Wednesday, April 30th 2014 Makeup
For the last couple of years I’ve been a member on Reddit’s MakeupAddiction subreddit. It’s where I’ve learned a lot of what I know about make up, and there have been countless products that I have lusted over after seeing on there. One of these is Urban Decay’s Naked 3, which isn’t available in New Zealand stores. Recently I was talking a fellow member on there, and she was saying how she wanted some Australis Velourlips lipsticks, which aren’t sold in the US – and so, we decided to buy the products that we each coveted, and send them to each other.
Today I received my parcel from her, and it’s better than I could have ever expected! Not only did it include the incredibly beautiful palette, but she had also bought me 5 lipsticks and some easter treats. I squealed when I opened the box, and excitedly took some photos.
She sent me Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette, which came with samples of all of their eyeshadow primers which was amazing because I love the original one. Also, there was a lipstick duo – Bite Beauty vivid luminous creme lipstick duo, with the colours Violet and Palomino (a bright pink). Then there were two Milani products – the lipstick shade is 12 Flamingo Rose, and the Power Lip gloss stain is 07 Mango Tango. The Revlon lipstick is called Fifth Avenue Red which is part of their legacy collection of discontinued shades. This one was originally introduced in 1958. As far as I know, none of these are available in NZ so it’s amazing to get to have them.
Revlon Fifth Avenue Red, Milani 12 Flamingo Rose, Milani Power Lip 07 Mango Tango and Bite Violet and Palomino
I had been restraining myself from buying a bright pink lipstick, so she must have read my mind with the Bite Beauty lipstick duo! I think all of the colours will really suit me, and they are so beautiful.
I haven’t actually touched the Naked Palette’s shadows yet as I didn’t want to make a mess of them with my fingers, and I figured everyone on earth has seen swatches of it by now, but if you haven’t, you can have a look at Temptalia’s review and swatches. I have been saving YouTube tutorials and pinning like mad on pinterest in advance of getting this palette, so I’ll be posting some different looks that I’ll try with it this weekend most likely.
Lena x
I’m trying something new – doing a beauty blogger tag, it’s a Q&A that will expose some of my secrets *gasp*. I found it over on Beauty & Things which is a great beauty blog you should check out – after you read my post of course.
Rules:
State that the tag was created by The Beau Bow
Tag as many beauty bloggers as you would like
Title this post the ‘Beauty Blogger Tag’
Questions & Answers:
1. Name a beauty routine you barely do.
I’m going to start this out on a bad level – I don’t often shave my legs!
2. Is washing your brushes something that you regularly do?
I generally do it every 2 weeks, sometimes I will use an isopropyl alcohol spray in between proper washes especially on things like eyeshadow brushes to get the colour off.
3. How long do you last with chipped nail varnish?
I take it off ASAP when my nail polish chips, I think it looks terrible.
4. How often do you put off buying/replacing a beauty item or nail polish, even if you need it?
Probably never. I buy things before I need them – I have a back up nail polish remover, moisturisers, a million lip balms.
5. What is your worst beauty habit?
I’ve tried really hard to break it, but I used to be a real pimple popper, did some damage to my skin so now I’ve learned.
6. Name something non-beauty related that you tend to put off all the time.
Tidying my room. Our place is small and I have a lot of clothes that tend to get scattered around
7. When going out somewhere do you leave getting ready until the last-minute or not?
I tend to spend forever getting ready so I give myself plenty of time to do so, I hate rushing. Yesterday my BF and I went for a family lunch and I was ready exactly on time, all made up and everything – including using my new MAC fluidline gel eyeliner which is going to have a bit of a learning curve.
MAC fluidline in ‘waveline’.
8. Can you commit to spending bans?
As long as they’re short-ish. I tried to go 6 months not buying any beauty stuff last year and I failed. I’ve done 1-2 months before though.
9. How organised is your make up and nail polish collection?
I’m very organised, although the make up situation is starting to expand beyond my storage so I’ll need to come up with a new solution soon.
