MAC mini haul

My friend came back from America this week and gave me an early Christmas present, which was a MAC lipstick and eyeshadows! Before she left America I asked her to pick me up a few shades if she had the time (because of how much cheaper they are there), and when I saw her she gave them to me as a Christmas present. I've never used MAC before, but I've been lusting after getting my hands on pretty much anything from MAC. I got Vegas Volt lipstick, and eyeshadow pro pan refills in Cranberry and Sketch. I don't have a pro pan but I intend on picking one up from MAC in Myer ASAP (unless anyone else has a better suggestion?)

Vegas Volt, Sketch (front) and Cranberry (back)

I'm so stoked with these! Vegas Volt is a coral that's perfect for summer (and surprisingly not the same as all the other corals I own). It's so creamy and easy to apply, and quite opaque. It has that nice vanilla scent that everyone says MAC lipsticks have. It's an amplified finish.

The eyeshadows were a bit tricky to choose. I wanted to get a whole lot more, but thought I'd stick to 2 for now. I've seen a lot of bloggers raving about Cranberry lately and thought I'd give it a go (also, I love cranberry juice so it seemed right). It's a lovely dark purpley-red that would give a neutral smokey eye look a real pop. I've been sticking to neutrals lately so this is something different. It's a frost finish. Sketch is a dark brown with red tones with a velvet finish, and will be a great crease colour. These colours go well together, and even though they're more autumny colours, I'm so excited to use them.

Natural Light (l-r): Vegas Volt, Sketch, Cranberry

With flash (l-r) Vegas Volt, Sketch, Cranberry

natural light

with flash

FOTD: Body Shop makeover

Yesterday I went to get a makeover at the Body Shop! A friend of mine had one, spent a lot of money and got another one so she gave it to me. I chose yesterday because I went out to dinner for my boyfriend's birthday. I've only ever had one makeover before, which was pretty rushed and I felt a little uncomfortable because it was in the middle of the mall, but it was a good experience and I learnt a bit (although I don't think enough - I was too scared to ask questions!). The makeovers usually cost $40, but this is fully redeemable in products. I scored another makeover when I made some purchases after the session, which I gave to my boyfriends sister.

It was a good experience. It started with cleansing, toning and moisturising the face using their aloe range for sensitive skin. She then matched my foundation using Extra Virgin mineral powder - which is suited for dry skin. I wanted a natural look, but she suggested using a hint of purple in the eye to make it stand out. She gave me a few options but I opted for purple eyeliner with subtle brown shadow, which I thought looked really good. Then she put the foundation on, then mascara (I hate when other people to my mascara, it's so uncomfortable. Everyone always comments on how long my lash's are so it kinda makes up for it), and a little bit of light blush. I chose a light pink on my lips.  Although this was in the shop, it didn't feel uncomfortable, and the lady was very happy to answer any questions I had about products she used (and didn't make me feel like an idiot for not knowing what toner is supposed to do). It was on a weekday afternoon, so the shop wasn't busy. If I were going again I would make sure I chose a time that was quiet.

Excuse the iphone photos - my good camera was at the boyfriends place.

I ended up buying the powder (shade 105 - rose ivory) and lipstick (shade 48) she used, along with their hemp handcream as my hands have been really really dry lately. I'm very happy with the powder, it gives a light coverage that's good for summer and is also SPF 25, and feels really good on my skin. The lipstick is pretty... in the bullet. Unfortunately it doesn't show up well on my lips (and especially upsetting as it was $23!!). I guess it's a 'your lips but better' kinda lippy, but that's not what I was after. Hopefully I can get it to work, but if it doesn't I may have to give it away. I haven't used the hand creme enough to really know how well it works, but I've got high hopes. I really like the smell of it too.

Powder

lipstick

heavy swatch of the lipstick

lipstick in natural light.

What I watch: Tv shows

I love a good TV series. I prefer watching them to movies as you get a more in depth story. You can really get hooked on the characters and plots. I've been watching and loving a few shows lately and I thought I'd share. You can tell I'm more of an action/drama kinda person rather than comedy.
Warning: SPOILERS!!!!

