1. Garnier Gentle Brightening Foam/Scrub AUD$6.95 (each)
- Affordable
- Doesn’t feel harsh or strip skin of its natural moisture
2. Maybelline Volum’ Epress One by One Satin Black Mascara AUD$19.25
- Limited edition made to celebrate Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia 2012, only 100,000 available throughout May
- Massive 300 bristles brush that de clumps with a carbon black finish
3. Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ AUD$29.95
- New improved formula
- Cult favourite and one of the best rosehip oil available in the market
- Very autumn appropriate collection
- Featuring shades of browns and deep reds
- For the sensitive areas like upper lips, chin and brows (Note: I’m not a brow wax fan so have only tried this on my upper lips)
- Handy slanted precision tip to control the amount of wax to apply
6. John Frieda Salon Shine Hair Dryer AUD$69.95
- Has metallic matt finish and high gloss chrome accents
- Utilises advanced ionic technology, 3 heat and 2 speed settings + cold shot option
- Lightweight to carry around
Maybelline recently launched 10 new shades to the Color Sensational Lip Colour range that is very on trend ranging from pinks, reds to browns.
The lipsticks are easy to apply, feels lightweight on the lips and have a shiny finish. Some shades appear to be quite sheer but there’s quite a few that are very pigmented as well (namely the brighter shades).
Maybelline also launched a range of shades for the Super Stay Lip Liner perfect on their own or under lipsticks. These lip liners are self sharpening and is doesn’t drag on lips. Application is a matte finish.
Let’s get onto the swatches shall we?
#109 Rosy Dream – Icy pink, didn’t think it look good on me. Pale lipsticks and me can’t be friends.
#140 Juicy Bubblegum – Gorgeous blue pink shade that does not look tacky or accentuate the fine lines on my lips. Major love!
#161 Juicy Pink – I find this quite sheer and the pink shade looks very natural on my lips. Perfect for everyday wear.
#255 Mauve Diamonds – True to its name you can see sparkly flakes in this lipstick.
#330 Sugar Plum – Very similar to Juicy Pink but a more hydrating and is slightly darker in shade.
#550 Cherry Candy – Bright red, for some reason once applied they don’t look as intense as they do as a lipstick. Blends perfectly onto my lips.
#602 Beige Rose – While this lipstick looks very brown but once applied it is very, very sheer. The gentle wash of nude over lips I’d say.
#715 Ice Tea – This shade is also another version of nude that has a very shiny finish and reflects light. Not sure if I am a big fan of finishes like this.
#760 Luminous Cocoa – Very natural, minimal shine but glides on smoothly just like the rest of the lipsticks. If nude is your thing, you will definitely want to check this out. As you can see my natural lip colour is quite pigmented on it’s own hence it looks quite brown-red.
#445 Mango Diamonds – Definitely one of my favourite shade as it comes with a hint of orangey coral in it.
Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Color RRP AUD$16.95 each
Maybelline Super Stay Lip Liner RRP AUD$12.95
All products are now available on counter
In February, Maybelline released rwo new shades to their Colorama Mini Nail Color Bitter Sweet Collection. True to their name, they come in mini size and is very cute! Both nail polish consistency are creamy, I find the purple nail polish to be slightly creamier and thicker than the red.
 #Fruit Juice – Bright red (not your old grandma red),  glossy, great timeless shade. It’s the one-can-never-go-wrong shade.
#Tart – A rich purple shade that has a slight metallic feel in the bottle but once applied it’s a gorgeous midnight purple shade. Love the glossy finish, there’s no top coats in these swatches.
RRP AUD$5.95 each
Available on Maybelline counters now
To sum this up, I LOVE the product but HATE the packaging.
Why I love it:
- It is a concentrated treatment concealer that covers your flaws instantly and treat it by tightening and improving skin elasticity at the same time
- Promises to eliminate dark circles, puffiness, revitalizes, re-plump and minimise fine lines
- Star ingredients: Goji berry, haloxyl, collagen
- Available with a Neutralizer shade (for extreme dark circles, to be used on top of usual concealer) and in #Pure beige, #Nude, #Creamy Natural, #Honey, #Creamy Beige and #Buff Beige
- Comes with a micro corrector applicator (in other words a round sponge!), it is recommended to wipe off with tissue after each use. Personally I don’t like this as I find this unhygienic. I also find the whole applicator turning mechanism is very confusing.
- I find it works very well at eliminating my dark circles and brightens the whole under eye area, making it look younger, fresher and less TIRED looking (I’m calling this my HG concealer despite the unhygienic applicator)
- I also love how this concealer does not seep into fine lines, look obvious on the skin (like so many concealer can!), dries onto skin (happens to me with so many other concealers!)
Other notes:
Shade I’m using is #120 light pale and is my perfect match
RRP AUD$24.95
Available on counters now
Rimmel – Union Jack Eyeshadow
RRP AUD$15.95 each
Every palette comes with 4 shades (from light to dark) in a Union Jack design. Love the design and packaging just be extra careful when picking up pigments to not mix the light shades and the dark shades together.
Chanel – Ligne Extreme Eye Liner #307Â
RRP AUD$45
Party gold liquid liner! You can see the expert – Lisa Eldridge working her magic with it here.
My personal way of doing it is starting my usual black eye liner and finishing the flick with this gold liquid liner.
Chanel – Illusion D’ombre #84 Epatant
(Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow)
RRP AUD$48
This is hands down Chanel’s 2011 best product for eye make up product. Comes in a range of six totally wearable and collectable shades, all Illusion D’Ombre comes with an individual brush that helps keep application clean and free of shadow cross contamination.
This jelly-gel like shadow surprisingly delivers intense shimmery pigment (which I love) and is super long lasting. Definitely double thumbs up and stock them up when you can.Â
 