10. What is the longest time you have gone without writing a blog post?
I’ve only been at this about 2 weeks, so it’s only been a few days at a time that I’ve gone without writing a post.
Who I tag – I’m not sure how many other beauty bloggers read my wee site, but I know Elese does, so I’m tagging you! If anyone else does it, leave me a link below and I’ll check it out 🙂
Lena x
Wednesday, April 23rd 2014 Skincare
In recent years, I’ve found myself becoming more and more interested in skincare. Partly due to neccessity, as my skin has become less ideal, and partly out of pure curiousity. I’m always interested in the types of skincare that other people use, and their reasoning for it, so I thought I would share my routine with you all. For context, my skin is acne-prone, and fairly dry due to the antibiotics I’ve been taking for that acne.
Morning routine: I don’t cleanse, as it can make my skin dry and I don’t feel like it’s needed. I apply moisturiser, which may be either Sukin sensitive facial moisturiser, or Dove SPF 30 moisturiser. If I’m going to work I don’t wear sunscreen beyond the SPF 15/20 in my foundation/BB cream, even though you really should use 30+ every day. But the nature of my job and life means I spend probably under 10 minutes outside, and that’s well outside the peak burn time, so I don’t think it’s really needed. If I’m going anywhere else, not trapped at a desk far away from windows, I use Clinique Super City block SPF40.
It’s a physical sunscreen which means it doesn’t need to be reapplied as long as it hasn’t been sweated or rubbed off, this means it’s perfect for wearing under makeup. It can be slightly greasy once the necessary 1/4 tsp has been applied to my face but I apply it in layers and let it sink in for a while before adding other products on top.
I often moisturise during the day, at the moment I have Clinique moisture surge on my desk which I apply if needed. It’s a nice product but I’m not sure it’s worth the money.
Evening: I have a few variations, so I’ll list them all. If I wear my full foundation and everything I remove makeup with baby oil. It melts all of the make up off perfectly and I just wipe it off with cotton pads. Then I wash my face with Simple face wash and a face cloth. If I’ve only worn light make up or none at all I wash my face with Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser and a face cloth, and follow up with Nivea eye make up remover. Then I dry off with my dedicated face towel that I change regularly. There’s a sign in the bathroom so my BF and brother don’t wipe their hands or use it!
Following my cleansing, I either apply Silk Naturals AHA toner by spraying into clean hands and rubbing in, or I apply my Differin gel (0.1% adapalene). I alternate nights with them, as I like them both but using them at once a) would be too dry and b) wouldn’t be that effective as the pH of the AHA toner would make it too low for the Differin to work properly….okay getting into skincare nerd territory here! I really like the Silk Naturals toner as it’s a lactid acid product, which is a fairly gentle but very effective chemical exfoliator. The Differin is a prescription retinoud cream that I got from my GP, and it has worked really well for me. If I have time, after about 20 minutes I will apply Benzac 5% cream* on any pimples I have – it’s a benzoyl peroxide cream which is a very effective pimple treatment. I wait about 15-20 minutes before applying moisturiser after any treatment, to give them time to work.
FINALLY I moisturise, using either Cetaphil moisturizing cream, Trilogy Rosehip oil or a Nivea Naturals night cream. The Nivea night cream is one I wouldn’t rebuy, as the jar formula is a pain for travelling, plus I don’t really buy into the whole ‘naturals’ thing. I have been using the Cetaphil moisturiser on and off for years and it’s great. It’s fairly thick, unlike my morning moisturisers, but it doesn’t clog my pores or break me out. Rosehip oil is lovely for acne-prone skin and also for dry skin, which makes it a perfect product for me.
If I’m feeling tired/lazy/drunk then I just wipe off the makeup with Simple face wipes, rinse my face and smear some moisturiser on. It’s very very rare I go to bed with my make up on. These wipes are the only kind I’ve tried which don’t sting my eyes or skin.
