Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Darling & Sweetheart

FINALLY! They have arrived! You can find them at Priceline for RRP $17.95AUD a pop and i'm sure they'll start popping up around all the other usual Revlon outlets shortly.

I'm talking about the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. I stood, swatched, looked at swatches on blogs until I finally decided on 2 colours; Darling & Sweetheart.

This product is not to be confused with the Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain & Balm...that product is a texta like lipstain with a balm on the other end, I reviewed one on my old blog if you'd like to have a squizz here. Way to confuse everyone Revlon.

This is what Revlon has to say about the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain - It’s a pampering balm fused with a lightweight lipstain in an adorable chubby crayon. Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain gives softer, smoother lips with a perfect flush of color that lasts hour after hour.

In short, it's Revlons take on Clinique's popular Chubby Sticks... I don't own any but the packaging etc is very very similar and i've heard reports the formula is even the same.

So how do these wear? I've only tried them out each for a short time as I only got them yesterday but Sweetheart certainly worked as a stain, there were even remnants of it on my lips this morning after I put it on for my swatches yesterday afternoon. Darling is a little sheerer and won't stain as much but it's quite long lasting.

They smell of peppermint when you first apply them and they feel nice and moisturizing. So far I think they are pretty rad!

Update! I wrote this post the day after I purchased these, now i've worn these babies for almost a whole week I can give a better update...sometimes it's good to draft and update :) Darling wears nicely and through 1 cup of coffee but will be gone by lunch time. Sweetheart is an absolute trooper! Still going strong after lunch with a slight pink stain to the lip. If your lips are dry, keep a good lip balm on hand to keep it from looking cracking and crappy.

Darling is a lilac pink and unlike anything I currently own, I can imagine it looking amazing with a smokey eye!

Sweetheart was a no brainer for me, a bright pink it's actually quite different to the other pinks I own. I thought it would be a dupe for Sweet Tart from the Lip Butter range but this is a little darker and brighter. I love this colour! You'll see below how it just brightens my face up. Loves it!

Have you tried these out yet? What's your favourite colour?

I can see myself picking up more of these in the future!

P.S. Because I love you guys, if you head into Priceline they currently have BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free) on all lip and nail prodz, so grab 2 of these for $17.95...BARGAINOUS! (Valid to 3rd December 2012...soz if you're reading this a little late) 

Product Disclosure: Bought with my own moola, plus I had a Priceline voucher because i'm a bit of a Priceline Ho!

Review: Face of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon

I just love it when a product creates hype on various social media networks, I love the thrill of waiting for the product to hit the shelves and checking my local outlets waiting for the product to rear it's ugly/or beautiful head. To me this is exciting!

One of my latest acquisition was just like that, I eventually found this on a weekend away in Canberra. It was also on sale, so bonus!

The Face of Australia Sheer Gloss Lip Crayons are not only a beautiful product, but an absolute steal! $14.95AUD for 3 wearable colours, this little set certainly won't break the bank and is a great introduction into the lip crayon products we've been seeing from all different brands. 

They are smooth, tinted and smell delicious! 

I also love the fact the packaging is a wind up applicator, I'm not a fan of the gloss crayons you need to sharpen... I don't get how that works anyway? 

The 3 shades in the set are -

Sundae - Neutral, I thought I'd dislike this shade the most out of the 3, but in fact it's my favourite! I find this to be the most pigmented on my lips and is such a great everyday shade.

Macaron - A Red tint, gives the lips a nice flushed colour. I love these sort of colours, I feel they always brighten up my look.

Cupcake - Light pink, such a cute bubblegum pink. I personally like brighter pinks but this is still cute and would look awesome with a dark smokey eye.

Be quick because these sets are limited edition! I'm kind of hoping they bring them out again in more colours...brights for summer would be amazing (FOA take note!).

Face of Australia is stocked at Priceline, Kmart, Big W & Various Chemists. International readers can also purchase Face of Australia online at Fashion Addict, however I couldn't see these on the website just yet.

This product was purchased with my own money, obviously since I went searching in another state for it :P

NP Set Palettes galore! Glam Set & Red Carpet Set (Pic Heavy)

Ahhh Napoleon, to be honest i've not tried very many Napoleon makeup products, I bought a lipstick once on a whim and I actually really like it!

These palettes are from Napoleons more "budget friendly" range NP Set which is available in department stores (Pretty sure BIG W has a sale on these products this week...go go go). I honestly can't see the difference between these more pocket friendly products and the normal range, so for me it's pocket friendly each time.

