Top 13 of 2013

I cannot believe 2013 is at an end. This year has been one of the best years of my life, the most significant was my travels to England. For this yearly favourites, I decided to pick 13 of my favourite products I discovered in 2013 - and it was hard to narrow it down! But here it is, my top 13 of 2013!

1. Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

This is probably the best purchase I've made this year, and definitely number one on my list of best products of the year (and probably my favourite palette ever). This is the perfect palette to accompany any makeup look, single eyeshadow, or palette you have. See my review of the Naked Basics here.  

2. MAC Painterly Paint Pot 

This is the best matte base I've ever tried - I don't know why I put buying this off for so long! Although my whole body is dry, I have hooded eyelids that get quite oily. This keeps everything on my lids. I don't do a makeup look without this base, and although it is on the pricier side in Australia, if you're looking for a good base that'll work, I recommend the MAC Paint Pot in Painterly.

3. Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation

I've found that this year, my skin is much more dry than it has been. I slowly had to move away from powders, and venture into the world of products specified for dry skin. This isn't a holy grail foundation (I know I'll find it someday), but it is a great everyday foundation for dry skin. 

4. Essence Lash and Brow Gel

2013 was definitely the year of the eyebrow for me. This brow gel sets everything in place, and is relatively cheap - under $5. Even if you don't fill in your eyebrows or apply any product to them, it's always good to set them and smooth everything out, and I recommend this brow gel. 

5. Benefit Coralista Blush 

This is the blush that made me fall in love with blush. I absolutely adore this blush, and since then have tried incorporating blush in my everyday routine (something I never really did). On paler skins this is beautiful, and on darker skins it is beautiful. I love this blush.

6. Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

My Seche Vite is basically all gone, but this is the greatest top coat I have ever used. It dries super fast, is glossy, and everything I want in a topcoat. I highly recommend this product if you haven't tried it yet! 

7. Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Perfume 

This is one of my perfume favourites of 2013. I picked this up on my way back from England at Heathrow, and I absolutely adore this perfume. I'll probably invest in the original parfum next time, but I love the scent of this. I love floral scents! 

8. YSL Parisienne Perfume

I've included two perfumes because this was the year I ventured out into different scents. Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf is my all-time favourite scent, but when I got a sample of this earlier in the year I had to buy it. I purchased this a week or so before I went to England, so every time I wear this perfume I'm reminded of that time away, and this is definitely a scent I'd purchase over and over again. 

9. Lush Dreamwash Shower Smoothie

For when my eczema flares up, I love this stuff for in the shower. It's like a clay almost, and is super soothing. 

10. Daiso Puff and Sponge Cleaner 

This is the greatest thing to clean makeup sponges. For regular brushes, I find it mediocre, but it just sucks liquid makeup out of brushes. 

11. Sigma Small Angle E65 Brush 

This is the only brush I will use in my brows. It is much smaller than the other angle brushes I own, and is perfect for filling in brows. I think I'll need to invest in another one soon, because I also adore this brush for gel eyeliner, or black eyeshadow on the lash line. 

12. Sleek Face Form Palette in Light 

This palette (at least the contour) has seen better days! The contour is absolutely lovely for my light skin, the highlighter is also nice. My only vice with this palette is the blush - on light skin tones, I really can't work this. When I was in England, my cousin who is dark skinned used it and it looked phenomenal on her! But on me, no! However, I'd recommend this palette just for the contour alone - I love it.

See my review of the palette here.

13. Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze (Bad to the Bronze)

This was a purchase I made in England. I've been a fan of the Colour Tattoos since they came to Australia in late 2012, and although this has been a favourite, I never picked it up until I was in England - another product I put off buying for so long!

And those are my top 13 of 2013. Happy New Year everyone, see you in 2014!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish - review and swatches

Anyone who has watched beauty videos on Youtube has probably heard the hype surrounding the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle. I fell into this hype, and although it is a lovely product, I don't find myself reaching for it all too often. Since then, I have also received another Mineralize Skinfinish - this one in Petticoat - which sadly is discontinued, but I am happy to add to my collection and use for this review of MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes.

The MAC website describes the Mineralize Skinfinish as "a luxurious velvet-soft powder with high-frost metallic finish. Smoothes on: adds buffed-up highlights to cheeks, or an overall ultra-deluxe polish to the face". 

Soft and Gentle is a champagne shade, whereas Petticoat is a darker pink colour. The veining in Petticoat is much more evident, and it is a darker raspberry colour when swatched in these areas. 

Soft and Gentle on the left; Petticoat on the right - heavily swatched 

Soft and Gentle on the left; Petticoat on the right - blended out

Above I've used Petticoat as a blush and Soft and Gentle as a highlight. Both Mineralize Skinfinishes add extreme luminosity and look lovely in photography, but I sincerely do not recommend using two - one as a blush (which is already a highlighting blush) and one as a highlighter on top - as the result will be a shimmering disco ball (unless you want that, but the thought of glitter all over my face is not the look I tend to go for)!

