MAC Naturally : "A Perfect Day"

MAC Naturally officially launched in Western Australia this week despite the delays in stock reaching the major department stores where MAC is sold. I, however, was abit naughty and purchased my lipstick from the MAC Naturally collection, the elusive "A Perfect Day" from a US seller on Ebay a month ago (I'm sorry, I just couldn't wait!)

After having used the luscious lippie a number of times over the last week I decided to do a quick review on the ever-popular shade to see whether the hype is well-deserved or just that....hype.

My first impression of the lippie when it first touched my lips was "hmmm.." and that was about it. Three hours later when I happened to look in a mirror and realised that the colour was still on my lips my reaction turned to "hey, thats pretty alright!". I very rarely find a nude lippie that stays on my lips for any longer than an hour or so, purely because the colour fades and I forget that I have it on and end up eating it off. So you can imagine my surprise when after four hours the lipstick was still on! OK, so the colour had faded by then but it was still THERE which is unheard of! (Just FYI, I do own 6 other MAC lippies so its not like I'm a MAC lipstick noob or anything to be amazed that the formula is 'long' wearing)

Anyway, first impressions aside, I've developed a short list of Pros and Cons about "A Perfect Day" to help narrow down my opinion on the lipstick as a whole:


PROS
 * Amplified creme formula, this ensures that the pigmentation will be rich rich rich!
* Beautiful subtle nude with pink undertones, suited to my yellow-undertoned medium skin (NC37 for ref.)
* Long-ish wear (P.S: refer to unnecessary rant above)
* Smell/taste - Normal MAC lippie taste, which I like for some reason!
* Can be worn alone without gloss to make colour more wearable
* Moisturising and smooth to apply

CONS 
* May not be suitable for darker skintones
* Smell/taste - some people aren't weird like me and prefer a more subtle smell/taste
* Formula goes into lines in lips when dry
* May require lipliner if skintone is darker

  VERDICT: As you can see, the pros for me outweigh the superficial cons of this product so you can probably guess which way I'm going to go. I personally own more nude lipsticks than you can poke a stick at and in saying that I truly believe that MAC "A Perfect Day" is like no other lippie I already have in my collection (and thats a collection that already includes Cherish and Freckletone). It's such a beautiful true nude colour, and I mean nude that everyone can enjoy not just those with perfect procelain skin. I'm even considering buying a back-up of this due to it's limited edition status. All in all, I would happily recommend this product to anyone looking for a pigmented, rich nude lipstick with a thick long wearing formula.

Until next time! xx

Tutorial: Khaki Desert Eyes

Khaki is a HUGE colour this season for autumn so I thought I'd create a gorgeous and wearable khaki look with my Wet N Wild "Comfort Zone" palette and complimented by the Wet N' Wild "Vanity" palette for work or play. It is quite a muted look, toned down with blended browns and lightened up with inner corner highlights so can be worn during the day or darkened up for night.

I'm not much of an expert on colours as my go-to look is usually a brown smokey eye but I thought I'd have a play around! The comfort zone palette is everyone's favourite but the colours can be easily found at MAC counters or even in ELF quads (eg. Nymph dreams or Ivy quad)

To achieve this look, follow these simple steps:

1. Light, olive green all over lid

2. Dark, forest green in outer half of eye lid (overlapping olive colour)

3. Dark, shimmery brown in the outer -V to give dimension to colours

4. Blend using a neutral blending colour two shades darker than natural skintone (I used UD matte eyeshadow in "Naked")

5. Pop a shimmery (not glittery) champagne colour to the inner corners of the eyes and bring down a third along the waterline to highlight and brighten the eyes

6. Line the waterline with eyeliner and set with a dark, matte red-brown shadow. Line the tight line with eyeliner.

7. Slick on afew coats of a lengthening and volumising mascara to complete the fluttery eye look!

For the face contour the cheeks and bring it up to the temples and pop on a neutral blush (I suggest NYX blush in "Angel") and neutral lipstick (MAC Cherish or Freckletone works well) so that the eyes are the focus of attention.

I hope you like this easy yet flattering for all skintones look! Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, I have also uploaded a video on my Youtube channel with this tutorial!