Once a week or so I do a mask, I have Oatifix by Lush because I had heard a lot about their masks online. It’s nice enough, but I wouldn’t repurchase as it was $18 and I don’t feel like I got a great amount of value. It’s a kind of fun thing to do as a bit of pampering though.
That routine sounds really intense, and like it has an excessive amount of steps – and it does take me a while, I’ll admit, but I feel like the results are worth it. My skin is glowing, and is generally fairly clear, I only have 3 or 4 small pimples at the moment. Also, sun protection is important to me, I don’t want to age prematurely or get skin cancer. Most of these products are fairly cheap and available at supermarkets and pharmacies, my cleanser is usually $20-30 depending on specials and is 500mls which lasts a long long time. With the help of Reddit’s Skincare Addiction community and Paula Begoun’s Beautypedia, I’ve been able to get a good routine going without being sucked into too many advertising claims. There are so many myths out there about skincare, and I could rant all day about them, but I’ll leave that probably for another post.
So what do you think of my skincare routine? Do you use any of the same things as me, or have any recommendations? I’d love to hear about it in the comments section.
Until next time,
Lena.
Tuesday, April 22nd 2014 Makeup
Recently a blogger I follow did a post about what her daily face of make up is worth, and I’ve decided to do the same. For reference, her post is at Elese, Aesthete here.
This is for the look that I wore on Monday, just for a fairly casual trip to the mall and catching up with a friend, but it’s fairly similar to what I would wear to the office. I took a picture of my make up when I was wearing MAC Syrup, but then changed the lipstick to Revlon Raspberry Pie to take a photo for my last post about my favourite lipsticks. Here I am with both looks:
MAC Syrup on the left, Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie on the right
Now let’s add it all up. I’m going to link to either where I bought it from, or somewhere similarly priced if I can’t find it.
Sukin sensitive facial moisturiser $14.99
NYX Studio Perfect anti-redness primer $22
MAC Pro long wear concealer NW25 $19 USD or $22 NZD if bought from maccosmetics.com, $40 in NZ stores.
Ecotools Airbrush concealer brush 3.99 USD or $4.69 NZD
MAC Studio Sculpt foundation NW20 31USD, $36 NZD if bought from maccosmetics.com. Around $70 in NZ stores.
XoBeauty flat top synthetic face brush $26
Maybelline Dream LumiTouch highlighting concealer – can’t find it online but based on their other concealers it was around $20
Ecotools retractable Kabuki brush 6.99 USD or $8.17 NZD
Rimmel Stay Matte Transparent pressed powder $15
MAC satin powder blush – the shade is Easy Manner which seems to be discontinued now. $21 USD, $25 NZD from maccosmetics.com or around $50 in NZ stores.
Sephora brush – $28 USD, $32 NZD. I bought it as part of a travel kit so it was cheaper.
NYX wonder pencil in medium $10.50
Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in grey $22 USD or $25 NZD on bobbibrowncosmetics.com or around $50 in NZ stores
Silk naturals synthetic bamboo angled eyeliner brush $2.99 USD or $3.50 NZD
Urban Decay Eyeshadow primer potion, Mine was a sample size but full size is $30 on Beautybay.com
Urban Decay Fun palette, colours Sellout and Stray Dog – no longer sold, was $36 USD or $42 NZD
Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Espresso Ink. $24 USD or $28 NZD on bobbibrowncosmetics.com or around $50 in NZ stores.
Sephora short angled brush from this kit $22 USD or $25NZD.
Napoleon Perdis Mascara, was free with a magazine but similar Napoleon Perdis mascaras are around $40.
EOS lip balm in Sweet Mint – $3.29 USD or $3.84 NZD, as far as I know, not sold in NZ stores.
Revlon Lip Butter in Raspberry Pie $27.49
Based on what I actually paid, we get a total of $411 for products, and $100 for brushes! Yikes. The good thing is that a lot of these products have lasted me a long time, even with quite regular use. It also seems like a lot of things to use every day but this look probably only took me 20 minutes including time for moisturiser, primer and foundation to absorb, which isn’t actually a terribly long routine.