So what are my thoughts on the two Mineralize Skinfinishes I own?

I really wanted to love Soft and Gentle, but it's not my favourite highlighter. On a night out, it works well, but I notice chunks of glitter on my face when I use it, and the last thing I want to see is glitter on my face (only on my eyes, preferably). In photography, however, the result is lovely and I'd recommend using a product like this when you are going to be photographed.

Petticoat is a lovely product, but on my skin I can only imagine using it as a blush, and it is quite shimmery and glittery. On darker skin tones, I'd imagine this to be an absolutely gorgeous blush and even a highlighter, and I'm happy to add this product to my kit.   

On my wish list, I have Lightscapade, and once I cross that off I think I'm done with the world of Mineralize Skinfinishes! The products photograph lovely, but unless you want an extremely noticeable highlight outside of photography, there are highlighters that are less noticeable - cream or liquid highlighters might be preferable to powder ones. I have used Soft and Gentle as an eyeshadow before, and it is a lovely champagne shade for the lids, so the products can be multitasking. They just aren't my favourite products, and I believe a little over-hyped in the beauty community.

That's my review for the MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes. What are your thoughts on them? And if you haven't, please follow me on Bloglovin'! 

December Favourites

I cannot believe it is the end of the year. I will have a yearly favourites coming up before the New Year, but for now I wanted to talk about my favourite products from December.

Sephora Mascara and Eyeliner in VIP Gold 
I got this off a friend for Christmas, but I had tried it out before it was gifted to me. This is amazing! It is a mascara, but also has a fine brush on the end of the mascara wand for eyeliner. I haven't really used it as a mascara, but as an eyeliner it is gorgeous!

MAC Viva Glam Nicki Lipglass
I am not a lipgloss person at all, but I received this in my KK present last week and I'm seriously in love! It helps that I love the Viva Glam Nicki lipstick, but this on its own gives a nice flush of pink on the lips, and topped on a nude is gorgeous! I've been pairing this with MAC Honey Love recently.

China Glaze Nail Polish in Techno 
This polish is like a disco ball, it's so pretty! I've been wearing this over the Christmas period, and probably will keep it on until after New Years because I really don't want to have to deal with removing it!

NARS Laguna Bronzer 
I hit pan on this this month. This product is always on and off with me, and it definitely works better in the summer time. I do like this bronzer, but sometimes I find it doesn't work for me.

MAC Candy Yum Yum Lipstick 
This lipstick is gorgeous, it is seriously a bright, neon pink. Now that my hair has returned to dark (meant to be brown but really black) and I've gotten rid of the red, I can get away with more pink and red lipstick colours. Love this colour in the summer.

Real Techniques Setting Brush 
I have really dry skin, so I don't powder my skin except for under my eyes to set under eye concealer. I absolutely adore this brush for setting under the eyes, and highy recommend it! It's super cheap on iHerb also, so I recommend looking into it.

And those are my favourites from December! 

NARS Killing Me Softly Cheek Palette - review and swatches

Today I have a review of the limited edition Killing My Softly Cheek Palette from NARS. When this palette popped up on Temptalia, I knew I had to have it. Featuring the famous Orgasm blush and Albatross highlighter, two products I have wanted to try but have not wanted to fork out $50 for each. I got this palette for $69 from Mecca Cosmetica.

The size of the packaging is identical to that of the NARS Laguna Bronzer. 

The NARS Killing Me Softly Cheek Palette features three blushes and one highlighter - the top left hand corner is Gilda, a matte coral shade. Next to Gilda is Albatross, a goldish highlighter. I've wanted to try this highlighter for a while, and the addition of Orgasm in this palette was a no brainer. On the bottom left hand corner is Outlaw, a more autumn/winter appropriate shade with some golden shimmer throughout, I'd describe this shade as a raspberry. The biggest pan in the palette is Orgasm, a cult favourite peachy coral shade also with golden shimmer. 

The shade selection is absolutely lovely. I'm so happy Albatross and Orgasm were including in this palette, but Gilda is so lovely and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of this shade in summer! Outlaw is such a pretty raspberry shade, and I can imagine getting a lot of use out of this shade when summer is over and we head into autumn and winter. 

The only complaint I have is the size of the pans. To apply highlighter, I tend to use a small fan brush so the Albatross pan is okay, but both the Gilda and Outlaw pans are small it is hard to get a blush brush in them. However, the shades are so pretty I can work around it.

That is my review of the NARS Killing Me Softly Cheek Palette. If you can still get your hands on this, I recommend it! 

