LUSH Haul!

I was only recently introduced to LUSH through my lovely YouTube beauty gurus and a friend who knows her way around the Fountain Gate shopping centre. I had no idea there was a LUSH store there! 

So...I bought stuff. And then went back...and bought even more stuff. OOPS! ;)

I'd watched on Zoella's YouTube videos (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRV5AVOlKJR1Flvgt310Cw) that the Dragon's Egg Bath Ballistic was amazing. It has such lovely ingredients such as lemon oil and bergamot oil, jasmine and gardenia, as well as golden glitter and and orange colour in the middle. It is going to be such a lovely scent; uplifting and invigorating, whilst fizzing away, colouring the bath and making it all glittery! Ohh I can't wait to use this!

The other bath bomb is called Rose Queen Bath Ballistic which is "a rose tinted spectacles bath, for times when all you want to see is the rosier side of life". Who doesn't think that sounds fantastic? Rosy smells are so calming and relaxing. This would be perfect for a cosy night in to relax and pamper yourself!
(P.S - Both of the bath bombs were around $5 each, and most LUSH bath bombs are between $4 and $10)

Secondly, I bought two facial moisturisers. Okay, well, I bought ONE of them, and the other my boyfriend payed for (because he's a doll). The one I paid for is called Gorgeous. WOW this stuff is incredible. It smells heavenly and is really hydrating to the skin. I will be using this at night time as it is quite rich on my skin, and I wouldn't want to wear makeup over the top of it. I wake up after using this the night before and my skin looks bright, clean, fresh. OH it's just sooo good!
I bought the tester for both Gorgeous and the Vanishing Cream when I was in LUSH last time, and just after a few days, I wanted the full sized product.
Gorgeous has the longest list of ingredients ever, which include things like olive oil, avocado oil, evening primrose oil, grapeseed oil which are all Organic Cold Pressed, which means that basically the oils are in the best state to get the benefits from them.

This skin cream might be $75 a pot, but my gosh is it good.

The Vanishing Cream is great for skin-types like mine where I get oily during the day when I wear makeup and sweat, etc. This product is light on the skin and contains soothing and mild properties so its good oily/combination skin.

This one only cost $39.95, but is still going to be part of my daily routine, as daytime moisturiser, with Gorgeous being my night time moisturiser.

Because I spent SO MUCH money in there, the lady serving me gave me a free sample of a solid deoderant, which I'm still a little too scared to try, and a sample of the Dreamwash Shower Smoothie, which is a face wash. It is extremely thick and a light pink colour. It looks like it should be a face mask, but I just grab a small amount on my fingertips and massage into my face for a little bit and then leave to sit before washing off.


I also thought I'd buy their other tester they had for moisturisers which is called Skin's Shangri La. With Almond oil, Jojoba oil, Aloe Vera, Evening Primrose oil and Beeswax just to name a few, this moisturiser is soft and gentle on the skin, providing enough moisturisation without causing irritation to sensitive skin types. I haven't tested this one out yet, as I'm still hooked on my Vanishing Cream and Gorgeous, but when I do try it, I'll be doing a review.


OH LUSH, why do you make me want to spend all my money on your products?!

Definitely try LUSH out. Everything is homemade and organic, so although it may seem pricey, there are NO harsh chemicals in any of the products and everything is homely and beautiful. They will even give you a free facial and mask!
I'm SO there!

(OH, by the way, if you're interested in looking up any of their products, here's their website!)
http://www.lush.com.au/

Burt's Bees Lip Balms: All The Hype?

Burt's Bees Lip Balms. I have heard a fair hype about these. As a compiler of lip products, as you've seen, I had to get one. However, after looking in my all-time favourite store Priceline, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend $7 for one lip balm.

Luckily for me, I naturally eBay search any beauty product I'm wanting in case it's cheaper there. And lord-behold, it was. $7.81 AUS for a four pack. Oh my, yes. Give me all the Burt's Bees. 

