Sephora Haul!!

Sephora Haul. Who would’ve thought that’s something I could do when I’m all the way here in little old New Zealand? Well thanks to Youshop, I can now shop at the most glorious place on earth – all from the comfort of my own home!

First is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette, which is possibly the one item I was lusting over the most. Having never used the very popular Ambient powders before, I quickly realised that this would be the best way for me to try them out! Keep an eye out for a review, which is coming up soon.

Next is the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette which I have been trying to get my hands on for ages! I have the original Naked Palette which I use almost daily, and adore, so I’ve known ever since Naked 2 came out that I absolutely had to have it! A review and swatches are on the way.

Lastly I decided to chuck in this awesome Tarte – The Tarte of Giving gift pack. Remember how I’ve been wanting those Amazonian Clay 12 hour blushes? Well it not only contains one of those, but it also has little deluxe sample sizes of Pure Maracuja Oil and a LipSurgence skintuitive lip tint! I have already used the LipSurgence and blush and am very impressed, detailed review to come.

Wanna know what makes Sephora even more amazing? With every order, you get free samples! How many places do that in New Zealand? Zilch? Yeah, I thought so. 

Anyway, at the time they were giving away these awesome little sample bags – and I got to choose which one I wanted, so I chose the Festive Cheery Endurance sample bag.

Inside it contains:
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Anti-aging 3.7ml, Ojon Color Sustain PRO Fade-Fighter 30ml, Anastacia Lash Genius Clear Waterproof Topcoat 3.2g, Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara 4ml, Kat Von D Painted Love Lipstick in Celebutard  1.2g, Ren Hydra-Calm Cleansing Milk 5ml and Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream in Light/Medium 7ml.

It was also actually supposed to include a sample of Lancome Tresor Eau de Parfum – but perfumes are on Youshop’s forbidden list, so I’m assuming they confiscated it. But that’s ok, since I’d probably be allergic to it anyway, hahaha.

Overall, I am very impressed by Youshop’s service. It was expensive, but not actually as bad as I’d thought it might be – so that’s awesome. I will definitely be using them again in the future, I might even sign up for a UK address!

Thanks for viewing, don’t forget to check back for reviews of the above products!
oxo

NYX Haul!

When I saw that they were having a sale on NYX products on Cherryculture, I jumped at the chance to pick up a few things that I’d been wanting for a while.

The first thing I had to get was some of the Single Eye shadows. The colours (from left to right) are: Luxor, Purple, Golden, Hawaiian Coffee, Silver, Golden Dune and Greyish Brown.

With Flash

Without Flash

I’ve never used the single eye shadows before, so the first thing I did was swatch them – without a base of course!

Left to right: Luxor, Purple, Golden, Hawaiian Coffee
Silver, Golden Dune, Greyish Brown

Wow. The colour payoff is amazing on all of them except for the Purple. Purple, you’re really letting the team down!

I would have to say that Golden Dune and Hawaiian Coffee are my favourites so far. Golden Dune really reminds me of the MAC Pigment in Blonde’s Gold. Beautiful!

I am a sucker for eye shadow palettes, so next I chose The Runway Collection in Caviar & Bubbles:

Swatches: (again, without a base!)

With Flash

Without Flash

The lighter colours don’t show up so well in photos, but they are really nicely pigmented! Even though the Black is a little chalky – this is a really nice palette and would be absolutely perfect for travel! 

Lastly I decided to grab a couple of Butter Lip Glosses. The colours I got are Peaches And Cream and Vanilla Cream Pie

Swatches:

Left to right: Peaches And Cream, Vanilla Creampie

They smell so damn good, and that is coming from someone who hates anything that smells sweet – but for some reason, I love the smell of these! Shaaanxo said they remind her of the Bavarian crème donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts, and I totally agree. Delicious!

They actually have pretty decent colour payoff for a lip gloss, and don’t feel too sticky and gross either which is really nice!

Once again I am impressed by NYX products, they really are a brand worth checking out.

Thanks for viewing!

oxo

Strawberrynet Haul!

Hi gals!
Mum let me order some stuff from StrawberryNet for my birthday! It was so exciting!! I decided to pick up some Limited Edition items that I'd missed out on when they were originally released.

Everything:

Wooo! How cool does everything look?

First up was the MAC Noble Knights Lash and Line Kit from their 'A Tartan Tale' collection. I was so gutted to miss out on this first time round, so I definitely had to get it this time!

