My Essence Blushes

I thought now I own two of these blushes now that it's time to do a little review of them. These are the only Essence blushes I've tried, and they're both limited edition (I'm becoming a sucker for LE products, damn).

My first was from the Breaking Dawn pt 2 collection, called Remesmee red. I never got around to reviewing it at the time, as when I bought it I kind of got a bit scared of it and put it at the back of my draw. It's a really bright, matte red, which I haven't really had much use for (because I'm too scared to use it, haha). I find this blush has very good colour payoff, so you really need to use a light hand to apply it, otherwise you'll end up looking like a clown! It is a lovely colour though, and it's uniqueness (especially compared to a lot of other 'drugstore' blushes) is what drew me to buy it in the first place, and I'm sure when I get the hang of applying it lightly I'll use it a lot more.

My second is from the current Cherry Blossom Girl Collection in Asian Sensation. I bought this almost as soon as I heard about it, as I'd been wanting to get a coraly blush for some time. It's a lovely peachy colour with a lighter and a darker section, which look great used separately - as a highlighter using the lighter shade or darker blush, or swirled together. I've used this a few time since I bought it, and I prefer to use them together. This blush is quite sheer (and a tad chalky) and probably not the blush to get if you want strong colour, but it does give your cheeks a lovely glow which I really like.

l-r (swatches in shade) Renesmee Red, Darker half of Asian Sensation, Lighter half, and blended.

Asian Sensation in the sun

Renesmee Red in the sun

Asian Sensation on the left and Renesmee Red on the right, taken in the sun.

Asian Sensation taken in the shade with flash

Renesmee Red taken in the shade with flash

Sale haul pt 2.

The second half of my sale haul came in the mail recently. I ordered some things from Priceline while they had free shipping and double points (and went into the store and bought a bit more the next day, woops), and also bought some polishes from Gloss N' Sparkle when they had their post-Christmas sale.

What I bought online:

Bourjois Clubbing Waterproof Eyeliner. I originally wanted to buy Rimmel's Scandal'Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner, but the black one had sold out. I decided, after looking at a few reviews, to get Bourjois clubbing eyeliner instead.  I paid $14.70 for this.
Maybelline Colorama nail colour in Marshmellow. I'd been after a white polish for a while, and got this without looking at swatches. This is more of a pearl colour than white, and although I haven't used it yet I doubt I'm going to like the colour.
Priceline Eyelash Curler. I've been meaning to get an eyelash curler for a while, so I finally decided to get one. This was $6.29, and does the job.
Essence My Base illuminating make up base (which I forgot to photograph, whoops, sorry!!) . I've been looking at Benefits That Gal for a while, but was reluctant to spend $30 on something I wasn't sure about. This is the same kind of product. It was a bit pricey for an Essence product, at $7.50. Used under makeup it gives me a little bit of an Edward Cullen look, which I'm not actually that upset about. It does an ok job at being a primer, but it's probably not something I'll pay $7.50 for again.

What I bought in store:

Innoxa Summer Matte Watermelon. This was in a sale bin for $7.95, so I snapped it up right away. I've been wanting to try Innoxa's lipsticks for a while and this is a colour I love. I'll post a swatch of this later in the week.

Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch highlighting concealer. This is my second concealer (my other is a NBN one that I'm not a fan of). I only use it for under my eyes, and this works like a dream (haha!). I wouldn't have bought this full price but I do really like it. I paid $12.56 for it.
Swissper Aloe Wipes. I needed some new makeup remover wipes, after I powered through my last lot because they made my skin sting. These ones aren't much better unfortunately.

Polishes from Gloss N' Sparkle:

Unicorn Droppings and They did the Monster Mash.

Unicorn Droppings seems to be one of Gloss n' Sparkle's most popular polishes, with it's white base with colourful glitters, and They did the Monster Mash is a lovely blue with lots of green, purple and black glitters of all shapes and sizes. So far I've only gotten to try out Unicorn Droppings, and I'm a little bit dissapointed. I'll be sure to do a post when I get a chance to use They did the Monster Mash too.