So I bought a four pack, which had the varieties: Acai Berry, Mango Butter, Bees Wax and Pomegranate. So yummy! The pomegranate flavoured one is not a clear/white like the others, and has a red-ish colour, but the colour is extremely mild on the lips!

I only received this in the mail today (which is the WORST thing about buying online), but I've already fallen in love with the Pomegranate and Mango Butter flavours, mmmm. And they're the only ones I've actually tried out so far!

Highly recommend these so far. If you love sweet fruity smells, try the pomegranate, mango or acai flavours, but the Beeswax one smells very strongly of mint, so go for that one if that's your thing.

Yum yum yum, thumbs up for Burt, you American genius. Thank you for making our lips smooth and soft!

Blushing Beauties and Bronzed Babes

Bronzers and blushers can completely change the way your face looks. 

I usually stick to the plain canvas look of none of either, but sometimes I divulge into the world of blush or bronzer.

Bronzer is great during summer, if, like me, you have pasty...pasty skin. When fake-tanning season kicks in, the only place you won't be tanned is your face, so having a bronzer is essential so that you don't end up looking like an oompa loompa. 

Blush, to me is more of an Autumn, Winter and Spring type of thing. When I can flaunt my pasty canvas with a sweet smokey eye and light blushing cheeks and a pretty lip gloss. 

Unfortunately, my collection only contains these three. I know, CRAZY, considering how many of everything else I have. But to be honest, I've never thought I needed them, as I naturally go rosy red at ALL the most inappropriate moments (how embarrassing!). 

But a few weeks ago I was in Target and spotted the Rimmel Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch in 001 Flush of Pearl, and thought...why not? It's a real translucent shimmery pink that I put on my cheeks, almost like a highlighter, after foundation. I must say, it does add a lot of radiance with only a small amount, which is great, but it's best to put a powder over the top so that it's not too much.

I was in Priceline today (I know, SHOCK), and I decided it was time I had a proper blush, so I picked up just this cheap brand one called Savvy by DB. It's a classic blush in the shade silky pink. I haven't tried this just yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so!

My Nude by Nature bronzer is not too bad, but considering how much they charge, it really is just way too shimmery. I almost feel like a glitter queen after, and I can't use much for colour, otherwise I end up too shiny, glittery and shimmery.

So my next buy is definitely a new bronzer! 

Quick tip though, don't be too overzealous with bronzer and blush. It's great to have a small, natural looking glow, but you don't want to end up looking like a trashy teenager. So keep it minimal, to keep yourself out of the costume act!

Conceal the Deal

As a blemish-prone gal, I always have concealer in my makeup bag. There is never enough concealer. Never.
I've tried many different ones, and to this day, I still really haven't found my holy grail concealer. I've tried sticks, liquids and even odd-coloured ones (greens and purples), and they do alright, but it's so difficult to find a full coverage concealer for all the red patches, pimples, scars, and eye bags.

So far, I've collected a few that really do the trick, but as always, I have my favourites. In my collection though, I house these concealers, swatched on my hand.

 On my hand from top to bottom, we have:

1. Models Prefer Liquid Concealer in Light
2. Maybelline Cover Stick Corrector Concealer (green)
3. Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer in 010 Ivory
4. L'Oreal Paris True Match Skin Tone Matching Corrector Concealer
5. australis conceal correct 4-in-1 concealer corrector palette.

The Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer is great for under the eyes, and really helps to brighten your eye to make you look much more awake.The australis concealer is a four-section compact with two skin-tone sections and one purple and one green. The creamy consistency is good, but it is difficult to build and get out of its tray. The Maybelline cover stick is much better in this respect, as you can literally draw it on your face and just blend into any redness on the face.

The true match concealer was a bit of a let down, unfortunately. It is too dark for my skin (not exactly doing what it says it does) and it hasn't got very good coverage.