Included in this pack is:

• Blitz & Glitz Fluidline
• Teal Pigment
• Zoomlash Mascara
• 209SE Eyeliner Brush

Next was the MAC Smoky Thrillseekers Pigment/Glitter kit, also from 'A Tartan Tale'.

Included in this:

• Reflects Blackened Red Glitter
• Naked Pigment
• Jigs & Jives Pigment
• Blue Brown Pigment
• Dark Soul Pigment

Then the Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner Duo.

Included in this:

• Black Ink gel eyeliner
• Sepia Ink gel eyeliner
• Mini ultra fine eyeliner brush

Up next is the Bobbi Brown eye shadow in Ivy. Can't wait to try this out!!

Then the Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipstick in Crystal Pink, I love this! Wish it was in the nice packaging though :(

And finally, the free gift - Calvin Klein Lipstick in Heavenly. Still haven't tried this, but looks pretty!

I would've taken swatches of everything, but that'll have to wait til I do the individual reviews - my arms are too sore from the injections :(

Thanks for viewing dolls!
oxo

MAC Haul - For the first time in aaages!

I finally got to visit the MAC Pro store since it relocated to Britomart in downtown Auckland. I am so impressed. The store feels much more spacious and the set up is more like that of the St Lukes store. Thumbs up from me MAC!

The whole reason for me visiting was because I had run out of my Face & Body Foundation. Of course... somehow I ended up leaving the store with much more than I'd budgeted for...

Oops.

Hahaha. Well first up are the MAC Face & Body Foundations that I'd run out of. Geez I love these. C2 is the foundation I wear pretty much everyday - it's perfect!

Next was something I've been meaning to try for years - the MAC Paint in Bare Canvas. Never tried it before, but it looks real good. Hoping that it'll be amazing as an eyeshadow base!

Here's a swatch:

And finally I got my hands on MAC's Myth lipstick! It's been out of stock in New Zealand for sooo long, so I had to buy it!

Swatch:

Eyeshadows have always been my greatest weakness though, so I kinda knew I'd end up buying some more of them. In my defense, Shroom was only bought because I've hit pan on my old one.

Then I got Tempting because I've always been tempted to buy it. Hahaha. See what I did there? ... Yeah I'm lame. :(

Sable I bought for my Mum, but somehow it's in my palette now..

Everyone has All That Glitters, but I didn't so I added that too.

Electra is one I've wanted for ages - it's so pretty! I need to find an excuse to wear it now.

Swatches! Top: Electra, All That Glitters, Sable. Bottom: Tempting, Shroom.

Ugh, I knew that once I visited the MAC store that I'd fall in love with MAC products again.. There's just something about them (eyeshadows especially!) that are so alluring.
Since I just found out that you can use the mascara tubes in their Back2MAC recycling program, I really want to try one.. is there any MAC mascara that you would recommend??

Thanks for viewing dolls, this has been fun!
oxo

The Latest MAC Additions To My Kit

With it being ball season here in NZ, I’m trying to stock up on eyeshadows and pigments (what a great excuse!), and to be completely honest with you MAC is basically the best you can get when it comes to eye makeup, atleast in New Zealand it is anyway. I’m so jealous of all you people who have access to Make Up For Ever and Urban Decay and all those other amazing brands!!

Anyway, onto what I got:

 
Top Row, L – R: Bio Green (Pro), Steamy (can be seen in my FOTD here), Greensmoke, Red Brick (Pro), Handwritten.
Middle row, L – R: Beautiful Iris, Creme De Violet, Woodwinked, Honey Lust and Goldmine
Bottom Row, L – R: Ricepaper and the yet to be depotted Carbon.

And the pigments:

Top Row: Mutiny (Rose Romance collection) and Kelly Green (Pro)
Bottom Row: Golden Olive, Violet (can be seen in my FOTD here)

My wallet is hurting right now. Lol :P
If you wanna see swatches of everything, let me know! Thanks for viewing!

oxo

MAC Colour Ready, Sugarsweet and Rose Romance Haul and Review!

I meant to do this a few days ago but the batteries in my camera died and I couldn’t find the charger to recharge them!
As you’ll see I didn’t buy much at all from these collections, I had been looking forward to them for some time, but when I saw them I got completely overwhelmed by everything and basically bought what I decided I couldn’t live without. I’m actually dying to go back and buy some more stuff now that I think about it…

Ok, from the Colour Ready Collection all I bought was this Penultimate Eyeliner in Rapidblack.

 
Ahh. I am so in love with this eyeliner. I used it in my FOTD below and it’s fantastic. So easy to use, goes on really black and stays put. I want more of them. And I would definitely recommend this to everyone.
I really want that damn line filler too but it’s sold out at the moment, thank goodness it’s gonna be part of the MAC pro line!

