Mini Review: Starting All Over Tag

Hey guys! Everything's been pretty full on these past two weeks, so you may have noticed the posts here a little lacking, but I've still had the ability to post to Instagram pretty much daily. I was tagged in a post by @mybeautyconfessional as part of the #startingallovertag - if I lost all my makeup, the first ten things I would repurchase! This was interesting to kind of analyse my collection and think about what I use the most and what I love enough to rebuy. It was a fun one!

Here's the post, in case you didn't see it (@jemsbeautyau woo!):

And here's  quick rundown of each product and why it's included. Would any of these be included in your Starting All Over Tag? Let me know!

Lorac Pro Palette
I don't know if you need me to tell you that you need this palette - but you really do. I've mentioned this palette a million times before but haven't gotten around to a full review yet - that's definitely on its way. This palette has a great bunch of neutrals, from taupe to mauve to light bronze, champagne and espresso, you can't really go wrong. The shadows are buttery and soft (the shimmers even moreso than the mattes, not to say the mattes aren't great), and this palette is pretty much the only eyeshadow I ever use anymore. This would be my first buy (but it would take about a month to get here from Amazon...)

Covergirl Trublend FixStick in Light 1-4
This is a relatively new product, and I love this for under my eyes due to its peachy undertone, which cancels out my blue undereye circles. I love anything in stick form (I'm that lazy), so this is a big plus for me which I would definitely run out and buy if I lost it.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Sultry
I must sound like a broken record... this is my favourite lip colour, hands down. Matte, opaque colour, delicious mint scent, another thing in stick form... ugh my love. Forever repurchase.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout
I don't love Standout as much as Sultry, but I love it enough that it deserves its spot here. I think the formula of Standout is actually better than Sultry, in that it's slightly less drying and just smooths out my lips and makes them look amazing. This is a dark, true red with a tinge of brown, and the only red I ever wear. SO much love for this balm. So much love in this post haha.

Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso
Pretty much the only blush I ever wear (gawd I'm boring). It gives a lovely glow to my light skin, and works so well with a bronzed face. I find this matches most lip colours well, although sometimes I do pick a pink blush over this to go with my ultra pink lips. But on a day to day basis, this is what I pick up. Definitely need some more colours from this line.

Rimmel London Fix and Perfect Primer in 001
I have a full review of this primer here. I love this to go under my silicone-based foundations, and it actually still works well with my BB creams. I am looking at purchasing a proper pore-filling foundation for around my nose since my pores are pretty bad, but this works pretty well in the meantime. It's nice and cheap, and sets really quickly. Yet another product I use every day!

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #21
This is another product I really want to do a full review on as I don't seem to see a lot of Asian products on Instagram (they're super popular on Reddit). This is the perfect colour for me, nice and pale, lasts ages, and gives a lovely dewy finish, whilst not completely covering my freckles.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
The cult product! This is such a good multitasker - I use it as an eyeshadow base, highlighter, waterliner (is that a word?), and lip base to make my lip colours pastel. I like it being in pencil form (some hate it) because it's nice and easy to use, although the day I had to sharpen away the NYX logo was a sad one.

Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Taupe
I'm thinking of doing a review on this product as well, simply because it's a new colour and not readily available in Australia. The colour of this product is pretty dead-on for me, as an ashy-toned-but-not-TOO-ashy-toned product (I loved Tough as Taupe for a while, but it's just way too grey for my brows). It's got a bit of a learning curve, but can create a really nice, natural brow.

Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent
This is a just a cheap, easy to use, nice simple setting powder that extends the life of my foundation by a lot. It's probably not the best one out there, but I'm happy with it for now. The worst thing about it is that it's hard to photograph!


So those are the top ten products I'd repurchase if I had to. What are yours?

August Favourites

Nearly halfway through the next month and my favourites are finally up! This seems to be turning into a regular occurrence to me. Oops. Sorry guys.

This month I found that a lot of my July favourites were STILL my favourites (that's a good sign, right?) so I really had to think about what I'd been reaching for constantly this month and why. Here are my August favourites:

From L to R: Covergirl Clump Crusher, Lorac Pro Palette, Jordana 12 Hr Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil, Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer, Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream.

Covergirl Clump Crusher in "Black Brown"

This is absolutely RAVED about on /r/MakeupAddiction on Reddit, and I finally gave in when I saw it on sale for 40% off (I can't buy mascara for more than $15... I just can't do it). Whilst this isn't my favourite mascara I've ever used, I do love it for its ability to lengthen with 0 clumps and the firm, easy to use wand (after a short while using Maybelline's Mega Plush mascara, I now have a passionate hate for those bendy mascara wands). The colour is a dark, dark brown, which I like using for a no-makeup look or just on lazy days. I'm also a fan of the slightly matte, bright green tube, although I'd prefer it to just be a straight tube so it's easier to store. On the whole, I used this nearly every single day in August, and for good reason! I would definitely grab this if you're looking for a great day-to-day mascara and you find a good Covergirl sale, but give it a miss if you prefer full, voluminous lashes every day.

Lorac Pro Palette

This palette is my favourite palette I own. I mean, it's not really much of a statement saying that, considering it doesn't have much to contend with (a few Chi Chi palettes and it's sister, Unzipped). But I daresay my opinion would be the same if I owned about 10 other palettes. It is the perfect neutral palette and deserves all the hype it gets online. The colours are buttery, blend with each other well, and the range of colours can be used to make a different look each day. This palette had made me fall in love with eyeshadow. Also, I'm pretty sure Mauve is the best crease colour ever. Just sayin'.