The Models Prefer concealer is great so far. Not too much, but is easily build-able, and matches my skin well (having a concealer a shade or two lighter than your skin is best).

Concealer really is essential for me, as I have blemish-prone skin. 

If you want a really natural look, use your concealer before foundation. But if you're looking for a more intense and targeted coverage, apply after foundation, and blend in using a blending brush (I just use my concealer brush).

All concealers really just do the same thing, but it can be hard to find the right one. If you really need high-as-high coverage, try to find a cream concealer, as the thick consistency will hold really well and cover any redness or bags. If you only have a few small blemishes but otherwise nice skin, try to just use a small amount of concealer and blend into the rest of your face.

Keep on trucking, as I'll be revealing my sadly very small collection of blush and bronzer. And after that, a few tutorials on how I combine my makeup for a natural finish or a heavier coverage for a night out. 

The Foundation of Flawless

Where would I be without foundation?
In a hole somewhere, hiding my face like I'm sure many of you would too. Sometimes it can feel so naked not wearing any makeup, and foundation is a staple for many people. I have tried lots of different types of foundations, liquid, cremes, mousse, stick. But the ones in my collection at the moment are definitely my favourites that I have tried so far.
I have a fair few. I have two BB creams, three liquid foundations, one mousse, one creme, and four powders. I will go through each one, of course, hopefully to help you find which type of foundation would be best for your skin type!
So here is a swatch of all the liquid/creme/mousse ones (as obviously powders wouldn't come out on camera).

Here we have, from top to bottom;

1. Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Classic Ivory Light 2
2. BYS creme foundation in Light Beige
3. Garnier Skin Naturals BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector for combination to oily skin in light.
4. Maybelline Dream Pure BB 8-in-1 BB cream for oily skin in Light.
5. Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation in 100 Ivory
6. Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory
7. Models Prefer Liquid Foundation in ivory

My staple for ages was the Garnier BB cream, which really surprised me, as I'd only heard negative things about some of their other products. It has a really nice light coverage, brightens up my face and dries matte, almost like you have just applied a light powder. The colour is perfect for my skin, and it is just an absolute must for a travel/purse item, for touch ups or for day trips.

For heavier coverage, I use the BYS creme foundation, as it is super thick. Applied with a sponge, only a small amount goes a long way, and it is great to build with. I use this on any redness on my face, or if I'm going for a night out and want heavier coverage that will last the night.

For a fresh and awake look for when I'm super tired from work, I'll use the Rimmel Wake me up foundation along with the wake me up concealer and shimmer touch to perk me up. The foundation goes on beautifully and has the softest radiant glowy undertones, to help make your face look so much more radiant and awake look.

For an everyday matte light-to-medium coverage I will use the Models Prefer foundation (shout out to Priceline for having gift packs of concealer, foundation, a brush and 2 sponges for $10!), as it gives a nice natural finish, and it great for preventing shine.

Because I have oily/shiny skin, I ALWAYS use a powder over the top of any liquid foundation; but this can also be used to help set it. Most days I will reach for my Maybelline Stay Matte pressed powder in 001 Transparent. This leaves my face with a soft matte finish that holds all day. 

If I'm feeling particularly pedantic about my face, I will use my Almay line smoothing powder in light 100, followed by the Stay Matte powder. This just lightly fills in any small creases/lines in my face to help with an airbrushed finish. 

Again, if I'm feeling a bit dull or particular, I sometimes use the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Protector Finishing Powder, just for that last bit of oomph. It has an SPF of 25 and leave a light sheer glow to the skin, and was only around $10 from Gloss. 

Other than those Liquids and Mousse (which by the way, even in Light, I can still almost use as a bronzer), I also have the L'Oreal Paris Bare Naturale gentle mineral powder in Light Ivory 410.

The Stay Matte liquid foundation I find to be slightly oily on my face, which is opposite to what it says it does, and it has been sitting in my makeup bag for a few years now, and is still not even half empty. I only use it if I'm desperate.

