Benefit Cosmetics Kissy Missy Holiday 2016 Set

About a month ago, I was in Myer and Benefit had just received the Christmas collection. I'm "trying" to tone down my makeup purchases, but couldn't say no to this set - the lady described the lip products as very pigmented (and they are a new addition to the Benefit line, so how could I resist?)

This set comes with four products - all deluxe size products. It features Benetint, Lollitint, and two new lip products - They're Real! Double The Lip in Revved-Up Red and Pink Thrills.

(L to R: They're Real! Double The Lip Revved-Up Red, Pink Thrills)

(L to R: Lollitint, Benetint)

The new lip products from Benefit claim:

• Product is a liner and lipstick in one with the customer teardrop tip
• Get visibly fuller, sexier lips in one easy step. Position the pointed tip along your upper lip line and glide on. Pivot to fill in your lower lip.
• 91% said lips look visibly fuller and sexier (consumer panel survey of 110 women after 1 week)

The set also suggests to layer either Benetint and Revved-Up Red or Lollitint and Pink Thrills for added staying power, or you can use the products on their own. 

I was sold on this kit because the lady in store said the products were super pigmented. The pigment on these lip products is nice, but not as pigmented as I was hoping for. However, they wear nicely, just like a traditional lipstick. They have a nice, creamy finish.

Overall, I do quite like this set, as I find it a great way to test out different Benefit products - and exciting because it features new Benefit products. I have owned Benetint before so it's nice to add it to my collection again, and Lollitint is a new additional. 

I would recommend this set for someone getting into makeup, as you have four choices for lip (or even cheek) colours, but two different kinds of products to try out. 

This set retails for $49 AUD in Australia, and can be purchased in store at Myer or online here. 

Thanks for reading,

X

Kat Von D Everlasting Lip Contour Duo - review and swatches

About a month ago I was in Sephora and picked up two of these mini lip sets from Kat Von D. At the end of last year I purchased a Lolita duo (click here to see review), and I really like the formula of those two shades, so thought purchasing another mini set wouldn't hurt. This set retailed for $31 AUD in store. I had previously seen it online, but cannot find it on the Sephora Australia website any longer. These mini sizes come with 3.0mL of product, where the full size comes with 6.6mL - so the product is just under half the size of the full size product. 

(L to R: Melancholia, Susperia)

I really enjoy the formula of the Kat Von D liquid lipsticks. They are thin, so I find they do tend to wear off quite a bit, but because of this, I hardly find them drying at all. You can see in the above swatches, especially with Susperia, that it is a little patchy, but this can be easily layered on the lips with no issue at all. 

You are able to achieve an ombre lip with this duo. Because the formula of these liquid lipsticks is so thin, you are able to layer these products with no cracking. These two colours go really nicely together to create an ombre lip. 

The only issue I find with this product is because it is so thin, after a few hours, you do see the product breaking down, especially in the centre of your mouth. This does not bother me at all, as it is quite easy to just layer this product so reapplying on top does the trick - you don't need to take the product off completely to reapply, like you have to do with other products.

I think the formula of Kat Von D Liquid Lipsticks is one of my favourites. I really like these mini sets, as going through a full liquid lipstick is quite a task. If you see this in store or online, I'd really recommend picking it up. The shades are nice on their own, but it's always fun to do an ombre lip!

Thanks for reading,

X

BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel 14 Colour Eyeshadow and Highlighting Palette - review and swatches

The BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel 14 Colour Eyeshadow and Highlighting Palette is a collaboration with YouTuber Carli Bybel, and features 10 smaller pans of eyeshadows, and 4 larger pans of highlighters (which can also be used as eyeshadows). I purchased two palettes at the same time, and both palettes were $12.50 (USD), and with shipping the total was about $50-ish (AUD). Not too bad, considering each palette worked out to be about $25-30 each (including shipping).

The palette features five matte and five shimmer shades. The mattes are quite versatile in this palette - a light beige to highlight (and set bases in my case), a mid tone brown, two purple/plum shades, and a dark brown. 

The palette includes four face highlight shades as pictured above. I love mixing the first two highlighters together for a beautiful glow on my light skin. I can't really use the other two highlighting shades as highlighters, but they work as beautiful eyeshadows. 

Overall, I think this is a great palette. The purples in the palette make this a great autumn and winter palette, and the shimmers and bronzes make it a great spring and summer palette. I do quite enjoy this palette, and overall, in my opinion, there are no complaints about this palette, considering how cheap it is. The shadows perform just like any other eyeshadows I have, but I always make it a point to use a primer and a base. The shimmery shades are beautiful, and can be intensified with a bit of MAC Fix+. 

The palette now retails for $14.50USD and can be purchased on the BH Cosmetics website.  If you were interested in purchasing this palette, I would definitely recommend it. 

Thanks for reading,

X

Kylie Cosmetics King K Metal Lipstick - review and swatches

A lovely friend of mine gifted me the Kylie Cosmetics King K liquid lipstick about a month ago. When the metallic lips were first released, I was quite interested as I do not own anything like them in my collection. King K is described on the Kylie Cosmetics website as a "soft metallic gold". This product retails for $18.00USD and can be purchased on the Kylie Cosmetics website.