From the Sugarsweet collection I bought Club eyeshadow

Club is this muted reddish brown duo-chrome with green opalescent shimmer, it’s part of the permanent line which is why I bought it in refill form (much cheaper that way). I’m wearing it in the FOTD below and I love it! I would recommend this to everyone, it’s a great, versatile colour to have.

I also bought the Perfect Topping Mineralized Skinfinish from this collection

 
Perfect topping is made up of pinks, peaches and lavenders. It is sooo pretty and was my favourite out of both of the MSF released with this collection. I’m also wearing this in the FOTD below, I love the look of it and if you like MSFs I would recommend getting this.

From the Rose Romance Collection I purchased the Blush Of Youth Beauty Powder

 
How pretty is this? I love it! Blush Of Youth is a clean pink with a gold pearl. I tried this on in the store and had to get it. I just love the colour as well as the cute rose pattern. Not sure if it would show up well on darker skin, but it does show up nicely on my NC20 skin. :P

I also had to get the Summer Rose Beauty Powder

 
Yes, I had to get both beauty powders… This is probably my favourite out of the two. It is a soft violet pink colour and is just gorgeous. It seems to be the more pigmented one of them both, I just love it. Definitely recommend this to everyone who doesn’t have it already! Damn NZ for not getting MAC collections sooner..

And finally from the Rose Romance Collection I couldn’t resist the Fix+ Rose

Fix+ Rose is described as “An aqua-spritz of vitamins and minerals, infused with a calm-the-skin blend of green tea, chamomile, cucumber, topped off with the scent of 100% natural rose water.”
I don’t have the original Fix+, so I decided to get this. The rose smell is pretty strong when you first spray it on but it seems to vanish almost immediately, which I find to be a good thing. It really does feel incredibly refreshing and I’m really glad I bought it. If you already have the original Fix+ then I’m pretty sure you don’t really need this. :P

I also grabbed a Lipgelee in Lilacrush

Lilacrush is a baby mauve lilac colour. It is the first lipgelee I have bought and I really like it. It’s not as pigmented as it looks in the tube which makes it a nice gloss for everyday use. It’s really glossy and shiny but doesn’t seem to be as sticky as some glosses can be.  I would recommend this to anyone that’s looking for a nice nude gloss.

And finally, I also got some badly needed Brush Cleanser!

 
Now for the swatches:
Top, L-R: Club eyeshadow, Rapidblack Penultimate Eyeliner, Lilacrush Lipgelee
Bottom, L-R: Perfect Topping MSF, Blush Of Youth Beauty Powder, Summer Rose Beauty Powder

  
Thanks for viewing!

oxo

Woo! Latest M.A.C Haul and Review

I’m really trying to build up my MAC collection, because I really don’t have that much MAC stuff! So whenever I get a bit of money I head over to the MAC Pro store and get a couple of things!
This is what I got yesterday:

Studio Sculpt Concealer in NW20

As the MAC site says: “A creamy concealer that provides full coverage with a natural matte finish. Brushes on with enough blend time to conceal any size of blemish. Rich formulation allows you to use a micro-amount of product to even out skin. Water-resistant and long-wearing.”

I actually got one of the MAC girls to try this out on me under my eyes and I have to say that the MAC description above is very accurate. It is so very creamy and easily blended and a little goes a long way! It comes in a paint pot container though, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, as paint pots can dry out quickly if you don’t store them properly.

Anyway, I’m loving it so far. You do have to make sure that your undereye area is well hydrated before applying the concealer, so make sure you apply eye cream first! And remember NW concealers are much better at covering undereye circles than NC shades!

Next: Three eyeshadows!
Left to Right: Vellum and Phloof

And Contrast! (They didn’t have this in a pro palette refill so I just bought the normal one)

Vellum is a pale white duochrome with purple shimmer, I have been wanting this for ages and I’m SO happy I finally got it. It’s soooo pretty!

Phloof is an off white frost eyeshadow. To me it kinda looks like a really light pinky beige. It’s a really nice colour though that would be great for a neutral look or for use as a highlighter!

And lastly, Contrast is purplish blue with a blue pearl. It’s such a gorgeous colour and I can’t wait to use it!

Swatches, left to right: Vellum, Contrast and Phloof

I also got a sample of the Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC20, was a perfect match when she tested it on me in store, but haven’t tried it out myself yet. When I do there’ll be a FOTD and another review!

Thanks for viewing! oxo