I was sent these palettes to try out (eons ago... yep bit slow on the ol blogging front over here) and I thought they were the perfect option for someone just starting to get into makeup (younger girls, i'm looking at you!). At a very wallet friendly price of $29 each you get yourself 4 lovely eyeshadows which are nicely pigmented, easy to blend and with a kick ass eye primer hold out throughout the day. You also get 4 lipglosses (to be honest i'm not a fan of these, just because it's a bit impractical to take this palette for touch ups) and lastly, there are 2 blush colours!

Onto the sets, you have a choice of 2 sets which makes life easier... ask yourself the question are you a neutral girl or a little more daring?



The Glam Set is for your more neutral loving girl, the shadows in this are right up my alley and the 4 shades compliment each other really nicely and make for some nice easy eye looks.

The blushes are meant to be a contour and highlight blush I think, these did not work for me at all. The darker colour was just too dark for my fair skin, it may however work for you.

Here are some close ups of the palette and some swatches







Sorry I didn't bother doing the lip glosses, the swatches I tried were way to sheer and really didn't show anything at all.



The Red Carpet set is a little brighter and bolder, you can experiment a little more with the eyeshadow colours while still maintaining a quite neutral look if thats what you prefer.

When I first received this the thing I was most excited about was the blushes in this particular set... bright bold and exactly what I am into right now, the blushes on their own are fantastic and highly pigmented but I made a little discovery! Mixing these blushes together gives the most perfect pinky coral cheek....quite similar to one of my favourite blushes, the limited edition MAC Ripe Peach blush. I did a swatch of the colours blended together on their own so you can see for yourself.









Ahhh I just love them mixed together!!!

So overall these palettes are a nice addition to my makeup collection, personally if I could choose i'd have the neutral eyeshadows with the 2 bright blushes and no lip glosses in my ideal NP Set palette.

If your interested in purchasing this you can find NP Set at Target, Big W and now TVSN!

Products mentioned were provided for my consideration, please read my disclosure policy for further information.

 

Loving.... Face Of Australia Mineral Therapy Illuminator in Angel Fire (NARS ORGASM DUPE ALERT!!)

I've pretty much said everything in the title of this post!

I love this product, it's by Face of Australia and it's a total dupe for the NARS Orgasm Illuminator!

This is a limited edition product, so if your looking to pick it up.. get thee to store now!



When I first swatched this in Priceline I ummm'ed and ahhh'ed over it, would I really use a highlighter that's pigmented and not really a traditional highlighter colour? Then I couldn't stop thinking about it and imagined how I would use it, now I can't see myself without it (and i'm tempted to go buy the rest of the colours).



The consistancy of the product is quite thin, but it is very pigmented and easy to blend into the skin. You do have to be careful though because you may get a bit of product overload come out (see swatches below for a great example!).



The colour though, wowza! If you're a fan of NARS Orgasm get this! It is an absolutely gorgeous peachy pink with a fine gold shimmer. I think it's one of those colours that universally suits all skin tones.

I find the best way to wear it is more as an enhancement on my blush, so i'll put on my blush and then dot a bit of the Illuminator on the top points of my blush and blend in. I have no idea if this is what you're meant to do but it works for me.

Let's see this bad boy (or girl) in action. This is a photo I took in the car on NYE my first outing with the Illuminator on. Yeah I like heavy blush :)



Details!!!

There are 4 colours in this range, and as said earlier they are limited edition! You can pick them up for RRP $14.95AUD from all the usual Face of Australia stockists.

Here is a recent FOTD using the Mineral Therapy Illuminator



Products Used -

Foundation - Illamasqua Skin Base in 07 & Boujois Healthy Mix in 02

Eyes - Naked Palette (Sin on eyelid, Virgin on brow bone, Buck in crease, Half Baked in the middle of the eyelid, Creep in the outer corner), Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner, Maybelline Colossal Volume Mascara)

Cheeks - NYX Glow & Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Illuminator in Angel Fire

Lips - Revlon Carnation

Product was purchased by me at P to the riceline :) 

 

Revlon Moon Drops Lipstick in Blase Apricot & Lilac Champagne - Rare Find!

I found these lipsticks hanging about in a discount beauty store (Cosmo Cosmetics, i'll put where they are at the end of this post). They only cost me $7.00 each!

The Revlon Moon Drops lipsticks aren't readily available in Australia but they seem to be available in the US, so if you can get your hands on them, lucky you!

The lipsticks themselves are moisturising and long lasting, the pink colour especially lasted ages on me even to the point it kind of stained my lips.

The one thing I don't like is the smell, they smell a bit "older lady" to me, it's a small thing but I thought i'd better mention it.

The 2 colours I got were brights from the range...surprise surprise! It seemed my local Cosmo Cosmetics had quite a good range of colours as well so I may go back and get a few more!

