July Favourites

This month I travelled to England, and it really made me appreciate some of my beauty products. I picked up quite a few new products, and although I packed more make up than was needed, I generally reached for the same products daily. At this time, it is winter in Australia and summer in England, so some of these products are favourites for summer, and not all-year round.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15
This foundation is a little too light for me now, and I picked up a MAC foundation two shades darker while I was in England. However, I have a little bit of this left and I just wanted to finish it off while I was overseas. This foundation is good, but sometimes with my dry skin it's not the best combo. In summer, it works better than in the winter because my skin isn't as dry, and using a bit more moisturiser before applying it hasn't caused me too much distress. This is one of MAC's fuller coverage foundations, and once I'm finished with this bottle I don't know if I'll repurchase Studio Fix, stay with the one I just purchased or venture further out into the MAC foundation world. Nonetheless, this foundation served me well while I was overseas.

Rimmel Apocalips in 600 Nude Eclipse 
I ordered this off ASOS about a week before they were realised in Australia, and I'm very happy with the colour choice. It is an everyday nude lip colour, and I love the way it looks. My lips do need a bit of a scrub before using this as it settles on lines and dry parts, but I have no problem doing the extra work - the joys of dry skin and dry lips.

NARS Laguna Bronzer
I really have a love/hate relationship with this bronzer. I really dislike that it has shimmer in it, and I don't care what anyone says, you can see it, especially in the sun. In summer, we can get away with that - not so much in winter though. I used my Sleek Face Form to contour while I was away, but I used this as an all over bronzer and it worked well

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST PURCHASE I HAVE MADE IN A WHILE. I bought this before I left for England, and I am so glad I did. It is the fastest drying top coat I have ever tried, but it even dries the polish underneath. It is amazing.

YSL Parisienne Perfume 
I don't think I've included a perfume in a favourites yet. My all-time favourite perfume is Flowerbomb, but I had the smallest amount left and I didn't want to lug around the big bottle overseas just to finish it off. I purchased this perfume at the beginning of July, although I've had samples of it and I absolutely love it. It isn't an overpowering perfume, and I used this daily (although I had brought another perfume along for some variety).

Lush Ultrabalm 
I picked this up my first week in England. I get bad eczema, and this has basically cleared up my eczema along with my next favourite from Lush!

Lush Dreamwash Smoothie 
I bought this towards the end of June, and it has been wonderful to use on the eczema I have on my legs and arms. This is quite pricey in Australia, so I bought a back up while I was in England, which was 9 pounds or so - half of what it is in Australia.

England Haul pt 1 - Make Up!

I've recently come back from visiting family in England, and I went a little crazy on cosmetics. With the significant price difference in cosmetics between Australia and the United Kingdom, I think I can justify my purchases.

I was most excited for Urban Decay and Sleek. As you can see, I purchased a few things from each. It might just be easier to list the products, and do in depth reviews at a later date (particularly with the Benefit and Sleek palettes) 

Urban Decay All Nighter Make Up Setting Spray - I've had a mini bottle of this since my Dad went to England last year, and it's been on my to-buy list for ages. I love this stuff. 

MAC Mineralise Moisture SPF 15 Foundation in NC25 - I thought it was about time I bought a foundation specialised for dryer skin. 

Benefit The Bronze of Champions - I actually picked this up duty free which I was really excited about. It has a mini Hoola bronzer, They're Real mascara, a Creaseless Cream shadow and a mini Watt's Up! highlighter, all of which I have wanted to try for ages, so it is a perfect purchase for me! I will have a review up sometime soon of this set. 

Sleek Ultra Mattes VI Brights Palette - I have wanted this palette ever since it came out, but the websites I rely on to buy my Sleek (mainly Lipstick Republic) haven't had it in stock for ages. This was the last one on the shelf at Superdrug when I went in, so I snatched it of course. A review of this palette will also be up soon. 

Sleek Storm Palette - I've contemplated buying this palette for a while, so I took the plunge when I was able to swatch it in store. I haven't tested any of the palettes I've bought out yet, but I probably won't review this one because it is one of the most popular Sleek palettes. 

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette - This is another palette that has been on my to-buy list, but I always told myself to wait until I went to England to pick it up. I probably don't need this in my collection, but you can never have enough eyeshadows, or palettes! 

Vivo Cheeky Cream Blusher in Bloom - I'm not big on blush, but over in England people are, so I thought I'd pick up a cream blush (as I have dry skin and it would work better) to try out. I've used it a few times, and so far so good. 

Nivea Lip Butter Raspberry Rose - I haven't seen this lip butter in Australia, and I picked this up on my first day in England when I saw it. 