Have any of you calculated the cost of your daily face? I’d be interested to see how mine stacks up. Let me know in the comments section!
Lena x
*If you want to buy any EcoTools brushes or other iHerb products such as ELF make up and a wide range of beauty and health products, you can use my code JPP391 to get $5 to $10 off your first order. This saves you money, as well as helps me earn money. www.iherb.com
Monday, April 21st 2014 Makeup
Among my friends, I’m known as a bit of a lipstick addict. At last count, I have 30 lipsticks, and about half as many glosses. That might not be as many as some other bloggers, but I’ve never been a make up artist or worked anywhere beauty related, and only really got into make up in the last 2 or so years! Most beauty lovers seem to hoard either lip or eye products, and I tend to fall on the lip side of the fence.
I managed to select a few which are my favourite, and my most commonly worn to share with you all today. It was almost like choosing favourite children but I’m sure they all understand! This is going to be a bit of a long post, so get a cup of tea and settle in.
By far my most commonly worn lipstick is Revlon Lip Butter 085 – Sugar Plum. It looks like my lips, but better. It lives in my handbag, so I can quickly put some on if I need to feel a bit more put together. It’s soft and buttery to wear, although this does mean it needs fairly frequent re-application, but that’s okay for me in my every day life.
Revlon Lip Butter – Sugar Plum
Coming up in close second is MAC Syrup. It’s a soft pink shade, and looks very natural on my lips, which is perfect for the office environment that i work in. It’s formula seems quite similar to the Revlon lip butter in regards to reapplication.
MAC Syrup on lips
I bought this pinkish brown Art Deco lipstick early this year to wear to a wedding, and it’s been feature regularly in the rotation ever since. Here I am wearing the lipstick on the day of the wedding.The shade is Sandal – number 23.
Art Deco is a brand that only came to New Zealand last year, and so far this lipstick is all I have bought from them. I plan on buying more of their products, as they seem to be very good quality at a reasonable price tag.
I’ve only become brave enough to wear red lips in the last year or so, and RImmel lasting finish Kate Moss #107 is one that I have been wearing fairly often. It’s a matte, darker red, which feels quite vampy but also office-appropriate. It lasts really well, will easily get me to lunch time without reapplication, despite many cups of coffee and snacks. I’d really like to purchase more from this range.
Another bright shade I frequently wear is Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Raspberry Pie – 010. It is a gorgeous berry colour, and looks like your lips have been stained after feasting on a raspberry pie! It has a slightly better wear time than the Sugar Plum, probably because it’s more highly pigmented.
Revlon Lip Butter – Raspberry Pie
Last but not least is an Avon lipstick that I got from a secret santa. I would never have thought to wear coral lipstick before, but I ended up wearing it a lot this past summer. It’s called Avon ultra colour rich lipstick and the shade is Skin.
So those are my 6 favourite lipsticks, and here they all are together.
Revlon Lip Butter – Sugar Plum, MAC Syrup, Rimmel Kate Moss 107, Revlon Lip Butter – Raspberry Pie, Art Deco 23, Avon Skin
What are your favourite lipsticks? I’d love to know, I always have room in my collection for more, even though my boyfriend might disagree!
Friday, April 18th 2014 Makeup
The title of this post comes from a quote by Jack Black that I think is SO TRUE. Eyebrows really frame your face, and they can often be neglected, or plucked into oblivion.