The colours I picked up were Blase Apricot & Lilac Champagne









You can find Cosmo Cosmetics at these locations (I'm not entirely sure if they all sell the same products though, sorry!)

Also, I'm just getting these locations from google so if the stores are no longer there... oops! I do know for sure the Parramatta and Merrylands stores are open :)

Cosmo Cosmetics - Parramatta

256 Church Street

Parramatta NSW
(02)9633 1522

Cosmo Cosmetics - Merrylands

Stockland Mall, Merrylands

Cosmo Cosmetics - Hornsby

Pacific Hwy
Hornsby NSW
(02) 9482 4988

Cosmo Cosmetics - Sydney City

Met Centre, George Street

Sydney

 

So so so wrong...Kelly Osbourne!

This is an unusual type post for me but I just saw these pictures of Kelly Osbourne from the Art Of Elysium's Gala and had to share them with you.

Poor Kelly Osbourne...

This is all kinds of wrong, from the foundation to the hair and even the dress is not flattering! Girl has worked hard for her current figure and this dress just completely drowns her.

I cannot get over the foundation though, perhaps its the lighting/flash but you'd think these celebrity makeup artists would have that down pat (assuming she had a makeup artist and didn't do this to herself). She's a pale girl why try and make her look so tan. Perhaps if she was her normal colour the grey hair may work a bit better for her?







Images taken from The Superficial

Product Review - Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector AKA Garniers BB Cream

It seems Australia is catching onto the BB cream bandwagon, and i'm kinda glad because I don't think I would have ever tried them out otherwise. I was lucky when I picked this product up in Priceline it was a cheap introductory price of around $10, not that the full price is too hard on the pockets but I sometimes like to save a bit especially if i'm just trying out a product. I got it in the Light colour as well.



Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector makes a lot of claims...

Discover the BB Cream secret - a new generation of skincare that combines the best of skincare with the benefits of make-up in one application! New Miracle Skin Perfector has a lightweight formula with vitamin C and mineral pigments to deliver long-lasting hydrating care with SPF15 UV filters and a light touch of make-up for instantly visible, radiant results. Quickly & perfectly it unifies, corrects, brightens, moisturises & protects! - from the Garnier website



Initially when I tried this product, i'll be honest I hated it! I even had that dread that I was going to have to write a bad review about it, then I decided to give it another go in a different way. Okay so as a everyday cream/foundation type thing this product does not work for me as it gives me NO coverage whatsoever not even a tiny bit. How does it shine? As a primer!! Yep, put this baby on underneath your foundation and see your skin glow, especially perfect for my fellow dry skin girls out there. So thankfully this one isn't going to see the inside of my bin.



See...no coverage :)

Would you like to buy it? Well it's available at all the usual Garnier stockists for a RRP $13.95AUD

 

Essence Hauling! Eyeshadows - Disco Diva, Party All Night & Taupe of the Pops

Essence is a fairly new brand the Australian market and luckily for us it's one of those brands that has come out here and not been overly marked up beyond the point of purchasing. It's still nice and cheap so when you need a quick beauty fix, it's a great place to start! They are stocked in Target locations in Australia (not 100% if all Targets stock them but the ones i've been to have all had it).

I picked up a few things to try out and so far i'm pretty impressed, so much so I want to go and try some more of their products.

Let's start with eyeshadows, I kind of stayed in my comfort zone with 2 neutrals and I picked one brighter colour since it's my aim to add more brighter eye looks to my makeup routine.



As for size, they are 2.5g and the pan is pretty much the size of a Stila pan which comes in at 2.6g.









As far as quality goes, these are pretty good! The colour payoff is great and they are super smooth, however I do think Disco Diva is a bit of a harder shadow to work with when I used it I needed to pack it onto my brush a bit more then the other colours.

The wear is also good, however I always use an eyeshadow primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion) but the colours didn't crease on me at all.

Best part? They cost $3.25each! That's cheaper then a Latte!

Okay are you ready for my pop of colour? Here is a look I did using Disco Diva!



Eye Breakdown -

Lid - Virgin (Urban Decay Naked Palette)

Crease & Blended out above crease - Essence Disco Diva

Lashline - Purple from Stila Creme Bouquet Palette

Lower Lashline - As above with Essence Disco Diva smudged on top

Outer Corner - Creep (Urban Decay Naked Palette)

Browbone - Virgin (Urban Decay Naked Palette)

Product Review - Covergirl NatureLuxe Foundation

**This post has been bumped in front of a few others in my posting schedule mainly because it's available at Priceline at the moment for $10! All Covergirl foundations are only $10 this week at Priceline until 16th January**

Onto the review!