Just a quick tip, too, in case you don't remember, I have oily/combination skin, so all of the products I will be reviewing/commenting on will be good for oily skin. 

Stay tuned for my next post, which will be purely on concealers! Everyone needs a good concealer, or two....or five..

So how about a review on all of the ones I've been using?

Selective Scents, Perfect Perfumes

I love my perfumes, but I am always sooo choosey and I find it really difficult to find a new scent that I love. I like mild florals and sweet smells, which narrows many perfumes down. Usually I only buy a perfume if it's super cheap to try, but will otherwise stick to the scents I know.

Over the years I've come to affiliate certain smells of perfumes/colognes with different times or people. For example, The Body Shop's White Musk scent reminds me of my grandmother, and Davidoff's Cool Water reminds me of my ex. Mariah Carey's perfume (which I can't remember the exact name of, but it came in a round jewel encrusted bottle and was super sweet) reminds me of my best friend from year 9, and Joop reminds me of my current boyfriend.
Smell to me is just one big mental reunion.

My all-time favourite perfumes from over time have to be Britney Spears' Curious, Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet, and Marc Jacobs Daisy which is a new-found love. Covet is such a lovely sweet floral scent, perfect for spring or autumn, and Daisy is quite similar, though I have gotten into a little habit of mixing two perfumes together, which I'll explain later.

In my current collection I house these beauties...

So, in this collection, we have Beyonce's Heat Rush, Marc Jacob's Daisy, J. Lo's Glow, Sarah Jessica Parker's Covet, Ed Hardy's Love Kills Slowly, FCUK's for Him, and Dove go fresh cucumber and green tea scent deodorant. 

Heat Rush and Love Kills Slowly are both sweet smells, Heat Rush is a more spicey sweet, whereas LKS is a lolly sweet smell. Covet and Daisy are both florals, covet being really light, sweet and smooth, the perfect scent for a sunny spring day, and daisy being more tangy sweet, perfect for a dinner out. Glow is a mix. So so perfect though. It is a sweet floral vanilla smell. One of those I-could-just-inhale-this-all-day smells. 

YES I am aware that I have a men's cologne. Oopsidaisy. What happened was, I got a little too excited at the Beauty Spot counter and accidentally thought I was buying a women's perfume, but I was not. It was $10, which is cheap as chips, so I'm not disappointed. It smells delightful and lasts ages, but yes, it is a manly sweet smell. 

So what I do with that one is I spray two squirts of the FCUK and then spray two squirts of the Ed Hardy perfume of the top, and mixed together they smell delightful. I usually wear that just for when I go to work, as the store gets quite hot, and I won't need to worry about smelling terrible for my whole shift.

As for my deodorant, its just a plain boring supermarket/drugstore brand, but it smells nice and fresh and is good by itself if you're just going grocery shopping or to the gym, just to keep from smelling all sweaty and gross. 

Every one of these perfumes is perfectly affordable, though Daisy IS a bit on the pricey side which is poopy, but it's definitely a lovely smell. It can be found for around $70 on sale, but can be up into the hundreds when it isn't. The others (apart from Ed Hardy because it was a present so I have NO IDEA how much that was), are under $40. 

Perfect perfumes for any occassion!

Next time I will be going through all my face stuff: foundation, concealers, powders, bronzers, blushers. So stay posted for that! 

Lustful Lip Products...

Ahhh lips. Sensual, plump, inviting.. Lips are the perfect way to make a statement in your look of the day or night. Whether you're going for a classy nude look, or a sleek glossy look, an innocent peachy look or a daring red look; the colour of your lips can change your whole personality.

It's safe to say then that having a huge....HUGE collection of lip products is perfectly okay then, right? Right?!?
I have 28 lip products in my makeup bag and travel bag. Oh dear...