Until next time!!

Jess xx

Haul-ing with E.L.F!!

 Hey Y'all!! Welcome to my ELF haul! For those of you that have subscribed to my youtube (Herekitty3810) you'll already have seen the 'eyes' and 'face' part of my haul (lips coming soon!!) but I thought I'd show you more of it here!

So..the story of my love affair with ELF sprang (strangely enough) from my love affair with Benefit. I really REALLY wanted to try out the Benefit High Beam so feverishly went looking for cheap places to buy it online (as you do). In my search I came across the dupe for High Beam, ELF's unassuming little Color Stick highlighter in Lilac Petal. When I realised that ELF was a good quality product selling for a measly $1, my thrifty side started doing a jig and then slumped to the ground when I realised that ELF wasn't sold anywhere in Australia!! My mood was not helped by my favourite Youtube Beauty Guru's constant ELF reviews and hauls either!

So started my search for a devious and cunning way to get some ELF onto my shelf....(sorry)...
Anyways, a combination of my sudden realisation that I have a friend (male, ha..) who lives in America and the 50% Studio line sale on ELF's U.S website resulted in two massive boxes delivered by a sullen AusPost worker to my door filled with ELF goodies!!

...And now begins the haul...

I picked up five of the Studio blushes in Candid Coral (dupe of NARS Orgasm apparently, I actually like candid coral better as it has less glitters), Twinkle Pink, Fuschia Fusion, Giddy Gold and Gotta Glow (dupe for NARS Albatross highlighter). I've tried out all five and they are all very pigmented, have gorgeous colour payoff and very little fallout. Better than the NYX powder blushes in my opinion.

 I also got some of the Essential blushes (from the $1 line) and although they are no where near as good quality as the Studio line blushes, for the price they are extremely good! The only down side is the fallout otherwise the pigmentation is great and the wear is reasonably long. As you can see in the picture above, I grabbed one of the Complexion perfection powder sets and AM I GLAD I DID!! It has saved me baggy eyes so many times since I got it that eventhough I've barely touched it I know its already paid for itself! The yellow powder, when applied over dark circles under the eyes (from lack of sleep etc...) helps to neutralise the dark circles so well you barely need concealer! It is definately worth the $3 you pay for it!


Now, for LIPS! I haven't youtube-d this yet because I'm still waiting for more to come in from nonpareilboutique but I promise I will soon! The lip products I did get from my haul however include 2 of the Conditioning Lip balm in Peaceful Pink and Nice n' Natural (my fave!!), I also got the ELF Mineral lipstick in Natural Nymph which is a great lip primer but not so great as a lipstick (because of the colour, not the formula which is awesome!). A new studio product that I decided to try out was the Pout perfecter in Glow - the only shade. This is interesting because it works like a highlighter in that you dab a small amount right in the centre of your lips and it works to add dimension to the lips in that way. The 'formula' if you can call it that is abit...so and so...its basically glitter gloss! But it DOES do the trick, so can't complain.
I was sent an Essential Hypershine gloss in Honey as a freebie with my purchase because it was over $20 (score!). These glosses are great and remind me of the Stila glosses, a clut classic of the Stila cosmetics line. They are slighty more runny though but, seriously, one buck, so what do you expect??

Finally, the 'eyes' stuff I got are afew boxes of fake lashes (which I don't usually use ever but I should probably start getting in on that) and five of the Brightening Eyeshadow palette for $1 each. The colours I got were (as pictured) Butternut (Nudes), Ethereal (Pinks and Nudes), Rocker (Nudes with a Random Purple), Brownstone (Collection of Gorgeous Browns) and Drama (Smokey Eye). Of the five I would have to say that Brownstone is my favourite for several reasons. One, because of the everyday neutral colours, Two, because of the consistency of the eyeshadows and Three, because of the quality. It really is luck of the draw with the brightening eyeshadows as some of the palettes I received were very powdery and others (brownstone included) were of a much better quality.

