iHerb haul ft. Real Techniques and e.l.f.

Over the past year or so, my makeup collection has really grown. It's huge, considering towards the end of 2012 I was only just starting to get into wearing makeup. Now I have eyeshadow palettes, blush and lipsticks all over the place. One part of my collection that hasn't grown that much though, is my brushes. I only have a handful of them, and of that handful, only a couple are actually decent quality. Where do you go to for affordable good quality brushes? iHerb, of course!

I ordered the Real Techniques starter set and blush brush, which have both been on my wish list for a while now, but also decided to pick up some e.l.f. brushes too. I chose the stipple brush and powder brush, so I had some face brushes to leave at the boy's house.

 

 deluxe blending brush, base shadow brush, accent brush, liner brush and eyebrow brush

The Real Techniques starter set is pretty great! I'm a huge fan of the deluxe blending brush, it really makes blending eyeshadows a dream, and it's lovely and soft. The base shadow brush is a little too big and flexible to really pack on eyeshadow. However, I find the shape is great to use in the outer corner to add a darker colour and start blending it out. I haven't found myself using the accent brush much, except to smudge out eyeliner on both top and bottom lashes, which it's great for. The liner brush is great for gel liner, although I haven't perfected using it to create a winged liner look. Lastly the eyebrow brush is great for brows, but think perhaps it's a little big.

Blush Brush, Stipple Brush, Powder Brush

On to the face brushes, the Real Techniques blush brush is fantastic for blush! It's so much bigger than the brush I was previously using, which I thought might mean it would be harder to use, but nope! It's not. It's so soft, but still fantastic and blending.
These 2 e.l.f brushes were a bit of a spur of the moment choice. I did a little bit of research into the stipple brush, after I got it, and found that the mini stipple brush is way better than this one. This stipple brush is way less dense than my RT one. It sheds, and you really have to work to make sure your foundation doesn't end up looking streaky. It is soft however, and is great around the eye area.

The powder brush is fantastic, dense and soft. It's great for using with powder foundation, or setting your foundation with powder. Although I haven't used it for liquid foundation, I think this brush would work for liquid too. It's dense enough that it could be used to buff it in.

l-r: Powder Brush, Stipple Brush, Blush Brush

What are your favourite brushes?

Ulta3 nail colour review: Block it Out, Strawberry Sundae and Palette Play

Ulta3 polishes. They're a cult product in Australia. $2, fantastic shades, and great quality. I used to find my way to a bin at least weekly to dig through the polishes and find a new gem. Some of my favourite polishes are Ulta3 - Earl Grey, Watermelon, and Lollypop Lilac. So when I was looking through a bin recently and saw they were buy one, get one free, I couldn't say no. I ended up with Block it Out, Strawberry Sundae, and Palette Play. It was a hard choice, I had some pastels in my hands, but these bright colours caught my eye. My mum got a clear polish, which is why I only got 3.

Unfortunatley, these 3 polishes were a little bit of a letdown. They're just not up to the standard I expect with Ulta3. For $2 (or even the $2.50 that this shop sold them for) they're not bad, but they're not as good as other polishes I have from the brand. I heard some bloggers were unhappy when Ulta3 started making their polish in the PRC and the quality changed, but my bottle of Earl Grey was made in the PRC and I never had a problem with it. Now I can kind of understand the annoyance.

Block it Out is probably my favourite of the 3, even though blue is not my go to shade with nail polish. The quality is the best. It applies more evenly and more opaque than the others, and you could even get away with 1 coat. It's a deep blue with a kind of shimmer finish, not really noticeable until you look closely though.

Strawberry Sundae is the next best polish in terms of quality. It applies a little bit streaky, but is opaque in 2 coats. It's a bright pink, and I think a little too fluro to coin the name Strawberry Sundae, which I was a little dissapointed about.

Lastly, Palette Play, a dark 'violet crumble' purple. This was the polish I was least impressed by, taking 3 coats to apply evenly. Maybe it was because I didn't shake the bottle though, because after I did it applied a little bit better, but it wasn't fantastic. I'm not sure where the name Palette Play comes from though...