But being beautiful ladies as you all are, I figured why not share my whole collection with you, and show you some of my very faves!
So here is a photo of all the glosses, balms, lipsticks, lip stains, lip lacquers, lip treatments etc that roam around in my makeup bag.

So that is my collection SO FAR. Like, we haven't even gotten to my handbag yet or anything. Oh my gosh. From left-to-right, top-to-bottom I have here:

1. BYS Lipstick in L29 Coral Kiss
2. Maybelline New York Colorsensational in 416 Coral Fever (coral seems to be a trend here..)
3. Covergirl natureluxe sunscreen gloss balm in 205 Tulip
4. Rimmel London Kate Moss Lipstick in 26 (no actual name, but it is a nude color)
5. Australis Matte Me Lipstick Mattifying Base
6. Bourjois Paris Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipstick in 04 Peach on the Beach
7. Rimmel London Kate Moss lipstick in 111 Kiss of Life
8. Nivea Soft Rose balm
9. boe beauty Jumbo Wind Up Lips in #21 Manic Pink
10. Covergirl Outlast Lipstain in 435 Flirty Nude
11. Nature's Care All Natural Paw Paw Lip Balm
12. W7 Tutti Fruity High Moisture Lip Gloss in Peach
13. Maybelline New York Baby Lips Color in Pink Lolita
14. Maybelline New York Baby Lips in Cherry Velvet
15. Maybelline New York Baby Lips Glow in Mixed Berry
16. Maybelline New York Baby Lips Color in Berry Crush (LOTS of Baby Lips, I know.)
17. Rimmel London Apocolips Lip Lacquer in 101 Celestial
18. BYS Diamond Shine Lip Gloss in 01 Panther Pink
19. Model Co. lip gloss (color not on tube)
20. Miki Lip Sorbet Lip Balm in Watermelon
21. Australis Lip Treatment Trio

Pleeease don't judge me! We all have our loves for makeup, and mine seems to be lips. I'm always scouting for new things to try. For instance, just yesterday I went shopping and bought the Rimmel Lip Lacquer I had been eyeing off since it came out, ANOTHER Bourjois Color Boost lipstick, because one colour just isn't enough! And I'm already itching to go back to Priceline to get a Burt's Bees Lip Balm in Mango Butter because I've heard so many good things about it from my YouTube Beauty Gurus.

But, alas, that isn't the end of the collection...no. That was just my makeup bag/extras. I also have a small makeup bag I have in my everyday bag that I take with me everywhere.
Let me show you what lippy things I have in there!

In this little bag, I have; from top to bottom:

1. Bourjois Color Boost Glossy Finish Lipstick in 03 Orange Punch
2. Classic Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm
3. boe beauty Jumbo Wind Up Lips in #22 Bourdoir Pink
4. Neautrogena Naturals Lip Balm
5. Rimmel London Kate Moss Lipstick in 103 (No name).
6. Uouo Make-up Plump & long-lasting moist lip gloss in Lychee (overseas eBay buy).

So as you can see, I not only like my lips to look good, it's an absolute love!
My absolute favourites from my collection have to be the Bourjois Color Boost lipsticks, the Kate Moss Lipstick in 103 and the Maybelline colorsensational lipstick in Coral Fever. All sooo pretty! Here's a swatch of each:

From top-to-bottom, the swatches are: Bourjois Color Boost in Orange Punch, Bourjois Color Boost in Peach on the Beach, Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in 103 and Maybelline colorsensational lipstick in Coral Fever. The Kate Moss lipstick is so moisturising and smells so nice, I just want to eat it, and its the same for the Bourjois lipsticks, mmmm so yummy!

If you love your lip products too, or see a product listed that you would like to see a review of, leave a comment and I'll do as many as I possibly can!


What should I do next? Lips, check! Eyes next? Foundation? Concealers? Powders? Lotions? My daily skin routine? Let me know what YOU want to see!

Catcha later, alligators!