So that was my ELF haul, I have to say that it seems unfair that the U.S not only have much lower prices for the same makeup as we do in Oz, but also they have 'drugstore' cheapie brands that are THIS good!! So if you get a chance to get your paws on some ELF stuff, definately give it a go because you'll then realise that just because it's a bargain doesn't mean it's cheap!

Thanks for reading, See you soon!

xx

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Natural and Bling

So my order from nonpareilboutique came in with two more of the NYX Black Label Lipsticks! I thought I'd do some updated swatches and lip photos for you to have a look at. If you want to see my review on the colours Nude, India and Peachy then just scroll down!

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Natural

The two new colours I got were Natural and Bling. Natural is a beautiful (you guessed it!) NATURAL colour that is the same shade as the lips are meant to be and for me it perfectly matches. It is a creamy terracotta-pink kind of shade and gives the lips just that is-she-or-is-she-not wearing lipstick kind of look. It has very buildable colour and can be built to be sheer or fuller coverage so if you just want abit of a stain just a light coat is all thats needed.

NYX Black Label Lipstick in Bling

Nude, Natural, Bling, Peachy and India

The second colour (and my new favourite) is Bling. Bling is a beautiful light mauve-creamy pink that suits girls with medium to medium-light skin tones. Again, it has a buildable creamy formula that is very pigmented and only one swipe is needed for maximum colour. It is perfect for all seasons as it has the mauve undertones that are great for winter and the pink tones that work for summer.

As I've said it my previous review of these lipsticks, the quality of these $5.00 lipsticks is so incredible it makes me (almost) cry whenever I think about the fact that they are not sold in Australia!! They are of the same quality as many lipsticks that I own that cost me four times as much and are even better than some of them! I think the most comparable product on the Australian market at the moment is the Rimmel moisture renew lipsticks and in saying that, they are much more moisturising with a wider (more exciting) range of shades and a less noticeable taste/smell then the Rimmels lippies.

All in all, I'm continuing to be impressed by the quality of the products that NYX comes out with, keep a look out for my NYX collection coming soon and I'll see you all later!

xx

NYX Black Label Lipstick: A Review

For those of you who are familiar with US beauty bloggers, Youtube beauty gurus and know what a drugstore haul is would most likely have come across the cosmetics brand NYX (also a greek goddess apparently). They are a 'drugstore' brand that are available in places such as Target and Walgreens in the US but unfortunately not in Australian equivalents.

The easiest way to get NYX in Oz is from beauty websites such as cherryculture.com or nonpareilboutique.com and so I understand, porkdaisy.com aswell (although I've never bought anything personally from them myself). Allcosmeticswholesale also stock afew NYX things but the selection is no where near as big as the other sites I've mentioned. Today I'll be reviewing the NYX Black Label Lipsticks in Nude, India and Peachy. I actually have two more coming from cherryculture.com but I just didn't want to wait to do this review!

The nude lipstick is a very nude nude, I mean NUDE. It has a creamy, semi-matte finish and on my skintone (NC37) it does look abit corpse-y but with the right lipliner (funniliy enough, a pastel pink works well underneath) and gloss over the top, it can look suitably nice.
Those with abit of a milkier complexion might find this to be right up their alley though.


 India is by far a favourite of mine, although again it is abit on the pale side for my skintone, its actually works well for it's purpose as a pastel pinky-peach lippie. Again i suggest using a lipliner underneath (I use ELF featherproof lipliner in Natural Blush) to sort of seam together the natural lip line colour of your lip (hmm..) with the creamy pale colour of the lippie. You don't need to wear gloss over the top because the natural colour of India is so pretty you really want it to stay creamy rather than go all glossy and shiny.


Peachy is,as the name suggests, is a peach colour. It has a satiny frost finish and can look abit orange on some. I tend to use this colour with a dark brown or coppery eye as it tends to balance out the whole look (for me anyway). I actually got this one on sale from nonpareil which I can kind of understand why it was on sale (i think it might actually still be on sale). It is an 'acquired taste' and most likely will not suit people with lighter complexions.

Overall, the quality of these lipsticks is awesome. For $5 a pop you get the same quality as something that would cost three times as much. I would say that these are definately on par with the Revlon Lustrous range and the Rimmel lipsticks in terms of wear and prolongevity. The smell and taste reminds me of bubblegum but is not overpowering and I love it personally!! If you're a lover of lipstick you can't go past these!