They didn't last very long on my nails, and all chipped within a day. However, you can tell how bad my nails are in the photos below, so it's pretty common to get chipping so soon even with more expensive nail polish. The quality isn't bad enough to stop me buying Ulta3 polish, and my local chemist just put up a really awesome Ulta3 nail polish display, which was completely untouched and had all their polishes on it. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of like Christmas. Hopefully it stays that stocked so I can attack it myself when I get some money, haha.

Excuse how horribly I applied these!

What do you think of Ulta3 polishes? What's your favourite colour?

Lime Crime: Mint to Be and Poisonberry!

Ever since I decided I was going to buy my first Lime Crime lipstick, Poisonberry was at the top of my list. I'm a huge fan of dark purple lipstick, so it had to be mine. Unfortunately it was out of stock everywhere when I made my first order, so I had to skip it. Until late one night, I was searching the web I happened to come across it on Princess Polly. I found a promo code to get $10 off, so I decided to buy Mint to Be as well!

Review: Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

It's been a long time since I first laid eyes on this palette and thought "that needs to be mine!". I waited, as it was out of stock everywhere, and then finally Beauty Bay had it in stock, and on sale!. I snapped it up as soon as I could afford it, and within 2 weeks it arrived on my doorstep. Literally, Australia Post, or whoever delivered this particular parcel and my first Lime Crime parcel, just left them on my door step.

After weeks of anticipation, it was so exciting to open the parcel, even more than usual. No only do the beautiful selection of shadows appeal to me, but the palette is in the shape of a freaking chocolate bar! I love chocolate! The smell when I first opened it was delicious! Something I've come to love when doing my make up every day. Granted the smell goes away soon after you open the palette (unsure if that's your brain getting used to the smell, much like soon after you walk into a cafe you can no longer smell coffee, or at least that happens when you work in one. Or if the scent isn't that strong). The packaging is a little less sturdy that I thought it would be. If I was traveling with it I would probably want to wrap a hair-tie around it to keep it closed as the clasp isn't very strong. The lid also flops right over, rather than sticking up like my Naked 3 palette, but that's not really a big deal, just me being picky.

On to the shadows! It contains a mix of shimmers, glitters and matte shades, with enough variety to create a wide range of looks. You also get a 'glamour guide' with 3 looks in it to start you off. There are 2 large highlight shades, a matte and a shimmer, which I think is fantastic as they're usually the first shades to go in a palette. White Chocolate is perfect for the brow bone and Champagne Truffle is perfect for an inner corner highlight.

As for the rest, the matte shades are the let down, as always. They're not very pigmented, and really need work, and a primer, to get anywhere with. The glitter shades are a bit better, but I find the glitter doesn't really show up on the eye, which is probably a good thing, and they end up looking more like a matte shadow. Lastly, the shimmer shadows, are the star of the palette. They're super pigmented and really fantastic to blend. All the shadows in this palette can be a bit powdery (as you can see in the top highlight shade in the photo above) and a little bit of care is needed to make sure you don't apply too much, or make a mess of your palette. However, this is less of a problem than it would normally be, as the shadows are so good to blend, you can blend it out for a perfect look. Seriously, I can't even say how great these are for blending. I would even go as far as saying they're better than my Naked 3. Yep, I went there.

Semi-sweet also seems to be a fantastic eyebrow shade for me! So if I find I don't use it too much on my eyes, it'll always get used on my brows.

Top Row (l-r) Guilded Ganache, White Chocolate , Milk Chocolate, Black Forrest Truffle, Triple Fudge

Middle Row (l-r) Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Semi-Sweet, Strawberry Bon-Bon, Candied Violet, Amaretto

Bottom Row (l-r): Hazelnut, Creme Brulee, Haute Chocoalte, Cherry Coridal, Champagne Truffle

I'm really chuffed about this purchase. Before, I had my eye on another Naked palette as well, but I think this is a much better palette, as it's way more diverse. I'm quite content with eyeshadow palettes now, so it'll take a really good new release (Ok, or the Chi Chi Elegant palette, whatever) to put another palette on my wish list.

Have you got the Chocolate Bar palette? What do you think of it?

What's your favourite palette?

Battle of the Budget Liquid Liner, ft. Rimmel, Essence and Australis!