The Walking Dead

I don't know how I lived without this show. It is the perfect show for me. A guy wakes up from a coma in a post zombie apocalyptic world and has no idea what the hell is going on. Now, 2 series and 6 episodes in, they're almost a year post-zombies and still fighting for their lives. This series is really captivating and each episode seems to always end on a cliffhanger and leave you wanting more. Each episode never fails to have you gripping your blanket or sitting on the edge of your seat in fear of zombies jumping out at the characters. I've read up to vol. 6 of the comics too and love them almost as much.

NCIS

I've always loved NCIS, and Abby is definitely one of the reasons I love science so much. She seems to make forensics look so cool. I've just finished watching season 8 (spoiler: have tissues handy for the last episode) and can't wait to find the 9th season somewhere (cheap...) to buy. For some reason, even with my love for science, it's one of the only criminal investigation shows I'll watch. I love the tension between Tony and Ziva, and McGee and Abby.

Bones

This is the only other criminal investigation show I watch, and I love how science based it is (even though a lot of the 'science' - as with NCIS,  is in fact bollocks). Booth and Bones are a perfect crime solving team and I love watching the tension between them (obviously I'm a sucker for romance. I've only seen to the end of season 6, and I know there's a baby a-commin! I just need to find the next season(s) somewhere for cheap!). I wish Australian television wouldn't muck around so much with Bones... I had to stop watching because they kept putting repeats on and I found it so hard to keep up.

Grey's Anatomy

Favourite. Definitely my favourite. I've loved this show for a good 8 years now and can always go back to season 1 and watch them through. So much has happened over the years... Denny, Ava, Derek and Burke being shot, evil spawn growing up, the dancing, SERIOUSLY?, and oh dear god Lexie, Mark... George *tear*. I'm so attached to this show I think it's real life and pretty much every episode now has me in tears (I get this would usually be a bad thing...) Unfortunately, the last season wasn't so great and the plot seems to have slowed down a LOT (it used to be pretty fast-paced, but now they're stuck and not moving anywhere) and if the first seasons weren't pure gold I probably wouldn't still be watching it, but I'm hooked and I cannot stop. I hope they stop soon and go out on a good thing instead of fizzing out and getting canceled. I will love it till the end (if only for McDreamy *swoon*).

NOTD - sparkle on a cloud.

I used Face of Australia's Castle on a Cloud from the new pastels range, and Revlon's Silver Dollar from their metallics range. I used masking tape as a guide.

I like how these colours look together, but I don't think they're different enough. For some reason, my bottle of Castle on a Cloud seems a lot more purple than every other bottle I've seen. Not that it's a bad thing though! I'm really loving Silver Dollar, and I can't wait to do this look with it and a whole bunch of different colours - I'm thinking FOA's Once in a Blue Moon, Rimmel's Misty Jade or Australis' Peek-a-Boo.  

Accidental Revlon haul.

I swear when I woke up today, I did not have the intention of buying so much. All I wanted was to go into Myer and buy a gift for someone (ok, and get the GWP), and go into Priceline just to look at the Revlon kissable balm stains. I also got my Priceline online purchase from Tuesday's click frenzy in the mail too (I got on at 8am to check it out. So glad I did). This isn't even all of it, because I was buying gifts for people too (which I wont include, just in case).

Firstly in Myer I got Revlon's Silver Dollar nail polish. I was a bit bummed about paying full price for this, but I needed to buy something small to get the free gift and I don't have a colour like this yet.  The gwp contains a clutch, colorstay nail polish in Pale Cashmere, colorstay eyeshadow quad in Adventurous, colorburst lip butter in Sugar Plum, photoready 3D volume mascara and photoready perfecting primer. I can't wait to use all of these!!

Then I went into Priceline. Always a bad choice when you don't have the intention of buying anything! They have a sale at the moment for 2 for 1 on Revlon products, so I had to buy the balm stains. I knew I wanted romantic, but I ended up not being able to pick a pink so I ended up just grabbing any of them and picked lovesick. I also got Essence quattro in To Die For (as I haven't tried their eyeshadows yet, and it's also the name of a really great song by Tonight Alive!) and a travel size St. Ives invigorating apricot scrub.

From the click frenzy sale I scored a Revlon colorburst lip butter in Peach Parfait for 40% off for myself (I got a few other things for gifts). They threw in some samples of Simple cleansing facial wipes and Sukin facial moisturiser (I've used this before and think it's great) and their intensive firming serum which was a great surprise!