The liquid lipstick has a doe foot applicator, like most liquid lipsticks I have tried, and has a moussey texture. I find that this liquid lipstick does take a bit longer to dry down, and it is mostly transfer proof - there is a bit of transfer when it has dried down on the lips, but it is not a significant amount. 

(King K swatch photographed in natural lighting)

(King K swatch photographed in direct sunlight) 

This shade is definitely unique in my collection - I do now own one of the ColourPop metallic liquid lipsticks, but this is a one of a kind shade, and was the first metallic liquid lipstick I had tried. This does dry to a matte finish, but looks very metallic on the lips. I do find, most likely because of the different formulation (metallic verse completely matte) that this lip product is not nearly as drying as some of the other liquid lipsticks I have tried - but like I mentioned earlier in the post, this product is not completely transfer proof. This shade is also a great highlighting tool for the lips - it is great applied in the centre to highlight, especially if you're not brave enough to rock this colour on it's own.

I am interested in also picking up Heir, which is the rose gold shade, but I think I will give Reign a miss. This shade is beautiful, but it isn't something I would wear on an every day basis.

Thanks for reading,
X

GlamGlow ThirstyMud Hydrating Treatment - review

A couple of months ago I picked up the deluxe sample size of the GlamGlow ThirstyMud Hydrating Treatment from Mecca. The 15mL jar retails for $28AUD, and I thought $28 wasn't that much of an investment to try out a hydrating mask treatment. I have dry skin, and in winter, it becomes significantly dryer. 

I have been using the GlamGlow ThirstyMud for a few months, so I am ready to review the product. This product can be purchased in Australia from Mecca Maxima and Mecca Cosmetica, and can be purchased online.

GlamGlow describes this product as following:

THIRSTYMUD uses our-most advanced hydration active technologies, providing deep instant hydration. THIRSTYMUD hydrates, moisturises, restores, replenishes and clams the skin. Designed for men and women. New super technologies in THIRSTYMUD will leave you with hydrated heart pounding glowing skin".

After reading this, you can see that GlamGlow does make some serious claims for their product. I like this product, but I'm not wowed by it or anything - it isn't a revolutionary product for me. I find it hydrating and it is good for the winter (or on a weekly basis in the warmer months), but for the price that you pay for this product (almost $100 Australian for the full size), you would expect this product to be revolutionising. However, in saying that, I would recommend any dry skin people out there to give this product a go and pick up a small jar of this. 

It's actually cheaper to purchase the small 15mL tub from Mecca than to purchase the 50mL. The 50mL retails for $98AUD. This product has a coconut-like scent. I find it quite pleasant, but for those that are sensitive to scents, I would suggest smelling this in store before purchasing.

The GlamGlow website suggests using this product 2-3 times a week, or when needed. The website suggests that this product has three uses - day time use, in which you leave the product on your skin for 10-20 minutes allowing it to absorb, and then wipe off with a tissue and message the remaining product into the skin. For the night time, it suggests to apply and leave overnight (which is my preferred use for this mask), and this mask also has a use during flights, when our skin can become extremely dry. For this, it suggests to apply at the beginning of the flight and leave on for the whole duration of the flight.

I like this product, I'm not disappointed by it by any means, and I most likely will repurchase the small jar of this. A small amount goes a long way with this product, so the jar I initially purchased is still going strong.

GlamGlow does have different masks for different skin types, so I would recommend trying a sample size of the one suited to your skin.

Thanks for reading,
X

Sportsgirl Lip Chalk Matte Lip Cream - Vertigo - review and swatches

I've not tried much of the Sportsgirl makeup, but every time I go in, I love to look at the makeup. A couple of weeks ago I went into a store and saw they had Matte Lip Creams (and instantly I was excited). Vertigo is the type of colour that I have been loving the last year - a medium brown (and would be a lovely nude on deeper skin tones). The liquid lipstick was $9.95, and can be purchased in store or online. This product comes with 9 grams of product. 

(The swatch of Vertigo does appear a bit patchy in places, but this is not how it appears on the lips)

If you're not a fan of liquid lipsticks, they did have this shade available as a regular lipstick - I swatched the two next to each other in store, and they were the same shade, just different finishes. The lipstick is described as a matte finish, but is definitely more creamier, and does not have the liquid lipstick matte finish.

I really like this liquid lipstick. It does have a smell that I find similar to the Australis Velourlips, but disappears quite quickly. The formula is quite thin for a liquid lipstick, but I find it doesn't dry my lips out at all - it is about average for liquid lipsticks. The website shows seven different shades, and I might go in store and swatch Sandstorm (describe as a nude) and Brownie (described as a chocolate), as these two out of the collection seem like colours I will get a lot of use out of. I would definitely recommend taking a look into these products when you're next in Sportsgirl.

Thanks for reading,
X

Dose Of Colors Sand Liquid Matte Lipstick - review and swatches

I picked up this liquid lipstick last year at IMATS - see haul here. Sand is described as a "grey-toned cream".