Garnier -Â Youthful Radiance Anti-Dark Circles Roll-On Concealer
RRP AUD$18.95
Covers under eye dark circles and treats the eye areas (concealer + eye treatment) at the same time.
I have not met a person who have used this and don’t like it. Get on it.
Tom Ford – Eye Color Quad #08 Sahara Haze
RRP AUD$100
This is definitely one of those palettes I am keeping for myself and no amount of begging from a dear friend will let me allow to share with them when they come over to play make up. This unusual eye shadow quad comes with two matte shades (top row) and two shimmery (bottom row) shades. Gives the combination of smooth matte base/shading  shades and shimmery/glittery darker shades for crease and lining up party eyes.
 
NP Set – Rainbow Eye Palette
RRP AUD$29
Budget friendly palette that comes with 15 shades that are quite universally flattering from nude browns, smokey hues to the brighter playful shades. I use these shadows with my NARS eyeshadow primer and haven’t had any issues, the colours are medium pigment and are long lasting.
 
Maybelline – EyeStudio Hyper Diamond Eyeshadow Palette
RRP AUD$18.95 eachÂ
If you like intense shimmers paired with pigment shadows, these are some of the palettes you don’t want to miss. While I am not a big drug store brand type of girl, I must say Maybelline has eye shadows make up category mastered. They never fail to deliver and won’t cost you an arm and a leg for the quality of the products that release. Texture is always soft, very blendable and packed with pigments.
Clinique – High Impact Mascara
RRP AUD$38
Separates, defines and lengthens minus the clump and annoying flakes. Long wearing and enhances my existing curled lashes without weighing them down. Also one of Clinique’s best selling mascara, definitely worth checking out when you’re at a local counter next.
 
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Xtreme Lashes – Hydrating Gel Patches
RRP AUD$30
Of course with all the late night parties, it is crucial to replenish what’s loss. Xtreme Lashes does some really well fitted Hydrating Gel Patches that keeps the eye area well moistured and to prevent early signs of ageing.
After reading mixed reaction reviews about Lash Blast online, I decided to give it a go. Major disappointment.
The wand is bigger and thicker (which makes it harder to maneuver) and there are more short little bristles than usual. The bigger wand makes it really difficult to reach the ends of the lashes and the little bristles often leave me with smear marks everywhere.
On top of that, it flaked and clumped my lashes badly. (It was a brand new tube as well. Fresh out of the packaging.) Is it just me or does anyone else has this problem. While it did gave me volume albeit messy clumpy ones; I doubt I will repurchase this.
So, let’s talk about mascara. As your would know by now, I prefer drugstore mascara because they pretty cheap and actually works better than expensive beauty brands. (Although, the recent MAC plushlash is actually pretty cheap and is a smashing cult beauty product in the making.)
Back to the point, mascara are very simple for me actually. Has to blacken, look strong, lengthen, thicken and uhm prefably comes with no clumps. Boy, is that a list or what?
I’ve just gotten this new mascara from Maybelline and I just realized that I’ve been using Maybelline for quite some time now. For some reason, I am always drawn to their new mascaras. There is no explanation to this but it is by far a pretty reliable brand all these years.
I started my mascara journey with this. The Great Lash mascara is a timeless classic, cheap and practical. But doesn’t do much with the lengthening job.
I was sucked into the mass advertisement about this mascara when it first came out. Because the wand was super tiny and it promised to discover lashes you never knew exist. Props to the tiny tiny wand that reaches to every lashes and reduces mess upon application but doesn’t exactly lengthen either.
I have blogged about this particular Turbo Boost mascara because it is one of my all time favorite mascara. The wand is super huge and it is a little tricky to apply on the lashes to avoid messy application but once you get used to it, it does a great job.
This Maybelline Intense XXL mascara is different from the rest because it has microfiber in it. I don’t really know what does microfiber do but it promises to create up to 60% longer lashes and 11X the volume. So it has to be good stuff right?
The verdict:
Turns out the microfiber is the step 1 white stuff that you apply before the actual mascara. It was easy to apply the microfiber layer. Simple no mess.
The mascara part comes with a pretty small wand which is good to get to those hard to reach lashes.
Doesn’t clump upon application but it does become clumpy after 10 hours of wear. I guess anything will look like shit after 10 hours right?
It can be a little messy to remove. Since this one is not waterproof, I usually remove twice with makeup remover and have a quick face wash (including some soft and gentle rubbing to get rid of residue hanging onto the lashes). And some of the residue still hangs around. I am guessing the microfiber is to be blame.
Other than that, it is a breeze to apply and is true to its promotion about the lengthening, thickening and blackening part.
I am pretty happy with it.
