Chi Chi Brow Pomade - Taupe Vs Dark Brown

Today I have a quick comparison post comparing two shades of the Chi Chi Brow Pomade I own - Taupe and Dark Brown. I have previously done a review on the Taupe shade (and the product in general), which can be viewed here, but I have found it a bit difficult to find comparison posts on line, so thought I would compare the two shades I own.

I originally purchased Taupe as I currently have a balayage in my hair - blonde from about 1/3 down. I have recently had the brunette at the top done much darker and cooler in tone, and because I do have the dark tones in the beginning of my hair, I wasn't too afraid of purchasing one of the darker shades as I enjoyed the product so much.

(L to R: heavy swatch of Taupe, light swatch [how I would use on brows] with angled brush, heavy swatch of Dark Brown, light swatch with angled brush)

Now that the roots of my hair are a lot darker, I find Taupe doesn't work as well in my brows - it does appear a lot more warm toned than it previously had. The light swatches above is how I use the product - I like to dip my brush in the product, wipe it on the lid and go from there. I tend to reach for Dark Brown a lot more these days, but Taupe would be a great shade for blondes or those with lighter hair.

The Chi Chi Brow Pomade is $14.95 and can be purchased from the Chi Chi website, and from Myer and Target in Australia.

Thanks for reading,

X

Top 15 of 2015

I feel like 2015 just flew by. It was one of the most challenging years of my life, and I am happy to see it go. So today, I bring you my Top 15 of 2015 - in no particular order.

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette
This palette is absolutely beautiful. When I do makeup on people, this is the palette I reach for 90% of the time. Marzipan is a beautiful allover lid colour, and Creme Brulee is a stunning gold. I have made a significant dent in Milk Chocolate, which I love to use as a transition shade, and the shimmery highlight, Champagne Truffle is a beautiful shimmery shade (and can even be used as a highlight on the face). If I was to travel, this would be the palette I would take with me. It has the right amount of shimmer and mattes, and all the shadows are beautiful. I highly recommend this palette. I will eventually have a comparison post between the Chocolate Bar Palette and the Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette up on the blog.

MAC Velvet Teddy
This has been my go-to colour for the better half of the year. I have purchased a back up of this, as I am nearly out of mine. It is a medium nude, and looks beautiful on my light skin, but would work on many skin tones. It is a pricey lipstick, but the MAC matte lipsticks are my favourite conventional lipstick, and it lasts for hours on the lips. If I'm wearing a nude lipstick, 80% of the time it is this.

Chi Chi Super CC Cream
This is my favourite base product from this year (and probably all time). The shade is great for my skin tone, and you get a lot of product - the tube comes with 50g! I've had it for quite a few months and will need to purchase a back up shortly. It is light-medium coverage, and if you're able to get this in your shade, I would recommend it. It is hydrating as it is a CC cream, and my dry skin looks fabulous with it. Highly recommend this.

OPI You're Such a Budapest  
This OPI nail polish has been on my nails 50% of the year. It is the most perfect periwinkle purple.

Kit Cosmetics Salted Caramel Candle
I don't currently have this candle, but it is one of my absolute favourite candles. This is the only sweet candle I actually enjoy. Usually, sweet candles are too sickly for me, but this candle smells like heaven. Absolutely adore this candle. When I've burnt through 2 more candles, I will repurchase this.

Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor & Queen Bee
I'm going to group these two together because they are a similar product, just a different shade. Essentially, they are a tinted lip stick, that are super moisturising. In the colder months, these are bomb lip products. My boyfriend also gifted me with Medieval for Christmas, so I will have a review up of it soon. For a review of Hello Sailor, see here.

Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation 
This powder is absolutely heavenly on my face. It isn't the cheapest face powder, but it doesn't dry my skin out at all. It also smells like chocolate, so who can really complain? I would recommend checking out this powder - oily and dry skin alike!

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
Where has this mascara been all my life???? I don't have the most fabulous lashes. They are short, okay at holding a curl, but nothing amazing. Enter the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. I love this mascara. If you haven't tried this mascara out, please, do your self a favour and try it. Your mascara game will change completely. The first time I wore this mascara, my friend asked me if I was wearing falsies. Enough said!

LA Girl Pro Conceal in Classic Ivory
MAC Prolongwear Concealer is still one of my all time favourite undereye concealers, but for the last 2 or so months of 2015, I have really enjoyed this concealer. The shade I have is quite pink in tone and thus amazing at covering dark circles.

Chi Chi Brow Pomade 
I have two shades - Taupe and Dark Brown. When my roots were a lot lighter (I have a belayage blonde happening), Taupe was a good shade, but now that my roots are a lot darker, I find Dark Brown the better option. To see my review of Taupe, please click here. A comparison of the two will be up on the blog shortly.

ColourPop Ultra Matte Lip in Trap
In the cooler months, this is the ultimate perfect lip shade. It is a cool toned nude. The formula lasts on your lips for ages, is a little drying, but not too extreme. These products retail for $6US, and they have a heap of shades as well. I have two reviews up of different shades - see review 1 (Trap is mentioned) and review 2.

NARS Steven Klein One Shocking Moment Cheek Palette 
This, of course, is a favourite from the last couple of months of 2015. The highlight shade in this palette is my favourite to put under my eyes. See my review of the palette here. The palette contains a massive Laguna, beautiful blush shades, and a nice contouring and highlighting duo. If you can still pick this up, I would highly recommend it.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle EDP
This perfume was a gift for my 23rd birthday this year. I've never been too interested in Chanel scents, but this scent is so feminine. I've used a quarter of the bottle in five months, so it definitely has been used a lot this past year.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion Plus
This moisturiser has been a favourite for years. It is super moisturising, works well in the summer and winter months, and always leaves my skin feeling hydrated.