Essence I Love Punk jumbo eyeliner pen ($4.50), Rimmel Scandaleyes Precision Micro eyeliner ($10.76),  Australis Tiny Tip eyeliner ($12.95)

I'm a big fan of liquid liner. For me, it's the easiest way to get a good winged liner look.  I would prefer gel, as it always seems to last longer, but it's easier for me to use a pen. I had a good thing going with the Covergirl Line Exact liquid liner, but it ran out while I was in England. And they don't sell Covergirl there. So I decided to try something new, and I ended up walking out of Boots with the Rimmel Scandaleyes precision Micro Liner after testing just about every single pen eyeliner in the shop. Since then decided I needed a thicker one and ended up at the Essence stand, and I managed to win an Australis liquid eyeliner in a twitter comp.

Lime Crime: Geradium, My Beautiful Rocket and Airborne Unicorn!

I've had my eye on getting some Lime Crime lipsticks for a long, long time. It seems like every blogger raves about them, which doesn't help me forget about them. Thanks to Jasmine from Sweetaholic Beauty's epic Lime Crime Collection post and a little bit of time, I finally took the plunge and made an order. Choosing was not easy, there are so many beautiful, bold shades. I wanted to get Poisonberry, but it was out of stock, and ended up picking 3 equally gorgeous shades.

W7 Glitter Polish: Multi Dazzle and Pink Shard

I went to Chemist Warehouse recently to check out their 50% off sale. I've never actually been to a Chemist Warehouse before, I don't live near one. There wasn't anything I had in mind to buy, so I just had a look. I ended up getting a foundation to leave at the boys house (Revlon Colorstay, so much better with the pump!) I didn't want to walk out with just that, and these glitters caught my eye. W7 is a budget brand from the UK. I never paid much attention to it when I was over there (think BOE from Big W and LOL from Kmart) except to have a quick look at their mascaras. Well, turns out they sell it at Chemist Warehouse and their nail polish are $3! There was quite a lot to chose from, but I went with some glitters.

top-bottom: 3 coats Multi Dazzle, 3 coats Pink Shard, 1 coat multi dazzle over Australis Peek-a-Boo, 1 coat Pink Shard over OPI Italian Love Affair.

Pink Shard is a clear based glitter with medium pink hexagons, and white medium hexagons, small circles and thin strips. It also has some medium and small blue glitters in it, not very many but enough to make it seem like it's on purpose. They don't really show up on the nails. Pink Shard has pretty good coverage with 1 coat, with 3 coats being enough to cover the nail.

Multi Dazzle is clear based, full of pink, red, blue, green and silver medium and small glitters. I bought it as a replacement for OPI rainbow connection which has started getting lumpy and gross. I probably would have preferred to pick up the Ulta3 rainbow glitter, but I haven't found it yet. Multi Dazzle's coverage is pretty appalling. One coat gets very sparse coverage, and 3 coats is not much better! This is one of those polishes that you have to dig for glitters.

Both polishes take a while to dry, and can be pretty gloopy already. For $3, I wasn't expecting anything great though. Pink Shard seems to have way more white glitters in it than purple, so would probably benefit from being put over a pink base if you were after a pink manicure. Their bottles are very similar to OPI, as is their brush which is very thick and great to get good coverage. I would like to try their coloured polishes though, to see if they preformed better.

Have you tried a W7 polish? What's your favourite glitter polish?

Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation

While I was in England, I became pale. I didn't spend much time outside due to working 6 days a week, the sun going down early, and the whole 2 months of rain we had in December and January. I needed a new foundation, and I got a sample of this in a magazine and liked it (although it was too dark). I took a plunge with the colour, I didn't really match it, but just guessed it would be ok, based on looking at other foundations I had.

Illamasqua Blush in Katie

Another first in my series of new high end blushers! I haven't tried Illamasqua before, it's not sold in Canberra. I don't even think I came across the brand in my travels, but I've heard lots of people rave about their blushes, along with the rest of their products. A few weeks ago I went out shopping with my friend, and we found our way into Mac and Mecca. I looked at a few Mac blushes, but decided to have a look to see if I could find a Nars blush that I liked. I did, Gaiety, but unfortunately they didn't have it in stock. But fortunately for me, I went home and searched Asos and found this gem!