The main reason I picked up this foundation was because of the cheap price at Priceline, sometimes it can get expensive being a beauty blogger and finding products so heavily discounted is always a great thing! I'd also read about it on The Beauty Department in a splurge or steal blog post (it was the steal obviously).

This is what Covergirl have to say about this particular foundation - Redefine natural beauty with our lightweight silk foundation. With a touch of cucumber water and a hint of jojoba and rose hip extracts, our light yet luxurious formula takes heavy weight out of your polished finish.

First off let me say I love the packaging, the little squeeze bottle holds 30mls which is pretty much the standard size of a foundation anyway but it's so small and not encased in massive glass bottle packaging that it's something you can easily slip into your makeup bag on the go.



One downfall is that the colour selection isn't great, There are only 5 shades to choose from. I matched myself to Bamboo 315 which is the 2nd lightest in the shades. Unfortunately my Priceline was also missing samples of the lighter shade so I couldn't compare them and see if it was going to be good for the very pale girls but Bamboo seems to match my skin perfectly at the moment (I have a little bit more colour since it's summer).



Another great thing about this foundation is that it contains SPF10, while that's certainly not enough protection for outdoors it's a good starting point and i'm glad Covergirl have included it.

The feel of the foundation is light and almost mousse like, it's blends into the skin really easily and didn't stick to my dry patches (even later in the day, which is when it usually slips). The scent of the foundation is quite strong so if your not a fan of that then you may want to pass on this one. The wear is actually very very good, I've been wearing it today for almost 7hrs and have no need to touch up or even powder.

The coverage is definitely medium but I think it'd also be quite buildable because it is so light. My skin isn't overly bad but my main concern is redness on my cheeks and nose and this covered it up quite well without the need for a concealer.

I'd liken it to my Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum which was noted as one of my favourites for last year, the difference I notice is that this has more of a matte finish then the Healthy Mix.

Overall for a drug store brand foundation this is actually a really nice product! The RRP of this is $18.95AUD which is still a very affordable price, but if you can get to Priceline before the 16th of January try and grab it for $10.00 :)

Here is a before and after, This is with just the foundation on after my skin has been moisturised (all the usual jazz)



Since that was a little scary here is it with my face done and a breakdown of my products used, a FOTD if you will :)



Foundation - Covergirl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation (Shade: Bamboo 315)

Concealer - Maybelline Dream Lumi Concealer (Shade: Nude)

Powder - MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (Shade: Light Medium)

Eyeliner - Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner (Shade: Black)*

Mascara - Maybelline The Colossal Volume Mascara (Shade: Black)

Blush - NYX Creme Blush (Shade: Glow)

Lipstick - MAC (Shade: Hibiscus) Limited Edition...sorry!

Please note * indicates products received for my consideration. Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

Video: Favourite Products of 2011

Here is a round up of my favourite products of last year! Hope you enjoy!

 



Some of the products mentioned were provided for my consideration, please read my disclosure policy for more details.

A Pink That Packs A Punch? Enter! Face of Australia - Malibu Barbie

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

First of all I want to wish everyone a wonderful 2012, I'm hoping to try and be a little more consistant with my posts this year and try and get back into the swing of things as much as possible. I don't really believe in new years resolutions, I feel goal setting should be something you do all year but I do want to try and concentrate on my blog again.. I'm coming up to 2 years this month!

ONTO THE REVIEW!

I actually got a sneak peek of this lipstick back in September at the ABBW (Australian Beauty Bloggers Weekend) and as soon as I saw it I knew as soon as it hit the shelves I needed it in my collection, well I'm not sure I got it as soon as it hit the shelves but I did get it as soon as i saw it.

Malibu Barbie is part of the Lip Quench range of lipsticks from Face of Australia. A lipstick range which not only provides a smack of colour but also provides some pretty rad lip treatment qualities as well (Double the win!) It contains Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E, Shea butter and SPF 30+.. Yep, SPF 30+ seriously bright and protected lips!



The colour of this lipstick is what really gets me, the name says it all Malibu Barbie is a bright cool toned pink it really is the ultimate Barbie pink, it's a gorgeous pop of colour that instantly brightens the face. I personally love colours like this because I feel like I don't have to do a whole lot else with my makeup, keeping it simple and making this sort of lip colour the focus is how I like to wear it.

In fact I wore it last night for New Years Eve!

Ready for some swatchy goodness? My lips are a bit dry in this picture, so the moisturizing properties of this lipstick were kind of perfect.





The Details!

RRP $9.45AUD

You can purchase this product from Priceline, Department Stores and various Chemists. Face of Australia products can also be purchased online from Fashion Addict.