I'm so excited to try all these products. I don't own any Revlon products apart from one lip butter I bought recently, so I'm excited to have all these products to try! Hopefully now these means I can ease off buying things for myself until at least after Christmas.

Mini Benefit haul

Yesterday I received a package in the mail from Benefit! I did an order a little over a week ago because I wanted some things for christmas presents, but of course I had to buy something for myself to make shipping worthwhile ;) It came quite a bit quicker than I was expecting.

I bought myself Sweet-n-wow! which is a full sized sugarbomb blush with a deluxe sample (4ml) of posietint. I also had a code to get deluxe samples of Dr Feelgood, girl meets pearl and the total moisture facial cream, along with the usual 2 free samples which I got Hello flawless in ivory and the porefessional.

This is my first high end blush and I am super happy with it. There is barely any fallout in the pan, unlike my cheaper blushes. When the colours are mixed together it gives a subtle pinky-peachy colour which would be great for every day wear. The brush is super soft and good for application. And it smells really nice! Keeping the brush in the box can cause dents in the pan though, so it might not be so great for traveling if you can't keep the brush separate.

(l-r) Shade on there right anticlockwise to bottom shade.

Sugarbomb blended

I am beyond happy with posietint. I was a bit wary of this. I went to look at it in Myer after I bought it to see what it was like, and the colour in the bottle is almost flouro-pink as you can see in the picture above. I've never used a tint before either so I was worried I wouldn't be able to use it properly. Oh how wrong I was. This is super easy to use and it blends to a perfect colour pink for my skin. Benefit also suggest using this under sugarbomb.

(l-r) blended girl meets pearl, heavy swatch of posietint and posietint blende.

Now to the samples. I really like girl meets pearl. It gives a lovely shiney look to your cheeks. It is quite similar to my Nude by Nature illuminator, but I will definitely get use out of it. I also really like the total moisture facial cream. It's nice and moisturising and not too heavy and it has a nice scent.  I would definitely purchase this if I was willing to fork out for face cream (I go through so much moisturiser I usually just get a giant pump pack of sorbolene which I think works fine - I also have a tub of Aesop face cream I got as a gift to get through). I'm not entirely sure I will get much use out of Dr Feelgood. It's a 'velvety complexion balm' that is supposed to 'mattify shine and smooth away the appearance of fine lines'. I don't have a problem with oil or fine lines.

Hello flawless in ivory was a pretty good match for my skin colour. You only get one application out of the sample and I don't feel it gave very good coverage. I prefer liquids anyway so I probably wouldn't purchase this. I haven't tried porefessional yet, but I don't have large pores so it'll just be used as a primer.

As for the other part of the order, you'll have to wait till after Christmas to see it ;)

What I won: Blog giveaway!

A few weeks ago Kat from Kitch Snitch had her 100 follower giveaway! I was lucky enough to be the winner of the first prize pack which included Escada Moon Sparkle Shower Gel and Body Lotion, Laura Mercier Illuminating stick in Golden Honey Glow, Korres Wild Rose Lip Butter, Bourjous 10 day no chip nail polish in shade 13 and 19, and my favourite part of the prize, MUA Undressed palette.

         

Lip butter (l), heavily swatched illuminator, and blended (r)

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to test out most of these prizes. I do love the lip butter though. It's a nice red shade and I was impressed at how long lasting it was for a lip butter! Unfortunately the illuminating stick came to me a little broken (all of the product had gotten stuck in the lid!) but I managed to save almost all of it. It might end up being too dark to use for my skin, but it will probably end up working in summer. The shower gel and lotion smell really nice too. I do love the colours of the nail polishes, but I've been trying to get through all the polish I've bought and haven't used so I haven't had a chance to use it yet... I have high hopes for it though.

MUA Undressed

Shades 1, 2, 3 & 4

Shades 5, 6, 7 & 8

Shades 9, 10, 11 and 12.