Sand has become my favourite light nude liquid lipstick. Like most liquid lipsticks, this one has a doe foot applicator. The texture of this liquid lipstick is quite thin in comparison to others - especially ColourPop, which I find have the thickest liquid lipsticks I have tried to date. 

As I've mentioned, the formula of this liquid lipstick is quite thin, but the colour goes on opaque. The formula is non-drying on the lips and does last a good few hours without need of a retouch. Because this is a lighter shade and the formula is thinner, I do find touching up is necessary with this liquid lipstick every 3-4 hours.

This is one of my favourite nude lip shades, especially in the Spring and Summer months. If Dose Of Colors is at IMATS again this year, I will pick up a few more shades. BeautyBay does stock Dose Of Colors, but I've noticed they don't restock the colours all too often, and at the moment only have three shades available. The Dose Of Colors website does ship internationally, but the shipping to Australia is quite expensive.

Thanks for reading, 

X

Australis Take Me On Tour Contouring & Highlighting Kit - review and swatches

I am very confused because I cannot find this product anywhere! I was in Kmart a few months ago and they had one of these kits left on the shelf so I decided to pick it up, and I'm so glad I did. From the research I've done online, it looks like the Australis Take Me On Tour Contouring & Highlighting Kit is a Kmart exclusive palette. This retails for $12.75 (and I have seen it recently, so it should still be available).

The kit comes with three contouring and highlighting shades - a light banana yellow highlight powder, a shimmery pink highlight powder, and a cool tone contour powder. I do own the original Australis AC On Tour Contouring and Highlighting Kit (unfortunately I dropped mine and only 3 shades remain), but I still have the yellow and the middle contouring shade (which I find the most comparable to this palette) for comparison purposes. 

(Without flash)

(With flash)

(L to R, how the shades appear in the palette)

To be honest, I think this palette is worth it just for the contour shade. I find it ten times more blendable than the complimenting contour shade in the bigger kit, and I reach for this shade 9/10 times when I do my makeup. On my NC15 skin tone, this is the perfect contour shade. I believe there is a different formulation between the two kits as I find the smaller kit much more blendable. 

I've never been a fan of the highlight shimmery shades that come in these types of palettes, as I find they're generally not the best quality nor what I am looking for in a highlight. But as I've said, I find this palette is worth it just for the contour shade. 

(L to R: Australis Take Me On Tour Banana Shade, Australis AC On Tour Banana Shade, Australis Take Me On Tour Contour Shade, Australis AC On Tour Middle Contour Shade)

Overall, if you see this palette, I would recommend picking it up. If the banana shade is the shade that interests you the most, I know Australis now does this as a single product in a bigger pan that can be purchased separately. 

Thanks for reading, 

X

MAC Stone Lipstick - review and swatches

When MAC released Stone, it instantly went on my wish-list. MAC describes this lipstick as a "muted greyish taupe brown", and it has a matte finish. This lipstick can be purchased in store or online for $36AUD.

I think this lipstick is a great shade for winter. This shade lasts well on the lips as it has a matte finish, and I tend to be able to wear the MAC matte lipsticks all day with maybe one touch up. 

If you're after a greyish taupe shade, I would definitely recommend looking into this shade. 

Thanks for reading,
X

Lime Crime Teddy Bear Velvetine - review and swatches

I purchased the Lime Crime Velvetine in Teddy Bear when it was first released on Makeupnet a couple of months ago. This product retails for $29AUD on Makeupnet and can be purchased here.

Lime Crime describes this shade as a "lilac brown". When this shade first started popping up on social media, I was instantly drawn to it. I have really been loving brown lips lately, and this shade is no exception. 

Lime Crime Velvetines were the first liquid lipstick I tried, and they do have a special place in my heart. The formulation of these liquid lipsticks is one of my favourite. In saying that, I do find the formulation of Teddy Bear to be a little different to others that I own. While other Velvetines will stay in place, even when I have something to eat or drink, this one definitely does move and fade away, especially in the centre. This formula does not layer as well as the others I own. While this is somewhat displeasing as I own quite a few Lime Crime Velvetines and this has not happened with any of the others, I am just conscious when I wear this product that I will have to take reapply if I am eating or drinking. The shade is beautiful, so this is a little sacrifice I am willing to make. If this shade is interesting to you, I would definitely recommend picking it up! I do not find the formula of Lime Crime Velvetines drying at all.

Thanks for reading,

X

MAC Whirl Lipstick - review and swatches

I picked up this lipstick a couple of months ago, and from the second I used it, it instantly became my go-to nude (I also feel like I love it more than I love MAC Velvet Teddy!). MAC Whirl is described as a "dirty rose" with a matte finish, and retails for $36AUD. This can be purchased in store at MAC counters and online.

On my light complexion, this lipstick definitely appears more brown than rose. MAC matte finish lipsticks are my favourite type of traditional lipsticks, and once the lipstick dries down completely, it doesn't budge for hours. I find this lipstick is very work appropriate, and this is the lipstick I have used the most this year. If you are thinking about purchasing this lipstick, I would highly recommend it. 

Thanks for reading,

X