What I wore: Sweet Hearts

I've been thinking about doing some more outfit post, especially after finding a few really rad clothing items lately.

Face: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting concealer, Body Shop Extra Virgin Mineral foundation, touched up with Maybelline Dream Matte powder.

Benefit Hervana blush, touched up with Essence Cherry Blossom Girl blush

Covergirl LineExact Liquid eyeliner, Covergirl LastBlast Volume mascara

Revlon Kissable BalmStain in Romantic

Admittedly, this dress is from my work (Cotton On, $29.95 if anyone is interested). When I first saw it when we were unpacking stock I thought the print was a little tacky, and the shape was horrible, and it was too thin. Then I decided to try it on, just in case, and I was pretty much blown away (shhh, I know you've all had moments when you basically fall in love with an item of clothing!). Turns out on second thoughts, I think the print is super cute, the shape is super flattering on me, and the fabric isn't as thin as it first appeared. I'm also stoked that this dress could easily be layered to be worn in the cooler months.

I have a real interest in anatomy, so I think this necklace is super rad. 

George wanted to play while I was taking pictures.

Lately I've been hanging out with my friends a lot, going out to dinner and ice cream and coffee dates, and it's been super fun. I usually spend a lot of my down time at home doing not much, so it's been a nice change. I've been offered to stay on at work after my Christmas contract runs out, which is awesome! I really like working in a clothing shop (yep... I'm liking working in retail!!), and it's a great change from what I've been doing for the last 5 years working in coffee shops. Hopefully I'll manage to swing enough shifts so I can save enough money for when I head over to the UK at the end of May. I also got my marks back from my final class, so I will be graduating university in March!

What I won: Sweetaholic Beauty's Christmas Giveaway

I recently won my second ever blog giveaway, which was Jasmine from Sweetaholic Beauty's Surprise Christmas giveaway! The prizes were a surprise up until the winners were announced which was exciting. She's also hosting a Valentines Day blog swap, so head over and check out her blog if you're interested (blog swaps are always super fun!).

Here's what I won - I've also managed to try a few of these things out already!

MUA Undressed: I already have this palette and love it! I'm still undecided if I should keep this as a backup or give it to someone (I love giving people products that I love). I'm going to the UK at the end of May and my palette will probably last till then. See swatches here.

Essence quattro eyeshadow: In the picture on Jasmine's blog it looked like the quad I already had from Essence, but I was pleased to find it was different! This is a grey-toned neutral palette with 2 matte - the lighter shades, and 2 slightly shimmery shades - the darker shades (The shimmer didn't come up in either photo, sorry) . I love my other quad so this will definitely get a lot of use.

Lush Snow Fairy: I wanted to try this but never got around to getting it (I never go into the City where our only Lush store is), so I'm so pleased to get a chance to try it. It smells great, like the bubble gum lip scrub. The sweet smell means it's not something that you could use daily, and it leaves a really nice scent on your skin which isn't as sweet as from the bottle. A little bit of this also goes a long way.

Costal Scents Kabuki Brush: Yay! I need a new kabuki brush! This one is so soft, and it's PINK!

Face of Australia Once in a Blue Moon polish: This is another product I already own and love. Again, I may keep it as a backup (although I doubt I'll ever finish my first one because I have so many polishes), or give it away to share the love. See NOTD with this polish here.

Daiso Body Wash Mitten: I've been meaning to get something like this for a while so it's great I won it. It's quite soft so it'll be ok to use regularly.

Lovisa ring: This was the surprise Jasmine mentioned that she didn't show when she announced the winners. This isn't the kind of thing I'd usually wear but I can see it growing on me.

Montagne Jeunesse Very Berry face mask: This is a moisturising and cleansing mask with blueberries and cranberries. I've been meaning to try one of these masks and it's great this is a moisturising one as I have very dry skin. I also love cranberry scented things at the moment!

Daiso false eyelashes: I've only used false lashes once before and we didn't really get along (this was many years ago), so it will be interesting to see if I can get them to work this time around.

Coral Polish.