I Got NAKED!!....Palette that is!

 All over the beauty universe there is one palette that pops up so much that you'd think it was the mother of all palettes! It's the Naked Palette by Urban Decay that was released a year or so ago and caused a ruckus in the US by going out of stock all the time, disappointing avid makeup enthusiasts everywhere!

Although Urban Decay is not sold anywhere in Western Australia (that I know of, if I'm wrong...HOORAY!! and let me know where I can get my paws on more!) I managed to get this palette
off BeautyBay.com  for $50 with $9 postage (and you can also get it off
lookfantastic.com with free international postage).

I've had this beauty for about a month now and I have to say it is reeeeaaallllly living up to it's hype, for me anyway! It comes with 12 gorgeous shades (all full sized, not teeny tiny) that co-ordinate with eachother and other neutrals in my collection perfectly. The shadows are all of Urban Decay quality, gliding on creamy and pigmented and with no fuss. The travel-sized eyeshadow primer, a cult classic of the Urban Decay brand, is like putting vanilla mousse on your eyelids it's that fluffy and creamy! And the staying power of shadows worn over the top can't be beat.

The original version of the Naked Palette (or possibly the American version) came with two mini eyeliners in Zero (Black) and Whiskey (Brown) but mine came with a brush. The brush is....ok, unfortunately, I find that it is very very flat and is only really good for applying highlight colours (eg. virgin or sin) because it doesn't pick up enough shadow for deeper colours.

OK, enough of the explanation, time for the fun part.....swatches!! Please excuse my arm, i probably should have exfoliated first :s but anyway...the shadows come in different textures which is great because you can create different types of looks from neutral everyday eyes to dark, metallic and smokey.

"Virgin" is a light bone colour with a satin/matte finish, probably meant to be the highlight colour in the palette.

"Sin" is a light salmon pink, similar to MAC Naked Lunch

"Naked", my personal favourite of the lot! A matte beige that can be built up or worn lightly underneath a darker shade, an awesome top of the crease colour.

"Sidecar" is a shimmery metallic taupe that can add dimension to a neutral eye look

"Buck" is a caramel-ly matte shade, darker than naked but similar in a way, great for blending out a dramatic smokey eye

"Half Baked" is a bright copper gold, shimmery but without glitter

"Smog" is a great dark copper colour that gives depth to the crease without being too obvious, similar to MAC Woodwinked

"Darkhorse" is as the name mentions, a dark olive brown, looks great smudged along the lower lashline

"Toasted" is a beautiful deep mauve with pinky shimmers to it

"Hustle" is a very versatile shade as it goes with a brown eye look as well as a purple mauve look, a satiny shade with purple tones

"Creep" is the darkest shade in the palette, is a dark greeny grey with a satin finish

And last but definately not least is "Gunmetal", which is (you guess'd it!) a gunmetal pewter shade (maybe the naming guy had gone home for the day and there were only noobs left), It does have blue tones through it which makes it a great smokey eye crease colour or an all-over-the-lid colour for a more dramatic look.

Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck

Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle

Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

I hope you enjoyed my first review, I admit I have been formulating a review for this palette for some time now (well, since I got it a month ago), Overall I would say that if you are serious about you're makeup, or even if you're not so serious but just want something that would work for ANY situation, look or occasion then definately get this palette!!

Until next time! xx

Welcome Post!

Hello everyone to my very first post! I know it's titled 'Welcome Post' which is kind of weird coz it seems as though I'm welcoming myself, so maybe consider this a "Get to know me post" instead!

Here's afew things that you might want to know about me and might compel you to want to know more...

• I didn't start wearing makeup until I was in Yr 10
• Fully Indonesian but grew up in a country town in Australia
• I am engaged (remind me to change that to 'married' in January)
• Huge fantasy fan o_o
• I still have one baby tooth left

Ok, so you've either stayed til the end or already left, either way I hope you enjoy my blog and stay tuned for exciting reviews, posts and hauls that are on their way soon!

xx