of.  Not that I disliked it, I just kind of feel that it is a little old for me?  I like something a little sweeter.  The scent is long wearing though and I could still smell it on myself 10 hours after application.


OP Therapy Body Hydrator
I really like this moisturiser.  It is nice and thick but also blends REALLY well which is often an issue with thick moisturisers.  It is not unscented as the packaging says, but it doesn't seem to have any added fragrance, just a generally cream smell to it.  It is nice and gentle and highly moisturising.  I've been using it on my upper arms where I tend to get eczema when the weather changes, and its been holding it off so I'm very happy about that.  We will see what happens though as winter gets closer.


Hollywood Feet Velvet Cushions
This is not a product I normally use, so I want to get a good use out of them and will use them when I go to Melbourne in a few weeks.  I shall update this section then.


Overall I'm pleased with this months BellaBox.  I did like last months a little better, but I especially enjoyed the moisturiser in this box.  I think the Comvita samples were a little small for their texture.  Normally you can get a couple of uses out of a 1.5ml sample but not these ones which is a shame.  Only getting to use something once is not going to make me want to go and buy it, so I think the small samples are counter productive for Comvita.

I have also signed up to Lust Have It now so BellaBox is going to have a little competition next month!  I am NOT planning on dropping BellaBox at this stage though.

You can sign up to BellaBox here.




Don't forget to enter my Giveaway!.

April BellaBox - Open Box

Well it's that time of the month again.  BellaBox time!

The month of April is all about being fashion forward with the theme 'around the world in fashion' and there is a nice selection of goodies in this months box.

This box contains I guess you could say 3 full sized products (maybe 4?) and 5 samples.

This months box included:


pureDKNY Verbena - 1.5ml sample

OP Therapy Body Hydrator - 75ml product

Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation in Petal - 5ml sample

Ulta3 Nail Polish in Jade - 13ml product

Comvita Brightening Range - 3x1.5ml samples

Hollywood Feet Velvet Cushions - 2 pairs

Well I'm pleased with the Ulta3 nail polish.  It's a pretty colour and I am on a nail polish buying ban so it's exciting to get one for 'free'.  The body hydrator will be good to try, you can never really have enough moisturiser and coming into the cooler months my eczema starts to play up so an unscented product will be nice and hopefully the emu oil will work some magic for me.  I've been wanting to try the Benefit foundation but I am a little concerned this will be too dark for my pale skin.  I'll give it a go though!  The Hollywood Feet are nice, but I have never used this type of product as I don't often wear heels.  They might be nice in my boots though?  The Comvita products will be nice to try, as will the perfume although on a quick sniff I don't really like the scent.

But anyway, that's my April BellaBox; stay tuned for the BellaBox - Road tested blog.  You can read about March BellaBox - Road test here.

Sign up to Bellabox via their website.

Caitlin xoxo

Benefit US order

I was very excited to hear today that Benefit.com have a special on a two pack of blush/bronzer for only $34 USD! Of course I immediately ordered and even with the $20 postage I got the two for less than I would pay for one here in Australia.

The pack contains the bronzer Hoola in an 11g box (standard box size is 8g) and the face powder Thrrrob in the 12g box. Seperately to buy these are $28 USD on the Benefit.com website.


Hoola is a lovely matte bronzing powder and Thrrrob is described as a cool pink powder that recreates the flirty flush you get when your heart races. I absolutely love the boxes these come in and I can't wait to recieve these. Posting should be 7-21 days.....

Stay tuned for a review!