After my last (last as in previous, and because I'm no longer allowed to buy polish) nail polish haul, I've had a look through my nail polish collection. It's grown enormously over the last 6 or so months, and I'm starting to get a lot of similar colours. I've had a bit of an obsession with corals lately, meaning I've collected a fair few coral polishes. Here are the 6 corals (or close enough) that I have in my collection. I do love all of these, but I am still on a hunt for the perfect coral (which would be OPI Tropical Punch, which is discontinued and I can't find it online). However, these will tide me over until I use up some polishes and am allowed to buy more again.

OPI - I Eat Maily Lobster. This is my favourite of the 6. I got this for Christom my Dad (my sister had also bought it for me online but Dad didn't know, woops) after I've been wanting it for months. It's the darkest of the 6 and also has a slight gold shimmer to it.

Essie - Cute as a button. This is my second favourite colour. It's more of a pink toned coral. However, it's probably my least favourite formula of the lot, with an annoyingly small brush and long drying time. I'm not a fan of Essie's formulas, but I do like the colours once I've actually got them on my nails.

Ulta3 - Watermelon. This is the darkest coral I own, and my favourite of my Ulta3 polishes. I've talked about how much I love Ulta3 before so I don't need to say any more.

Rimmel 60 Seconds - 415 Instyle Coral. This coral is more orange toned. It also was the polish that went on the most un-evenly.

Australis - Todays News. Ok, this one might not be exactly a coral, but I'm adding it in because it reminds me of tropical punch. I prefer my corals to be more pink toned than orange, so I think this is a fantastic colour.

Face of Australia - Would you Like Some Orange Sherbet. Ok, again, not a coral, but if the Australis polish is included I thought this should be. I like the pink tones in this orange (which, ok, I may be imagining) so to me it's kind of a pastel coral. Click here for NOTD using this colour.

Clockwise from thumb: Today's News, Cute as a Button, Instyle Coral, I Eat Mainley Lobster, Watermelon.

Sale haul pt. 1

Even though I've been working almost non-stop since Christmas, I still managed to find time to find a few good sales. I did buy a few things online which are yet to arrive, so this will just be part 1.

My friend Tegan let me know about the sale on these gift sets in Kmart, and I thought I better take a look and check them out.

Rimmel Nail Polish Gift Set

This set contains Sky High, Instyle Coral and Portobello Pink. These are all lovely shades, and all are nice formulas. Instyle Coral and Portobello Pink both are opaque with 2 coats, with Sky High needing an extra coat. Portobello Pink also has a lovely shimmer to it. I also really like the large brushes, and they dry really quickly (not sure about 60 seconds, but it is pretty darn fast). This was $7.50, reduced from $15, with a $23 value.

Australis Parisian Pretty

This contained Mint Condition Lip Gloss in Meow with your Mind, Nail Polishes in Today's News and Sinfully Sweet, and a pair of 'gold plated' Love stud earrings. Today's News is my favourite from this set, being a bright pink, and I also think the earrings are pretty cute. Sinfully Sweet and Meow with Your Mind are pretty, but shades I usually wouldn't wear. This set was $10, reduced from $20, with a value of $24.85.

Australis NYC Nights

This contains Mint Condition Lip Gloss in An Evening With?, Double Decker Eye Duo in Moon Rocker, Nail Polish in Foil Spoil and a pair of 'crystal stud earrings'. I bought this mainly for the lip gloss because I don't have a red, but I also wanted to try one of Australis' Double Decker Eye Duos. Unfortunately, I have no idea how I would wear this combo, and I'm pretty disappointed with the blue cream. The powder seems nice and I look forward to trying this out. The nail polish is also very similar to my Revlon Silver Dollar, which I really like, so I doubt I'll get much use out of it. I'm also not a fan of the earrings. This set was also $10, reduced from $20, with a value of $26.85.

Lovisa
I checked out Lovisa as they were having an 'up to 70% off sale' and managed to pick these up. I would have got more but their eftpos was down and I only had $10 cash on me. However, I'm super happy with both of these necklaces.

 Swatches - all taken in natural lighting

Australis Meow with your Mind and An Evening With?