The Perfect Palette Tag

I wanted to put a post up tonight, and I thought I may as well do a tag post! Hope you enjoy reading, and get to know what palettes I love and adore a little better! 

1. Best Packaging

This has to go to the Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet and Liner Eye Palette (see review here). The MAC Spoiled Rich Quad from the Archie's Girls collection comes at a close second (see review here), I loved the packaging of the whole collection! 

2. Best Color Payoff

Hmmm, this is a hard one. Each palette I have does have its downfall. But I'd probably go with my Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, because I find the shimmery shades in the palette perform amazingly, and the matte shadows are much more pigmented and not as powdery as others of Urban Decay's matte shades (I really can't get the matte shades from the original Naked to work well).  

For the price though, you can't go wrong with Sleek palettes! They are amazingly pigmented, especially the shimmery shades. For a beginner, I'd recommend trying some of the palettes from Sleek. 

3. Most Versatile

The Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette is the most versatile palette I own (see review here). It can accompany any palette, and you can create whole looks - even fill in your brows if the shades match - because the shadows are mostly matte (only one shimmery shade, which I use as a highlighter). 

4. Best for Traveling

Hmm, I'd again say the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. You can create many looks using the one palette, I highly recommend checking it out! Do not regret purchasing it at all. 

5. Biggest Regret

While I love the packaging of the MAC Spoiled Rich Quad, I hardly ever reach for the palette and the shades were a little disappointing. I also regret the MUA palettes I have purchased, although the price of them is nowhere near that of MAC shadows and palettes. 

6. Best Colour Names

I love the names in the original Urban Decay Naked Palette. I also love the names in the Naked 2, but the ones in the original Naked Palette seem to fit the theme of 'naked' better.

7. Least Used

Of my high end palettes, I would say the Urban Decay Fifteenth Anniversary Palette. It is a lovely palette, but I hardly reach for it. It is all shimmer, minus the matte black Blackout (which I love, so am happy having a second one as a backup). Because it is all shimmer, for the most part you cannot create whole looks with the one palette. 

Of drugstore, the MUA palettes I have purchased (I think I have two, I'm not even sure!). 

8. Most Used

Urban Decay Naked 2. This is the first high end palette I purchased, and it has been the most used. Bootycall is basically non-existent right now. Favourite eyeshadow ever! 

9. Most Loved

Urban Decay Naked 2.

10. Desert Island

I'd take my Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. I love it so much, it is my favourite palette. Second to that, the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette. 

So basically this tag just shows that I really love the Urban Decay Naked 2! I'm currently working on a heap of reviews, so check back soon! And if you haven't already, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin'! 

Empties/Products I'm Chucking Out #5

David Jones Deeply Purify Facial Cleanser 

I got this cleanser in a set of samples from David Jones a couple of months ago. The next cleanser also came in the set, and although I enjoyed this cleanser the Burt's Bees I enjoyed more and would repurchase it over the David Jones. This cleanser worked well. 

Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Cream Cleanser 

I LOVE THIS. The scent is pleasant, and it feels so refreshing to use. I've repurchased the full size, and I think I've found my holy grail cleanser. 

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel 

I'm not really one for sickly sweet smells, but I absolutely adore this shower gel! I got the smallest size available, but I'll have to stock up before its gone. 

Bioderma Cleanser

I purchased the smallest size available from eBay awhile ago to try this product out. This is a super soft cleanser and removes makeup. I definitely will repurchase this, and now it's available from Priceline which makes it super accessible to Australians. 

Alpha Keri Intensive Ointment

I use this on my eczema, and will continue to repurchase this product.

Schwarzkopf Taft Flexible Hairspray 

I actually did like this hairspray, but I don't really have a preference with hairspray. This one was quite flexible, did not leave my hair stiff. 

Daiso Detergent for Puff and Sponge 

This is amazing at cleaning makeup sponges. It just drags out foundation in no time. I love it, will continue to repurchase. 

Cutex Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover 

I purchased acetone free because I have acrylics on. This works well, and I'll most likely repurchase it in the future. 

Johnson's Moisturising Day Cream

I've mentioned this in empties before, and I will continue to purchase this day cream. For when my skin isn't super dry, this works wonderfully. 

Vaseline Total Moisture Dry Skin 

I love this moisturiser. I use it allover my body. A pack of three of the large bottles were available at Costco, so I stocked up last time I was there. I'd recommend this to anyone with dry skin. 

MAC Fix+

I've been through at least 3 bottles of Fix+ now. I love this stuff, and will continue to repurchase it. 

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Deep Treatment

This was a sample packet I purchased in England. I liked this, but it isn't my favourite deep treatment. When I go back to England, I will be stocking up on this stuff though as it is good value for money.