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Stellar - I saw this colour and instantly thought of a favourite lipstick of mine, Party Parrot. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet, but if it is dupable I will make a post. 

Collection Cream Puff in Powder Puff 2 - I just wanted a nudey every day lip colour while I was overseas, but I haven't been overly impressed with this. It is meant to be a matte formula when dry, but it likes to cling to all kinds of dry patches on your lips. 

Lancome Hypnose - The lady at duty free tempted me with this, and how could I say no once I looked at the packaging? I'll have a review of this coming up soon. 

Barry M Fine Glitter Dust - I wanted a gold glitter, and I got it. Can't wait to give this one a go.  

Maybelline Colour Tattoo On and On Bronze - In Australia, this is called Bad to the Bronze. I decided to pick this one up while I was in England because it was cheaper, but also because it was summer and I wore this a few times on my lids as an all over colour. 

Maybelline Colour Tattoo Light in Purple - In the beauty blogosphere, I have heard people talk about this lovely duochrome colour tattoo, of which I'm unsure will ever be released in Australia. This was another purchase I made on my first day. I'll definitely do a review of this. 

Collecton Lasting Perfection Concealer in 1 Fair and 2 Light - I bought Light first, and it was a little dark on me (it leaned a bit orange). Fair I picked up later, and while it is a little light, it is good as an undereye concealer. 

Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl Kajal in 012 Bronze - I actually don't own a bronze eyeliner, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to pick one up. 

Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light - My beloved contour in my Sleek Face Form palette has hit pan, so I picked this up as a back up. 

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Mystic - I've wanted this lipstick for a while, but I wanted to be able to swatch this and another one to see which I preferred. The other had shimmer in it, so I opted for the matte.

Sleek True Colour Lipstick in Naked - I'm trying to get into nude lips (which I have until recently avoided), so that is what fuelled this purchase. 

MAC Candy Yum-Yum Lipstick - It's been on my to-buy list since it was made permanent, and with the significant difference in prices between Australia and the UK, why not ;) 

MAC Honey Love Lipstick - This is a matte nude, that looks very friendly to me. Can't wait to give this one a go and get some use out of it. 

Urban Decay Theodora Palette - review and swatches

My lovely boyfriend gifted this to me two weeks ago, and I am in love. Urban Decay eyeshadows are my absolute favourite, and this palette is no let down.

The palette even came with this "get the look" card

Above are the Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Colour in Theodora and the 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero

Above are the shadows with no primer - Broken, Beware, Bewitch, West, Spell (duo) and Jealous (duo)

And here they are on top of Urban Decay Primer Potion

The more neutral shadows (especially Beware, Bewitch, West and the brown from the Spell duo) picked up much better with the use of Urban Decay Primer Potion. 

This palette appealed more to me because of the neutral shades than the Glinda palette, and although I have many neutral palettes I am very happy to add this to my collection. 

Above is the Theodora lip colour and Zero eye pencil 

And here is a look I recreated with the palette the day I tested it out. I used a combination of the more neutral brown shades on the lid and crease, and a mixture of the Jealous duo on the bottom lash line. 

June Favourites

June to me means university exams, so I didn't really venture out and try new things, nor experiment with makeup. But I do have some favourites for this month (and some re-occuring favourites), so onto my June favourites!

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in 10 Fair Clair
I love this undereye concealer. It's amazing. I removed the applicator though, because I found it unhygenic, but I'm slowly learning to apply less and less concealer because a lot comes out.

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded 
When I have done eye looks this month, this has been my go to base. I find this colour tattoo in Priceline this month, and I'm assuming it's new (to Australia at least). It's a nice nude base, although it is
"metallic" so it does have some shimmer. I look past that though because it works wonderfully.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 
I've mentioned this foundation in a previous favourites, but I've really been loving this foundation this month (and Revlon Colorstay, which I mentioned last month). It's winter in Australia, so my skin has become really dry so I do need to moisturise before I use this.

Rimmel Gentle Eye Make Up Remover 
I picked this up when I was in David Jones a few weeks ago, and I love it. I've bought it a few times before, but it is truly great at remover eye makeup without stinging my eyes, which some makeup wipes do.

Lime Crime Eye Primer 
I got this as a sample when I ordered from Lipstick Republic last year, and I really like this. It doesn't crease on me as much as the Urban Decay Primer Potion does (for some reason I have oily eyelids, but dry skin) so I may have to purchase this as a full size when I run out of this little tub.

And those were my June favourites! Hopefully with my travel this month I will have a few more favourites at the end of July :)