Thanks to my mum’s guidance and also laziness I never did anything outrageous to my eyebrows as a teenager, like so many people seem to do. I mainly left them alone, other than some fairly minor plucking to keep them in their natural shape. Then as I got into my 20s and got more into make up and my appearance I started to get them waxed at a great salon called Off Wax and Brow Bar. If you’re in Auckland, I recommend going there if your brows need some help. Now I mainly keep on top of them with regular plucking, but occasionally to see the ladies at Off Wax for some fine tuning. There are countless online articles about brow shaping, and of course everyone has their own opinions about what looks best. One of the best picture tutorials I’ve seen is by my fellow reddit.com/r/MakeupAddiction user Sssamanthaa, Eyebrows 101: A guide to plucking and filling in for all you brow lovers out there. It covers the right angles and also filling in your brows, and I think it’s a really helpful starting point.
In the last few years thicker, bolder brows seem to have become much more popular. You can see this with people like Lorde and Demi Lovato who have fabulously thick and perfectly shaped brows.
Along with this trend, people have started to use more make up on their eyebrows. Among people I know, and in magazines, blogs, and youtube tutorials, the traditional eyebrow pencil has fallen out of favour in exchange for powders, waxes and gels. Before this big eyebrow trend began, I had a seldom used Australis eyebrow pencil that I actually bought by mistake, thinking it was an eyeliner. It did the job, but the thickness of the pencil made it easily look like my brows were really drawn on. I do use it occasionally but it’s not my preferred option.
I then got talked into buying a $50 grey eyeshadow at Bobbi Brown which I often use to fill in my brows. The price might have been excessive but the colour matches really nicely and I’m pretty sure it will last me forever. I use it with a small angled eyeshadow brush, which you can see in the photo below. It gives a much softer look to my brows, which is subtle and therefore more appropriate for daytime in the conservative office where I work.
First here’s a pic of my brows naked (Don’t worry, it’s not R18)
And here they are after being filled in
My eyebrows after using Bobbi Brown eyeshadow
When I do want to go for more of Power Brow I tend to use my super cheap ELF eyebrow kit. I bought it for $3 on iherb.com, because girls in a beauty group were all raving about it, and now I understand why it’s so popular. It comes with a gel and a powder, as well as a tiny brush to apply it with. I use the stiffer end of the brush for the gel, although I would prefer to use a more sturdy brush, I’ve yet to find one that’s appropriate for the gel. I concentrate the gel at the inner edges of my brows as I think that there are some gaps in there, but I fill in my whole eyebrows too. I then go over my brows with the powder and my angled eyeshadow brush. This will not budge, even on a night out when you might be sweating more than you would like. The finished effect is this, which I think looks fabulous.
My eyebrows after using the ELF brow kit
Eyebrows really stand out on your face, especially if they don’t look their greatest, so I think giving some attention to them is important. When I look at someone, brows and lips are the two things I tend to notice the most, so if I’m in a rush getting ready I keep that in mind. Another important thing to remember is this:
Do you also have Serious Opinions on eyebrows? What products do you recommend, and what should I steer clear of? Let me know in the comment section.
Until next time,
Lena xx
Tuesday, April 15th 2014 Makeup
For my first post, I thought I would start with the first product that I apply to my face – primer!
Primers seemed to hit the beauty world with a bang in 2012, or at the least, that was when I first heard of them. Almost every cosmetics brand seems to have a primer now, whereas before then it wasn’t anywhere near as common to see them on make up stands. Primers have many different benefits, creating a smooth canvas for your base to go on, helping your make up to last all day, minimising the appearance of pores and wrinkles, and hydrating the skin. They range in price, with cheap options such as ELF which is under $10, to Guerlain’s L’Or Radiance Concentrate primer which is $169 and features 24 carat gold! The products that I have tried are more affordable than that, mainly around the $20-30 mark.
What I want from a primer is mainly to create a smooth base for my foundation. I have quite dry skin due to acne medication that I’m on, and therefore my skin can be a little bit rough at times. Over the last couple of years I have purchased* and used Sephora Perfecting Ultra-Smoothing Primer ($15 USD for 0.5oz, or around $17NZD for 15ml), Australis primer ($23.50 for 40ml), NYX Studio Perfect Primer Anti-Redness ($22 for 30ml), Nude by Nature Undercover Airbrush Primer ($39.95 for 50ml) and a Models Prefer primer which seems to have been discontinued. I’ve also tried samples of, or trialed from an in-store application, Korres Pomegranate primer, Benefit Porefessional and MAC Prep and Prime Skin. I won’t do a full review of them, but I did especially like Porefessional, probably due to the fact it’s similar to the NYX primer by being silicone-based.