Mac Blush in Peaches

This was a spur of the moment decision in Gatwick airport just before we hurried to our gate to get on our plane. I had pounds to spend, and if I had more time I probably would have picked up something else like a foundation, but I literally looked at the blushes and picked within a minute. I haven't even really looked into getting a MAC blush before, and I don't regret the split minute decision at all.

Peaches is a lovely peach coloured blush, which I think we all know by now, is my favourite colour of any makeup. It has a very small amount of shimmer to it, which mostly comes up as matte (as shown in the swatch in natural light).

This is one of Mac's sheertone blushes, which means it's not overly pigmented. Which is fine, because it means you can't go in too heavy handed, and layer to get the right amount of colour. It's not chalky and is easy to blend. I don't really find it lasts much longer than any of the drugstore blushes I own, which is a little disappointing, but that might have more to do with the bases I use.

swatch in natural light - heavy (l), blended (r)

Swatch with Flash

Do you have any Mac Blushes? What's your favourite shade?

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balms in Unapologetic and Showy

These have been around for a while now, and Ive seen that most people have picked them up. They just came out in the UK before I left England and was tempted there, but didn't end up picking any up until I saw a $10 off Revlon products in Myer a few weeks ago. I was a huge fan of the Just Bitten Kissable balm stains, and couldn't pass up a matte version!

First I'll just comment on the packaging. I found the writing on the side rubbed off the old kissable balm stains super quickly, and these have been kicking around in my handbag for a good fortnight without anything coming off. I think that alone is impressive. They're wind up, which I love - nothing worse than a thick lip crayon that you have to sharpen!

They have the same minty scent as the kissable lips balms, which I love.

Unapologetic is a lovely coral colour, my favourite lip colour! Showy is a nice bright pink.

As for the formula, they're so lovely. You can see in the swatches below that they can cling to dry patches, which is pretty common in matte formulas anyway. They're so easy to apply too. They aren't entirely matte, like Mac Ruby Woo is, but they're good enough for me.
I found Unapologetic lasts a fair bit longer than Showy, and after applying a couple of times is hard to get off when you're taking your makeup off at the end of the night because it's stained your lips. Showy needs a bit more touching up, and rubs off when eating.

Unapologetic and Showy  

Unapologetic (top) and Showy (bottom) - Sunlight

Natural light

With flash.

Showy (bottom) compared to Kissable balm stain in lovesick (top). Their packaging is very similar in colour, but you can see they're quite different, something I was worried about when I bought Showy.

If I can find a deal as good as that again I'll definitely be picking up more. What are your favourite shades of the matte balms?

Ulta3 Speckle Polishes: Egg-cellent and Bunny Bloom

Ulta3 released these Speckle polishes before easter, but in true Ulta3 fashion they've been nearly impossible to find. I was lucky enough to spot a reasonably full stand when I visited a Terry White, and I wasn't even looking for them!

Speckle polishes are something I've been wanting to get into for a while now, since Illamasqua's first ones made their way onto everyones blogs. It seems Ulta3 are the first cheaper brand to copy them, which was fantastic, because I love their nail polishes! I picked up Egg-cellent and Bunny Bloom. 

Egg-cellent is a mint green, and Bunny Bloom is a strawberry milkshake pink (yep, that's what I'm using to describe it!) I wasn't really keen on picking up the other colours. They both have small black circles and larger black hexagonal matte glitters in them. To be honest, the formula isn't that great. I know they're a budget brand, but they're other nail polishes are fantastic, and this wasn't up to scratch. It was really goopy and thick to apply, and because it was so thick, it's hard to see anything beneath the top layer. The polishes would also benefit from more larger glitters. 
All this being said, I have seen these polishes look really nice on other people. My nails are awful. Really awful. And I think that effected how the polishes applied, because I needed 2 thick coats of Sally Hansen Nail Rehab. This, along with Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream seem to be helping my nails strengthen. A top coat probably wouldn't hurt either.

 

What do you think of the Ulta3 speckle polishes? Have you managed to find them? Or do you have another favourite brand for speckle polishes?