Jordana 12 Hr Made to Last Eyeshadow Pencil in "Continuous Almond"

In keeping with my new found love of eyeshadow, I discovered that the Lorac Behind the Scenes eye primer (that comes with the Pro Palette) with this Jordana eyeshadow pencil over the top makes a long-lasting, smudgeproof base for my shadows. The shade I have, "Continuous Almond" is pretty much my skin colour and acts as a good alternative to NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk as an eyeshadow base. It is easily blendable but once it sets it doesn't budge one bit. Below are blended and unblended swatches of the pencil on my hand. Forgive me for the difficulty in seeing them, they are literally my skin colour:

L: blended. R: unblended.

This Jordana pencil is crazy cheap, and us Aussies can pick it up on Cherry Culture.

Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer in "Brightener"

Many of the bloggers I follow on Instagram swear by this concealer for concealing under eye circles. I already have a bunch of concealers I'm happy with (especially my Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer), but decided to pick this up in the 'brightener' shade as a possible highlighter. I really like the sponge applicator, and it works quite well as a highlighter on me, although its really not that much lighter than my skin to make a huge difference. Warning for all warm-toned ladies, this is very pink and runs the risk of pulling ashy on skin with yellow undertones. Another downside is the fact it runs out super quickly (or seems like it) - in the above picture it had only been used maybe 5 times? Maybe I just use way too much concealer but I'm concerned about how quickly I've gotten through that much.

Here's a blended and unblended swatch on my hand:

Top: blended. Bottom: unblended.

This concealer has been a favourite this month considering its ease of use and that it highlights in a very natural way.

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in "#21"

I am a huge fan of this BB cream. I finally caved in and bought this on eBay from an Australian seller, arriving in a couple of days. The colour match is dead-on for me, which is a huge plus. Despite looking scarily grey-toned in a swatch, it blends into the skin naturally, and has a medium, buildable coverage. It is worlds away from other, Western BB creams in that it works as a foundation with skincare benefits (essentially), rather than as a tinted moisturiser. The best Western BB cream I've found is definitely the Chi Chi Super BB Cream, which I reviewed here. I used it nearly every day in August, and it will definitely be a favourite for a long time to come.

I bought this from beprettyandcute on eBay for about $20.



What do you think of my August favourites? Do we have any in common?

As always, thanks for reading!

First Impressions: Chi Chi Creamy Matte Liquid Lipstick and Viva La Diva Matte Lipstick

*sigh* Now THAT was a mouthful. And I didn't even fit the colour name into that title.

As you've probably figured out by now, I am on the never-ending search for the perfect lipstick formula that will hopefully solve all of my lipstick-related problems - drying out lips, fading, smudging... (it's a hard life, I know). I'd heard some great things about both these lipsticks so I decided to pick up a few to try out, and will be giving you a little 'first impressions', since I haven't had them long enough to have fully formed an opinion yet.

Here are the three lipsticks I picked up:

• Creamy Matte Liquid Lipstick in "Simply Stunning"
• Creamy Matte Liquid Lipstick in "Crazy in Love"
• Viva La Diva Matte Lipstick in "Bring It On"

Packaging

Both types of lipsticks are packaged in classic Chi Chi boxes - bright, bold colours with lots of capitalised words. The Viva La Diva lipstick box has a hot pink pattern that matches the lid of the tube inside.

Inside the boxes, I was more impressed by the packaging of the liquid lipsticks over the Viva La Diva, only because it's much more sleek and simple, and something I'd be more likely to be happy to pull out in public to reapply. The lipstick has a cool pattern, but the metallic hot pink is a bit much for me personally. I do like the unique shape to the tube, though, and the flat top and bottom means I can place it either side up in my lipstick holder (unlike those pesky MAC lipsticks!)

Formula

Let's have a look at the claims Chi Chi make, shall we?

On the liquid lipstick boxes, they describe the lipsticks as "luxurious velvety soft", "matte", "vivid", "long-lasting", "non-drying", "non-feathering", and "moisturising". That's a hell of a lot of claims!

I haven't worn these for a prolonged enough period that I can comment on their wear over the day, but on application they definitely don't feel drying like other matte lip creams I own. They also seemed to take a while to dry, something I've never experienced with liquid lipsticks before. I think thin layers of this is necessary for a truly dry, matte finish.

The colours are definitely vivid (check out the next section for some lip swatches).

The Viva La Diva didn't have the same sorts of claims on it, but is a very opaque, thick and creamy formula. It has pretty impressive staying power, and doesn't seem to dry out my lips. These come in cream, matte, and frost (I think) formulas, with Bring It On being a matte.

Colour

I'll go through my thoughts colour by colour for this section, but here are some arm swatches of each colour side by side:

Without flash. L to R: Simply Stunning, Crazy in Love, Bring it On.

With flash. L to R: Simply Stunning, Crazy in Love, Bring it On.

Simply Stunning

Described by Chi Chi as a "peachy coral beige", Simply Stunning looks fairly intimidating swatched by looks surprisingly natural on the lips, and is probably the one I'll be wearing most often of the three. It reads very nude, and looks really great with bronzed, glowy skin and a thin cat eye flick.


Crazy in Love

Described as a "dusty pink", I was tossing up between this one and Flirt for an every day pink. I chose this over Flirt as Flirt is much more brown-based, whereas this is a warm pink that seems to brighten up the face. I'm not sure if I'd consider it a dusty pink, but it certainly isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill pink lip.


Bring It On

A "dusty pinky grape" as described by Chi Chi, I would call it a pale lavender with hints of baby pink. I couldn't get over how wearable this colour was. The bottom, clear part of the tube isn't really the same as what the lipstick is inside, so be wary of this. The outer tube makes it look like a pale, pale, almost white lavender. I've never owned a colour like this and I'm pretty sure it'll be getting good use from me.


These lipsticks can be found at Myer or Target, with the Liquid Lipsticks coming in at $16.95 each for 7mL, and the Viva La Diva at $18.95 for 3.7g.