ColourPop Blaze Super Shock Shadow
This eyeshadow was part of the Kathleenlights Where the Light Is quad, but can now be purchased individually (I have placed an order with ColourPop and one is on it's way to me). See review of quad here. This is the most perfect bronzey, glittery shadow. Because it is a ColourPop eyeshadow, it is super pigmented and one of my favourite go to bronzes (next to Urban Decay Smog, nothing will ever remove that as my number 1 bronze).

And those are my favourites of 2015!

Happy New Year!

Chi Chi Brow Pomade in Taupe - review and swatches

Chi Chi recently released brow pomades in six shades. Currently, these are not on the Chi Chi website but I was lucky enough to find one at Myer. I purchased this about two weeks ago and they only had one left in Taupe and a few in Blonde. The shades available are Blonde, Taupe, Soft Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Brown and Black Brown. The brow pomade sells for $14.95 and comes with 2 grams of product. Chi Chi describes this product as a "waterproof, smudge free, creamy formula that is an all in one brow product. Smoothly glides on to skin and hair to sculpt, colour in and shape natural defined brows".

Taupe is a medium, cool-toned shade. I have had blonde hair for a while, and have struggled to match my brows, as although my eyebrows are sparse, they are black. This shade of the brow pomade is great to lighten my brows and define them. I have enjoyed setting this (it does dry, so you don't necessarily need to set it in place, but I do it out of habit) with MAC Omega eyeshadow. 

I haven't tried the Anastasia Brow Pomade so I cannot comment on the similarities, but this is a great brow product. I find it lasts all day and you don't need much product at all. I tend to dip my brush in the pomade and wipe it on the side of the packaging before placing on my brows. 

When I find this product in stock in different shades, I am going to purchase them and keep them in my kit. This is a great product to see from more affordable brands, and this was $14.95 well-spent. I definitely recommend this product if you can find it in store, and hopefully it will be available online soon. 

Thanks for reading,

X

Current Favourites

It has been a while since I've done a Favourites post, so I thought I'd combine the last couple of months. I have been experimenting with new products as of lately, and these are the products that have stood out to me from the last couple of months:

Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan Illuminiser 
Where has this product been all my life? I picked this up from Mecca a couple of months ago, and I love to mix it in with face products for an allover luminosity (it works especially well with the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue). The only downside to this product, when used mixed with base products, is once the makeup does wear off throughout the day, glitter does remain on your face. For a night out, however, this is a great product. You can apply it all over your face before foundation as an illuminating base.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara
I received a small size of this in the Naked on the Run palette. I have been wearing this daily and it does something magical with my tiny lashes. Will definitely repurchase this one, even though I don't tend to spend too much on mascaras. I find Maybelline do great mascaras, but this one was a pleasant surprise.

Chi Chi Super CC Cream
I have been using this product on the daily. The coverage is light but buildable. I purchased this in the shade Light (I believe there is a Fair shade) and it is a pretty good match. Because it is a CC cream, this type of base product is great for dry skin. I have not had an issue with this one clinging onto dry patches. There is 50g of product in this tube. The standard for foundation is 30g, so the amount of product for the price is amazing.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue
The coverage of this is much lighter than the Chi Chi CC Cream. I do find with super dry skin, this does cling a bit. With properly moisturised and primed skin, this is a great base product for everyday. There is 35g of product in here, which is an additional 5g than the standard amount of foundation. The colour range in Australia isn't as large as it is overseas, but if there is a shade that matches you, I would recommend checking it out. This product is advertised as a "tinted hydrating gel cream", so the coverage is just enough to even out my skin tone (my main concern is redness).

Too Faced Cocoa Contour Palette
This has quickly become a staple in my everyday makeup routine. The Light Cocoa shade in this palette (as you can see) is my absolute favourite under eye highlight powder I have tried to date. I've done a review of this palette here. The Medium Cocoa shade is a great contour shade for me, and I will definitely be experimenting with Dark Cocoa once the spring and summer time hits.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette
I love mixing the two lighter shades in the palette for a subtle highlight during the day. I know a lot of people love to use these powders to set under the eyes, but I find them too shimmery for that. As a subtle glow, though, these work well. I've done a review of this palette here.

And those are my current favourites! Thanks for reading,
X

July Favourites

July is my favourite month of the year (yes, my birthday month). Working full time, I need products that just work and are fuss free, and unfortunately, nothing changes much in my makeup routine anymore. However, I do change a few things up, and have found a few new favourites this month.

First, the Trilogy Certified Organic Rosehip Oil. I love to use this product at night, lather it allover my face to moisturise. This product hasn't broken me out either, which is a big win!

MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20 is my go-to under eye concealer. This one is basically used up, but never fear, I repurchased another one yesterday. This concealer does not budge, and for glasses wearing girls like me, is not budged around by glasses (the struggle I have with under eye concealers).

The Lady Gaga Fame Perfume has been my go-to scent this winter. It is sweet, but not overpowering, and an absolutely beautiful scent. 

Maybelline The Falsies Big Eyes Mascara is a new find from this month. It is a double-ended mascara, one brush for top lashes and one for bottom lashes. I actually love using the brush for bottom lashes on both my top and bottom lashes. I don't think Maybelline mascaras ever disappoint. 

And finally, my new lipstick favourite - Chi Chi Viva La Diva in Lady Bump. I absolutely adore this lipstick. It is matte, but not in a drying way at all. Quite moisturising, a daring colour, and an absolute favourite for the winter season. 

X