Johnson's Baby Conditioning Shampoo

This is my go to brush cleanser. It leaves my brushes soft and cleanses well. Will continue to repurchase. 

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in 10 Fair Clair 

I thought I'd never use this under eye concealer up, but I got there! I did enjoy this, but at the moment I am loving the Rimmel Match Perfection more. This is a good under eye concealer, and I recommend it!

Revlon Colorstay for Normal/Dry Skin in 150 Buff

I loved this foundation, but the bottle always leaked! I'm happy they have changed the packaging to include a pump, and I've already repurchased this foundation. 

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15

I was so happy when I finished this foundation up! I love this foundation, and I've repurchased it in NC20. My perfect shade is between the two, however, so I will repurchase NC15 soon. 

Lush Dreamwash Shower Smoothie 

Favourite for eczema. This is like a clay, and I wash my legs (which is where I have eczema) with this stuff when it flares up. Works to calm it down, will always repurchase. 

Nivea Pure & Natural Regenerating Night Cream

This isn't my favourite night cream, but it was quite moisturising. I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't need a super hydrating night cream for an affordable price. 

Clinique Moisture Surge 

This was a good moisturiser, quite hydrating. This is on my list of potential hydrating day creams.

Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner Water 

I decided to try out the Lush toners. This was the first one I have used up, and I also am trying Eau Roma Water. I loved the scent of this, it didn't dry my skin out and I think is perfect for us dry skinned people. I think I will have a comparison post later on once I have tested them all out. 

Johnson's Daily Essentials Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes (x5)

I bought a bulk of these from Costco, and while I used them up I find them too harsh on my dry skin. 

BeautyCareCo Makeup Remover Pads

These always feature in my empties. Can't say much about them, they do the job! 

NYC Glamour Lashes

I picked these up when I was in England, I mentioned the first pair in my last empties post. These were okay, nothing super special. 

Eylure Katy Perry Lashes in Oh, My!

These lashes are full on, and I love them! I wore them to a friends 21st, and I loved the look! I adore these lashes, and definitely will be repurchasing a pair for New Years Eve!  

ModelCo Flutter False Lashes in Flamboyant 

These were also another pair of full on lashes, and I wore them to another 21st. I loved these lashes too, and when I bought them they were only around $9, which I think is quite reasonable. 

Manicare Glameyes Taylor Lashes

I don't really remember these lashes, so I can't really comment. The past two months have really been about lashes. 

Daiso Lashes

For $2.80, you really can't go wrong. Every time I go into Daiso, I pick up at least 2 pairs of lashes to add to my drawer. 

November Favourites

November wasn't the best month, and this post is a little late (blame my MacBook's logic board thx), but better late than never, right?

Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer in 010 Ivory 
I picked this under eye concealer up on a whim and I'm so glad I did, it has replaced the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind in my eyes. This is more yellowed toned, and I prefer it to the pink of the Maybelline because my under eye circles are more purple than blue and the pink doesn't help to counteract the purple as well as yellow does.

NYX Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray
When I saw the NYX stand at Target I was ecstatic. I picked up this, and a brow powder set that is too red for my brows (especially now that I'm back to brown). I love this setting spray though. I had been using the Urban Decay All Nighter, but my skin is so dry lately that it makes my skin look super dry. This doesn't, and prolongs makeup wear. They had a matte version as well, so there is an option for both dry and oily skin.

Lush Let The Good Times Roll Facial Cleanser 
This cleanser smells heavenly. It smells like popcorn. It is amazing. I don't use this every day because it isn't the most gentle on my skin, but when I do my face smells amazing.

Natio Ageless Illuminating Primer 
I picked this primer up a while ago and I have really enjoyed it. It is quite hydrating, which works well with my dry skin. Works well as a primer, and probably will repurchase soon as I'm nearly finished with this one.

MAC Pro Conceal and Correct Palette in Light 
I picked this up two or so months ago. I also have the Medium in my makeup kit. These are the Studio Finish concealers from MAC. I've hit pan on the NC20 concealer shade as it is the main shade I use on myself. It contains 4 concealer shades and 2 corrector shades, which makes it a versatile palette.

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara
I picked this mascara up when I was coming back through Heathrow Airport, and I wasn't the biggest fan at first. Now, once it has significantly dried up, I love it. The wand just does something with my non-existent lashes, and I love it.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Guava
Such a summery colour! Currently wearing this on my toes, and later today I will put it on my nails. I love the formula and opacity of the Gelly polishes.

And those were my favourites in November!
Thanks for reading x

Update

I haven't posted in ages, due to university. My Macbook broke last week (thankful it was after exams) and is currently getting repaired. Until I have it back, I can't update. Sorry for those loyal readers, but once my laptop is back expect many posts! Hopefully see you guys soon x