This part of the prize was the reason I was so happy I won this giveaway. Obviously I've seen a lot of good things about the Naked palettes, but I would never be able to justify buying one myself. I heard this was a great dupe so was stoked to win it. Regardless of whether it's a dupe or not, this is a great palette! They're all really wearable shades. So far I've gotten the most use out of shades 1, which is a great highlight, and 9 and 10, which give a lovely pinky-gold smokey eye look. I'm very happy with these shadows, they're a lovely texture and they stay very well (with the help of Australis' eye primer). I'm definitely thinking about buying more MUA palettes in the future (I have my eyes on pretty pastels and glamour days for when they have their next sale. They have a 35% off sale at the moment on their website, but I'm saving for Christmas at the moment).

Wish list: Christmas

Christmas isn't too far away, so I thought it would be a good time to put together a wish list.

1. Apple iPad   2. Real Techniques brushes core collection and starter set  3. DKNY Be Delicious
4.  MAC Lipsticks in (l-r) Creme Cup, Angel and Lady Danger   5. Icing bag set and macaron baking mat

The top of my wish list is an iPad. I'm going to the UK for about 6 months next year and will be doing a lot of traveling. An iPad would be the perfect thing to take with me to use the internet while traveling. Of course I'd really like a MAC lipstick. I can't justify buying myself one at the moment so it would be great to get one as a gift. Shades I'd love are creme cup, lady danger or angel. I'd also like some Real Techniques brushes because I don't have any good brushes yet. I've heard good things about the expert face brush and the starter set would also be a great gift. There are a few perfumes that I'd like too, but I think my favourite of them is the DKNY Be Delicious. I got a sample in a subscription box and I really love the scent. I'd also like some baking equipment. I've been using disposable piping bags a lot and think it's time I get my own reusable one. I'd also like my own macaron mat because i've been using my sisters. It would also be handy to have 2 because I find the macarons bake better with a mat under the baking paper.

November Bellabox

I recieved this months bellabox yesterday. I'm pretty happy with this one as it contains almost all products I will get use out of.

John Plunkett Essentials Multi Vitamin Moisturiser ($9.95 for 20ml - full-size)
This is a face/neck/décolletage cream for normal to dry skin. I found it had kind of a weird smell (almost like playdough?) To me, this is just an ordinary face cream.

Swisse Hand Cream with Vitamin D and Pomegranate ($14.95 for 100ml - 30ml sample)
I really like this hand cream. I think it has a nice scent to it, and moisturises well. I like the sample size as it's great to put in my handbag and I always carry hand cream around. This is one of the better hand creams I've received in a subscription box.

Palmolive Strawberry Smoother Body Butter Body Wash ($6.49 for 400ml - sample size 50ml)
This is an exfoliating body wash. So far I've used it once and I think it's great, I'm glad I got this in my box.  It has a nice light strawberry scent.

Bioderma Crealine H2O Clensing Water ($39.95 for 250ml - sample size 20ml)
I'm a bit skeptical about this product. Are they just sending me water? This does work well at removing makeup, however I'm happy using remover wipes. It was good to try it out though.

4me Nail Polish Remover Pads ($3.49 for 30 wipes - full size)

I've never used a nail polish remover wipe before, and I'm almost out of remover so I'm happy I got these! They were really different from just using a cotton pad with liquid remover. They were a lot wetter so you got remover all over your fingers. They didn't have the strong smell that normal nail polish removers do. They took a lot longer to remove the polish, but I'm not sure if that's because I had a couple of coats of flakie polish over the top... I think they'd do better for something other than glitter polish. They did leave my nails feeling a lot nicer than normal polish remover and I can see myself being converted to these instead of normal polish remover.

Bloom Glitter Liquid Eyeliner ($14.95 for 4g -full sized)
I've recently been contemplating buying some glitter eyeliner so I am supper happy to receive this! I got the shade rising star which is primarily black and gold with bits of silver and bronze glitter. I used this when I went out to dinner last night over black eyeliner with goldy-brown smokey eyes and (I think) it looked really good. It also goes well with the pinky-gold eyeshadow I got in my last bellabox, which is great! (I have a friend who got a different shade, which she says goes well with the shade of
eyeshadow she got last time. Well played Bellabox!) I can't wait to use this more.

Skinmiso Pore Beauty Nose Pack ($21.99 for 10 sheets - 1 sheet sample)
This is supposed to get rid of blackheads and whiteheads on your nose and close pores. I don't have this problem so I'll be passing this on to someone else.