Australis Moon Rocker

Rimmel Sky High, Instyle Coral, Portobello Pink, Australis Today's News and Sinfully Sweet

Australis Foil Spoil.

Favourite beauty products of 2012 TAG

I was thinking of doing something like this instead of a December favourites post (especially considering they'd probably contain all the same products), and then Kat from Kitsch Snitch tagged me to do a beauty favourites of 2012 post! I'll have to start this by saying, I really only got into wearing makeup during this year, so my collection is quite small. I guess that just makes it all the more easier to pick my favourite products, but it also means I haven't used many. But here goes anyway

Lip Products
I've used some amazing lip products this year and I have so many lovely lipsticks, so this is hard.

MAC lipsticks. I got given 3 MAC lipsticks this year as Christmas presents and they're fantastic (I got 2 lots of Vegas Volt because my friends are great at picking presents, so I get to choose another colour to swap one of them with... so hard)! In particular, Vegas Volt is a fantastic orangey pink colour. Angel is also the perfect nude, as I prefer nudes that lean more towards pinks. They're creamy, smell lovely and last a decent amount of time.

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter. I started using these kinda by accident when I found them 40% off in Target. I now own Strawberry Shortcake, Peach Parfait and Sugar Plum and I think they're great products.

Eye products

MUA Undressed. Everyone can already guess why this is my favourite. It's a great palette and if you're ever going to do an order from MUA, I insist you get this!

It's hard to choose a runner up here because I've used a lot of great eye products and they're all so different from one another, so I'll briefly mention some products I love using: Covergirl lashblast volume mascara, Covergirl lineexact liquid liner, Australis eyeshadow primer.

Makeup Base Product
Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in 51. For me, this is a great foundation. It gives a light - medium coverage, smells great, and doesn't irritate my skin. I probably don't need to talk too much about this seeing as everyone's already reviewed it!

Body Shop Extra Virgin Minerals loose powder foundation in 105. This is the first powder foundation I own that I've actually used, and I think it's great. It's a little pricy at $40 for 5g, but this is great for my dry skin, lasts all day (without primer) and doesn't irritate my skin.

Cheek products
Benefit sugarbomb. This is a super lovely blush, it smells good, and applies lightly enough that you can build it to the colour you want.

Australis High Lights Mineral Face Highlighter in Gold. I think this gives a great glow to your cheeks and I really need to get my hands on Pearl too.

Nail Products
Ulta3 polishes: These are by far my favourite nail polishes, mostly because they are super cheap, are pretty decent quality considering and come in most of the colours you'd ever need. I've bought a whole bunch of these this year, with my favourites being Watermelon, Precious and Earl Grey.

Beauty Tools
Australis 6 piece brush set. This was less than $20, and so far has suited my needs. I really only use the eyeshadow and blush brush but I think they're pretty good.

Skincare products
Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner. I got this in my first Bellabox (as my first Lush product, too!) and after figuring out how to use it I really love it. I have super dry skin and this stuff is great - especially after shaving my legs. I've given it as presents to 2 people this year because I love it so much and want to spread the word about it around.

The Body Shop Cranberry Joy Body Polish. Fine, I only just got this but I love it so much that if I got it at the start of the year I'd have totally used this all year. I'm bummed it's limited edition because I'd love to use it all year round, but I would also be happy to use the strawberry version.

Perfume
DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom. I got a sample of this in a beauty box and loved it, and was lucky enough to get given it for Christmas from my sister!

Hair Care 
This year I've been batling with getting my hair into good condition. Last year I decided to dye my hair pink, and the bleaching involved with that completly destroyed it, to the point I had to cut it super short because it was so thin. Anyway, it's getting pretty healthy now after using different shampoos and conditioners in the L'Oreal Elvive range. Particularly the 'conditioning repair spray' helped when used before brushing my hair.


I tag:
Tegan from Lucie Daisy
Sammi from Material Gurl88
Candice from You Review
Lu from Glaring Embers and Stark Twilight
Nay Denise from Tres Beau Glamour

...and everyone else who is reading this post!!!

What were your favourite products of 2012? Have you used any of my favourite products?