Some of the primers I’ve used: Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, Australis Primer, Nude by Nature Undercover Airbrush Mineral Primer, NYX Studio Perfect Anti-Redness Primer
To be completely honest, most of the primers I’ve tried did nothing for me, or nothing other than slightly moisturising my skin. Particularly terrible was the Nude by Nature primer which almost managed to make my face greasy which is a true feat considering how dry my skin usually is. The Australis, Sephora and Models Prefer primers all did nothing much, but at least they weren’t bad. I’ve finally given up using the Australis primer, my most recent failure, so I decided to buy the NYX primer on my recent trip to Australia. So far I have been really pleased with the NYX primer. It’s silicone-based, which means that it provides the smooth canvas that my other water-based primers so very much lacked. The colour-correcting properties were what grabbed my eye when I looked at it on the shelf, and it seems to do a decent job at correcting some of the redness from my acne. It’s not magical of course, and the redness is mainly covered by foundation and concealer, products with much more pigment in them, but it was worth a try.
I took some photos of my face bare, with the NYX colour-correcting primer and with my MAC Studio Sculpt foundation and MAC Pro longwear concealer. As you can see, there isn’t much of a green tinge to my face when the primer is applied, although it looks quite green in the tube.
Some people are concerned that silicone-based primers can block your pores, and not allow them to ‘breathe’. I haven’t had any issues with blocked pores, and I do all my breathing via my nose and mouth, not through my pores! If you have tried some of the disappointing primers that I have tried, or other water-based primers, I would recommend trying a silicone-based primer. Many of the most famous primers by brands like Smashbox, Benefit, and Laura Mercier are silicone-based, and they are famous because the silicone just gives such a lovely smooth base.
Eyeshadow primer is another type of primer which I like to use. I haven’t experimented with many brands, purely because the only one I’ve ever used is absolutely amazing. Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion is incredible. A tiny tube of it has lasted me a long time, because you only need a tiny dot for each eye. My eyeshadow typically smears and creases very easily, due to my semi-hooded lids, but this primer will keep it looking good all day, as you can see in the photo below.
Eyeshadow at the beginning and end of the day
I would recommend this product to anyone who struggles with their eyeshadow not wearing well during the day or night. There may be even better ones out there but I really can’t think of how this could be improved. The only issue is that Urban Decay isn’t sold in any New Zealand stores, but it is available on Beauty Bay for around $30 NZD which I consider to be quite reasonable as it will last a very long time.
There are also mascara primers, lip primers and apaprently hair primers too, but I’m yet to try any of those products. Of course, if I do, you’ll hear about it first!
I’m interested to know what primers my readers are loving at the moment, or whether you’ve also tried some of the same ones as me, and what you thought of them! Let me know in the comments section, or on Twitter or Facebook.
*I will link to NZ stockists of the products, or if they’re not sold in NZ I’ll link to where I bought mine from. Let me know in the comments what types of links you would prefer. All prices are in NZ dollars unless otherwise specified.
She sent me Urban Decay’s Naked 3 palette, which came with samples of all of their eyeshadow primers which was amazing because I love the original one. Also, there was a lipstick duo – Bite Beauty vivid luminous creme lipstick duo, with the colours Violet and Palomino (a bright pink). Then there were two Milani products – the lipstick shade is 12 Flamingo Rose, and the Power Lip gloss stain is 07 Mango Tango. The Revlon lipstick is called Fifth Avenue Red which is part of their legacy collection of discontinued shades. This one was originally introduced in 1958. As far as I know, none of these are available in NZ so it’s amazing to get to have them.
